The planet associated with this week’s card, The Empress, is Venus! Venus is the Planet of love and pleasure. The planetary ruler of both Taurus and Libra, Venus offers insight into the ways we express affection and experience beauty, as well as the ways we choose to spend our money. Venus very much influences personal style, from home décor and personal style to gift-giving and favourite cuisines! Venus also rules a person’s allure and desirability, the way sex appeal is communicated, and how sociable a person is.

Venus, known in Greek Mythology as Aphrodite was the goddess of love, emotion, and seduction. She is the most beautiful of all the gods, but she is also self-centered and majorly moody! Aphrodite deals with the inactive, internal side of love: the initial attraction, flirtation, and measures taken to solidify a relationship before any “action” is taken!

The planet Venus orbits the Earth once every 224-225 days. It has an Earth-like crust, but this was only recently discovered as Venus’ atmosphere is made up of thick, swirling clouds. These clouds mean that at different times of year, Venus appears as a bright morning or evening star. The planet was named after the goddess of beauty for a reason!

Venus reminds us that our personal passions are what make us interesting, and being able to find the beauty in any moment will ensure a life of pleasure!

Astrological Oracle Cards. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Antonella Castelli. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2012. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

Tarot Mucha. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Giulia F. Massaglia. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2014. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

Woolfolk, Joanna Martine Woolfolk. The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need. Lanham, MD: Scarborough House, 1990.

This week’s card is The Empress! This past weekend was the Fall Fair in my little town, and that always means the beginning of harvest time. The Empress represents beauty and nature, creativity and nurturing, material prosperity and bountiful harvests!

This time of year is so inspiring – it’s getting cold, so thoughts of sweaters and new outfit combinations, new ideas for recipes, switches from cool, refreshing summer drinks to warm, comforting winter ones. It’s getting cold outside, so we’re turning to the warmth of home and the indoors! The Empress represents not only planting and the resulting harvest, but also warm homes where talents and passions can be nurtured.

Golden Dawn Astrology associates The Empress with the planet Venus. The Empress is the embodiment of the feminine, of the inner world as opposed to the outer. Both Venus and The Empress exude beauty & sensuality, and are harbingers of material prosperity!

I originally planned to find a picture of a pregnant woman painting – searching that in google images brings up some weird results!! Looking through pregnant woman painting walls, I started coming across some sweet pictures with both parents painting – and then I found this adorable one of a little family posing in front of some beautiful graffiti. I love how this represents nurturing – the family feeling inspired to take a photo, and demonstrating to their young child art appreciation!

The Empress is usually associated with the Roman numeral III. I have come to associate the number 3 in Tarot as the number of Creativity and Nurturing. The Empress especially is about “mothering:” that is, guiding to fruition/completion, be it of pregnancy, raising a child to an adult, or seeing a creative project through to the finishing touch! This card can also represent marriage, pregnancy, or birth in their many forms. It’s all about joyful creation!

On the other hand, the reversed position represents the darker side of investing so much love into creating. The Empress’s boundless creativity can be overwhelming, to the point of creative block! And her need to nurture can create dependencies that are hard to free herself from. The Mythic Tarot represents The Empress with Demeter, the Earth Mother. Demeter’s downfall came when she was separated from her daughter, Persephone, who disappeared to live with Hades as his partner. This destroyed Demeter, who roamed the earth searching for her daughter. Even when she found her and worked out that Persephone would live with Demeter for part of the year and with Hades for the rest, Demeter was so depressed in her daughter’s absence that she couldn’t tend to Nature, resulting in Winter and the death of all crops until Persephone’s return in the Spring.

A good way to get back on track from creative block is getting back to nature: both in being true to yourself in a way that makes you feel totally comfortable in your surroundings, but also getting outside! Biddy Tarot suggests that this card’s presence can indicate a need for a little trip – however long you can manage – to a favourite nature place. Immediately, I wondered if I could get to the Hopewell Rocks any time soon! After reading Biddy’s nature angle today, I really tries to “take it in” when I took Iris out to run around the driveway and garden today — and it felt great! Now here I am, finally writing the post for this week.

