Tarot Spell to Encourage Good Dreams

I’ve been revisiting my old book, Tarot Spells, which I wrote back in the 1990s, to refresh my memory as to what is in that book, as well as to play around with different tarot decks in my collection to see which of their graphics lend themselves especially well to these spells.

So, I decided to start with my rite “To Encourage Good Dreams,” (pp. 129-132 of book).  The three cards used in this spell are the Ace of Cups, The Moon, and The Star.  After trying combinations with different decks, I was pleased with the graphic resonance when I use the cards featured below, which are from The Green Witch Tarot Deck.  This deck was designed by Ann Moura and illustrated by Kiri Leonard.

One thing you might immediately notice is that The Moon card is different than usual, as rather than having a wolf and a dog in the foreground, it instead has a woman who has her back to us as she looks at the reflection of the moon in the pond.  That particular card works well for this particular spell, because the spell involves projecting yourself into the card, so to speak, as you visualize yourself standing under a moonlit sky.

There is graphic continuity from the fish jumping out of the river in the Ace of Chalices to the fish jumping out of the pond in The Moon.  The Ace of Cups/Chalices is here symbolic of the Unconscious mind, (as the Ace of Cups represents new experiences in the inner world of your emotional and spiritual life), while the fish represents subconscious elements emerging from the depths, (similar to the fish emerging from the cup in the Rider-Waite-Smith Deck’s Page of Cups).  Note that I capitalize “Unconscious” to represent the Jungian idea of the Deep Mind, as opposed to being unconscious due to being asleep or knocked out.  The three cards also evoke the depths in featuring watery environments.

The cup is also significant because a common technique for dream recall, (used by people who do dream incubations), involves sipping half a cup of water before going to bed, and half upon waking, while affirming that you will remember your dreams.  Doreen Virtue suggests holding the cup to your solar plexus while making an affirmation such as “My dreams are vivid,” before going to bed, and then upon waking, “I now remember my dreams in vivid color and detail.”  For help with creative work, Jess Stearn advises drinking the water while saying, “This is all I have to do to find the solution to the project I have in mind,” and also closing your eyes and turning them slightly upward, because that helps you get into the alpha state.  If the solution isn’t in your thoughts on waking, it may come during the day as a flash of insight.

But back to the tarot spell, I won’t type out the whole chapter, but the basic spell is below.  In my book, I didn’t mention the practice of drinking half of the cup before bed and the other half before awakening, (because I wasn’t familiar with that technique back in the 90s), but you can do that to modify the spell if you like.

First, lay down The Moon card while visualizing yourself standing under a moonlit sky.  Sense the moon as a nearby, kindly presence.  Imagine that you see the moon take on the shape of a beautiful shining lady with a crown of stars.  Know that she is the Queen of Night and will send beautiful dreams to you.

Next, set the Ace of Cups in place to the left of The Moon, while imagining that the Moon Goddess is presenting you with a chalice containing a magical elixir, which will give you wondrous, happy dreams.  At this point, take up a cup which you have prepared in advance and drink from it.  (It doesn’t matter whether you choose to drink water, milk, wine, or whatever.)  Know that your drink has been transformed into the magical elixir through the power of your inner magic.

Finally, set The Star in place while imagining that the magical elixir enables you to float up into the sky and drift freely among the glistening stars.  Know that each of the beautiful stars surrounding you will bestow on you a special dream.

Then, recite the following affirmation:

“I have tasted the magical elixir

which brings dreams of inspiration and wonder.

Every night as I sleep,

my spirit is drawn into realms of beauty and light.

Magic, romance, and enchantment

shine through my nighttime dreams

and linger with me when I wake.

This magic is, and this magic shall be!”

 

As always, you can modify the spell by using different cards, visualizations, and affirmations to better suit your needs.

There are some folkloric aspects to this spell, because the ancient Thessalian witches had a practice called “drawing down the moon,” and there is also the mystical technique of pouring milk into a fancy cup like a chalice and then going out under the full moon to catch the reflection of the moon in the cup to drink in the magically charged liquid.

TAROT MAGIC FOR THE HARVEST SEASON

With the ancient festival known as Lammas (or Lughnasadh) coming up on August 1^st, I’ve been thinking about how one might lay out tarot spreads, not just for purposes of prediction or tarot spells, but as focal points for commemorating the cycle of seasons on a celebrational altar.  (Note: Lammas is a cross-quarter day, because it is halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox.)

“Lammas” is from an old English word that means “loaf mass,” so it is very much a celebration of the wheat harvest.  (Here in Michigan, the wheat harvest runs from mid-July to early August.)  Wheat was genuinely held sacred in many European cultures, and they had many different types of ritual festival breads and pastries.  This is also the time of year when many local fruits and vegetables are coming into season, so that we can enjoy fresh, locally grown produce.  We will also soon be entering the wine grape harvest season, (which runs from late August through October in Michigan).

So, I have been going through my collection of tarot decks to see if their graphics lend themselves to colorful harvest images for a Lammas celebration, and have scanned these three cards from the Tarot of the Golden Wheel by Mila Losenko, (published by U.S. Games Systems), which draws from Slavic folk culture.

