TarotWise.com

On the Road, Off the Cuff, and In-Service to Whatever’s Out There

I got a sneak peak of Llewellyn’s Tarot of the Vampyres a few months ago and have been waiting for the finished deck ever since. My BFF at Llewellyn, Marissa Pederson, made sure that Tricia O’Reilly sent one off to me as soon as they came off the presses. I got it just in time for Spirit Connection New York’s July Message Circle. The deck is amazing. Beautifully illustrated, erotic and exotic, and highly emotive. I couldn’t wait to use it.

The energy rose perceptibly as the deck made it’s way around the circle. Each attendee shuffled it in his or her own style and then picked one card. I knew that they were all as impressed with the illustrations as I was. It also became clear that the deck was triggering reactions at a core level. I realized that I was about to face a round of tough messages. I took a deep breath as I asked the first person if I could read their card for them.

That first card was the Seven of Grails — a scantily clad young woman surrounded by snakes and staring into a cauldron. The message was for a male attendee, a sexy gentlemen from Guatemala, who was a regular. He grinned as we all took time to tease him about the sexy image before I turned to a serious interpretation. His message was that he needed to take care of business if he wanted to be able to manifest his favorite fantasies He was told to pursue his career goals first and then he would be able to take whatever he wanted from the pot at the end of the rainbow. He was encouraged to search out the self-sabotaging thoughts that might be keeping him from working up to his potential.

The next attendee I was drawn to handed me the Prince of Grails — an exotically dashing young man in a velvet smoking jacket. It was another career-oriented message. The woman who had chosen it is a writer and a psychic. The advice from spirit was to start drawing out her inner masculine in order to strengthen her professional life. Even though the purpose of her work is to nurture and heal, spirit was saying, “Bolder. More assertive. More action, less reaction.”

Judgement — a dark-eyed, pasty-skinned cat-like figure who was lunging towards the viewer with a dagger in his hand — was the next card to be presented to me. Yet another career-oriented message. This woman was changing careers, had just finished some job training, and was beginning her job hunt. The message was to relax and let interviewers come to her rather than being so aggressive about selling herself. The panther in the background of the card indicated strength that backed her up; no need to defend herself in advance just because she was nervous.

The next person to get a message, a woman who is enduring tremendous stress both professionally and in her personal life, had pulled the Ten of Knives — a buxom Greta Garbo type, draped backwards over the edge of a four-poster bed with a dagger inserted at the base of her beautiful cleavage. I sensed that this woman was trying to get help from those around her by “pantomiming” her distress. Spirit said, “Give it up. They’re never going to notice. You need to get your needs met directly and probably someplace else.”

Next to get a reading was a very gentile and self-effacing woman. She had picked the Queen of Scepters — a sultry red-head, pregnant and reclining with an aggressively-posed panther in front of her. The message was that there was much she was waiting to manifest but that she would need to bring her sensual, creative aspects closer to the surface in order to access her power and begin living the life she quietly desired.

Last but not least was the Nine of Scepters — a seductively clothed young woman in the throes of ecstasy and holding a burning cross. We ended as we began with some good-natured teasing. This attendee, a woman, is an artist and she was encouraged to let her sensuality permeate her artwork; to add color and passion to it; to let it take on a life of it’s own.

These cards are intense. The messages were equally intense and it was work to bring the messages through. But the process left everyone feeling elevated. I’m not sure how that happened but it did. It was another exciting journey through the veil via the Tarot.

© 2010 Anna Jedrziewski and InannaWorks

The Tao of Tarot: The Way to Health, Happiness and Spiritual Illumination Through QiGong Dreaming
Christina Bjergo
$24.95 (P), ISBN 978-1-84694-265-5
O Books

The tarot has always been held up as a key to esoteric wisdom. In particular, the detailed symbolism of A. E. Waite’s well-thought-out deck has been correlated with a vast array of spiritual philosophies. This author now makes the case that Taoist philosophy and QiGong practice are represented in those famous images. She believes the tarot images served as a bridge to carry Eastern esoteric wisdom back into Western society after it had been suppressed in the West for centuries.

Bjergo takes each major arcana card individually and describes its lessons and challenges. She especially focuses on what she calls QiGong Dreaming techniques, and the way in which the tarot images relate to dream images, and the healing that occurs when those images are analyzed.

