The Contract Tarot – Inspiration of Virtues and Cosmic Principles

In traditional decks, the Inspiration of Virtues and Cosmic Principles would represent the Page of the suit of Cups. Inspiration, like the Page, is a messenger. This card is about the messages in our emotions.

Let’s take a closer look at the card.

The background shows the dendrites and nucleus of a nerve cell. The word is Empathy. We feel empathy when we connect with the energies of others. We vicariously experience what they are feeling.

The next image is a goldfish in a lightbulb. The word is Creativity. Creativity opens us up to possibility thinking. It subdues fear and explodes potential. It is counter-intuitive at some levels and shows us a different perspective. It is unique, inspired and feels good.

The image at the bottom is the Tree of Grief. The word is Grace. While Grace in itself is not an emotion, grief is. We find Grace when we experience grief. Grace is mercy, it is protected and sanctified by God. It is the bittersweetness that follows heavy grief as we dwell on what we have lost but know, really know, that whatever is lost is now at the mercy of the Divine. It is the bridge between grief and peace.

So, this card is about the messages of our emotions. It is how we connect, not only with the Divine, but with all things. It is Love on every level.

The symbol above the ‘C’ is for Pisces. The symbols above the ‘P’ are Earth and Water.

The Tree of Life path is Malkuth (kingdom) in Beriah (creation).

What do you see in this card? How would you interpret it?

I have appointments tomorrow, so, until Friday… Love, light and blessings!

The Contract Tarot 20: Release

“I find Release In the Universe! Resolution and renewal Weave into unity In the vast expanse of Spirit! See Life in the reflection of reality Unlimited possibility Childlike healing Loving and giving Rewards and revealing The humanity of the Soul Release!”

This card is the amalgamation of the Angel/Judgement card and the Aeon. What do you see in this card?

The volcanic eruption that you see is mirrored in the cosmic volcanic eruption captured by NASA in the cosmos. So there is eruption on earth and in the heavens. A lemniscate appears in the eruption signifying an eternal cycle.

While the imagery in this card appears simple, the meaning is profound. This is about an eruption, a release, a resolution, renewal… This is about spiritual awakening, making a decision and, in the making of the decision, releasing your mind, heart and soul from the conflict of decision making and getting on with implementation of the result. This is about breaking a habit, erupting from your shackles, your limitations and releasing the energy to make room for renewal and growth. This is about fully realising the cycle of growth: from decay of a belief or value to shedding it to adopting a new, more resourceful belief or value. We have to die to ourselves, just a little bit, to shed our skin, to push beyond our self-imposed boundaries to grow. There is release, there is eruption, there is abundant energy in this exercise.

The symbols on the bottom of the scroll are (from left to right): the Hebrew letter of Shin (tooth), the elemental symbol of Fire and the astrological symbol of Pluto.

The Tree of Life path is from Hod (Splendor) to Malkuth (Kingdom).

What do you see in this card? How would you interpret it?

The Contract Tarot 16: The Tower

“The Tower comes down all around you And with it Core beliefs that no longer serve you You are struck down Your soul is laid bare Let the lightning of comprehension Destroy errors and ignorance Release your illusions once and for all The rainbow of enlightenment Answers the call of your soul Clear your karma Achieve equilibrium As the dust settles around you Allow the energy To create anew.”

Let’s take a look at this card.

It seems quite simple, doesn’t it? A red sky (the color of Mars and fire), a dry and spartan landscape with lightning flashing, a tower falling and a rainbow illuminating possibility all appear quite simple and straightforward. But this is the card of the Tower.

Whether the Tower is brought crumbling down due to a bolt out of the sky or by having foundations taken away, this card tells us that something fundamental is shifting, crumbling and falling away. It happens quickly and without warning almost blindsiding us and knocking the wind out of us. However it happens, it challenges our core beliefs and shakes us from complacency and illusion. Once the dust settles, we can see a rainbow.