The Sun card is featured because Lammas is a solar festival, (and August is the height of summer’s heat).  Combined with The Empress card’s image of an Earth Mother sitting in a field of wheat and holding up a sunflower as well as a cup of wine, the two cards evoke the union of Sun and Earth that brings forth a plentiful harvest.  Note the graphic resonance between the images of sunflowers in both cards; sunflower seeds are also an important nutritional source for Slavic peoples, (and sunflower seed bread is my favorite.)  The Nines are cards of multiplicity, so the Nine of Wheels, (Pentacles in other decks), shows a woman--perhaps a farm wife—enjoying the material rewards that a generous harvest makes possible.

By the way, if you are planning a Lammas celebration, you might want to look up my article on the Animal Cracker Oracle.  This is an article about old Prussian festival customs that were practiced at Christmas and New Year, but the Animal Cracker Oracle itself is very appropriate for Lammas as a celebration of the grain.

Also, check out Margie McArthur’s blog, “Brigid’s Hearth,” which has an article on Lughnasadh, http://www.brigidshearth.org/seasonalhearth-autumn.htm, which is the Celtic cross-quarter festival that coincides with Lammas.

A May Festival Candle

With the festival of Beltane/May Day just two days away, here is a simple candle rite, reproduced from my book, By Candlelight: Rites for Celebration, Blessing & Prayer.  The illustrations are from The Victorian Fairy Tarot, created by Lunaea Weatherstone and illustrated by Gary A. Lippincott.

            In moderate climates, May Day (May 1st) signals the beginning of the summer season.  (The astrological cross quarter date, half way between spring equinox and summer solstice, is 15 degrees Taurus, around May 5th or 6th.)  Here in the Midwest, in the last days of April, the leaves on the trees are still quite small, and many are pinkish and yellowish tinted, so they create a visual impression of colorful dot patterns.  Shortly after the first of May, however, you turn around, and lo and behold, most of the trees are now fully leafed out.  Also, the woodland wild flowers are at their peak, garden flowers are in bloom, and the last songbirds are returning.

           At this time, the Celts held one of their most important fire festivals, known as "Beltane" (meaning "bright fire"); they made great bonfires, and some would also ritually rekindle their hearthfires.  With Samhain (Halloween), Beltane divided the year into light and dark halves, and because such transitional points were very magical, it is prominent in the fairy legends.  Around the same time, the Romans had a six day festival in honor of Flora, goddess of flowers, which they regarded as no trivial thing, as this was one of their oldest holidays.  The themes of fertility and festivity survived in customs like the May pole and May baskets.  Through the first half of the 20th century, youths in many American communities rose early to hang baskets of flowers from neighbors' door handles, and some schools arranged May pole dances.

            A modern celebration of May could take up the themes of leafing, flowering, and brightness, emphasizing the ways that all of us may cultivate unique gifts to brighten the world.  (As a verb, leaf can mean to "shoot out" or "produce leaves," and flower "to develop.")  You can celebrate these themes in your own life by lighting a candle and saying:

            As I light this candle,                                                

                        I celebrate the joyful festival May.

            As the green world bursts forth

                        in leaves and flowers,

            and the Sun's light ever increases,

            so may I fill my own world

                        with life, and light, and color.

            So may I leaf, so may I flower,

                        so may I kindle

                                    a flame of brightness.

While thinking about how you could cultivate your own gifts and share them with the world, think about recognizing other peoples' special qualities as well, that each may be valued and encouraged.  Perhaps you could also arrange some celebrational outings, as this is a time to be out in nature, doing something playful and active.

 

Valentines Day Card Search for Lovers

Because tomorrow is Valentine’s Day—a celebration of lovers—here is a one-card-search technique you can use when you are wondering how things stand between two people in a relationship, whether that be you and your partner or some other couple.

Shuffle your cards as you pose a request like, “Please tell me something about the relationship between [Name] and [Name].” Shuffle as you normally would, but when finished shuffling, place the stack of cards face up, so the picture sides are showing.  Go through the deck—pictures facing up--until you find The Lovers card.  The cards that flank it will give you insight into what each person brings to the relationship, so lay The Lovers, along with the cards that come before and after it, in a three-card spread.  The Lovers card commonly portrays a male and female couple, so, if you have a version of this card that places the woman on the left side of the picture space, consider what the leftmost card tells you about her, and what the card on the right end tells you about him.

It is significant when a court card or other type of card that portrays a potential personality type, (often called “people” cards), is backing one or both members of the male and female Lovers pair.  If of the same sex, this could reveal the “face” that the man or woman is showing to the other, because when we are in relationships, we tend to project a certain persona to our partners—often an idealized persona—in the hopes of better capturing their interest.  If such a personality card just happens to be a card you would consider the person’s normal significator, , this would indicate that he or she is acting naturally, being straight-forward, what-you-see-is-what-you-get.  If a personality card is reversed, it could indicate that the person isn’t entirely comfortable with the role he or she is playing in the relationship.

Sometimes you get a male personality card on the woman’s side or a female on the man’s side.  Among other things, this could indicate that the dynamics of this relationship bring out the man’s “anima” (inner female), or the woman’s “animus,” (inner male), or it could mean that his or her attitude toward relationships has been shaped by previous experiences with certain persons of the opposite sex.  Under some circumstances, an opposite sex figure next to the man or woman could indicate that he or she is either involved with someone else, or not quite ready to make an emotional separation from a previous partner.  In some cases, a King or Queen in those positions might warn that a partner is potentially enmeshed with Mom or Dad.  However, you should not jump to unfavorable conclusions unless you already have some solid, real-world evidence for suspecting.

