tarot

Creative Tarot – Part Two: Rider-Waite-Smith

Click here for Part One.

Upon arrival to the island they come across a juggler. He is a fancy and upbeat entertainer. The woman quickly realizes that he is looking for coins in exchange for his liveliness. With nothing to offer she politely moves on as the juggler heads towards the sailor docking the boat.

The unnamed woman gave a thankful nod to the sailor and headed off to the darkness of a nearby wooded area. She was not familiar with this island, but she trusted the tree spirits to guide her. They all whispered to her to be quiet, be still. She did as she was advised and heard distress in the distance. She followed the murmurs and found a woman bound and gagged. She recognized the power within this woman instantly.

Hurriedly undoing the ropes, blindfold, and mouth gag. All the while the unnamed woman was chanting seemingly incoherent mumbles. The bound woman, finally freed, she kissed the heroine on the forehead. A circle of bright white light encompassed them both, “Aepheria,” she whispered.

“My Priestess” Aepheria said in bowed reverence.

Stay tuned for the final act on this creative tarot adventure coming next week!

Brightest Blessings
Phoenix Rose
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Tarot Talks: Effective Questions in Tarot

I find there are two types of people that come to tarot: those with very specific questions, and those who have no idea what they want to know. As a reader it is easier to read when specifics are involved, however looking for too specific an answer does not allow the cards to offer alternative possibilities. The best is to find an easy medium between specific and open-ended.

Focusing on one aspect helps to narrow down the reading because every card holds many meanings depending on how you read them. The Big 3 topics that most people want insight on: career, relationships, and health. Your question does not have to be limited to one of the Big 3, but it’s an example of choosing an aspect that you want to focus on.

Asking, “where is my career/relationship/health heading?” Is focused enough onto a topic and open-ended enough to give many possibilities.  However, it may still be too open-end. Your career may take a fabulous turn, but that may not happen for 10 years down the road. You can put a time frame to your questions. “Where is my career/relationship/health heading in 6 months?” is a more effective question that is focused enough that you will know what aspects of the cards to read, and is open-ended enough to give various vantage points.

My favourite question to ask tarot is: “What aspect do I need to see which I am not already seeing?”
You can ask this in regards to overall life, or in a specific area. Open-ended and all-encompassing readings can get convoluted, as cards about money, love and health will all pop up, and they may or may not be related to each other.  Information overload is not something that you want to do in a reading.

Stay away from yes/no questions in tarot. Although there are methods that can be used with the cards to answer yes/no questions, they are not always accurate, how you have to divide cards may not give an equal amount of yes/no cards, therefore favouring one answer over the other. To avoid this often a complex method of reversals and this and that… it’s too much. Get a pendulum for yes/no questions! Tarot is a deeply profound tool that can help unlock hidden aspects of yourself – it’s a journey of the soul.

If you have a specific scenario, or are at a crossroads an effective question that I find works well is, “what do I need to know about this?” You can replace/add to “this” with your specific scenario, e.g., “what do I need to know about this relationship?”

To recap, here are effective and open-ended questions:

  • What do I need to see that I’m not already seeing?
  • What do I need to know about this?
  • What are the possibilities?
  • What are my options?
  • What is the Universe/Angels/Higher Self/Spirit Guide trying to tell me?
  • What is the most effective way to deal with this?
There is a plethora of tarot spreads that can be found all over the internet and in tarot related books. Decks often comes with sample spreads. You can also create your own spreads if you cannot find a spread that answers what you are looking for.  Next week I will go over some effective spreads that I frequently use.
Brightest Blessings!
Phoenix Rose

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Creative Tarot – Part One: Rider-Waite-Smith