My image for this card is of a pregnant mother gardening with her two small children, surrounded by flowers, and with a fountain nearby and a house in the background! Appropriately for the card’s creative meaning, I’m already flowing with ideas for my painting this week! Check out last week’s High Priestess on Instagram via the widget in the sidebar!

<3<3

 Esselmont, Brigit. “Empress Tarot Card Meanings.”Biddy Tarot. Web. Accessed September 22, 2015.

Astrological Oracle Cards. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Antonella Castelli. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2012. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

Sharman-Burke, Juliet and Liz Greene. The Mythic Tarot: A New Approach to the Tarot Cards. Cards illustrated by Tricia Newell. Toronto, ON: Stoddart Publishing Co. Ltd, 1988.

Tarot Mucha. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Giulia F. Massaglia. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2014. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

This week’s card, The High Priestess, is represented in The Mythic Tarot as Persephone, daughter of Demeter, the Earth Mother, and wife of Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Persephone is the Guardian of the Secrets of the Underworld, and is a conduit between both worlds. Although she knows the secrets of fate, she can only hint at them to those in the world of the living, for she also understands that the barrier to the future – and to the land of spirits – is one that should not be crossed.

That being said, coming so close to seeing the future and what it could hold is part of the attraction of Tarot! A huge part of my spiritual journey has been reading the excellent posts on Biddy Tarot. One in particular has deep resonance this week: an article by one of Biddy’s Endorsed Readers, Sherry, called “Meeting Your Guides.” Now, I admit that I was skeptical! So much that I actually found myself rolling my eyes as I read. Her meditation involves visualizing walking down a flight of stairs, then up another, where you come to a door and ask your “guide” to reveal themselves on the other side when you open the door. “Come on,” I said. But I read on, as Sherry explained that your main guide is that voice in your head that keeps you on track – for me, it’s the one that gently psssts “the laundry’s been ready for the dryer for a while!” and “do you think it’s time to start making supper?” but also “did you leave your wallet at the grocery store? Quick, go back!!” and so on!

So, I was game. As I lay in bed feeding Iris that evening, I decided to try it out: I closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and started walking down a set of stairs. I noticed the stairs were covered with thin, shabby grey carpet, the kind that frays at the edges, with stiff, ripply threads that rock to pull on when you’re a kid! I digress. I kept descending, and started to wonder how the heck long I was supposed to walk down for! Then I saw the bottom, a rich, reddish wood plank floor. And here is where something started happening!

As I started up the next flight, my surroundings began changing, constantly and rapidly, flashing around me like a music video! The stairs I was on flipped in rapid succession through what felt like every set of stairs I’d ever been on, from places I’d lived to placed I’d visited, inside and outside, all over the world! My heart started racing as the vivid images gave way to darkness, and I could see the door: I had hoped for a nice warm wood door, to match the floor between the staircases, but no: all I could see of the door was the bright green electricity coursing around it, jagged and foreboding! I was scared!

Coming up to the door, it felt like a close-up in a video game, as I saw my hand reach out and close around the black, iron handle. I pushed it open, and was plunged into darkness: if I was scared before, I was darn terrified now. I had been watching lots of supernatural horror movies in the days preceding, so I thought “oh great, I’m going to get a freaky ghost lady!!” And then I remembered, I hadn’t even asked the question outside the door! Nuts! So, through my fear and ready for whoever showed up, I asked into the darkness: “uhh..guide? Show yourself!”

Immediately, the image of a statue of a Greek goddess, reclining, flashed into my mind. Blackness again, and then, the name “Persephone.” And that was it!

