Today’s three card draw: Knight of Cups, The World, Seven of Swords.  Old English Tarot by Maggie Kneen, U.S. Games Systems Inc.

As my cotd, the Knight of Cups energy is great advice for me today to crawl out of my ‘cave’ and engage with others.

“Mutually Enjoyable” activities, conversations, people, places, and things. Surround yourself with people (or just that one special person) that share the same passions and interests as you. Seek out a group with like interests, or invite others to join yours. 

Typically unsociable? Not today! Get out there, make connections, go where the ‘fun’ is.

Not sure what the day will hold for me, and likely I will need to go in search of such social activities.  But, as I pondered on this combo I kept hearing the song “Favorite Things” playing over and over in my head.  I think it suits it quite well!  What do you think?  Have a listen and enjoy!

For today’s three card draw I’m using The Incidental Tarot by Holly DeFount.  The Seven of Arrows, The World, and Death.  Arrows are the equivalent to Wands.  (from the lwb)

• Seven of Arrows:  Gaining the upper hand in a struggle.  Conflict has arisen, but strength is inherent. Courage in times of trouble.
• The World: Success, completion and achievement. Rising to a state of global awareness, affecting change and progress on a large scale.  Completion of a large scale project or endeavor that will propel you to even greater work.
• Death:  Great or calamitous change, and a chance to prepare for the shift it brings.  Assess yourself and your state of being before you are forced to endure the consequences of disaster or misfortune.  Accept inevitable change and be transformed.

The Seven of Arrows as my cotd is about conflicts.  From the small, mundane, run of the mill kind, to the more major ones, and overcoming these conflicts.  This isn’t necessarily just outer conflicts, but rather inner conflicts or even a combination of both.  I usually see the Seven of (Wands) as giving the advice to stand your ground, defend what you believe in, and sticking to your guns.

The thing with conflicts and this card, is that I/we are in a good position to overcome them.  The ball is in my/your court, so to speak, and the next move, the winning move, is yours.  The World card enforces this idea of success and completion. Point, Match, Game!  I’m not sure if I have ever felt I was in this position before.  The position to really call the shots.

Now for the Death card.  I have no problem with the concept of transformation and change.  But, calamitous change?  No, not necessarily.  Of course, if you happen to be one who abhors and fights change tooth and nail, then yes it might feel like a calamity.  But, as with anything, success will certainly bring about change.  Hopefully, a change(s) for the better, which The World endorses and reinforces.   A change in the way I think about things like succeeding or excelling.

There are several irons in the fire, projects to wrap up, expand on, and plans for future projects.  The conflicts?  Nothing so dramatic or that worrisome, but there will  be “game-play” changes to work out.   A path to explore that hadn’t been seriously considered before.

At the end of the day, change is good.

Creator and Author:  Charlene Livingstone

Publisher:  U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

ISBN:  978-1-57281-715-9

Relying on her 25 yrs. experience and education in teaching Visual Arts and English, Livingstone created her Art of Life Tarot by selecting specific pieces of art and pairing them with the perfect quotation to create this unique Tarot.

As we explore, you will see the traditional suits of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles, and the Court structure is Page, Knight, Queen, and King.  The Major Arcana has retained its traditional titles as well, but do not show a number for any order; however the LWB lists them in order with Strength 8 and Justice 11.  The lwb gives three or four keywords for each card.  The Minor Arcana section gives characteristics of both the suit and number, and the role of the court figures, all for a quick reference when interpreting.

The paintings featured include works by such artist’s as Claude Monet, Leonardo da Vinci, Gustav Klimt, Vincent van Gogh, Mary Cassatt, and many more.   Quotes by George Eliot, Henry David Thoreau, Robert Louis Stevenson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (just to name a few) have been chosen to emphasize both the painting and the meaning of the card.

