Tarot for Family
Sep. 19th, 2004 02:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosI had the most amazing experience last night. My late uncle's sister, Cathy, was visiting from Chicago, so my Aunt Frances, my cousin Peggy, and my daughter and I all went to my parents' house for dinner. To my extreme surprise, Mom asked me to bring my tarot cards.
No one in my family except![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raptures_shadow has ever shown the least interest in tarot. It's one of those things that I've had the distinct feeling they all simply pretend does not exist. But my aunt has become far more open to the metaphysical and the occult since my uncle's death last year.
It was a highly enjoyable gathering. I asked my dad to print out a copy of the "Soundtracks 2, Fundamentalists 0" post and that got a lot of appreciative laughter. Then, after dinner, my dad retreated to his study, my daughter went to watch tv, and the women cleared space on the dining room table for readings.
Since only Cathy had ever had a tarot reading before, I began with a general introduction to the types of cards and how a reading works. I explained that I could do a general "snapshot" of a querant's life (using the modified Celtic Cross spread which is my default) or do an intuitive, on-the-spot spread in response to a specific question.
My aunt went first, and it was one of those difficult spreads with a lot of inverted cards, but she said that it made sense to her even when it was murky to me. (I don't claim to be psychic and able to pick up what's going on in a person's life. I just talk with the cards.) Cathy was next, and hers was much easier. Her significator was Queen of Swords, which I found interesting.
Then I tried to do my mother's, and I made the mistake of not asking what she was interested in. Her signficator was the Moon, inverted. Atmosphere (what covers her, in the traditional spread) was Judgement inverted. Crossing was 6 of Cups inverted. I was getting a highly atypical "bad feeling" and ended up sweeping the cards away and declaring the reading over. I have never done that before. I've stopped a reading when I was getting a "busy signal" but never did I feel this kind of uneasiness and urgency. It was only then that Mom told me that her question had been about life and Dad's Parkinson's. Now I wish I'd gone on, or had asked before I swept the cards away. With the context, I would have coped better. I think.
Peggy didn't want a reading. Then it was my turn.
I had been intending to simply do a general reading, but as I was shuffling, it suddenly occurred to me to do one about my prospects for romantic relationships. As soon as I mentally agreed to this, I felt the cards not want to be shuffled anymore. I tried, and the deck broke in two. So I did as I was told, put it back the way it had been, and laid down the first card.
The Lovers. I never get this card. Certainly not as a Significator.
I've forgotten some of the cards/positions, but these were the ones that stick with me:
Knight of Wands inverted was atmosphere, and I read it as my resistance to my old typical pattern of falling for the intense but not fully mature males who have been my 'speciality.'
Crossing was Page of Wands, which I read as my own immature draw to the passion/intensity of the Wands suit. I seek in others a part of myself, but not in a grown-up way.
Passing away was the four of Wands inverted, which I always think of as the marriage card. Evidently I'm starting to get over my resistance of the kind of committed relationship that card represents to me.
Face-to-the-World card was the 9 of Swords: night terrors, things that plague one in the middle of the night, but which are not necessarily real in the light of day.
Hopes & Fears was the four of Pentacles, inverted: my fear of losing my resources (personal and emotional) cutting me off and walling me away from the festival outside my gates.
Outcome: Queen of Wands. Which, for those of you who don't memorize all my entries, is what came up at my solstice reading. In this context, I read her as my readiness to experience the fiery, passionate wands energy in a mature way, with a mature partner.
Overall, I got a sense that yes, I will be able to fall in love again and be in a relationship again, and it will be better than my past experiences. Which was a nice feeling.
All in all, it was a rather unusual evening. A good one, but nothing like any family gathering I've been at before!
No one in my family except
raptures_shadow has ever shown the least interest in tarot. It's one of those things that I've had the distinct feeling they all simply pretend does not exist. But my aunt has become far more open to the metaphysical and the occult since my uncle's death last year.It was a highly enjoyable gathering. I asked my dad to print out a copy of the "Soundtracks 2, Fundamentalists 0" post and that got a lot of appreciative laughter. Then, after dinner, my dad retreated to his study, my daughter went to watch tv, and the women cleared space on the dining room table for readings.
Since only Cathy had ever had a tarot reading before, I began with a general introduction to the types of cards and how a reading works. I explained that I could do a general "snapshot" of a querant's life (using the modified Celtic Cross spread which is my default) or do an intuitive, on-the-spot spread in response to a specific question.
