The High Priest Holds The Lady Hostage With Eight Swords

Evening,

Today I did my reading with a brand new deck of cards bought for me by my house mate. The Druidcraft Tarot deck is a wonderful, traditionalist deck with strong themes and powerful images I would recommend it to anyone who uses the imagery of the cards to direct there thoughts.

My cards today were the 8 of swords, The High priest (equivalent to the Hierophant in the Rider-Waite based decks) and The Lady (equivalent to the Empress in R-W like decks)

The 8 of swords: The woman depicted is stood in a field surrounded by a circle of eight swords. She is blindfolded and her arms and wrists are bound behind her back. This card represents the feeling of being completely trapped with no way out. The card agrees that in fact the quarant is trapped, however shows that all situations have escape routes (the gaps between the swords) we just need to open our eyes 'remove' the blindfold and truly see the situation. This card warns that panic can be counter-productive and that only by keeping calm will we succeed.

The High Priest: The stern looking man sits on a thrown of carved wood and buffalo horns. He reaches up in the air with one arm marking the symbol of Satan, a cup and sword lie next to him and the sun sits directly above his head. This card is the card we turn to when we need spiritual guidance. He indicates liking within one's self to find our deep rooted faith and to draw on this to answer our burning questions.

The Lady: The heavily pregnant woman sat upon her thrown, holding a horn of plenty and dipping her toes in the passing stream stands for all things feminine and fertile within the tarot. She stands for enjoying the fruits of the earth, being kind and considerate and forgiving of others.

The message today seems to be driving me toward some deep soul searching. By the looks of it I have lost my moral North and must now find it once more. In the meantime I should remain patient with others and enjoy what is in my life at this present moment.

Blessed be.

The Lost Faith Of An Unjust Knight!

Afternoon...

Today's cards were as follows:

Reverse 5 of pentacles: This card represents a loss of wealth or faith. In reverse it represents to me that the need for faith has increased, that money has been sacrificed for another or has been lost in order to put something right.

Reverse Justice: representative of an injustice or bias.

Knight of wands: The knight in search of inspiration He moves at speed but without great direction, he finds the journey to be just as rewarding as the outcome. He is enthusiastic, confident, successful, he is creative and artistic. He has no regrets, he sees everything happens for a reason, that everything is a lesson to learn from. He is linked to the zodiac sign of Sagittarius the hunter.

Together these cards indicate I should attempt to look within my self and do some deep soul searching. I feel I have been under the scrutiny of someone who is judging me on preformed ideas and that isn't looking at the here or now. The final message is that whatever this person decides I should not feel ashamed or regret anything I have, or have not, done!

Blessed be!

The Knight Judged A Rest Was In Order

Okay today has been manic!

Here are the cards:

Reverse Judgement, reverse three of wands and reverse knight of penticals.

Reverse Judgement: Judgement is all about self-reflection and inner understanding. It is about acknowledging our past mistakes, learning from them and becoming better. It can also indicate a time when our actions are being scrutinized by someone else important (a boss, friend, family member, etc). However today I drew it in reverse. In this position the card can represent shame and regret, being unwilling to look at past mistakes and learn due to the damage it would seem to do to ones ego! It may also mean that I am being judged by someone unjustly or unfairly.

Reversed Three of wands: This three indicates the time after plans have been put into motion where we sit back and watch the progress. It indicates a time where not much physical work needs doing, but we are still need to steer the project and keep it on course. To me in reverse this card symbolises that I assume that the previous meaning is true however there is much work left to do.

Reverse Knight of pentacles: This knight as I have previously mentioned stands for taking ones time doing things right and completing tasks, challenges and jobs. In reverse he warns I'm moving too slow, that perfection is getting in the way of the possibility of completing a task before it's deadline and that if I wish to succeed then I must pick up the pace.

Together these cards portray the message that I have moved slowly and missed a chance with my creative muses...on top of this it indicates I am now too ashamed/egotistical to admit the failure...this is very common for me as I am a Taurus born in the year of the horse (both stubbon signs) and will never admit I am in the wrong!

Good bye for today!

Blessed be!

Odds (I just thought you might be interested....)

Hi,

I sat down and worked out the odds involved with this reading:

In my three card spread there is a 1/78 that a card will be the first out of the deck, however each card has two power it can lie in...full or reversed. Therefore the odds decrease to 1/156 for the card to be pulled and in the correct power.

The second card is worked on a 1/77 probability of being drawn as one card has already been removed from the deck above. Again two powers exist in which it could be drawn and so the odds decrease to 1/154

The last card is drawn with the odds 1/152 (76 cards left each with 2 powers). The overall odds of getting a specific spread therefore is 1/3,651,648 (1/152 x 1/154 x 1/156)

That means there are 3,651,648 different spreads I can do just using 3 cards. However my spreads are not particular in where each card lands in respect to the others (position 1, 2 or 3) and so the number of unique spreads I can deal is 1/3 of this number = 1,217,216. Don't worry though, at my current posting rate (a spread a day) that's still just over 3,334 YEARS of posting!

