Amazing Aces: Coins

And so we get to the fourth in the favorite aces series. I've enjoyed doing these, and it's been an interesting exercise to see how the decks I chose from for these differed from my choices for favorite majors - though of course, the fact that decks keep going in and out of my collection is a bit of a factor too. It does make me more aware of the different strengths of various decks. For example, of my two most favorite decks, not one Ace appeared here.

In any case, last but not least in the Ace of Coins (also known as the Ace of Disks, or Pentacles). This is the card I associate with material opportunities - careers, finances, physical health and all that. It's a card that that I see as being the most solid, speaking of the pragmatic. Whereas other majors may fill be with inspiration or energy, in this one I often find relief; I suppose at this point in my life I am more likely to stress about finances then intellectual development or relationships ;] It's also one of the Aces I associate most strongly with color. I like to see earth in this card - green, brown, gold. So which ones speak to me most?

Shadowscapes

I must say, I really enjoy how this Ace is presented in the Shadowscapes tarot. Iguanas are definitely not an animal you see associated with this Ace or suit often. They really work here though, both color-wise and in terms of associations -  the iguana is an earthy kind of creature, after all. We see smaller lizards too, the progression of growth and accomplishment. The golden coin we at the bottom is stamped with what could be seen as a star, or a kind of sun, or maybe even a flower - all symbols of success, fortune, hope, growth.

Of course, the colors and composition in general are beautiful, as they are in most of the cards in deck. The two branches curving upwards subtly support the underlying message here, the opportunity for earthly, material growth, as does that ring of light behind the iguana. The green of this card offers a nice juxtaposition to the silvery purple borders - many of my favorite cards in this deck have this kind of greenish scheme. A bit unusual an ace, and lovely.

Alchemical Renewed

Once again, the Alchemical tarot presents a take on an ace that I rather adore. The clean lines and line-type shading work really well in this image. Earthy, nature scenery dominates the picture: a hill covered in grass, flowers, leaves and weeds. At the top of the hill we see a sturdy tree with bright green leaves, and right in front of the coin we have a rabbit, hopping forward. Rabbits are associated with fortune, aren't they? Well, their feet at the very least, but that is a horrible custom and I think whole, living rabbits make much nicer omens of good luck.

On the whole, the image is rich in color, in life. It makes me think of spring time, or early summer: beautiful weather, a great time to make a start of a new thing. The rabbit is a fast-moving animal, energetic. The trees and flowers show that the soil is fertile. The time is right, the situation is ripe, things can go your way, this card says. The animal theme continues in this suit as well: in the Ace we have a rabbit, full of energy but small, vulnerable; in the King we see a lion, mighty and powerful, on top of the animal kingdom.

Legacy of the Divine

Interestingly enough, LotD, one of my favorite decks overall, is a mixed back when it comes to Aces: two of them I really like, and two I don't much like at all. This, along with the aforementioned Swords ace, is one of the good ones. Again we have a nice big golden coin, with a star design and a convenient elemental symbol, surrounded by nice, green, earthy imagery. We have a bee and some acorns, which can signify hard work and potential for growth, expansion, wonderful things. Acorns can also be seen as a kind of nourishment - the resources needed to get you through hard winter times and towards those goals and achievements. We can also see, in the lower right corner, a hedgehog. Not a particular noticeable animal, not striking to the eye, and yet - he has his quills to defend him, and he moves steadily, close to the ground. Again, much of my liking of this card stems from its general atmosphere - the impression of richness, of fertility, lots of room for expansion, success and comfort.

Amazing Aces: Wands

Getting back to this particular favorites post series, we have the third of the four aces, the Ace of Wands. The wands suit is typically depicted, in those decks that use elemental associations, as associated with fire - the light, the burning energy, the passion that the cards within it often speak to. This Ace, like the others, is about new beginnings and opportunities, yes - about those involving creativity, self-fulfillment, ambition, drive. This Ace calls for action in the post literal, direct sense: go, do, create, be brave. It is about potential ready to be worked, shaped.

It is, in fact, probably one of the Aces I would see as being easily applicable to a wide variety of situations, even those typically associated with the others suits - yes, go learn that thing that you care so strongly about; yes, initiate that romance you are daydreaming about; yes, apply to that job even if you aren't sure you could qualify. A very dynamic card, on the whole. As for which of my decks I feel depict it best...