“I realized that by drawing inspiration from my background in art history and my lifelong passion for quotations, I could capture the essence of the meanings behind each card while simultaneously encouraging the reader to interpret its personal meaning.” ~Charlene Livingstone

One of my favorite portraits from this deck is seen below on the left.  “Head of a Young Woman with Tousled Hair” by Leonardo da Vinci, c 1508.   It was used as the basis of a portrait painted by da Vinci in the movie “Ever After” and is adapted to look a bit more like the actress Drew Barrymore.

The card backs are a special work of art all on their own.  It is “The Tree of Life” by Gustav Klimt; 1909.

Even the storage box serves more than one purpose.  It’s also a display case for the artwork(s).  The lid itself turns into a picture frame to hold your ‘card of the day’.  It operates on a hinge and when propped in the correct place, stands on its own allowing a card to be slid into the viewing area.

Displayed in the frame is the beautiful 10 of Cups.  The portrait is entitled, Gardener’s Daughter by Edward Henry Wehnert.  The quote reads:  “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”  ~Marcel Proust

Before I go, I just wanted to add that I asked the question, “What is the best wisdom you will have to offer us?”  Take a look at my answer.

Well said Mr. Shakespeare, well said.

A very readable deck and a must have for any art collector–Tarot or otherwise.

For more information on this deck, please visit U.S. Games Systems, Inc. and the Fool Stop Tarot Blog.

Today’s draw includes the Three of Swords, the Ace of Cups, and the Six of Cups.  I see ‘Forgiveness’ in this combo.     Brokenhearted, a gift of love, and memories of the past.  Normally, I see the Six of Cups as sweet nostalgia, but with the Three of Swords on the opposite end, it speaks to me of wrongs done in the past.   If that broken heart is to heal, allow the Ace of Cups to mediate with the gifts of love, contentment, and peace offerings.

Get to the Heart of the Matter, and allow the broken heart to heal.  As the song says, it’s about Forgiveness…

*Images are from the Golden Tarot by Kat Black and published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Beltaine:  “The Fire Tends to All”

When the topic for this blog-hop round was announced, the Ace of Wands from the Druid Craft Tarot immediately sprang to mind.

“Here, the wand is offered to us from the heart of the sun – the source of creative fire, initiative and energy.” (pg. 44)

Balefire’s were often lit from a fire created especially for the Beltaine celebrations.  They were called a “need-fire”.   What better source of a “need-fire” than the life-giving, earth warming, burning sun?

“The Fire Tends to All”

Sparks turn to flame

Flickering with life

Aglow they reach for the sky.

Warmth and light

Spreading outward and up

Dancing embers racing on high.

Moths to the flame

The revelers come

The Blessings of summer bestowed.

Drums beat the spring tempo

Jump, twirl, grind, and spin

Rejoice all the night

‘Fore a new day begins.

The fire we’ll take

Home to the hearth

The promise of life renewed.

The continuing gifts

Of a season reborn

Yet again, The Fire Tends All.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out all the great posts in the Beltaine Tarot Blog Hop.

For the next Blog Hop, please ‘Click’ and continue reading!

*Images used: Ace of Wands from the Druid Craft Tarot, The Four and Eight of Bows are from the Wild Wood Tarot.

What’s instore for the upcoming week?

The North Winds, The Ruin, Sword of Healing, La Hire.

This is the first time I’ve used a Playing Card Oracle, so please bear with me.    Love and relationship issues may be the focus this week.   The north winds are strong and powerful and threaten to blow you off course.  The pull of remembering yesteryear is strong.  A long lost love perhaps?  Pining over an opportunity missed?  Or just thinking back to a time when you thought things were better in relation to your love life and/or sex life.  Overtime all relationships change and evolve, sometimes it’s due to the people involved actively making changes, and sometimes it’s from apathy or neglect.  Yes, there is a challenge to overcome, but also a good chance for healing.  A secret may be revealed.  Be ready for it.

