#1) posts older than a certain date will be closed for comments automatically. If you’d like to comment on a closed post, please email me at: Andrew @ AndrewTarot.com

#2) I’m considering a login-requirement for posting comments at all.

Thank you for understanding.

Not from people on drugs.

Not drug companies.

The actual pharmaceuticals?

It’s like the spambots have tourettes, or something…

On the upside, the comments are all nice, polite and uplifting (if devoid of context, grammar or spelling)

Looks like Randall Munroe was right.

“You mean she’s like Cassandra?” he asked.

It took me back a moment.

I mulled it over and realized he was right. The High Priestess can sometimes be like the Cassandra of Greek mythology; blessed to see the future but also cursed so that nobody would listen to her or believe her. While not relevant to the reading we were performing at the time, I vowed to come back to the concept and explore it further.

If you choose to read reversals you can look at the H.P. as someone with wisdom, but no way to communicate that wisdom to others. By whatever means, their words are not understood, ignored or just not heard. I don’t generally read reversals and instead look at the shadow of a card. Whenever the High Priestess comes up in a reading I am performing, I think about the Oracles of myth. In my mind, the higher wisdom that Oracles channel into this world doesn’t easily fit into a human mind or language, which is why Oracles speak in riddles and cryptic khresmoi.  That is the shadow of the High Priestess: her esoteric wisdom and mystic messages are inherently apocryphal. Those that seek the High Priestess’ wisdom must be prepared to untangle words, decipher codes and think outside the box.

So, dear readers, have any of you had occasion where the High Priestess has presented herself and yet cannot get her message across? Or have you had insight, precognition or premonitions that others just didn’t listen to?

~Drew

Hope to see you there!

Oracle Deck structure: Suites of North, East, South, West, Above, Below and Within

It also goes without saying (and yet here I am saying it anyway) that an Oracle deck isn’t structured like a Tarot deck, but the unique characteristics of the transparent cards makes their integration with other oracle decks and tarot decks a novel feature. The Transparent Oracle is divided into seven suites; four cardinal directions and Above, Below and Within. The four cardinal suites have elemental properties, by default they are North = Earth, South = Fire, East = Air, and West = Water; although these can be redefined by the deck owner. For the other three suites: Above represents the astral, Below is the ancestral and Within is about the human senses. The four directional suites each hasve ten cards: One Gateway, four Animal Guides, a Weather, a Landscape, a Time of Day, an Element and an Elemental. The suite of Above has celestial objects, Below has ancestral forces and the suite of Within is about the human senses (both physical and metaphysical). All in all, this makes for a very diverse range of elements to draw upon when using the Transparent Oracle. When doing readings, you have more options in creating sub-sets of the cards to draw upon. Draw from just the Animal guide cards, or the Landscapes (where should I go on vacation?) or the Time of Day cards when seeking chronological answers, and so on.

On using the Transparent Oracle

Of course, the key idea behind the Transparent Oracle is the ability to stack cards and combine images. Personally I found stacking more than two cards made it difficult to see much of anything. Maybe for readers who are comfortable with very abstract or interpretive artwork (I’m looking at you, Thoth) could see something more in a triple-or-more card stack than I could.

I did try twisting the cards about, trying to create an alignment of the images that inspired me which resulted in a kind of kaleidescope effect, especially with the cards that have bold border elements. I sorta wish that I could play with the images digitally, resizing them so they could form concentric patterns. One could always just hold the top card above the others, closer to the eyes and thus create the illusion of change in size… Hm. now I will have to go back and try that… That would make an awesome digital application!

Finally, I’d like to address the idea of stacking the Transparent cards with cards from other tarot decks. The cards for the Transparent Tarot are a bit on the large size, which means they frame cards from other decks pretty well; creating a border, a penumbra if you will, accentuating the underlying image(s) with additional layers of meaning. The downside is you need a strong white background color under your reading space in order to see the images of the transparent cards very well. Fortunately the Transparent Oracle comes with white linen cloths that serve nicely both as a reading backdrop as well as a way to wrap and store your Transparent cards.

Overall I really like the concept and the execution of the Transparent Oracle as well as the Transparent Tarot. I don’t get to play with them nearly as often as I like, but they are very welcome additions to the arsenal of divination tools on my shelves.

~Andrew

22 days of blogging, flying, driving and work has led to this year’s event. Year of the Heirophant and three renowned gentlemen of the Tarot world; James Wells, James Wanless and Shawn Nacol were all presenting!