Alchemical Renewed

Though many decks utilize elemental associations and imagery in their depictions of the minors, few, I think, do so as neatly as Robert Place's Alchemical. I especially like how the theme of the animals continues through the suit - the baby salamander in the Ace reappears, majestic and grown, as the wand's King. The salamander makes a rather good metaphor for the Ace in general - here it is small and newly born, but already we can see the hints of its future power, the way it lays on a bed of flames at the wand's base.

The tip of the wand burns too, of course, illuminating the space. I find the clover sprouting out of the side a very nice touch. A clover for luck, a sign that now is indeed the right time for whatever this card is speaking to, that the universe is on your side; and at the same time, a reminder of the idea of making your own luck, the need to act, to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to you. The line work and coloring here is awesome, the palette perfectly suited.

Tarot of the Absurd

Can it be, one might ask? Can a black and white deck really manage to express all the energy and meaning that an Ace like this is meant to represent? The answer, as the Tarot of the Absurd here shows, is very much yes. Like just about all the cards is this lovely deck, the ace of wands has a certain playfulness to it, a touch of whimsy. Though it features a tree, something we usually associated with age, tradition, firmness, here we see it dynamic, in motion, sprouting new branches and, at the center of the image, curled around a newborn.

Yes, the tree here moves and sways and curls so as to protect this creature, newly entered into the world, just formed, inexperienced. A beginning indeed, a wealth of experiences to be had, discoveries. The baby still sleeps but the tree does not, no. Nothing here is a passive act, not holding, protecting, caring. Everything requires deliberate effort, decision. What will become of them, this tiny babe, this almost dancing tree? Time will tell indeed.

Silicon Dawn

I drew and wrote about this card in my very first post on this blog, just a day short of exactly a year ago. At the time I was desperately scrambling to finish a rather long and important paper - rather the same as I'm doing now, come to think. Changes and beginnings and repetition. The deck was quite new to me then, and I was still trying to wrap my mind the rather unusual switch, of elemental associations and to a large degree meanings, of the wands and coins suits. Of all the switched up cards in the deck, this one perhaps makes the most amount of immediate, intuitive sense to me.

Why shouldn't the Ace of Wands be seen like this, a confident silhouette of what may be sprouting out of a plant, leaves and roots and vines supporting  and pushing up. The green of the ground slowly turns to blue as we reach the top of the card, to sky, freedom, so much possibility there. We plant seeds in the ground, little kernals of perhaps, and wait and watch them grown into things to beautiful hey take our breath away, sometimes. And isn't that what this card can be, at it's best - the reason we see it and know we should go, try, take that risk?

My Favorite Majors: The Wheel of Fortune

Conceptually, the Wheel of Fortune is certainly an interesting card, and one that has really kind of evolved in meaning for me over time - or, I suppose, expanded in meaning to be more precise. At one time I thought of it as primarily a counterpoint to Justice - sometimes things happen because its fair, and sometimes things are random and just happen and fairness or rightness or balance has nothing to do with it. For a while I thought of this card as being about things that are larger than you, out of your hands, limited control of. Later the idea of cycles, the spinning aspect really came into it. So yeah, a lot more nuanced than it appears. The takes on this card really do tend to vary between decks, and especially between traditions...some more interesting than others, suggesting or emphasizing different conceptual aspects... It was a mix of that and the aesthetic informing my favorites choices for this card.

X. Wheel of Fortune

Favorite:
What can I say? I like the TdM tradition take on the Wheel - nice and simple and gets the point across without too much fuss. At the same time, de la Rea art style specifically is just so PRETTY. Those masks...there is just something about the idea and the execution of those masked figures for everything in this deck that really appeals to me. The most familiar aspects are still there, and quite clear: the regal figure at the top, the rapid like one, hopping forward, and the falling one...love how their capes vary and move here also. The colors are really nice and just...yeah. I guess this was mostly an aesthetic appeal choice for me. I love the look of this card and it gets the point across nicely and so favorite it is indeed.

