Sacred Days of Autumn Equinox 2018 - September 18 - 29

[Seldes Katne]

Ah, yes, it's that time again. I would like to participate -- it's been a busy summer, and I've fallen out of the "card a day" habit. Most of my "autumn" decks are actually Halloween decks, but I tend to consider my Victorian Fairies deck as relating to autumn. Or perhaps the Ghost Tarot. I'll have to do a comparison and decide.

[Mabel]

So glad you are joining us Mabel! I had a look at your deck list in your profile and I'll bet either your Gilded Tarot or Sasuraibito Tarot would be great for this.

Thank you for the advice! I guess I will use the Sasuraibito deck.

[Nemia]

Thank you for the advice! I guess I will use the Sasuraibito deck.

As I hoped you would!!!! I always wanted to see that deck in action! We'll have some great decks here! *off to dance the secret dance of wild elation*

[Mabel]

As I hoped you would!!!! I always wanted to see that deck in action! We'll have some great decks here! *off to dance the secret dance of wild elation*

I am so glad that I decided to use that one then!

[BreathingSince72]

It’s already the 16th and I don’t know what deck I’m using...any suggestions?

[CharlotteK]

It’s already the 16th and I don’t know what deck I’m using...any suggestions?

Prisma Visions?

It has a beautiful autumnal look about it. I traded mine because I didn't use it but I still look at it and think bonfires and an inky sky.

[Nemia]

Oh, you have beautiful decks! Maybe something Celtic or Druidic or with animals? How does autumn feel for you? in your specific surroundings?

I use the Nova this time because I'm on a journey and I need a small deck, otherwise I'd probably have used the Wildwood or some other nature-based deck with an autumn feel.

For the Summer Solstice 2017 I used the Harmonious because it feels so light and sunny. For Autumn Equinox a year ago Constellations because it has this cosmic feeling. For Yule last year, Pagan Cats - that was ideal. For the Spring Equinox, the wonderful Idiosyncradeck, so fresh and spring-like. And for the last Summer Solstice, the fiery and strong Rosetta.

So the Nova is my most pragmatic choice until now and I'm not completely happy with it - but perfectionism be dashed!

Just pick what you like. Every three months, there's a new cosmic turning point

[Nemia]

I started my reading here. Happy days to all of you who wish to participate.

[Seldes Katne]

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

The Six of Water (Cups)



Childhood memories -- what did I love doing then that I still love doing now? Being outdoors, reading a good book, creative and imaginative play.

Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

The Ace of Air



Inspiration from beings or places beyond my control. An intuitive feel for good information. Powerful forces of transformation.

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.



The King of Earth. Someone wealthy and powerful, although usually seen as generous. This may actually represent our current Federal administration in the United States, which I see as a negative force in the world and in many people's personal lives. Perhaps my fear is that we are are going to be stuck dealing with this for a long time, and people are going to be permanently damaged.


Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.



The Hierophant. It represents the spiritual, but in an institutional, orthodox way. This card may well stand for the Roman Catholic Church, which I left over 10 years ago but which still harms its members, either through abuse (children) or neglect.


Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

The Ace of Fire



A card signifying new beginnings coming up at a celebration of a new year! All kinds of possibilities.


Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

The Six of Fire (third card below)



This card looks like an airship, which suggests travel. This is a characteristic of my mother, who loves to travel.

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

The Moon



Apparently those things are still hidden, waiting to appear when the time is right.

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

The Messenger of Earth



By being practical, centered, and looking for ways to take action rather than just seething.


Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

[stronglove]

It’s already the 16th and I don’t know what deck I’m using...any suggestions?

i would go for the prisma visions or the voyager! (just checked your deck list )

[stronglove]

okay, here’s my reading with the carnival deck
i will be consulting the accompanying book of fate as well because this is not your usual RWS clone.....

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

seems perfectly fitting i use this deck!
and my first card on the path to this equinox is a trump.

hahaha, it’s the hierophant! is there any trump less playful?
the face enclosed in the big green glove looks anything but.....
the guidebook is really wonderful, i need to show the whole page to give you an idea.

i guess the last sentence gives me my clue. i am travelling next week and am really busy with the preparations, worrying about everything that can go wrong. this card tells me to look up from the map, to start getting excited about where i’m going. a wonderful retreat with 6 wonderfull women, with lots of magic and enchantment, and visits to the roman baths, stonehenge and avebury..... what better celebration of life could i wish for?

i have decided to bring in another deck, the luminous void, to add an extra leyer to the readings.
i shuffle and draw the ace of coins. it looks like two hands are gently turning a big coin around. very appropriate. it greatly supports my intention to celebrate. what better way to do that than by letting the coins move and spend money......
so i go shopping and buy myself a whole new outfit.
i just knew these two decks would be a perfect match. i love the artwork of the luminous void and it beautifully supports the carnival’s unusual imagery.

Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?


the nine of cups supported by the four of cups
wow, what a beautiful pair of cards.... it is as if they belong together.
the nine of cups tells me again to celebrate my abundance, to throw my cups in the air and let them fly, who cares if one of them breaks, i have enough!
the nine if cups us also telling the four if cups to stop moping and start exploring what’s in that cup behind her. she say: don’t let your disappointment dampen your curiosity. be open to everything that’s coming your way, stop fixating on the things that don’t turn out as you expected.

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

ha! for the second time today i draw the star! this morning i also drew it for my planetary week!
a double dose of hope! thanks! and next to it is the card that can eradicate every last thread of it. it is the knight of swords, the one who whispers in my ear that life is meaningless and why should i even try? the one that would have kept me at home instead of going to bath to meet some anazing women. oh, how well do i inow him! but he has not prevailed this time, i am definitely going on my big adventure!

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.


and the carnival deck does it again....! the five of cups is all about grief and sadness...! just look at that guy, so completely covered in his melancholy, he doesn’t even see that tiny cup next to his foot.....
from the (awesome) guidebook:
how easy it is to wear your sorrow like a straightjacket, as if by not moving you will never again incur loss.

ah, how chillingly accurate..... my grief is still very raw sometimes, it has been resurfacing a lot these past weeks and i have felt like this guy, unable to move for fear of collapsing, disappearing into that vortex.... but i managed to move, to shift, to get a different perspective..
temperance tells me to take it easy, to be conscious of that sorrow that is still very much a part of me.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

the knave /knight of cups, today he is bringing me a message of love, of emotional healing. his message concerns the ten of swords, and it tells me that after a last gasp of fear transformation, the end to my suffering, is near. and i don’t have to reach out to my loved ones today, they come to me without asking. my best friend calls to wish me a good trip and my sister in law takes me out to dinner. i am so blessed!

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

[Joan Marie]

I will be keeping my Autumn Equinox journey together in this thread and using my newly acquired and freshly trimmed Haindl Tarot.

.....

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.


I'm off to an interesting start!

Day 1 - Alchemy

Alchemy. There are layers and layers of things going on in this card. Moons and grapes and clowns and devils! I think I even see a rabbit in the goblet next to the moon which is very auspicious for reasons that will later be revealed.

Playful secrets? Hidden surprises? I am up for all of this.
The message for me here is to keep my enthusiasm high and authentic, staying out of ruts of thought or action, exploring the light and the darkness with a sense of wonder and fun. Embracing complexity and change. If done with skill, meaning not carried away by silliness but rather with a sense of fun tempered by a wry intelligence, it might be infectious bringing others to a heightened sense of joy and celebration of life.

And how appropriate for the change of season. We have life on the left side, death on the right. Oh this card is really something and I am really feeling the complex energy of it.

The stones I chose today to meditate with before my draw were two chunks of Amethyst (with a bit of iron in them), a smooth Smokey Quartz and two pieces of Pyrite (fools gold!)

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Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

My Haindl deck has presented me with this:

Day 2 - Three of Stones

I see a surprising (to me anyway) amount of religious, christian imagery in this card. There is a fish, a cross and of course the trinity of stones.

The stones, circles, form a triangle. This embodies the possibility of change, to rise above the chaos, to bring order, peace through cooperation.
I sometimes, seems often these days, despair for humanity. Then I am reminded it is only humanity that can save us.

I think we don't always realise that we are working toward the same things. Each contributing our little pieces to the puzzle.
Working together, building something, creating something, sharing, that gives me hope and strengthens my spirit.

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Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

This card by Haindl really inhabits my feeling for the 10 of Cups.

Day 3- 10 of Cups

The stoney-coloured background of sky and sea captures the darkness behind the 10 upturned golden goblets. As does this rock rising out of the sea with its dark hollow centre.

My thoughts went to things that have happened to me, but that would be the external forces, like the sea. It's that dark cave I need to explore.

The amethyst stone on the right side of the card in the picture has a tiny bit of water trapped inside of it. I got this stone from a roadside stand in the Namibian desert, the oldest desert on earth. That night I placed it on my forehead as I went to sleep and I had a dream that is one of the most profound experiences of my life. I dreamed of my own death and I woke with a sense of what it is to slip over to the other side.

Whatever is in this dark cave, I know that in the end it just falls away.


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Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

Day 4 - Four of Swords

Two swords up, two down. Rising and falling. A feather that once soared the heavens now rests forever on the stoney earth. A leaf that was, just a short time ago, bursting with new life now falls, gently, to nourish the earth.

When my mother died I wondered why. Why do people have to die? And why do we know it, know that we and everyone we love will die?

In the spring when life comes back to the trees and flowers and the birds return and nest and the cycle of life begins again we are enthralled by it because we know the difference. We remember the autumn as we watched life ebb away from our surroundings.

My mother was old and ready when her time came. That is not always the case, is it? Sometimes a tree becomes ill, or is struck by lightning or cut down for some ridiculous reason and we mourn differently for those who had to go before their time. Before they were ready.

In Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Anna say that each love we have is different. Love for spouse is different from that for a child, and even between children, you love each one differently. And no love is better or worse than another. There is no more or less love. It's just love.

I think this extends to grief. The grief we feel for each loss is as special as the love we felt for that person, for that tree in our garden, for that beloved pet. All love is valid. All grief is too.

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Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

Day 5 - Death

It's a new day. A new year even.
It's a good time to drop some baggage, specifically the baggage I carry about other people. Old attitudes and resentments that serve no purpose at all.

Do you ever notice, when you are around someone you love, the times you feel that love surge are when that person drops their guard and for a second and you see something in them, you are reminded of what it is that takes your heart about this person?

To improve ties, relationships with people in my life, I need to let my guard down. Hopefully in turn, they let theirs down too. I want to make it a conscious practice to be open and meet the people in my life without the spectres of the past, without preconceived notions and expectations. Give everyone the space to present themselves anew. When we begin to see each other this way, allowing what we love, what we are charmed by about each other to shine through, we all shine a bit shinier.

This card has many symbols of death, the boatman, the falling leaf, the skeleton with scythe, but the largest image is the peacock who wants his beauty seen. I want to see the ones I care about with fresh eyes and to present myself the same way, as if they were looking at me with fresh eyes as well.

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Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Day 6 - The Moon Ace of Swords

My habit is to lay "plus" cards to the right and "minus" cards to the left. So for me the Ace of Swords indicates what is increasing in my life and The Moon what is decreasing.

These cards confirm to me what I have been sensing in my life which is an increase of clarity and empowerment and a decrease of confusion and of a lifelong tendency I have had toward being a sort of day-dreamy person, avoiding reality, not getting things done.

I have, my whole life, waited for "The Muse". I have also imagined that some random impulse I was having was her when all it really was, was a senseless distraction that led to nothing. This confusion has not served me well at all and led to massive amounts of wasted time and lost opportunities, which invariably lead to anxiety and feed depression, resulting in a pretty dismal cycle. But of late I have felt that cycle breaking.

My imagination and creative sense are still very much intact, yet my ideas and plans more often happen than they used to, become real as my sense of how to manifest them into reality, into finished and tangible results, increases. I want to note that by "creative" I mean making something from nothing, transforming or improving something, so for me this concept extends far beyond the common concept of "art".

I must admit, I am very excited to see these cards today as I consider the balance in my life.

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Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

Is there any role in life more fraught than that of Mother? That's what I was thinking just before I drew this card:

Day 7 - The Lovers

Oedipal Complex anyone? I'm not gonna go there but it does prove my point well about the charged nature of the mother concept going way back.

As I meditated before drawing a card I chose to think on a more universal idea of Mother, in the sense of a spirit or presence in the world. My feeling is reflected in this card. It's just love and the connections created by love. I'm not talking necessarily about relationships when I say connections. I mean the opposite of disconnected, of lost.

I am also not talking about the so-called "unconditional love" people speak of. The way a mother loves her children is instinctual, massively expansive and unending. This is goddess-like. It is immeasurable and unquantifiable. It is so much more than "unconditional".

This is the purest energy of the universe and it exists all around us. I want to be conscious of it and open to it and worthy of it.

∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏


Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

Day 8 - Four of Stones

The first thing I saw in this card (and this deck is new to me so my impressions are still mostly all first impressions) is the primary colours, red, blue and yellow. These colours together make me think of two things right away, art and children. And thinking on another post I read from yesterday on the theme of mothers, (I think it was Mable's post) our children can be literally children but can also be things we devote ourselves to, writing a book, a new skill, a project of some kind. Something we bring to fruition.

In 2015 I began applying my rusty design skills and computer graphics skills to the creation of a tarot deck. This started me on a path that has led me to writing this entry into this post in an amazing thread started by someone else in a forum that I created and built. It's still the very early days, but already there is a community of collaborators, contributors and creatives here that is beyond anything I could have imagined. And it all started the day I had the thought, "You know what could be a really cool tarot deck..."

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Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to transform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?
This is a theme that certainly bears some deep contemplation. And look at this amazing card I drew:

Day 9 - Aeon

A river of fire runs alongside one of water. Barren trees, a peaceful valley under dark skies, graceful cool mountains under a smouldering volcano, a Kubrickian child and a watchful eye over the whole thing.

Pretty intense scenery, especially as I consider how to transform negative energy into positive, anger into something more constructive.

The forces of nature all serve a purpose and none are inherently good or bad, positive or negative. However when unfortunately placed, say next to your house, can create a lot of trouble and pain.

Anger is a force of nature. It serves a purpose too. And in order to not destroy everything around it, it needs to be properly placed, put into perspective. The first step is deciding if a particular anger is worth swimming in the river of fire for. If not, then be free of it. I think most anger falls into this category.

But if it is worth a dip in the river of fire, then be ready to fight the good fight and to do it with a higher purpose. Make the anger constructive (positive) and that will prevent it from becoming toxic.

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Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Day 10 - Five of Cups

For raising a glass I suppose drawing from the Cups was lucky.
The five is not the most celebratory card but I'll take it. This card reminds me not to overlook or undervalue small victories. It's a good thing to remember.




Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Day 11 - Stumble, Break, Rise & Wake

I asked for a chant, 4 words, to give me the power to manifest what I need to accomplish what I want. My idea was to lay the cards and take the first word that popped from each one as I looked. And it was a rhyme.

It reminds me that hardship and failure has given me wisdom and made me strong.

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Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

Day 12 - Seven of Stones

The image, according to the book depicts a sick tree splitting revealing clear skies, a sign of renewal. Not a bad metaphor for healing. It also describes that without a sacred connection activities lose purpose. And maybe this is what I need to heal. To restore sacred connections.

This is a lot for me to think about. And I am grateful for the direction.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

[velvetina]

Hello everyone - I am delighted to be involved in one of these insight-provoking activities again.
I'm going to use the Victorian Fairies tarot. It is yet another tarot deck that I haven't really been involved with - hopefully this will provide an excellent opportunity for us to get to know one another.
Once again, I have a few technical problems re: uploading images - I'm trying to sort it out!

Day 1: 18th of September. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.




I didn't exactly choose this card - it sprang out of the deck as I was shuffling. Coincidentally, it was the card I pulled yesterday. I knew that I was going to be using this particular deck and had it ready. The Conjuror reminds me of someone in particular, but I don't really need to go into that. In fact, he reminds me of a few folk, including one of my sons. Guess what he does for a living? He's in the circus! He has the same high cheekbones, spare frame and little beard! I love both my sons dearly, and we laugh together all the time - yet this son and I have the same sense of humour (dark, surreal, non-linear. We both love the tricks of language.)
I love this depiction of the Magus, he has a real twinkle in his eye!
I keep thinking of that Buffy Sainte-Marie song "God is alive, Magick is afoot" - it reminds me that magic, with or without a 'k', is real and present and playful. It reminds me to be an entertainer myself - the Conjurer/Magician/Juggler in the tarot pack is associated with Mercury. As a Virgo (with several planets clustered in Virgo) I am beholden to him, and love that mercurial wit in other people (and try to be similarly clever and amusing myself- ha ha! That doesn't always work!)


Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

I've drawn the Ten of Winter (the 10 of Swords in regular decks) which is a surprise initially. Last year, the 10 of Swords, across all the decks, was a recurrent, persistent attendee at practically every spread I laid down for myself. So I have thought about it's various meanings, and what they mean to me and so on and so forth an awful lot lately. So, oh my goodness - superficially it seems to make no sense that such a card is a source of hope - it actually (for me anyways) is absolutely that. To quote Camus "“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." My rituals, my belief in the spiritual world, my connection to deities, the stories I tell myself all proved themselves during a dark and difficult time (including genuine maransati). I have found through experience that I don't just "talk the talk".



In this version, the little faery man tries to hide from the devouring badger. I love that it's striped black and white (all pied creatures are sacred to the Dark Goddess of Death). He even closes his eyes, as if ignorance will help him escape.

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

[BreathingSince72]

Friends,

I have been inspired to get creative with my interpretation of how this draw is done. So I am using two decks. It was difficult to choose between Voyager and Prismatic Visions. Both are relatively new to me but I am starting daily draws with Voyager...so there you have it. In addition, I have always felt a powerful connection to the sacred lessons of animals and so I am choosing the Druid Animal Oracle from which to select an ally for each days lesson. I will update daily as I draw.

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

This first card is from the Voyager Tarot and is the Woman of Wands, the Sensor. I love the way a separate book on this deck describes her. “ The-Sensor- is the shamaness. She represents Strength, the fiery sensitivity and spirit of the Priestess.” The description goes on to describe this card in such a remarkable way. It talks specifically about psychic power and how the entire body of the Sensor is like a finely tuned antannae picking up vibration and psychic information in powerful ways. The author talks about using the energy to heal and transmute. Interestingly, connecting to the body has long been a difficult thing for me due to childhood traumas. So this card hit home with an especially powerful message about homecoming...returning to self and to the fullest acceptance of my gifts. This is difficult for me to describe as the message is so powerful for me right now. “Smell the truth. Taste the truth. Feel the truth.” So I suppose today I will celebrate that in sensing, I know, and that in being fully present, a theme you will see me revisit many times, I get to celebrate the gift of life. At the end of this journey, I will offer reflection on what the allies had to say.


Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

Featured on this card are King Philip and his son Alexander the Great, of whom I know nothing. The Ram appeared as today’s ally which I find humorous because the Emporer also shares this symbol, literally and astrologically. Although I have built a small empire in the form of my many children and I am driven to build material security for my children and myself, I feel like this card is saying that I draw hope and inspiration from taking initiative. I do enjoy recognition for my efforts, as this card would indicate, but honestly feel that I build for the sake of building. I want to be a pioneer, to take initiative, to move forward into the next goal...simply put...building gives me hope. Whether I am building a piece of art, a song, a process for my financial aid department...I derive great satisfaction from watching things grow.