Image via Wikimedia Commons

As I lay there afterwards, calming down from the anxiety and excitement of how well Sherry’s visualization/meditation had worked, I started to reflect on Persephone and how she relates to me. The most stunning connection I made was this: I feel very superstitious about crows and their groupings, and whenever I see them (even before this) I take a second to reflect on the message that seems to be trying to come in. Persephone rules the Underworld and crows are often associated with ominous things like that! Wowwww!!!!

Image via Wolf & Raven on Pinterest

That my guide appeared as someone from Greek mythology also deeply resonates with me, as that has always been a major subject of interest for me. I traveled to Greece with my Daddy as a teenager! And the symbol of the pomegranate is a neat afterthought, because as a kid when pomegranates blew up as a trendy thing to eat, I was all over them! Juice, fruit, I’d take it. All of it!!! But there’s another pomegranate connection: I had a pretty serious obsession with Tudor history as a preteen/teenager, in particular Henry VIII and his wives, and especially Catherine of Aragon – whose crest was the pomegranate!

I could go on all day about connections I’ve made to this topic, but I won’t! If anybody gets a chance to try Sherry’s visualization exercise to meet your guide, I’d love to hear what you come up with!

<3<3

Sharman-Burke, Juliet and Liz Greene. The Mythic Tarot: A New Approach to the Tarot Cards. Cards illustrated by Tricia Newell. Toronto, ON: Stoddart Publishing Co. Ltd, 1988.

New routines are in full swing, and we’re all working towards managing the stresses that come with the start of a new season! This week’s card reminds us to focus on the present, and listen to our deepest intuitions for guidance. It reminds us that we have the answers to our own questions already, and they’re found when we’re able to tune out worrying about the past and future. This card reminds us to focus on how far we’ve come, bringing us to Now!

This card is about the Great Mystery and the Dreamworld, and allowing your internal waters to become still enough to reveal the wisdom that lies beneath your regular currents. These are the “qualities of duality: dark and light, endings and beginnings, diffusion and creation. Wisdom lies between these extremes” (Weatherstone 14). The High Priestess’s energy can embody both “creative potentials and destructive impulses” (Sharman-Burke and Greene 30). Tarot Mucha‘s High Priestess looks so peaceful and content, an inspiration as the books and papers pile up!

I love the Feng Shui Tarot’s High Priestess, with the pillars represented by beautiful vases, not to mention her wild shoes! The Little White Book describes her presence in a spread, specifically in the reversed position, as indicating a need for self-reliance, independence, high standards, and self-reinvention (Connolly 9).

The Mythic Tarot assigns The High Priestess to Persephone, Bride of Hades and Guardian of the Secrets of the Underworld. The divinatory meaning describes

feeling “drawn inexplicably to [the hidden inner world] through an interest in the occult or esoteric” (Sharman-Burke and Greene 32). I find that so cool because

I often pull this card in the “Advice” position in Celtic Cross spreads, like the advice is already in action!

The High Priestess is quiet, even silent, for the most part, and requires patience to be heard. Her messages are “revealed only through feeling, intuition and the night-world of dreams” (Sharman-Burke and Greene 32).

 

This card is widely associated with the Moon, but I was recently introduced to an article through Biddy Tarot, on Tarotator.com, which suggests Pisces to be The High Priestess, and the Moon as card XVIII – The Moon (makes sense!). I like this interpretation, because I’m a Pisces and I find this to be a really empowering card! What do you think?

My image for this card is a Tarot Reader – I can’t wait to work on the painting for this week! Check me out on Instagram @tarotscopemim for my weekly interpretations :D:D

Speaking of the Eternal Now, school is back in full swing – if posting slows down, it’s because I’m in full duty-calls mode!

Astrological Oracle Cards. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Antonella Castelli. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2012. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

Feng Shui Tarot. Eileen Connolly and Peter Paul Connolly. Published by U.S. Game Systems. Scan via Tarot.com, September 14, 2015.

