THE DOLLHOUSE ORACLE AND THE DEATH CARD IN 2020

Greetings to whoever may still be following this badly neglected blog—along with my apologies for not having attended to it in several years! 

As my day job is such that I can do most of my work from home during this COVID crisis, I had hoped that not having the daily commute would free up some time for writing, but it has not worked out that way.  Unfortunately, also, I haven’t been able to hold my monthly Tarot Magic Adventures sessions at The Triple Goddess, as it would not be possible to maintain social distancing.

Because we are on the verge of a new year, I want to demonstrate how The Dollhouse Oracle can be used to foretell the quality of the year ahead, by sharing some insights into a reading I did for myself on New Year’s Day of 2020.  Normally, I don’t bore people with the details of my personal life, but the 2020 reading was significant because it made associations with what was happening in my life in relation to larger society and the effects of the COVID pandemic, (especially since one of the cards that came up was the Death card).

But first to explain the technique: the Dollhouse Oracle is a technique that I invented, and it uses a pop-up cardboard dollhouse to serve as a layout for a tarot spread: you insert tarot cards into different rooms, and then consider the traditional meanings and graphic associations of the cards in relation to the symbolism of the rooms of a house, which serve as metaphors for different areas of one’s life.  You can pose a question like, “Please show me what’s going on in the house of my life,” or “what will be going on” if you want to peek into the future, or “what was going on” if you want to contemplate the past.  (To learn more about how to do a Dollhouse reading, refer to my online Llewellyn article at https://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/2044, or google the words “Dollhouse Oracle” to find your way to the article; also, refer to my posts for May 29, 2012 and June 9, 2013.)

So, when it occurred to me that you can use this technique for a New Year’s reading, I requested that the cards show me what would be going on in the “House of 2020.”  (Also, I was using the Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert, which is an alternative deck that uses what might be described as old hippie lifestyle images, and uses elements like Fire and Water for the suits, instead of Wands and Cups.)  Some of the cards that came up in association with different rooms were more striking than others, and some became more significant in light of the pandemic.

I drew the Death card for the upper hallway, and I use the hallway to signify one’s ability to get around in life, and how smoothly one can move between the different compartments of one’s life.  When I pulled this card, I was necessarily concerned because I do have some elderly relatives with health problems—though of course, the Death card generally doesn’t mean someone’s physical death, but the end of some matter or way of living.  Fortunately, I haven’t lost any relatives, and in retrospect, I relate the Death card to COVID itself, which has affected the way that all of us are able to get around.  Even if we and our loved ones haven’t suffered the disease itself, we are still prevented from doing certain things and going places, and are having to make major lifestyle adjustments.  Indeed, in the Gaian deck, this card is illustrated with an old, derelict boat, which is decaying alongside the shore—so nobody’s getting around in that.  In more traditional tarot decks, the Death card features the Grim Reaper, and one can see COVID itself as a specter that roams the land, just as the Grim Reaper does in medieval paintings and woodcuts.

Another card that made more sense in the light of COVID came up for the kitchen, where I got “The Gardener,” (usually called The Empress).  This card features an illustration of an Earth-mother figure surrounded by fruits and vegetables, and I initially thought it made a statement about the need for good nutrition.  However, I must confess that I did get in on the panic shopping, and stocked up so well that I am still eating my way through my survival pantry.  (I did buy a good deal of vegetable oil and pre-cooked bacon, because I figured that if I were reduced to eating the dandelion greens in my yard, I at least wanted to make a tasty salad of them.)

In the dining room, I got the “Elder of Water,” which would be the King of Cups in a regular deck.  I couldn’t figure out what this denoted, until I realized I’m doing my most of my work from home by sitting with my laptop at my dining room table, and the Elder/King thus represents the authority of my good-guy boss, who is a Pisces, and who authorized me to do most of my work from home.

For the bedroom, I got the Nine of Fire, which corresponds to the Nine of Wands.  Normally, this could denote multiple choices of projects and enterprises, (so not something one associates with bedrooms).  However, the Gaian deck illustrates this card with a man whose chakras are lit up as he sits in meditation, and in fact, because I have a revived interest in altered states of consciousness, I take a daily break for meditation in my bedroom (on those days when I’m working from home).

