My Planetary Week #4: June 16 - 22

[Nemia]

This is an invitation to work with one card deck for one week in a group reading.

You can pick any deck: tarot, Lenormand, Kipper, oracle or playing cards. From this deck, you'll draw one card per day - i.e., seven Daily Cards from your Deck of the Week that allow you to get to know the deck better, to hone your reading skills and get new insights about your life.

In a Planetary Week reading, we don't only draw a card per day but also give it a topic. We focus on motifs, topics, patterns in our lives, inspired by the planetary ruler of every weekday (for background information, look here).

On Saturdays, ruled by Saturn: Obstacles and Blockades,
on Sundays, ruled by the Sun: Inspiration and Goals,
on Mondays, ruled by the Moon: Dreams and Fears,
on Tuesdays, ruled by Mars: Conflicts and Challenges,
on Wednesdays, ruled by Mercury: Interactions and Change,
on Thursdays, ruled by Jupiter: Power and Influences, and
on Fridays, ruled by Venus: Love and Attraction.


The focus words I chose for each planet/day are not binding. Please don't limit yourself to the two short words if you feel other aspects of the planet are relevant to your reading.



There are different ways to perform a Planetary Week reading.

Traditional: draw a card per day and use the prism of the planetary influence to connect the card to your day and life.

Selective: select a card that suits the topic of each weekday and use it as affirmation and empowerment to improve your life.

Day-by-day: draw or pick your daily card one by one through the week.

Summarily: draw or pick all cards together before the week starts and treat them as a complete reading.

Share pictures if you can or want to.

No matter how we do it - by reminding ourselves of the planetary regents and their influence, we re-connect to the sevenfold cycle of time that our ancestors established, with their eyes to the sky.

Participants:

Nemia: Rosetta Tarot - Papyrus edition
I Sunshine: Gill Tarot
Stronglove: Sevenfold Mystery Tarot
CharlotteK: William Blake Tarot

[I Sunshine]

I will participate again, as this is becoming a spiritual practice for me. A good focus. I will used the Gill Tarot this next week. Have never used it for anything. In fact, picked it up at a used book store a month or so ago for a song! A real lucky find. I will smudge it before I start tomorrow.

[stronglove]

will try to do better this week, i like this practice. want to use my brandnew tarot of the sevenfold mystery along with robert place’s newest book.

[CharlotteK]

I'm joining this week with the revised William Blake by Ed Buryn.

Saturday - Obstacles and Blockades - Ace of Music - Passion

Feeling a passionate desire to achieve my highest potential today and being swept away by my emotions may not be what is required. I'm going on a high ropes adventure so I literally won't be keeping my feet on the ground but soaring to personal heights of creative vision is unlikely to to keep me safe when I'm teetering on a tiny platform in the treetops. Time for a cool head today and perhaps I will keep a lid on the upsurge in creative power until later!

[stronglove]

so, off to a fresh start this morning. my first draw provides the queen of staffs, wow....
the way she looks tells me she has mastered the unpredictable fiery energy by merging it with her watery essence. she clearly shows me the difficulty i am facing: how to temper my impulsive gung ho personality now that my sweetheart (who’s watery energy used to keep me grounded) is no longer with me. wham! this deck doesn’t pull any punches.... my grief over the loss of my sweetheart is about the biggest obstacle, the hardest task i have faced in my whole life.
ok. i get the message. i’m working on it.......
in his book Robert Place’s talks about a choice between the raw and natural fire and the refined, sophisticated energy. the queen of staffs knows exactly when to use what..... my challenge is to become that queen, she is the master of her own fire.

[Nemia]

And here we go again, this is already our fourth week! I'm so happy this experiment seems to work and the planetary rulers give us all meaningful challenges every day...

And I'm with my Rosetta Tarot. On a Saturday, Saturn's day, the day where I look at the blockades, the leaden pressure from above.

The Five of Pentacles - my birth decan. Worry and inner pressure. I'm so happy I have Book M, where the creator gives explanation about the Rosetta in the context of the Tabula Mundi! So we have a steam punk machine here and we can see the smoke is going off the vent, meaning: take down pressure.

Now that is my basic obstacle: I make huge internal pressure for myself, I fuss and plan and tell myself I have to do X or Y a thousand times - but I translate this pressure into less action than I could. The machine, the mechanism that translates intentions into actions loses much energy on the way. Instead, it produces inner pressure, worry, self criticism and a kind of helplessness. My to do list grows and grows but I can never congratulate myself for having done what I did, I keep fretting about the piles of stuff I still have to do.