Illustrations from Feng Shui Tarot used with permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902. c. 2001 by U.S. Games Systems.  All rights reserved.

Sharman-Burke, Juliet and Liz Greene. The Mythic Tarot: A New Approach to the Tarot Cards. Cards illustrated by Tricia Newell. Toronto, ON: Stoddart Publishing Co. Ltd, 1988.

Tarot Mucha. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Giulia F. Massaglia. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2014. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

September 13, 2015

Sun and Jupiter in Virgo

Moon and Mercury in Libra

Venus and Mars in Leo

Saturn in Scorpio

Uranus in Aries

Neptune in Pisces

Pluto in Capricorn

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aries (March 21 – April 19)

9 of Pentacles, XX – Judgment

You’re ready to take time for yourself to do some deep self-analysis. If changes have got you down, turn to the sources of love and loyalty in your life – they’ll remind you why you’re awesome!

Taurus (April 20 – May 20)

Page of Pentacles, 9 of Swords R

Help has arrived, and it’s time to let it in. Release the pain that has been gripping you however you can. Surround yourself with beauty and love and get ready for action!

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

II – The High Priestess, IX – The Hermit R

You are at a major turning point, and the best way to release feelings of isolation is to focus on the present. Listen to your heart and your mind, and trust your intuition – you are poised to gain some deep, powerful, and illuminating wisdom.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

0 – The Fool, 6 of Pentacles

You’re starting a happy new journey, and you have good reason to smile! You’ve been giving freely of yourself and your resources, and now karma is coming back to smile with you. Your emotions are balanced and everyone is your friend!

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Queen of Cups, 10 of Cups

You’re feeling super emotionally complete! Your analytical mind has turned inward to turn a few cogs for the better, and your heart is finally feeling content. Look for the rainbow in every storm to keep the Cups raised high!

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Ace of Cups R, 8 of Pentacles R

A passion project isn’t panning out, at least not as quickly as you’d hoped. You’re feeling overturned emotionally, but your mind is still working hard, and this emotional current is just the charge your creative fountain needs! Bring the piece of your Self you’ve been too shy to include – it will prove fortunate.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

King of Swords, XV – The Devil

You’re feeling like it’s time to make a big move, one you’ve been thinking about for a long time. The only reason you hesitate is because it’s really selfish, and could affect other important areas of your life if you’re not careful! Consider huge decisions deeply, and be mindful of how you’re affecting others.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Knight of Pentacles R, 4 of Pentacles R

Misguided is one way to put it: you’re lost on your way, and it’s because you’ve been hoarding all the responsibility and resources! Take some time to plan, and include others – they’ll appreciate it, and you’ll feel enriched. Your work will be transformed with a practical mind, and we can all use a little discipline 😉

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

XI – Justice, 10 of Swords R

Something is keeping you from launching forward, and it involves the need to release a deep-seated mindset that has been an obstacle for a while. Taking some time to assess what’s working and what’s not – even seeking judgment from a respected peer – will bring that new horizon closer, and ease any pain.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

6 of Cups R, 6 of Wands R

You’re having a hard time coming to terms with a recent ending. Feeling stuck in the past emotionally and blocked by worries of what other people are thinking of your choices, it’s time to let go of the past and focus on the future. Nostalgia can be healthy when enough energy is doted in present relationships!

Aquarius (January 20-February 18)

Queen of Wands, 2 of Pentacles

Driven by original ideas, you are focusing your energy on creating the environment that will sustain success – no matter what’s going on outside. You’re ready to balance whatever comes your way to create the change that needs to happen!

Pisces (January 20-February 18)

2 of Wands, 5 of Cups

You can see the big picture, and it’s amazing! It pains you that you have to stay close to home for now. But that’s where you’re needed, so hold on to your dreams and work on “tending your crops.” The seeds you planted are coming up, but they need time to grow! Don’t let your impatience depress you, and focus on the bright side and what you’ve gained so far while you wait for the good things that are coming!

