A reminder that PantheaCon, the unique gathering of the divination/magickal/pagan/alt tribes, produced by Glenn Turner and Ancient Ways, is next week!  February 15 – 18, 2008, at the Double Tree Hotel in San Jose, California.  The hotel is booked, so the organizers have provided information about alternate accommodations on the event website.

This annual event is an opportunity to meet, take workshops with, and do rituals with the people whose books you read, whose decks you work with, who inspire you – and also a chance to meet and work with new authors, new voices, new ideas.  Some of this year’s names include Mary Greer, Joseph Martin, Luisa Teish, Lon Milo DuQuette, and Z Budapest.  You’ll also have the opportunity to attend sessions with our favorites – Thalassa and Naija, Calyxa Omphalos (a great chance to learn about her fascinating Elemental Hexagons Oracle),  and Miri Hunter Haruach.

I’ll be teaching a class on Monday at 11:00 a.m. on Tarot By The Numbers.  We’ll look at the significance of numbers in the Tarot, and how to use the varying meanings attached to numbers to enrich the reading experience.

The program schedule is on the website, as is the detailed schedule featuring descriptions of each session and presenter bios.

We had such a good time last year, we plan to meet with several of the presenters and capture more incredible interviews for our podcast.

All of the podcast pane will be there – me, Rosered, Artemis, and Andrew – please feel free to say hello!

I have a friend who is going through some very rough times right now.  As with many people, she’s caught in the tides of the economic recession.  She’s experienced some personal losses, and she’s having trouble thinking of reasons to keep going.  I’m very touchy about the topic of suicide – my father committed suicide, and I’ve had two former romantic involvements decide to end their lives (not while I was with them, but it’s still a shock to receive the phone call, however many years elapse between the end of the romantic relationship and the end of their life).

The tragedy of suicide is that it’s a permanent response to a temporary situation.  No matter how awful things are – no matter how terrible life seems – each day does bring the possibility of change, of improvement.   It’s important to remember that – cling to that thought, if need be – as one deals with the demons, internal and external, plaguing one’s life.

My father’s choice to end his life meant that he missed my graduation from college; he didn’t walk me down the aisle at my wedding; he missed being part of his grandchildren’s lives, he never knew the wonderful people they’ve grown up to be, and he’s missed the chance to be part of their children’s lives.  He’s a very dim memory for my oldest niece, and nothing but a photo to my other niece and my nephew.  We’re all the poorer for the loss, and therein lies the real pain of suicide – not only does it deprive the person who commits suicide of all the potential joy and love in their lives, it robs everyone connected to them of that joy and love as well.

I wanted to come  up with something to help her see the light of the dawn, however dark the night – thus, this five card reading.  Five is the number of divinity in humanity, of our partnership with the divine, and five seemed like a good number for finding one’s way back to the path of life and divine connection to sustain one through dark times.

For this reading, I used the Wheel of Change deck by Alexandra Genetti, as it’s an excellent source of images filled with life and divine energy.  The links below will take you to the card images on Alexandra’s site (if available – not all the images are online), so you can see them as you read.

Card 1:  One good thing about today. This card helps focus on what is good about things today. No matter how bad they are, there’s at least one good thing about today, even if it’s just that you woke up this morning and the universe is giving you another chance to create your life.

The card that came up was The Devil.  In Alexandra’s deck, this card represents primal nature, the unbridled life force, and the cycles of life and death, light and dark.  This card is saying that however awful it feels, this is part of the cycle of life – this, too, shall pass, and in the meantime, tune into the joy of simply being alive and having functional senses to take in the beauty of the world and the energy of life.

Card 2:  One reason to stay here for others.  No matter how lonely or alone you feel, you touch more lives than you realize. People come together for reasons conscious and unconscious, and among those unconscious reasons are the agreement we make with others on a soul level to grow and experience life together.  This card can help you see how you are connected to others, and how your choice to end this incarnation would affect them.  This isn’t about guilt, this is about honoring the trust others have placed in you as part of their lives and community and fulfilling the agreements you made with them.

The card that came up was the 7 of Disks, which shows baskets of grains from all over the world, and a small mouse.  This card suggests sharing – being able to give to others, and being able to accept what others have to give (which is often very difficult to do with emotionally sensitive people, who are nonetheless champions at giving, leading to emotional depletion and depression).  The presence of the mouse reminds us that the universe provides for all creatures, no matter how small.  If the universe cares for a mouse, surely the universe cares for us!  We can allow others to care for us and give to us, and we can allow ourselves to receive from others in a healthy, mutually beneficial way.

Card 3:  One reason to stay here for yourself.  No matter how pointless or futile life seems, you are here for a reason.  This card can help you remember what that is, and start you thinking about how to get back on the path of your life.

