New website, new readings

So in the (relatively) short time since my last post, I have launched my tarot readings website! It is called Tarot Sparrow. Feel free to visit ;)

In the interest of informing potential querents of my reading technique and style, I’ve gained permission to display two recent in-person readings I’ve given to two friends (since most of the content here is personal). I will not use names to describe them, but rather alphanumeric characters–because it works, it’s easy, and yeah, it’s kind of funny. In each of these readings, I expanded upon the simple past, present, future spread to include a total of seven positions in a spread. That is, the future position was expanded into 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year positions, to follow up on past and present. In addition, a position was created for advice (‘A’ below). I used the Hudes Tarot for both readings.

….P…..P…..1m…
………………………A
…3m…6m…1y…

The first reading was for Mr. X. X has not seen his wife in a number of months, as she has been residing in her home state across the country while X attends school. There have been obstacles and choices blocking her return (the details of which I am not privy to), and X wanted to know what turns his relationship would take within the next year.

Past – 5 of Wands
This card indicated there was a lot of squabbling going on, and perhaps this was part of the reason for the delay. This doesn’t necessarily mean big things, either – arguments about little things and misunderstandings are likely. The querent certainly agreed with me here.

Present – Tower
The Tower is always a scary-looking card. Given that the present situation seemed a little less traumatic from what I was told, however, I took this card to mean that X and his wife were going through more of an upheaval of the past and transitional stage than a large collapse. The Tower here indicated a breaking down of old structures and a rebuilding of the relationship.

1 Month – 4 of Pentacles
This card indicated a few things to me. One, I saw X trying to hold the relationship together within the next month. Two, I saw his wife possibly holding onto something else, something that was keeping her from returning (as has been the case for some time). It seemed likely that she was holding onto her life there and current circumstances, as opposed to making the effort to return and starting over, after having been gone so long. The person in this card looks fearful – fearful of change, fearful of losing their grip.

3 Months – The Moon / 5 of Swords
When the Moon came up in the 3-Month position, I was a bit puzzled. The Moon can be vague and mysterious (that is its nature), and in a future position it was just that. The clarifying card I drew was the 5 of Swords, which indicated a one-sided quarrel, being influenced by the mystery of the Moon. To me, this indicated secretive behaviour, and I advised X to beware of keeping or being the victim of secrets or distant behaviour in the next few months, lest they cause more problems in the relationship.

6 Months – 10 of Pentacles
After all that trouble, it was nice to see things looking up within the next 6 months with the 10 of Pentacles. This card indicates a union of sorts, a completion and coming together of love and family. of home. It is important that the querent understand the meaning of “home” in this situation. This came up again later.

1 Year – 9 of Wands
I have trouble with this card from time to time, because it too has always seemed a little vague to me; but I took this to mean that X would be nearing completion of a goal by the end of the year – a successful rebuilding of structure in the relationship.
Advice – 4 of Wands
Here is where home comes back into the picture. We see two people between a structure of sorts, a garland hanging above them. This is a card of structure, family, home and marriage. My advice to the querent was twofold: first, re-envision the living situation, as this may make a difference in her decision to return. Second, stay focused on what matters: the marriage that has already been built. Don’t lose sight of the love and the life and the home two people have built together – keep it intact, and things will fall into place.

It was a nice message to end the reading, and X seemed to be satisfied with the whole of it.

The second reading was for Mr. Y (yeah, I know). Y was seeking a different kind of information – financial information – and wanted to know more about his money situation in the coming months. I used the same spread for Y as I did for X.

Past – 3 of Wands
This card showed that in the past, Y had been working hard and focusing on bringing in an income. I thought perhaps it also indicated savings, but it’s also likely that there was a lot of waiting going on, and the profit was waning as fast as it was gaining (sorry for the bad rhyme).

Present – 8 of Cups
This card shows someone walking away from something…in this case, a person who has left an old job behind and is currently searching for or beginning a new one. Y confirmed that he would be starting a new job in the coming weeks, which (from the money perspective) would cause an increase in finances.

