I recently discovered I had a huge backlog of messages in my spam folder, and a few honest comments as well.

To the honest commentators: mea culpa and thank you.

To the spam bots: Keep it up! I am equally amused and baffled by the overwhelming recurrence of ‘Canadian geese’ in your robospam.

~Andrew

Open question for discussion: what card(s) represent or speak of anger, frustration or temper to you?

…but apparently you CAN make a Tarot deck out of anything:

http://celebs.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/10/08/funny-celebrity-pictures-nice/arrested-development-tarot-cards/

~Andrew

So I have this reoccurring dream. More of a theme, really, beceause the details keep changing but some elements are the same.

The where is always different, but in these dreams I find shelves or boxes of books. Sometimes they are old, sometimes they are new, sometimes they’re on subjects I’ve never considered before or things I never knew that were coming out.

This last dream the shelves were tall, metal wire racks, where the titles partially overlap in staggered rows. I saw titles for game settings and concept-art books. I felt excited over the potential for what I might find between their covers. I searched each row, finding and making stacks of titles I wanted to read later. There were other people about, but I ignored them; they weren’t important. The dream ends before I can really read anything, or take any books away.

Okay you dream-analysts out there, what does that mean?

The wonderful miss Innowen just sent me this fantastic article: Why Writers should play roleplaying games by  Chuck Wendig at www.terribleminds.com

This is part five of a series of postings about adding zero cards to the minor arcana. The first post can be found here.

Zero of Wands and the Fool

As with the Zero of Swords, the Fool is the archetype for the Zero of Wands. The Fool can only leave on his epic voyage of discovery and learning by letting go of the attachments that could hinder him.  He must be clear of prejudicing thoughts (swords), emotions (cups) and the connections and commitments that he may have had (wands). Preconceptions and prejudices will interfere with his experiences, thus limiting his growth.

Fire versus Water; Cups versus Wands:

Wands are about fire and passion. They are about what we do. Fire and Water are both dynamic forces, both ever changing but in opposite directions and opposite pathways. They are both parts of the alchemical process; tools of change. Coins and Swords are the ingredients, while Wands (and Cups) represent the process. I’ll go back and re-examine Cups as agents of change later. For now, let’s focus on Wands.

Fire-driven alchemical processes:

Wands are a force for change, from their most restful (i.e. the Four of Wands) to the slow steady grind of the nine and ten or wands. There is no alchemy without the energy to drive the reactions.

The Zero of Wands reminds us of that you may not be ready or capable of change.

Pull out your SUN card(s). Consider how the energies of the SUN are a force for change. Now turn the cards over and imagine existence without the influence of the Sun. Not it’s inverted meaning, or the shadow of the Sun’s impact. Consider its’ utter absence of its power. That result is the Zero of Wands.

Meanings:

So what do you DO when the Zero of Wands shows up in a reading? It depends on where in the reading it appears. Most locations within a spread break down into who, what, where, when, why (and why not) as well as how and how many.

When asking “Who” and the zero is the answer, consider who has no passionate attachment to the question at hand. Who is a neutral player or unbiased observer?

When answering questions of “What” or involving questions/locations about actions to take/be performed: Consider that no passion is required or even allowed. The necessary action at hand should be viewed as dispassionately as possible. Emotional attachment ist verboten and should be avoided.

“Where”? Well, the zero cards here are very Zen when it comes to questions of where: Both nowhere and everywhere at once. They represent ‘the center,’ which is the soul of the querent or question at hand.

When asking about “when”: The zero of Wands can be both immediate in its impact and infinite in its patience. The zero is immediately present and unchanging.

In a location about motivation, purpose or influence (“why” questions), ask: “where has the fire gone?” The absence of fire means that there is no passion about the role played. Another source of motivation exists and should be considered (i.e. draw another card!) if needed. When dealing with the motivations of others, ask: “What’s their stake in the situation? Why are they involved? What might awaken the fire within them to get them involved?”

As for how many? … Again, it’s a zero card!

You must bring the fire needed to make things change; you are the torchbearer, the light-bringer.

Finally: a word about reversed card meanings. Not that I personally use reverse meanings, but for those that do: Reversed, the Zero of Wands could mean that the absence of inner fire is what the problem is; total ennui. Nothing left but ashes. The situation cannot be changed; what IS has already been forged by soul-fire and is now inert. However, inert does not mean useless! Inert elements slow and regulate other changes and that may be a good thing! They introduce stability and strength by their being unyielding and unchanging.

Well, that’s all four Minor Arcana!

~Andrew

I had the great pleasure of meeting Dan Horn at the Reader’s Studio this year and he graciously gave me a introduction to The Tarot of Physics deck he created with Corrine Kenner  and he performed my first reading with it for me. I was so hooked that I immediately purchased a copy from my friends at The Tarot Garden and ran back to Dan to get him to sign my copy.