In the bathroom, which deals with bodily concerns and issues around purification, I drew the Seven of Water, in which illustration a man is surrounded by a number of fancy blue vessels, and is chug-a-lugging the contents of one of them.  I believe this points to a chronic sinus condition that I have, but didn’t give much thought to until my place of employment started requiring me to do daily health checks before letting me through the door.  In an attempt at healing, I have been using neti pots, supplements, and other home remedies—though I haven’t been the best at sticking to a good regimen.  It is concerning, because it’s a pre-existing condition that could make for a bad outcome if I got sick.

 Of course, not everything in my reading can be related to COVID.  I’m happy to say that in the nursery, which can represent one’s future hopes, I got the “Ten of Earth.”  This is the Ten of Pentacles in a regular deck, and is often illustrated with an intergenerational family group, and can designate traditions and other values that are passed down through families.  In the Gaian deck, it shows a man following a forest path, so the imagery isn’t too remarkable, but the card itself is significant in view of the fact that this year my first grandchild was born, so there is indeed a new generation, and new values and traditions to be passed down.  (I spent my summer vacation helping with the new arrival.)

That leaves two other rooms.  In the front entryway, I got the Ace of Water, which can denote new emotional experiences; as the entryway does signify how we open ourselves up to new things, there is some resonance between the meaning of the room and the meaning of the card—plus dealing with a pandemic and having a grandchild are new emotional experiences.  The other card was the Two of Fire (Wands) for the living room, which is about lifestyle and life choices.  I don’t have any especially relevant insights about that one.

I could say much more about the interrelation of symbolism between the rooms and the cards, and how these things have been manifesting in my life, (and also in our public life, in the way that tarot readings have a holographic quality).  However, those are the highlights, and give you an idea of how insightful this technique can be. 

2020 isn’t over yet, so I continue to be mindful of what the cards may be trying to say to me.  It will be interesting to see what comes up for the House of 2021.

A RITE FOR AFFIRMING HEALING

Happy New Year, everyone!  I am happy that I finally have had a little vacation time to get back to writing.  Having undergone a recent illness, I have been reflecting on cross cultural ways of celebrating healing—something which ties in with the theme of New Year as a time for renewal.

Unfortunately, Western medicine doesn’t draw a clear line between the state of being sick and the state of being healed.  For the more common and curable types of illness, you just take your medicine and expect that at some point your symptoms will have subsided enough for you to get back on your feet.  By contrast, many traditional societies affirm a person’s return to health with special rituals.  For example, a person might take a ritual bath, put on a new set of clothes, and go to a shaman to be blessed.  In Mexico and South America, the shaman’s proclamation of healing may be followed by a “flowering” ritual to generate good luck, (as luck is viewed as part of a state of health).  In keeping with the idea that our community helps to construct our identity, the public is often invited to a communal feast as a part of these rituals. 

Although it might be a bit much for people in our busy society to stage a public celebration of healing, this is something that can be quietly affirmed with a simple tarot rite.  The following rite, (here illustrated with the “Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot”), uses images of recuperation and revival, as a way of signaling your Unconscious that you are ready to reengage with your life.

To affirm your recovery, first lay down the Four of Swords, (featuring a tomb with the effigy of a recumbent knight) while recalling how your illness may have knocked you flat, enforcing isolation and inactivity. Next, lay down the Judgment card, whose images of arising can suggest a return to health after sickness—especially as a long illness is sometimes experienced as a stay in the Underworld.  Think about how much better and more energetic you’re feeling, and then lay down The World card while thinking about how you are back on your feet and reconnecting with your outer world.

By the way, it’s always interesting to look at graphic relationships between cards in a rite or spell.  Using the “Radiant” Rider Waite Smith cards as illustrated above, the first and second cards feature images of tombs—contrasting the sealed tomb with the open tomb.  There is also a contrast between the human bodies portrayed.  In Judgment, the rising people are a bluish tinge, still retaining the coldness of the tomb, while The World is used here to show a person restored to the ruddy pink of active health.  (The original RWS deck doesn’t bring out the same nuances in coloring.)

Note that because magic involves affirming a desired state of being as if already achieved, you can also use this layout as a tarot spell to promote healing for yourself or others still convalescing.  If performing this spell for a child, use The Sun as the third card, as The Sun card often features the image of a happy, healthy child having fun under the sun, (with flowers in the background hinting at the quality of flowering). 