The rainbow of enlightenment reminds us that, to see what is on the horizon, we have to remove all the rubbish in the way. Sometimes, this means our own core beliefs need to change as the old are no longer valid and no longer serve us. Sometimes, this means that we have to open our eyes to the expectations we have placed on others and ourselves, the expectations we have about another’s behaviours, attitudes or how they should ‘be’ for us and around us. Sometimes, we just have to let go of the clouds we have around us buffering us from the outside world and face the outside world instead. When we do, we see more clearly and that is our reward ~ clarity, insight and enlightenment. Is it easy or pretty? Usually, not. Is it painful? Most of the time.

The symbols on the bottom of the scroll (left to right): the Hebrew letter Peh (mouth), the elemental symbol for Fire, and the zodiacal symbol for Mars. Below the scroll, the Tree of Life path is Netzach (Victory) to Hod (Splendor).

What do you see in this card? How do you interpet it?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

33: Striding forward with… anchors

What anchors you? When you think about anchors, what comes to mind?

Anchors can be things that weigh you down, that get you stuck, that become immobile and unmovable. Anchors can be things that stabilise you and provide a solid centre from which you can explore. Anchors, in NLP, are those small things you create that will reflexively trigger a mental, emotional or physical state or association.

So how do you think about anchors? How do you create anchors in your life? Can you examine the anchors that exist and decide if they still serve you so you can consider consciously making changes?

We are all creators. We create ritual. We create what our day looks like and how it will unfold. We look for common themes and embrace standardisation so we can ‘feel’ some element of control. We like things that always look one way or a process that is the same regardless of franchise visited, form filled in or examination endured. These standards become anchors.

When anchors are removed, we feel uncomfortable and unsettled. However, if we identify anchors that keep us stuck, we can choose to consciously remove them. We can choose to simply lift them and drift – go with the flow – or we can lift them and replace them with a different, more resourceful anchor. What do you choose?

Today, I have drawn the 3 of Wands – Virtue. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

This card reveals the Sun in Aries and is all about creation and birth, established strength and hope realised. The three lotus wands, the 10 straight and 10 curved flames all point to creation. The Sun can be found in the colour of the wands, the 10 white straight flames and the golden colour of the card itself. The energies in this card draw from the Ace and 2 of Wands that precede it. There is power, natural creative impulse and force here.

This card encourages me to continue on my creative path and to take heart as my hopes will be realised. The energy of the day is around natural creative impulse and force and admonishes me to trust my intuition.

How will your day unfold for you?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

 

28: Trailblazing… a different perspective

I started today quite pleased that I had successfully created 3 out of 78 of the Tarot cards. The Fool, Death and The Universe cards are three of the main characters in the book I am writing.

Several things struck me about these three cards.

They are all part of the same endless cycle.

There is newness in every day, in every task we undertake, in every breath, in every person we meet.

There is death in every day, in every occurrence of surrender, in everything we throw away, in every character we delete from the page, in every day when we arise.

There is completion of tasks, a finality to every day, to every project, to every endeavor, to childhood.

The perspective is different every single time. Nothing is the same except the cycle. How you choose to enjoy this never ending journey is where true joy or deep despair can be found. Do you embrace newness, change, difference, breathing? or do you find yourself rigid, resisting and holding your breath? Give yourself permission to breathe! Give yourself permission to experience and find wonder, beauty and joy!

Today, I have drawn the 6 of Disks – Success! I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

This card is beautiful and full of magick!! Just look at it… it looks like a supernova! Can you see the layers, the depth, the beautiful colours and striking textures? The sharp stiletto of the points of the star… the soft, rounded edges to the circles… the beautiful rose in the centre is so full of brilliant!

There is so much to see here in this dominantly hexagram shaped image. First, the Rosy Cross in the centre. This is the Sun in Tiphareth showing 49 blue-lined petals on five red-lined squares. This is surrounded by the six planet orbs arranged in a formation reminiscent of the Tree of Life. The energies of Geburah (severity) and Chesed (mercy) within Tiphareth (beauty). This is the Moon in Taurus in a happy arrangement.

