Grail Tarot says... there's a flower that blooms in solitude.

I have been meditating about the influences surrounding me in this moment. I began to notice that one of the most damaging influences I have to deal with in my life is cynicism. I don't mind skepticism, because it helps us to question, to think for ourselves instead of blindly following the mass. But cynicism can be destructive... all the people that I know who have been bitten by this bug (and some of them are very close to me), became very dry on the inside. Surely, they have a very active mental and physical life, but they lack something. Even their emotional side sometimes seems to be stilted, because emotions require you to dive and cynics are always afraid to drown.

I saddens me that many of these people, while having a good nature, often feel the need to try to prove you that their point of view is correct. Some of them can be quite active in doing this, behaving like some sort of missionary, and others will do that passively, simply showing their contempt for you. They are the kinds that will say "God/Astrology/Tarot/Divination/UFO/etc. is bullshit" without ever trying to understand what any of these things are. They are just happy to tread on other people's beliefs, because nowadays this is a sign of superior intellect.

But is it?

ONIM ~ The Wild Huntress

My card for this week is The Wild Huntress, a Dragonfae who chose to fight for those who cannot protect themselves. She is also the Dragonfae of the endings, and invites me to meditate about how difficult it is to close a door.

Choices. I am facing them now, and so are many of you I believe. It's never easy. No matter how optimistic you are, the truth is that choosing usually means picking one way and abandoning the possibility of treading other paths, at least for the time being. Some doors never open again... others do, but they no longer are what they used to be. That is the price of choosing - that is the price of ending.

The Wild Huntress always seeks a clean ending. It's not her desire to use violence to cut the ties, and to provoke more pain than necessary. But she does not deny that there's pain - she is a warrior after all, and she has her scars. We too carry the scars of our choices, of all the endings that gave birth to new beginnings.

ONIM ~ Grandmother's Magick (and Queen Oonagh)

Today, I cheated.

Today, as I sat down to drew my Dragonfae card of the week, I felt something was off. I still don't know what it is, but for some reason I felt very uninspired to draw a card. I prayed to the Dragonfaes and the forces that watch over us for a meaningful card for this week. For a good friend and a good lesson.

I drew the bright and brave Queen Oonagh. Her shining presence told me that the solution for my current dilemma (and yes, I happen to be in the middle of an emotional dilemma) is inside me. That I all I have to do is to keep a cool head, plan a strategy, explore my inner options and use my imagination to find my way out of this confusion. Just that.

Ugh.

The Queen Oonagh is a brilliant ruler, but that's not the message I needed. I felt that just thinking about doing all this would make me start the week tired! I put the cards down... had dinner... talked to my family about silly things... and came back.

Review: Titania's Star Tarot by Titania Hardie

I have a penchant for the bizarre, specially oracle-wise. I enjoy having uncommon oracles in my collection; not uncommon in a sense of rare/expensive, but more in a "different from the mainstream" way. One of my favorite strange decks is the Titania's Star Tarot.

At first, it appears to be a common tarot deck with brightly vivid colors. It has 78 cards, 22 Major Arcana, 56 Minors, 16 Court Cards, 4 suits. The cards have a small size (6.4 x 9.4 cm), wonderful for small hards like mine, and a rather thin cardstock. I was surprised to see that it's quite resilient to intensive shuffling, as long as you are careful not to the bend them (because it marks badly). The cards do not have any sticky lamination to them, so they slide easily against each other.

The images are the real charm of the Titania's Star Tarot. The cards have a clean and elegant design, featuring silhouettes against a strikingly colorful background. The borders are silver, and the backs are reversible.

ONIM ~ The Time Guardian

I had a very tiring start to the week. It seems that 2 days of weekend are no longer enough for me to rest. And that's why the Time Guardian came to me.

He is the Dragonfae who controls time itself. No, control is a bad word - he understands time. The understands how it is malleable, despite the rigidity of the clock. Clocks organize time, but they don't really measure it, because time can change speed, it can appear to go fast or slowly depending on what you are living.

