Rachel’s DoW 16 Affirmations Tarot

[Rachelcat]

And now for something completely different! The Affirmations Tarot has illustrations of the Universal Waite (RWS recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts) with five affirmations on each card, written by someone named Sally Hill, Ph.D. It’s out of print, published by US Games in 2001. (I have so many out of print decks just because I'm old. I started collecting so long ago!)

I have a love-hate relationship with affirmations. I understand how they’re supposed to work, and I think they’re positive and valuable, but I never can really get into them. Years ago, I took a class with Mary Greer when she was developing her 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card book. One of the exercises was to create an affirmation on our chosen card. Mine was the Star (of the Hanson-Roberts deck actually). I feel like I failed miserably. I just couldn’t get anything. So I had to get this deck to take some remedial affirmations lessons! We’ll see if I learn anything useful this week.

Because the cards are so large and contain so much text, I think I’m going to do a card of the day and choose one of the five affirmations for each day. But for this first day, I’ll do a shortened new deck interview spread.

Strength, 8 Coins
This deck is good for mental work, and planning work.
“I am willing to make sacrifices, invest in training, and make the necessary adjustments to develop my skills.”

Weakness, Knight of Swords
It’s too theoretical and word-based. Tarot is supposed to be image-based, and this has oh so many words!
“I have learned that change can be stimulating; I have the courage to experiment with new ideas.”

What can I learn from it? Moon
I can learn that everything is relative. Cards can mean much more than one thing at a time!
“I am imagination, open to receiving and exploring from faraway worlds.”

Outcome, Lovers
I and the deck will partner well together. It’s a good choice, and we will have a fruitful relationship.
“I am loving union, the coming together of two parts to create a greater whole.”

Hey, this deck uses “coins,” maybe just because “pentacles” is too long to fit above the card illustration!

The card backgrounds are shaded by suits: Majors, a very pale purple; wands, pink; cups, blue; swords, yellow; coins, white, gray?

I like the very small symbols under the card titles, a leafy baton, a sword, three cups, three pentacle coins. Each major has a different one, a matched pair on either side of the card number. The Moon has two crescent moons facing outward; the Lovers has “fringed” hearts! A very nice design feature.

I hope you enjoy seeing this interesting RWS variant. And I hope you have a happy day and a good week ahead!

[Rachelcat]

Monday

Today I’m the Knight of Cups. It’s a very gloomy, rainy day, and I have a medium ugly headache and tummy ache. So I don’t feel bad about taking it easy and doing whatever I feel like and letting the rest go. So I’m attuned to my feelings today. Even though I don’t feel well, I feel emotionally positive, happy that I’m otherwise healthy and have a job and am getting paid. And my family are all staying well, too. The affirmation I pick for today is:

“I am willing to explore the complexity of my emotions, observe them objectively, and learn to express them appropriately.”

I like the wings on the knight’s helmet and heels, and his fish-decorated robe. And his white horse is pretty. I never liked the RWS cups, although I get that they’re supposed to be a combination of round-feminine at the top and square-masculine at the bottom. But if they’re cups, shouldn’t they be all feminine? I don’t like the background scene either. There is a river, but it seems to be flowing through a dry landscape. I’d prefer something lusher and greener!

The backs of this deck are very nice, the angel Gabriel doing his thing!

[Rachelcat]

Tuesday

Today I’m the Magician! I woke up this morning with a mental “affirmation” that means today is the day I go back to following my Weight Watchers regimen. (My waking thought was “there’s no reason to get any bigger than I am now.”) I’ve been off the wagon for maybe 5 or 6 weeks, and it shows! Magician tells me I can create my own reality, at least as far as my own body. There’s no reason not to. I am not bored eating or stressed eating, or at least I don’t have to be. Just “trying to be healthy” or “playing it by ear” isn’t working. I need to do what I know works.

I like all the affirmations here. Most include the four elements/suit signs on the magician’s table. But I’m choosing the two that don’t:

“I am creative focused attention, committed to acting on my ideas and inspirations.”

“I am open to life’s powerful energy; I allow it to flow freely through me.”