If preferred, you could also use The Sun for yourself or another adult, in lieu of The World.  This begs the question, why not use The Sun and The World, as both are auspicious cards with images of health?  The reason for preferring a three to a four-card spread is that odd numbers show activity, while even numbers promote stability, and are therefore more gravid.  So, for restoration of health, we want to put the emphasis on the return to activity.

So, now that I’m back to my blog after such a long hiatus (due to the demands of holding down a regular job), I will next have to get around to restoring all my dead links.

FEBRUARY IS FOR SECOND CHANCES

If you have missed out on something or gotten off to a bad start for this year 2016, remember the slogan, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”  Although I don’t think I’ve heard this expression since I was a kid in the Sixties, it was a popular subject for posters and bumper stickers.  I seem to recall it set in psychedelic prints, but maybe that’s just a reconstructed memory.  Since then, the computer era has brought new image associations for starting over: rebooting your day/ week/ month/ year/ life, or hitting the re-set button.

For those of the magical mindset, the calendar brings many additional opportunities for a fresh start, considering that the year is a wheel, and a wheel has no single, separate starting point, but 360 (or 365) starting points.  So, if January 1^st is a big day for starting the year out on the right foot with New Year’s resolutions, January 2^nd should be honored as a day of second chances for those of us who messed up, or who were too busy or forgetful to get it right and make it auspicious on January 1^st.  Likewise the second day of every week and month.  As the second month of the year, February can be a particularly good month for setting a new agenda—especially as Chinese New Year most often falls around the beginning of February.  Of course, if we look at different world cultures, both past and present, we find the new year has also been celebrated at spring equinox, April 1^st, Beltane (May Day), Samhain (Halloween), Yule, and on other days besides.

As it happens, this year Chinese New Year starts tomorrow, as it falls on February 8^th, and is a fire monkey year.  Though not of Asian ancestry, I am looking forward to this as a second chance, because my new year got off to a really bad start, as I awoke on January 1^st with a nasty cold that turned into bronchitis.  Furthermore, I am a fire monkey about to turn 60, having been born in March of 1956.  The sexagenary year is significant to the Chinese zodiac as the completion of a cycle and the beginning of a new cycle, as there are 12 animals and 5 elements, so 12 x 5 = 60.

Even if you weren’t born in a monkey year, you can still use the monkey as a lucky charm for 2016, as each year’s animal icon is auspicious for that year.  Following is a little bit of my past research on monkeys and charm lore:

Monkey:  Monkeys are about having fun, going wild, and letting out the playfully curious animal within.  (Think about Curious George.)  There is some dualistic symbolism here: cynical people use the image of the ape to mock human pretensions, while for others, it celebrates our close kinship with the animal world.

When used as a charm image in Asia, the monkey can promote the qualities of vitality and enthusiasm, (especially for persons born in the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Monkey, including the years 1920, 32, 44, 56, 68, 80, 92, 2004, 2016, 28, 40, 52 …), or invoke the strength and protection of the god Hanuman, whose army of monkeys defeated the forces of evil.  In Asian folk art, a well known trio of “three wise monkeys” conveys the injunction to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.  In Japan, different monkey charms are associated with Shinto shrines and deities who grant wishes and bestow fertility, easy delivery, and a harmonious family life. Charm objects include a “wish monkey” on which people write their desires, and a “substitution monkey,” which takes on a person’s bad luck.  Because the Japanese word for monkey is very close to the word for “expel” or “drive away,” miniature monkeys are also used as charms to ward off negative influences and illness.  Japanese monkey charms are usually red for active luck, fertility, and protection.  A term popularized by Buddhism is “monkey mind,” referring to the restless mind’s tendency to jump from one thing to another.  You can use this knowledge to promote self-improvement—and when you are agitated and unfocused, you could pinch a monkey charm as a reminder to calm your thoughts.

So, if you feel your year got off to a bad start because you were monkeying around, think about how the Year of the Monkey might help you turn that into a positive.  Happy New Year!