If both of the flanking cards portray human figures that look inward toward The Lovers, this is a good indication of their level of interest in the relationship.  However, if characters are gazing off in the opposite direction, this could indicate that they have other distractions, and the relationship isn’t the uppermost thing on their mind right now.  Reversed people cards are significant in this context, as a reversal can change the direction in which the figure in the card is gazing.  When a human figure, whether upright or reversed, is moving in the direction away from the Lovers, it warns that that person may be distancing him/herself from the relationship.

Flanking cards that don’t portray personalities, but instead, various types of matters, could denote resources that individuals bring to a relationship, or issues that will impact the relationship.  So, the Ace of Cups or Swords next to one of the pair of Lovers could indicate an intensity of different types of feelings on the part of the partner in question.  “Twos” cards could depict the need to make adjustments to accommodate the other partner.  Pentacles cards put an emphasis on practical matters and material needs.  A Major Arcana card would have something to do with the greater significance of the relationship to the individual’s life path, whereas a Minor Arcana card would indicate that, (at least for that partner), the relationship is more immediately affected by some daily life issues.

 

ACTIVATING THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE

I have been working on a book that details how to activate the magic within tarot cards.  As 2026 is a Wheel of Fortune Year, here are a few snippets from my section on The Wheel of Fortune card:

Devotions to Fortuna: Although different tarot decks’ graphics emphasize the turning wheel, the card also invokes Fortuna, who is the goddess presence behind the tarot.  Some older decks portray the goddess at the center of the wheel, while in classical art she might be portrayed carrying a cornucopia or a rudder, or standing on a ball.  The ancient Romans believed that each person could have an individual Fortuna as a spirit of good luck, (though, obviously, some people were better served than others), and so made offerings to her.  Fortuna also had many manifestations, including Fortuna Muliebris (luck of women), Fortuna Virilis (luck of young men, though invoked by women seeking a virile mate), Fortuna Publica (fortune of the greater public), and Fortuna Redux (invoking a safe return from travel).  As a way of nurturing your own good fortune, you might want to rise in the morning to greet Fortuna Huiusqce Diei” the “Fortune of this Day.”  Ask yourself, “How is my Fortune doing today?  What can I do to advance my Fortune today?”  Then, open your door wide to activate the magic of opening, while saying, “Fero Fortuna!  Fortuna Abundia!”

Spinning the Wheel: Part of the magical mindset is being game for new things.  This includes taking some chances by making some changes in your routines, pushing beyond some of your normal boundaries, and bringing some randomizers into your plans as a way of playfully spinning the wheel.  This is an area where divination can help.  For example, if planning a vacation, instead of following your usual inclinations, you could ask the tarot for advice on where to go for a magically delightful trip, then pull a card and consider what its images and meanings might suggest.  When you are willing to act on the tarot’s advice, you put yourself out in the realm where marvelous synchronicities can more readily take place.

Wheel Turning Spell: One of the best known of magical charm formulas is the “Sator Arepo” word square shown here.  It is a palindrome, meaning that it reads the same way forwards, backwards, and up and down.  This formula was popular in the Roman world, (with the earliest known example from Pompeii), and spread through all of Europe, where it was engraved on doors and walls, or written on paper and carried on the person.  Its amuletic uses ranged from promoting general well-being, to protecting from fire and other disasters.  Though its origin and meaning are not clear, one loose translation suggests it reads, “The sower Arepo holds steady the wheel.”  In this respect, it conveys the sense of steadily advancing one’s fortune.  You can help direct its forward momentum by inscribing the Sator Arepo square on paper and setting The Wheel card on top of that.

Also, here is a six-day spell for symbolically turning the wheel: write the Sator Arepo square on a piece of paper, and set it out on an altar space.  The next day, prepare another square, but with Sator shunted to the bottom, so it reads, “Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas Sator.”  On the third day, write out another square with Arepo shunted to the bottom, so the square now starts with Tenet.  Go through the same process every day, so on the sixth day, the word square is back to its original state, with Sator on the first line.  This completes your rotations.  Alternatively, you could get six candles, and inscribe the permutations of the word square on the subsequent days’ candles; when the last candle is burned down, a major change may be effected.  Orange candles are most commonly used in spells to change one’s luck.  (Note that this spell can also be used when you draw The Chariot card, as there is a similar sense of taking the wheel.)

TAROT SPELL FOR EMPOWERING THE YEAR 2026

As mentioned in the previous post, the tarot card correspondence for the year 2026 is the Wheel of Fortune.  An interesting thing about this card is that it is part of a “constellation” that includes The Magician and The Sun cards.  That’s because The Sun is card number 19, which in magical numerology can be broken down to 1 + 9 = 10, the card number for The Wheel, and that in turn can be broken down to 1 + 0 = 1, which is The Magican’s number.

If you take these three cards together, you can make a spell out of them:

First, lay down The Magician while thinking about how you are in charge of your life.  (This can be a New Year’s resolution, if taking charge has been an issue for you.)  You can say an affirmation like, “I am the Master [or Mistress] of Magic!  All I need to make my own magic is before me, and within me.”