This card is absolutely spot on.

It's a Mercury card - Mercury wants to rush forward, but Saturn (today's problem question) simply doesn't let it happen. The sephira Gvura hints at the self aggression. The machine in this picture is a machine for low scale self destruction, a destruction of self realization, self confidence and self respect.

Wow, the Rosetta Tarot brought me for today in the Summer Solstice reading a Mercury card where Mercury can work well - the Eight of Wands. But in the Night of the Teardrop position, Mercury is ill positioned.

Actually, I should switch the cards from the two readings a kind of permutation I never did! In the Teardrop position, I could give in to my sadness about my self sabotation shown in the Five of Disks. And in the Saturn position, I could need a little Mercury speed to push me forward.

All this is connecting beautifully in my head even if it's confusing to read

The Rosetta Tarot is a powerhouse like the Tabula Mundi, I can see that today already.

[Tomatosauce]

Saturday - Obstacles and Blockades

For today, I drew one of my favorite cards in the Numinous Tarot... The Fool!

What I love about this Fool is how intentionally and joyfully they dive off the cliff- despite their name, they're clearly quite accomplished at diving- there's danger at the bottom of the cliff but the Fool is confident as they dive to meet it. Where others would try to climb slowly down the cliff, or avoid the ocean altogether, the Fool just... leaps. I think this is the lesson for me today as well.

[Nemia]

Tomorrow, Sunday - the day of the Sun, of Helios' shining chariot, of Apollo and his inspiration for art and all kinds of creativity....

And it's the Princess of Cups. My first association, while I'm still thinking of Apollo: it's a Muse... Where are the muses in my life? they were there once. Why can't I find them any more? Is the road to inspiration and aspirations open via feelings and emotions?

All this has much personal meaning for me. The combination of Water and Malkuth is so beautiful and moving. I will think about this card tomorrow and also think about it when I draw my solstice card. This Rosetta Tarot speaks to me so clearly.

The Princess asks me: why don't I write any more? why don't I draw and etch any more? why did my scholarly interests ate up my artistic ones, like the cows in Joseph's dream? And she asks me kindly, encouraging - as though it was possible to re-animate it all again......

[I Sunshine]

I am late here to but I did draw my Saturday card this morning. So Saturn who wants me to look at blockages, challenges, obstacles but also responsibilities:
I drew the King of Wand Reversed.

Here in the Gill Tarot this King is Innovation. And reversing Innovation can most certainly cause a blockage. I have a tendency to immediately respond negatively or with the opposite when given a new idea. I do this with my mate way more than I want to admit. Voice of caution? Contrariness? Resistance? Fear? Maybe a combination... but not NOT how I want to be. When I look at this King right side up, he has all the things I think a king should have. He really attracts me with that Sun, throne, crown. All the male type energies that appeal to my astrological sign. I want to practice putting on his robe, his crown, looking out of his eyes.

[stronglove]

sunday draw gave me the empress. what a beautiful card. and how appropriate. she is a true inspiration, encouraging me to lay back and let life happen to me, knowing it will provide me with what i need, instead of trying to manage and control what’s going to happen next. she is focused on love and connected to nature. in robert place’s words: she has a seven-pointed crown but is too comfortable and relaxed to wear it.....
brilliant! i just took her advice and went outside to sit under the apple tree in my recently renovated garden..... my own sacred space!

[Nemia]

Tomorrow is Monday, the day of the Moon... dreams, nightmares, night, intuition, feminine health... let's see what the tarot hints

ooooh now look at this. I swear this deck is simply magical. It's the Wands card I absolutely LOVE - the Nine of Wands, sitting on Yesod, the sephira of the Moon. A double lunar card in Sagittarius, my ascendant sign - and it lights the beautiful path between Tif'eret and Yesod, the radiant lovely Sun and the quiet, lovely Moon. The phases of the moon, the unicorn... and Book M says that flexibility is the secret to strength. Flexibility and balance - it's the balance of the solar and lunar forces in this card, so perfect, so beautiful.

If my lunar day is infused with this card, then I'm encouraged. I can access my dreams and act on them. I can lift them from the dark, magical depths of Yesod to the bright light of Ti'eret. The realm of the HIgh Priestss brings me the material for the Sagittarian Art. Interesting enough, the topic of creativity popped up a number of times lately. I feel there is something bubbling inside me...