GAZING INTO THE PHOTOGRAPHIC UNCONSCIOUS

A Belated Happy New Year to All!  I hope that 2016 will bring you new ideas and adventures that keep your sense of curiosity piqued, because curiosity fuels vitality.  I am very dismayed to realize that I only made one blog-post in 2015.  Ever since I had to stop eking out an existence on the margins of society and get a “real job,” it’s been hard to find time for writing.  I hope this shocks me into greater productivity in 2016.

That being said, if your curious mind seeks new inspiration, you might want to explore the realm of the “Photographic Unconscious.”  This is a term used by the essayist Walter Benjamin, whose attention to the small things of everyday existence reveals ways in which our material world manifests elements of our collective dream worlds.  By the same token, the photograph can be a window into the world of the Unconscious, because it can capture image objects that give rise to chains of meaning beyond those perceived and intended by the photographer or the subjects photographed.  This is as true for staged photographic compositions as it is for candid snapshots.

At our last magical chat session (which was in November), the subject of the Photographic Unconscious came up in relation to ways you can read a photograph (or other arrangement of images) like a tarot card.  When a particular image—whether in a tarot card, a photograph, or whatever interior or exterior scene is before you—strikes  you as personally significant, your Unconscious is sending you a signal that this is something you should pay attention to, as carrying special meanings for you.  And when you are able to make additional associations between the symbols, you can appreciate what a wonderfully expansive inner life you have.

This concept also gives you a lot to work with if you are a photographer.  For a collection of photographic symbols that provokes new insights and associations, take a look at Brandy Eve Allen’s “Invisible Light Tarot Deck,” which is in the end process of development and will by available for purchase by February 1^st.  You can learn more about this tarot deck, as well as Brandy’s work, at http://brandyeveallen.com/about/, and https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brandolina/invisible-light-tarot-deck-by-brandy-eve-allen.

The images in this collection were generated with infrared photography, and as Allen says, “Similar to the way the tarot cards reveal that which is hidden, infrared film is picking up light that is invisible to the human eye.”  Among the photos that I find significant in this respect are those used in the Sun and Hermit cards, because of the stark contrasts between light and shadow.  So, all we can make out of the woman in the foreground of The Sun card is her figure in black, suggesting the philosophical observation that the brighter the light, the darker the shadow, (as well as the Jungian concept of the “bright shadow.”)  In the Hermit card, the pyramidal structure of the tent is dramatically illuminated, echoing old stories about the hermit as the one who shines a light in the wilderness, to point out the way that leads outward and upward.

Note that Allen also offers new images for the Minor Arcana cards, too, (which is always something to be appreciated), so The Invisible Light Tarot offers 78 compositions to challenge your ability to make new meanings.

Back at the Triple Goddess for Easter

Just as my corner of the Midwest is emerging from a very frigid winter, I am once again returning (from my winter hiatus) for my first-Sunday-of-the-month discussions of Tarot and Magic at the Triple Goddess bookstore (on the east side of Lansing, Michigan).  Although tomorrow happens to be Easter Sunday, the bookstore will apparently be open, and so I will be there from 1:30 to 3 p.m. as previously.

In the past, I held these Sunday sessions more like workshops, with activities and an agenda to follow, but since we've gone to a more free-form sort of thing, it seems to be working better.  The main purpose is to explore all different sorts of tarot decks, (as well as oracle decks), getting to know the individual cards in more creative ways, as well as finding new ways to activate the magic in the cards.

More about THE LOVERS and THE MAGIC OF DOUBLING

In the previous post, we looked at a love spell involving The Steampunk Tarot, which uses an image of doubling in The Sun card, (echoing some of the more antique renditions of this card).  When different creative teams come up with new tarot deck variations, it expands our understanding of the individual cards, and offers new opportunities for magic working.  Another deck which portrays a happy couple in its rendition of The Sun card is the “Tarot of Jane Austen,” (a Lo Scarabeo deck by Diane Wilkes; illustrated by Lola Airaghi).  This deck also portrays a happy couple in The World card, as in the world of Jane Austen, relationship is key to completion and wholeness.  These cards, then, are ideal for a spell where love leads to marriage, as shown below.

As stated in the previous post, you don’t perform love spells with an intent to bind a reluctant partner to your will, but to send an invitation out into the Universe, to attract the attention of individuals who will resonate to a shared vision of pleasure in relationship.  When performing this spell, as you lay out the cards, you could visualize different ways that you and your potential partner might come together, (while also allowing for unexpected ways of meeting), having fun discovering some things you have in common, and the eventual trip to the altar.