Then, lay down The Wheel while thinking how you as the magician can take advantage of opportunities for change.  Think about what sort of opportunities are likely to come up in 2026, perhaps in your career, relationships, or creative endeavors— and how you'll recognize and seize these moments when they arise.  You could also affirm, “Fortune’s wheel is turning, carrying me onward and forward, with blessings revealed at every revolution."

Finally, lay down The Sun while thinking about how good you feel as your forward momentum helps to generate happiness and harmony.  You could affirm something like, “Let 2026 be a year when I enjoy my time in the sun, a time to bask in life’s brightness.”

As a special talisman for 2026, you could glue these three cards to a piece of cardboard, frame that, and mount it to the inside of your front door, (or other convenient location).

By the way, the concept of tarot constellations has been developed by Mary K. Greer in her book Tarot Constellations: Patterns of Personal Destiny.  I also think it would be interesting if aspiring tarot artists kept these constellations in mind when coming up with new card designs, because you could use cross-referencing graphic imagery for cards within a constellation.

CHANGES OF FORTUNE IN THE YEAR 2026

As each year can be related to a tarot card, 2026 corresponds to the Major Arcana card number 10, The Wheel of Fortune.  (In magical numerology, 2 + 0 + 2 + 6 = 10.)  This means that 2026 may be a year of major changes, but also major opportunities, as each station of the wheel is a nexus point where we can take our lives in new directions.

Here is a little blessing for the year 2026:            

    As the Year Wheel turns,

we welcome the Year 2026,

    for this is the year of the Wheel,

the Wheel of Fortune.

    Let every nexus point on Lady Fortune’s wheel

bring new and brighter blessings!

By the way, although The Wheel of Fortune is the year card for the larger world in 2026, we all also have individual year cards based on the day and month of our birth.  So, for example, my birthday is March 4^th; March is the 3^rd month, and as 3 + 4 = 7, I add 7 to 2026’s year number 10, and get 17, which is the number for The Star card.  I am therefore looking forward to changes involving spiritual guidance and growth.  If your month and day of birth add up to something larger than 21, (as the Major Arcana only goes up to 21 numbered cards), you would then add the digits again, to break it down to a smaller number.  So, for example, if your birthday is December 14^th, 12 + 14 + 10 = 36, which then breaks down to 9, the number of The Hermit.  (For such a person, the changes in store may result in a period of isolation, or looking within.)

COMING TO TERMS WITH THINGS THAT SCARE US

With Halloween just a few days away, I’ve been enjoying driving around and viewing other people’s Halloween yard decorations.  The current trend seems to be going for scarier displays.  Here in Michigan, a number of people have erected figures of gigantic skeletons and ghouls in their yards.  Then, because these objects are apparently difficult to take down and store, they leave them up year round, and decorate them for other holidays, like putting tinsel on them at Christmas.  Psychologically, this is a way of taming the things that scare us, (and that is a big part of what Halloween is about).

One of my new books on tarot that I’m working on offers folk magic remedies and other comments on how to mitigate fears when we pull a tarot card that throws a scare into us, so I’ll provide some snippets here, related to the Nine of Swords, The Tower, the Five of Swords, and The Devil, respectively, illustrated with The Halloween Tarot by Karin Lee and Kipling West, where the Swords suit is the suit of Bats:

Nightmares: The anxieties associated with Nine of Swords situations may well induce nightmares.  For children, put one of their dad’s used socks in the bed, as the testosterone scent is magically protective.  The use of dreamcatchers, (net-like, web-like hooped constructions, often enhanced with beads and feathers) originated among woodland Indians who hung them from cradle boards to ensnare the bad dream spirits; these have now become popular decorative items.  Some other traditional practices include putting an open scissors under one’s bed, or putting the key in the keyhole (of old fashioned doors that still have keyholes) to prevent the “mares” from slipping through.  An old Italian remedy was to put three sunflowers on the outside windowsill, as these are what the nightmare spirit “loves best.” 

                There are also folk remedies to dispel negative energies upon waking.  If you should wake up in the middle of the night and are afraid of going back to sleep, get up to turn on the light, comb your hair, wash your face, and brush your teeth; because these activities separate the Day World from the Night World, you can afterward return to bed to get more sleep.  In Japanese lore, a monster called the Baku, which is a strange creature that looks like a cross between an elephant and an anteater, will come and devour your nightmares if you call it three times by saying, “Bakusan, come eat my dream.”  (This can also be done prior to sleep.)  In Talmudic practice, a bad dream can be transmuted by saying, “I have beheld a good dream,” and getting at least three of your family or friends to respond in kind by saying, “Verily, it is good, and may it be good, and may God make it good,” and repeat that seven or nine times.  This way, the dream is reframed as positive.

Omens: Because of the sort of major life changes that The Tower can predict [when you pull this card], your Unconscious may already be sending you warnings through dreams and omens.  Omens occur when your Unconscious tries to get your attention by putting symbolically meaningful events and objects in high focus.  Some of these are personal, and some are cultural.  For example, there is nothing inherently unlucky about black cats, but because there is a common cultural superstition that black cats are unlucky, you may now see a black cat crossing your path and suddenly feel unsettled, even if you’ve seen plenty of black cats before and had no reaction.  If you do have some ominous occurrences, you can say, “I acknowledge this omen, and give thanks for the information.” Then, be extra mindful as mentioned previously.

