Dodalisque reads for Charlie Brown
Posted: 11 Oct 2019, 18:21
So, what's on your mind this month?
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Dodalisque reads for Charlie Brown
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Re: Dodalisque reads for Charlie Brown
Posted: 13 Oct 2019, 18:55
I've been feeling a lot of despair and hopelessness lately. I would like to ask what positive outcomes I can build from this period. What is the recipe for the lemonade that I can make out of these lemons, so to speak?
Re: Dodalisque reads for Charlie Brown
Posted: 22 Oct 2019, 22:54
Question: I've been feeling a lot of despair and hopelessness lately. I would like to ask what positive outcomes I can build from this period. What is the recipe for the lemonade that I can make out of these lemons, so to speak?
Card 1 - The Lovers (VI) - Situation:
Claustrophobic. The frail male figure in the centre has the expectations and demands of others pressing in upon him. He even looks like a lemon being squeezed. Cupid's face is the same as his own, as if it represented a part of his own psyche, so perhaps self-expectation is also increasing the pressure from above. It would be nice to have inspiration strike out of nowhere and for the oppressive gloom to be magically dispelled, but this Cupid has no bow and arrow.
Card 2 - The Moon (XVIII) - Another side of the situation:
The Lovers card is crowded with people but the Moon card has no people at all. They must all be asleep in the two towers. So the Lovers deals with your outer life - the world of work and relationships - and the Moon with your private inner world. The Moon itself is sending out the darts of inspiration that Cupid fails to provide, but the dogs and the crab, all yearning upward, feel remote and distant from the source of light. The too-closeness of the women on the horizontal plane of the Lovers card is as unpleasant as the too-farness on the vertical plane of the Moon card. Both contribute to your current feelings of despair and hopelessness. These are serious cards for a serious question.
Card 3 - The Devil (XV) - Advice:
The tarot's advice seems to be that in order for you to escape your current dilemma you need to become a devil. Instead of being passively dominated by others, like the young man on the Lovers card, you need pull yourself up to your full height and risk being unpopular by using your powers of persuasion and cunning to make others dance to your tune like puppets. Take the initiative and to hell with everyone else.
Card 4 - The Tower (XVI) - Likely outcome:
The block in your consciousness, which is causing you so much unhappiness, will be dissolved if you take the advice of the Devil card. The flames of inspiration coming from above, which also resemble a splendidly cheerful-looking feather suitable for tickling, are now free to penetrate to the roots of your being. The look of panic on the faces of the two upside-down victims suggests that others may be offended or hurt by your behaviour. So the basic conundrum presented by the Tirage a Croix is that you cannot achieve what you need to do to be happy without hurting others.
Card 5 - The Wheel of Fortune (X) - (6+18+15+16=55=10) - Quintessence, the core issue:
The central card essentially restates your question. You are wondering what you need to do to turn things around. There is a look of fear on the face of the king at the top of the Wheel because turning the Wheel, and therefore breaking the current stalemate presented by the other four cards, will cause him to be displaced. That is to say, by becoming the Devil, perhaps both others' opinion of you and your own opinion of yourself as a nice guy, a king among men, will be in danger. But you shouldn't be inhibited by this. All of us have an inner angel and an inner demon. In fact the king at the top of the Wheel looks like a perfect combination, with his wings and ghoulish expression, of Cupid and the Devil.
In order to provide more information about the reading I drew two cards from the Minor Arcana to go with each card in the Tirage a Croix.
In the world of work and relationships (Lovers, VI) there is conflict (Swords), possibly harsh words and disagreements. You (Knight of Swords) feel frequently as if you are "tilting at windmills", a single voice confronting a fixed network of allegiances (8 of Swords). The tight, compressed little flower trapped in the centre of the swords looks like the young man caught between the two women on the Lovers card.
The 3 of Coins to me, based on the principle of man + woman = child, usually suggests creative accomplishment, the physical manifestation of an artistic idea. The Page of Cups wants to make his offering to the world with an open, innocent heart, and there are two heart-shapes made by the foliage on the 3 of Coins. Therefore your inner world, which we decided was represented by the Moon card, is specifically identified with artistic creativity. But the harsh landscape of the Moon card is a "dog eat dog" world where the purity of the Page's intention will struggle to survive. The difficulties of producing and selling our art can often kill our enthusiasm for art in general.
