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://shepherd.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.