And by the way, never take it out on the messenger when you get bad news or omens.  In the case of innocent black kitties, there's another superstition that you can reverse any bad luck by blowing the cat a kiss.  (Plus, you get extra good karma by being kind to animals, and that will help offset some bad karma.)  It can also help to ease your mind if you know that different cultures have different views of what is lucky and unlucky.  So, in parts of England, (and also in Jamaica), black cats are considered to be lucky, and it's especially lucky if a black cat crosses in front of a bride on her wedding day.  (Some brides even carry plush black cats along with their bridal bouquets.)

Transforming Perceptions: Although change itself is neutral, [the Five of Swords being a card about change], we tend to perceive it as stressful.  Part of the magical mindset is being able to change the way you perceive a situation, and in this respect, it is helpful to know a bit about how people in other cultures perceive things.  For example, I knew a lady who was disturbed because some bats had gotten into her house, and asked me, “aren’t they the Devil’s creatures?”  I was able to lighten her mind by explaining how in other countries, bats are good luck.  In China, for example, an image of five bats, called “Wu Fu” is a popular design motif, because the word for bat puns on the word for luck.  The five bats stand for the five Confucian blessings: health, wealth, longevity, love of virtue, and a natural death.  Bats are, of course, creatures of the Air, and a whimsical “Halloween” Tarot deck even uses bats to represent the Swords cards.  Therefore, if you find the appearance of the Five of Swords unsettling, counter it by wearing or displaying an image of the Wu Fu.

Blessing [in relation to pulling The Devil card]: Some old stories describe how negative entities were mollified by extending blessings.  A Polish legend tells of a bridge over the river Solokija in Belz, where anyone attempting to cross the bridge at midnight was pelted with stones by some invisible entity.  One night, after a traveler crossing the bridge was struck by a stone, he paused and pronounced a traditional Slavic blessing, “May you be in God’s care.”  A shade emerged and said, “Thank you for your good word.  So far everybody has been cursing at me, and it is you who put me under God’s care,” and so the haunting ended.  In Buddhist lore, a group of monks staying in a haunted grove were attacked by spirits who tried to frighten them off with gruesome apparitions.  However, the spirits were placated when the Buddha advised the monks to extend loving-kindness meditations toward them.  If you sense some negativity coming your way, you can use a simplified version of this by reciting, “May all beings be happy.   May all beings be free from troubles.  May all beings be protected.”

Book Reviews: Bringing Tarot Magic to Life

Hi, Everybody--and profuse apologies for my being so bad about tending to this blog!

Back at the beginning of this year, I reviewed five books for shepherd.com, but because I have been overwhelmed with family caretaker duties, I am only just now getting around to posting the link here.  So anyway, I encourage everyone to visit this site, and read these great books if you get a chance.  Here is the link:

https://BookDNA.com/best-books/bringing-tarot-magic-to-life

2025 - YEAR OF THE HERMIT (continued)

 Yesterday I wrote about The Hermit as the year card for 2025.  Here is another snippet from the tarot magic book I’m working on—it is about using The Hermit in tarot spells.

Tarot Spells:  When The Hermit card comes up in a reading, you can look for interesting graphic associations if the Hermit is holding up his lantern to an adjoining card.  For example, The High Priestess card often denotes secrets or hidden knowledge, so (using the RWS deck) The Hermit appearing to the right of the Priestess would indicate his help in illuminating the mysteries that the High Priestess conceals.  (By contrast, if he appears to the left of the High Priestess, it would indicate that you are looking in the wrong place for the information you seek—maybe too absorbed with the past to notice what is right before you.)

Going on the same principle, when you want to create a tarot spell to bring some matter to light, you can set The Hermit to the right of whichever card best illustrates your concerns. Based on the example of the High Priestess, (and depending on whether the deck you use has The Hermit figure facing left), you could lay The Hermit to her right when you want to uncover some secret or gain intuitive knowledge.  (If using a deck in which The Hermit is facing to the right, the Priestess would go to the right.)   In other examples, The Hermit placed next to Justice can be used for seeking justice and transparency in legal matters, next to The Star for seeking a spirit guide, next to The Hierophant for clarification of received teachings, to The Moon to shed light on a path through darkness, the Ace of Pentacles for transparency in financial matters, the Page or Knight of Pentacles for help with gaining practical information, the Knight of Cups for a better understanding of what he brings to his mission of healing, the Seven of Swords to reveal the identity of a thief-- and so on and so forth.  The possibilities are numerous.

  

In this example, notice the graphic resonance between the Knight's pentacle and the Hermit's lantern.

2025 – YEAR OF THE HERMIT

In magical numerology, 2025 is the year of The Hermit, because 2 + 0 + 2 + 5 = 9, which is the number of The Hermit card in tarot.

So, the question is, how might this affect us as individuals, as well as our larger society? 

This is just speculation on my part, but we in the U.S. have just gone through a very contentious election, so whether you are happy with the results or unhappy with the results, a lot of people are sick and tired of the social strife, and may decide to just turn inward, focus on their own interests, and avoid friends and family members who still want to argue politics. 

Alternatively, it is possible that some situation could arise that would result in enforced isolation, so I hope we won’t be experiencing another pandemic, (though I am optimistic that we’ve gotten better at managing epidemic situations). 

