21 Ways To Read A Tarot Card -- Step THREE

Joon

21 Ways - Emotions

Step 3: Whispering Tarot, The Emperor
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1. The Emperor feels calm and confident. He feels peaceful and is comfortable being here alone in this outdoor setting. Confident = he is master of all he surveys; he knows that he has the wisdom to make his decisions. Calm = he does not feel rushed, but allows himself to attain a peaceful, centered state before approaching the question or decisions (book, globe) he has brought with him.

2. I feel calm and peaceful here on this hillside. I am comfortable about choosing to spend this time alone. It pleases me to look across these hills to the horizon, across my empire. I feel confident that the matters I have come here to resolve have satisfactory solutions, and that from my centered, relaxed state I will find these solutions.

3. This reminds me of how I felt during the summer when I visited the U.S. for longer than usual with the intention of deciding whether it were time to return here from living abroad for 12 years, and whether I believed I could readjust to life here.

One of the things that contributed most to that decision was the many days I spent at a friend's summer cottage, where we watched both blue summer skies and storms that blew in across the lake.

It was there that I was able to turn over my thoughts about moving back and how I might establish my life here, and then let the thoughts go; I would think about what it would mean to remain in my home abroad and about what I would miss by giving up each of the choices. Over the course of the summer, clarity emerged and I was sure what my choice was to be and equally sure that I would have no regrets.
 

The Guided Hermit

The Roots of Asia--The Moon

1--The face is graced with Buddha’s smile as it aims at the stars. With eyes closed, the face appears tranquil; kissed by the rich glow of the moon, the face drifts, with nary a care. This is the face of a carefree soul; this is the face of one who floats in a serene and private haze, unaware of the alligators that lurk in the shadows.


2--I close my eyes, drifting along in my world of moonlit meditation. In this divine moment, I bask in my silence, absorbing the whispers of my breath, of my heart, of the water that laps around my ears. When the water covers my ears, I detect the breath of fish and the song of coral far below. I drift along, fearless feeling secure by the glorious moonlight. I smile from the center of my soul. The world is only now.


3--Much like the card, I too looked up at the stars and then closed them when I swam naked the first time. I was only two years ago, on a hot night in August. The pool lights were out and I drifted along on my back, feeling the cool water and the hot night air that rested on the exposed bits…. It was a beautiful thing to just float in harmony with the world around me. Happily, there were no alligators in the pool!
 

dadsnook2000

The Guided Hermit

It is always a wonder to me as to the manner of one tarot decks depiction of a card relative to other deck's depictions. While most draw from similar base archetypes, each seems to emphasize some of the associated symbols while ignoring others.

A simple reflection on the Waite-Smith Moon and its implied hints of danger and uncertainty, or the Fey Tarot Moon with its Fey dressed in ritual dress, holding symbols while writing other symbols in the sand --- one who is bonding with nature while actively drawing down its secrets and meanings.

We have to admire the thought and care that so many artists pour into these creations that speak so deeply to us so that we, in turn, can speak deeply to others and help to guide them. Happy holidays, Dave
 

Probie

dadsnook2000 said:
It is always a wonder to me as to the manner of one tarot decks depiction of a card relative to other deck's depictions. While most draw from similar base archetypes, each seems to emphasize some of the associated symbols while ignoring others.

I have been thinking about this too. As my wife and I are both serious Christians and she's of the opinion "Tarot = the Devil's dijinn" I have to have my thinking in a row. My answer has been "Tarot = archetypes = Plato's forms = in the mind of God (a la Augustine)."

In Caroline Myss' "The Language of Archetypes" audio CD set, she discusses the various archetypes found in her Archetype Cards deck. While I'd say at this point in my sanctification (read: "enlightenment" for most persons on AT), the CD set is more required than the deck as the later is more for a sort process of figuring out your "12" than doing oracle/divination work.

In her general teaching sequence, she notes how there are 8 billion expressions of the three major "survival family" archetypes everyone has: the Prostitute, the Saboteur, and the Victim (note there is a fourth member in this family, "the Child," but that one is sub-divided into 8 different expressions). In short, no one person incarnates an archetype the same as another. While I have heard it isn't true "that no two snowflakes are the same," it is a fact that no two incarnations of the archetypes are identical.

I guess my quick shot @ 6:23am on Christmas Eve Day is that even though it can seem like an over-commercialization of Tarot by the 1000+ decks available (or Bibles or whatever a community calls holy) with the myrid themes, there is an upside: unique incarnations of the archetypes. With such choices, each of us is bound to find a deck that incarnates them closer to our expression if we are diligent to seek long and hard enough...
 