He invites all seekers to understand the power of time, to call the Time Guardian to make time suit your needs, and not make you slave of the clock.

So beautiful, eh?

And here comes the nasty part of the post - as right as the Time Guardian is about throwing your watch away and enjoying the natural time, and aligning yourself with the cycles of nature... how do you do that?

Colette Baron-Reid's 7-Card Spread

Colette Baron-Reid is an intuitive counselor, and has created two oracle decks that I really like: The Wisdom of the Hidden Realms and the Wisdom of Avalon. The WHR has been a faithful companion for a while, and the WA is the newest member of my divination family. Both decks come with fairly complete companion booklets, but the spreads taught in them are very very basic.

Thankfully, Colette herself decided to teach us a new 7-card spread in one of her videos. She says the spread is meant to be used for relationship readings, but in my experience it's a good spread for any kind of question. This particular spread has given me eerily accurate readings, and I thought it could be useful to other card-readers.

Enjoy!

1. Past influences - what made the situation what it is now.

2. Present - the current state of the situation, or the querent's current state of mind.

3. Short-term future - the next development, what the querent will face soon.

4. The obstacle - what is hindering the situation (sometimes this position shows that there are no obstacles at all!).

5. The others - how the other person sees the situation OR external influences that are affecting the situation.

6. The best course of action - what is the best thing you can do now in regard to this situation.

7. The probable outcome - the probably outcome if you follow the advice given in card #6.



Wisdom of Avalon Oracle Cards © Colette Baron-Reid

Review: Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards by Svetlana Touchkoff

There are many decks that have the word "gypsy" somewhere in their name. You have the Zigeuner Wahrsagekarten ('Zigeuner' means "Gypsy"), the Gypsy Fortune Telling Playing Cards, the Gypsy Fortunes, the Gypsy Bijou deck... and the list only grows, year after year. However, few decks manage to be as interesting - and as unique - as the Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards.

This is one of the treasures I brought from Canada, and it was found in a small esoteric shop in Richmond, in my last day. I can't tell you how many times I almost bought this set from Amazon or eBay, only to give up in the last moment. But the deck still found its way to me.

Created by Svetlana Alexandrovna Touchkoff, the Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards includes a 182 pages hardcover book and a deck of 25 cards. Both come in a sturdy and beautiful slipcase. The cards are squarish, and have one particular characteristic: none of them contains a complete picture.

What?

Destroying illusions or destructive illusions?

Finally, a sunny day. A wonderful opportunity to sit outside and have fun with playing cards. That's exactly what I did during my lunch break today. No questions, no reading. I was just telling little stories with them, because for me it's a good way to connect with the cards and calm my mind.

Then, in one of my stories, I drew two cards.
First the 5 of Hearts. Then the 7 of Swords.
Hum... interesting.

The 5♥ is called Fata Morgana, a card of illusions and deceit, and the 7♠ is the Sword of Destruction.

At first the meaning of this combination seemed very obvious to me - the Sword of Destruction was "destroying" the illusions cast by Fata Morgana. Duh.

But as I gave it more thought, I began to wonder if the cards were not talking about a destructive illusion instead. Since Hearts & Swords (Water & Earth, respectively) are complementary suits, I suppose these two cards would add to each other's meanings, and not contradict each other. In fact I think Morgana would be positively thrilled to play with the Sword of Destruction!

So, the elemental combination made me rethink my first interpretation.

But if the Sword of Destruction will not destroy the illusions cast by Fata Morgana, who will?

I ask you: which is the most effective way to kill a bit of water? (A bit, because the 5♥ is a low number)

With fire. Right?
And in the playing cards, fire is represented by the Diamond suit.

So, the real "enemy" of the 5♥ is actually the 7♦ - the bold and brave Sword of Truth.


I love when the cards themselves teach me something new!
Watching them interact on the table is SO fascinating.