In all my time using the Druid Animal Oracle, I have never drawn the Boar or the Ram. I find this very interesting. I am sitting here considering the tenacity of the Ram, it’s go anywhere, eat what’s along the way, no matter how steep, no matter how high way of doing things and I feel great hope when I am thus driven. Lots of food for thought here.

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

Foremost, I was delighted that a creature of the sea made its appearance as my ally in addressing my fears and shadows. I know I was going to describe allies at the end of this run but this one demanded attention. The otter is equally comfortable on water or on land which tells me I have the capacity to be equally comfortable dealing with my shadow as being in my light. The otter invites me to light it all go and enjoy childlike playfulness. This particular otter is looking for salmon. Before I drew cards this morning, I brought out a Howlite bear with a salmon in its mouth, both to represent my primary guide and to represents fears of food scarcity. So I thought it fitting this otter is looking for fish.

The Ace of Cups : Ecstasy was drawn to represent addressing my fears and shadows. In the Voyager, this card represents peak experiences that, while powerful, do pass. James Wanless describes this as “being struck by the white light of the divine in a garden of paradise. The rainbow of colors, sweet fragrance and exquisite beauty of this flower garland describe bliss, exaltation and joy.” I confess I do have a fear of letting go and being touched by the divine in this fashion although this experience is not alien to me. I feel like I am seeing a repeated theme of trust in these last three days of draws; trusting my gifts, trusting that I can take initiative and build and lead, trust that it’s okay to be joyful. It is okay to be touched. Very moved by this experience so far.

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

Grief...sadness...where have the tears fallen and how can I honor them? In the Voyager Tarot, the Death card invites me to “shed what is dead” in my life. Death here symbolizes renewal and a rebirth of all things. This is interesting as the Hare, my ally for honoring my grief represents rebirth, along with intuition and balance. Sometimes it is painful to let go. Whether it is a person or an unhealthy practice, letting it go is like the surgical removal of a piece of me. I feel, on a deeply spiritual level, that a part of me is dying. And this is not such a terrible thing as it is the part that allows fear, insecurity, and an underestimation of self to rein. We have coping mechanisms. And they serve us so well for so long. Then we realize we don’t need or want them...

In part, I think I grieve what was taken from me without consent and I grieve what I threw away. But this is a new season and as yesterday ended last night, giving birth to a new day, so too am I born new.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

The Voyager card Ten of Worlds: Reward advises to think optimistically and abundantly. It says I am “making it” and that I should luxuriate and enjoy my rewards. I think the guidance here is to lavishly bless others with good wishes and time spent. Create, create, create...positive, abundant and loving intention. The pot at the end of the rainbow contains my loved ones. Of course this card is about material concerns and prosperity but I feel like this can be applied towards my interactions with others. This card also says the Wheel is turning in my favor.

The Fire dragon represents transmutation, mastery, and energy. This is the second time in this series of draws where a card has represented transmutation on some level. I feel like Autumn invites us to transmute all of our previous experiences, allow them to be a part of us and use that wisdom in the future. Snakes are never killed by their own poison. A fire dragon breathes fire but is not burnt. We can take those circumstances which injured us and use them for good. Very interesting that the Ten of Worlds showed riches of all sorts and here we see an image of a dragon guarding treasure. My ally guards the riches within me.

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Voyager presented the card of increase as The Empress and the card of decrease as Child of Cups: Feeler. My ally for these changes is the Air Dragon, a creature representing inspiration, insight, and vitality.

I am sharing precisely what is in the guidebook for the Empress as I don’t know that I could say it better. I want my children to always know their value to me and I have also seen that I am picking up my many creative practices again; drawing, polymer clay, beadwork...and I am finding, to my delight, the habit of following through on my inspirations. I used to be great at starting things, but rarely a finisher. I am enjoying the change. This dragon of inspiration, I am certain, will also appreciate that.

As for the child of cups, I feel this is showing me that I will need to stop putting my feelings on parade, not to stop feeling but to stop sharing then without restraint. I can see where the Air Dragon will be helpful for this as, being of the air element, it can help me to exercise logic and sound judgment.



Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.


I have not been reading ahead but just allowing the days celebration to be made known to me when I go to post this each day. I’ve read the motheryourself/father yourself bit and it goes in line with the parent dialogues post I left in the Tarot for Self Cultivation forum. Feels like I’m syncing up with the season indeed!

The Hermit card from the Voyager says that I parent myself by retreating, shutting out distractions and trying to become complete by bringing together the highest states of spiritual and material attainment. I can see the validity of this in that I want to create financial security in my life for that sense of safety and I also want to have the highest level of spiritual growth. I fell like the material and the spiritual tend to run alongside one another hand in hand although I do tend to be lopsided toward the spiritual. This Hermit card recommends sustaining oneself through Whole Foods and rest, definitely two things I could use more of. Self-care is not my best practice, though it needs to be if I want to achieve my goals. Achieving material security allows me to go to the “inner temple (cave)” and connect with the divine without distraction. Directly from the text is this sentence, “By getting in touch with the higher self, you bring this power through your hands to heal, create, and guide.” So the way I tend to parent myself is to retreat and seek refreshment so I can in turn, heal others. The shadow side of the her,it is the tendency to isolate or cut oneself off from others. I wonder if this could also be saying that I felt like my parents shut me off from things. Or that, in childhood, I saw them as my higher self.

My ally in parenting self is the seal. I immediately thought of the Selkie when I saw this card and, indeed the book does mention the Selkie trapped by the human spouse. It is described how the seals song is powerfully mournful and human sounding which has the effect of moving listeners deeply, even frightening them. I am a singer and I don’t know why that is relevant but it comes up when I think of the seal song. Sometimes my songs are mournful. Sometimes not. The seal calls to me from my unconscious. Opening to the unconscious does not mean I will be overwhelmed. I am cautioned not to allow my intellect to imprison my feelings. I do feel imprisoned at times, longing to share, to love, but remaining lonely. This may be a good time to look at this. Music will be key.



Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

Once again the description in the guidebook did this card more justice than I could.

The weirdest thing happened at work. My union chapter has all but begged a woman at my job to become VP over our campus and two others. They repeatedly could not get people to help and we are a multi district campus. I volunteered and we were going to take it to vote when this woman lost it at a meeting and now wants to compete. I don’t care for her reasoning which is based in fiction but I don’t mind competition. She will likely win. My only concern is that she is divisive. We’ve been asked to write something about ourselves for the newsletter. I’m okay with that. And I realized my goals for us are lofty. I want to see unity across our campuses. We are stronger together. And maybe this is what makes me best for the job, I really believe in the cause. I see how far we have to go but o see how far we have come and I believe in us. I have hope.

People have told me that I shine. If I shine, it is because I have lived through desperate and dark times. The fruit of my life, the fruit of the sacrifices, breakthroughs and achievements I have had (represented by the Ram) is that I have and I offer hope today. When you have been in the darkest of places, everything else is light.

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

Nine of Wands: Integrity and the Horse were my card and my ally today. Funny that a horse would appear to pull my carriage! I will post on these after work tonight. Okay, it’s after work. This 9 of wands card is about being true to yourself, knowing yourself and valuing yourself. The fact is that when I honor these things about myself, I don’t have as much to be angry about. But when I don’t keep boundaries and honor myself, I stuff those feelings and end up pissed ( not the drunk kind, the American version of “pissed” meaning angry. This card is a reminder to have a backbone and stand up for yourself, be unafraid to stand alone. What better thing could one do to make their anger productive?


Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

The beginning of this card description in the guidebook talks about it representing the law of reversal, such as the crucifixion of Christ. If I experience a measure of success today, it is because I turned my former life upside down. I don’t do anything the same way. Giving mit all up meant getting it all. This is also a message to keep the faith during the dark night of the soul as this is the prep stage for rebirth. It’s not the time to be a martyr but it is never a bad time to make sacrifices for the good of others and thus transcend the ego.


Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

[shadowrose]

this will be interesting because the Chrysalis Deck doesn't quite follow the RWS.

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

Drew "The Visionary" (Knight of Scrolls) The Visionary's intelligent, adaptable and chatty myna bird advises to be open and honest with like-minded friends and freely discuss any disharmony present in your life. Like the Balians, non-judgmental friends and family can be of great assistance in helping overcome disease-causing disharmony.


Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

I drew the Ten of Mirrors. The ten of mirrors bears not only a message of peace and hope but it encourages acceptance and surrender. It heralds the end of a cycle, acknowledgingthat great progress has been made in controlling emotions and finding peace within. It reminds to renounce negative emotions, embrace change, grow in knowledge.


Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

I drew the Eight of Mirrors. This card features a Celtic Shaman who follows Arianrhod of the Silver Wheel. This makes the eight of mirrors signposts for the wisdom of ancient Celtic spirituality. The eight mirrors reflect Arianrhod's silvery like upon the eight noble pathways to enlightenment: selflessness, truthfulness, harmlessness, mindfulness, respectfulness, goodness, peacefulness and righteousness.


Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

I drew Bella Rosa -- the Death card. Bella Rosa is enigmatic because we hide so many characteristics of our true nature from the outside world. The masks we wear -- the false personas -- can become problematic over time. Bella's primary message is unresolved issues will prevent us from being comfortable in our own skin.


Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

I drew the Two of Mirrors. There are two swans on this card so swan energy plays a part in the meaning. As a spirit animal a swan awakens the power of self and heightens intuition and awareness, especially in changing times. The two of mirrors symbolizes the most reliable centering energy available to us, the energy of unconditional love. It represents the bond of sacred balance with lifelong partnerships, as well as union of yin/yang opposites. It reminds you that the characteristics of a perfect partnership are not always likely to be present. In difficult times compromises often are made to preserve equilibrium. To love another unconditionally you must first love yourself unconditionally.


Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

I drew Gaia, the Empress. She reminds us to respect the remarkable beauty, glowing abundance and magical artistry that animates and safeguards planet Earth. By doing so we create an abundance of joy and well-being in our own lives.


Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

Drawn was Five of Stones. On this card is a fairy and a tree that bears red berries. The particular fairy is known as a dryad, a nature spirit that protects trees. If we pay close attention to the symbols, we note the spirals on her dress (energy of change), her fairy wings (spiritual energy of healing) and the wild cherry or rowan tree (energy of regeneration). On this card, we can intuit compnents of the energy of catharsis--healing through the healthy release of built up fear, guilt or resentment.


Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

I drew Golden Flower (Temperance). In readings, the Golden Flower symbolizes drawing closer to higher consciousness through meditation or contemplation. Salvaging core values and rebalancing life's priorities empower you to free the spirit-fire genies within.


Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

Today's card is Six of Scrolls. In readings, the Six of Scrolls may point to an obstacle obscuring clear discernment. If that's the case, then this card invites you to devise a plan for getting around it.


Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Drawn is the Four of Stones. In a reading this card cautions you against over-valuing wordly things you stow away in a treasure chest. The higher matters in life are also to be treasured. It also cautions against fabricating false choices--both the material and spiritual matters in life are to be savored.


Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

I drew the Three of Stones. On this card there are three owls. These wise, protective owls at tell you that it's time to move forward; cards numbered threein tarot point to advancement. Moving forward, however, requires firm trust and confidence in the unseen realm. This is true whether the Unseen speaks to you through dreams meditation or when journeying in the solitude of a darkened chamber. The three of stones symbolizes an important step forward toward enlightenment. Allow the owl's inner light and keen foresight to guide you.


Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

Today's card is Sorceress (The High Priestess). Depicted on this card is Morgan le Fay. It points toward transformation and rebirth.

*************************

using this deck was fascinating, I am going to have to spend more time with it.

[CharlotteK]

And here I am with the Wildwood Tarot. I'm drawing physical cards but will post pictures from the app as they are better quality and smaller than my phone camera

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

The Mirror - a portentous opener. The Mirror's position on the Wheel is the Autumn Equinox. The healing Isle of Avalon is in the background and in the foreground the 'dark woman of knowledge' holds the mirror to aid inner reflection and the orb of seeing to illuminate the shadows. This does not seem to be very playful or celebratory on the face of it but there is something here about taking a break from the hustle and bustle and pushing on with the plans. Contemplation, shadow work and inner reflection can be serious and difficult stuff but it doesnt have to be. Tuning into our heart and soul, letting them breathe and mend a bit, day dreaming, expressing ourselves creatively, letting our imaginations run and immersing ourselves in myths and stories can also be revealing of deep personal truths as well as be joyful activities. I will read my son bedtime stories with gusto and drama and reflect within on the archetypes and lessons.

Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

The Green Woman - my spirituality is rooted in the divine feminine and the earth. The Great Mother, goddess of the land and female solar energy. As I have just started on my druid path, this is a wonderful card to draw at this position and it feels right.

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

Queen of Arrows - Swan - for me this reveals a fear of loss, of separation and of being faced with hard to hear truths. As an introvert I have a deep and rich inner world and don't naturally seek out connections with others. However, I realise that a connection with people and in particular spiritual connection is something that I fundamentally need. This card suggests to me the need for a more open and honest engagement with people that share my spiritual values and an active seeking out of help and support on my path. And also to tackle my fear of hearing truths that I may find uncomfortable.

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

Nine of Arrows - Dedication - a melancholy figure is using her arrows to play her bow, not as the weapons they are designed to be. I feel she has seen too much conflict and the pain and hurt that results in. She has dedicated herself to a better path. The book describes her as a spiritual warrior. And what the world needs now from spiritual warriors in a dedication to peace and ethical ways of living that preserve nature not destroy it. The rate at which we are driving other living beings to extinction and polluting our own habitat is sad indeed. I do grieve for what we have lost. But this card is hopeful too and dedication that comes out of this of this nightmare, to a spiritual and peaceful purpose, might be what saves us.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

The Wanderer - I haven't been the best friend or family member over the years in terms of keeping in touch. I could and do feel guilty about that but the wanderer advises leaving behind the guilt and baggage of the past and open up to a new set of possibilities with a new spirit and unencumbered outlook. Time to turn over a new leaf and not let my past record taint that.

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Ace of Stones ~ The Foundation of Life and Ten of Arrows ~ Instruction - yesterday I had a magical experience outdoors celebrating Autumn Equinox in druidic style and focussing on manifesting our wishes for the coming season. This is the growth part of my life - a deep spiritual growth that I have been building up to for some time. What I feel very conscious of that needs attention is how I give my son that clear sense of there being so more to life both in the apparent world and in spiritual realms than Youtube videos and sweets. These cards are extremely relevant to my experience yesterday.

Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

King of Bows - The Adder - as the King of Wands there are very strong themes here of leadership, individual style, personal power, maturity, energy, creativity and wisdom. It's a very male card so how do I read this? Well I am a mother and perhaps this card reflects the other aspect of my life where the best mothering I can give myself is embrace this King energy. My own mother is lovely and I treasure her. She has never been a particularly demonstrative mother and I was never coddled or smothered. But I do know she is incredibly proud of who I am and what I have achieved. So I think this card is about empowerment.

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

The Great Bear - I've been through a lot of personal change recently, I guess you could call it somewhat of a personal transformation and a kind of waking up. I believe I sowed these seeds a long time ago but it is just recently that I assessed myself and my spiritual practive, found many aspects lacking and proactively made the changes. I am grateful for the ability to be honest and forgiving with myself and for recognising a whole new person was in there ready to emerge.

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

Five of Vessels - this is a total surrender to a spiritual experience that embues the being with sheer ecstasy. Like sufi dancing or shamanix drumming, its primal and transcendental. How relevant today as I am frankly furious. I dont think I'll be whirling round my living room as a therapy but I plan to do some meditation in the morning on turning around and channelling my anger into something constructive. I have a couple of meditations to do that are very powerful so seems like a good time to really immerse myself.

Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Ace of Vessels - Water of Life - well here I think we have the perfect goblet of the most precious of watery elements and the essence of our humanity, our emotional capacity in all its glory and complexity. My emotional landscape has been extremely messy lately but I'm going to take the opportunity to celebrate that because being able to express ourselves emotionaĺly is in itself a very positive thing. No good ever came from repression that's for sure!

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Eight of Arrows- Struggle - this week has been such a hard one. My son, only five has been in trouble 3 times this week for fighting at school and work has been very stressful. I think I am in for some bumpy times ahead so victory for me would be finding the inner source of courage and wisdom to face these life challenges and meet them well.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

Five of Bows - Empowerment - this card today effectively continues from yesterday's card, which was all about struggle and the victories being facing the struggles with courage and wisdom. Struggles are exhausting and constant drawing on inner reserves is depleting. Thinking about the healing process, this card is again about the inner landscape and the role of self confidence, positive mindset, channelling my energies and staying grounded. As I start to love through my Bardic studies I realise how my inner sacred grove, conjured from my imagination, can play a key role in my empowerment and healing. So the answer to how I can pamper myself? Meditation. It's the best gift I can give myself.

[Byron]

I'm using watercolor interpretation of Visconti-Sforza deck; differences are mostly just esthetical.

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

Chariot Last few months left me with almost no energy and feeling of being passive and stagnant. Things just happened to me and most of them wasn't pleasant. Only recently I started to take some more proactive approach to my life. Chariot symbolises control and power, things I'll definitely need in near future. I'll take it as a encouragment to be more confident and start to challenge myself more. Take some enjoyment from every day and stop doubting myself.

Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

Knight of Cups This one was hard; I don't connect well with whole suit of cups and it is difficult to place myself in the context of this particular card. I am not romantic or idealistic, nor brave and confident. Ironically, considering my username (picked without any deeper thinking). Maybe I just deny myself such feelings. Eithter way, aspects of knight of cups I certainly can identify with are creativity and art. Sometimes I am not sure if my tries to create anything brings me more hope or misery, but it is one of the most important parts of my life.

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

Ten of Wands I am afraid of failure. I am torn between doing too much and too little; struggling to see any results of my actions. I can't stand changes, but I desperately want them to happen.

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

Reversed Eight of Swords I expected eight of swords to show up sooner or later. And here it is. Feeling of being powerless and trapped isn't new to me. The suprising part of it is card being reversed. I don't know if things will get better; I certainly hope so. It feels good to confront some of my past experiences through this reading. Free myself, even if just a little.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

Eight of Wands It's hard for me to just do things without a plan or any preparations. It's getting difficult to meet with some of my friends because of that. Eight of wands calls for action and being spontaneous; It's simple solution, but perhaps best in my situation. Looking at this from more distant perspective, I can say that my fear of facing problems affected some od my relantionships in negative way.

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

Three of Wands and Four of Wands I spend whole day thinking about this combination and I still don't know if my interpretation is in any way correct. My life isn't balanced. I could read three of wands as growing in confidence and experience. Despite all my problems, I gained a wider perspective on myself and everything that's surrounds me. Even now I am learning new things; many of them inspired by working with tarot. Still, it feels so little in perspective. At the same time there is four of wands in decreasing position. I rarely feel good in a way that this card describes: safe in stability, being sure of things. This would suggest I need some firmer fundaments in my life, something I can rely on. At this moment, I don't really think I have such a thing. I feel uncertain and directionless. It may seems like a contradiction - gaining experience and having even less confidence. I believe it's rather a metaphor for conflict beetween person I am, and the one I am becoming. It already feels like I outgrown some of my former self but I still don't know who am I now. I am not sure if I'll ever have an answer for that question.

