Private Honor vs. Public Accolades

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ Justice

This deck shows Justice finding Arthur both honest and honorable, a man who accepts the consequences of his actions. She presents him with a scabbard for the first and Excalibur's sword for the second.

We all think about Justice every day; hoping the driver that just blew by you meets a traffic cop; that the neighbor who beat a spouse blue and bloody enjoys the same treatment in jail; that the exemplary work on a project brings an equally exemplary raise in wages. But there is also the Justice we avoid thinking about; the $5.00 we put in the collection plate vs. the $10.00 in lottery tickets; driving past the neighbor trudging up hill with loaded grocery sacks because we were just too tired to visit. Hence the honorable part of the equation balancing the scales because honor is a private thing for the most part only we know.

"The post of honour is a private station." ~ Joseph Addison 1672-1719

Sharing Responsibility, Sharing Success

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ 2 of Wands

Bedivere and Kay were shoulder to shoulder with Aurthur through their quest, and became important men with heavy responsibilities during his reign.

I'm reminded by this card of several small business owners I've worked for over the years who never really understood the concept of boss. Their businesses were not overly successful because they were their own best employee and worst enemy; rather than hiring good people and then using them to full effect. The inability to delegate is a crippling personality trait.

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." ~ General George Smith Patton, Jr. 1885-1945

Doomed Ignobly

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ 5 of Wands/Spears

In this image we see Uther Pendragon's pursuit of the Duke of Cornwall's wife who was safely ensconced in the impenetrable Castle Tintagel.

What possesses humans to pursue something they have no need of nor right to? Yet against all odds, risking everything they do have and the people associated with it, on they plow. This isn't noble nature, it's blind idiocy.

"Whatever needs to be gained through force is doomed." ~ Henry Miller 1891-1980

Water

Daily Draw: Legend The Arthurian Tarot ~ Ace of Cups

Water, the root of life.

I ran our well dry last night.

"Aarrrugh!" ~ Charlie Brown

The End. Again.

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ 10 of Swords

At the battle of Camlann we witness the bloody end of the Knights of the Round Table and the death of both King Arthur and Mordred Who Would Be King.

I'm reminded by this card that much of life goes out with a whisper, only in retrospect can we see there has been any change. Occasionally though we see the door slam shut and hear the reverberations echo for years.

"It is only the dead who have seen the end of war." ~ Plato 428 BC-348 BC

Of Garters and Vampirism

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ 10 of Wands

In a fit of foolish bravado Gawain agreed to the Green Knight's beheading game. Then he spent the next 365 days watching the clock of his own life tick down. The green garter he accepted as a protection talisman put him in worse peril, and perhaps saved his life in the end. Thus came the tradition of the knights all wearing green garters as a show of solidarity.

I'm reminded by this card that badges of solidarity don't mean much unless there is action behind it. Token members of groups who simply lurk give nothing and take much, a form of vampirism.

"It's like being a Knight of the Garter. It's an honor, but it doesn't hold up anything." ~ Fulton J. Sheen 1895-1975

Wisher vs Believer

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ 9 of Cups

At the bidding of the Divine and with the assistance of the Holy Grail Galahad was able to lay a hand on the wounded King of the Wastelands and heal him of his grievous wounds.

I'm reminded by this card and it's misnamed moniker as the Wish Card that nothing ever happens by wishing. Someone somewhere has to take action and take responsibility.

"If there is anything we wish to change, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves." ~ Carl Gustav Jung 1875-1961

One of my favorite decks this week, Legend the Arthurian Tarot, book and art by Anna-Marie Ferguson, published by Llewellyn Worldwide. My second edition was published 1998 and last used here in June 2007.

Where? What? Why?

Daily Draw: Harmonious Tarot ~ 8 of Cups

Where is that guy going? If they are/were together why are they dressed so differently? Why are her feet so small? Why is she holding a roadside shrub? Is that roots in her hand or a florists spill? Big difference there if it is a gift or something yanked out by the roots. Does his walking stick imply age or a long distance to go? Do the mountains in the distance mean blockages or escape route?