Decks used:

Astrological Oracle Cards. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Antonella Castelli. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2012. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

Tarot Mucha. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Giulia F. Massaglia. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2014. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

Tarot and Astrology have many close connections, and Golden Dawn Astrology ascribes astrological meanings to each Tarot card. This week’s card, The Magician, is linked to the planet Mercury!

Mercury, also known as Hermes, in Greek mythology, is the Messenger of the Gods, a playful and clever trickster. Mercury is the fastest planet – appropriate for the god with winged feet! Mercury rules communication, commerce, and commutes, and has a powerful influence over emotion. Mercury embodies “that unconscious power within which looks after us…and which appears as though by magic at the most critical and difficult moments in life to offer guidance and wisdom” (Sharman-Burke and Greene 22-23). Mercury is all about urgency and quick thinking. As Joanna Martine Woolfolk puts it, “Mercury makes life understandable, for it is the planet of intelligence” (181).

Curiosity is Mercury’s realm, as are excitement, nervous energy, and zipping emotions! Mercury is most prominent as an evening star in March and April, and as a morning star in September and October (Woolfolk 182). Mercury is the power planet for Gemini and Virgo!

The Mythic Tarot represents The Magician as Hermes, “guide of travellers, patron of thieves and liars, ruler of magic and divination, and bringer of sudden good luck and changes in fortune” (Sharman-Burke and Greene 21). Hermes is the master of the four elements, and also controls dreams and the weird little coincidences that lend clarity in times of confusion.

Interesting fact: Because Mercury travels so close to the Sun, it’s always either in your Sun sign or in the sign immediately before or after!

Disney’s Hermes image via hero.wikia.com

Mercury is always thinking and always on the move, reminding us to focus on the present and to stay true to ourselves, and have fun doing it!

Works Cited

Adams, Evangeline. Astrology for Everyone. New York: Permabooks, 1949.

Astrological Oracle Cards. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Antonella Castelli. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2012. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

Sharman-Burke, Juliet and Liz Greene. The Mythic Tarot: A New Approach to the Tarot Cards. Cards illustrated by Tricia Newell. Toronto, ON: Stoddart Publishing Co. Ltd, 1988.

Woolfolk, Joanna Martine. The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need. Lanham, MD: Scarborough House, 1990.

This week’s card is The Magician, and how appropriate as we get ready to start a new school year on Tuesday! Summer is over, and it’s time to face reality again: back to work after Labour Day weekend. This card is all about finding the magic inside to achieve whatever you set your mind to!

My personal image for The Magician is a young child setting up a scene of some sort using found items. Each of the Tarot suits are represented, as the child uses imagination and spirit to create in the way it sometimes seems only children – or those in touch with their inner child! – can. Children are peaceful and sure in their abilities, and are ready to take on the road of them with unabashed self-confidence!

I love the way The Feng Shui Tarot by Eileen and Peter Paul Connolly represents the four suits: Black Tortoise for Wands, Green Dragon for Pentacles, White Tiger for Swords, and Red Phoenix for Cups. The Magician is shown hanging out with all four beasts on a snowy mountain, as opposed to the traditional Magician standing before a table on which a Wand, a Pentacle, a Sword, and a Cup lay, waiting for the best tool to be chosen for the situation. This line from the “reverse core aspect” in the Little White Book that came with this deck is wonderful: “[p]erhaps you should consider how you abuse your talents” (Connolly 8). There is no doubt in this statement that you have the power inside you to achieve: it’s time to figure out how to make the most of it!

The predominance of yellow in both Tarot Mucha and The Feng Shui Tarot is so inspiring! To me, yellow represents optimism, clarity, and happiness – three of the most important “magical” tools that make life so much easier! Interesting too that the roman numeral for “1” is the letter “I,” considering that the Magician is all about finding the power and skill within to reach full potential on your personal journey.