The lwb that comes with this deck gives little “hints” as to the meaning of the card, leaving plenty of room to use your intuition.   For instance:

• The North Wind:  From cold harsh lands, this wind blows with raw and unsettling power and often involves sexual motivations.
• The Ruin:  What once was, is no more.  though time marches on, the past often lingers within us, dictating the present.
• Sword of Healing:  When the Sword of Healing reveals itself, a challenge of love and/or healing is at hand.
• La Hire (Jack of Hearts):  This card often portrays a young lover.  As it is a “one-eyed” card, he is hiding something.

Have a great week and Happy Tarot’ing!

*images are from the Playing Card Oracles Divination Deck by Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman.  Published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. 

Art Through the Eyes of the Soul Oracle

Paintings and Text by Cheryl Yambrach Rose

Published by Daghda Visions S.R.O.

Distributed worldwide by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Introduction – “How to Use the Oracle”

This oracle deck is a vehicle to provide personal intuitive guidance from the mythic beings and Divine entities that inhabit sacred sites and spaces.  Deep insights and profound answers are hidden within the paintings.  Meditating on a card image connects you into the energy field of the location where the painting was conceived.  (lwb)

Cheryl describes her style as Neo-Mythic Art.  It is the unique blending  of a portrait painter, visionary  artist, and researcher of historical data of sacred sites and their mythology.  She lives and works in Glastonbury, England, Prague, Czech Republic, and Mt. Shasta, C.A.

Art Through the Eyes of the Soul Oracle is  52 original, gilded cards, and guidebook set.  Beautiful illustrated and lifelike images look as if they could step right from the card and converse.  The backdrops show many actual locations around the globe, as well as places of legend and myth.

For example, “Eriu’s Eyes” shows the Skellig Islands, which are off the southwest coast of Ireland.  Also, ‘into the west’ was Tir na Nog – the enchanted land of the Tuatha de Danann.  This was a place of eternal youth and magic recorded in song, verse, and prose of the Irish mystery tradition.

“Libuse, Prophetess of Prague” is a Druid Princess who foresaw Prague in a mystical trance.  It is said this took place on the hill of her castle at Vysehrad, a magical site that has been occupied since 3000 BCE.

For me personally, I love to learn about the history and legends of “sacred” locales.  This is a real bonus!

Before I began this review I posed the question, “What is the most important wisdom you have to teach?”  After shuffling I turned up “The Hermit” card which gives the advice:  Share Your Wisdom with Others – Shine Your Light. 

The expanded meaning:  (from the companion book)  Come down off the mountain and develop the gifts you have been given.  Speak your truth.

An excellent answer, in my opinion.

The 108 page companion booklet measures 3.5″ x 6″ and is the same size as the cards.  All 52 cards are illustrated in a black and white scan with an expanded meaning and commentary on the image itself, which includes commentary on the location and symbology.  Cards and booklet come packaged in a heavy card board box, excellent for storage when not in use.

The card backs are non-reversible as there are no reversed or ill-dignified meanings.  They show an ethereal creature peeking at you over the edge of a stone in what looks to be a hidden away sacred place. Around the edge is a border in a gold filigree pattern.  The card portraits also have a border which looks more like a frame and does not distract from the image.  The gloss finish and flexible card stock make for easy shuffling, even with the cards being a bit over-sized.   The deck has a gilded edge that not only adds to the overall visually pleasing package, but gives the deck a feeling of opulence when handled.

As beautiful as all the women of the deck are, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the men and the animals found throughout.  Horses, fowl, deer, wolves, mountain lion, and creatures of the sea just to name a few–all very lifelike.  Above are just a couple of examples of the male contingent and as you can see, they are just as beautiful in their own right.

Cheryl offers this advice when working with the deck:  “Drawing a single card to ask a question for daily guidance or meditation will act as a catalyst to your own thought process, and is an excellent way to use this deck.  A three card layout of present situation-influences-guidance, or any layout  of your preference, can be utilized for a stimulating and profound reading.”

