What are your thoughts on the infamous "Happy Squirrel" card?

gregory

Grizabella said:
In one of my decks (I think it's the Pioneer Tarot but I'm not sure it's called that) there's a card called the Jackalope, which is a rabbit wearing a set of deer horns. I just see it as a joke and don't use it with the deck, but if I did keep it in the deck when reading, I'd give it a light-hearted meaning of some sort. That's what I think the Happy Squirrel is meant to be.
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Prairie Tarot :) I keep it in - but I do tell whoever I am reading for that it's there and if they would rather it weren't (simply on the grounds that a Tarot deck has 78 cards and all that) I pull it. I use it like any other card.

Michellehihi said:
Tell me where you got this squirrel proof feeder. I also tried everything, including hiding in the garden with a shovel, motionless, and wait for them, and then JUMP!
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There's this one - I don't know if you can get it over there. What I have is this.

But we have MUCH more problem with jackdaws - who also can't get into either of these.
 

BodhiSeed

It depends on the context for me. I can see the Squirrel as a need to make preparations or as a message not to take everything so seriously.
As a birder, I think I've tried every kind of contraption and bird feeder available to outwit them. They always figure a way around every one. My next "learning challenge" for them will be the Slinky: :laugh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSGer1mi1Aw
 

Michellehihi

Barleywine

Michellehihi said:
All hope is lost.
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You just need a bigger shovel and a can of Red Bull. Maybe you could post your Happy Squirrel card in your garden the same way hunters use a duck decoy.
 

decan

More seriously, I love squirrels!
In the Beasts of Albion companion book we can find some keywords concerning the squirrel, which is a card in this oracle.
Of course it isn't the meaning of the Happy Squirrel, but it seems there is a blank concerning its meaning so...
Spontaneously for this card I would say quick and unexpected news & good omen!

Beasts of Albion keywords for the Squirrel: "resourcefulness; quick intelligence; bravado; mischief; communication; forward planning; practicality; prudence; enjoyment."
 

Barleywine

The Modern Spellcaster's Tarot has squirrels on a few cards, but they seem to be eating rather than smiling . . . maybe they can't smile with their mouths full? One giant squirrel even has a Knight mounted on it, but that one looks mostly irritated by the bridle. Another one is wearing a black hood. If we polled them , I'd say for the most part they're "happy." :) Maybe six squirrels of cheerful disposition are better than one deliriously happy one?
 

nisaba

page of wands said:
I am always so scared when it comes up in a reading!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-dButYcv14
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Well, the card was originally created by the scriptwriters of The Simpsons for the purposes of a laugh:

Lisa: "Death! That's bad, right?"

Reader: "No, Death is a good card, it means blah blah."

Lisa: "Oh, the Happy Squirrel card. That's good, right?"

Reader: "No, it's bad news."

And as the scriptwriters created it as a bad-news card (for a laugh, but still ...) I'm happy to read it as such. I have only one deck in my entire collection with one - perhaps I should convert a few title-cards into Happy Squirrel Cards - but when I pull it, it tends to come up for situations that you might *think* are good - like sleeping with the person you desire or getting the job you want - but which turn out later to be a disaster (the lover is a bad mistake, the job is a disaster). So it really is a "Look twice, and be careful what you wish for" card. :)

Oh, and to the Original Poster: I'm never scared and nor should you be, when any kind of warning card comes up: It's Tarot doing exactly its job, telling you of the risks ahead, so that you can change the path you're on and avoid them, or at the very least, brace yourself and prepare for them. That is a GOOD THING - do we drive with our eyes tightly closed in case we see a potential accident on the road? No, we drive with our eyes wide open, so that when a driving-risk is in front of us we can take evasive action and avoid getting into that accident. Warning cards in Tarot are just the same in life generally, as being careful and observant when you drive.
 
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