It seems like my theme for this year is change and bondaries.

Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

Four of Pentacles And it's all about bondaries again. I am used to doing and learning everything on my own. My family, any member of it, would be the last person I'll ask for advise. Our experiences are just too different to even slightly understand eachother. For most of the time I am just keeping everything to myself; it helps me maitain some sort of personal freedom but it isolate me from others at the same time. Feeling lonely makes me feel only more restrained, and in the end I achieve nothing. Just like the men from Rider Waite interpretation of this card. I have to let go of some of my barriers and trust people who care about me. Let them guide me, instead of closing myself in.

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

Ten of Swords Not very sweet fruit, if I may say so. In fact, rather bitter one. This year wasn't easy for me and it still manages to challenge me in many unsuspected ways. Still, it's not a bad sign. It suggest that the end of some of my struggles is much nearer than beginning of the next and maybe even previous ones aren't as unsolvable as I would think. It feels like little by little, I'm gaining some new perspectives on my life.

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

Strenght I read this card as a encouragement to confront my feelings and what causes them. Strenght in Visconti-Sforza deck seems to be much more primal and powerful than, for example in Rider Waite. I think confrontation with people who harm me, rather than taming and fighting with my own emotions, would be much healthier in a long run.

Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Five of Pentacles Needless to say, not much successes. At the other hand, a chance for major changes and new found awareness.

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Seven of Pentacles I'm trying to work as hard as I can to improve myself. I've learnt some new things lately and I'm more confident in my abilities. I know there is still much more to be done, but this card suggest it'll bring some satisfying results in the end. There are subjects I want to explore in this coming months and I hope, they're provide some new experiences for me and maybe even bring me some more materialistic gains. Suit of pentacles would definitely resonate with it. From a wider angle, it can mean end of difficult period in my life, or at least change for a better. I certainly hope so, even if three months may be a little to short for that.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

Eight of Pentacles And even more pentacles. Interesting. It ties with previous reading pretty well; my passion helps me get through many difficulties in my life. Mind you, it's not always so pretty; frustration and stress goes hand in hand with creating. At least for me, being perfectionist and often self-doubting. Lately, I tried to be less critical about what I am doing and let myself actually enjoy it. Seeing my work less as a struggle and more as a process of growing helps me manage some of my negative emotions and suprisingly, start getting better. I put some effort in taking better care of myself, making some changes and just view things from different perspective. It may not be much, but healing isn't easy. If I continue, there will be progress, even if it'll take some patience and dedication.

[I Sunshine]

Hello All! I am having a hard time getting started here due to physical pain (sciatic nerve pain) and what I call a foggy pain brain. What I want to say to begin is I am very grateful for the advent of this Fall/Autumn season. Excited to move on to what is next. Blessed Be.
9/22/18: Finally starting. I am using Tarot de St. Croix this season. Today is the Autumn equinox here in the PNW of the USA so I am starting with Day 6 (rather than 5). If this is the only day I do, it has been worth it but the plan is to move forward and backward to complete the circle. Thank you for letting me be myself.

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.
Drew the Knight of Swords (on 9/24).

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.
I drew The Moon for growing and the Ace of Wands for decreasing:

Beautiful, aren't they?
And fitting. I do feel that I am growing in intuition, and diving deep. Starting some real shadow work and grief work. This is all good. As for that decreasing Ace of Wands, oh yes, I have not been actively being creative. One hundred and one excuses come to mind, but nevertheless I see an imbalance here, pretty stark! Now to see about remedying the situation.


Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.
I drew the 9 of Swords (which does not surprise me)

This particular 9 of swords is wonderful! You can clearly see that the fears and worries that are keeping our woman awake are an illusion, just the shadow from the window blinds. They will go away with the light of day.
I could get confused by drawing this card for this day, because the worries and fears I had as an only child being raised by two alcoholic parents were all too real! I can totally remember staying awake as a child waiting for my parent to 'go to sleep' and going down stairs to make sure the cigarettes were out and that the stove burner was turned off (and sometime finding they were not).
But this is about now. About my image of the mother/father archetype NOW.
I think my card is reiterating that I need to do my Shadow Work, need to bring all this to light before I will have a healthy or clear relationship with this archetype. Seems to be obvious, yes?

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

[Mabel]

I am using the Sasuraibito Tarot by Stasia Burrington. I having a hard time uploading the picture of the cards.

The wheel of the year rolls on and everything moves - our Earth rotates around the Sun, the Moon around the Earth, and our whole solar system travels through a galaxy. Humans have aways measured time by watching the celestial events. Four of them are especially meaningful - the two solstices and the two equinoxes that mark the beginning of a new season. Many festivals and holidays in different cultures reflect and celebrate their importance.

Let's enrich our lives by exploring each of these sacred events. Through twelve days, we draw a daily card from a deck chosen with love and care, and focus on the energies of each special day. Doing it as community gives special power to this personal ritual.

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

I drew the Six of Pentacles, reversed for this day. This card shows the face profile of two figures, one above and one below and one with the eye open, one with the eye closed. There is a thin, black string that is attached to their mouths. There are pentacles across the top and bottom of the card on the figures' faces one on the forehead, one on the cheek, and on below the chin. The back ground of the card is a varied light-ish yellow. Their hands reach out, but do not cross the string and one of the figures' hands is tattooed or has henna in black ink/dye on it in an intricate design with two eyes. It also has two black rings on the thumb and pinkie fingers and the nails are painted black. While this decorated hand show us the back, the other, un-decorated hand shows us the palm.

I think this card is speaking to balance in many areas of our life-balance in relationships and balance between ourselves and society. I think we all know the struggle of a work and time off balance and the give and take with work, with our relationships, and with society.

Reading this card in relation to the Ludi Magni games is quite interesting to me. First off, the description of the circus performances and here we have a a tightrope pictured between the mouths of the figures! What is balancing here, our words, our souls, our breath? It makes me also consider cause and effect with this card. If one figure were to pull back, would the other be pulled up, would more string come out (if other figure is resistant to change), or is their flexibility here in the string where it adapts and stretches? With all of these scenarios, there is still a change and a weight being felt.

In terms of how this card reflects the spirit of celebration in my life, I think it is reminding me to celebrate and take stock in what I have accomplished. I can be hard on myself and not notice the tiny victories that do pile up, unnoticed. I think it is telling me to maybe skip the dishes one night to celebrate the fact that I have built up to running 4 miles after being pretty sedentary. I need to notice and honor these small victories. I also need to pause the great scramble of life and celebrate the victories of the people around me. Sometimes in the rush to get her and there, we utter empty, "good jobs!" and "that's great!" to our people, but we don't honor them like we should. In the spirit of celebration, I should maybe think of some kind of special way to acknowledge other's victories and it does not have to cost money, but could be just taking the time speak a few sentences with actual details about the victory. I think this also speaks to how I can bring more joy and playfulness to others. As for myself, I think I should maybe give a little victory leap at the completion of mile four! Who cares if someone thinks I'm strange!



Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

For the Day of Our Lady of La Salette, I drew The Empress. In this card she is pictured among muted, rose colored flowers. There also appears to be wheat pictured behind her. She wears a crown of 12 stars perhaps representing the 12 months in year. This card reminds me of the Demeter and Persephone myth. She has dark hair and seems to be giving some serious side eye. Maybe she is looking to the side at something or someone...The Magician. I think it is a stance of protection and loyalty to nature, parenthood, and the bringing forth of the new. The color tones are earthy in this card. I think this is a grounded card.

I think this card is confirming to me how I turn to nature and even science as a personal source for hope and spirituality. Although it may terrify some people, when I think of the never ending vastness of space, I am comforted. No matter what stresses I have in life, I think, there is this vastness that we are in and so whatever it is that is bothering me, cannot be that bad or that important in the grand scheme of things. I think she also reminds me to honor my parents and the gifts they have given me and to honor my creative spirit. She reminds me to use the gifts that I have been given and have worked hard at developing. The connection to the earth reminds me to know that while I may hold certain gifts, I still should not slack off. I may be good at something, but even so, I need to continue to work hard at it.

I think this card speaks to the passage of time as well with the 12 stars in the crown and it is saying that there are changes in nature and in our lives through out a year, but that we still need to hold fast to and not give up on our creations, in my case, I think maybe artistic creations that have been placed on the back burner as of late.

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

I drew the Three of Wands for Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea. I asked what I needed to be aware of concerning my fears and shadows before winter came and then drew the Three of Wands. This is an interesting card and I immediately thought of camping when I saw it, which I have had on my mind as of late. The three wands are bound together by a red rope (courage). There are some leaves and small branches at the top of the wands, but if they were branches, they have been manipulated to serve a purpose. Beneath them a fire burns, but we only see the top of the fire, not what is feeding it. The bound wands lie on green grass and there is a sunset or a sunrise, depending on the viewer. The way the green ground is drawn you get the feeling that you are on a planet, a round planet, and you can see stars peeking through the sunset and clouds.

I feel like this card is hinting at exploration. Maybe with the bound wands it is asking you to "get things together" before you leave or maybe it is asking you to acknowledge the binds you have that may prevent you from taking an adventure. I think the perspective of the card gives you that feeling of foresight and seeing what lays before you. The bound wands remind me of a tripod for a telescope or camera, further showing the importance of perspective and sight in this card.

The booklet that came with the cards also mentions that leadership is an idea behind this card and I see this in the wands standing upright, but also in the fact that someone had to remember the red rope, decide to bind those wands together, and have the skills to build fire.

This is an interesting card for me to draw because I have two camping opportunities for this weekend. One is a bit fearful and faraway. It would require greater planning, more money, greater patience, trickier packing. It would mean taking on a lot more stress than I like, but I believe the rewards of this trip would be greater than the other one. The other camping opportunity is closer to home, is a place I am familiar with, is cheaper, carries the possibility of reconnecting with old friends, but even so, would not be as rewarding in the personal growth/strength area.