The card that I drew was the Knight of Wands, which shows a Tibetan monk in meditation with dorje and bell in front of a fire.  I read this as a call for her to remember her soul purpose, her passion, and to think about those people, places, causes, and pursuits which move her to passion and to action.  There’s definitely a connection to soul purpose her, and clearly she hasn’t finished what she came to do.

Card 4:  One thing to do for yourself to start the healing process.  Suicide isn’t usually about the wish to die; it’s usually the desire to stop the pain inside, and death usually seems like the only way to make it stop.   Death really doesn’t make it stop, it just transfers the pain from you to others.  This card is to help you think of one thing, however small, you can do to take care of yourself and deal with the pain that is creating such extreme thoughts and feelings.

The card I drew was the Four of Swords, which shows an Egyptian mummy case, canoptic jars, and four daggers pointed at the heart chakra of the mummy.  This doesn’t sound like a card of healing, but I think it *is* very much about healing – the need to let go of what is no longer necessary, useful, or helpful, of being able to shed what is holding her back so that she can move forward.   Easier said than done, but it *can* be done, and the universe is being undeniably explicit about her need to do this.  Even pain can be comfortable in its familiarity, but it’s still not good to hold onto it.  This is a time for her to really let go of old emotional and mental habits, and break out of the shell of her old life.

Card 5: The sun which will rise in the morning.  No matter what, the sun rises every morning, bringing light, life, and another chance to make things right within yourself.  This card is your reason to make it through the night, and get out of bed in the morning.

The card that came up was the Prince of Disks, which shows a man working in his shop to create a wagon wheel.  The Tarot is telling her that she has skills and purpose unique to her, and that the universe needs her to stay and manifest those gifts to heal herself and make the world a better place.  The wheel is especially interesting here, representing movement and change, and also capturing in a more practical way the cyclical nature of life first brought out in The Devil card.

For my friend, the cards aren’t putting a spin on the fact that she’s in a down cycle and a time of darkness and pain.  The Tarot is providing encouragement by reminding her that if she can bring herself to face the pain and let go of the patterns which hold her back, she will find that she is able to create a life for herself which allows her to pursue her passions with the skills and talents she has, and to shape a fulfilling, creative life of purpose.

I hope you never feel this close to the edge, or have to give support to someone you love who feels this way.  But if you do, perhaps this spread will help.

Call a friend. Call your doctor. Call the Suicide Prevention Hotline for your city/country. In the US, the number is 1.800.273.8255. If you’re not sure of the number where you live, it’s just a Google search away.

Blessings on you and those you love.

I recently celebrated my birthday (45, thank you!), and my Darling Husband treated us to a weekend getaway at a place out in the middle of nowhere – no phone, no cellphone reception, no internet connectivity.  Three days of nothing but reading, napping, and playing with several of the fabulous decks which I’ve acquired and haven’t managed to open.

Turning 45 was almost as good as turning 40 (turning 30 was the best, but that was due to celebrating in Florence, Italy, which gives that birthday a rather distinct advantage over every other).  45 is a magical number – 4 + 5 = 9, which happens to be my birth card number, so I knew this year was going to be a special one.

Having sunk into a sort of Tarot trance (what happens after about 36 hours of sleeping and doing Tarot), I decided it was time to do my birthday reading.  But what spread?  How to wrap this significant year into a spread?

I thought about doing one of the full deck spreads, such as the one Rachel Pollack outlined in the Llewellyn 2008 Tarot Reader, but that felt overwhelming.  I decided to sort the cards by suit, and see what happened.

After staring at the neat piles of cards, I decided to shuffle each suit individually and pull one card from each, and one major.  That would give me an overview of the coming year on the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual levels, and the major arcana card would give me the big picture.

I’m not going to share the cards I turned up just yet – I’m still pondering some of them.  This definitely looks to be an exciting year, and I’ve decided I’ll revisit the reading and mention the cards as the year and the related events develop.  Stay tuned!

Happy 2008 to everyone from Tarot Pathways! We wish each of you a joyful, prosperous, and fulfilling year!

At last, at last!  A second edition of Ellen Lorenzi-Prince‘s fabulous Tarot of the Crone is now available for pre-order from Tarot Connection.   It’s an edition of 150; when I ordered today (December 8), there were only 102 remaining.  Leisa assures us there will be additional printings, but really, why wait?  Order now!

Many thanks to Leisa Refalo for helping to make this happen!

Congratulations, Ellen!

A podcast listener wrote in with a great question about questions.  Almost everyone who has read for a while knows that, unless you’re dealing with an exceptional crowd, most of the questions you’re going to be asked fall into the same categories – does he/she love me?  is he/she cheating on me? will I get the job?  The listener wanted to know what kind of questions I’d like people to ask.