Lots of questions and if a reader is good he/she will think of them all and more when looking at a card in a reading. We consider all those questions and then what the cards on either side of this one are saying also, as they probably have the key to what is important in this image. All that said to say, it is a good idea to consider all sides before rushing into a decision.

"There is but one genuine love-potion - mutual consideration." ~ Menander of Athens 342 BC-292 BC

Slow Germination

Daily Draw: Harmonious Tarot ~ Ace of Coins

Rob and I are both working on Ace of Coins projects this summer. It seems to be going slowly.

I'm reminded by this card that most starts seem non-existant...until hindsight shows the seeds that germinated and grew.

We lack the taste for anonymous, innumerable germination. We are smitten with counting and measuring; and feel out of place and uncomfortable with the innumerable; our efforts tend instead to limit ourselves to what we can count on our fingers." ~ Jean Dubuffet 1901-1985

Rest

Daily Draw: Harmonious Tarot ~ 4 of Swords

A lot of my early posts are time stamped between 2-5 AM. If I looked back through this month I'd guess they average right around 7 AM.

I'm reminded by this card of the oddball tools I use now in the fight for sleep and more importantly, rest. I can't believe the difference it has made, at this late date, in my life.

"It is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known". ~ David Copperfield 1812-1870

Altar Of Denari

Daily Draw: Harmonious Tarot ~ 9 of Coins

Another card that differs significantly from the standard Rider-Waite version. Yesterday I was thinking about 'stuff' and storage, and how things have changed in the last 30-40 years in the way the working class shops and views possessions. In this image we see the Native woman dressed in common sense clothing made from nature and carrying a native sheaf of plants which are probably edible. We see the woman in the left is much the opposite.

I'm reminded by this card how inappropriate much of what we have and do is to the truth of our life. We turn our back on nature yet hold the trident as though we were in control. We dress and live beyond our means. Our focus is on the great big dollar, yet like the bird we effectively shat on it rather than use it effectively to enrich our lives, rather than our drawers, cupboards and closets.

To paraphrase a Charles Buck quotation "The store is their shrine, the register their priest, the shoe tree their altar, the credit card their god."

Always Room For Improvement

Daily Draw: Harmonious Tarot ~ Ace of Wands

Aces are beginnings, but beginnings of what? This card comes to us each day as we arise; we consciously and subconsciously tick off what actions we need to take. The little daily things like feed family, animals, self, and occasionally the big things, start a new job, begin writing the great American novel, get married.

I'm reminded by this card just how many starts we do make each day, always with the bright fresh opportunity to do something better than we have in the past.

"Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." ~ St. Francis of Assisi 1182-1216

Get Busy

Daily Draw: Harmonious Tarot ~ 2 of Wands

This isn't thinking about work, it is picking up her tools and getting to work. The blossoms are fully developed, the birds are on wing, no dawdling allowed.

I'm reminded by this card how much I have to do here. Sooner started, sooner done.

"We may be very busy, we may be very efficient, but we will also be truly effective only when we begin with the end in mind." ~ Stephen R. Covey

Becoming

Daily Draw: Harmonious Tarot ~ Judgement

Again. I've spent many hours wondering about and studying this particular Harmonious card over the years. In basic tarot imagery an angel is in the sky with a horn and people are on the ground, often rising from their coffin, with arms upraised.
At first glance that is what we have here, with poetic license. But closer examination shows four angels with horns and furled wings, grounded. Mid and lower right is were the questions come in. What is that stick coming into the card? It looks like a horn, becoming. Or a baby elephant trunk.

There are no straight lines in nature and the floral branch by it is quite randomly limbed. The other puzzlement is on the ground below the whatever the stick is. I've finally settled on a cloak, folded over on itself, with a scalp full of hair.

Today I've had a new insight. The reason the angels are grounded? The cloak and hair and horn returning to nature are those of a fallen angel or perhaps an angel in-process.  I've never believed the crock-o-carp called organized religion was worth the time of day. On the third hand...a few months ago I had a spiritual epiphany which I'm still getting my mind around. A lot of words to say what I see in this card this Sunday morning.

"The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary." ~ Abraham Maslow 1908-1970

The Harmonious Tarot with artwork by Walter Crane and Ernest Fitzpatrick, published by Lo Scarabeo 2005. Last used here in June 2007.