And this is just a three card reading! The Celtic Cross spread uses 10 cards and racks up a massive 4,675,765,217,094,110,000,000 readings...and because the card position (1 to 10) is important with this spread we don't even third this figure!

Now can you see why Tarot is such a powerful tool? If I lived to be 100 and I read Tarot from 8 onwards (92 years of reading) I would need to read 1,611,603,721,728 A SECOND in order to see them all, assuming I get no repeats!

If you read tarot and are interest in the odds of your favourite spread I suggest you work them out...It's fascinating to see how many different combinations you could have drawn...and then when it makes sense...well gets me thinking something must be there!

Blessed be!

A Heart Broken King And His Knight

Hi,

Today's reading was drawn Knight of pentacles, King of swords and finally the three of swords.

The Knight of Pentacles: Like all the knights this card can represent a 'quest', the object quested for in this case is that of financial gain, stability and material goods. This knight is quite the reverse of the knight of swords drawn earlier who is hasty and quick witted. Our new knight takes his time, usually working slowly but with high levels of accuracy and precision. 'If a jobs worth doing, it's worth doing properly'.

The King of Swords: The king of swords can be seen to represent Libra. He is a man who tries to keep his judgement balanced to the current situation. He represents the clever and learned people who understand that single mindedness can lead to stagnation of thoughts. The King of swords asks that the quarant stays open minded but logical.

The Three of swords (the heartache): I've already drawn this card before in this diary, but not the correct way up. In it's current state it represents the end of a relationship, the breakdown of a marriage but not clean breaks by any means! It stands for heartache, pain and loss, usually felt because of another...one who we love. It can also indicate arguments, disagreements and harsh words between lovers, in which many cutting things will have been said. Finally it can indicate spiteful thoughts, unsaid but still damaging.

I feel that this is referring to a conversation I had last night with a friend from college. My friend said that they would like to visit me and then pulled out. I asked if they wanted to organise for a better time, they said yes and then gave up as soon as we hit the first dud date. I was highly upset as I hold this friend highly in my thoughts and care for them deeply, but it came across as though I was being 'thrown aside' for being too difficult.

The cards inform me that they have made this decision not because it is too much effort but because they has judged this time to be impractical, and would much rather wait and spend some quality time with me later, than come down and only catch glimpses of each other. This makes me feel better and slightly foolish for assuming they were so uncaring.

Blessed be

Foolish Justice Delivered at Knight!

Today's spread consisted of Justice, the Knight of swords and The Fool in reverse.

I drew it this morning and then sat on the bus on the way into uni pondering it. I'm not going to lie...I find 3 card spreads difficult; there's just too little structure for me and I usually have to spend some time working things through in my head.

Justice (XI): This one is easy. Justice is often portrayed as a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales and the sword of truth. She judges with logic and reasoning, using truth to cut through the lies and illusions which may surround an issue. Justice is blind; neither interested nor swayed by appearance. Cold hard facts, that's all she is interested in and she is willing to dissect every minute detail of a situation to extract them.

The Knight of swords: The knight on a quest for knowledge and wisdom. Though very different concepts he holds both in high sted. Unfortunately he is infused with the element of air and linked quite often to the zodiac sign of Gemini. He is quick to act, sometimes hasty and is incredibly ambitious. He describes action and goal-oriented thinking. I feel a strong connection with this card at the moment and see myself as the armoured sword barer.

The Reverse Fool (0): The fool represents a deep set need to change one's own life, in reverse he tells me that he is not yet ready to make that change. He tells me that he still has doubts and is not yet ready to throw caution to the winds and let go. He may be trying to tell me that something can be salvaged from his current situation, or that he needs some form of reassurance that someone will catch him if he falls.

At the moment I am supposed to be selecting my 3rd year project for university, but feel unprepared and rushed. I am unwilling to make a definitive choice and stick with it. I feel worried that I will make the wrong choice and so do not wish to make one at all.

It's okay, however, the cards tell me that I am rushing and that slowing down is acceptable. They tell me that I will make a good choice if I base my thoughts on pure facts and spend time looking at all the possibilities. They warn I should not involve emotions into my choice (least of all panic) but instead only logic and reasoning should be utilised. This is a relief as I have been quite worried recently. I shall organise to see my tutor as this is the most wise and logical thing to do.

Oh and as for my first reading...wow today sure rang true; no lecture notes or handouts, just pure note taking. Ouch!