1 Month – 2 of Wands / 4 of Wands
In the next month or so, I saw Y having to make a decision – one that might affect his finances somewhat. The 2 of Wands alone, however, seemed a little vague here, and as a clarifier I drew the 4 of Wands. Harkening back to X’s reading, I thought once more of home; but since Y was too young to be purchasing a home, I asked, “Are you thinking of moving in the next month or so?” Y admitted that he was thinking about moving to a new apartment. This decision would certainly have an impact on his finances, if he chose to do it.

3 Months – The Hermit / Strength
I felt a little puzzled when I saw the Hermit in this position, and thought of someone who was leaving their job to do business for themselves – which seemed soon, but something a summer job would certainly allow for in the fall. Y said he had done this once before. I was unsure, so I drew a clarifier – Strength. I began to think it was certainly a possibility, as Strength indicates someone in charge of their own well-being. I also thought this could also indicate Y living alone in a 3-month period and taking on extra financial responsibility.

6 Months – 5 of Cups
The 5 of Cups is a card of loss – or, as I also told Y, one that indicates “spilt milk.” It seems at this time the querent may experience a financial loss from which he will have to recuperate. But it is likely to be a temporary loss, and one that should not be dwelt upon for very long. It is better for someone to focus on what they can do with what they have, than to contemplate their loss.

1 Year – 6 of Wands
This card is a happy card – or, perhaps not happy so much as successful. The figure in this card is very serious, and someone who is being celebrated or rewarded. It is likely that within a year’s time Y will find a promising job opportunity, or receive a raise in pay.

Advice – Knight of Wands / The Devil
This was the first court card I had drawn that day, oddly. The Knight of Wands could indicate a person, or simply the qualities exhibited by such a person. In this case, I saw the knight as the querent, and someone who should bring their new creative and work endeavors to fruition without delay. The knights indicate motion, and act decisively. To further understand this card, I drew the Devil, and explained that it can mean indulgence. I explained to Y that this may be a time of splurging and personal enjoyment, but that it would be wise to keep heavy spending in check – at least until those endeavors have come to fruition.

Further Future – 2 of Pentacles
At Y’s request, I drew an extra card for the further future – for the next big change in his situation (keeping in mind, of course, that the future is very mutable). This card has always been something of a “juggling” card to me, and I explained to Y that further in the future he would be taking on extra responsibilities which could be fruitful – but also that he should be careful to maintain balance, so that he (and his finances) would not suffer a blow.

Overall, the readings went great, and both parties seemed to respond quite well. I very much mean to be a shameless promoter when I say, please feel free to visit my website!

Reminders

I’ve recently purchased the Connolly Tarot (in both regular and miniature size), which had me pulled in by its simple imagery and vibrant colours, despite being what some call an overwhelmingly Christian deck. As someone who is quite far from Christian, I’ve realized how little this bothers me – and since I’ve currenly no use for the book, it’s much easier to forget the religious connection. I don’t think I see it as overly fluffy, either – it just happens to be quite glowing.

Thus far I’ve only done the occasional daily draw from the deck, which has been left out of its box on my bed, cards splayed all over the sheets after a period of time (I’ve been sleeping with a lot of things on my bed lately). The cards I’ve been drawing have been confusing me, however – at least until very recently – and I got to thinking about the messages the tarot gives us that we don’t understand. This doesn’t happen to me much anymore. But the confusion started the second I drew my very first card from this deck: The Lovers.

That’s funny, I thought. If anything I’ve felt a bit solitary lately, and as far as deep connections go I haven’t had any fruitful endeavors in the sidelines I could label as such. So I gave it time. A few days – waiting for the big bang, the event that would reveal why this card has showed up for me again, for the second time in a month (I suppose it wouldn’t seem as big a deal to me if I were doing actual readings more frequently than I was posting them, which I’m not). A few days later I drew another repeat card, which showed up previously after my chinchilla died: the 6 of Cups. Yet there’s been less time for reminiscing, for spending time with friends and family and playing in the sunshine. So you can imagine my heightened confusion when the next card I drew was The Sun.