This week, The Magician teaches us about setting up, laying out, assessing what you have to work with and finding the magic within to make whatever you need to do happen!

 

 

Feng Shui Tarot. LWB: Eileen Connolly. Artwork: Peter Paul Connolly. Published by U.S. Game Systems. Scan via Tarot.com, September 7, 2015.

Illustrations from Feng Shui Tarot used with permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902. c. 2001 by U.S. Games Systems.  All rights reserved.

Tarot Mucha. LWB: Lunea Weatherstone. Artwork: Giulia F. Massaglia. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2014. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

Here is my first leap into Tarot card design! This is my interpretation of 0 – The Fool. The Fool represents the beginning of the journey through the Major Arcana, and so I thought using the image of a baby very fitting!

In my card, a sweet little baby has scooted out onto the balcony, fearless of the larger-than-baby gaps between the rungs and the treacherous drop to the city below! Baby’s eyes are on a pretty butterfly, flitting off into the great expanse. Baby reaches out for the butterfly, wanting to grasp life’s beauty, to hold on to it. Although in a precarious position, distracted by joy and fun, Baby is protected by the faithful family dog, always nearby to keep Baby from harm, allowing full enjoyment of life’s adventures and no need for worry! Baby has no expectations and is grabbing life by the butterflies!

I haven’t really used watercolours before, so I am a true “Fool” going into this project! Woohoo!

I had so much fun doing this, I can’t wait for next week!

<3<3

Miriam

Recently, Iris got into my Tarot cards – and much to my delight, she laid out an adorable and innovative little spread, gazing at each card and muttering over it, just like Mama!

I know you’ll enjoy this video of her preciosity, and I hope you’ll find some fun in the interpretation of her “Spread” as well!

I named the positions she chose, and she actually created a pretty insightful Spread! I will be using this one myself! I chuckled a bit as I read “Iris’s cards” based on the Spread positions!

Card 1: Past affecting future

6 of Cups

Card 2: Current Self

XII – The Hanged Man reversed

Card 3: Future aspiration

10 of Pentacles

Card 4: Past aspiration

0 – The Fool

Card 5: Heart/ Soul card

Knight of Cups

Card 6: Takeaway

XX – Judgment

The Story in the Cards

A young person is hard at work, and pauses to watch two nearby children, remembering feeling as free and playful as they do! Smiling at the memories, it is time to return to the task at hand and prepare for the future!

[Iris remembers the park fondly, and would much prefer being there than at home making it work with her own toys.]

Standing up tall and ready to move on, the young person learns from the past and makes a plan to set forth with success. Eyes forward, wary of what held back progress in the past, she has regained her balance and is ready to be back on solid ground.

[“Park? Park. I’m tall.”]

Family values are the young person’s guiding influence. Nothing could compare to the promise of a secure and solid home life! The young person loves when the whole family is together, and looks forward to building a loving family of her own.

[Picking up her doll: “ohhh. Ohh, baby. Come on. Find Dada.”]

Leaving the maternal cave to cast out independently, fearless of the consequences, the young person dances along her path with joyful abandon. Her carefree conduct suggests the presence of a guardian angel as she is carried along in her journey, unscathed by mishaps!

[Born, walking, talking, climbing, reading Tarot…she’s got this!]

The young person is following her dreams, guided by her emotions and desires and nothing else! Her arrival in any situation is a gift. She is a fulfiller of dreams, the result of a fairytale romance!

[She’s the babe of our dreams and we love her so much!]

The young person knows the value of divine self-awareness. Beyond the earthly realm, right and wrong have no grey area, and the young person knows this well, holding her morals close to her heart!

[More like: she loves the male angel on the card, and points at his chest: “bubbie!!”]

I had a lot of fun writing this post, and I hope you enjoyed it too! More Baby Tarot to come!

Tarot Mucha. Artwork: Giulia F. Massaglia. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2014. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.