The Art Through the Eyes of the Soul Oracle is an easy to use and very relevant oracle that I would recommend to one and all.   To see more images visit the Author/Artist website (link above) and take a look at the video below.  The video shows many images from the deck and also from the book (Art Through the Eyes of the Soul).   This deck is now available to order from U.S. Games Systems, Inc. or check with your favorite retailer.  Enjoy!

This deck is also available as iPad and iPhone apps. at the App Store.

As my COTD the Four of Pentacles is about time.  Sharing our time and making time for the really important things in life.   The Seven of Pentacles is also about time, in that having patience and allowing the time that it takes for something or someone to mature and grow as intended.  The Five of Wands is a little different from a traditional stand point.  To me this one is less about competing and more about not needing to compete.  While others are busy competing with each other over “table scraps”, you realize those scraps aren’t worth competing for anymore.  There are bigger and better things for you to seek out.

I found this quote which I thought goes nicely with this combo–tying it together with a big fat bow.

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue.  Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them.  And the point is, to live everything.  Live the questions now.  Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, and live along some distant day into the answer”.  ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

First off we have the Five of Pentacles.  (Present situation) the woman in this painting looks totally despondent.  Her shoulders are hunched forward in a posture of defeat, her eyes appear to be staring at nothing, her face is void of expression, and she doesn’t even seem to be aware of her surroundings.  What could have possibly happened that she has arrived at such a dejected point?

Well, not to get overly dramatic, it’s not as bad as all that.  As my COTD the Five of Pentacles takes a further look at this idea:

Are you feeling at loose ends today? Perhaps you are questioning where you find yourself at this point in your life (there is a lot of that going on around here).  Perhaps you are feeling a little sorry for yourself. That’s ok. Every now and then it’sacceptable to wallow in a little self pity. But you can’t stay there for long. Have a good cry and allow it to wash out of your system.  Situations can and often do change in the blink of an eye.  Tomorrow is time enough you can wipe your eyes, blow your nose, and pull up your “big girl” panties and get on with it.

The Two of Swords in the challenge/obstacle position is very clear.  Ambivalent and seemingly unable to get past this state of being.  When a decision cannot be reached, for whatever reason, there can be no action, no moving forward, no solution.  As long as this remains the status quo, the Five of Pentacles energy is going to hang around.

The Chariot in the advice position calls for action!  This is the obvious solution to the Two of Swords quandary.  Possibly easier said than done, but it’s time to buckle down.  Make a decision on a course of action, then make a plan, and start implementation.  This is the only way to break the stalemate of indecision and immobility and crawling from the quagmire of self-pity.

I pulled one more card to answer “How can this best be accomplished?”  and drew The Empress.

The quote on the card pretty much sums it up… Don’t you think?

*images are from the Art of Life Tarot deck available soon from U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Also, be sure to visit the Fool Stop Tarot Blog for more Tarot Goodies.

U.S. Games Systems, Inc. 2012

Author – Terry Donaldson

Artist – Peter Pracownik

ISBN:  978-1-57281-677-0

(Introduction)  “In a sense, the journey of Bilbo Baggins is perhaps rather like our own journeys, with a tendency to cling to what is known, a disdain of change, and an unwilling hero who gradually finds within himself qualities he never knew he had.“

Where shall this story start, you ask?  Why, from the beginning of course, with The Fool, also known as Bilbo Baggins.

“It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.”  ~Bilbo Baggins – Lord of the Rings~

This 78 card deck brings the much loved story The Hobbit, to life through the beauty and genius of the Tarot.  Twenty-two Marjor Arcana and fifty-six Minor Arcana, are based on the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith structure, which include four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, Coins) and four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King).  Real as well as mystical creatures appear throughout, along with a cast of colorful characters including Dwarves, Elves, Men (humans), Wizards and Trolls, just to name a few.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, will probably readily recognize these four characters.

