The Contract Tarot – 5 of Runes

This journey just took a turn for the worse if you choose to look at it in that way! I am, however, the eternal optimist and will speak to this card in that context.

Let’s look at it a bit more closely for now.

There is really no overwhelming feature to this card. The sky is orange and red, colors of Fire. The Colosseum is a structure in ruin and it holds a history of the keywords in the card: Strife, Conflict and Discipline. The elephant, leopard, rhino, tiger and lion have a history of being part of the slaughter that once took part in the Colosseum. The axes, spear and maces are weapons used in the Colosseum. This card is meant to take you back to a time when there was no value on life of any kind. This was a time of indiscriminate violence and slaughter. This was a time of obsession and hedonism.

The symbols at the top of the card (left to right) are: Saturn, Fire and Leo. The runes are Nauthiz (conflict, primal truth) and Thurisaz (conflict, explosive violence, strife).

The Tree of Life path is Geburah (severity) in Atziluth (emanation).

I see this card as a recognition of our shadow side. This card gives us the opportunity to become aware of our relationship to conflict, to strife and to discipline. It encourages us to become more aware of nature and our responsibility to it. It also helps us to understand that the road to ruin is paved with excess, with giving away our power to others, with obsessive tendency towards acquiring and exercising our power over others and our environments. This card is an invitation to rise above that which is our primal nature, to nurture, to positively discipline ourselves to develop a healthy respect for ourselves, others and that which is part of our daily environment. This is a card of finding our inner strength and addressing our sense of rebellion.

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

The Contract Tarot 18: The Moon

“Can you feel the pull Of the moon? The dog and the wolf Howl, their natural instincts rule. Be guided by your intuition Don’t let illusion deceive you. Beware your secret and hidden fears Develop your unknown talents Introspection leads to new consciousness Let the instinctive energy Overwhelm you! Meditate! Peace, be still.”

Let’s look at the card more closely.

The dominant thing is the full moon. The mountains provide a sheltered environment and a path can be seen winding its way into the distant mountains. Two pillars stand guarding the entryway to the mountains. Along the pathway, there is a dog and a wolf howling at the moon!

The moon is all about psychological and emotional development. It speaks to the innermost, primal parts of us and encourages us to follow the path through the pillars that guard the unknown. The dog and the wolf howl our fears as we walk that path. Our greatest fears can be conquered by facing them in the stillness of our soul as we allow the moon to reflect our shadow side  and cast silvery light upon it. This is the point of breathing into the soul and quieting the mind and emotions to hear that still small voice that guides us through unknown pathways. We are vulnerable here only if we listen to the fears pronounced in the howl of the dog and the wolf.

The symbols at the bottom of the scroll (left to right) are: the Hebrew letter Qoph (back of head), the elemental sign of Water and the zodiacal sign of Pisces.

The Tree of Life pathway below the scroll is from Netzach (Victory) to Malkuth (Kingdom).

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

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!