a book i really appreciated suggesting spreads for each point on the wheel of the year is 'Tarot for All Seasons'.
it's not exactly what you are talking about in this thread, but seems related enough to mention.
Thanks! I'll look for it. I've heard of the book before, but never had a chance to pick it up.
OK - now that's just weird (thinking of the meaning of hakuna matata - and I come from a culture where that language is the national language so my understanding of it's use is closer to home than some). Or, you mean saying "I'm sorry" is just an automatic response for you? Which is cheeky because then that means it's meaningless.
More the latter than the former. Alas, I do not speak Swahili (although I do speak Arabic, and the similarities between the two languages are sometimes rather striking), but I was referring to the concept more as a philosophy by which one lives one's life. In my case, the ruling philosophy is one of apologies.
And btw 'even though' and 'I would never dream' are cheeky insertions.
(as in "me thinks you doth protest too much").
Cheeky though they may seem (somehow, I'm unable to avoid sounding sarcastic, no matter how earnest I am*), they're sincere. I'm bothered to no end by people who claim to be experts after reading a couple of books, and both of these fields are deep enough that I truly believe I'm splashing in the shallows with what I know. I like to make it clear up front that I'm not claiming to be some omniscient teacher descended from on high; I'm here to discuss Tarot, not to preach about it.
Oh I seeeeee... "I can't be that because I'm an atheist". How interesting.
Not entirely sure what you mean by this. It's not that atheism forbids me to believe in astrology or the metaphysical principles of the Kabbalah. Rather, the same path of reasoning that's led me to an atheistic stance on religion has also led me to a strong skepticism of these other fields. I find them very interesting on a metaphorical and symbolic level, but I don't believe either in a more literal sense, the same way I can read religious texts as valuable works of literature without necessarily believing the stories they present.
And the same way that I wouldn't consider myself a Christian theologian (even though I've read a lot on the subject), I wouldn't call myself an astrologer or Kabbalist. I see myself more as an outsider in these communities, analyzing the principles at play in the systems they present and applying the structure of those symbols in my personal (secularized) worldview. I can talk about the Eden myth as a metaphor for the loss of innocence (among other, more complicated interpretations), for example, but being able to do so--and even wanting to do so--doesn't make me Christian.
Part of my distancing myself from these communities is that I've always felt it would be disrespectful of me towards the actual members thereof were I to pretend to membership or expertise. I think that comparing my casual interest too closely with something that for many people is an integral part of their worldviews and daily lives is, well, diminishing the value of their beliefs.
Does this make sense?
And back on topic... That proverbial High Priestess seems to have a huge amount to instruct me on this Yule! (re: my present running self-reading in the 'Sacred Days of Yule - 2014' thread). From here-on anon, the High Priestess in branded into my thinking as the card that goes with Yule.
Excellent! I'm so pleased to hear it. Part of me still wants to cling to the World as a Yule card, but the more time I sit with the High Priestess, the more comfortable I am with her for this season.
Looking at this Tarot Wheel from a more Wiccan theological perspective, it's interesting to note that the High Priestess, the Empress, and the Mother cards of Imbolc are all grouped together on one side of the Wheel; you could parallel these the the Wiccan Maiden/Mother/Crone Triple Goddess common to the Wiccan dualistic tradition, if not in that order. (Personally, even though the cards at Imbolc are referred to as "Mother" cards, I would be inclined to think of that festival more as the Maiden; it's the very beginnings of new life, coming out of winter. Ostara is much more motherly to me.)
It's also interesting that, when you add in the World, you have a gendered division of the Wheel. The summery/light half of the year is filled with the cards I would consider more masculine: the Magician, the Wheel of Fortune**, the Tower, and the Sun. The winter/dark half of the year is occupied by the feminine cards (what with the little Kabbalistic jig we did at Imbolc, I feel safe labeling the Fool, the Hanged Man, and Judgment as such). I think I've mentioned the Celtic dichotomy of the Oak King and the Holly King somewhere previously in this thread (have I?), but looking at the Wheel this way allows for a much more direct connection to the Wiccanate myth of the Goddess and God cycling through the seasons.
Food for thought.
*There I go again.
**I could also see how this card might be considered feminine. The imagery of the Wheel is very much linked with the Greek Moirae, who were sisters, after all. The classical wheel of fate is a spinning wheel more often than not, and fate itself is consistently seen as a woman in Western mythology. However, the card itself is linked to Jupiter, a more masculine planet in astrology. Plus, the imagery on the card usually deals with the rise and fall of a man over the course of his life. To me, the Wheel of Fortune is distinctly masculine.