Isn't it fantastic to get the Nine of Wands on a Monday?

ETA: I was born on a Monday night, under a full moon - and this moon was in Scorpio. So I do have some deep roots in the Moon. The Moon is exalted in Taurus, the bull's horns remind of the Moon. Selene and Hekate, the moon goddesses, were always among my favorites. I really like Mondays!

[I Sunshine]

LOL... I am just doing Sunday, for my Inspiration and Goals.
I drew the 3 of Cups: Joy.

I will take it. It fits with what I drew yesterday, especially in the Sacred Days of Summer spread. So I will focus on Joy being both an inspiration and a goal.

[stronglove]

here’s my monday draw for dreams and fears
yet another lady..... and a third queen! (the sevenfold’s empress is called regina = queen) incredible!
so different from the queen of wands and the empress. but according to robert place this card is also about choice, (a positive and a negative sword, two feathers of truth that can land either side) like the queen of wands is. a different kind of choice though.
if i look at her i see a woman that is almost invulnerable, she is completely protected from any outside attack by her swords and her crown, that is almost a helmet, and her chain mail. this represents one of my greatest fears, to be so locked up in my thinking that there is no place for any emotion or spiritual knowledge, truth and logic and thought are ruling my world and i am disconnected from everyone and everything, including my higher self and my shadow side..... when i look at this queen of swords i feel a desperate need to go outside and put my bare feet in the earth, to ground myself in nature and surrender to the natural flow of things, to literally come down to earth, to land in reality, in the here and now.
i am heeding the queen of sword’s warning, as well as taking yesterday’s emress’ advice. i am creating a sacred space in my garden where i can lay down my armor and (re-)connect to my soul.
btw i love this deck, it is giving me exactly what i need right now. i am also reading robert place’s new book, the tarot, magic, alchemy, hermeticism and neoplatonism (one chapter every morning) and it is awesome!

[Nemia]

A sacred space in your garden - that sounds wonderful. I'm intrigued. I'd love to open a thread about this topic, would you be able to tell us more about it? I'm in need of ideas...

[Nemia]

Tuesday, the day of Tiw/Mars, confronting me with conflicts, power struggles, hidden tensions that might turn into bigger things... I'm a bit afraid of Mars.

It's the Magician. So I shouldn't be afraid of confrontations and see myself as much stronger than I think. Well able to control a situation, turn it to my advantage and even to impress others - no matter how I really feel behind the magical mask

It is so interesting to compare the Rosetta and Tabula Mundi. The Rosetta is less accomplished artistically imho, and conceptually, it doesn't yet find a totally independent language. It talks Thothian in a Crowleyan dialect. The Tabula Mundi is the real breakthrough, with Mercury as the DJ, the go-between who manipulates music with technology and people with music. The Rosetta however is an achievement of its own.

I wish I had the time to make an in-depth comparison of both decks.

And I'm glad Mercury - the Magician - came today. Communication, he says. In the solstice reading, I had Death today - and I think of Psychopompos, Mercury/Hermes as god who took humans to Hades. He's a go-between in every sense of the word, moving smoothly between the divine and material plane, between the places of life and death, and I wish some of his ease would rub off on me.

[stronglove]

A sacred space in your garden - that sounds wonderful. I'm intrigued. I'd love to open a thread about this topic, would you be able to tell us more about it? I'm in need of ideas...

wow, this is so interesting.... just yesterday i was sitting in that space and suddenly felt that i wanted to mark it by creating a mandala. it is a small square so i first thought to create a buddhist mandala (circle in a square); then i wanted to mark the four directions, so i searched google earth and found out that the north/south axis runs diagonally through my garden, from the left corner where it connects to my house, to the right corner where it connects to the street.... so awesome.
then i got inspired by your sacred days of midsummer reading circle and decided to draw a wheel of the year.....! this morning i calculated where the center of the circle shoud be, next thing is to draw the north south axis at the correct spot.... i am so excited about this!
if you want to move this to a separate thread, go ahead, would love to exchange ideas....

