Speculation

From the Ferret Tarot, the Four of Cups; from the Nature's Wisdom Oracle, Tulip:

There are good and bad times, but our mood changes more often than our fortune.

―Thomas Carlyle

As Shakespeare wrote, "Now is the winter of our discontent." It's no surprise if we're feeling out of sorts this time of year. On social media, we see our friends and acquaintances having fun at holiday parties, and TV ads tell us this is the time of year to have joyful times with our family. Unfortunately, it's mostly an illusion. Tulip is associated with the speculation and crash of tulip-mania. Speculation - transactions involving considerable risk but offering the chance of large gains - can occur in the emotional realms just as it does the financial ones. Yet we don't have to invest our feelings in the holidays or any other fantasy. Perhaps we should take Michael Franti's advice for an antidote: "Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood."

Not Squashed

From the Deirdre of the Sorrows Tarot, the Emperor; from the Victorian Flower Oracle, Violet:

True freedom requires the rule of law and justice, and a judicial system in which the rights of some are not secured by the denial of rights to others. ―Jonathan Sacks

The Emperor's laws are meant to create a working, healthy society. Yet without representatives from all walks of life, he may get stuck in his personal view of what that structure looks like. Tulip, a card symbolizing prosperity and well-being, is a caution to serve all, not a select few. Fair and ethical laws uphold civil rights - equal protection and opportunities regardless of race, religion, or other personal characteristics. No one is above the law, but no one should have their life squashed by it either.

Adjusting Our Sails

This week I'll be using the Deirdre of the Sorrows Tarot, a self-published set created by Deirdre O'Donoghue and illustrated by Wayne McGuire. Along with it, I'll be drawing from the Victorian Flower Oracle, created by Alex Ukolov, Karen Mahony and Sheila Hamilton; it was published by Magic Realist Press. Today's draws are the Wheel of Fortune and Tulip:

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. ~William Arthur Ward

          Watched over by Anubis, the jackal-headed Egyptian god, a blindfolded woman turns the wheel of life. While humans can create change, much of what occurs in our lives is pure happenstance. We may be in the right place at the right time or vice versa. But the treasure to be found in a world of impermanence is the ability to adjust to change - without clinging to what we like or wailing at what we don't but rather accepting and dealing with it. Tulip suggests that there will be a turning toward prosperity or well-being, a welcome respite for the weary. But perhaps the words of Og Mandino should be taken to heart: "I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars." Wisdom and compassion are those stars.

Bound Joy

This week I'll be using the Medieval Tarot; originally created by Guido Zibordi and published by Lo Scarabeo, this version has had the background recolored by Christian Schenk and is published by Card-Shark.  This morning's draw is the Eight of Cups:

I imagine a boar on a leash is about as manageable as herding cats.  The number eight of this card represents solidity, but not the beneficial, stable kind.  Here is a place where people and their emotions get stuck, because they keep trying to bend outer circumstances to make them happy.  They're the ones who constantly ask the same questions over and over, wondering why their life won't change and become more fulfilling, yet clueless that the change must be within them.  This card reminds me that if I feel discouraged and in a rut, and outer circumstances and people aren't changing, then perhaps I need to do it myself.  But in order to do so, I'm going to have to let go of the leash and leave those people and situations behind. 

The oracle deck I'll be using this week is the Tea Leaf Fortune Cards created by Rae Hepburn and published by U.S. Games.  It has a "fortune phrase" on the bottom of each card, but I've chosen to interpret them with the images only, so I've removed them with the help of Paint.  Today's draw is "Tulip:"

In flower symbolism, the tulip represents perfect love and passion.  But anyone who's ever lived on earth long enough knows that true perfection is an illusion.  We may get caught up emotionally, floating on our pink cloud.  But eventually reality inserts itself, and we experience the crash of gravity when the cloud dissipates.  Tulip teaches me of transience, of the fragility of trying to hold on to emotions as if they were solid and real.  As William Blake wrote, "He who binds to himself a joy / Does the winged life destroy; / But he who kisses the joy as it flies / Lives in eternity's sunrise."