The woman with no name is locked up, trapped, captured.  She is helpless and bound.  There are four guards that take turns watching her cell.  She wonders how and when she will get out of this.
What the guards don’t know is that she is fierce despite her vulnerable and helpless exterior.  She will no longer be held captive, she decides to take the whole cell down.  She has favour with the Sky Gods, and the tower cell is struck down in an instant with a fiery crack of lightning at the moment she called upon them.  The guards were flung, unknowing of this woman’s importance, unknowing of her power.  She narrowly escapes the destruction as chaos ensues behind her.
Wrapped in torn sheets she makes her way down to the port where she meets a young seafarer.  He is loading his boat with bundles of steel.  She has little to offer him. However, he is kind, seeing the destruction she has fled from, he takes pity and offers to take her to the next island where he will be making his delivery.  She gladly accepts, and in moments they sail off.
Stay tuned for part two on this creative tarot adventure coming next week!
Brightest Blessings
Phoenix Rose
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Tarot Talks: How to Be Objective in a Reading

Last week I said that I would be posting sample questions and spreads for using tarot to navigate your life. However, I am going to go a different direction given a conversation I had this week with some dear friends in the tarot community. I do apologize and will get to it in a future post. This seemed like a more pressing thing to talk about as even the most skilled readers will ask other readers for input in interpreting cards for themselves. This is because it can be difficult to remain objective when you are too close to the situation.

We can’t see the forest for the trees.

How I learned to become objective for myself is to read cards for other people. Not close friends and family. Reading for absolute strangers (you can find many groups where readers do free exchanges). Reading for people or situations you know little about can have a great impact on exercising your intuition. One mistake I made reading for myself is that I would look up every single possible meaning of each and every card. I was on information overload. Not knowing which interpretation to accept. It was stressful to say the least.

When reading for others is when I stopped stressing over possible meanings.  If I did a 3-card spread I would literally only read the meanings of each card that pertained to the other cards in the spread. Nine times out of ten this hit the nail on the head for those I read for. This lesson is two-fold because I learned how to connect the card meanings to each other, which is common for any newbie to struggle with.

The following are some methods to remain objective in a self reading (or reading for a situation you’re too close to):

– Act as though you are reading for someone else, what would you tell them based on the cards you see?
– Act as though it is your Spirit Guide / Guardian Angel who is giving you a reading, what would they say to you through these cards? What kind words, advice or encouragement are they trying to send you?
– Make note of all the things that come to mind from your reading, ask another reader their input without seeing what you’ve noted, and compare what interpretations line up.
– Pick a book, or website, of interpretations that you don’t normally use and use strictly those interpretations (www.biddytarot.com is a great resource)
– Read for someone else, often there are messages in there for the reader as well as the querent.

Most important thing is to relax, breathe, and don’t take the reading too seriously. We can only perceive from our current mindset. If we are in a bad mood we are likely to only see the negative aspects of a card. Sometimes I take the cards at face value and see what humor I can see in the pictures (see below memes). It’s a valuable lesson in shifting focus. As that’s what you have to do to gain an objective perspective. Remove yourself from the center of the storm and get a bird’s eye view for more clarity.

What are some methods you use in remaining objective in readings?

Images found on www.facebook.com/dankesttarotmemes

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
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Creative Tarot – New Series

I’m going in a different direction with tarot.  Today I am announcing a new blog series entitled Creative Tarot.

Tarot is and has been a useful tool in divination – the art of looking beyond what we can see with our eyes, for divine guidance or predictions and fortunetelling – for many ages.  Tarot has also been used for the mundane as in playing card games.  I will not be discussing interpretations, readings, history, or anything of that nature in this new series.

What I will be using the tarot cards for is to assist in creative writing.  Someone with absolutely no knowledge of tarot or their meanings can use this method to work in conjunction with a creative writing project.  While I do have knowledge of the card meanings, I’m not relying on that for creating a wee story.

I will be using the classic Rider-Waite-Smith deck, basing the story strictly on the pictures, and what comes to mind.  I will pull 3 cards per blog post, and 3 parts per series.  There are many decks out there, each with their own artwork.  The possibilities of using tarot in this way is endless!

Not only is this a fun and creative exercise using tarot or oracle decks in this manner, it also is an exercise in connecting with your deck, and expanding your intuition.  I feel the novice and adept alike can take something away from this creative process.

Stay tuned for part one in this Creative Tarot series.

I would love to hear your experience with putting this method to use!