I don’t know that there are particular questions that I wish people would ask, so much as I would like them to think about what they really want to know and how they ask the question.  What would make the reading more useful for them is make the question about them and what possibilities they are able to manifest, rather than basing their questions (and sometimes their identity and entire life) on someone else – partner/boss/family member.  The best readings are those in which the client wants to learn more about their role in a situation and to identify the resources available to them (both internal and external) to help them find the best way to approach the situation and the people in it.

What do you think is important about the question the client brings to the reading?

Well, that was more fun than a bucket of banana slugs! The Great Podcast Migration of 2007 is finished, however, and you can now find the current podcast on the Podcast page, which also has a link to all of the podcasts on the Podcast Library page.

Now, time to work on the newest podcast, with Susan Levitt – it’s worth the wait!

But first, I’m going to take a bit of time to do something that doesn’t involve staring at a computer!

Tarot. Thanksgiving. They both start with the letter T. Sometimes they’re both filled with things we’d rather not deal with (Cousin Sarah’s obnoxious boyfriend, jello salad with coconut topping, the Ten of Swords followed by the Tower).  On the plus side, both offer opportunities for reflection and gratitude.

I’m trying to be more mindful of the holidays this year, and not allow myself to be caught up in the chaos which often erupts at this time. I was thinking about Thanksgivings long gone, and remembered my grade school art teacher, who truly believed that everyone was an artist. For those of us whose artistic abilities were less-developed, she would show us shortcuts for drawing. One of those shortcuts was to trace around your hand to create an outline of a turkey.  One random thought led to another, and the next thing you know, I had sketched out not only a turkey, but a Gratitude Reading. You can use it any time, of course, but it seems especially pertinent today.

Trace around your hand (do each finger individually) to create a turkey shape. The thumb is the turkey’s head, and the fingers make the tailfeather spray. You can color in the turkey if you want, add feet, and decorate any way you wish. You can also work with just the outline if you want. The point is to think about gratitude, not to get hung up on making a realistic drawing of a bird.

Shuffle your deck, pondering all that is good in your life and asking the Tarot to show you all that you have for which to be grateful.  When you’re done shuffling, lay out the cards – the first one on the head, and the next four on the tailfeathers, and two more on the bottom for the feet.  If you traced your right hand, move clockwise around the drawing; if you traced your left hand, move counter-clockwise.

Card 1, on the turkey’s head, represents mental and intellectual blessings.

Card 2, the front tailfeather, represents physical and material blessings.

Card 3, the tallest tailfeather, represents spiritual blessings.

Card 4, the next tailfeather, represents emotional blessings.

Card 5, the last tailfeather, represents historical blessings – things in your past which were beneficial in some way, even if they didn’t seem like positive events or influences at the time.

Card 6, the first foot, represents the blessings associated with home and family.

Card 7, the other foot, represents the blessings associated with work and career – not just vocation, but avocation and hobbies as well.

Find some paper and crayons, shuffle your cards, and use the Tarot to remind you of all that is good in your life!

Things might be a bit slow this week – I’m in the process of migrating the past episodes of the Tarot-To-Go podcast to the Tarot Pathways site, and it’s taking a while – you know all those cool links with each podcast that take you to the pages of the books and things we talk about in the podcast? Due to software compatibility issues (hello, it’s 2007, I can’t believe I’m still having to utter those words!), the links for Episodes 7 through 16 have to be re-created. By hand. Yes, indeedie, great fun! At least I have a three day weekend to work on them!

Since we do a lot of parties and street fairs, I’ve had to develop a number of two and three card spreads to address different types of questions (and to keep it interesting for me as well – how many times in a row can you do the same spread?). As useful as ten (or more) cards can be in deeply examining a question or an issue with a client, the atmosphere at most parties and public events isn’t particularly conducive to intensive analysis of the client’s situation.

Probably the first three card spread most readers learn is the wonderfully useful Past-Present-Future layout. This spread can be applied to pretty much any type of question, and produces an easily understood reading.

There’s also the Situation-Action-New Situation layout, which is good for the “what if I quit my job and move to Morocco?” type of question.

When a client comes up with a relationship question, I like to use an overview spread:

1. Insight about querent      3. Insight about relationship      2. Insight about the other person

This covers relationships of all kinds – family, coworkers, neighbors – not just romantic relationships. It can also be used to examine the client’s relationship with an intangible, such as their career, or behavior, such as an addiction, to provide insight into their job search or their efforts towards healing and recovery.

If a person is looking for an answer to a “what do I do about X?” type of question, I use the following, which I learned from Mark McElroy:

2. Outcome if ignored      1. Suggested action      3. Outcome if taken

If a client wants to make changes, but doesn’t know what to do, the Tarot can also offer three possible courses of action – one for each card turned up.

What’s your favorite three card spread?