Wheel of Change- 8's

8 of Swords

This is one of my favorite cards in the deck. I love her use of objects besides actual swords (another favorite is the Ten of Swords), and I think shattered glass is particularly evocative. Here I think we get right to the frame of mind of the RWS woman. She wants to be in the castle on the hill, but in reality there are mud puddles and sword barriers to walk through and she is immobilized, preferring to blot out reality with a blindfold. In this card, we have less than desireable reality (the unexpected baseball from outside) literally crashing in and shattering our mental clarity. Interference, as the Thoth calls it. But if the baseball (which might not be so unexpected or shattering if one had a broader focus, a more flexible definition of possibility) is real, so is the pot of Chamomile we have cultivated. There are parts of our psyche we have developed which we can focus on to keep calm and centered even amidst unsettling developments. We don't have to be immobilized by mud and swords, nor yearn for a castle of pure, undisturbed thought. What we cultivate within is what will keep us mentally serene (or at least calm enough to be fuctional) when the fly balls crash in. It might be a time to do activities that bring these aspects of ourselves to the fore; walks, tarot, talking to friends, etc.- not escapism, but ways to maintain focus and clarity of thought (the roundness of the ball vs. the fragmented glass, as she says). If we take off the blindfold and broaden our thinking, our vision can encompass both the swords/mud and the castle and we can find within ourselves the capacity to experience both simultaneously.

Eights are Upright Infinity

I love all these eights, they are really good and manage to convey the meaning without confusion, I enjoyed studying them.

8 of Wands

My favourite card in the deck--at first seemingly more apt for the conventional 8 od Disks meaning, but when you see the energy of the paintbrushes and coloured and graphite pencils zooming right off the page, it fits with that fiery Wands energy and action.

I also like that she gives us a window into the depicted card's design with the drafting template for circles and the card template with its registration marks. I love it, and it's so fresh.

She's used the act of creation and the circle as a symbol of wholeness and the sun and fire within us. I like her use of the term "directed force" for creative control and energy. Individual action, the right tools, cycles and circles of creative energy. So much energy and excitement in this card.

8 of Cups

The Universe, lotus garden, tempestuous sea, rain, lightning, and storm clouds. At the centre, 8 cups with I Ching symbols are symmetrically balanced on a platter with a yin/yang desing.

Balance and calm amidst storms and fragrant beauty, underpinned by water and stars. It's amazing how often in this deck she connects water and galaxies so that you can't tell them apart.

More than just balance, it represents the roles in relationships and how you can play all parts regardless of age or gender. Rather than walking away and leaving things behind you change your role and see the other side for balance and harmony. A little bit different but I like the imagery.

8 of Disks

Oh, those lovely woven flowers against the vivid scarlet threads on a loom, and the old oak tree alive with spinning spiders against the night sky. I didn't realize, but eight phases of the moon are shown on the backs of the spiders--what a delightful presentation.

Patterns, connection, the threads of your experiences of living, and the individuality of your unique life.

I usually associate this card with apprenticeship and skill, but she's broadened the meaning to encompass your whole life and the unique, colourful pattern each person creates. I like that, AND I never knew there was such a thing as a backstrap loom!

8 of Swords

Harmony disturbed, thoughtless destruction, the invasion of private, sacred space. The shallow dish, decorated with two smooth stones among a thriving blossom of chamomile. We try so hard to create a safe home, with plants and sunny windowsills, and for all that, anything can happen in an instant to shatter our perfect setting and life.

But the plant is unharmed and the window can be repaired, and maybe the child who broke the window will turn out to be someone you were happy to meet. Maybe the kid will end up mowing your lawn for the next three years.

She says to concentrate on the calming properties of chamomile and the perfect roundness of the ball--the wholeness is there no matter what the experience. Not much difference from the R-W, it's what you see, what you perceive and focus on. I am with Galdrial when she says this is one of her favourites--when I saw this scan online I knew this deck was for me too, it's wonderful this card.

8 of Disks

Yes, I like how she has broadened the application of effort to the patterns in our lives. Both work and art, our daily patterns are an act of creation. Our unique directions affect the web and if we add or take away a color the pattern of the weave changes, however subtlely. I don't have the Rohrig deck, but I was reading the 3's thread to see if I might become interested in getting it. The forum is much like an ongoing woven project that is more colorful and interesting the more varied the responses. Everyone's input really does affect the whole, and I loved your comment that "...we are unable to reach your thought waves without the physical manifestation of your words." That applies well to this card; we also have an impact when we don't contribute. Sometimes it's good to set limits and to know when enough is going on and more would just add stress and chaos. But sometimes we are depriving ourselves and others of the richness our imput would contribute. As the book "Spiritual Tarot" says about this card "You need to realize or remind yourself that your daily activities and your spirituality are not separate. Each enhances the other." It pays to take time to assess the overall pattern and to add or subtract to find the ideal balance of activities for mental contentment and spiritual striving.