Blessed be

A six, a three and an eight.

Hi again,

So I was in a rush this morning and was unable to do my spread before I left for uni. Therefore I'm going to have to do it now.

Today's 3 cards (no jumpers today) were drawn as follows: The six of swords, the reverse three of swords and the eight of wands.

The six of swords (the boat): This indicates; moving on from stormy seas and leaving behind problems and difficulty; sailing into much calmer waters. My student loan was paid into my account just this morning. I have been living off of less than fifteen pounds for over a week now and I must admit it was causing me quite a lot of anxiety. The six here is obviously referring to these old and new situations which is quite pleasant to hear :O).

Reverse three of swords (the heartache): After 8 years this is the first time I have ever drawn this card in reverse. I must admit I had to look up the meaning online :OS. Apparently this card in reverse can indicate errors made whilst confused, mental anxiety (which I have already mentioned) and distraction/loss of focus. I feel that the cards are trying to draw my attention to a mistake I have made in my finances/budget during this time in which I have been under pressure. I shall certainly go through all my records and statements to see if I can uncover any issues which I have previously missed.

Eight of Wands (the choice): For me the eight of wands indicates the need for selection/choice. It draws attention to the projects one has going on in their lives and tries to get the quarant to notice how many things they are juggling. It also informs them that a choice is needed and that all but one project should be cut loose. Trying to run with everything will only cause the failure of ALL the projects. Whereas the selection of one will ensure it's success. I have a couple of projects on the go at the moment all of which are costing me money (e.g I am trying to put together an alter). I think in this situation the eight is telling me 'one thing at a time' and that attempting to buy everything at once is only going to lead to me getting into financial trouble.

I'm going to go away and ponder on this reading a little more. Try and make a choice. Try and find and correct my mistake.

As for yesterdays reading...well today's lecture was easy...but it was only a recap lecture and the course looks set to get very nasty very quickly...looks like my cards where right about 1 thing :oS.

Blessed be.

New Year, Death And A Brand New Beginning...

Hi,
I'm Alex, and I've been reading tarot for about 8 years now.

I first started reading tarot when I was 11, I have always been sensitive to spirits and often see or hear things which cannot be explained. I have, since I was 13, had a small girl who was horrifically mutilated follow me, moving when I do and showing herself to me about once a month.

I'm starting this blog as a kind of tarot diary. I made a new years resolution this year that I would do a 3 card reading every morning for 365 days as soon as I returned to uni and was reunited with my deck. I'm already a day and a half behind!

At the moment, and for the past year, I have been reading with the gilded tarot deck by Ciro Marchetti. At first I fell deeply in love with this deck, but recently I feel that I am growing more and more distant from it. I find some of the imagery, which at first excited me, now to be very harsh and unforgiving. I do like the look of Ciro Marchetti's newest deck, the Legacy of the Divine tarot, and am hopefully going to get it bought for me soon ;o)

So as I said before I did today's reading late in the day. Consequently the result gave me advice for tomorrow, which is to be my first day back in lectures.

I shuffled my deck and within seconds two cards fell out. I see this as a sign from my deck that these cards are important and therefore must be used. I feel I have a spacial connection with the deck I use; especially one which I have used for a long time. I feel the cards truly talk to me, sometimes they will joke with me, sometimes they tell me off...they are very much like a caring teacher!

The first card which fell out was Death (XIII) and the second was the seven of cups. Finally I cut my deck and drew the page of swords.

I must admit I was a tad shocked to see Death! My life at the moment is just returning to normal after going home for Christmas (and the chaos which that entails) and a change is not what I am after just this minute.

The page of swords is quite important to me at the moment. It tends to represent university for me quite often; I see myself as the page in this instance, acquiring new knowledge but needing to be rained in at the same time. I tend to get fixated on one topic and overwork in that area, neglecting my other studies...what can I say I love what interests me! At the beginning of a semester I tend to see this card a lot...another chance to gain some useful knowledge; another chance to blow it and stop listening in lectures.

The seven of cups (aka the daydream card) is made sense of straight away when linked to the page...In my first lecture I always start off by making notes and listening and being a brilliant student...by my second or third I'll be doodling, drawing, writing notes, in extreme cases sleeping! In other words I wile away my education in the fantasy world inside my head. The seven of cups holds a major warning I always make sure I inform my quarant of "daydreaming is fine, but, daydream too much and nothing gets done!"

Death therefore makes himself understood, I need to change my ways, I feel one of my lectures this semester is going to be incredibly hard and due to this I am going to be made to sit up and take notice...or notes maybe ;o)

Blessed be
x

P.S. I'm sorry for my ramblings...I'm sure I'll get better at this over the next 364 days, see you tomorrow!