My Planetary Week # 23: October 27 - November 2

[Amoroso]

Lots of phoenix imagery in Tarot and Oracle decks. I'm more partial to peacocks though.

My favorite is the World card from the Cosmos:

I also like the Aeon (Judgement) card from the Rossetta:

[Nemia]

Oh, the Cosmos!!! It's one of the decks I feel I MUST have. It's too expensive for me right now... but if I ever recover financially, that will be the first deck I buy!

[Joan Marie]

Tuesday: Mars: Conflicts and Challenges

Extricate

This card always says to me: "Cut your losses."

I had to literally do this on Tuesday. It's too much to go into here, financial stuff. I have to say as apprehensive as I was to do it, it felt really good when I did. Sometimes you just gotta cut the deadweight loose if you are going to make any progress. And it was all done with a couple of mouse clicks. Unbelievable.

Again, as I have earlier this Planetary Week, I find this card reassuring as I face a few difficult decisions.

[Joan Marie]

Wednesday: Mercury: Interactions & Change

Surrender

I decided to focus on what's important: Halloween.
I grew up in the middle of America where Halloween is the most important day of the entire year. This is hard to explain to people where I live now in Europe. Over the years Halloween has become more and more popular and I like to take credit for that in my neighbourhood.
The first few years I lived here, my carved pumpkins went largely unnoticed and my candy bowl was still full at the end of the night.

When a kid did come, they would just stand there, hand out, no bag, maybe wearing a witch hat from their "Karneval" costume. I had to teach them to say "Trick or Treat". But I persevered. Each year it got a little better.

Then last night, the first group at my door was 20 kids all screaming "Süßes oder Saures!" (literally, "sweets or sours") which is now what little German kids say instead of Trick or Treat. They've made it their own. Over the evening I had around 50 kids at my door.

I've had a lot going on lately, but like the Hanged One, I decided to surrender to the situation. I carved 2 pumpkins (it took hours and my hand went numb), I played scary sound effects and had blinking lights and the kids really, really loved it. They just stood and stared and all of them said something about my "schönes Dekor" (nice decorations). They would die if they saw what what people in the US do with their houses on Halloween.

Anyway, it was the right thing to do, to take the time out. I think it brought a lot of fun for the kids and how often do I get a chance to do that?

[Joan Marie]

Thursday: Jupiter: Power & Influence

Page of Coins

This card is about the spirit of youth, or the dreams of youth, of wanting to bring one's self into the world. Looking for guidance, but not necessarily advice. It fits the theme of Power and Influence to me. Sometimes that really feels out of reach, but to give up on that is to fail for sure. Do what you must to get by for now, but don't forget where you want to be and to keep working toward it. And believe in yourself.

I need to remember this right now.

[Amoroso]

Oh, the Cosmos!!! It's one of the decks I feel I MUST have. It's too expensive for me right now... but if I ever recover financially, that will be the first deck I buy!

I can see how the Cosmos with its astrological/astronomical themes and complete planet/oid cards can be very appealing, Nemia. It is apt for the planetary motif of these group readings too.

[Nemia]

I know, I know. It's been on my wishlist for ages but it's a bit too expensive with shipping etc. I hope it won't be out of print when I get some money somehow We're heading OT but tell me - how do you like it????

ETA: when I have the time, I'll open a new topic about decks for star lovers!

[Amoroso]

I handled it for around a week.

The Cosmos is nice - it has a great production value, the cards are nice to handle and the colors pop out. While they come from different artists, the deck still presents a solid and unified modern aesthetic. The little guide book is useful too.

Something about it just didn't sing to me at a soul level so I didn't get my own copy. It's so damn purty though so I'm not closing my doors to it.

Regarding star decks - I have my eye firmly on the Celestial Tarot. Now that one is up my alley. Too bad the book seems to be only available in pricey OOP sets. Would still get the deck if only for the art.

[Amoroso]

Friday - Love and Attraction

Knight of Pentacles Reversed

This week, romantic prospects should be pursued at a fast pace. Boldness and passion would advance my suit even further. There should be more focus on the emotive/aspirational aspects of love rather than on the sensuous/sensual.

About this planetary week: I find it strange that aside from the very first card, all of the six that succeeded it are reversed. I usually interpret an overwhelming majority of reversals as a hot mess in the offing. This week has been peaceful as per Tuesday's card. I hope next week would be harmonius as well.

[Nemia]

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How wonderful. It's Friday, and I have the Empress. And what a beautiful Empress she is. And I know exactly how she is connected to me on every level. In general, my love life is happy, grounded, harmonious and very important to me. On a very basic level, Friday, Freya, Venus, the Empress and I just get along very very well

Then, there is Venus re-appearing as morning star today for the first time. I got up early to see and greet her but missed her by maybe ten minutes - tomorrow I'll be there with my binocular and try to see her crescent shape. Whenever Venus is up, evening or morning, I always greet her.

And in addition - something very concrete and practical - our garden. For a long time, I didn't have the physical power and mental motivation to do anything about it. My husband didn't have the time, and we don't have the money to invest either in tools or new plants. The garden looked horribly neglected. But then my son came to visit - full of energy and a garden lover. Working along with him was so wonderful, and he did most of the hard work. Now the garden looks simply great, and we went together, husband, son and I, to a garden center and bought a few but very well-selected new plants and seeds. When it's no longer so hot outside, we'll put it all into the soil.