The 10 of Cups is pure pleasure, which suggests that the misery you are feeling has its compensations, and perhaps is a result of being full to the brim with comfort - a safe job and domestic peace. The King of Swords has a duty to slash through all this. The 10 of Cups looks like The Tower (XVI) just before the explosion. It might also suggest that being a ruthless devil is lots of fun.
The 7 of Coins next to the 8 of Cups look like falling rubble.
The symmetrical 2 of Cups and 8 of Coins reinforce the idea that your current unhappiness is as a result of the Wheel being fixed and static. I mentioned above that the flames of inspiration on the Tower card can now penetrate to the roots of your being, and here are those roots on the 2 of Cups. The tight flower in the centre of the 8 of Swords is now flourishing on the 8 of Coins.
I notice there are no Wands in this reading, so that must be what's missing in your life right now. I shuffled the 14 Wands cards and drew 3 hoping to get some kind of recipe for lemonade.
1, 3, 4 seems to predict steady improvement. Start simple (Ace of Wands) - do something that gives you immediate pleasure - it will be crude at first but will increase in sophistication (3 of Wands) and soon become a fruitful established discipline (4 of Wands). The long arms of foliage relax and open wider on the IV.
I like the spread a lot and I'll use it again but I found it hard to come up with anything that wasn't a simple platitude. I'd be glad to receive any suggestions about how you would go about reading for a question like this.
The deck is the Tarot Noir (Editions Vega, 2013). I like the re-imagining of the Majors and the consistent dark mood of the deck. A few subtle changes have been introduced that are quite thought-provoking, and the minors are beautifully precise. Some of the faces seem a bit doe-eyed but I generally like the art. There are some production problems. The cards are too tall and too wide, quite a bit wider than usual, to shuffle easily and the cardstock is a little thick and perhaps sticky too. The companion book, which contains lovely, frameable, oversized reproductions of every card, cracked and fell apart the first time I opened it. Plus the edges of the cards are gold-embossed which is never a good idea IMHO. They show chip marks easily and are hard on the fingertips.
Card 1 - The Lovers (VI) - Situation:
Claustrophobic. The frail male figure in the centre has the expectations and demands of others pressing in upon him. He even looks like a lemon being squeezed. Cupid's face is the same as his own, as if it represented a part of his own psyche, so perhaps self-expectation is also increasing the pressure from above. It would be nice to have inspiration strike out of nowhere and for the oppressive gloom to be magically dispelled, but this Cupid has no bow and arrow.
Card 2 - The Moon (XVIII) - Another side of the situation:
The Lovers card is crowded with people but the Moon card has no people at all. They must all be asleep in the two towers. So the Lovers deals with your outer life - the world of work and relationships - and the Moon with your private inner world. The Moon itself is sending out the darts of inspiration that Cupid fails to provide, but the dogs and the crab, all yearning upward, feel remote and distant from the source of light. The too-closeness of the women on the horizontal plane of the Lovers card is as unpleasant as the too-farness on the vertical plane of the Moon card. Both contribute to your current feelings of despair and hopelessness. These are serious cards for a serious question.
Card 3 - The Devil (XV) - Advice:
The tarot's advice seems to be that in order for you to escape your current dilemma you need to become a devil. Instead of being passively dominated by others, like the young man on the Lovers card, you need pull yourself up to your full height and risk being unpopular by using your powers of persuasion and cunning to make others dance to your tune like puppets. Take the initiative and to hell with everyone else.
Card 4 - The Tower (XVI) - Likely outcome:
The block in your consciousness, which is causing you so much unhappiness, will be dissolved if you take the advice of the Devil card. The flames of inspiration coming from above, which also resemble a splendidly cheerful-looking feather suitable for tickling, are now free to penetrate to the roots of your being. The look of panic on the faces of the two upside-down victims suggests that others may be offended or hurt by your behaviour. So the basic conundrum presented by the Tirage a Croix is that you cannot achieve what you need to do to be happy without hurting others.