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
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Tarot Talks: Navigating Your Life Using Tarot

In last week’s Tarot Talks I spoke of comparing yourself with the have-nots in life and how tarot can take you out of that head-space and provide clarity and offer a different perspective. This week I would like to go a bit further into using clarity provided by tarot. This is a bit of a paradox because tarot can sometimes have us raising more questions than answering the ones we came in with.

It is true that tarot is complex, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Learning it’s language –  I don’t mean memorizing the instruction book either – and how it speaks to you is the key to a successful and insightful reading. Oftentimes tarot gives insight into different paths when we find ourselves at a crossroads.

I don’t believe that tarot should be used as a GPS, but rather should be used as a compass. GPS systems have a set destination and you follow exactly where the voice tells you to go. A compass on the other hand tells you where True North is and it’s up to you to go in the direction that would best get you to where you want to go. Unlike an actual compass tarot may also advise that East will get you closer to your goal, or show you the downfalls in taking West. Either way, you are the decider.

When using tarot for self development shift your focus from seeing tarot as a thing that tells you what’s going to happen to seeing tarot as a tool that allows you to make better informed and more effective decisions in your life. This is the first step in empowering yourself and gaining clarity in your life by using tarot. Self-reflective and open-ended questions are best to ask in a reading.

Next week I will be talking more about effective questions and spreads to start using tarot as a spiritual compass. Stay tuned 🙂

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
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Tarot Talks: Stop Comparing and Start Gaining Clarity

We all search for clarity in various ways. While the motivations may be different for the individual, it all comes from a place of comparisons – wanting what others’ have that we don’t, believing the grass is greener on the other side, or even comparing our current reality to what we think our life “should” look like. This place of comparing emphasizes our insecurities and doubts. It makes our frustration signal rise and the downward spiral begins. We become clouded and need to clear the way to make more effective decisions in our lives.

Tarot is a tool that helps move from a place of comparing to a place of clarity

Tarot is a tool to help gain clarity into a confusing or frustrating situation. The place of comparing isn’t necessarily a negative thing, as humans we need to be able to compare, make sound judgments that could literally mean life or death. We tend to take this comparing to other levels: jealousy, envy, self-doubting, insecurities, and feelings of worthlessness. This was not what our filters of comparison was designed for.
When we are angry or frustrated it often means that we are not in balance. We see, hear, think something that does not line up with our quality, or ideal, existence. Uncomfortable feelings often urge us to act upon “fixing” what may be wrong. This is the process of acting out of anger and winding up with results that actually made things worse for us.  

Tarot can assist in seeing things from different angles and gaining a new perspective, it can help interrupt our negative thought and behavior patterns and suggest new thoughts and behaviours that can assist in getting more effective results.

We have not been taught to listen to our intuition much less trust it. Tarot is a direct line of communication to that inner voice, Higher Self, that sometimes seems to scream at us, though we may be too wrapped up in our own BS to even notice. Thoughts appear, we have beliefs on those thoughts, we have stories we tell ourselves – which may or may not be true – we have all these things circling our minds and it gets muddled up with the voice of our Higher Self which is trying to guide us on our life’s purpose, trying to guide us to succeed and attain our goals. Our mind gets all muddled up with thoughts that we don’t know whether we are legitimately supposed to do something or not. We can no longer tell if it’s our intuition or is it just self-doubt.
A dear Soul Sister of mine said, “we wouldn’t need tarot if we trusted ourselves and didn’t let insecurities hinder us.” One of the first things that you learn in tarot is to trust your intuition. Above all else, no matter what the interpretation books say, go with your intuition and gut feeling on what you see within the cards.  

Tarotists don’t have all the answers, and we are not full of clarity and enlightenment, we are humans and often seek other readers to help us gain clarity in situations.  

Sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees, and that is okay as it’s a natural part of life, learning, and personal growth. It is normal as humans to need things mirrored back to us to get deeper understandings, and this includes understandings about our own Inner Being. When we compare to others and focus on our have-nots, or to the should-haves it will cause only frustration for ourselves. When we start using tools such as, but not limited to, tarot we can start self-reflecting on our thoughts and behaviours and begin creating a quality life for ourselves. We can start tending our own garden, plant the seeds for the things we want to see grow and weed out the things we do not want. 
Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
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Tarot Talk: Importance of Interviewing Your Decks

Have you ever been really excited about a new tarot or oracle deck that you just received, but then you start working with it and you just don’t seem to mesh well with it even though you really want to?  This has happened to me on a couple occasions until I learned what a deck interview was.