<<I don't have the Rohrig deck, but I was reading the 3's thread to see if I might become interested in getting it.>>

Don't forget the Rohrig Aces, Twos and Fours. <g> All I can tell you is that I spent a year dithering about whether to buy the Rohrig and I should have done it long ago. It's really interesting artwork, and the differences are neat, much like we have seen with the WOC. I love big cards and these are huge, I have to watch because it's easy to bend them. The deck is quite expensive on its own so I didn't buy the book, and also the book doesn't say anything more about the minors than the LWB but it has extensive info on the majors. I couldn't afford both. It is Thoth-based and I don't have the Thoth, but I like the Rohrig, it's a valued deck in my collection.

<<The forum is much like an ongoing woven project that is more colorful and interesting the more varied the responses. Everyone's input really does affect the whole>>

People think they have to be perfect or prove they're smart or scholarly before they comment, I don't know exactly what it is, but I'm just bumbling along in life like everybody else, I certainly don't expect perfection. It's simply amazing what one person's view can add, and they never see the contribution they make just by participating. I figure it takes me about 40 minutes a week to look at 4 of the WOC cards and write about them--maybe more if they puzzle me. Less than a hour spending time doing something meditative, creative and uplifting and then I can see what others say and that's uplifting too. It's great, I know I really appreciate it when people participate, I find I remember each card much better too, that's satisfying and just helps you to connect with the deck better.

<<But sometimes we are depriving ourselves and others of the richness our imput would contribute.>>

Every person has a rich contribution!! Exactly.

Can I nag you to buy the William Blake Tarot and contribute there? ;-0))) I'm relentless.

Thanks for your comments.

Atropos by Any Other Name

Speaking of spiders.......Alexandra draws the association with the Triple Goddess or the three Fates of Greek mythology who spin, measure, and cut the thread of life and the crone and the dark goddess of death.

So, I was browsing through a book today and came across this:

ARACHNID
by Irving Layton

Sun-purpled, the clover
bussing the outermost strand
was pure camouflage, as were
the innumerable grasses,
dogrose, timothy, vetch.

Nature's geometry, the exact design.
With what grace so ominous
a contraption held the beauty
of the dying day, the fly
dying with faint and futile buzz.


I thought this was kind of apt. I'll bet Mr. Layton did not see phases of the moon on the backs of spiders though. <g>

Mr. Layton's poem made me think that a possible imbalanced meaning of this card (I prefer imbalanced to reversed, since I don't use reversals, except with the El Teddy deck) could be the sense of being inescapeably emmeshed in patterns that aren't taking you anywhere or are even downright unhealthy. This somehow makes one feel vulnerable and open to the "spiders", too (the moon can bring illusions and fears, a favorite "spider" weapon). It would be important, then, to concentrate one's efforts (the RWS person always seems so concentrated) on changing one's patterns; to become clear in your own mind of what you want, or at least what you don't want, and to put one's energy into moving in a new direction (even it is just away from depleting, negative influences). One different action, one shift in perspective, could pay off immensely in terms of feeling you contribute to the design and are not a victim of it. It's very empowering to see your influence manifesting around you in some way.

8 of Cups

Instead of looking to the RWS to help clarify Alexandra's meanings, this time her card gave me insight into the RWS. I had seen the cups in the RWS as full, something that had reached it's capcity to fulfill one emotionally, but I had not asked myself why. Suddedly, I see the cups as RIGID. So artificially, symmtrically stacked. I think of them as being roles; how emotionally fulfilling our roles are depends so much on how flexible their definition. Are you married to someone with a very narrow definition of husband/wife roles? Grow up in a church with narrow views of what a believer should or shouldn't watch, listen to, etc.? Have parents with a rigid definition of what is appropriate dress and behavior for a boy or girl? We don't just find ourselves casually walking away from some of these cups, but running at full tilt. Alexandra's picture needs no figure heading for higher ground (broader perspective), because the cups have the I Ching symbols. The tea tray is all the world, as Shakespeare said, and on it each of us can play many parts. The husband/wife cup, for instance, allows for both "masculine" and "feminine" behavior, depending, as she notes, on who has the greater expertise. There is flexibility and mutability as each person is allowed to fully explore who they are without the need to leave the role entirely.

I love this analogy, it IS like a small stage with everyone in their places and playing their roles.

This is really, really more interesting than the R-W card.

8 of Wands

This card seems to be "in the air" today. I was really struck by a single thought in the book, which is that this card represents "...the mobilization of the idea...". Suddenly, all the 8 of Wands I've seen (including a certain Circus) made more sense. That frizzion of energy, that force that gets an idea moving toward manifestation- let's get this show on the road! The inspiration will travel down those brushes and onto paper. This card isn't about the picture or the brushes, but about the accumulated energy behind an idea that is finally bursting out- Van Gogh grabs his brush with a gleam in his eye, Stephen King at his computer suddenly starts typing, with a sardonic smile on his face. That moment is this card.