Stunted Understanding

Daily Draws: Wonderland Tarot ~ 9 of Wands/Peppermills

Alice wailed "no one answers the door", and the frog footman replies "what did it ask?". My friend Bob loves to make gorgeous peppermills out of exotic woods. Except he has no market for them, no one asks for a peppermill these days.

Bob and Alice both suffer from misunderstanding. As we all do occasionally. I could name a dozen things right off the top of my head I don't understand about my own life. And I don't quite know how to turn the looking glass to the opposite end and see it from a different viewpoint; my creative instinct seems stunted in that respect.

"The manner in which you ask a question betrays your limits - those answers you will accept, and those you will reject or confuse with misunderstanding." ~ Karrben Fethr

Zippity Do Dah

Daily Draw: Wonderland Tarot ~ King of Wands/Peppermills

A zipping along day, much to do and no one else to do it.
Much of an adult's life is like that. Kids don't realize while they are hating school and wanting to be anywhere but there, after school school school, what remains is work work work.

I'm reminded by this card after work work work is death death death...

"Quitcherbitching" ~ Dear Abby/Eppie Lederer 1918-2002

Sentence First, Verdict Afterward

Daily Draw: Wonderland Tarot ~ Judgement

The White Rabbit is the defense counsel for the Knave of Hearts who stole some tarts...or did he? As the trial disintegrated into chaos the charges took a back seat to the court room activities.

This reminds me of the interminably on-going Polanski trials. What's the point and who the hell is paying for the forty year circus besides the American taxpayer? The victim has repeatedly petitioned the courts to drop it, forty years is a long time to have your name and experiences dragged through the press and the kangaroo courts. She has been the victim and sadly, also the judged all along. And am I judging, striking, or gossiping?

"It is just as cowardly to judge an absent person as it is wicked to strike a defenseless one. Only the ignorant and narrow-minded gossip, for they speak of persons instead of things." ~ Lawrence G. Lovasik 1913-1986

Still And Again

Daily Draw: Wonderland Tarot ~ Knight of Swords/Flamingos

A knight of great maturity, what fun! This boyo only thinks of retirement as what he does each night, going to bed. No, this knight is on the ball, having adventures, coming to the aid of, on the road still and again.

I'm reminded by this card of how very different we all are. There are folken who seemed to go into retirement upon leaving their childhood crib, others who are still actively working in their 90's. I hope to be part of the latter. I don't want to go sitting in a chair staring at a wall. I want to go doing something I love.

"Sooner or later I'm going to die, but I'm not going to retire." ~ Margaret Mead 1901-1978

Ungardened

Daily Draw: Wonderland Tarot ~ 7 of Coins/Oysters

This is the face of agriculture in the NW this year. The rains stayed and stayed. We usually have three gardens to tend between ours and MILs. This year we have a small patch of lettuce, and a small flower garden. The hay hasn't even been cut yet and that is a May job. Very fortunate all the cattle are long gone or we'd have to buy a barnful of hay and lord knows how far we'd have to travel to get it.

I'm reminded by this card that life isn't all wine and fragrant roses, it has it's balance of weeds and mud. Life goes on and actually I'm kind of enjoying not having gardener's back, knees, and fingernails. Sort of like playing hooky from school, only legally.

"Coffee. Garden. Coffee. Does a good morning need anything else?" ~ Betsy Cañas Garmon

Dressed To The Shoes

Daily Draw: Wonderland Tarot ~ Ace of Wands/Pepper mills

Ah. My ace of action and my freebie horoscope on my home page both say it's time to get back to work in a business like fashion, no dabbling. I agree.

I'm reminded by this card of 'light duty'. Something any business with a brain at it's head facilitates when an employee has been off with illness or injury. Because it doesn't take long to get out of the discipline of work. Time to get dressed to the shoes and get back to the daily 'grind'.

"The disparity between a restaurant's price and food quality rises in direct proportion to the size of the pepper mill." ~ Bryan Miller, NY Times food critic

Open Sez Me

Daily Draw: Wonderland Tarot ~ 9 of Coins/Oysters

An auspicious beginning with the Wonderland, cool. The Oysters gathered about look just like my nine hens following me about the farm. Limited understanding but in for the adventure, bring it on, open the door.