Runner Up:
So I realize that I have a definite preference for having an actual WHEEL in the Wheel of Fortune card...some  decks (Druidcraft and Victorian Romantic come to mind) forego that and focus more on the concept behind it, which is fine and good and interesting food for thought but...I like to see me a wheel. Here, I especially like the two dragons-serpents, one white and one red - which is itself very tied to the alchemical aspects of the deck - eating each other's tails. I have an particular liking for the ouroboros concept (to the point of having recently gotten a tattoo of an ouroboros-based design) and this isn't quite that but very related: things interconnecting, the end is a beginning etc. and yeah. The one on the top with wings and a crown, the one below without...same idea, cycles, rise and fall, but presented a bit differently which is always interesting. Having all four elements surrounding them in the corners is nice too - it ties together the alchemy theme, again, as it proceeds through all the majors, but to me it also ties in all four suits of the minors, shows the inter-related nature of everything in the world and just...appropriate to the card. Also, I like Robert Place's art style quite a lot, and find this card quite nice to look at too. ;]

card for a first day

so yeah, I do not do daily draws because...I don't have the attention span to do that with any regularity, and also, I just don't see the need to draw a card for every day of my life.

sometimes though, there is a day where I do want to do a draw. tomorrow is the first day of classes for my second/spring semester in grad school. schedule is shifted due to the holiday on Monday, so I have Monday classes tomorrow which means...three classes back to back, from 2pm-9pm basically. fun welcome back, eh?

a quick one card draw with message/advice for my first day. not longer because uh, I still have a ton of reading for my Ethnic Conflict/Civil War class to finish up. xD

Interesting, my favorite empress again shows her face on this blog.

I see this foremost as a gentle reminder to try to take care of myself. Already I'm seeing myself sliding into the comfortable ol' routine of sleep, who needs sleep, oh well looks like i don't have time to eat all day lalala caffeine caffeine caffeine and well, yes. nurturing, caring, treating self well would no doubt mean better, or at least easier to come by/less stressful use of full cognitive capacity.

Besides that? Inspiration, growth, fresh new things to learn, to read about and discuss and engage with. Channel that feeling, that inspired feeling, the metaphorical spring of the intellect. That's what you like best about school...not all the stress, certainly not competition or grades, but LEARNING, ENGAGING, the intellectual challenge of it all, the chance to really use your mind at full capacity and discuss what interests you with others who actually know what your are talking about. Focus and hold onto that feeling, let it drive you.

Lastly, have a bunch of ideas, little projects related to school/career-oriented things, errands around school I need to run. I actually have the motivation/inspiration to conceive of these things right now, no doubt because new beginnings always have a bit of inspirational effect on me...hold onto that. Nurture that as well. Follow through. See your life and mind as a pretty garden and make the best of it.

My Favorite Majors: The Empress

So, the Empress is definitely not one of the Major Arcana that I super relate with in any way. I'm not really much the mothering/nurturing type, either in desire to be mothered/nurtured nor in any desire to do aforementioned activities. Never have identified very much with traditional feminine roles or socially assigned female gender roles either instinctively or intellectually and...yeah. Which is not to say I have an real dislike/aversion/prejudice towards this card, per se, but...yeah, not one I feel very close to. That said, though, it wasn't hard to decide on my favorites for this one.

III. Empress

Favorite:

This card was seriously one of the main reasons why I became obsessed with getting my paws on a copy of Robert Place's Alchemical Renewed tarot, which took a while before it became a reality, but yeah. I love the art style of the whole deck, as well as its theme, but this card especially... Visually, I just love it. The lush, verdant green of the background, the way the figures are drawn..the colors. It just works for me. Also I think the combination of the flora and the child really represents the growth and nurturing aspects of this card. It makes perfect sense for the empress to be nude, in my mind and...I like the absence of wheat. I know that's a bit random, but the traditional RWS image and a lot of derivative decks have that in there and the correlation between a woman's body and harvest just...rubs me the wrong way. Call it my own issues with uh, yeah, thanks but just because I'm a woman doesn't make me a baby-making machine or whatnot, but there you have it. Also why cards with pregnant ladies, while perfectly appropriate symbolically, don't super work for me personally. But yeah, artistically especially, I just find this such a beautiful Empress card.