The Guided Hermit

VIA Tarot--Pathway to Life

3:1.1
I look at the card and hear music—joy filled, spirited music coming from a calliope. The shadow woman dives into the white; her laughter is that of bells. The Woman of Light turns her face and looks at me; her hands, languid and filled with grace, she smiles, soft and ever clear. The woman below dances, swaying along with the joyful tune; she holds up her hem, carefree and childish, carried by memory of the heated summers of her childhood when bare feet touched warm grass on the long shadowed eve. The man above looks down at her, his soul touched by her beauty.

3:1.2
I stand before the Wheel, in a room filled with the clanging merriment of a summer calliope. I watch the women of the wheel as they adhere to the nature of the Wheel, turning slowly, cutting the musical time by half. Down and around they go, laughing and dancing and casting enticing glimpses at me. I watch the man and he remains their constant guardian, but his eyes focus only on the woman beneath him. I see in his masked face his adoration for her. She sways; her eyes closed, abandoned in memory. I’ve intruded into their revelry.

3:1:3
Most of my life, I have sat just on edge of things, taking it all in, absorbing, tucking things away into discrete corners to call up when needed while writing. This card brought up a number of things: The Wheel became a carousel and yet the ladies on the rims revolved as if on a Ferris wheel. Regardless how many times I study this card, my focus is drawn to the woman in the center. During this exercise, I felt her childhood while recalling mine; I let the words tumble out and for a moment, she faced me and I saw her face in its entirety.

PS–These were written in 3 minute segments and are pretty much free form, stream on consciousness bits.
 

Probie

21 Ways (Greer, 2006) - Step 3

Rider-Waite-Smith
7/The Chariot


3.1.1
A young man digs down deep within himself to muster all his reserves to present a calm, put together face to the world. He is all alone in his post outside the city gates as the first representative travelers meet when they come along the road. While the sun is bright and his trappings certainly present an air of authority and having "made it," he is plagued with doubt. "Do I really have what it takes to make it? Am I some fake? When will they all see through this facade and see the true me? And when they do, I'll lose everything!"

3.1.2
I stand alone in this chariot outside my town. They've recently elected me to fill this important post, but I'm not sure if I've got what it takes to fill the billet. I mean, there's much more qualified and experienced people in the town than me. So why did I get the job and not them? I mean, what did they see in me? When they see through whatever I used to fool them, then this will all be over. This is an important job, how did I ever get it?!? Soon I'm going to make a mistake and it will be all over...

3.1.3
I've recently gotten a great job doing what I've been training to do in school for years - and even in this horrible recession in a state with 15%+ unemployment [officially based on the number of people collecting unemployment and still eligible to do so - which ignores lots of persons looking for work, so unofficially it's 22%+]. Some of these people have done this work in their sleep - or maybe at least I think so. I'm also afraid I'm going to blow this wonderful opportunity or that my employer will "come to their senses" and I'll be looking for work again. I will graduate soon and then by this time next year will begin repaying large amounts of student loans. This gnaws on me. My wife is struggling with her own troubles and I have to be a cheerleader to her, so no emotional support is to be found. I feel very alone and believe the whole thing is going to crumble any minute.

As I write this, I realize large amounts of it are baseless. But if I hadn't looked at these issues through the card, I'd doubt I'd even begin to start to think they've got no merit. Not that I believe they're baseless [hopefully "yet"], but just that I can admit that might be true...
 

rabidwolfie

Step 3 - Shadowscapes - 5 of Wands

http://www.shadowscapes.com/picts_images/50.jpg

3.1 Wow, so many characters here, so many emotions! I'll start with the easiest. The young man. He doesn't look frustrated or even mildly annoyed. He seems very intent & focused, but there is also an undercurrent of exhilaration, both from his own trek but also as if he can not help but gain some enthusiasm from those foxes.
The hare is in survival mode. He hasn't time for fear, for rationality, for thoughts of pain or mortality or stress. It is pure instinct driving him, telling him that if he values life he had better run for it.
The foxes show a wide range of emotion. Some of them are intent on the hunt. Some of them are chasing for the sheer joy of it & have no real interest in the hare. Some have looks of hope on their cute little foxy faces. One of them is staring in curiosity at something other than the hare or the human.
And interestingly enough, there's another who appears to be curled up in terror.