 Also, in earlier days before the card was labeled “The Hermit,” it just portrayed an old man carrying an hourglass, (the archetype of the “Senex”), so the focus was on aging and the wisdom of elders. For our society, issues around aging and elder care could come into prominence. [I also note that we’ve just replaced one very elderly president with questionable mental acuity with another very elderly one, so that might have some implications for government and for society.]

Regardless of what else is going on in the world, taking some time for quiet reflection is good for introverts and extraverts alike. If you are in a living situation where you feel constantly put upon, and The Hermit card comes up in a tarot reading for advice, you can see the appearance of The Hermit as giving you permission to carve out some time and space alone for yourself.

Here is a snippet about The Hermit from a book I am currently working on:

Seeking Solitude:  In an extraverted society, introverts often find themselves apologizing for their desire for solitude.  If you feel guilty about wanting time to yourself, let the appearance of The Hermit card signal a time to indulge in what Nietzsche called, “the good solitude, the free, high-spirited, light-hearted solitude that, in some sense, gives you the right to stay good yourself.”  If your life circumstances have necessitated your living alone, you can also find some philosophical solace in Nietzsche, who noted, “To live alone one must be a beast or a god, says Aristotle.  Leaving out the third case: one must be both—a philosopher.”  If your circumstances are so unfortunate that you can’t find decent people to associate with, then take to heart the words of the Buddha, who said, “Better it is to live alone; there is no fellowship with a fool.  Live alone and do no evil; be carefree like an elephant in the elephant forest.”

SUPER MOON TAROT BLESSING

from the Golden Wheel Tarot
by Mila Losenko

Tonight’s full moon is notable for being both a “super moon” (meaning it appears larger due to being closer to earth), and a “blue moon” (which is a popular term for when a full moon occurs twice in a month, due to there being 13 lunar months within our 12 month solar year).  Of course, full moons are always magical, but these coinciding factors help build up some extra magical energy.

All manner of magic workings can be done under the full moon.  Among other things, this is a good time to affirm the things you desire as already manifested, because as an African—I think Yoruba—expression goes, “When the moon is full, things are fully happening.”

In the tarot deck, we do have a card that is simply labeled, “The Moon,” and whose illustrations usually feature a full moon over a wilderness landscape.  While we don’t normally think to carry our Moon card out under the moon, (any more than it might occur to us to bring our Sun card out under the sun), going outside to hold the Moon card up to the moon, (or the Sun card up to the Sun), is a way to create a circuit of energy that makes a connection with our card deck and the greater world of nature.

from the Everyday Witch Tarot
by Deborah Blake and Elisabeth Alba

Very simply, if you have a tarot deck, you might want to go through your cards to locate The Moon, then go out tonight and hold it up to the Blue Super Moon while saying something like, “Blue Moon, True Moon, I wish you may, I wish you might, infuse your shining magic into my deck of cards tonight.”

By the way, the sun is currently in Virgo, and tonight’s full moon will be in Pisces, which is the sign opposite Virgo in the Zodiac.  (Note that full moons always occur in whatever sign is opposite the current sun sign.)  Because Pisces is a water sign, this would be an especially good time to visit an east-facing beach, because watching the moon rise out of the water is a magical event in itself.  (Tonight’s moon rise is around 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.)

HALLOWEEN IN OUR HEARTS

My mother used to keep a Christmas tree up all year, and would tell people, “It’s always Christmas in my heart.”  Meanwhile, I used to joke that, “It’s always Halloween in my heart.”  Looking ahead to Halloween night 2022, I was thinking about creating some spell to capture the Spirit of Halloween, when I remembered the Halloween ritual featured in my book, “By Candlelight: Rites for Celebration, Blessing & Prayer.”  Unfortunately, the book is now out of print, but I’d like to share the ritual, along with illustrations of some cards from Stacey Demarco’s “The Halloween Oracle.”  If you have this card deck, laying out these cards while also performing the candle rite can serve as a spell to welcome Halloween magic into your life.

Here are some excerpts from the book:

"To experience the mystical energies of this season, you can light a candle on All Hallows Eve (and, if you wish, on the nights surrounding it).  … [A]s the focus of a family celebration or kick off a night of party-going, you could perform the following rite, to recover some of childhood’s sense of wonder."  

           

Light your Halloween candle while saying,  

             

 "I light this candle

      in honor of All Hallows nights,

  a time when the human world

      can touch the world of magic

   

                   So at this time,

                       may we also find wonder 

                           in the mysteries of the universe,

                   even as we rediscover

                            the enchantments of childhood.

                 So may our lives be filled with magic:

                       magic in our homes,

                                  and magic in our hearts."

Note that we can think of the days around Halloween as “Allhallowntide,” based on ancient customs where the days leading up to and following a special holiday were also sacred; this includes the old practice of the “octave,” where you have eight days of celebration around an important feast.  By the way, the cross-quarter day associated with Halloween, that is, the halfway point between the autumn equinox and winter solstice, is fifteen degrees Scorpio, around November 7^th.

Back-To-School Time and Teaching as Blessing

 Back when I was a kid in school, I held the beginning of September in awe and dread, because my golden summer of freedom was over, and it was time to go back to school.  Despite that, I had good relations with my teachers, and I regularly experience resurgent memories of teaching moments, where I can hear the voices of my teachers explaining different principles and relaying different knowledge.

                Some of those teachers have also influenced my personal values and greater life path, so September is also a month that brings to mind the Hierophant card, which represents values and traditions that are passed down—often from teacher to student through generations.

