OPENING THE WAY IN THE YEAR OF THE OX

Last Sunday I blogged about remaking ourselves, our society, and our larger world, so I was really pleased to hear Barack Obama talking about remaking America in his inaugural speech.

Continuing to think of ways to magically remake the 21st century, if we look to world wide folk magic practices, a common theme is “opening the way.” This is a term associated with American Hoodoo candle burning practices, as well as in the ritual magic of many Afro-Caribbean traditions. The same term is used in auspicious ritual practices involving the elephant god Ganesh in India, because as a very powerful animal, the elephant is an opener of the way. Now as it happens, we are turning a new page in history at the same time part of the Asian world is celebrating the start of the Year of the Ox, (which officially begins on January 26th). Therefore, we might consider the ways a powerful animal like an ox is also an opener of the way. Applying this to our current socioeconomic conditions, how can we meet the challenges of the 21st Century and create a space for new social, technical, and intellectual innovations--and even wonders—to unfold when we haven’t cleared out the problems of the 20th—and in many cases, still the 19th—Century?

Also, in China and other countries that use the Chinese animal zodiac, there is an opinion that you can make the most out of each year by acting out the qualities of that year’s animal emblem. So, to make 2009-2010 auspicious, we would be well advised to emulate the ox’s penchant for hard work, simplicity, consistency, and patience. Hard work seems to be a necessary course of action given the world’s economic condition, and even people who are out of work might find ways to do some hard work at home or in a volunteer capacity as a way of magically priming the pump for employment. Here I am reminded of the German saying that “patience is the medicine of the world,” the African saying that “hard work is the medicine for poverty,” and the Mexican saying that “consistency creates miracles.”

MAGICAL TRANSITIONS

Our nation is currently in a liminal state as we make the transition from one presidency to another, at a point in history when both a great many anxieties and expectations hinge on it. Liminal phases can be times of danger, but they also have a great deal of magical potential.

As a magical goal for 2009, let’s think about how we can re-do the 21st century, which had gotten off to such an inauspicious—not to say disastrous—start in 2001. To help set the mind on the idea of change that brings renewal, one could do a Tarot meditation by laying out The Emperor, Justice, Judgment, and The World, while thinking about how our new president and government leaders can implement the larger ideals of Justice (which is the Year Card for 2009) in a way that quickens all of us to remake ourselves, our society, and our larger world. (If you use a Tarot deck that assigns the Number 11 to Strength, use Strength instead of Justice, while thinking about how the greater principles of that card apply.) By the way, magical numerology is at work in this spread, because it consists of four cards, the number of The Emperor, representing the president, the government, solid foundations, and things that are realistically do-able. Also, if you add the four cards’ numbers: 4 + 11 + 20 + 21 = 56, and 5 + 6 = 11, the number of Justice, which again, is the Year Card for 2009.

Reversed Cards: The Human Condition

Hi Folks! Llewellyn’s Online Journal is currently featuring my article on “Tarot Card Picture Searches: Discover Meaningful Themes in Tarot Art Images.” My previous article on “Tarot Card Tracker: A Versatile Technique for Tarot Discovery” can also be viewed.

Picking up on my New Years Eve post, where I discussed JUSTICE as the Year Card for 2009, but mentioned that it came up reversed in my predictive reading, I want to emphasize that that doesn’t mean that we won’t see Justice as part of the change that many of us are looking forward to, but simply that we might not see its fullest expression.

In reference to the political situation with a new president, it is to be expected that he won’t be able to accomplish everything he wants in his first year. In reference to the greater human situation, very seldom does a group or individual feel satisfied that all of their demands for justice or other conditions are met, because human society requires a lot of compromise. Reversed Tarot cards therefore better reflect the human condition than the upright expression of the cards.

If you choose to reverse your cards, it can seem that the reversals come up more frequently than the uprights, and this is frustrating because it makes interpretation more complicated, with a great deal of ambiguity. However, in real life, seldom does anyone achieve the sublime perfections of the Magician or the High Priestess, or the states of happiness denoted by the Sun and the World, or even the skillful personal qualities denoted by the different court cards. This doesn’t mean happiness and other attainments aren’t possible, simply that complications are part of the natural flow of human life.

MORE TAROT FOR THE EVE OF 2009

In addition to doing a card search to find out how your own Year Card will play out, (as discussed in the previous post), you can do a reading for the Year 2009 itself. Because 2009 adds up to “11,” the Year Card is “Justice,” and justice certainly is part of the change that a lot of people are hoping for. (If you use one of those alternate Tarot systems that assign the number 11 to “Strength,” you will be more likely to experience 2009 according to the principles you associate with that card.) Tonight you might consider shuffling your deck, locating the Justice card, and studying the cards that flank it to consider how you will see the principles of Justice expressed in your larger world.

I did my own reading, and got “The Wheel of Fortune,” “Justice” reversed, and “The Queen of Wands” reversed. The Wheel indicates that changes will definitely be felt, but the reversed Queen of Wands indicates that although there is a need for more creative solutions to our larger problems, including injustice resulting from so many different types of inequalities, creative people might not be able to make their voices heard—at least not to the extent that we might wish for, at least not so much in 2009—but let’s work to improve that situation! The fact that the Queen of Wands came up at all means that there are creative people with creative ideas out there, they just need to assert their presence.

TAROT FOR 2009

I have been away from my blog due to end-of-semester stuff, followed by holiday preparations and entertaining. However, now that I’m getting back to things, I’ll continue to write about Tarot and Magic, even though I’m on winter hiatus as far as my workshops are concerned.

