Today's COTD

The card I drew for today is the Adept of Staves, which in traditional Tarot decks would be the King.

I think I may have mentioned in another entry that generally, Staves are fiery and do not like to be still. Weighted down with responsibility, they may sometimes try to stir things up on purpose. Adepts are about how we enact social responsibility in the world, and this Adept is very good at getting people "fired up" and working at something they feel passionately about. He is a leader who enjoys leading because of the obstacles he likes to push through and resolve. He is also someone who believes he is always in the right, so this is a quality that can both serve and be an obstacle in and of itself.

What gets you "fired up?" What are the changes you want to see in the world. Gandhi himself was an Adept of Staves when he said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

COTD: Sacrifice

Today's card is Sacrifice, which in most traditional decks is known as "The Hanged Man." I felt a more appropriate name for this card in the 21st century was Sacrifice, as that is what this card has come to mean.

I will expound on this card a little bit more later, but I did want to get a Card of the Day out there. Have a look and see what it may mean to you. Does the imagery speak to you?

After the Long Weekend.....

Hope you will all pardon the brief break I took for a few days. The lovely and amazing Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki came to Seelie Court in Delaware this weekend to give a great workshop on The Purpose and Practice of Magick, and as always, she was a terrific and generous teacher. We were also booked solid into classes and ritual for the weekend, so I did not really get much of a chance to sign in and share a Card of the Day. I'm back now!! I am also curious  to hear about the kinds of things people would like to see more of in this blog - I am open to suggestions. I love writing, teaching, and sharing and I'm interested in hearing what everyone would like to see.

I did in fact pull a card for today - and that card is the Three of Staves. An interesting thing about Staves - they are filled with fire energy and generally do not like to be still. They like to keep things moving and if it gets too quiet, that fiery energy will be sure to come around and shake things up. Having said that, the Three of Staves is a card of waiting and stasis. I often get this card with job seekers - they have sent out their resumes, done all the hard work of networking, and now they must wait and see what will happen next. It can also be a card of making peace with the past and of exploring the unknown.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend!

COTD: Temperance

The card for the start of our Labor Day holiday weekend (at least those of us in the United States) is Temperance - a very interesting card pull for what many consider to be the last official weekend of summer, a weekend many spend getting in one last visit to the beach or mountains. Temperance may be something that is needed when surrounded by sun-drenched, drunken holiday revellers.

This is a card reminding us that if we wish to succeed in doing The Great Work, we must seek balance. Labor Day is time off from Labor - I am reminded of something a friend once said, "No one ever writes 'She worked through lunch' on their tombstone." It is just as much a reminder not to get carried away in holiday revelry as it is a reminder to take time off from work, to enjoy the scenery and relax.

I hope everyone has a very wonderful and safe weekend!

Card of the Day: Adept of Cups

I have been having a week that makes me feel as though there is still some fall out happening from this latest Mercury Retrograde. Usually when I am pulling a card for the day, I am trying to think of the community with which I share this deck and not myself. I have to say on this day however, it is hard not to think that the personal is reflecting on the more public face of me. I am not going to get too personal here, but it is interesting to reflect on how the cards we draw for others can reflect on our own lives.

Today's card is the Adept of Cups, which in traditional decks is the King of Cups. Adepts are about how we express social responsibility in the world. The Adept of Cups is able to maintain emotional control in the midst of crisis. This card can sometimes also be someone who has to discipline their own dreams and creativity to achieve success. She or he is social responsibility placed before self-expression.


Those of you who have studied Tarot with me for a long time know that I enjoy James Rioux's interpretations of the cards on the American Tarot Association website. He says of this card, 


The appearance of the King is often a sign that you should employ peace and tolerance to solve your problems. Use diplomacy rather than force, and accept different points of view. Do not blame others for their failures, but help them to see how they can succeed again. When the King of Cups represents a part of yourself, you must make sure the King of Cups is not manifesting his energy in a negative form. The moderation theme of the Cups suit is critical. If you strive too far into the fiery side of the King you will be burned by his inner flames, but if you slip into the deep water of his emotions you could be overwhelmed and drowned. Stay in the middle and you'll be safe.


Be good to one another everyone - and have a great day!


 

COTD: 3 of Cups

Today's card is the Three of Cups, a card of celebrating friendship and connections. Three is a joyous number of harmony and beauty, and when paired with the Cups, we have a wonderful combination of joy and relationships.

The women in the image on the Fellowship of the Fool's Three of Cups are mother and daughter - and granddaughter yet to be. There is joy in the relationships women make with one another, and especially if those relationships can be familial.

COTD: The Magician

Today's COTD is the Magician. How will you direct your will today?

This card represents Ego in its best form. Confidence, the use of skills. An adept. Cunning, magickal and occult powers. Writing, speaking, persuasion. Mastery. In previous decks, the Magician has been called the Bagatelle, the Mountebank, and the Battleur, to name a few. In earlier versions, he is sometimes shown to be a conjurer or juggler. Interestingly, while Tarot was still being played as a game, this card had the lowest score. How fascinating that he has been raised up on the basis of his mastery, confidence and ego in today’s Tarot.

In the Smith Waite Tarot, the magician has all four magickal tools at his disposal, representing that he utilizes every skill. He raises a magic wand to bring the spiritual life force into the mundane world. He represents manifestation. Over his head is the Cosmic Lemniscate, the symbol of eternity. Around his waist is a snake biting its tail - the ourobouros, another symbol of eternity. The red and white he is wearing indicate youth in its passion and purity. Astrological symbols are all around the table. He is filled with creative energy which he has the power to direct.

In the Fellowship of the Fool deck, the Magician stands near a desk with all of his magickal tools, his Book of Shadows open to the page of the spell he wishes to cast. He is focused and filled with the passion of The Great Work.

In divination, this is a card about power received and power directed. It is the will power unified and directed to goals. this is someone who already has everything they need. It is a card of the will and of confidence.