Cult of Tarot Forum

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.


And what about those who just want to have a Deck of the Week, Card of the Day reading? They can just jump in and leave the planetary lore away.


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 - Tyldwick Tarot
Stronglove - Via Tarot

The Tyldwick Tarot - when I saw it online, it was one of those cases of hopeless love. I couldn't really afford it and waited for a looong time - I don't even remember which kindly occasion it was, maybe some birthday money, that made me go to the Malpertuis website one night and simply order the beautiful deck and the Silson Lenormand, too. Two beauties that I simply had to have. And I'm so happy I have them. The Tyldwick is one of the precious stones in the crown of my little collection. But like good old Flizzie over at AT said - reading with the Tyldwick is like communicating with a shell shocked Siamese cat. You know it could be chatty but you don't know how to reassure it, how to make it open up and say what it has to say.

I made a nice warm pouch for my deck...


... and from time to time, I look at it. I like to find out which statues and paintings the artist used for the deck, and the atmosphere of the whole thing is nearly overwhelmingly beautiful, haunting and wistful. Yes, it looks like a stately home left generations ago, but even more so like Rivendell after the elves have left.



Today is Saturday, the day of our obstacles - and sometimes I found a distant, not unfriendly comfort in Saturn's messages. I have a weakness for the old guy.


So here we have the two cards side by side - Mantegna's Saturn for Saturday, and Tyldwick's Four of Coins.

How interesting to have the Oricoli Zeus head looking at us, together with his father whose rulership he usurped...



Have to continue later, domestic duties are calling me....

for this week i needed a very clear and crisp ‘mentally challenging’ deck so i chose the via tarot.
ah, if ever a deck needed trimming, it must be this one, what a waste of space, those triple grey/blue/grey borders.....

the via tarot is a really interesting deck. it was created by susan jameson, an artist who had a training in ceremonial magick and who is ‘fluent’ in the ‘languages’ of Qabalah, Alchemy, Astrology and Magick. she builds and expands on the work of crowley and john dee. (none of whom i am more than vaguely familiar with)
the guidebook provides a couple of keywords and a description of the artwork for the major arcana, the minors also get a paragraph about their divinatory meaning.

saturday - obstacles and blockades - the house of god (aka the tower) - the lightning-struck tower; the lord of the hosts of the mighty; the peh path, from Hod to Netzach, mercury to venus, male to female; the element of fire.
interestingly enough, the keywords in the guidebook are: escape from restrictions; courage; ambition, strength and martial prowess.....
that makes sense to me, i am breaking through a lot of obstacles and restrictions at the moment, some of them practical/ material but the most significant of them are mental and spiritual.....

symbols on the card:
an eye, (with 21 rays around the iris) radiating fifteen visible rays, the central one bisecting the tower
five white doves, two big ones on each side of the tower, three smaller ones inside a sphere-like object, that also ‘holds’ the bisected tower, a pair of snakes, a wolf and ten arrow headed railings.
the number 5 is important here, 5 doves, 5 railings on either side of the wolf, but also the number 15 (15 rays, and 5 doves plus 10 railings also gets 15)

the artwork, with all its symbols and shapes, was ‘channeled’ by entities associated with the planetary spheres, but i have no idea how to incorporate this into the reading of this card. i guess am a lot less fluent in all the esoteric languages than the artist.....

I decided to use Raven's Prophecy this week.

Saturday, ruled by Saturn: Obstacles and Blockades.

Two of Wands - the raven is snatching a twig out of the bonfire. This is the start of something more structured and ordered, pulling things out of the fire in order to create something tangible. Yesterday I had plans and nothing went the way it was supposed to. My friend was two hours late coming round, which ate into the day appallingly. I felt frustrated.



Sunday, ruled by the Sun: Inspiration and Goals.

Nine of Wands - more wands, this time the difficult nine where it takes strength and fortitude to make that last push through. Here the hands are charred but still managing to master the fire. I feel tired today and a little worn down by daily life challenges. But I'm heading up to a henge to celebrate Mabon with a bunch of other pagans. I expect it will be inspiring and prepare me for Alban Elfed next weekend with my new Druid grove.

Monday, ruled by the Moon: Dreams and Fears.

Eight of Wands - yet more wands! Well it's Monday and I've been on the go since 8am without a break. My fear is it there is so much happening so quickly something is going to explode / implode, potentially me! It's all good, I'm busy for a reason, I'm doing well at work but there's an underlying anxiety there it's a bit too busy. Particularly notable this card has a moon in the background. Being frantically busy draws out my shadow side.

I'm on vacation and won't have time every day to post... and Internet here is pretty unreliable so I'll submit this post and edit it before it has a chance to disappear.



Sunday: King of Staves



On Sunday, I was all day long in motion, travelling, something very foreign to the whole deck. The Tyldwick is so static. So I see no connection to the concrete day. Do I see anything of my plans, ambitions etc in the King of Staves? In a way, yes, it's actually one of the court cards I would most closely associate with ambitions - and fulfilled ambitions. This king is assertive, and with the help of my children, I'm doing assertiveness training. So welcome, dear king of Staves, like all the Wands that came before you, inspire me to put myself on the map without being afraid of being seen.



Monday:



Three of Coins


That's funny because all day long, I was surrounded by discussions about work, money and future plans - and whether they're realistic or not. There was a clash between Moonish dreams and Coins pragmatism, but everything was resolved in a spirit of cooperation and understanding - in the end. A day of decisions.