I think this card is asking me to examine my fears when confronted with new things and new adventures. Am I living life to the fullest? Am I holding myself and others back by staying with the tried and true? Will the camping trip that I am hesitant to take make me stronger at tackling new challenges that may come my way this winter and beyond? What is it that I am scared of exactly? I know how to camp and we live in the modern age, what's my hang up? I think this card asks me to address my fear of change and the unknown so that I can grow as a person.

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

I drew the Six of Pentacles again, but not reversed this time. I think balance is an important concept in this cards as well as cause and effect. Also connecting with others, being tethered, having pull with another. Giving and receiving, having or not having. I think plainly this speaks to life in which we are given life and we loose life. We take from the Earth, but then we return to the Earth. Summer fades, winter arrives, summer returns.

In the context of Eleusinia, I think it is reminding me that life is a cycle. Humans live and then die. My missed loved ones do continue on in my heart and in my memory. What they gave me when they were alive is still with me, but what was yet to be given will have to come to me by some other means or may forever remain a mystery. I can contemplate what that may have been. I can look to the past for clues. Central messages of love and acceptance still ring loud and clear. Looking back from death I don't think people would hold grudges-nothing worldly would matter.

I think this card reminds me of the ebb and flow of life, the way that nothing is fair or unfair really, life just happens. It is kind of a cold, impersonal way to see death. And I think this card warns me about how I grieve. I shut the emotions away, I distract myself, I hold it at arm's length.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

I drew the Nine of Wands, reversed for Day Five, thinking about how I can strengthen ties to the important people in my life. This card has a reddish tone too it, which reminds me of blood which is further supported by the image of a bone tied to the wand in the middle by the red rope again. It does not strike me as gruesome though. It is seriously bound to this wand-the roped has been wrapped around several times and tied, and the middle wand has a little spring of leaves at the top. To where these ropes go, we don't see, but they go up to the top of the card. There seem to be four strings, but we can't be sure since we can't see the top-the could be looped. From either side of the card 4 wands (4 from each side to make 8) come out of the side as if they could poke at the bone/wand binding.

The keywords for this card are persistence, stamina, and holding fast, which makes sense in when considering what I need to do to strengthen the ties with the important people in my life. However, I got it reversed.

My immediate thought was that the bone represented family, and friends can be family in my opinion, but also strength. Holding on and connecting to other people also came to mind. The ropes seem like the life roads we travel-who we meet and connect with. I think by getting this card reversed I am being told that I need to do a better job at strengthening my ties to my friends/family. I am an introvert, so socializing is a challenge for me. I would rather, go to coffee shop alone and read a book, than invite a friend. That might sound terrible, but I do thrive alone. I think I need to tend to my friendships more though. I think I would see that I get just as much out of going it solo to the coffee house as I would with a friend. I might even find that I would get a renewed feeling of well-being from socializing. I think this card is telling me I am not being persistent with my friends and that my stamina is low when it comes to socializing, however I need to hold-fast to my friends and family and commit to seeing them all more. We can get in an introvert rut, but once you spend some time with a friend, you see that you really did need that more than reading that book.

This card has a redish tone too it, which reminds me of blood which is further supported by the image of a bone tied to the wand in the middle by the red rope again. It is sweriously bound to this wand, which has a little spring of leaves at the top. To where these ropes go, we don't see. From either side of the card 4 and 4 wants show as if they could poke at the bone/wand combo.

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

For the Autumn Solstice, I drew two cards, both reversed-The Hanged Man and The Magician.

The Hanged Man shows a man hanging by one leg from a branch that has leaves. He is tied with the ever present red rope from this deck. His eyes seem closed and he looks very peaceful. There look to be black raindrops coming down. I read about another card that had a similar image and they were called Yods, but when I Googled it, these do not look like that Hebrew letter.

This card means there is a pause in your life and you need to be patient; you may shift perspectives through this waiting period. Letting-go and inner harmony are also common ideas associated with this card.

I drew this card reversed and the booklet states, "stubbornness, selfishness, non-action, giving-up, refusing to give up old ideas." I think this card is telling me to decrease this tendency that I have to stall on decisions and actions. I need to push myself to just get things going. I do tend to stagnate and have a hard time making decisions.

The Magician's head is down; he is busy with his work. His arms and hands are moving rapidly so that there appears to be eight of them. He has a wand. He wears a calming blue shirt. There are 6 circles around him that remind me of moons, but I see that their are 8 phases of the moon, not six, so maybe these are balls that he is juggling. He has three cups upside down on a table that he is switching around as well.

The booklet says this card is about talent, power, artistry and control. Action and initiative also come up with this card.
I got this card reversed, and the booklet says that this means to look for empty promises, false possibilities, misunderstanding, and lack of substance. It mentions to be aware of smoke and mirrors type situations and people.

I think this card is warning me that I need to increase my BS detector. Although I need to push myself to act faster on decisions and actions, I should not just go willy-nilly into a major decision without contemplating if it is a good deal and what I need at the time. I need to think about what the other person/people get out of the deal and what I pose to get out of the deal. I also need to be sure I am communicating well to prevent misunderstandings.

Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

For Maiso, I drew the Six of Swords.

This card shows the figure barely keeping her head above water. The six swords are below her so she really has no other choice but to go up and stay up. The colors are muted blue and green with a good bit of black in the swords and hair.

This was a bit sad to draw but I think it does speak to a dimension of motherhood or parenthood, or maybe the reality of motherhood/parenthood. It is a busy, self-sacrificing time. A person often feels other needs must be met before they can address their own. A person can easily "drown" and not resurface for many years. A person can loose their identity, known only as so-so's parent. When you mix a full time job, housework, raising children, it does not leave much in the way of me-time. I think this could apply to whatever your "child" is, be it a book you are writing, a poem, a skill you are trying to master. When you dedicate yourself so wholly to its fruition, you risk losing yourself. I think this card is telling me to not give-up on me. To keep myself there in the present and to work on my dreams. I need to etch out some time for me in order to be better at giving to others.

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

I asked the cards what is the fruit of my past action, ripening now and drew the Eight of Wands, reversed.

This card show the wands as arrows shooting up. They have some green leaves still attached and a bow is drawn with one arrow-want in place. It is pointed up in a right-side reading and down in a reversal. All the arrow-wands look like they are going straight up in the sky and for some you cannot see the pointy end as they are beyond the scope of the card. Some leaves fall to the ground from the movement. The card has a muted greenish, yellow-greenish tone to it.

This was disappointing and a little confusing at first (denial?). Looking at the booklet, upright, this card indicates action, speed, focus, and messages, while reversed it can mean delays, careless actions or preparation. However, it does make sense for me. Past decisions have resulted in a kind of stagnation in my life. And although this may be causing certain delays and maybe I have not planned certain things well, I do think we can read this reversal as an invitation and/or suggestions to ground oneself (since the arrow-wand in a reversed card is going down). It could suggest to work on one's foundation in order to prepare for the strength needed for action and speed.

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

For the Holiday of Neptune, I drew the Ten of Pentacles.

This card shows a starry night with two figures in what reminds me of some kind of partnered yoga pose. One figure appears to be doing downward dog and the other figure is in a kind of bridge pose, the curve of the back wrapping around the other figure's back and bottom. A dog perches on top and looks off to the side. There are ten earthy-toned circles (pentacles) around the figures and dog. The balance of the pose and and the light and dark clothing make me think of the concept of yin-yang. The booklet highlights the keywords wealth, success, and stability for this card and mentions the relationship with family, adopted or otherwise in this card.

I think this card is indicating that I should take strength from friends and family and look at my blessings in this regard when I get frustrated with certain struggles in my life. I can also see from it that protecting and standing-up for my family members is more important and useful than just getting angry at society or others for blocking things that I feel my family needs. I am reminded also with this card that life is a balancing act that has time periods where certain areas wax and wane. It also takes a lot of strength to hold a yoga pose as pictured on the card, life requires strength as does not only controlling anger, but transforming it into something useful.

Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

For Vendémiaire, I drew the Eight of Cups, rx, but I noticed a card, Page of Wands, had not been gathered up and shuffled with the rest and so I will include it as well in this reading. I asked the cards, "What do I need to know about my big and small achievements this past year?"

The Eight of Cups shows a person bending over, cutting their hair. There are eight red plus signs or flowers maybe for the cups. The background is white.

This card is not a very positive one, reversed or not. It deals with procrastination, clutter, being stuck in the past, and not being able to get over something. I think this card is telling me to let go of certain things, both physical objects and emotional stances as well. I feel like it is not telling me about any big or small achievements of last year, but rather setting me up to make some goals for achievements for next year. I think it is trying to show me that I can do better, especially concerning my writing goals.

The Page of Wands shows a confident figure holding a wand with some smaller limbs and leaves growing from it. This figure looks to have armor and chain mail and has fire pictured on the chest of the armor and the hair is red.

This card is much more positive. This card indicates optimism, confidence, and creative energy, which is good concerning the reversed Eight of Cups when thinking about my writing. The booklet says it can be a sign of change and that I need to make sure to fuel the "fire" or energy for this card.