                As I have recently cut my hours at work so I can get back to my writing, I have just been working on a half-finished book about bringing out the magic in individual tarot cards, so below are some of my thoughts on evoking the Hierophant, along with an image of The Hierophant as portrayed in “The Steampunk Tarot” by Barbara Moore and artist Aly Fell.

Blessing Your Teachers:  Because the Hierophant card can denote persons who have been influential in helping you find your life’s purpose, the appearance of this card can remind you to bless the teacher figures in your life. You could say,  

                As all my teachers have blessed me

                                 by sharing their wisdom

                     and their traditions,

                so do I now return those blessings.

                My best wishes go out to all the teachers

                                who have helped me,

                and all the teachers who have inspired me.

                And where I can use further teaching,

                                so may the teachers come.

                And where I can be a teacher to others,

                                so may the students come.

                In teaching and learning, learning and teaching,

                                we share a circle of blessing.

Note that honoring teachers is an ancient practice.  For example, some ancient Romans (like Marcus Aurelius) honored their mentors as their family gods by having images of them in their household shrines, and some Zen practitioners keep an image of their teacher in a place of honor, and direct gratitude toward their teacher in their daily lovingkindness meditations.

Finding Your Teacher:   We are never too old to learn, and life is full of teachers—including hidden teachers.  Here is a tarot image search technique for identifying the next teacher to enter your life:  Shuffle and cut your deck in your preferred manner while mentally reciting, the mantra, “When the student is ready, the teacher comes.”* 

When you feel you have shuffled enough, set the deck of cards with the picture sides face up before you, then go through your deck until you come to the Hierophant card, and then also pull the cards that come just before and just after the Hierophant.

Consider how these flanking cards may provide clues as to the nature of your teacher and the areas of life where new learning can be experienced.  A court card or other “people card” would especially indicate that your teacher is likely to be a certain type of person.  A Major Arcana card would indicate a learning experience that is significant to your life path, and if it is one of the more spiritually oriented cards, it could indicate initiation into a spiritual fellowship.  A pip (Minor Arcana) card would provide clues about the general circumstances in your learning situation, as well as material world values that influence your spiritual world concerns.

 Mentoring Others:  The blessing ritual above makes mention of how you can be a teacher to others.  If you have skills and knowledge that you’d like to pass along, but don’t currently have anyone who is receptive to what you have to offer, put yourself into a meditative state as you think about the information that you have to share, while mentally reciting the mantra, “When the teacher is ready, the student comes.”

 *Endnote:  Bodhipaksa. “When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear.”  Fake Buddha Quotes, March 16, 2013.  https://fakebuddhaquotes.com/when-the-student-is-ready-the-teacher-will-appear/.  Bodhipaksa explains how this quote was popularized by students in the Theosophical fellowship of Madame Blavatsky, including Mabel Collins, who mentioned it in her book “Light on the Path” in 1886.  Apparently, no one has traced it back farther, though it has a Taoist vibe to it, and I had assumed it came from Taoism.  However, Stefan Stenudd also discusses how this did not come from the Tao Te Ching.  Stenudd, Stefan.  “Taoism Explained,” Fake Laotzu Quote “When the Student  …”  Sept. 22, 2020.  https://www.taoistic.com/fake-laotzu-quotes/fake-laotzu-quote-When_the_student_is_ready_the_teacher_will_appear.htm.

TAROT AND THE WORK LIFE

 Hi everybody – I apologize that some of the information on the left needs updating, as I haven’t been holding workshops at The Triple Goddess since the beginning of the COVID outbreak.  I haven’t been able to update certain segments of this blog, because the system recognizes me as a user/employee of this blogpost, but not an “administrator.”  This is probably because I started the blog while using a now defunct e-mail account/provider, and then Blogger also underwent some changeups when it got acquired by Google.  I hope to retire in a few months, and so will have more time then to see if I can fix this problem.

Meanwhile, I’m looking ahead to next Monday, August 5th, 2022, which is Labor Day, and I’ve been reflecting on Hannah Arendt’s observation that labor is a uniquely human expression of the life force.  For this reason, I included a candle rite for Labor Day in my book, “By Candlelight: Rites for Celebration, Blessing, and Prayer.”  The little candle lighting ritual is accompanied by a recitation to “honor my own labor, … honor the labor of those who have gone before me, and … honor the labor of workers everywhere.”

Because our daily work consumes so much of our time, determines how we channel our energies, and is an expression of our identities, this is something that aspiring tarot artists might think about when creating new illustration designs.  Images of work life do seem to be lacking in most tarot decks.  For example, in the Rider Waite Smith deck, which I usually find to be the best deck for the range of imagery, the only real scenes of labor are in the Three of Pentacles, which features a stonemason, and the Eight of Pentacles, where an artisan sits at a workbench forging pentacles.  However, labor is implied in the Seven of Pentacles, where a farmer gazes at his planting, and the Ten of Wands, where a man is carrying a load of wands toward a destination.

Taking a quick glance at some of my other decks, I find the 8 of Pentacles is the card that most consistently portrays a person at work.  Pentacles relate to material world concerns and the contingencies of daily living, while the Eights have to do with how we organize our energies.  Applying this to modern work life, I’m reminded of the African-American expression, “making your Eight,” which conveys the idea that if you want to get along in this world, you have to put in your eight hours of work each day.