Card 5 - The Wheel of Fortune (X) - (6+18+15+16=55=10) - Quintessence, the core issue:
The central card essentially restates your question. You are wondering what you need to do to turn things around. There is a look of fear on the face of the king at the top of the Wheel because turning the Wheel, and therefore breaking the current stalemate presented by the other four cards, will cause him to be displaced. That is to say, by becoming the Devil, perhaps both others' opinion of you and your own opinion of yourself as a nice guy, a king among men, will be in danger. But you shouldn't be inhibited by this. All of us have an inner angel and an inner demon. In fact the king at the top of the Wheel looks like a perfect combination, with his wings and ghoulish expression, of Cupid and the Devil.
In order to provide more information about the reading I drew two cards from the Minor Arcana to go with each card in the Tirage a Croix.
In the world of work and relationships (Lovers, VI) there is conflict (Swords), possibly harsh words and disagreements. You (Knight of Swords) feel frequently as if you are "tilting at windmills", a single voice confronting a fixed network of allegiances (8 of Swords). The tight, compressed little flower trapped in the centre of the swords looks like the young man caught between the two women on the Lovers card.
The 3 of Coins to me, based on the principle of man + woman = child, usually suggests creative accomplishment, the physical manifestation of an artistic idea. The Page of Cups wants to make his offering to the world with an open, innocent heart, and there are two heart-shapes made by the foliage on the 3 of Coins. Therefore your inner world, which we decided was represented by the Moon card, is specifically identified with artistic creativity. But the harsh landscape of the Moon card is a "dog eat dog" world where the purity of the Page's intention will struggle to survive. The difficulties of producing and selling our art can often kill our enthusiasm for art in general.
The 10 of Cups is pure pleasure, which suggests that the misery you are feeling has its compensations, and perhaps is a result of being full to the brim with comfort - a safe job and domestic peace. The King of Swords has a duty to slash through all this. The 10 of Cups looks like The Tower (XVI) just before the explosion. It might also suggest that being a ruthless devil is lots of fun.
The 7 of Coins next to the 8 of Cups look like falling rubble.
The symmetrical 2 of Cups and 8 of Coins reinforce the idea that your current unhappiness is as a result of the Wheel being fixed and static. I mentioned above that the flames of inspiration on the Tower card can now penetrate to the roots of your being, and here are those roots on the 2 of Cups. The tight flower in the centre of the 8 of Swords is now flourishing on the 8 of Coins.
I notice there are no Wands in this reading, so that must be what's missing in your life right now. I shuffled the 14 Wands cards and drew 3 hoping to get some kind of recipe for lemonade.
1, 3, 4 seems to predict steady improvement. Start simple (Ace of Wands) - do something that gives you immediate pleasure - it will be crude at first but will increase in sophistication (3 of Wands) and soon become a fruitful established discipline (4 of Wands). The long arms of foliage relax and open wider on the IV.
I like the spread a lot and I'll use it again but I found it hard to come up with anything that wasn't a simple platitude. I'd be glad to receive any suggestions about how you would go about reading for a question like this.
The deck is the Tarot Noir (Editions Vega, 2013). I like the re-imagining of the Majors and the consistent dark mood of the deck. A few subtle changes have been introduced that are quite thought-provoking, and the minors are beautifully precise. Some of the faces seem a bit doe-eyed but I generally like the art. There are some production problems. The cards are too tall and too wide, quite a bit wider than usual, to shuffle easily and the cardstock is a little thick and perhaps sticky too. The companion book, which contains lovely, frameable, oversized reproductions of every card, cracked and fell apart the first time I opened it. Plus the edges of the cards are gold-embossed which is never a good idea IMHO. They show chip marks easily and are hard on the fingertips.
Re: Dodalisque reads for Charlie Brown
Posted: 06 Nov 2019, 22:10
Hi Dodalisque,
I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to post feedback. I want to do a good and serious job with it but it's been challenging because, to be honest, I found most of the reading somewhat confusing and untethered. Two things that did stand out and make good sense, however, were the wands at the end and, especially, the interior/exterior dichotomy you pointed out between the Lovers and the Moon. That's exactly the kind of observation that I think this spread lends itself to at it's best. I recall that you did another reading for me that had a similar arc to it. Many disparate, seemingly unconnected ideas followed by extra draws that were interpreted with clarity and concision. I do like how you used the coverage cards to get yourself to a place where reading the wands made good sense to you.