This is a little better. I am glad this card was making itself known to me. I think, read together, these cards tell me that I have dropped the ball (Eight of Cups, rx) on certain goals from last year (writing), but that I can still change. The Page being a card of youth, I feel like it is expressing that energy and inclination we have as young people to up and change ourselves. We decide one day we don't want to wear black every day, or maybe some gold jewelry would be ok now and then-kind of like reinventing yourself when you are young. I think this card speaks to that inclination and phenomena that is often found in our youth. I think that the Page of Wands is telling me that I have it within myself to get out of this slump concerning my writing and that I can not only write, but I can be inspired to do some good work, if I set my mind and energy to it. As far as what fuels my fire, I need to think about how stoke this fire up. Reading writing quotes by Stephen King helps-he tells it like it is. Basically, just doing it-sitting down and opening up the Word doc icon and not clicking on the browser icon. Maybe I should enter a writing contest just to push myself. I think the best thing to help me fuel this fire is to not be too hard on myself, but tell myself that is time to get to work.

When I turned the Eight of Cups around for the picture I looked at the cards together and notice it looks like the scissors could cut on through to the Page of Wands, especially since the figure in the Eight of Cups is not aware of their surroundings, but is very engrossed in what they are doing. I did not get this message with the Eight of Cups reversed as the Page of Wands was to the left of the Eight of Cups, rx. Nevertheless, I think I should watch for the tendencies of the Eight of Cups cutting into the energy of the Page of Wands.

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

I drew the Seven of Cups, rx.

This card shows a figure confronted with options where some are dangerous, some are harmless, some beautiful and some are not. She holds two glasses in her hand and she seems to be in clouds-showing that she is not grounded right now.

I think this card hit the nail on the head. I asked the cards not "What do I need to consider to gain a victory for such-and such goal," but rather "What can you tell me about where my victory may lie?" I think this card reversed is telling me that I need to focus and organize my goals and even acknowledge them. I am overwhelmed, but one goal in particular does stand out: I want to start writing and submitting again. I need to commit to this goal and put in the work to achieve it. I think I will register for a writing contest to help me along. I think it is also hinting at my tendency to think, "Oh I will get back to writing someday," when I really need to just do it and stop daydreaming about it.

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

For Meditrinalia, I drew the Wheel of Fortune, rx. I asked the cards, How can I heal and nurture myself in the future? This is fitting because I am injured right now, nothing too serious though, more of a hassle to deal with.

This card has a predominance of blue, but there is also yellow. It shows a person spreading robe that reveals a type of compass or wheel of fortune with the directions labeled, T-A-R-O, then you would start over with the T, I think for TAROT.

In the booklet that accompanied these cards, I had a hard time figuring out how this relates to healing. It says, "bad luck, misfortune, the wheel is not moving, so I need to move it." I can only guess this refers to my injury that I suffered a few days ago. Maybe it is imploring for patience in this for healing. I dug a little deeper and consulted another book about reversals,The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals by Mary K. Greer. This book speaks about starting up and stopping, things being blocked or sabotaged, repetition, and also attitude, in that I need to believe in myself and have strength to get the wheel turning again. Maybe this card is telling me that the way I nurture and heal myself is by keeping up with the Wheel of Change and that currently I am in a rut, either due to this minor injury or a rut in my writing, and so to take care of myself, I need to get the wheel turning again, be pro-active. Maybe, too, it is telling me that there is ebb and flow in life and (being reversed) it is telling me I need to be a bit more understanding and relaxed about that fact.

I have really enjoyed this seasonal fall equinox group reading. It has been interesting to use these cards in this way everyday, or almost everyday! I think an overarching theme I see in these 12 days is that I need to get centered and get back to work on certain projects, but also not to be too hard on myself. By taking control of my life, I will be also nurturing my life.

[Joan Marie]

I am using the Sasuraibito Tarot by Stasia Burrington. I having a hard time uploading the picture of the cards.

There's a couple little tricks to know.

There is some helpful info in the "Forum Tips" section .
Fixing sideways images

There is also a post about getting the text aligned right.
Correct Text Alignment

Hope this helps!

[chiscotheque]

{i am using The Shakespeare Tarot}

Day 1 18.9. Ludi magni games - Roman games in honour of the god Jupiter, celebrated with circus performances. This card reflects the spirit of celebration in your life, and how you can bring more joy and playfulness to yourself and others.

The World XXI The Globe :
this is the great marvel that is temporal life itself. all the world's a stage, so break a leg, do honour to its different stages, and sit back and enjoy the show. Ariel, the card's figurehead, was trapped in a tree, endured enslavement, and was finally set free. He is the personification of the spirit, that divine substance which inspires creativity and can manifest the heretofore unknown. the implication is to use this divine spark not only for acts of creation but for the greater good. rather than getting hung up on details or dogma, The World advises i indulge and enjoy the pageant.

Day 2 19.9. Day of Our Lady of La Salette - an apparition of the Christian Mother of God/Holy Virgin. She brings message of hope to humanity. Where is your personal source of hope and spirituality?

3 of Cups - Troilus & Cressida
Troilus & Cressida were lovers, and this card depicts front and centre some fairly explicit sexuality. love is one of the few living hopes in my life, but Troilus & Cressida's love quickly soured and turned nasty - this suggests a focus on truth, sincerity, and a faithfulness to one's self and one's lover is imperative. Like T&C's false intentions, the play is built on dishonesty and self-delusion. These machinations lead to individual defeat and the ultimate defeat of Troy - allegory in Shakespeare's time for New Troy, Britain, and in our time the Newest Troy, America. the play itself is an acerbic satire, detailing the human hell that is built from loveless Machiavellianism. Only good faith, clear-sightedness, and generosity of spirit is rewarded with the spiritual fulfilment hope promises.

Day 3 20.9. Sedna, Inuit Goddess of the Sea - This card asks you to address your fears and shadows before the winter comes, like the Inuit did in their Sedna festival.

10 of Staffs - Richard III
the fear here is not only taking on far too much and it all going to hell in a handbasket, but trying to compensate for some personal deformity with an outward aggrandisement. The hunchback Richard makes himself ugly with his resentments. rather than more, he makes himself less. or, in short, a dick. his worldly kingdom becomes an albatross, from which he longs to flee but can't even trade for a horse. here, the central cause of the card's chaos, reduced to a spoiled child, Richard holds a hobby-horse, the staff of which bifurcates his line "I and I". he has separated himself from humanity, and in doing so has severed himself from himself. he needs to do less and be more. he needs to savour what he has rather than covet what others have. instead of never touching anyone with a 10-foot pole he needs to reach out and use his staff as a bridge to sharing.

Day 4 21.9. Eleusinia - an ancient Greek holiday, commemorating Demeter and Persephone. She has to leave the world of of growth and abundance and descend to the realm of death. This card reflects grief, sadness and the traces of tears in your life. Acknowledge and honour them.

The Chariot XII Julius Caesar/Polonius/Lord Burghley
this very complex card represents the ego - notably its failings - and the mask we wear in society. this mask can end up hiding us from ourselves. as Caesar, a scapegoat is represented who is sacrificed ostensibly for the greater good, suggesting the death and life process of winter and Persephone's time in the underworld. as Polonius, a misguided meddler is suggested, one who pontificates about "to thine own self be true" but is himself duplicitous. His accidental death is the catalyst for fate in Hamlet, which ends in a traffic-jam of deaths, again suggesting Persephone's destiny. As Lord Burghley, Elizabeth I's right-hand-man and the playwright's father-in-law, The Chariot suggests the negative aspects of the ego - the coveting of power, the denial of emotions, hiding behind law and custom, and a covert war with the beautiful and poetic side of life. the ego also divides the world into black and white, right and wrong - it discerns, and in so doing, discriminates, divides, and conquers. on a personal level, the card's suggestion to me regarding remorse and sorrow sheds light on choices i've made which were driven by egotism, stubbornness, and a lack of compassion for others. sometimes that lack of compassion was for myself - holding myself up to an absurd ideal or trying to live up to a platitude. it also suggests a lack of true understanding of nature - trying to force and manipulate matters, as if life were a game, rather than seeing the bigger picture and allowing things to unfold and reveal themselves in their own good time. this card alludes structurally to the deck's Moon card, indicating here my logical, left-brain outter self has over-shadowed my feeling, right-brain inner self, to my own detriment - my own time in the underworld. taken further, the 2 parts of me do work in partnership, and in a sense what is needed is the acceptance of this, rather than a rivalry, symbolized in the bereftness and incarceration of mother [Demeter] and child [Persephone] and their ultimate reunion.

Day 5 22.9. Rosh HaShana - beginning of the Jewish New Year. It's a Jewish custom to send greetings and good wishes to people in your life. Use this day to focus on the people who are important to you, what you can do to strengthen your ties to them, and contact at least one person you have neglected lately.

Knight of Cups - Rosalind:
Rosalind is an intelligent, spirited, and beautiful young woman. she is loyal to her friends and family, and inspires passion in others. disguised as a boy named Ganymede, she takes dead centre aim at the reader's heart. the mede aspect of the name Ganymede refers to honey, like the honey-dipped treats that accompany Rosh Hashana. I think of my beloved, the most important person in my life, and how she is far away; she inspires me, like Rosalind, and - being Jewish - would've celebrated Rosh Hashana as a girl. Her name is Deborah, meaning bee. I am also reminded of a childhood friend who was like a brother to me; we lost contact with each other, although i thought of him 2 days ago as it was his birthday. his favourite singer is Leonard Cohen, whose birthday was yesterday - maybe i should send him a singing telegram?

Day 6 23.9. Autumn Solstice - Libra - Mabon - the day of perfect equilibrium. A day for two cards. What is growing in your life, what is decreasing? This two-card reading reflects the balance of your energies and, if there is imbalance, what you need to address.

card 1:

The Fool 0 Launce/Autolycus

the first card, what is growing, is the Fool card, itself bifurcated or book-ended, representing all the fools which limn Shakespeare's work. what it suggests to me is the need to be less serious about the minutiae of life, to authentically enjoy being alive rather than getting hooked up on questions of morality or logic. as i age, this suggests a renewed expression of my inner child, an innocence and immediacy lost in the adult dreck of middle age.

card 2:

9 of Cups - Toby Belch

the 2nd card, what is decreasing or causing imbalance, is represented by Toby Belch, an alcoholic blowhard who provides comic relief in Twelfth Night but who causes serious disruption and becomes, ultimately, an irritant. the scene depicted is one of late night debauchery, locus of the famous line: "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?", and i take it to suggest my days of drink, mischief, revelry, and crapulence are coming to a close. or should be. it suggests a time of shutting the door on self-indulgent wastefulness, and perhaps certain acquaintances who foster self-destructiveness.