Why such positive cards? Is there something I’m forgetting, something I’m missing? Am I to read these as predictions, as summaries, as something else? These thoughts kept running through my head. It’s a good thing I’ve been so busy with other things, or they might have driven me up the wall. Until a day or two ago, when I drew a card that finally made sense: The Chariot. Of course, here we have a very physical movement, indicating my impending move to Hanover to spend the summer with Matt. Though naturally, I stared at it and thought, well, I already knew that. Yesterday, I drew two more cards: The Hanged Man followed by the 6 of Swords. The Hanged Man was upright, interestingly enough – probably one of the most interesting cards to use reversals with, though it’s no longer my style. He leapt up decidedly that way, so I decided he meant to. Well, naturally, an upright Hanged Man would indicate someone who’s already seeing things in a new perspective, rather than someone who needs to. Sacrifices have already been made, and the world is clear (though a bit topsy-turvy, for someone whose ankle is tied to an upside-down tree). Coupled with the 6 of Swords - another card indicating movement from one place to another, from one world to the next – this screamed the words “beginning anew,” with the Chariot pushing this once upside-down man and once trial-ridden woman into place. And suddenly it all made sense.

This wasn’t about explaining the present, or proving the past, or predicting the future. This wasn’t even about stating the obvious. It was about reminders. Reminders of things that lie in wait, of things that influence my day-to-day activity, things that inspire me to move forward. It’s not about grand gestures or life-changing moments, despite the abundance of major arcana. It’s about the little things that go unnoticed, the things that are ever-present and always developing and increasing in value. And I have these things. I have love and memories and optimism to carry me forward, and I have them even more concretely lying ahead of me. This isn’t about knowing what’s happening, or learning what I have in store. It’s about remembering what gets me there.

Good news all around…and the cards to back it up.

So I received my new Morgan-Greer deck the other day (gorgeous, vibrant, straight to the point) and decided to test it out with a few short readings. My first question: What will happen if I attend graduate school at Chatham? My first draw was the Ten of Cups, which was unmistakable in meaning: such a choice will bring happiness, friendship and fulfillment of goals. More specifically, I asked: How will attending Chatham for the next two years affect my relationship? To this, I received two cards: the Ten of Coins and the Fool. Once again, I was delighted to note a sense of family, union and relationship stability, coupled with a newfound sense of independence and adventure. Not too shabby. But I felt compelled to draw another card, to summarize the outcome for my relationship. I drew the World: a symbol of completeness, wholeness and (once more) fulfillment of goals. It eased my mind, and I can’t say I’m complaining.

On to reading number two: a general outlook for the boyfriend’s spring semester. Here, I drew the King of Coins: steadfast, financially stable, productive. A well-grounded, healthy individual with the means to accomplish his tasks. Clearly, this refers to the individual himself – but, naturally, since this is a court card, I wanted clarification. That draw ended up being the King of Swords (though appropriate, another court card) – a bit of a jab from my tarot deck, telling me to keep my cool and stick with the god damn card I’m given. Here, we have yet another master of his domain: this time, intellect. Here we have a man who reaps what he sows (symbolized by three strands of wheat wrapped around his sword), and knows how to solve his problems. He is strong of mind and efficient, able to tackle nearly any task with mental skill, determination and grace. Together, these two cards depict a strong-willed individual who can triumph over struggle and work through problems and make sense of ideas that carry him through life and studies.

Now, here’s where it got particularly interesting. I did a private reading for myself on a pressing issue I needed to deal with. I needed to ask my significant other a question – one I’d had in mind for some time – and was thinking of doing it the following evening. It was a rather serious question (not to mention one a girl is not conditioned to ask), and one that could forever change a relationship. I was afraid to do it, and wanted some input as to whether or not it was a good idea, and what I could expect. The card that randomly appeared on the bottom of the deck following the previous reading was the Two of Cups – a clear reminder of the situation at hand. I asked the deck what kind of reaction I could expect – what the outcome would be – and began to shuffle. Toward the end, a card leapt out of the deck: the Nine of Wands, telling me that I was close to something – a successful resolution, a goal I was trying to reach. I finished shuffling, cut, and lifted the one card that would assuage my fears: the Lovers. I nearly gasped, and breathed a sigh of relief, trying not to look too surprised – after all, the tarot knows what I’m thinking . . . we are one and the same. My next and last draw was the Nine of Cups: happiness and wish fulfillment. The best of readings I could have received, and enough to give me the courage I needed.

Now I know you’re wondering, did I ask my question? I did. And were the cards correct? Let’s just say I am happily engaged.