3.2 The chase is almost over! One way or another it will end soon. I am bounding alongside my brothers & sisters, intent on the joy of the chase. What's this? There's a human in our way! Momentary alarm & confusion. No matter, the pull of the hunt is too strong! Excitement! Move around him! A moment of frustration. For a moment I stumble & almost fall, knowing that to do so would almost surely lead to being trampled in the confusion & excitement, but the spicy splash of fear only adds to the excitement & growing competition. We all want a taste of our prey, but there's not enough hare for all of us. Only one or two of us would get anything more satisfying than a tuft of fur in the mouth, & I am determined to be one of them! One of my brothers has paused to look at something else that has momentarily caught his eye, but I pass right by him. I have no time to stop and look. Besides, it could be a ploy! Suspicion! He could be trying to trick us into leaving our chase of this hare so that he could have it all to himself! That only strengthens my resolve! I will keep chasing.
(The foxes run the whole gambit of emotion so it seems redundant to do the POV of hare & human.)

3.3 The spirit of the chase. Competition. Frustration. Suspicion. These are very common themes, let me see if I can relate them to my life.
I dislike competition & competing with others. I try to avoid it at all times. But frustration, suspicion & resolve to see the problem through I can definitely relate to.
Back when I worked in a place that was similar to a nursing home except that it was a home for people with severe mental retardation, I was often shocked & frustrated by my fellow co-workers. Many of them (seeming to also be suffering from a lack of mental acuity) would go out of their WAY to make your life harder. They would complain about you to supervisors, they would put obstacles in your way that made it harder to do your job, they would spread rumors, they would pick fights, & this isn't just a bitter ex worker who was picked on, they did it amongst themselves long before I arrived & continue now, LONG after I've left.
It seems the longer most of them had been there, the nastier they treat both the residents & their co-workers. You had to be suspicious of people who claimed to be friends.
 

UlfyMcT

21 Ways - Step Three

Hermetic Tarot - The Blasted Tower (XVI)

3-1: The person falling toward the water seems to be in a great hurry, as if he desperately wants to escape the impending chaos of the tower's destruction. The water within reach, he seems mildly relieved that he will have a bit of cushion on the landing, provided the water is deep enough. However, he seems to know that even a hard landing is preferable to being vaporized by the massive lightning bolt that struck his fortress. And who can blame him? Lightning emanating from the sun seems to be a frightening sight to behold. The atmosphere is one of utter chaos and destruction. It's as though nature is once again proving man's folly, allowing him to build a beautiful structure, only to take it away by the most violent means. Even the tower itself seems surprised that this should be its fate.

3-2: I am falling toward the water as fast as I can, desperate to escape the impending chaos of the tower's destruction. The water within reach, I am mildly relieved that I will have a bit of cushion on the landing, provided the water is deep enough. However, I know that even a hard landing is preferable to being vaporized by the massive lightning bolt that struck my fortress. And can you blame me? Lightning emanating from the sun is a frightening sight to behold. The atmosphere is one of utter chaos and destruction. It's as though nature is once again proving man's folly, allowing me to build a beautiful structure, only to take it away by the most violent means. Even my tower itself seems surprised that this should be its fate.

3-3: When I first started working at the restaurant where I'm still employed, I was thrown into the chaos that was serving lunch on Mother's Day. I mean, the place was PACKED! I was optimistic at first, what with the prospect of some nice tips, but having never held a serving job previously, I was soon in over my head. I got so behind in my section. Customers seemed to be asking me a question every time I turned around to do something else. I literally felt swamped, and the end of the shift was my only cushion. I learned a lot that day, but most of the shift felt like a state of barely controlled chaos.
 

Erinyes

Shadowscapes-King of Wands

A antlered man stands facing the interior of the card, surrounded by swirls of light emanating from him and holding a tall staff. There are also 3 lions in different postures. Lion#1 is guarded, vigilant. Lions#2&3 are leaping energized by the swirls of light that seem to form them.
The man is standing in the center of it all, calm, centered, self-assured, but vigilant, facing the unknown outside. He seems to be waiting for something.
I think this man is always in me. Although, maybe not always so calm. There will always be the unknown out there, and being able to be waiting for it, strong, centered and calm is the best way I can think of to meet it. Being able to meet life head-on as it were and to trust one's instincts.
 

hottierockstar

21 ways - step 3

Tarot of Vampyres - Seven of Skulls

1. The surroundings are isolated and not of life. It is not dark, it is not light. Just is.
The woman is adoring, solitary, nostalgic, melancholy, individualistic, and protective.
2. I am isolated, I am ok with that, I know I am different. i am not afraid that the only life around me is myself and the heart that represents another's life that is no longer lived and now in my hand. I miss my friend but i am ok just sitting with them and remembering them and protecting them and myself.
3. This one is tough....even with a lot of thought, I am having trouble finding a situation that connects.