And today, on Tuesday:




Nothing Martian about the High Priestess, and indeed, some conflicts were solved already yesterday. Today, I'm going on a trip to the past. I will follow my intuition and travel alone and go to visit some graves and do some memory work. For me, a day that I prepared for long in advance. I really need this High Priestess today.

sunday - inspiration and goals - five of wands - the lord of strife
the terror of the beast - his fury of lust - saturn in leo
wow, terror indeed! this morning i woke up absolutely terrified, sweating, incredibly scared of things i could not put into words.
a very old fear, i know.
the guidebook talks about restriction, insurmountable obstacles. there’s too much of that in my life right niw, but i know that it’s all in my head, of my own creation. and i am very slowly turning the tide, finding ways to face all those obstacles head on and being able to let bits of that fear evaporate.

i am trimming the cards i have pulled, makes such a difference! will do the rest of the deck after this planetary week is finished

monday - dreams and fears - lust (strength) - the mastery of babalon; the daughter of the flaming sword; ruled by the sign of leo, the lion; the teth path, between chesed and gebura, mercy and severity
from the guidebook:
the title refers to the early meaning of lust, as passionate enjoyment of life.

ah, yes, that energy has been greatly absent for a very long time..... wish there was an easy way to get it back.....
interesting how this card corresponds with the one i drew yesterday, with the keywords: fury of lust, saturn in leo
both lust and leo return in today’s card. i think my decision to go to Bath after all has opened up a new path for me, with a lot of possibilities to reclaim some of this lost energy, this lust for life....
it is going to be an all women retreat, and i can see some of them in this card, celebrating life and the magic of living.
great draw!

tuesday - conflict and challenges - the ace of cups
root of the powers of water; the feminine complement to the ace of wands
some badly needed water to temper the fire of the last three cards.....
some feminine energy, some quenching of thirst.....
and again, the keywords mention abundance and pleasure.
so i decide not to wait and embrace this day fully, determined to enjoy the beautiful autumn weather, my magic garden, to be open to everything that will come my way today, confident that it will bring joy and pleasure.
i will let life fill my cup to the brim and then i will let it spill over, just like the card shows.

i am beginning to like this deck more and more, it really feels like it’s showing me the/a way where i am feeling utterly lost....

wednesday - interaction and change - princess /page of wands
princess of the shining flames - rose of the palace of fire
earth of fire - the fuel,of the fire - the fires of spring
and again there is fire.... after the waters of abundance.... how appropriate!
divinatory meaning: new beginnings, the end of fear
this deck is unbelievable. it follows the stuff that is happening in my life so accurately! indeed, sunday’s fear seems to be evaporating, its energy slowly being channeled into a more productive/ creative/ positive vibe. thank goddess! a welcome change!

thursday - power and influence - the star
the daughter of the firmament - the dweller between the waters - the heh path, between chokmah and tiphareth
and again the star brings me hope and perspective, like last week’s tuesday. and again it is much needed. my cards seem to know that, because for the sacred days of autumn i draw another star!
from the guidebook: “above her (the star) blazes the sun of tiphareth as she moves in a gesture of all-encompassing acceptance towards the crown of creation, which lies in chokmah.”
omg, how on earth do the cards know that i am reading Tara Brach’s “Radical Acceptance’ ??? this is unreal.....!
radical acceptance is a powerful force indeed.....

Let's hope my Internet won't break down again! I'm having trouble here in my vacation spot....

I had an intense day on Tuesday, and the High Priestess was very welcome and I needed her.





On Wednesday, Mercury's day, day of communication and interactions, I had Judgement.



This suited the day's activities so perfectly - it was interaction with the dead, with the past, and Hermes Psychopompos was with me all day long.







On Thursday, Jupiter's day of power struggles and hierarchies but also benevolent help from elders, I had the Seven of Staves.



I'll have to think how that fit to my day... can't think of anything right now








And for today, dear Venus'/Freya's day, I have the Seven Swords. Let's hope that that's not a bad sign.

Internet is so unreliable where I am now, it's really distracting. I'll have to go over all my daily cards when I'm back at home in my tarotorium again

Saturday today... good old Saturn.


but oh no, after the 7 Staves yesterday, I have the 7 Swords today.


On a Saturday....

friday - love and attraction - eight of disks - the lord of prudence
this one is about carefulness, prudence by material concerns. skill and cunning. and i find it soooo boring.....
look at those coins, neatly in a row, held up carfully, so as not to drop one.... this is soooo not my cup of tea. but maybe i should listen to its message.
i draw another card to find a way to implement that prudence. it is the three of wands, and i start laughing when i read the guidebook.
the lord of virtue.... another boring sod. omg i think i really have to try and get the message here. the guidebook talks about personal integrity, honesty and self confidence, a refusal to compromise deeply held beliefs. that’s something i can relate to. so how does that combine with prudence? and with love and attraction?
i guess the eight of coins advises me to be (more) careful with my money. my savings are almost gone, and if i am really honest with myself (three of wands) then i cannot but confirm that this is good advice, and that i should start to economize. (ohhh, sooo boring....)
at the same time the eight of coins might be about my physical wellbeing, telling me to be more careful with my body, not to overtax it all the time, to give it more rest, while the three of wands is warning me not to be too overconfident, not to take my body for granted, to keep the ‘machinery’ oiled.
a lot of food for thought.....

my planetary week with the Via tarot
this deck really got me interested in the golden dawn and the thoth. i am amazed at the way the cards i drew reflected what was going on in my life, while at the same time providing me with interesting new perspectives on issues i have long been struggling with.
and i love the imagery, i somehow find it more ‘accessible’ than the thoth’s.
so this definitely is a keeper! (and i’m really glad i decided to trim it!)