I'm reminded by this card that Open The Door is my motto and the way I approach life. Sometimes I demand it as we see Alice doing here, other times I squeeze my eyes shut and jump out of the way lest there be monsters, but open the door I will. Knowing is far superior to wondering in my book.

"In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti 1895-1986

Last used here June 2007, The Wonderland Tarot. A collaborative effort of Christopher John Abbey, writer, and Morgana Abbey, artist. Based on the Lewis Carroll books Alice In Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass. Published 1989 by U.S Games Systems, long out of print and difficult to find. Suits are renamed; Flamingo/Swords, Peppermill/Wands, Hats/Cups, Oysters/Coins. Something unusual about this deck is the minors aren't named on the card, simply numbered as in a playing card deck.

Epona

Daily Draw: Tarocchi Celtici ~ Judgment/Epona

The name Epona comes from Gaulish, which was spoken during the later Iron Age approximately 300 BCE to 50 BCE. As a late goddess her history is scant, but she was known as the protector of horses. I find it interesting that my last draw with this deck before it travels to it's new owner contains all three of the most prominent animals in my life. The Owl and Raven are totems, the horse gives me heart stopping fright.

I'm reminded by this Judgment card and Epona that life isn't a lead pipe cinch, all roses and championship. It is filled with moments of amazing grace and days of uncertainly and fear and sorrow. I don't believe in fate, but that our path is self-directed. People and events can certainly impact us but where we go and what we do with that effect is entirely up to us. We are the horse and Epona, the protector and the protected.

"When you define yourself as a protector-in-chief, your accountability is higher." ~ Kathleen Hall Jamieson 1946-

Bittersweet

Daily Draw: Tarocchi Celtici ~ Queen of Cups/Cane

I think it's cane anyway, the translator doesn't change Ngetal o Ebbio Peith at all. From the images I gather the root and the bearing and full fruition of responsibility.

I'm reminded by this card being responsible often means allowing, grooming, and encouraging something or someone to grow in size and ability to stand alone, thus we are left and may or may not choose begin again. The deepness of the Queen of Cups feelings often result in this cycle being painful rather than a celebration.

"I've giv'n her all I can captain, an' I canna give her no more." ~ Montgomery (Scotty) Scott 1920-2005

Blood Sweat Tears And A Key

Daily Draw: Tarocchi Celtici ~ 8 of Swords/Holly

Seventh time I've drawn this card this year. Some cards I never draw that many times over four or five years. This is an unusual deck with upright keywords of money coming, aid is close, fine reversed....umm, ok. Real life readers avoid decks with keywords because while the overall feel might be the same for a particular card in all decks, the emphasis always is on where the card is placed in a spread and what the query is. For instance this card in the 4th position of Probable Outcome or in the 1st position of Spiritual Path would make a serious difference in how the card would be read, as would the cards surrounding it.

All that said, we are right back to a single draw with a card that uses keywords. Holly, whether secular or religious immediately brings to mind bright color in winter, a holiday with time to play and a great deal of customs, and the stickeriness that can draw blood. We own our home and property outright as of this year and it keeps rolling across our conscious mind like a surprise present. The blood sweat and tears, and the key and keyhole that say mine, all mine. Perhaps this card explains the previous six 8 of Swords.

"Every radish I ever pulled up seemed to have a mortgage attached to it." ~ Ed Wynn 1886-1966

Tenacious

Daily Draw: Tarocci Celtici ~ Edera/Page of Wands

This card has been a booger to work out. I've finally arrived with much assumption on my part, that this is a Page/Princess of Wands represented by ivy.

I'm reminded by this card of how tenacious ivy can be, and in order to work with this card I've had to be the same. On the other hand I've wasted better than a hour just getting to the point of identifying the above two points. Was it worth it? Did I gain knowledge, or just information?