I can't express my appreciation for my son's initiative to him, it would embarrass him, but I can say it here. The deep hole depression is nearly behind me, and the garden is my symbol for it. I love the garden, we always had lovely gardens and seeing it so neglected depressed me even more. Now that's past and it will be so much easier to keep it up. I'm grateful. I feel like the Empress in her lush garden. I feel wonderful.

This card is spot on today, and my whole week with this deck has been interesting. A very strong deck. I like even the borders and that really means something for me

[dodalisque]

Wednesday ruled by Mercury: Interactions and Change

The Wheel of Fortune (X)

Because the planet Mercury is the nearest to the Sun and has the fastest orbit, it is named after the god that speeds back and forth carrying messages between heaven and earth. So Mercury is associated with communication and with language itself, that other great intermediary. The constant restless movement of Mercury also accounts for its symbolic link to the concept of Change. So The Wheel of Fortune (X) seems a particularly fortuitous card to pull today. The Wheel of Fortune is always spinning, dealing out good luck and bad luck at random. The Beatles here look as though they are trapped in a launderette tumble-dryer, thoroughly confused and disarranged (- who isn't? - ) by their experience of the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" ("Hamlet", Shakespeare). At the hub of the Wheel is a composite single made-up of singles written by each of the 4 Beatles (Ringo at the centre with "Yellow Submarine"; George's "Something"; John's "Nowhere Man"; and then the brown vinyl used for Paul's "Eleanor Rigby"). But this compact quality loosens as we move away from the centre and the Beatles themselves are tumbling wildly. So the card seems to be saying that misunderstandings and confusion will replace earlier tight-knit agreement. The connection between Mercury and language suggests that I should watch my words carefully, slow down my inner turntable to 33 and a third r.p.m. (revolutions per minute), and speak to close friends with careful deliberation. Oddly, within the context of "communication", the Wheel here might represent the negative repercussions of gossip: the tight core of truth at the centre becoming jumbled as words conveying different versions of the truth begin to circulate. Entropy?

[dodalisque]

Thursday ruled by Jupiter: Power and Influences

Page of S/words (suit of John)

The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) Page of Swords shows an immature boy trying to wield a sword that is too big and heavy for him. The Pages in The Beatles Tarot (BT) feature the Beatles' children, and perhaps the childlike side of their own character. The baby surrounded by three Johns is Sean, John and Yoko's child, on whom John lavished intense house-husbandly attention, perhaps to make up for the guilt he felt about having left his first wife Cynthia and their child Julian to be with Yoko. John is trying to be father/mother/friend/everything for Sean, who perhaps understandably seems a little confused and overwhelmed. Jupiter is the largest planet and so is associated with power and one's personal sources of power. But this is the card of powerlessness and immaturity, of biting off more than you can chew, of straining to appear more adult than you are, of trying too hard. The RWS Page is trying to lift a sword, which is a potentially aggressive act, but John here is making bumbling attempts to take on a loving nurturing role. So the BT emphasises the playful aspect of the Page of Swords, the desire to experiment, learn, and grow. The card must be saying that my source of power is my willingness to try things that are beyond me, even at the risk of appearing ridiculous.

[dodalisque]

Friday, ruled by Venus: Love and Attraction

The Star (XVII)


The Star is the card that represents the 11th official Beatles album "Abbey Road" and draws its imagery from the cover art of that album. The famous crosswalk (which is called a zebra-crossing in England) is replaced by a piano keyboard showing the notes FAB. The Beatles are walking from right to left, in the direction of the past, whereas on the album cover they are going from left to right, towards the future. After the painful disaster of the "Let It Be" album and the aborted movie of the same name, during which the band bickered incessantly and eventually split up, the group decided to return to the studio for one last time to make "Abbey Road" as a loving gift for their fans. For this they made a great mutual effort to recover the group unity they had lost - a period covered in the deck by the Devil and Tower cards which immediately precede The Star. "Abbey Road" was a sparkling (twinkling?) return to form. Because stars radiate light but are very distant, they are often taken to be a symbol of hope, so this card is generally thought to be one of the most optimistic in the whole deck, introducing ideas such as nourishment, brightness, vastness, and new beginnings. The card seems to be advising me to look to the past, towards tried and true sources of love, to put my faith in old friendships to regain lost discipline and focus.

[Nemia]

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Strong beginning - lots of swords - balance - death - and total reconciliation and happiness. Not one dud, the cards were helpful and spot-on. I have to use this deck more often! It's full of energy, clear, honest, and the art is really good.

[Joan Marie]

Friday: Venus: Love & Attraction

Beauty, Power and Fear

I love the Moon card. But it makes me uneasy, as does the Moon. I think I could write a very long post about that and maybe I will in my blog journal.

In regards the idea of attraction it seems quite appropriate. I think of the tides, how the power of the moon literally pulls the oceans, how the oceans give themselves over to the Moon's forces of attraction.

But Cesare' the somnambulist looks a bit freaked out. Most Moon cards show some element of fear or resistance. Sometimes we fear exactly what we are drawn to. Maybe it is why we find it so difficult to get what we want. Or to be what we want.

Good card.

[Nemia]

This Moon card is simply wonderful! Like a scene from an Expressionist movie of the 20s.