Podcast #42 is hosted by Anastasia, Rose Red, and Andrew, learning a plethora of amazing facts and absorbing multiple centuries of wisdom from the brilliant Robert Place.  Click here to listen!

In this episode:

Robert Place / Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum /  La Brea Tar Pits / Los Angeles County Museum of Art / James Ricklef / The Alchemical Tarot Deck /  Los Angeles Times Newspaper Story about Robert M. Place’s exhibit / Rider Waite Smith Tarot Deck / Historical Tarot of the City of Ferrara / Aquarian Tarot / Tarot de Marseilles / Robert M. Place’s CaFAM exhibit page / Jean-Claude Fornoy / Jean Noblet / Jean Dodal / Antoine Court de Gebelin / Le Monde Primitif / Etteilla / Dan Pelletier / The Tarot Garden / A.E. Waite / Pamela Colman Smith / Eliphas Levi / David Palladini / Stuart Kaplan / U.S. Games / Aubrey Beardsley / Art Nouveau / The Alphabet Tarot / Athalia Cook / Fenestra Tarot / Chatriya Hemharnvibul / Paulina Cassidy / The Paulina Tarot / Evan Yi Feng / The Lunatic Tarot / Patrick Valenza / Deviant Moon Tarot / Breugel / Ciro Marchetti / Legacy of the Divine Tarot / The Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery / Edward Burne-Jones / Lyceum Theatre / John Ruskin / Sandro Botticelli / Michelangelo / Marsilio Ficino / Neoplatonism / Pythagoras / Plato / Phaedrus / The Republic / Aphrodite / Chakras / The Stoics / Anima Mundi / Cicero / St. Augustine of Hippo / St. Ambrose / Florence, Italy /  Theosophy / James Bond / Dr. John Dee / Queen Elizabeth I of England / Ian Fleming / New York Open Center / Readers Studio

This Saturday, March 13, I’ll be teaching my Second Saturday Tarot Class. This month’s topic is the Tarot Knights.

So what is it that makes these guys jump on their horses and ride off to do deeds of derring-do?  In an age when most people don’t know how to ride horses or wield swords, how do the Knights relate to our society? We’ll also look at how the Knights have been transformed into other figures in recent decks.

This class will have a unique hands-on component – but you have to attend to find out what it is!

Bring your cards, notebook and pen, and sense of adventure!

More details and registration here!

Due to space considerations, we request that you preregister for the class.

Today’s card is from James Wanless’ Voyager Tarot.  The 2 of Crystals, titled Equanimity, is tied to the Priestess card, both by number and by the sense of calm and balance.

Voyager - Two of Crystals

Like the Priestess card, the Two of Crystals encourages us to find balance. This suit, dealing with the mental and intellectual balance necessary to navigate our daily obligations, reminds – literally “re-minds” – us to be balanced and clear in our thinking. Especially on this balance day, midweek, we can be mentally fatigued, and find ourselves making unbalanced decisions.

Don’t be distracted by shiny objects, or glittery forms with no substance.  Focus on what is real, what is true, and let that clarity inform all of your decisions.

The Magician figure in most Tarot decks is male; however, in Rachel’s Shining Tribe Tarot, the figure wears both mask and robe, and so is androgynous.

Rachel Pollack's Shining Tribe - The Magician

This Magician is not a stage magician, not a trickster; this Magician has a deep and profound connection with the earth, air, fire, and water pictured, and has the knowledge – and wisdom – to use them to create magic.

Sometimes, when we want to make a change – even a positive, welcome change – part of ourselves is frightened because we get caught in “what if?”.  What if it doesn’t work? What if I look like an idiot? What if it all goes incredibly wrong, and I’m not as smart as I think I am, and I can’t manage the process?

If you’re feeling stuck, caught in the “what if”, take time to meditate on what is working. What elements are at your disposal?  What resources – external and internal – are available to you?  Does someone have something you need?  Can someone help? Ask. Just ask.  Even if the answer is “no”, you may find an alternate source.  But if you don’t ask, the answer is always “no”.

If we wait until we have all the answers to the “what if” questions, we’ll never take action.

Instead, put on your Robes of Wisdom, your Mask of Confidence, take a deep breath, and do it.

What magic can you create today?