• Gandalf as The Magician:  Gandalf is sitting on a rock (earth), beside a lake (water), holding his staff in his arms (fire), at his feet a lunar sickle (air).
• Beorn as The Hermit:  Seen here as a man, he stands with a great axe in his hands.  Tall, powerful, even as a man, let alone when he would ‘skin-change’ (shape-shift) into a great black bear.
• Gollum as The Hanged Man:  Gollum scuttles across a lonely terrain hunting for food. On the ground we see he has already captured, and killed, two fish for his meal.  (I thought he liked them ‘raw and wriggling’)
• Smaug as The Tower:  The Dragon Smaug, in great wrath, emerges from his lair spewing fire to wreck revenge for the disappearance of the cup from his immense treasure, that Bilbo took.

You will see these characters show up again throughout the deck.  For instance, Beorn is also the Page of Coins, but there he appears in Bear form and Smaug is also, quite fittingly, The Devil.

These three, The Empress, The Chariot, and Temperance, are all non-traditional images for their particular archetypes, at least the one’s I’m used to seeing.  For help in understanding them I turned to the booklet.   The Empress:  Bilbo and Gandalf are united in the deepest bonds of spiritual love with their fellow Companions on this great Quest.  We are, here in this place, reminded of the tremendous power of spiritual and earthly love, which has motivated life itself, and expressed itself in innumerable forms.

The Chariot shows the Companions as they push on with their quest, their combined power enabling them toward their common goal.

Temperance though is the one that really had me stumped.  Here we see Bolg, who was the leader of the Goblin army, and he harbored a great hatred for the Dwarves.  With a host of Wargs and a cloud of bats, Bolg gathered an army throughout the Misty Mountains.  At the Lonely Mountain, Bolg led his army into battle against the Men, Dwarves, and Elves.  The Goblins were defeated (Bolg was killed by Beorn) with help from the Eagles and Beorn in his Bear form.

Still stumped?  Divinatory Meaning:  Looking into the past in order to understand the present, moderation, healing, unifying opposing trends. In a reading, this card tells you that by diluting down your indulgences, and exercising temperance, you will achieve the best from a situation. When we are able to resist the pull of opposites, and balance contradictory desires, then we will be able to move forward more smoothly.  Ok, I can live with that. 

The card backs are reversible and depict the Ring of Power with it’s sinister writing–”One Ring to rule them all”.  The Six of Cups shows Gollum in his cave with the ring before Bilbo arrives and finds it.   The Wheel of Fortune shows Bilbo and Gollum in the cave engaged in a riddle contest.  *{Bilbo Baggins: A box without hinges, key, or a lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.   Gollum:  Eggs! Eggs is the answer.}

“Here in this underground cave, by this pool of stagnant water, the immense power of the Ring, which now lies in Bilbo’s pocket, is unfathomable.  This card is a reminder of the power of chance, of the whimsical nature of the Fates, granting fortune for good or ill upon whomsoever, and wherever, they will.”  (pg. 14) 

Speaking of the booklet, it’s 95 pages and includes an introduction, three original spreads, biographies on both the author and artist, the divinatory meanings for each card (upright and reversed), and a description of the images.

The deck is printed on sturdy card-stock with a sleek matte finish so that they shuffle easily.

A beautiful deck that I know I will enjoy using for many years to come.  (Note to self…Must get the Lord of the Rings deck soon too!)

So now, where will the journey end?  No one can say for sure, and although Bilbo was a reluctant adventurer, adventuring he did go.

“We hobbits are plain, quiet creatures. Adventures make one late for dinner.” ~Bilbo Baggins.  *Quotes from the upcoming movie, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – 2012.

Be sure to visit the U.S. Games Systems, Fool Stop Tarot Blog for all their latest news, projects, and products.

The Hobbit and all characters and places therein are trademark properties of Tolkien Enterprises.

]]> http://newpathstarot.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=3719 2