Normally, after my first-Sunday-of-the-month workshops, I
like to discuss some of the ideas and tarot symbols we engaged. Unfortunately, I had to turn my attention to
completing another project, and now we’re more than half way through the month,
so I don’t remember much. However, I am
looking forward to the November 6th session. Even though we’ll be 6 days away from the 31st
of October, the high energies of Halloween will still be crackling in the
atmosphere. We can stretch those
energies, because astrological Halloween isn’t until November 8th,
(15 degrees Scorpio).
A big part of the American Halloween is its emphasis on the
spooky stuff, related to our childhood—and atavistic human—delight in
experiencing the shivers, (even if some of the decorations and other props can
get a bit hokey). Although Neopagans
celebrate Samhain as the Celtic New Year, and therefore also a time for
celebrating the cycles of life and meditating upon the past, the future, and
our connection to the Ancestor World, the Faery World, and the World of Nature,
we can’t ignore the tricks and treats and fun and games that make up the
greater festivities of our American Halloween.
So, in honor of this aspect of the Halloween season, I’m thinking about
having “Things that Scare You,” as one of our themes. When we can “tame” our fears, (the way
Mexicans do by celebrating the Dia de los Muertos with sugar skulls and other
amusements that treat death playfully), we assert power over them.
I’ve been wanting to do something special with the colorful,
whimsical “The Halloween Tarot” by Kipling West and Karin Lee, so here is an
exercise that we may try on the 6th, in the vein of “Things that
Scare You.” Shuffle the Halloween deck
(or any deck) while posing a request like, “Please show me five things that
scare me.” Then, place your deck face
up, (so you are looking at the pictures), and go through it until you find one
of each: a Pumpkins card (Pentacles), Imps (Wands), Bats (Swords), Ghosts
(Cups), and a Major Arcana card. It
doesn’t matter what order you find them in, just pull out the first of each
type that you find.
To interpret these cards then, we are looking at them in
terms of how the things these cards represent—both in terms of their
traditional tarot associations and in terms of the unique imagery of the
Halloween deck—may in some way denote some issue that is “scary” for you. This could be some area of avoidance or
resistance, if nothing else. In this
context, even cards that people normally regard and respond to as highly positive
are to be scrutinized for what kind of anxieties they may arouse. For example, “The Sun” card could denote a
fear of “shining,” of showing off your talents or stepping into some public
position, while the Ten of Cups/Ghosts, the happy family card, could denote
some discomfort with family commitment, and the claims that “family ghosts” may
have on you. If you happen to draw a
card that would normally be your significator, it could indicate a fear of
“being yourself.”
To apply the extra layer of the Halloween Tarot symbolism,
you could view the Ghosts as representing things that haunt you emotionally,
the Imps as things that get in your face or try to trip you up, and the Bats as
the anxieties and obsessing over problems that are flitting around in your
brain. The pumpkins are a little harder
to interpret in terms of a scare factor, because, they’re so colorful and
cheerful. Perhaps in the
Pumpkins’/Pentacles’ material world associations, we can see them as symbols of
the futility of clinging and craving in this ephemeral mortal life. Jack-o-lanterns give off light for a few
festive evenings at a time of year when the nights are getting longer and
darker, but then they’re thrown on the trash heap to rot. (This echoes the “gardens of Adonis” of ancient
times, and gets into the Buddhist idea of “dukkha” = suffering /
unsatisfactoriness, that all existence is change and separation.) However, I don’t want to close this exercise
on a downer note, because it is also in creating those little festive touches
that we get to exercise some creativity, and also to exercise some caring,
because we thereby offer a little cheer to our fellow beings.
By the way, the little manual that comes in the box with the
Halloween Tarot cards is well written up by Karin Lee. Though the lwb’s (little white booklets) that
accompany tarot cards are necessarily brief, this one is pithy in its card
interpretations and philosophical content.
Although the above exercise was created with the Halloween
Tarot in mind, it will probably work well enough with other types of
decks. There are also some gothic and
vampire decks out there, but I haven’t gotten around to obtaining any of
these. I imagine that the tone of the
readings would certainly be darker, requiring a more emotionally mature group
of querents.
Once you have had some time to contemplate what sort of
fears your cards may point to, think about how to take action to mitigate them,
and even ways that you can confront those fears as you align yourself with the
powerful energy currents of Halloween.
(Refer to some of my past years’ blogposts on the “feng shui of
Halloween.”)