The Tarot of Physics is a subtle deck design: the cards are parchment-like, with a glossy backside and matte front. The cards aren’t very large; I’d almost call this a ‘pocket deck’ because it could almost easily fit is a jacket or shirt pocket. The parchment appearance of the cards gives them an older feel, and the symbolic drawings demonstrating the science concepts feel like something out of da Vinci journal or something Newton would have doodled to illustrate a concept to a student. This very brevity makes the messages stand out even more.

The best thing about the Tarot of Physics is how it combines real science terms and concepts with the metaphysical structure of a Tarot deck. It still has a suit of twenty-two Major Arcana and four suits minor Arcana; appropriately named Energy, Space, Time and Matter. Each Arcana  starts from simple principles and builds to complex and powerful concepts; each Ace is is the simplest (the line, the Planck epoch, the atom and the battery) and the Ten the largest or most complex example of that suit. Each card details has it’s place in the Tarot (Ace of Energy, for example) as well as the principle of science it embodies (The Ace of Energy being “The Battery”) and when needed, a description of that principle complete with simple yet effective illustration.

The Fool - the Big Bang

The Magician - The Light Wave

(all images from http://tarotofphysics.wordpress.com/)

One may think that a “physics” themed Tarot is just a “guy” thing but I can tell you that’s absolutely not true. Since getting my copy I have shown the Tarot of Physics to female friends of mine, some far smarter and better educated in Science than I, and they grok’d the theme and feel for it immediately. Science, when you get to the areas that are still theories and unproven laws, becomes highly philosophical and very “meta.” Much like the many fields of science, one can immerse ones self into the numbers and deep symbolism and relationships and history of every card of the Tarot, but it’s not necessary. Science is also a philosophy and once viewed as such, is easier to grasp as a whole; just as the Tarot can seem intimidating and full of details that must be remembered.

I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have met Dan and gotten the chance to give the Tarot of Physics a try. It’s now one of my ‘always nearby’ tarot decks. If you’re interested in getting your own copy, and if you’re a science geek like me you will want to, check out The Tarot Garden who are the exclusive carriers of the Tarot of Physics.

~Andrew

Sorry for the long, dark and quiet time as of late. The last month and a half has been a contest between The Chariot and Strength to see who could out perform the other in my life.

In other words, I’ve been moving. But now I can declare “Major Moving Accomplished” and get back to practicing Tarot, writing and generally being online again.

So stay tuned (or add me to you RSS feeds) as I continue to explore the concept of Zero cards for the minor Arcana, and some other interesting ideas in development as well as review some new decks!

~Andrew

Or, “Dude, you got your TPS reports in my manifestation ritual!”

While not all endeavors in our lives need be thought out Projects, some of our personal pet projects (as well as our professional ones too!) could do with a little more structure and oversight. This article outlines a method of professional project management combined with aspects of James Wanless’ Mythic Action Plan and the principle of Fortune Creation with the Voyager Tarot.

Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in this hand basket?

“Work Breakdown Structure”?

“Critical Path Methodology”?

PERT?[1]

Agile?

SCRUM?!?

Confused yet? The world of Professional Project management is full of Big Words, catchphrases and acronyms.(Those big names and catchphrases? They just let you sound wise and important and let you charge more for yourconsulting services.) Yet, behind all these big words and acronyms used by the “Pros”, project management breaks down into very simple terms. At its’ simplest, managing a project means knowing three things:

1. Where you are at a given point in time on the project
2. What your goal is, and how to know when you get there.
3. What Action it’s going next to continue to your goal.

To be clear: I’m not advocating using the Tarot to plan out every step of an entire project! If it’s worthy of project management then you can and should determine the goals, steps and timeframe by normal means. Voyager can add a layer of intuitive awareness to your work. Too often we make rational, logical plans and yet mentally skip the subtle steps; details or ideas that can help us advance, avoid obstacles or if need be, change course when we get off track.

To help intuit what you need while managing your projects, I present the Voyager Project Lifecycle reading.

The Voyager Project Lifecycle spread:

So here’s the reading for a given point in a project:

The following spread was inspired by Barbara Moore’s class on creating tarot spreads at Reader’s Studio 2011.

RoseRed and I decided to pick a card at random and base a spread on it, and my pure luck (or was it luck?) we drew The Lovers.

Looking at the Lovers card from the Rider Waite Smith deck, we chose card locations and meaning based on major features of the card

The RWS Lovers

What we chose as significant elements were the male and female figures, the trees behind the figures, the angel above, and the obstacle (mountain) between the figures. We also discussed how to divide up the deck for specific drawing for specific locations.

When performing this spread, divide the deck into Majors, Courts and minors.

Cards 1 & 6 are from the Majors-only stack.

Cards 2 & 3 are Court cards stack.

Cards 5 & 6 are from the Minor Arcana stack.

So feel free to give this a try and any suggestions are welcome!

~Andrew