It’s important to learn how to best work with your decks.

A deck interview is a spread that can help you determine the “personality” of your cards.  Instead of answering typical questions about you and your situation, you are asking the tarot cards questions about themselves.

The point of doing this is to help you to work with the deck in a more meaningful way.  I learned the importance of this when I first started using Healing with the Angels oracle cards by Doreen Virtue.  I was new to working with angel decks and I thought I would use this to study the archangels.  For some reason all my readings and spreads were way off in left field, and I ended up feeling progressively disconnected from this deck the more I used it.  I came across the below “New Deck Interview,” laid the spread and in the “what are your limits as a deck?” position the “Study” card came up.  Once I stopped trying to use it for study purposes I was able to better open and receive its messages.

“Never just remember how to do something, understand how it works”
-Adam Dachis (read more here)

Here is a break down on my latest deck interview. The Seekers Oracle by Barbara Ford and Alysa Bartha.  I usually note the first thought/feeling that comes to mind when I see the cards, I also check the included book for any keywords that feel helpful in determining what I will get out of working with this deck.

(I switched position of 2nd and 3rd cards from original spread)
New Deck Interview
…5……6…
……4……
…2……3…
……1…….
1. Tell me more about yourself; What is your most important characteristic? 
“Power of Three”
Power of 3 transcends time and space. Wisdom, protection, wish fulfillment. 3 card draws work best.
2. What are your strengths as a deck?
“Ring of Fire”
Allows heaviness of life to give you strength. Fine tune your focus. Mindfulness.
3. What are your limits as a deck?
“Tree of Life”
Unmoving. Unchallenging.
4. What do you bring to the table; What are you here to teach me?
“The Architect”
Connection. All view points are equal. Balance. Do not compare yourself with others.
5. How can I best learn and collaborate with you?
“The Seer”
Lifting the veil. Embracing gift of second sight. Connect to own inner wisdom.
6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?
“Sacred Scarab”
Protection, rebirth, regeneration. Balance. Potential unfolding like the lotus. Be a leader. Have healthy boundaries.
In summary, this deck will work best with 3-card spreads – one card may not have enough info and more than three cards may become too convoluted.  This is an empowering deck that can help when I need some positivity.  Because it’s limitations for me are “unmoving, unchallenging” this may not be the deck to use when I need some flat out kick-me-in-the-ass messages, because it will not waiver from a balanced and uplifting perspective.  Though, this deck will be great to use the imagery for meditation and reflection, and can assist in embracing my gifts.
Now, what if I was to use this deck to try and get some kick-me-in-the-ass messages?  I wouldn’t be receiving that message at all.  I might say, “oh, this deck is too fluffy in it’s messages.  I need something to tell me flat out what I’m doing wrong, not something that’s only seems to give trite advice.”  Since I now know how best to work with this deck I shouldn’t have any issues in receiving its messages. 
Every deck will work differently with every person.  You may have the same deck and it could be real hard on you, and not positive and uplifting at all.  Doesn’t mean that the deck is bad or that you aren’t a good reader, it just means that you need to make sure you are using the tools appropriately.
Do you have any new deck spreads that you use? Comment below!  Would love to hear your experiences with interviewing your decks.
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Please contact me if you have any questions, or topic suggestions for future Tarot Talks posts.

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
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Template of New Deck Interview:

****** 5 ****** 6 ******
********** 4 **********
****** 3 ****** 2 ******
********** 1 **********

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?
2. What are your strengths as a deck?
3. What are your limits as a deck?
4. What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me?
5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you?
6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?

I have seen a few different spreads, but I like this one the best. Sourced from FireRaven listed on Tarot Forum.
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Tarot Tuesday – February 21, 2017

Today’s featured deck is Steven D. Farmer’s Messages From Your Animal Spirit Guides Oracle Cards

Back in 2014 this was the first oracle deck that I received.  Prior to that I only worked with tarot.  Oracle cards were a new-to-me thing.  I had asked the Universe for signs of my power animal, long story short, this deck popped out to me one day at Chapters, it wasn’t even in the right section, which worked out for me!

