Make It Happen

This week I'll be using the Rosetta Tarot along with its companion book The Book of Seshet. This set was created by M.M. Meleen and published by Atu House. The oracle deck I'll be using is the Day of the Dead Lenormand, created and self-published by Edmund Zebrowski. Today's draws are the Prince (Knight) of Swords and Mice:

Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.

—John F. Kennedy

The Prince of Swords is Air of Air, a combination that makes him an inexhaustible fount of ideas and solutions. A lover of research, he is also comfortable with abstract ideas. However, he'll spend time spinning out a complex plan or concept and then just abandon everything because he's lost interest. The Mice card suggests something is gnawing away at our well-being, resources, or relationships. It doesn't matter how many creative ideas or interesting strategies we come up with to mitigate this problem if we don't apply them. As JFK explained, "There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction."

Abuse It and Lose It

From the Rosetta Tarot, the Nine of Disks; from the Day of the Dead Lenormand, Mice:

Caretaking is the utmost spiritual and physical responsibility of our time, and perhaps that stewardship is finally our place in the web of life, our work, the solution to the mystery that we are. 

― Linda Hogan

The Nine of Disks represents 'Gain,' whether that be our health, well-being or financial status. It's a pleasant, comfortable place to be in, but it's easy to become complacent and lose our appreciation for what we have. The Mice suggests loss - a warning that everything is subject to decline and change. What we have - our bodies, homes and material possessions (even our Earth) - all require good stewardship, a willingness to take responsibility for the care and condition of these things. 

Error in Attribution

From the Nigel Jackson Tarot, the Devil; from the Viking Lenormand, Mice:

When you blame others, you give up your power to change.

~Robert Anthony

Samael, Prince of the Demons, was an important figure in Talmudic literature, where he appears as accuser, seducer, and destroyer. He was regarded as the principle of evil that brought upon Israel and Judah every misfortune that befell them. His goat-like appearance in many illustrations is likely linked to the 'scapegoat' that Hebrew priests designated to be cast into the desert to carry away the sins of the community. Humans have built a powerful structure of blaming something outside themselves for all misdeeds and problems. The Mice card represents loss, sometimes by theft, but also through ignorance, arrogance or carelessness. Together these two cards express the same idea as Anthony's quote: Without taking responsibility for ourselves, we fail to have any way to change things for the better. 

Garden of the Soul

This week I'll be using two self-published decks: The Bonefire Tarot by Gabrielle Angus-West (now released by Schiffer) and the Day of the Dead Lenormand by Edmund Zebrowski. Today's draws are the Queen of Cups and 'Mice:'

          In the past, I've looked at the Queen of Cups as a mush muffin - too emotional and sensitive for my tastes. Today, I'd be willing to vote her in as President of the United States. She is what balances cold-hearted logic with intuition, callousness with kindness, and ambition with compassion. Her softness is not a vice but a virtue. The Queen of Cups reminds us that the purpose of life is not to collect the most toys and 'win,' but to evolve humanity by helping each other. The Mice card from the Lenormand deck generally means a gradual loss that is being gnawed away. With the Queen's draw, I suspect this 'gnawing away' has less to do with material things and more to do with the heart. Harboring and feeding anger and fear does not change what is external. In the words of Oscar Wilde, it simply sows "thorns in the garden of one's soul."

Mountains to Molehills

From the Bonefire Tarot, the Five of Wands; from the Day of the Dead Lenormand, the Mice:

          The Five of Wands shows a group of burning pine cones; they tend to light easily and burn brightly. They make lots of cracking and popping noises (from the sap) but burn out very quickly. On top of the cones are a pair of 'conkers' - two horse chestnuts on the end of a string. In this game, kids take turns trying to crack their opponent's nut. Both these symbols remind me that no matter how intense a conflict or hassle may feel at the time, it's not that big of a deal in the larger scheme of things. However the appearance of the Mice show how these kind of little things can gnaw into my joy and contentment. Though these situations are really just inconveniences that might give me a headache, my emotions can make them into something much larger. My body will respond with a cortisol cocktail, and I start acting like the hassles are all major hurdles. A friend once remarked (when I was having such a day): "So you took a bad ten minutes and stretched it into a whole day?" Her wry sense of humor shrinks my mountains back to molehills every time.