[stronglove]

today’s draw for conflict and challenges gives me the six of staffs. another lady, this time victorious, surrounded by torches, saluted and honored, her arms spread out (her hands perilously close to the fire) she has succeeded, accomplished what she set out to do.
for me this is an important challenge, because whatever i do it is never enough. i am never statisfied with what i have provided or created, i always think i should have done more. i know where this is coming from, it is a very old pattern and i am aware of it, but still have not found the right way to deal with it. but i am trying......
a while ago i created my own mala from 108 colored wooden beads. yesterday i wrote down 108 mantras to speak out loud while holding the mala and touching the individual beads. i am loved, i am happy, i am smart, i am light, i am grounded, and so on. so now, whenever i start feeling that i am not good enough, i take my mala from my magic bag and start chanting the mantras. it works! (though i am still a long way off from that victorious six of wands attitude....lol!) (and btw i love that she is bare feeted!)

[Nemia]

A sacred space in your garden - that sounds wonderful. I'm intrigued. I'd love to open a thread about this topic, would you be able to tell us more about it? I'm in need of ideas...

wow, this is so interesting.... just yesterday i was sitting in that space and suddenly felt that i wanted to mark it by creating a mandala. it is a small square so i first thought to create a buddhist mandala (circle in a square); then i wanted to mark the four directions, so i searched google earth and found out that the north/south axis runs diagonally through my garden, from the left corner where it connects to my house, to the right corner where it connects to the street.... so awesome.
then i got inspired by your sacred days of midsummer reading circle and decided to draw a wheel of the year.....! this morning i calculated where the center of the circle shoud be, next thing is to draw the north south axis at the correct spot.... i am so excited about this!
if you want to move this to a separate thread, go ahead, would love to exchange ideas....


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Oooh how wonderful. I opened a thread for the topic: http://www.cultoftarotforum.com/viewtop ... e013b62dde

and you will love, I hope, M.M. Meleen's article about the circled cross!

[Nemia]

Tomorrow is Mercury's Day, mercredi, Woden's Day, Wednesday... time to think about my communication patterns, but also my tempo and rhythm and ability to move between different spheres.

And oho, it's the super solid Four of Disks/Pentacles, a card I really like althoug it is often seen as problematic. I see it less of material guarding and hoarding, more as resistance to change. I certainly went through some drastic changes in my life and did okay but deep inside, I resist change. I'm sentimental about the past, especially places (I'm more attached to places than to people I think) and things - and so it's obvious that the demands Mercury puts on me are really difficult.

The Four of Disks on a Wednesday - one of the big stumbling stones of my life in a nutshell...

Those Rosetta cards really really hit some nerves. A great deck.


ETA: Let's not forget that the Magician appeared for Tuesday. I seem to waste my Mercurial talents in useless confrontations, only getting deeper into deadlock instead of moving on.

[I Sunshine]

I skipped Monday and this week there is no going back. I am barely able to get the posts up before bed time.
For today, Tuesday ruled by fiery Mars I drew The Hanged Man, reversed.

Isn't he just glorious? I really want that outfit... and the courage to wear it! and the hair too! I should have done the picture here upside down like I drew it. The ease of balance is beautiful to me. I am not sure I am going to look at traditional meanings on this at all. I am going to say that Mr Hanged Man is inviting me to imitate him, to join him, when conflict or Mars rears his head. Put on my party clothes and swing, or balance, whatever is called for. That will be my take today. Next time, who knows?

[CharlotteK]

Catching up again!

Sunday - ruled by the Sun: Inspiration and Goals - 7 of Painting - Patience

Monday - ruled by the Moon: Dreams and Fears - Man of Poetry

Tuesday - ruled by Mars: Conflicts and Challenges - Liberty

Wednesday - ruled by Mercury: Interactions and Change - 9 of Poetry - Powers

[stronglove]

wednesday’s draw dealing with interaction and changes.
the lady of coins. wonderful. she has a glorious landscape behind her, and is holding a beautiful red rose and a big golden coin. i think she is about to hand over both of them. but to whom?
when i look at her i see myself, sitting in the sacred space in my new garden, contemplating who i should present my love and my money to....
i tend to give away most of what i do not need for myself to people who need it more. i think this time i will donate some love and care to myself, i’m in need of some material and emotional nourishment......
in robert place’s guidebook the lady of coins represents beauty, appreciation, art and patronage. she also represents wealth, which allows for leisure time and the appreciation of beauty. she takes time to smell the roses..... so that’s what i am going to do today. sit in my sacred space and appreciate my new garden with all my senses!

[Nemia]

Thursday tomorrow - the day of Thor, the Thunderer, or Jupiter (as Jupiter Tonans also a Thunderer), French Jeudi... The king of the Gods, the Father god, but also the bringer of luck. I see him as power broker, upholder of hierarchies.