This card is all about success. There is balance and fertile energies manifesting in the material world.

This card speaks to me about success but not in a get-rich-quick way. The layers I see are bubbling with energy and lie behind the brilliant image to which our eyes are immediately drawn.

This card is telling me to lay firm foundations (the very deep colours of the background in this card – it looks like the colour of soil that has been furrowed and plowed).

This card also tells me that great energy is required to get things going (the red-orange colour of Taurus) and to keep things sustained (the blue colour of the Moon) before, in a brilliant explosion of everything coming together to transform action into something of substance (the stiletto rayed explosion of the star), success can be manifest and found (the brilliant image of everything ordered to produce the light of the Sun – the Rosy Cross representing Tiphareth).

Success can be sweet but it can also come with thorns and needs to be respected and handled carefully. All the energy expended to create success can exhaust and weaken the participants to a point where success cannot be maintained. Weeds will grow and choke off further growth and development if success is not tempered with planning for viability and sustainability. Fertiliser is occasionally needed, hoeing is required, sometimes supports are required to help hold up the heavy blooms that sweeten our garden. Watering is needed, praise from the light of the sun and cool breezes to temper the heat of the day.

How do you perceive success? Is it a brilliant explosion borne from energy and action? Is it the end result of laying a good foundation and planning for viability and sustainability? How do you measure success? What does it look like to you?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

26: Trailblazing… communing with the inner voice

I’m exhausted, already! I woke up full of energy and ready to get started on creating cards for the Tarot deck. Then, it hit me! So much in my head that I had to put it all down in a flurry of activity and before it went… poof!… completely gone from my thoughts. That is exhausting!

I have been communing with my inner voice this morning, listening to my inspiration, my muse and capturing the essence as she comes and goes at will with great haste. It seems like she appears, then realises she forgot something and leaves, only to appear once more with additional insight, then leaves again, then comes back… you can see why I was so mentally exhausted by this!

Communing with the inner voice comes at a cost. The price you pay is the price of the energy expended to support the exercise. Usually, it isn’t a problem. Usually, when she pays a visit, it is a calm, easy exchange and she delivers inspiration in measured doses of gentleness. When she’s like this, however, she is a bit of a madam!

Today, I will commune with my inner voice and offer the gentleness she usually proffers back to her.

How do you communicate with your muse? From where do you find inspiration? To what inner voice do you listen?

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

Art has appeared for me before. I have a more complete description of this card in my post 21: Trailblazing… remembering to rest.

Look at her! She has two heads, one black, one white! She has six breasts and she displays them with pride! She is mixing a potion in her cauldron and the lion and the eagle seem to be quite keen to be fed. She is full of herself as the inner voice that speaks to her is broadcast behind her on a golden disk! What is this madam? Is she quiet arrogance or gentle moderation? Is she the still small voice or the blinding, slap-you-in-the-face reality of current thoughts and actions? She is an image of bizarre proportions yet she radiates slow, peaceful, determined movement.

She is moderation. She is testing. She is fundamental.

Today, I shall commune with my inner voice. I will do things in moderation, calmly and patiently testing my fundamental knowledge as I create.

What will your day be like? Do you do things in moderation? Do you test your creations, calmly and patiently? Have you tested your fundamental knowledge?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

24: Trailblazing… forging ahead

Yesterday was a fabulous day! I made real headway with the deck and am looking forward to another working day of creative inspiration.

So, today is about forging ahead. When I think of that phrase, I think about the hard work that is done in a forge. It requires strength, fortitude, heat, pressure, pounding, forming and loads of vision. Can you imagine bringing to life something so beautiful from a semi-formless piece of hot metal? It takes honed craftwork and loads of skill to be a master of this.

