Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Sometimes it IS worth the hassle!

Many thanks for all the feedback regarding the new layout -- I really, really like being able to show you the card images in the readings -- there're quite often several hidden treats when you look at the images! For instance, if you still have the last reading hanging around, go back and take a quick peek at The Ace of Cups and The Magician. If you don't have that email handy, the reading (and images) is still posted at my blog.

If you read the A.E. Waite card descriptions, he waxes enthusiastically about the four streams of water emerging from the Cup in the Ace of Cups. Take a closer look at the picture, though ... notice anything? Yep, there are five streams of water, not four! How about The Magician? Remember how I noted he is adept at using Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles? How can you know that? Well, look at what's sitting on the table right in front of him!

We can thank Pamela Coleman Smith (also known as Pixie Smith) who illustrated the cards per Waite's instructions. Smith not only illustrated the Major Arcana (the Trump cards), she also illustrated the suit cards with pictures or vignettes rather than simple pip counts as had always been done before. In doing so, she really transformed the art of reading Tarot.

Up till then, there was really only one style of Tarot cards -- I call them "Marseilles" after a popular French deck. Pixie Smith developed a whole new style pretty much by herself (Waite didn't really care what was on the suit cards -- he was more interested in the Trump cards). Some of the most popular decks today are variants of Pixie Smith's original concept. Since then, a third desk style has emerged ... but perhaps I'll talk more about the three styles next time!

We'll again pull two cards -- the first suggests something we should focus on for the week. The second suggests things we might consider in order to fully benefit from the attributes of the first card.

The cards are:

Seven of Wands Wheel of Fortune


The Seven of Wands suggests contention – strife, struggle, argument, debate, etc. This can actually be a positive message! For instance, it might suggest you assertively seek what you desire and be steadfast against those who oppose you.

When involved in a struggle, some of us question whether it’s worth it. It just seems too much trouble to go through the hassle. The Seven of Wands reminds you that if you are convinced in the rightness of your purpose, then you shouldn’t avoid the struggle simply because it may be difficult. Sometimes, the hassle really is worth it!

Our second card offers a little hope if that hassle seems just a little too tough. The Wheel of Fortune can help us when times seem tough by reminding us that things tend to go in cycles.

Like the song says: there are good times, and there are bad times. When times are good, don't sit back and become complacent ... because things can change! When times seem bad – don’t become too discouraged. If you think about it, when things seem their worst, that simply suggests that things can then only get better!

Furthermore, the Wheel suggests you shouldn’t simply stand still and accept what life hands you. You can take an active hand to try and remain on the upside of the Wheel. When things are down, instead of waiting and hoping for things to get better, you can work actively towards improving your situation, thereby speeding up the recovery process.

Finally, the Wheel can suggest not becoming discouraged when faced by adversity – adversity is a natural part of life and should be expected to happen. The fact that bad times happen shouldn’t worry you – accept them as natural and not necessarily indicative of problems. Instead, look for ways how you can face and conquer the adversity. If it cannot be addressed, then that might be taken as suggestion of a problem.

When we put these cards together, we see the concept that we may face a struggle whenever we strive for something we feel is worthwhile. The Wheel of Fortune reminds us that this struggle may be well worth our while! If we think we should avoid strife because things are pretty good, the Wheel reminds us that sitting tight doesn't guarantee that things will continue as they are. If the struggle seems too tough, the Wheel suggests that brighter days lie just ahead -- if we only take a hand in the matter rather than avoiding contention.

Bottom line, sometimes we have to work for what we want. And ... if it were always going to be fun, then they wouldn't call it "work", would they!

And that's about it this week; I look forward to seeing you again next week. As always, if you're interested in a private reading, please check out some of the super readers I work with at http://www.woodsongtarot.com/readers.html.

Woodsong --
visit Tarot by Woodsong

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Balance

Back to the week -- I hope your's has begun well. Don't know if you celebrated Mardi Gras yesterday or not -- I live in Houston now, but grew up in Louisiana so I know what the party can be like. We decided to have a traditional New Orleans meal to celebrate, but had problems agreeing on what was a typical New Orleans dish.

I lived in New Orleans for several years and my vote was for Red Beans and Rice. Red Beans are traditionally served on Mondays in New Orleans; the story goes that Monday was always laundry day in the old times. Back then, laundry took all day to do -- no modern machines around at all! So, housewives cooked a simple meal that could sit unattended on the stove all day while they took care of the laundry -- and that meal was Red Beans and Rice. For the traditional New Orleans flavor, you need to use some pickled pork in the beans. Southern Louisiana used sausage instead, so the New Orleans style was unique to the area.