Runner Up: 

I also really like this one. Like the rest of the Nusantara deck, I love the colors, the art style, the figure and the clothes and all that. What I really like about it though is that it sticks pretty closely to the traditional RWS take of the card - which honestly, I rather like the arrangement of - while getting rid of all the aspects I liked less. I love all the green with the right amount of red/orange/yellow highlights - a perfect color scheme for this card. No wheat, no pomegranate dress, but familiar, comfortable. Basically it really nicely brings to mind the meanings of this card for me without bringing up icky gender issue touchiness and yeah. It's pretty :]

Exercise 3:1 from "21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card"

I like Mary K. Greer's books. Find them to be quite interesting and helpful. Tarot Reversals, for example, has turned into my all purpose go to reference, for reversals as well as upright meanings, for being so succinctly thorough. I got 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card sometime last year, as it seemed like great way to expand interaction with cards, challenge the mind, etc. Haven't had the time/attention span to really work with it yet, though. So I figure, with this blog and all, why not work on a few exercises from it here now and then. In no particular order....

Decided to do the Activity 3:1 exercise from the 3rd section/step of the book, Emotions. A summed up version of the directions, from Aeclectic:

What emotions are evoked with this card that we have each chosen? First, describe the emotions and feelings on the card for the character(s) involved and the environment they are within. Second, repeat this step but put your description in the "first person." Third, relate a personal and real-life situation which involved similar feelings and qualities which you have just described.

It's hot. Desert-time. Rocky and barren, not unbearable but dry and hot, monotonous plains of dust stretching out as far as the eye can see... But she isn't looking at all that. She isn't paying any of that any mind. No, she stands here, next to that little somehow still sprouting up plant. New life, new ideas, and yes so it is. Look at the way her cheeks color, blush. Look at how she stares at that flame, watches in burn with possibility, with ideas. Her body language- she wants to grab at it and run, she wants to do something with it, she knows that power it has, what it represents for her, empowerment. Yes, empowerment. This is a girl that wants to go out into the world and do something, and now she can.

Isn't it dazzling? Yes, watching the flames cackle and dance and the staff burn, burn, dangerous a little perhaps sure but isn't it just...amazing? Look at it there, in my hand. Mine to grasp to hold look at that light, that heat, that energy. There's something in it for me. I can do something now. Something creative, something original, something important. I want to, I've always wanted to but how, how can I, I'd ask, crawling through this dust, the hills, so much more the same and then I find this, illumination, my sign. So many ideas spinning madly around in my head, so-called implausible` dreams, but now I can choose one of them, something specific, and do it. I can feel the power of possibility in my hands. I'm excited, impatient, I want to run and jump and scream and go do something right now, right this very second, but I know that even with the burning staff it doesn't work like that, not really. So, with poise, I grab it, barely contained energy, excitement. It is time now, yes.

And it occurs to me, that for all my grumbling sometimes about life is pointless and lack of energy/motivation and whatever, I really do nonetheless have a tendency to be a bit... adventurous. Idea wise moreso - sometimes they are less realistic ones, such as my current obsession with "running away to Australia" but...well. That moment of realizing that of all the vague and jumbled idealistic ideas running through brain one or two are hey, actually concrete and doable and what's more, you can get to trying to do them RIGHT NOW. Recent examples? Deciding on a kind of whim to apply to take GRE, and actually doing well, and applying to grad schools, and actually getting into some, and figuring out how to finance that, and finding an apartment, and actually going! Deciding to take a cousin up on offer to visit her in Sweden, actually making plans and visiting Sweden and Poland and even seeing a bit of Copenhagen. Mentioning to another cousin in Stockholm that I wanted to go skydiving, and her saying are you serious and me saying yes and actually GOING AND DOING IT AND HAVING AN AMAZING TIME. Deciding I wanted a tattoo and finding a design and researching a tattoo place and walking there and getting it done because I wanted to and could. And even the creative process of schoolwork, that moment of realizing I DO know what to write for that essay, and getting it now in an outline and writing a rough draft and that haha progress I can do this feeling. 

Life adventures, intellectual adventures, starting new things. Not letting other people, or your own issues or hang ups, hold you back.

New Years Reading

Decided to do a simple little spread reading for the end of the year/start of the new year. Short and sweet is all you really need sometimes. (That and limited time but you know, details details.)
So two cards: the first in reflection on 2011, the second in anticipation of 2012.

So in reflection on 2011 we have here the Knight of Coins. In a lot of ways, this makes sense. The coins suit tends to reflect on the material, the physical, the external and concrete, and on this aspect of things at least, 2011 was a pretty good year, a year of some movement and progress, which is what Knights tend to represent. I did some traveling, I started graduate school, I moved to a new city, and I changed as a result my  living situation from one I didn't particularly enjoy to one I feel quite good/free/comfortable in. I even managed to find myself a part time job towards the very end of the year. So comfortable, yes, calm. The end in ending well in that regard at least. The city in the background, this new continuing chapter in my life.