Since you specifically asked me how I would have gone about reading this spread, perhaps my feedback is best utilized to go through what would have been my approach. I am not offering an alternative reading but, rather, sharing how I would have reacted if I were presented with those cards, as well as observations about your approach.
I think that the number one reason that this spread didn't feel especially comfortable to you is that you seemed to stray from either of the two models that were presented with the exercise. There are, of course, a gazillion subtly different interpretations of the spread—it isn't as though what you did wasn't 'kosher' so to speak but the two I presented are, I think, ideal for readers who aren't well practiced with the cross.
Had the vertical positions been past and present, for example, we would easily see that my present state is a "tower moment" (that's very apt to the way I described my situation) rooted in some kind of Devil energy. Perhaps a pulled cover or a two minor follow-up could have detected the exact nature of that energy. Had we used Oswald's version, the Devil likely would have aligned with the interor aspect of the Moon in contrast to the exterior energy of the Lover. That is, I'm stuck in the Moon because of the Devil. Tower as answer may very well have combined with the energy of the wheel to suggest that I need to take risks in order to blow up the structures that are holding me in. Blow up the building in order to get out into the sunshine. Keep in mind, that in both spread versions (and, as far as I know, most versions of the cross) that left and right cards are explicitly good/bad, positive/negative, not merely two sides to the situation. I imagine that such a reluctance to embrace the cards' judgment would hinder the spread's effectiveness.
I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to post feedback. I want to do a good and serious job with it but it's been challenging because, to be honest, I found most of the reading somewhat confusing and untethered. Two things that did stand out and make good sense, however, were the wands at the end and, especially, the interior/exterior dichotomy you pointed out between the Lovers and the Moon. That's exactly the kind of observation that I think this spread lends itself to at it's best. I recall that you did another reading for me that had a similar arc to it. Many disparate, seemingly unconnected ideas followed by extra draws that were interpreted with clarity and concision. I do like how you used the coverage cards to get yourself to a place where reading the wands made good sense to you.
Since you specifically asked me how I would have gone about reading this spread, perhaps my feedback is best utilized to go through what would have been my approach. I am not offering an alternative reading but, rather, sharing how I would have reacted if I were presented with those cards, as well as observations about your approach.
I think that the number one reason that this spread didn't feel especially comfortable to you is that you seemed to stray from either of the two models that were presented with the exercise. There are, of course, a gazillion subtly different interpretations of the spread—it isn't as though what you did wasn't 'kosher' so to speak but the two I presented are, I think, ideal for readers who aren't well practiced with the cross.
Had the vertical positions been past and present, for example, we would easily see that my present state is a "tower moment" (that's very apt to the way I described my situation) rooted in some kind of Devil energy. Perhaps a pulled cover or a two minor follow-up could have detected the exact nature of that energy. Had we used Oswald's version, the Devil likely would have aligned with the interor aspect of the Moon in contrast to the exterior energy of the Lover. That is, I'm stuck in the Moon because of the Devil. Tower as answer may very well have combined with the energy of the wheel to suggest that I need to take risks in order to blow up the structures that are holding me in. Blow up the building in order to get out into the sunshine. Keep in mind, that in both spread versions (and, as far as I know, most versions of the cross) that left and right cards are explicitly good/bad, positive/negative, not merely two sides to the situation. I imagine that such a reluctance to embrace the cards' judgment would hinder the spread's effectiveness.
Re: Dodalisque reads for Charlie Brown
Posted: 08 Nov 2019, 23:49
That's great, really helpful. It would have been better to set up the two outside horizontal cards as pro/con. Clearer and simpler to read too. And establishing the Tower as the "present" would have tied in with your question and given me the opportunity to expand on that with some extra pip cards. I guess I baulked against having past/present/future (likely outcome) on the vertical column and all jumbled out of order because I am so used to seeing them walking nicely along the horizontal axis. Maybe the name Oswald Wirth put me off. His deck has never really appealed to me for some reason, and what I've read of his writings has never grabbed me. Not his fault I'm sure. Yeah, I'm not very creative - if something has worked before I'll generally repeat the trick forever. Looking forward to the next exercise.