Oh dear, and it's the Devil. My whole ambivalent, sceptical relationship with power comes to the fore with that card. I don't like it when others have power over me, I always looked for jobs where others couldn't tell me too much what to do (though on a personal level I always got along well with my bosses, especially when they were intelligent women - it was not a personal problem but just that I like to do my own thing). In personal relationships, I'm afraid that I'm the much-feared manipulative martyr. It took me ages to recognize it; nobody likes to see him/herself in such a role and I always thought I have perfectly good reasons for my behaviour.

I seem to apply no pressure at all but I do try to pull the strings through the most horrible ways of all: self sacrificing goodness ("you'll understand when I'm in my grave" ). It's funny that all my life I got along more or less with these methods but my children called me out.

Now it's horribly hard for me to recognize where my children's complaints about my manipulative ways are only trial balloons to manipulate ME - in families, all this is so hard to know. My friends say I'm perfectly okay with them. It seems I only have this power wish with people who are really close to me.

I'm really working very hard to let go of my will to control, and to stay matter-as-fact and objective in family disputes.

But oh yes, if there's a devilish side to me as far as power relationships are concerned - that must be the thorn in my family's side we're talking about.

Oh the Rosetta. This deck seems to know me really well. Oh poor old me, nobody understands that my intentions are soooo pure....

[stronglove]

thursday, power and influences, and i draw the lovers.....
i drew the same card from the ananda tarot last week, on wednesday. interesting....
robert place has put some words on this card. will to the left, appetite to the right, love at the top and fidelity at the bottom. you could draw a cross connecting these words, the head of the person in the middle would be in the crosshairs.....
i see love as the guiding principle here, as the true north, with fidelity to support it. i see a person flanked by two women, he is looking at the one with the laurel wreath, labeled will. i am reading robert place’s new book at the moment and am right in the middle of his chapter about pythagoras and neoplatonism, where he talks about the three parts of the soul: the soul of appetite, the soul of will and the soul of reason (in the egyptian worldview these would be Ka, Ba and Akh, we would probably call them body, mind and spirit)
in robert place’s description of this card he talks of a crossroads demanding a choice. according to him, cupid has inflamed the hero’s heart and he is going to choose virtue/ will above appetite/sensuality. when i am looking at this card i see something different. i see how the middle person wants to choose a life of the mind, dedicated to a higher purpose, but has trouble denouncing his uncontrolled sensuality. love, in the form of cupid, encourages him to embrace both, since the one cannot exist without the other.....
this is the message i get from the card: the power of love is strong enough to unite two opposites, a choice is not necessary, accept both aspects of your self and find a way to balance them.
it is fascinating to read ananda’s take on this card, it is so beautiful:
“As long as someone else exists, we are not alone. The symbolism of the original sin in the Book of Genesis represents the ability to differentiate, which Adam and Eve acquired after they ate from the Tree of Knowledge. The awareness of the existence of polar opposites is the same as being run out of the paradise of the unconscious, which now opens a new horizon due to the acquired knowledge. The logical consequence of freedom of choice is responsibility for self. This also means that mankind, released from instinctive behavior, rises to a new level of development. Above and beyond subconscious drives, man is now in the position of being able to differentiate between himself and others, and to restore divided unity with love, by recognizing himself reflected in others.”
isn’t that awesome..... i see how this also relates to me embracing those polar opposites inside myself, something i am having quite a hard time with lately.... clearly love is the answer here.

[I Sunshine]

Rolling Wednesday & Thrusday into one post, although I pulled both cards yesterday.
Wednesday, ruled by Mercury: Interactions and Change,
I pulled the 2 of Swords

Nice card. Set the swords aside, stop fighting and be at peace with each other. Message cannot be clearer than that.

and for Thursday, ruled by Jupiter: Power and Influences
Ha! Drew the 2 of Wands (after shuffling 7 times!)

Now the keyword on the card pretty well put me off. I am not very comfortable with the idea of Dominion (mine or anyone's).
The LWB says "A robed figure, reminiscent of the Hermit, faces toward the white sun. Two fiery wands are in each hand. The person symbolizes a perfect man, or saint. Dark & light, active & passive are in balance and control." This is dove tailing with the message I got on my Solstice spread draw. I do not need to be or act in an 'all or nothing' manner. Not ever. Certainly not in my relationship with my son who is an addict. Much to reflect on for me.