My aunt went first, and it was one of those difficult spreads with a lot of inverted cards, but she said that it made sense to her even when it was murky to me. (I don't claim to be psychic and able to pick up what's going on in a person's life. I just talk with the cards.) Cathy was next, and hers was much easier. Her significator was Queen of Swords, which I found interesting.
Then I tried to do my mother's, and I made the mistake of not asking what she was interested in. Her signficator was the Moon, inverted. Atmosphere (what covers her, in the traditional spread) was Judgement inverted. Crossing was 6 of Cups inverted. I was getting a highly atypical "bad feeling" and ended up sweeping the cards away and declaring the reading over. I have never done that before. I've stopped a reading when I was getting a "busy signal" but never did I feel this kind of uneasiness and urgency. It was only then that Mom told me that her question had been about life and Dad's Parkinson's. Now I wish I'd gone on, or had asked before I swept the cards away. With the context, I would have coped better. I think.
Peggy didn't want a reading. Then it was my turn.
I had been intending to simply do a general reading, but as I was shuffling, it suddenly occurred to me to do one about my prospects for romantic relationships. As soon as I mentally agreed to this, I felt the cards not want to be shuffled anymore. I tried, and the deck broke in two. So I did as I was told, put it back the way it had been, and laid down the first card.
The Lovers. I never get this card. Certainly not as a Significator.
I've forgotten some of the cards/positions, but these were the ones that stick with me:
Knight of Wands inverted was atmosphere, and I read it as my resistance to my old typical pattern of falling for the intense but not fully mature males who have been my 'speciality.'
Crossing was Page of Wands, which I read as my own immature draw to the passion/intensity of the Wands suit. I seek in others a part of myself, but not in a grown-up way.
Passing away was the four of Wands inverted, which I always think of as the marriage card. Evidently I'm starting to get over my resistance of the kind of committed relationship that card represents to me.
Face-to-the-World card was the 9 of Swords: night terrors, things that plague one in the middle of the night, but which are not necessarily real in the light of day.
Hopes & Fears was the four of Pentacles, inverted: my fear of losing my resources (personal and emotional) cutting me off and walling me away from the festival outside my gates.
Outcome: Queen of Wands. Which, for those of you who don't memorize all my entries, is what came up at my solstice reading. In this context, I read her as my readiness to experience the fiery, passionate wands energy in a mature way, with a mature partner.
Overall, I got a sense that yes, I will be able to fall in love again and be in a relationship again, and it will be better than my past experiences. Which was a nice feeling.
All in all, it was a rather unusual evening. A good one, but nothing like any family gathering I've been at before!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-19 04:20 pm (UTC)now i always write them down first, no matter what! :> but i do sympathize with your reaction. some things we have to prepare ourselves to see, and they can sneak up on us in a reading.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-19 04:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-20 08:36 am (UTC)I also can have an appreciation for being able to do readings with family. My grandmother is a huge user of the Tarot and is one of the reasons I first gained interest in it. But I feel this topic turning into something that would work better as a post in my own journal.
I have always loved the 4 of wands card, a very positive card that I have seen as a celebration of commitment.
You have a lot of wands in your reading, that or you just highlighted the wands cards. You have a lot of dynamic energy in your life right now? Do you desire that energy?
I wish the best for you and your hopes of a better love. You certainly deserve it in my opinion.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-20 04:36 pm (UTC)That happens to me every so often. I look forward to reading your entry.
You have a lot of dynamic energy in your life right now? Do you desire that energy?
I definitely want more of that energy in my life. Were we friends when I posted my Queen of Wands entries around Solstice? For a couple of years now, I've felt achingly out of touch with my passions, both my creative passions and my romantic/sexual passions. I've been trying to gently re-awaken that energy, and the Queen of Wands signifies that part of myself.
On the Solstice, I met with three women friends and did readings for each of us, and we all had QoW turn up in signficant locations! After that, I did some extra research, and one of the unfamiliar associations with the card had Kali energy, that of destroying what is outgrown/past/no longer serves, to allow for new growth.
So as I try to bring more dynamic energy back into my life, I am also keeping an eye out for what needs to die so transformation can take place. Some of that has happened over the past year, but it is, of course, a never-ending cycle.
To have her turn up again the other night was exciting to me, because it indicated that I'm still moving in that direction. To have it come up in the context of a specifically romance-oriented reading was even better.
I wish the best for you and your hopes of a better love. You certainly deserve it in my opinion.
Thank you. I've felt for far too long that I was no longer capable of it (and I've been extremely passionate in my life). I'm starting to believe that I am still capable of after all.
I just need some proper inspiration. ;-)