The Playing Card Oracles © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman

ONIM ~ The Green Lady of Y Ddraig Goch

I confess that this royal but intimidating lady pointing at me did not make me feel very comfortable. And the message she brings... still escapes me a bit. She's is the protector of the forests and the Healer of Gaia. She governs the health of all creatures, small or big, beautiful or strange, because she knows it is all a part of the same nature. We are all connected - when the world suffers, we suffer.

In the current state of unbalance our world is, the Green Lady has been certainly overworking herself! So much to heal! So this card means that she is asking my help - asking me to do my part, and help this world too.

I confess that I do not know what to do about this, or why this message appeared to me right in this moment. Perhaps it is telling me that I have been disconnected from nature - which is true, considering I work from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm, that leaves me little time to enjoy the green. It's been raining for the last two weeks nearly non-stop, so the opportunities to enjoy the sun and the air have not been many. And when it's not raining, it's absurdly cold, which is not an inviting weather for tree hugging activities.

Okay, perhaps I'm just full of excuses! And the Green Lady's unwavering gaze embarrasses me a bit. She sees right into my soul.

Video: How to connect the cards in a reading

Hi everyone!

I just want to share what I consider to be one of the best videos ever made by Ana Cortez! In this video, she gives advices on how to 'connect' the cards in a reading in order to create a cohesive message for the querent.

In my opinion, this is one of the most difficult arts to master in divination. One thing is to understand the message of the individual parts; another is to turn these different parts into one story. I confess I still have a lot of problem with this, even after many years of reading cards.

But Ana also talks about the importance of not reading too often for yourself, because this can drain you. I experienced a big divination burnout in the beginning of this year due to this... I was using the cards too often to handle my own issues, and in the end I was tired and confused and not any wiser. I found it amazing that she mentioned this, because beginners tend to only read for themselves... it's a good way to start practicing, but we should make the conscious effort to not limit our practice to ourselves.

She also mentions the importance of knowing well your system in order to work with the cards naturally. I have talked about something similar in my post about my views on Intuition and how it works. You have to know your tool well to work with it intuitively. And I know that every day I learn something new about this awesome oracle called the Playing Cards!

Below is the video! I recommend it to all card-readers, even if you don't use Playing Cards.

Enjoy it!


The Playing Card Oracles © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman

Interview with the Voyager Tarot

...yes, I like interviewing decks! Specially decks that I don't really like, but that for some reason, attract me. One of these decks is the Voyager Tarot, created in 1984 by James Wanless and Ken Knutson (the artist). I don't like decks with busy immagery and ridiculously big cards, and the Voyager Tarot happens to have both characteristics. But ever since a worn copy of this deck arrived on my doorstep, I could not ignore its calling...

I tried a couple of readings with it, and it reads surprisingly well. So I decided to interview it.

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? ~ XVII - Moon

I work with images that come from the unsconscious. My language is the language of the dreams. I'm half-mystic, half-mad. I am a reflective deck more than a predictive one.

ONIM ~ The Blue Lady

"Nothing is impossible. Nothing. Those who tell you now that what you wish for, that what you earn for, that the road you take is too hard, too difficult, too challenging... that it is not for you, for yours is not the adventure of the dream, yours is of compromise and slow heartbreak... I am here to tell you they are wrong." (p.143)

This is how the message of this brave and talented Dragonfae begins. She tells you that whatever is your dream, it is possible to some degree, if only you are willing to fight for it. Stay strong, stay true. Fight against the crystallized vision society imposes on everyone, so they will not shine, so they'll stay trapped...

But she also poses a question. "What do you want?" Possible or impossible, it's important to know where you want to go. And that's where my problem lies... what do I want? How can I follow my own voice, if my goals remain so elusive, even to myself?

This card reminded me of the post my dear friend Shaheen made about the 9 of Hearts. In it he shares a bit of his story, telling how he followed his dreams in spite of the naysayers. He asked his dreams to unfold before him, with him. He has the essence of The Blue Lady within him, and I admire that so much! I long for this courage - and for this vision.