What tools are used? A hammer, anvil, pincers, air, heat, gloves, apron, visor, etc. What strikes me here (no pun intended), is that while all this fabulous work is being done, the craftsman is very well protected from injury. What this says to me is that, while crafting in the esoteric or spiritual forge, I must take care to guard myself from injury. It’s easy to forget that spiritual work can cause injury as well as crafting beautiful outcomes.

While forging ahead today, I will guard against injury – physical, spiritual, emotional, mental. Are you keeping yourself from harm?

Today, I have drawn Lust – XI. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

This is a very striking card! Look at her all laid back and naked, riding such a magnificent beast! This is such a beautiful card and there is so much to it!

Let’s take a closer look. The woman and the beast are the most prevalent elements of this card but there is a lot more to see!

Let’s start with the images at the top of the card. The image in the centre is the womb, the Holy Grail. Within it is the energy of the sun and moon, distilled and co-mingled. On the horizon of it are 10 rays representing the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life and indicating the dawn of new life. The arrangement of 10 horns represents creative force.

The Beast has seven heads. Many will associate this with the beast in the book of Revelations. Many will associate this with the seven deadly sins. In the Thoth, the seven heads are: an angel, a saint, a poet, an adulterous woman, a man of valor, a satyr and a lion-serpent. These are all aspects of Crowley himself… naughty boy. But take heart, these seven heads can be aspects about those who inquire as well. These seven heads also represent the 7 chakras which are activated by the energy of the union between the Beast and the lady.

The woman is representing Babylon, the scarlet woman of the Bible. She is laid back in ecstasy and is looking at the lion-serpent (phallus) tail of the Beast. The lion-serpent tail represents Kundalini energy and has a nimbus of 13 rays, the Hebrew number indicating unity and love. The Beast is gazing at the Holy Grail.

The woman is demonstrating willful dominance of the Beast. By tradition, women have the power to arouse, harness and direct the animal nature.

The Beast is trodding on the saints who were denied sexual and magical power due to their vows of chastity and purity.

This card is all about power and energy being harnessed. This could suggest sexual power and energy but not love.

This is an appropriate card for my activities today. I will be harnessing power and energy to forge a creative endeavour. This card suggests I will be successful if I can willfully dominate and direct my energies.

How will you control the power and energy in your day to successful accomplish your tasks? Can you activate your chakras to enable your success? How will lust consume you today?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

 

 

20: Trailblazing… finding a path

I am looking for a path… a way forward to help me embed knowledge of the cards into my memory so references are only used infrequently and I can start allowing my intuition into the process. This will result in my understanding of the cards to be ‘second-nature’ and will increase my confidence.

I remember, way back when I was in school, that one of the methods employed to embed information was to use flash cards. It wasn’t just the creation of the flash cards that helped with this, it was utilising the flash cards to challenge and fill in the gaps in memory. I used to write information down in more than one way to help embed information but, as I find it difficult to physically write down information any more as it is difficult for me to hold a pen, I cannot employ this method now.

I intend to make symbolic flash cards so ‘writing’ will be only as needed and pictures, colors and symbols will replace words in most instances. For this, I can use a collage technique if I need to and I can use pens that are more fluid over the paper or colored pencils when I need to have additional control. I won’t have to create them all in one day and, if I realistically pace myself, I expect to have this task finished for my Tarot cards within 2-3 months. Creating these cards will be the most helpful thing I will do. In fact, they may just be my own Tarot deck by the time I finish! (Now, that’s a thought!)

Have you ever thought of creating your own Tarot deck? What methods will you employ?

Today, I have drawn The Devil, XV. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

I love this card! It is so FULL and so fabulous!

This card is primal and creative energy! It is spiritual enlightenment, phallic, suggestive of DNA and spiral galaxies, and orgiastic, creative potential of the universe. The Fool and the Magus are represented here in creative impulse and divine will. There is replication at work through mitosis and the genetic material of our cells.