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity." ~ Louis Pasteur 1822-1895

Internal Truth

Daily Draw: Tarocchi Celtici ~ Magician/Lug

Lug was the last of the major Celt deities to be added to the roster. His skill with the spear was so good as to be considered magical, and he was equally skilled in many arts. He was the only surviving triplet and perhaps absorbed all the talents of the lost two in addition to his own. An interesting postscript to the story is in the end Lug was murdered by drowning in Loch Lugborta so he ended up dying just as his brothers had in the beginning.

I'm reminded by the fascinating life of Lug no matter how far we rise, how clever or smart we are, how seemingly magical the life, in the end we all die. What we leave behind tells one tale...what we take with us in memory tells the real story. If I dropped dead today, I think I'm satisfied with my inner real truth. And that is all that matters, not what the world thinks of me.

"Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Be the truth." ~ Katherine Mansfield 1888-1923

Utilized or Fallow Wisdom?

Daily Draw: Tarocci Celtici ~ Hazel/10 of Coins

The Hazel stands at the center of Celtic mythology; nine hazel trees surround a sacred pool into which the hazel nuts fall, to be eaten by the sacred salmon, gifting them with wisdom.

This card makes me wonder where our own most common source of wisdom is likely to be found. Books? Computer? School of hard knocks? College? Each day nuggets drop into our pond to be absorbed; are we using our wisdom to our greater good? Or letting it lie fallow and forgotten?

"Many people never stop to realize that a tree is a living thing, not that different from a tall, leafy dog that has roots and is very quiet." ~ Jack Handey 1949-

Unfriended

Daily Draw: Tarocchi Celtici ~ Brigantia Reversed/High Priestess
The High Priestess blows her own horn, drawing all manner of creatures to her. Yet her reasons for doing so are often hidden.

I'm reminded by this reversed image of Facebook and a comment an acquaintance made yesterday. So and so, a stranger to both of us "must be nice, she accepted my friend request...". I have to ask; how can 2-300 strangers be friends? How can you represent your self-image by the 'friending' and 'unfriending' of complete strangers with whom you will have zero on-going interaction? No wonder Brigantia is hung upside down today, it is a bizarre upside down imaginary world we live in.

"You got nothing to lose. You don't lose when you lose fake friends." ~ Joan Jett 1958-

What am I doing with this deck? It has a million cards, it is in Italian as is the compact 173 page soft cover book. No, it just seems like a million cards because they are huge and thick and of a matte textured cardstock that defies shuffling, particularly with these square corners. The cards are numbered 1-78, with the Fool numbered at 22 and all the cards are meant to be used with reversals...how do you read a tree reversed? The majors are Gods or Goddesses, the suits are based on trees and the seasons. For a fuller review I refer you to another on-line resource.
In spite of those drawbacks this deck is highly sought after and difficult to find (mine is already sold) because the art is beautiful, it is superbly crafted and cased and it's Celtic basis is always a good draw. Viva la variety in the card diet.

Stay Or Go

Daily Draw: Santa Fe Tarot ~ World

Some chose to stay in the four worlds they know, some choose to claw their way into the fifth world, and some of those see the fifth world as a stopping place on the way to the next four worlds. Where would you fit on those levels?

I'm reminded by this card that complete and satisfied are words with a different definition for all of us. And each of us are on a level those below us would wonder why we'd leave, and those above us wonder how we stand to stay.

"Learn to be pleased with everything; with wealth, so far as it makes us beneficial to others; with poverty, for not having much to care for, and with obscurity, for being unenvied." ~ Plutarch 46-119

Unevolvement

Daily Draw: Santa Fe Tarot ~ King of Coins/Buffalo

The story that goes with this card deals with the type of powerful men who use life and death as controls.

I'm reminded by this card here we are eons later and nothing has changed. Will we never evolve? Surely if it were possible we'd see some forward movement by now.

"We are the product of 4.5 billion years of fortuitous, slow biological evolution". ~ Dr. Carl Sagan 1934-1996

Burnt Out

Daily Draw: Santa Fe Tarot ~ Hermit

Pollen Boy puts his hands over the sun's eyes so it will sleep, in turn giving the earth rest.

I'm reminded by this card rest is a good thing. The three days I spent at the farm have given my spinning brain a chance to slow down and my body a chance to catch up. The world will wait, or move on, as it always does.

"Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest." ~ Ashleigh Brilliant 1933-