Septarian and Clear Quartz Crystals shown with deck

Ladybug
“This is a time of good fortune and abundance, so be willing to receive all good things in your life.”

The ladybug is small, yet mighty.  Things are happening, and quickly.  This card is definitely resonating with what I see in the collective.  The veil between the worlds, the separation between the physical and astral used to only thin during certain times of the year, such as Beltaine or Samhain.  However, lately the veil has been thinning over the years.  In a nutshell: we are manifesting things quicker than ever.

The Ladybug reminds us to be observant and careful with our thoughts.  Focus on what we want.  Focus on our goals.  If we get stuck focusing and thinking about what we lack, looking to our have-nots, well… that’s what’s going to manifest in our lives.  Be grateful for your blessings, no matter how small.  Gratitude is key to continually receiving good fortune, joy, and abundance.  Ask for what you want and graciously accept all that comes your way.

Can you feel what it’s like when you think of having it already?

Get as clear and concise as you can when asking the Universe to help you fulfill a goal or obtain a want.  The Universe not only has a sense of humour, but can also manifest things quite literally.  Once you have defined what you want, feel that it is yours, feel that happiness, excitement, elation that you know you will feel once that thing is yours.  Go ahead and thank the Universe for providing it.  Remember, sometimes the Universe needs to shift things around to get you what you want, this may mean placing you in an uncomfortable situation for a short time, until things are ready for you to get to a better place.
Be willing to flow with the energy of the Universe, the cosmos, Mother Earth.  When you start moving with the natural cycles of the Earth magic happens.

The Ladybug is anything but meek

Ladybugs look cute.  Even their name is the cutest thing ever.  Don’t let their cute exterior fool you.  These mighty little creatures have no moral compass.  I’m not getting into the licentious and immoral life of a ladybug here.  However, how I take this fact when I receive this card is that not everything is as it seems.  Which solidifies that idea that the Universe sometimes needs to move us to a spot, or give us things that we don’t want in order to give us better things that we do want.  
We have many layers as a human, just like the ladybug.  We can look cute, have a hard exterior, walk, fly, and bite someone’s head off should you get on our bad side.  It’s a ladybug-eat-ladybug world out there, and the sooner you realize that YOU are the artist and life is a creation of your expression, the sooner you’re going to like the picture you see.  Don’t let lack and have-nots hold you back, keeping manifesting for the best!

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose

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Tarot Tuesday – February 14, 2017

Tarot Tuesday – February 14, 2017

Because today also lands on the notorious of all days for lovers I am showcasing the 1JJ Swiss Tarot, or referred to as the “Juno and Jupiter” deck because the Pope and Popess (Emperor and Empress) are substituted for the Gods.  Perfect for today, as Juno and Jupiter were consorts, and Lupercalia is being celebrated today, as celebration associated with Juno.

1JJ Swiss is derived from the French Tarot Marseilles, and designed for playing tarot card games, such as Troccas and Troggu, which I may discuss in a future blog post.  For now lets discuss this reading.

Spread in a V formation for Valentines
We see the Valet de Coupe, or Page of Cups.  A message is to be delivered, spiritual or emotional of nature. This person is a dreamer and extremely creative.
Next, Roi de Coupe, or the King of Cups, Reversed. This King has closed himself off.  Emotionally unavailable.  Looking for love in all the wrong places.  Self-pity.
Finally, Quatre d’Epées, or Four of Swords.  This stresses the importance of self care.  Meditation.  Recuperation.  Don’t get caught up in your thoughts if they are hurting you.  Take meaningful action to change your situation.  Unwind.  Quiet yourself and listen to your inner wisdom.

Overall:  I see this reading as exactly what happens on a day such as today.  There will be those professing their love, some will be closed off and completely scorning this day, while others keep to themselves.  These particular cards point to a marriage proposal, very common for Valentines Day, though comes with a caution that you may want to think it over before heading into a serious commitment.

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose

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