Day 7 24.9. Brazil holiday of Maiso, mother goddess - what is the role of your mother in your life, how do you mother yourself/father yourself? Reflect on the maternal/paternal archetypes within yourself, and how you can make them work for you, not against you.

7 of Crowns - Banquo
this is the card of Macbeth's vision when he went to the witches' cave to consult with Hecate. it deals explicitly with progeny and lines of familial descent. it is both clear and confused. it presents nighttime - some might say nightmare - images of time and the human psyche. the boy at the card's centre is entering the world as from a squared-off birth canal; his shirt is bloody, suggesting birth and bloodlines. while dark, the card is nonetheless from the suit of crowns [coins or pentacles], concerned with earth - here we see the mysterious subterraneous workings of fruition. More than anyone, my mother is the person who laid the groundwork for my moral bearings, and my own internal ethical worldview [this is a card of Macbeth being haunted by guilt and Hecate represents the Anima Mundi]. my mother placed great concern and care on the family, just as Hecate was goddess of family prosperity. the anguish and chaos of the card hints at my mother's issues with mental illness and childhood abuse. this, in turn, alludes to my own mindset and struggles to stay psychologically balanced. if there is a lesson, then, on how to deal with these subconscious forces, it is to not become overwhelmed by them the way Macbeth was, but rather to use them in ways that ripen awareness, generate and multiply rather than divide, and are generally creative (ie - acting, making theatre sets, or writing).

Day 8 25.9. Greek holiday Pyanopsia - Thanksgiving for the fruits of the sun. Wind white or purple wool around a laurel or olive branch, and hang or arrange fruit around it. These don't have to be actual fruit - you can write on a paper things that you are grateful for. What is the fruit of your past action, ripening now?

9 of Crowns - Portia
Like one of the Graces, Portia balances in her hands 2 distinct aspects - in her right hand, her beautiful home Belmont, and in her left, she herself dressed up as the Doctor of Law, Balthazar. this suggests to me a balance between time spent on inner, familial bonds and time spent in the outside world of procedure and debate. both are necessary, but more weight should be given to house and home. over the summer, i built myself a music studio which Portia's Belmont house represents. I also spent the summer with the love of my life, a woman of Jewish background, represented here by the Star of David. although the play's treatment of Jews is debatable, i believe Shakespeare is actually making a multi-layed attack on so-called civilized Christian society and its double-standards. Portia's most famous speech is on the quality of Mercy. the suggestion then is that i should spend more time in the company of loved ones, enjoying the fruits of our labours together, rather than getting caught up in litigious arguments and material machinations. the presence (presents) of Grace and Mercy suggest i should be grateful for the love showed me, the privilege of my position, and to stay mindful of the unseen hardships of those who are marginalised and suffer discrimination.

Day 9 26.9. Holiday of Neptune - This is a card about anger and anger management. Contemplate about how you deal with negative feelings. Is there a way to tranform negative energies into positive ones, making your anger pull your carriage and drive you on?

4 of Crowns - Malvolio
Malvolio, From Twelfth Night, is a pompous, puritanical, uptight jerk. Toby Belch (cf. above) contrives to have him wear yellow striped garters and act the lovelorn suitor, for which he is ridiculed. This is an example of negative feelings turned into fairly harmless mockery - Malvolio's own pretensions and ambitions are used against him. Later in the play, Belch and others lock him in a cellar and threaten him with violence. as unlikable as Malvolio is, this always strikes the audience as a prank gone too far, and when he is finally released, Malvolio remains in a fit of pique, vowing revenge. this may be a warning about negative energy leading to more negative energy, and giving negative forces power. Here, Malvolio is stuck - in a frame, in absurd garters, within a racetrack surrounded by strangeness, and first and foremost: stuck in his mind. this suggests to me that money will not buy a way out of negativity, only into isolation. it suggests focussing on attacking the people who seem stuck in negativity will only get them further stuck there, redound badly on you, and possibly get you stuck in a similar negative hole. to see a spade for a spade and call it one is all well and good, but getting embroiled in a malevolent imbroglio only drags you down into a booby trap set by you. Let the dead bury their dead, life & happiness is elsewhere.

Day 10 27.9. Vendémiaire - month of the grape harvest in the French revolutionary calendar month. Raise your glass to your big and small achievements in the last year, either with wine or grape juice, and enjoy your success.

Ace of Cups
at first glance, my achievements this year look like a cluttered mess. yet, there is order, and quite a collection of odd artefacts. involved here are matters of the heart and matters of the soul; ineffable, intangible things; things which couldn't be in the physical world and therefore speak of the metaphysical. the artists' palette hanging like a heart suggests the paintings i haven't done this year, being overwhelmed with other matters. the upside-down turtle on its back suggests my slowness at times, my protective covering, my abject failure, and perhaps my total surrender. the disembodied ears hear what? - lies, or noise it can make no sense of, or the music of the spheres? the seashells, which appear like ears, sound like the sea if one listens closely. the cup in the centre is what contains it all - or is symbol of what all contains, like the Holy Grail and its Fisher King. this latter myth has significance to me, not least because i am a Pisces, and will never have children. it has been an emotional year, with the death of two prominent elder male figures in my life, and a ceremony for the passing of a 3rd. it has also been a year of change and new beginnings, as the Ace indicates; a new phase is beginning, with a structuring and rearrangement of the many gifts surrounding me. there is a crystallization and distillation at work within, echoing the ardour and unknown of the outside world. As it happens, i am set with a couple friends to pick my grapes today and make from them wine. the Grail held wine, which is the symbol of blood; at the Ace of Cups' core is the one, encompassed around the edges by the many. the Fisher King, whose thigh was wounded by the Holy Spear - the shaking spear which pierced Christ's side - sits in a boat in his castle's moat, safeguarding the Grail, waiting for the question which will allow him to heal.

Day 11 28.9. Maha Navami - a Hindu holiday celebrating goddess Durga's victory over a demon. Part of the celebrations is chanting. Reflect on a victory you want to win over the next three months, and devise a chant for it. Write it down where you can see it and envision the joy you will feel when you reach this goal.

Six of Staffs
as it says in the companion book to The Shakespeare Tarot, "Sixes in the Tarot are cards of cooperation, subliminal shifts, hard-won grace. Iachimo represents the reunited in Cymbeline, the pardoned and the atoned." the card clearly displays a victory march. Iachimo was a nasty Italian, but he cleaned up his act and fought gallantly alongside the redoubtable British, who won autonomy from Caesar. on a personal level, some of my own self-determination has undergone a seizure; there are certain perfidious behaviours which over-tax me, and which i need to liberate myself from. on the physical level, over the next months, i have to convert an old garage into an attractive living space for my partner (my own Cymbeline). she is relocating here from her home city, and needs a little space of her own. She is a positive and constructive influence on my life, and i want her to have a happy, revitalizing home. lately, as i've been working on the construction project, i've been short-tempered with my father who's been helping me with it. as a chant, i will repeat the forgiving words of Cymbeline herself, "Live, and deal with others better."

Day 12 29.9. Meditrinalia - an ancient Greek holiday honoring the goddess of healing. Think about your healing process and how you can continue it. Where do you draw strength from? How can you heal and nurture yourself in the future? Pamper yourself today and close these twelve days of introspection with healing thoughts.

10 of Crowns - The Sonnets
the last card of the minors, representing Shakespeare's 154 sonnets. these very personal poems were written by the author in his 40s, looking back on his experiences with remorse, resentment, gratitude, and wonder. although some were circulated among friends, he never intended to publish them. important characters in the author's life are referred to cryptically, such as The Dark Lady, The Rival Poet, and The Fair Youth. the last alludes to a frustrated homosexual relationship. as for questions of drawing strength and healing, this card to me suggests those things can be got by transforming regret and reverie into art. the chaotic aspect of life has undergone a creative syncretism, morphing painful scraps into gems set in crowning jewels. in the future, i plan to return to more creative pursuits. at the moment, i am preparing for that time (as mentioned above, i just built a music studio and am preparing a living space for my sweetheart). i won't be able to pamper myself for awhile, but i will make an effort to spend some time each day on the inner, healing part of myself.

As an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with his fear is put besides his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love's rite,
And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
O'ercharg'd with burden of mine own love's might.
O, let my books be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast;
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.
O, learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

[Joan Marie]

I just want to say that today we are half-way through the Sacred Days of Autumn Equinox and I am finding it a very important and profound experience. To be sharing it with all of you and especially with those who are also taking the journey, makes it all the more powerful.

[BreathingSince72]

I just want to say that today we are half-way through the Sacred Days of Autumn Equinox and I am finding it a very important and profound experience. To be sharing it with all of you and especially with those who are also taking the journey, makes it all the more powerful.

I feel the same way. This reading has prompted some powerful activity in my life. Sharing the experience with all of you is profound and deeply healing. I am so grateful I chose to participate.

[Mabel]

I just want to say that today we are half-way through the Sacred Days of Autumn Equinox and I am finding it a very important and profound experience. To be sharing it with all of you and especially with those who are also taking the journey, makes it all the more powerful.

Same here. I am learning so much. The challenge of keeping up with it is an excellent exercise as well.

[Amoroso]

This is interesting. I figure I'll be using the Walker for this spread. Will be drawing 3 cards a day to catch up.