You’ll notice that The Lovers card is not included in this particular spell.  That’s because the Tarot of Jane Austen also uses an older conceptual rendition of The Lovers, that features another woman in the scene.  Older cards which depict the man having to decide between two women make a philosophical statement about choices, and touch on Jungian notions of lunar and solar forces, and the Dark Woman and Bright Lady archetypes.  However, for purposes of a love spell, we normally don’t want to distract attention from the desired one-on-one relationship, because we want the Lovers to be solely and intimately focused on each other.

LOVE SPELLS AND THE MAGIC OF DOUBLING

Yesterday’s discussion session at the Triple Goddess centered on how the mysteries of twinning and the magic of doubling can apply to love spells, The Lovers card, and other cards with images of doubling, particularly as they apply to male and female characters. 

I want to make a few more points on this topic, but for those who attended, first let me apologize for my tendency to get distracted and confused, so that I don’t stay on track—jumping from topic to topic, dealing with things out of turn, skipping over some individuals, or not giving enough time to their questions and concerns, or too much time to others.  Because my son has been accompanying me, he’s able to give me a retrospective with some constructive criticism on these issues.  Also, because I am aware that I do have these problems, I’m very happy to have people hold my feet to the fire and forcefully pull my attention back to whatever or whoever I should be focusing on.

So anyway, I brought up this combined topic for discussion because I had heard that some of the attendees were particularly interested in love spells, plus the sun is currently in Gemini, the sign of the twins.  When we consider the reasons for engaging in romantic relationships, (as well as friendships, partnerships, and other types of one-on-one relationships), elements of twinning often add verve to the relationship.  There is a desire to find kindred spirits who share some of our personality traits and interests, and so also serve as mirrors to our selves.  However, we also like our partners to have some opposite traits and qualities, so as to complement our strengths and weaknesses.  It is no surprise that in magical twin pairs, opposites are also often portrayed; for example, the cult of the magical twins in Afro-Caribbean culture defines different types of twins, including a male and female pair.  On top of all that, there’s something about the idea of having a twin that is “fun,” so those of us who were not born twins may feel like we’ve missed out on something special.

The joy of having a partner who is a kindred spirit can be brought into love spells that use tarot cards with images of doubling.  As I explained about love spells during our session, the idea is not to coerce some individual into a relationship against his or her will, but to send out a mental call that attracts people who are on your same vibratory wavelength, holding out psychic images of the fun—as well as the fulfillment--you can enjoy together, should they respond to your magical invitation.  For doing tarot spells along these lines, there are of course a lot of images to choose from, to offer different visions of how life can be beautiful in relationship.

In keeping with the themes of pairing and twinning, I was going through my decks to see if any of the newer ones have picked up on images of doubling in The Sun card, as some of the very old versions feature a pair of children, and others a pair of lovers.  (This is in addition to The Lovers card.)  The imagery in question makes an astrological reference to the sun as ruler of the 5^th house, which governs love, pleasure, and children—though the image also recalls the Gemini twins.  Although I find very few modern decks that include a human pair in the Sun imagery, this is nicely portrayed in “The Steampunk Tarot” (by Barbara Moore and artist Aly Fell), so this card can be used to bring an image of happiness into a love spell, as illustrated below:

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, “steampunk” is a literary and artistic genre that evokes a Jules Vernian fantasy, (set in the age of steam), and combines 19^th century tech with high adventure, and sometimes also magic.  This steampunk tarot spell emphasizes the alchemical quality of an ideal relationship, so as you would be laying out the cards, it would be good to think about the joyful chemistry needed in relationship.  (In fact, if one knew something about chemistry, one could put a test-tube holder next to the card layout, containing two tubes with substances that mix well—and then mix them while thinking about the importance of having the right chemistry with another person;  persons that don’t have a chemistry set, but know something about aromatherapy, could try mixing essential oils.)  Notice, also, that the Steampunk 10 of Cups  puts the pair in more direct focus than other versions based on the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.  I like to have the Sun card up above, in the same way that children’s drawings often have a sun in the sky to denote happiness.

Well, there is a lot more that can be said about bringing images of pairing into love spells and other tarot spells, so I hope to say a bit more about that in my next post.