Here we are on the verge of 2009, and the New Year’s Eve is a time when people traditionally perform divinations to forecast the year ahead. A simple way to do this with the Tarot is to do a 12-card spread, with each card representing a different month of the year. However, this is also a good time to do a card search using your personal “Year Card.”

The Year Card technique links birth date numerology to the card numbers of the Major Arcana: you add the day and month of your birth to the current year, to find out which card will be offering special life lessons. For example, a person born on February 5th would add 2 + 5 + (2+0+0+9) to get 18, which is the number of “The Moon” card, (which can indicate something of a mystical year ahead). If you should get a number above 21, such as 25, you would add 2 + 5 to get 7. The basic idea of the “Year Card” is discussed in Mary K. Greer’s “Tarot for Your Self,” and she credits this and other numerological configurations to Angeles Arrien, (who uses the term “Growth Symbol” for the Year Card in her “Tarot Handbook.”)

So, to do a card search divination for the year ahead, figure out which card is your Year Card, and pose a question like, “What can I learn in the year ahead?” After shuffling and cutting in your normal, preferred manner, thumb through your deck until you find your Year Card, and look to the cards flanking it to tell you more about what sort of context the year 2009 provides for your growth lessons.

Collaborative Tarot

On the November 2nd session at Triple Goddess, I used the term “collaborative Tarot” to describe the activities we were doing. I believe I first encountered this term in Valerie Sim’s book, “Tarot Outside the Box,” where for example, she shows how multiple persons can develop a “collaborative story,” where they advance a plot by having each person draw a card in turn, using the actions and ideas depicted in the cards to build a narrative about some fictitious characters. She also uses the term “combination Tarot” for readings where you pose a question and then draw one card in turn from each of several different decks, and “interactive readings,” where more than one person contributes cards to be interwoven into a reading.

For those who weren’t with us on November 2nd, we did two collaborative/interactive exercises: First, based on the idea that when individuals come together, their personal spirit guides also come together and share information [see the post for Oct. 25], we asked the spirits for their collective wisdom. To do this with a group, you pose your request and then draw a card from your own deck and place it in front of you, (while your neighbors do the same); that first card will be a direct message from your personal guide or guides, and may provide some information telling you something about your guide or guides, or it could convey any other messages the guides want you to know. The next step is to draw two more cards: one for the person on your right and one for the person on your left. (In our case, because everyone was using a different deck that day, everyone ended up with three cards, each from a different deck.) So then, you consider the separate meanings of the cards you’ve been given, first in a general sense, but then you can also consider how a card that is a message from the guides of the person next to you may also say something about a life issue or spiritual issue that you and that other person share. Therefore, it is good if afterward you can compare notes with your neighbors to see if anything struck you about those cards which could point to some special connection. (Here, too, some past life issues can come into play.)

The second combined/collaborative exercise was to have a Halloween parade where nobody had to get out of his or her seat. Referring back to the concepts of energy movement I brought up in my post on the “Feng Shui” of Halloween [Oct. 29], where masked paraders move purifying and revivifying chi energy through a community, we let the Tarot cards do the parading, as a way of moving chi through our inner lives. To do this, you shuffle your deck and then thumb through it until you find an upright card with a human figure or other sort of being who is portrayed as moving to the right, the direction of the future. If you cannot find such a card in your deck, then the next option is to find a figure who is portrayed standing in such a way that he/she/or it could easily start moving toward the right. Then, each person passes that card to the person on the left, so the cards will be moving clockwise around the circle. Then, after a momentary pause for visualizations, the cards are moved to the next person, pause, and then again, going around the circle until your original card comes back to you. As for the visualizations, with each card you handle, you can visualize the figure in that card as a masker moving through the metaphorical village of your life, and think about how your inner world is refreshed by the movement of the energy and principles associated with that card. You can also visualize yourself as each costumed parader, in turn. So, for example, if you are passed a card from a deck which shows the fool in the Fool card moving forward, consider how you would costume up as that character, and what kind of movements and gestures you might make to act “in character.” Because, in traditional societies, the maskers are also expected to put on a little performance as part of the energy exchange, what sort of entertaining dance, skit, or other type of performance might you act out as that character? By the way, going through different decks to identify which characters are portrayed in forward motion makes for some interesting comparisons, because different artists will portray some of the same characters in quite different poses, which then makes for some distinct philosophical statements, while also bringing different nuances into your readings.

Although we did these things as part of a Halloween-themed session, the shared spirit wisdom exercise is something that could be tried by any persons who get together as a group, and the card parading could also be done anytime, though it might be especially good for other occasions when people dress up, such as Carnival.

Feel Free to Ask Questions

Now that I won’t be having any more magical chats until April, I’m ready to immerse myself in writing projects. However, if anyone wants to contact me with questions and comments, you can click on the “comments” links at the end of the posts.

As the folks who come to these chats/workshops know, I demonstrate Tarot techniques by going around the table and trying to point out a few things about each person’s cards that come up, in relation to whatever reading activity topic we’re exploring. Unfortunately, on last Sunday, November 2nd, I was pressed for time because car trouble made me late, and then I had another engagement afterward, so we didn’t get to discuss more about the collaborative spirit guide readings. If you were there, and you remember which cards you got and would like more clarification, please respond, and I will venture some opinions. As this is something of a public forum, you don’t need to provide your name or personal information, and I will try not to say anything that might be deemed embarrassing.

However, there is an important point that I forgot to make on Sunday, and that is that when we have these public demonstrations, I’d like to encourage everybody to chip in with any observations you have about other peoples’ readings. As I pointed out that when a group comes together, their spirit guides come together too, don’t be shy or feel that you’re interrupting, because you may be receiving a cross-communication from the spirits. I think that everyone will appreciate having that extra insight.