The book is thorough and dense with background information from both Eastern and Western culture. It will be a good resource for those who are doing serious dreamwork and/or Jungian-based therapy

Anna Jedrziewski

Oracles in Action™
On the Road, Off the Cuff, and In-Service to Whatever’s Out There

Anything can be an oracle — crystals, photos, smoke, dried flowers, burnt paper, and, of course, tarot cards. Tarot/oracle decks are very popular. People love them. The cards not only add interest to a reading, but I think when people are diverted by looking at the pictures, they forget their fear of the unknown and drop their psychic defenses a little. That makes it easier to do a reading for them.

I do a lot of Message Circles for Spirit Connection New York, so I’m always looking for new and interesting oracle decks which will add a little extra entertainment value to the events. My most recent discovery is U.S. Games Systems’ Ask the Queens Advice Cards. It’s a forty card deck illustrated by Kris Waldherr. Lynn Araujo at U.S. Games warned me that the deck was meant to be a fun item, not an true oracle. “Bring it on,” I replied. I couldn’t wait to try it out in public. I got my chance this weekend. The deck was indeed fun, and proved to be a terrific oracle as well. Let me give you the highlights.

One attendee, with a parent who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, got a message from Queen Urraca. (Urraca was Queen of Castille and León before they became Spain. She died, at the age of forty-six, giving birth to the child of one of her lovers.) Her message was “Biology can be a bitch.” When I looked at the card I saw “can be” flashing at me. The message that I got was that the attendee was worried that she had inherited a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s. The guides were telling her that biology “can be” not “has to be” a problem. Lifestyle choices with regard to diet, exercise, social networking, and mental stimulation can alter the effects of DNA.

I did a double-take when Queen Roxanne told the next attendee, “Don’t marry a man in love with another man.” (Roxanne was the stunning beauty who married Alexander the Great. Alexander ‘s one true love was his best friend, Hephaestion.) The message was to take a look at how she might be focusing on unavailable men in order to prevent a serious relationship from forming in her life.

Then Empress Alute spoke: “If your enemies outnumber you, your days may be numbered.” (Alute died at the age of twenty and may have been poisoned with gold leaf.) This attendee, who does have some health challenges, was told that viewing other people as adversaries wasn’t helping his body recover. Time for a new mindset. There was also a sub-message: All that glitters may not be good for you.

“Marrying your husband’s brother is an iffy business,” said Queen Catherine of Aragon as I moved around the circle. (Catherine was the first wife of Henry VIII. Enough said.) The message here was for the attendee to broaden her inner circle, that her group of close friends was getting too inbred; if she wanted to meet her prince she was going to have to expand her range a little.

This was the first of three wives of Henry that came up at this circle. Overall I took that to be an abundance message for the group, perhaps with a caution about getting greedy.

Queen Artemisia spoke up next: “Don’t let your heart overrule your head.” (Artemisia fell for a boy toy who didn’t return her affection. After gouging his eyes out, she drown herself in the sea.) This turned out to be a message to toughen up. The attendee was told to take a page from Donald Trump’s book and become a little more aggressive when she was doing business.

The next message came from Queen Catherine Howard. “Don’t mess around on the king.” (Catherine, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, was a play girl who was eventually beheaded for adultery.) The attendee was told not to vent her anger by sneaking around behind the back of someone with power. Just suck it up and move on.

The last of Henry’s wives to speak, Queen Jane Seymour said, “Before you usurp your employer, consider the downside.” (Jane was engaged to Henry while Anne Boleyn was awaiting execution. She provided Henry with his only male heir but died not long afterward.) This attendee got a message not to interfere if he saw problems at his job. The person he complained to might want things to be that way. Better to mind his own business and stir clear of messes that weren’t his.

While these cards are tongue-in-cheek, the messages turned out to be seriously helpful. At the end of the session, one attendee said that all the messages had been helpful to him. I told him that a good message circle is always like that; the messages are like puzzle pieces and in the end every one goes home with the whole picture.

© 2010 Anna Jedrziewski and InannaWorks

Tarot 101: Mastering the Art of Reading the Cards
Kim Huggens
ISBN 978–0-7387-1904-7
$17.95, Paperback
Llewellyn Publications

Do you believe it’s next to impossible for any one to write an exciting, informative, new book about tarot? I admit I did, but Kim Huggens has managed to pull it off. Using her years of study and breadth of experience, she has reshuffled the deck, organized it by themes (feminine archetypes, virtues and vices, astrology, the dark side, etc.), and woven it all together with instructions on how to read the cards.