This cards speaks of instinctual, creative process – drive, determination, ambition and the motivation to improve.

This is a fabulous card for my day! I will need this motivation and drive to improve and the determination to focus on my task at hand. I love that I am being supported by creative energy and the spiritual enlightenment this card suggests. My day should be fruitful and I need to get started!

How will you create today? What motivation do you need to manage your tasks? Is your day full of creative energy and potential?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

19: Pathfinding… working through

I woke up a bit groggy this morning. I’m even thinking about going back to bed for a bit. My body is adjusting to new levels of a drug I am taking for my neuropathy pain. I have just adjusted it – per doctor’s advice, of course – and it will take a few days for my body to accommodate it as well. However, I am compelled to work through it and soldier on ~ as the saying goes.

Working through the groggy head, working through pain, working through limitations, working through self-imposed timelines, working through expectations… our lives revolve around working through… to what?

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

This is such a striking and brilliantly coloured card! Let me tell you what I see…

I see a torch with 10 flames emanating from it. There are green lightning flashes and red flames surrounding this wand.

This card screams Tree of Life as the 10 flames are the ten Sephiroth and they are shooting forth the energy of the Sephiroth. This card is about energy, natural forces and creation.

Today, this card tells me that I will have the energy to create whatever comes naturally to me. It is positive, dynamic and vibrant.

So, what will you create today? Are you energetic, dynamic and vibrant ~ full of creative force and natural positivity? Are you lightning and fire, flame and desire?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

15: Pathfinding… managing molasses

It’s been a molasses morning and the day seems to be heading in the same direction. I don’t know if it’s a sign of old age, but there are times I do things and then a few days later I can’t seem to remember what I did with what I did!!! 🙂

It feels as if I am trapped in a bit of mire today. Every time I try to move forward, I seem to be stuck in the muck and dragged two steps back. So… as fighting this takes soooo much energy and time, I’ve decided to do what I can from where I am. I am managing the day stuck in molasses. <sticky stuff this is>

Today, I have drawn The Universe, XXI. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

It is no wonder I am feeling stuck in molasses! This card is so full of symbols and hidden meanings that it is easy to get stuck here until you ‘get’ what this is trying to tell you.

This card seems to confound most. I have looked at DuQuette’s, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, and have trawled the internet. Most of what I find alludes to The Vision and the Voice, another Aleister Crowley text.

I will tell you what I see. I see a woman in the centre of a large circle. Behind her is a glyph which is difficult to fully see. Under her head is a tablet, a paper? She is standing on the head of the serpent and she is using a tool (a scythe, a harp) to release the energy from the black sun in the middle of a golden eye. The serpent appears to be part of this energy. There appear to be nine rays emanating from this eye and this ties to the nine rays (what I now know to be nails) emanating from the rose behind the head of the priest in The Hierophant. You will notice the four animal/beings in the corners of this card, The Universe, correspond to the same creatures in the four corners of The Hierophant card. They are the four fixed signs of the zodiac: Leo (lion), Taurus (bull), Aquarius (eagle) and Scorpio (man/angel). In The Universe, these creatures are spewing forth energy of their own. The other item I note is the architectural temple which, for some, will denote the periodic table of elements.

The Universe is the 21st Major Arcana card. It is the end of The Fool’s journey and the beginning of a new one. With this, there is reluctance to leave what we know to start something anew. We grow complacent in our comfort. However, this card suggests that we will begin a new journey as the energy has already been released and cannot be contained. We are forced to coalesce our knowledge, to crystallise it and use it as a foundation and a philosopher’s stone as we undertake a new adventure. We have the serpent at our feet and we reach for the stars. Time is running out as we strengthen our grip on the known and remain reluctant to, once again, be the new initiate. A new job, a new relationship, a new project, a new home, a new journey, a new… What is it that you are reluctant to undertake? The Universe reminds us that it is the normal cycle of life… we must let go and embrace our future or we are dragged down in the mire of our own making.

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!