The Contract Tarot

From here, I will begin writing about the book I am writing and the Tarot deck I am creating.

The book I am writing is titled, The Contract. The Tarot deck I am creating supports the book as the book is based on the Tarot. I will be writing this under my pseudonym of Louise Deveraux.

Because the book is based on the Tarot and I am creating a Tarot deck, I will use this forum to introduce and write about the cards. I am basing the cards on the Thoth Tarot and adding a twist of Lenormand Oracle to them.

The idea for this book came from a vivid dream. The story line, the main characters and the setting were all revealed to me in this dream and I continue to have dreams about this when I need clarification. The book is like a jigsaw puzzle as you put the pieces together to make the whole. It is a bit of a mystery, a bit of a romance.

The book won’t be written like a traditional novel. Instead, it is more like a play and the players are the cast of characters my dream exposed to me. The setting(s) switch much like a set would on a stage and the narrator helps us keep the story going. I have yet to decide if this book will be written from start to finish or as a series of vignettes tied together by a central theme.

I hope you will decide to follow my progress here.

Tomorrow, I will introduce you to the Tarot card, the Fool. I will discuss the symbols, the colours, the aspects of the card so you will know exactly what the card is about, what the symbols mean and discuss the verse. The verses on all the cards are poetry I have written, or rather poetry I have channeled.

I will leave you with this… the back of the deck.

I hope to see you again. Until then… Love, light and blessings!

23: Trailblazing… distilling elements

Yesterday, I focused on productivity. I was engaged in distilling elements to put on to the cards I am making for the deck to accompany the book I am writing. It is a work of fiction and it is taking shape.

It is difficult to distill information in such a way as to release the extraneous until the purest elements remain. There is a conflict that ensues as you ‘weigh up’ what you will keep and what you will throw away. There is a ‘gray space’ that rises up to meet you as you begin separating out information. There will always be imperfect items that, in some instances, are vital but, in most instances, are not.

This seems to exist in any project-oriented task. What do you keep and what do you throw away? How do you ‘weigh up’ the value of any single element? How does the single element co-exist with the many pieces that give form and shape to an idea? Is consistency key to carry through the project? What elements need to appear in every instance? What elements can you pick and choose without losing the integrity of the project?

Okay, now I’m exhausted from just the thought of what lies ahead. This is where I remind myself to just take one step at a time and to trust it will all come together the way it should… without worry… without stress. (Breathe, remember to breathe!)

Today, I have drawn the Princess of Cups. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

Now, she’s a beauty! She’s a bit green, but I love her gown!  Wow!

Let’s talk about what she really is about. She has the swan as her crest and this is attributed to Venus (Libra). Ten rays emanate from this crest and this is the number of Malkuth and the Earth. She is the Princess of the Earth, the base and primal bit, tied to fantasy and dreams. She holds a cup containing a turtle in her left hand and a lotus in her right hand. The turtle is tied to Cancer and demonstrates the influence of her father, the Knight of Cups. The lotus symbolises that she accepts expression of the emotional realm.

There are 11 hexagonal crystals on her gown. This not only symbolises Earth and Water but the hexagonal shape is symbolic the balance of Tiphareth and 11 is the number of magick. The fish is a stylized dolphin and this represents the influence of her mother, the Queen of Cups, and ties to the Empress (4 pectoral fins) linking her to Venus.

She is all about imagination, intuition and grace. She is emotionally unstable, childish and unrealistic. She is quite social.

So, what is the message for me today? Perhaps, it is about being realistic with what I can accomplish in one day or not being emotionally tied to the project I am undertaking. Perhaps, it is about allowing my imagination and intuition room to play.

Today promises to be quite an interesting day with this young lady in my cards. How will your day unfold? Will you allow time for play as well as work? Will you be realistic about what and how much you can accomplish without becoming emotionally unstable, tied to outcomes and putting yourself under pressure?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

17: Pathfinding… cutting through

I had a dream last night that helped me greatly in progressing my project. The dream was about the Tarot and I was looking at various Tarot spreads. Someone gently whispered to me: “The Tarot is all about the story you see unfolding before you. All you need to do is to tell the story of what you see. Nothing more.” Well, that cut right through all the muck, didn’t it?

So when I got up this morning, I had my cup of coffee and returned the cup to the sink. I then opened the refrigerator and noticed that the top shelf was quite sticky. Ahhh! My husband was making jelly (jello for those in the US) and spilled one before it had set. He cleaned it up as best he could without stripping the shelf and, overnight, the jelly had set and, as jelly is mostly sugar, the shelf was a mass of sweet stickiness. So, I began stripping the shelf to find that I would have to do the same all the way through the refrigerator as the jelly liquid had dripped at the back all the way down through the other two shelves into the vegetable drawer. What a fun way to begin the day! As I was washing shelves, my hand encountered a knife in the sink and I cut my middle finger. Immediately, my mind went back to my dream and the way it so clearly cut through my dilemma. I finished my project and then bandaged my finger.

Simplicity cuts through confusion. It is simple to think that all I need do is tell the story. Tell the story… just tell the story. I was caught in that ancient but effective trap of making things harder than they need to be. I was worried about the finite detail and I was being reminded to just tell the story. Getting the story down will enable me to go back and fill in the gaps. Simple, simple, simple!

