The Contract Tarot – 10 of Runes

Tens are about completion. Not completion in the sense of being done with a thing and having nothing more to do with it. No, this is about completion that is a culmination of everything that has come before. We have finished this part of the journey and are completing, all the while knowing that we are not starting over from scratch, we are starting over from a point of experience and hard won knowledge. There is a distinct difference.

The 10 of Runes is about oppression from external forces. Let’s look at the card more closely.

A bear is dressed like the grim reaper. He stands with scythe in front of a stock ticker for the NASDAQ.  His keyword is Consequences. He also stands in front of a mass of lava from an erupting volcano. The keyword here is Destruction. Standing on top of this volcano, feet firmly planted in the hot mire, is the multi-colored sacred cow of money or finances.  The keyword here is Oppression. Rising above all this is the phoenix, a mythological bird of rebirth, hope and survival.

Now… most people dread seeing this card come up. I would encourage you to shift your perspective to a more resourceful one. While this card shows us that we are under oppressive energies that have, most usually, the consequences of destruction, it is not just showing us this. It also shows us that out of the oppression, consequences and destruction rises rebirth, hope and survival. There is another side to this story. It is one of overcoming, learning from our consequences and being smarter and taking destruction and creating beauty and regrowth from it.

On a personal note: typically Tarot cards will show this card with the negative connotations associated with it. It is up to the reader to encourage the Querent to try to find something here besides destruction and doom. As a Querent, however, if you are presented this card, you only seem to think and take away negativity. As an eternal optimist and someone who loves balance and making things easy for most, I had to add the phoenix. It was appropriate for me. 

Let’s look at the symbols on the card.

Saturn, Fire and Sagittarius are at the top of the card. The runes under Saturn are: Nauthiz (personal growth and life lesson, consequences from past actions), Jera (cyclical process, right timing), Perthro (evolutionary force, doom). The runes under Sagittarius are Thurisaz (destruction by natural forces, regenerative catalyst), Ihwaz (movement toward Enlightenment, destruction), Hagalaz (crisis and catastrophe, changes for the long-term good).

The Tree of Life path is Malkuth (kingdom) in Atziluth (emanation).

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

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

The Contract Tarot – The Ace of Runes

Aces of any suit are seed cards. They carry the very essence of whatever will bloom from the suit when harvested. They are the very beginning, the potential locked inside. This is where you will find strength, energy and creativity of any venture, any idea, any issue, any foundation, any belief, any value, etc. It is from here, if the seed is viable, that germination begins to unfold!

Let’s unfold this card and see what it has to offer.

It is obvious, from the keywords, that this card is one of creativity; creative strength when you tap into universal inspiration, creative energy when you activate the very mitochondria of every cell in your physical being to act and the very essence of your spiritual being to transmute and transform the inspirational idea into meaningful and healing creative energy.

This card is also one of strength; strength that we find when we are creative and feel the inspired spirit moving within us; strength that we find when we allow our physical bodies the time they need to rest and regenerate and our spiritual bodies the time they need to renew and refuel the very essence of us through meditative practice and fostering an attitude of gratitude.

This card is also one of energy; the energy we have and can harness when we trust our divine essence and the energy we derive from giving love and allowing.

The symbols on this card are not only astrological, elemental and kabbalistic but also the symbols of runes. Runes have many meanings associated with each of them as do most divinatory tools. So I will give you my explanation for why I used the ones chosen.

Let’s get through everything but the runes for now: at the top of the card are the astrological symbols of Aries, Leo an Sagittarius. At the bottom of the card is the element symbol for Fire and the Hebrew letter, Yod, which is a Tetragrammaton Attribute and the Hebrew letter meaning Fist. The Tree of Life place is Kether (crown) in the world Atziluth (Nearness, Emanation).

The runes I used were: (below Aries) Nauthiz (innovation, personal development and life lessons), Perthro (fate, evolutionary change), Algiz (higher self, awakening), Sowilo (wholeness, success, life purpose) and Laguz (unconscious growth, collective memory); and (below Sagittarius) Uruz (formation, manifestation) , Thurisaz (strong one), Kenaz (artistic or technical ability, transformation, ken), Wunjo (perfection, accomplishment) and Hagalaz (radical change, completion).

What is your interpretation of this card? How do you see it?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!