The Pentacles are the suit most associated with labor, (especially agricultural labor), though because Wands have to do with enterprises, one could illustrate them with some entrepreneurial scenes.  Cups suggest social work, nursing, childcare, and hospitality, while Swords suggest military and law enforcement activities.

Also, scenes of labor in the tarot are almost always limited to the Minor Arcana.  However, an exception is Joanna Powell Colbert’s “Gaian Tarot,” where The Emperor is shown at work on a wood-carving project, the Seeker of Earth is spinning at an old-fashioned spinning wheel, and the Guardian of Earth is inspecting his corn crop, as seen below:      

    

Maybe because I am a Midwesterner, I like this idea of portraying Tarot royalty and authority figures as also engaged in meaningful work.  This is especially a different way of representing the Emperor, (and this portrayal of skilled craftsmanship also expresses a certain Midwestern type of masculinity).  These images also affirm the dignity of labor.

While I realize that tarot imagery can’t get too specific and needs to be fairly general so that more people can relate, images of work life give us something additional to think about in relation to the cards’ multi-layered associations.

ALIGNING WITH FAIRY-WORLD ENERGIES ON THE EVE OF MAY

Tomorrow is May Day, which is rich in folk custom and lore, with roots in the old Celtic fire festival of Beltane and the Roman Floralia in celebration of the goddess of flowers.  This is a time when the energies of the Fairy World blossom forth at full strength, just as, in our northern climes, many flowers are blooming, and the trees are starting to leaf out.

In a previous Beltane post, (May 2013), I wrote about how this is a good occasion to consult fairy themed tarot and oracle decks to affirm and learn more about your relationship with the Fairy World.  Because I need to reaffirm my own connection to the Fairy World—something that’s easy to neglect when you work full time and also have family caretaker duties, though having age-related health issues yourself—I have brought out my “Fairy Ring” oracle, (which is designed by Anna Franklin and Paul Mason), and which features “Fairy Festival Cards” illustrating the eight ancient festivals of the Celtic year wheel.  Using a card search technique, (as opposed to shuffling and drawing cards at random), I will pose the question:

Please show me how I can connect with the Fairy World at this special time of the Year.

First, however, to connect with the seasonal entries, it’s best to step outside to take in what’s going on in Nature where one lives.  Having stepped outside on this morning in lower Michigan, I notice that daffodils and forsythia bushes with their yellow flowers are the prominent blooms, though periwinkles and violets are also to be seen.  The trees have not yet leafed out, though in previous years I have noticed that right after May Day they all seem suddenly to be in full foliage.  The buzzing of redwing blackbirds and the clacking of grackles define the sound environment, though robins, song sparrows, and Canada geese are also heard.  A baby rabbit darts into the copse behind my house.  It’s chilly this morning, but a warmup is expected.

Now, back to the card table:

I shuffle and cut my cards in the usual manner, while posing the question about connecting with the Fairy World.  When I feel that I have shuffled enough, I turn the deck over so that I am viewing the picture side of the cards.  I then thumb my way through the deck until I come to the Beltane card, and then I pull that card, as well as the ones just before and after it.  The three-card spread that I get out of this does not offhand look auspicious for me, so it’s going to take some thought as to how to interpret this.  The cards are 1) the Phooka, 2) the Beltane card reversed, and 3) the Fairy Horse/Kelpie.

So, the first notable thing here is that the Beltane card is reversed, indicating that I’m not fully able to express and appreciate the celebrational energies of this season.  (OK, I can accept that, because recent surgeries have prevented me from getting out on long walks, as well as doing much-needed yard work; I genuinely enjoy yard work as a way of being in Nature.)  To amplify the Beltane magic, I could do something proactive, like go out and gather some blossoms.  Maybe I can find a watery ditch where the Marsh Marigold, (known as “the Flower of Beltane”) grows, and scramble down to collect a few petals for prosperity magic.

As the flanking cards are both edged with autumnal foliage, we see that those fairies are among those that the Fairy Ring assigns to “The Autumn Court.”  This could indicate being under the influence of issues and events dating from autumn, or issues relating to the autumn of life.

The Phooka card depicts a trickster fairy, best known for its shape-shifting abilities, so it could denote unexpected setbacks.  To turn this around into something positive, I’ll need to think about how I can utilize shape-shifting energies for personal regeneration, perhaps by observing the springtime Earth’s powers of metamorphosis.

The Fairy Horse, also known as the Kelpie, is also a shapeshifting trickster, (and sometimes the Phooka takes the shape of a horse), so this doubles the shapeshifting trickster implications of this reading.  Note that the reversed side of this card features the darker, more dangerous aspect of the horse, but as my card was upright, it would indicate that I won’t be seeing the worst side of him.  Also, Anna Franklin’s own divinatory meaning for this card is positive, suggesting that “He is the harbinger of good health, vitality, energy, and innovation.”  So that is energizing—even if a wild ride that brings its own set of challenges.  

Well, that’s my own Beltane reading, but I present it here to illustrate how you can utilize the card-search technique when you have an oracle deck that features different festivals or seasons.  Obviously, this same technique applies to the seven other Fairy Festival cards.  In this way, the Fairy Ring Oracle is useful in helping you align yourself with the Fairy World as it manifests in the cycle of the seasons.