The second makes we want to take up the position of the Magician when I say it! Now where’s my magic wand . . . It’s interesting that he’s holding it in the middle, not at one end. Not sure what that means, but it does present a more balanced picture.

I’ve struggled for years with the RWS roses and lilies. I know intellectually what they symbolize, but, even though the images jump out at me when I look at this card, the meaning doesn’t. Actually, now that I’ve studied Lenormand a bit more, the lilies are speaking to me more. But the combination with roses definitely means something more . . .

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. Song of Solomon 2:1

I’ll work on that today in my subconscious!

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a happy and healthy day!

[Rachelcat]

Wednesday

Ok, I really did shuffle. Which is not easy with this large deck. I dutifully and patiently transferred a random number of cards from a pile on the left to one the right 7 times. And I got Knight of Cups again today. So here’s another affirmation from him:

“I am a passionate seeker of emotional experience, called to expand the depth of my expression.”

This sounds utterly terrifying! As a Cancer sun, I don’t seek emotional experience, emotional experience seeks me! And I’d rather it didn’t. I’ve spent much of my life dealing with overly emotional situations and figuring out how to protect myself from other people’s backwash, and my own. But maybe now that I’m older and a little wiser, this might be something I want to do. With safety measures in place, of course.

To keep the card of the day rolling, I chose another card, 6 of Coins.

Ah, that’s better! Generosity, plenty, and health. THAT I can deal with! As my work friend used to say, from your mouth to God’s ear. Here’s my real affirmation for the day:

“I give according to my means, believing there is enough for all.”

I think this will be important as the world situation develops. And there really is enough for all, it’s all in the distribution.

The card looks a little too noblesse oblige for modern sensibilities, I think, but the scale seems to emphasis the above. The merchant has weighed what he has and has figured out what he can share, instead of just socking away what he really doesn’t need. The unbalanced coins worry me though. Are they saying that life’s not fair? The poor you shall have with you always?

Have a healthy and prosperous day, everyone!

[Rachelcat]

Thursday

Ok, I took two pictures, one upright, one reversed. I tried both. They both showed up reversed. I give up. When you click on it, it's upright!

7 of Wands

Today I’ll have a bit of a struggle or conflict, but I’ll feel up to the challenge and even enjoy it. It might be a challenge to overcome a block or insufficiency of my own, but then we’ll see.

The guy on the card looks like he’s striding the world. I’m not sure the stream/water is there in other RWSs. I remember my first RWS-ish deck was the Hanson-Roberts in which the person is grinning as he fights off his attackers. Which works well with the assignment of Venus to 7, a struggle (wands) that one enjoys (7). That’s why this is also the card for sports and games. So today I choose this affirmation:

“I take advantage of healthy competition to identify my strengths, evaluate my purpose, and adjust my course.”

Happy Thursday, everyone!

[Rachelcat]

Friday

8 Coins

Well, that’s appropriate! I didn’t draw a card because I worked all day! I feel like I need to conscientious because some days I have nothing to do, but then some days (like Thursday), I work until 9 and then in the morning, I started at 8am and finished about 6. I don’t mind, and I want to do a good job. It’s a bit nerve-wracking because it’s client- and public-facing work, blog posts and emails to client groups. And I’m an assistant, not a lawyer, so I really need to make sure it’s right! 8 is Mercury, putting my mind to; and coins is work and practicalities.

This guy is cranking them out, but I think he’s trying to go a good job, too. I choose this affirmation:

“I am developing the self-discipline, patience, and attention to detail required to perfect my craft.”


Saturday, last day for the affirmations deck

Knight of Wands

Also appropriate for today. I’m planning on doing lots of stuff and focusing on getting done everything I have to do. And what I’m going to do tomorrow.

He has curly salamanders on a tattered yellow robe and flame-colored and shaped helmet feathers. A rearing horse and dry landscape, but his wand is leafing. He looks like a blond beast.

None of the affirmations really work with what I have said about today. I guess I’m feeling more Knight of Coins than Knight of Wands. How about this one:

“I am inspired and enthusiastic, caught up in a sense of higher purpose and the wonder of creative exploration.”

I hope you enjoyed this week’s deck. I’ve got an interesting one lined up for next week, starting tomorrow!