On to the reading ... we'll again pull two cards -- the first suggests something we should focus on for the week. The second suggests things we might consider in order to fully benefit from the attributes of the first card.

The cards are:

Ace of Cups (Reversed) The Magician


Aces of any suit typically suggest the beginning of something new; Cups particularly zone in on emotional areas. This might suggest a new beau, or perhaps a new friendship or even a new emotional attitude towards topics that interest you. Maybe it's a new interest in a favorite singer on American Idol (although I thought most of the guys were uninteresting last night)!

The reversal twists this message, though. Instead of a new beginning (or a renewal of a stale interest), it likely suggests some hindrance that's keeping you from being able to realize this aspect. Let's take a peek at out next card to get some things to think about that may help us move forward.

The Magician normally suggests the power of our individual will. We all vary in physical capabilities ... but the physically weakest of us all may have the strongest willpower. Our will may even be our most defining personal aspect. While this is normally the view of the Magician, I'm getting a different twist this time, though.

Another aspect of the Magician is that he is able to use all the aspects of the Tarot suits -- Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles -- when he enforces his will. There's a balance implied here -- no one suit is more important than any other, they're all equally important ... and all equally necessary. (In fact, I find balance or imbalance a recurring theme in many of the readings I do.)

I'm wondering if perhaps the Ace of Cup's reversal is because of an imbalance -- a tendancy to focus strongly on the emotional aspect while neglecting the other equally important aspects? In order to fully realize new emotional enjoyment, we also have to address our physical, mental, and spiritual (or energy) wellbeing. I'm really stretching the spiritual part here -- Wands really refer to the interest and energies we use to fuel ourselves -- but I guess you could term it spiritual well-being in a way.

Anyway, what I'm thinking is that we'll be best able to upright that pesky Ace if we also keep an our on other facets of our person. Keep balanced, and you'll find it easier to stride down the path!

And that's about it this week; I look forward to seeing you again next week.

Woodsong --
visit Tarot by Woodsong

Friday, February 16, 2007

Your Own Downtime

I hope your week's been going well. Detroit was completely frigid -- very cold and windy! A huge snowstorm hit the area on Tuesday -- we were watching the radar and it looked like a hurricane with a calm "eye" right in the middle on top of Detroit. While everyone around us was getting slammed, we still had clear weather. Finally, mid-afternoon the eye began to "close" and the snow moved in. I'm not sure how much we got (12 inches was predicted), but I think the wind blew much of it around. The airport was essentially closed on Wednesday -- main problem were the access highways were shut down.

I've learned from past trips that when I'm travelling up north in the winter, I always schedule a lot of lag time and never never never schedule the last flight out, so I wasn't affected. Many of the people I was with had cancelled flights on Wednesday (I didn't leave till Thursday) and had to scramble for alternates and hotel rooms.

My three winter travel lessons are "1) Always schedule slack time, 2) never take the last flight out, and 3) if you're connecting in Cleveland, plan on spending the night in Cleveland!"

How about some quick words from my sponsors, then on to the reading!

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We'll again pull two cards -- the first suggests something we should focus on for the week. The second suggests things we might consider in order to fully benefit from the attributes of the first card.


The cards are:

Four of Swords

Four of Wands

I like to think of the Four of Swords as suggesting a time to rest and recharge your energies. Not so much physically, but more mentally. Our physical selves are pretty good at demanding their own rest time -- we're simply so tired that we have to stop and rest. Our mental selves aren't quite as demanding -- although they're just as needy as our physical selves. We don't always recognize that stressed-out stretched feeling as suggesting we need to step away to relax and renew our minds -- we just try to keep on going ... which of course, stresses us out even more!

Be sure and schedule your own "lag time" -- reserve down time for yourself when you can mentally recharge. Whether that's a restful sleep, a relaxing book or movie, or sitting and staring at the fire for an hour -- you know what relaxes you ... reserve the time for yourself and do it!

The Four of Wands suggests what may await us if we do so -- it's a celebratory card. Things fall into place, pieces fit together smoothly, we may even gather recognition from others ... all these are available to us if we take care of ourselves -- both our physical selves AND our mental selves!

And that's about it this week; I look forward to seeing you again next week. As always, if you're interested in a private reading, please try my sponsors above or my list of readers at http://www.woodsongtarot.com/readers.html . I also welcome your comments at http://woodsongtarot.blogspot.com !

Woodsong --
visit Tarot by Woodsong at http://www.woodsongtarot.com