The instructions start at the beginning — where and how to pick a deck. She goes on to cover how to use and create spreads, develop intuition, and do a reading. From there the instruction becomes more advanced (working with difficult questions, handling negative information, finding inspiration, and appropriate ethics).

Huggens’ advanced studies in Antiquities and Philosophy make the discussion of symbols, keywords, and literary associations for each card particularly compelling and put her on very solid ground when she links the tarot with magic, pathworking, and Kabbalah.

Beginners who follow her instructions for working with the book, and do the exercises as written, will find themselves quickly becoming competent card readers. Tarot professionals can just look up cards and add to their existing understanding and interpretations.
This one will be a welcome addition to any tarot library. Bravo, Kim Huggens!

© Copyright 2010 Anna Jedrziewski

Reprinted from New Age Retailer with permission.

The Way of Tarot: The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards
Alejandro Jodorowsky & Marianne Costa
$26.95 (P), ISBN 978-159477263-4
Destiny Books

The beginning of this book reads like a sophisticated treasure-hunt adventure. It also happens to include a history of tarot cards which will be invaluable to people who are studying tarot seriously. It might, however, be a little too much information for the novice. Not to worry. Beginners can start at the end of the book, Part Five, The Reading of the Tarot. It contains detailed instructions with examples.

Those of us who came of age during the 60’s will remember Jodorowsky as the creator of the film, El Topo. He brings the same sense of mystery and magic to this book. Combining that with his skills as a psychotherapist, and with the help of his co-teacher Marianne Costa, he has created a thorough and insightful new work about tarot. As the title indicates, the message is always to seek insight and growth through the cards, and to treat them with the respect a sacred text deserves. Jodorowsky recounts that at one point he asked the Tarot “What kind of power are you able to give me?” and he heard the Tarot answer that “You should acquire only the power of helping others. An art that does not heal is not an art.” The tarot is meant to mirror and challenge and that is the approach this book takes.

It is not a book for “dabblers” but it will be a good investment for anyone seeking a reference they can go back to over and over again as they gain experience with the cards. Jodorowsky uses cards from the beautifully reconstructed Tarot of Marseille, published by Camoin Éditions (sales@camoin.com), throughout the book.

Anna Jedrziewski
Spirit Connection New York
New York, NY

This is a great deck! My current favorite. Lisa Hunt has combined her knowledge of fairy tales (“The fairy tale can supply a vehicle for transformation … by helping us see beyond the confines of limited thinking.”) with her understanding of the deeper esoteric teachings of the Rider-Waite Tarot. The result is an inventive and magical new oracle.

Remaining true to the symbolism of the Waite/Smith tarot wasn’t an easy task, but Hunt has managed to find a fairy tale for each card that captures Waite’s teachings. The World becomes Happily Ever After with a castle representing spiritual attainment and wholeness. The Tower becomes Deception and is illustrated by The Emperor’s New Clothes. The people in the cards are drawn with great individuality and character. I especially like Hunt’s varied portrayals of women.

The Minor Arcana cards are as lovingly drawn as the Major Arcana cards, giving us 78 little treasures which are rich with hidden faces and symbols. I hope the artwork will be used for other products

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Powerful beginning. For better or for worse. Have you thought this through?

The fire of your desire is channeled toward your goal completely. What kind of prize have you got in your sights? Are you focused on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or on an enemy?

It might seem as if things are crumbling around you, but the true energy manifesting in the earth plane now is building, not destroying. The crumbling is residue from the massive healing the planet has undergone this past year. The energies are creating out of the rubble — sometimes before what was has finished collapsing. This is the time to reach for your heart’s desires. If you spent the last six months reviewing what it is you truly want, you will be well-positioned no matter what occurs around you.

The skills you have acquired for the past decade will now be tested. You will advance proportionally to your level of competence. The weak spots will appear as misinformation, confusion, and self-doubt. Recognize these as indications of where you need to do more work.

Grasp you future in your hands and feel it in every cell of your body. Is there anything you want to change? If so, do it now or it will be too late.

Copyright © 2009 Anna Jedrziewski