And overall too, thematically - the knight of coins represents, to me at least, a kind of solid, enduring if not particularly exciting progress. The card of trudging on through life even if it isn't particularly exciting, of yes go on move forward, reliability and responsibility on going on because you should, you must. This knight isn't ruled by impulses, emotions, whatever is going on with all that. His feet are firmly rooted to the ground. His armor is well made and appropriately. He grasps that pentacle coin, props it up. He make progress because he knows its the reasonable thing to do, because he follows through on commitments. And again, on that level...I went from living with my parents (a situation not at all to my liking) and working full time in a job I didn't like and feeling intellectually unchallenged and frustrated, to starting grad school, moving to a new city, succeeding in my first semester of that, own apartment, etc etc. Not that this year has been good on all levels but...looking at it from this perspective...cannot say progress has not been made, of a sort. A reminder, this, to look on that positive side. What I have managed to do. For me personally, this card very much has that as an underlying meaning: that you can keep trudging on forward even when so much within you is screaming that you cannot, that it is too hard: back straight, one foot after the other, forward motion, slowly perhaps, with difficulty but nonetheless: forward motion.

Now in anticipation of the next year we have another coins card - seven of coins, an obelisk standing firmly in the ground. The suit of the material, and this card - the foundation is there. No need to make drastic changes, but rather focus on working on what you have started, on what you have. The obelisk is covered with coins, each representing various alchemical metals. As they go upwards they increase in purity, until at the top you have gold, considered to be the purest metal in alchemy, the goal, success, and wreathed with laurels. This is what you are aiming for, as you grope your way higher and higher, clawing your way up that obelisk. Transform, transmute, change. Distill away the imperfections, problems that weight you down. Aim higher yes, aim for better, improvements. Not radical changes, again, but small and steady, improving on what you already have. The same outdoor landscape, the same physical background, but try to have some goals, that laurel-wreathed golden goal to aim for, to grasp for. Try for positive changes, realistic ones, a progression, a ;adder, upwards movement, building and building on what you have. Especially physical realm, material realm: improvements here are concrete and inarguable - they can give you something to hold onto when other, more tenuous things fall apart. Concrete improvements and the promise of more. Career wise, school wise, living situation wise - how can you move forward even more in the new year? Get better. Aim for something and work for it. Successes here, even small ones, give you a reason, forward momentum overall.

christmas rumination

So put away the Spanish tarot for now, still working with Silicon Dawn and now also with Robert Place's Alchemical Renewed. A friend from tarot group lent me the book that goes with it (since I bought it deck only) so I can actually study/understand all the alchemical symbolism now and thus get all the cards, so that's what I'm doing over the holidays.

Anyway, drew a card today. A message, a thought, something to ponder and meditate on this Christmas. What should I keep in mind What should I think about?

Interesting card to draw, and not necessarily expected. It makes sense, though. Food for thought on two levels. On the one hand, more broadly/generally speaking - this holiday has largely turned into, in our society, a holiday about gifts and food, about unwrapping presents and stuffing faces and dinner tables with families we may or may not love or be able to stand spending time with and this is like...yes, of course, enjoy that, but keep in mind those who...may not have that much. The privileged of a warm place to stay, family that cares/they communicate with, money for gifts, etc. Perspective. Holiday charity giving. All that. A good reminder, sure.

For me personally, I also see in this card...well let's just say holidays, and this holiday specifically, is not something I am terribly enthusiastic about. I don't like Christmas music or decorations or seeing Santa's everywhere, I have a small family and we don't do very much which is a relief because I have no enthusiasm for holiday festivities and...I have a tendency to just grumble and whine a lot, at least in my head (because I have the good sense to spare people my nonsense at least, LOL). So I find things wrong: I am bored, I want to go back to my place in DC, these lights are annoying, this and that is tedious and blah blah. But really, there is so much that could be worse. Worse for me personally. Health-wise, money-wise, social-wise...there is so much that I could have less of, so many ways this holiday could really be bad. I personally know several people who, objectively, have much less of a nice holiday than I; there are so many people I don't know in life circumstances, for whatever reason, that make today...well. Perspective. Perspective. Keep it in mind.