Today, I have drawn the 2 of Swords – Peace. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

This is the first time I have looked at this card and really focused upon it. Immediately, I see two crossed swords. They cross through a blue rose. The origami windmill-type figures symbolise the movement of air and the two swords (one at the bottom and one of the top) represent the moon (top) and Libra (bottom). On the guard of the two crossed swords are to figures kneeling in prayer and in the centre of the guard is a dove.

This card is about peace and balance. It is quite appropriate to today as it takes swords to cut through the muck to attain the simplicity of peace and balance.

(My husband just cut his middle finger on the same knife I did… go figure!) So, it looks like we are both being reminded to cut through the muck and to stop making things harder than they need to be. If we are successful, we will find the peace and balance of simplicity. What could be better?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

8: Pathfinding… creating a dream

It is very rare for me to have a dreamless sleep. It is rarer still for me to forget what I dreamed. My dreams are vivid and full of imagery, story, colour, smells, sounds, textures and feeling. They are atmospheric and layered in nuance. My challenge is to take those dreams and turn them into story or craft that convey what I have dreamed. I am truly blessed to have such fabulous dreamscapes. Do you enjoy dreams that inspire you to create? Invite creative dreams into your sleep and choose to remember them. It will change your life!

Today, I have drawn Art XIV. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

What a magnificent card! Art is the assimilation of what started in the Lovers VI. You can see most of the same elements here that appeared in the Lovers. However, these elements have been assimilated, transmuted and are the completion of the ideas represented in the Lovers. Art is life being brought forth through creation by the figure – here, the combination of the Empress and the Emperor.

Following on from yesterday and activities surrounding my book, this card is quite encouraging. It brings forth a new creation by the intermingling of diverse elements. Diversity, blending, new creation, and harmony are all key to success.

As the book I am writing is a fiction with nearly 100 characters, it is all of these things including compromise, evaluation and re-evaluation, consistency and creativity. Balancing all these characters on the backdrop of scenes and plots can be quite an exercise in creative resourcing drawn from organisational skill, descriptive language and weaving a seamless and consistent line of adventure.

Now, I must get back to work. Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

7: Pathfinding… answering the call

I find I am very restless today as my book is ‘calling’ to me to begin the task of putting into words what I have learned thus far and to expose places that need more information and research. So, today I will do a ‘brain dump’ and flesh out the beginnings of the book I ‘need’ to write to exorcise it from my very being. This is the same ‘calling’ I get every time I do a creative work. Inspired by a dream, the seeds are planted and I am driven to pull all the elements together and allow my hands to ‘channel’ what comes to the atmosphere of my mind through my inspired spirit. Amazement follows as I look upon the final piece of wondrous art that has me absolutely perplexed as to how it arrived. The ingredients, the colours, the textures, the fine detail, the abstract look, the ‘secret’ that is buried but remains obvious to see, if one really looks – all come together in a graceful fluidity of spirit, mind and hand that is a true miracle to behold. How inspired works are created… What is your calling and how do you create?

Today, I did not draw a card. Three cards fell out during shuffling and turned themselves face-up to be seen. I will use these three cards for my draw today. Today, I have drawn the 6 of Cups – Pleasure, the Lovers VI and the Queen of Wands – Reversed. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris. What do these 3 cards tell me about my day?

	I think I want to stop with this card. The 6 of Cups is the card of beginnings/commencement of pleasure, of well-being, harmony, ease and satisfaction. It corresponds to balance and this is the card that helps us see balance in our emotions as we move from a tumultuous 4&5 of Cups forward. We get a grand respite that allows us pleasure. However, this is a commencement card, a beginnings card and reminds us that we can’t rest of our laurels just yet.So, I choose to see this card as a messenger of a pleasant day as I begin my work on my book. It reminds me that today will be a day of ease, harmony and well-being if I allow it.
	What a another wonderful card to draw for today! It demonstrates the Lovers but the card is not really about the Lovers but the child of their union. It is about the orphic egg, the essence of all life. This is a fabulous card for creative process.I choose to see this card demonstrating to me that not only am I doing what I love to do, the child I am bringing to life is beginning to take shape and come together.
	Whereas the upright version of the Queen of Wands demonstrates a woman who is enterprising, good willed, nurturing, a good businesswoman, economical, virtuous and the all-round ‘super woman’ we aspire to today, the reverse isn’t the opposite but is more extreme. The reverse is about extravagance, manipulation, inflexibility, difficult, and feverish in endeavours.I choose to see this card as a reminder that, though my day is full of pleasurable growth and development of my book, it is also possible to become focused on one thing only and thus impede my progress. It is a reminder that I should stay open and consider my goal for today in a more knit 1, perl 2 sort of way so I accomplish something in a balanced fashion.

Overall, today is about enjoying the process of beginning the book. It is about being cognisant of becoming too focused on any one thing and taking pleasure from keeping everything balanced and in good order. Perhaps this is a way of saying, just write what you know and then go back and identify gaps for further research. It isn’t imperative to try to ‘research’ today. There is always tomorrow.

I hope your day will be as pleasurable and balanced as my day is appearing to be. Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!