James Wells led a deeply emotional but useful class on using the Tarot and dealing with loss and emotional trauma. It hit a lot of people hard, being forced to face old pains and reopen old wounds will do that, but beyond trauma lies resolution and peace. Some very useful techniques which I hope will be useful again when helping people deal with their emotional loss and pain. “Pain shared is pain lessened.”

James Wanless was his usual awesome self, but I’ve also taken classes with him personally. Always a pleasure to see and talk to him again.

At the other end of the spectrum was Shawn Nacol’s presentation, which I am still trying to digest mentally: a exploration of the more elemental nature of the Tarot. An amazing bundle of brilliance and energy, that man. When I’ve chewed on the concepts a bit more and feel like I can attempt to explain it, I will try to post about the Hot v. Cold, Wet vs. Dry dynamic he introduced to us.

One of the bigger, personal lessons from this weekend is recognizing the needs of my own introvert nature. Social situations and crowds drain me, and there were times I desperately needed to run away and recharge. Thankfully Innowen was more than capable enough to take up my slack and help RoseRed run the Tarot Media Company table. I am eternally grateful to Innowen for being such awesome help and to Rose for letting me run away when I absolutely needed it. I chalk up my greater need for quiet away time this year to the fact there was no downtime between the visiting of family and then the convention. Next time? There will be a day off between events. My need for solitude cut me out of a lot of after-hours socialization and classes at this year’s Readers Studio, which is a pity because there were plenty of amazing people I wish I could have interacted with more.

Sunday was the closing ceremonies and we had some wild and woolly adventures involving shipping which I won’t go into details at this time. Needless to say, driving in New York is an adventure and I can proudly say I have survived it multiple times. Now, how much XP do I get for that?

In retrospect, this 22day countdown blogging challenge was indeed a challenge. Having friends and fellow bloggers, RoseRed and Innowen join in was a plus since we could inspire and support each other when needing it. We’ll have to take on such challenges again in the future. Later this year I plan to take part in the National Novel Writing Month challenge, and daily writing is really the best way to get in shape for that marathon!

All in all, a good event. Fitting for the High Priestess.

So fired. I know

Instead, in a day or so, I will post a recap of the event, and how the last card in the 22day countdown applied to the convention as a whole.

Stay tuned!

Ahem.

The trouble with family is you often get stuck with the group consensus, which today meant a long drive out to “a nice town on the Delaware river” to go antiquing and tourist-trapping. Stuck with it we were, and stick with it we did.

With the Wheel of Fortune in mind, I said: “heck with it, lets go and see what we see.” In the leather shop I got a new coin wallet (I’ve been looking for a new one for a while now),  in another I found a pair of shoes that’ll go great with the rest of my nice clothes for the Readers’ Studio dress up evening, and in another we acquired some… more personal items for fun later We also got ice-cream, and chocolate-covered bacon strips, and overall had a nice walk and a pleasant day.

Sometimes you have to roll where the wind blows you, and take a chance on what you’ll find. “That’s how I roll,” says the Wheel of Fortune.

Tomorrow’s card is: The High Priestess (ain’t that appropriate!?), plus it’s the LAST DAY BEFORE RS2012!

As a mostly introverted person putting time aside for recuperating from social events is a must. It’s not that I’m antisocial, it’s that social situations take more energy out of me than they put in; they’re exhausting physically, mentally and socially. So I need a timeout now and then. I didn’t exactly get one today, and the Hermit is here to remind me the price of overextending myself.

We went to Manhattan today. Enough said, right? Busiest, noisiest, most crowded place in the western world. Not the most restive of places for an already-overextended Introvert… Still, we got to see some awesome places, did a bit of shopping, overate at a nifty diner where the staff sing modern showtunes while they serve you. (Seriously, our dessert was accompanied by a duet-rendition from Wicked.) And then home again.

Where I promptly crashed into a nap until past dinnertime and apparently missing out on some awesome Portuguese restaurant dining and family time. The Hermit today reminded me -the hard way- to respect my need to sleep. You see, for me, The Hermit also moonlights as Mister Sandman. As a dreamer, sleep is my refuge; dreamtime my sanctuary. “Miss an regular check-in at your own peril, buddy,” says The Hermit. Ignore and avoid those subconscious needs and the universe will take it’s cue and resolve things in it’s own manner.

Right then. Time for some Advil PM and off to dreamland to right the imbalance.

Tomorrow’s card is the Wheel of Fortune.

2 days to Reader’s Studio 2012!