The art of

It’s Sunday. And it is a combination of being both very windy and yet very sunny. Sand in the face due to extreme wind rules out the beach, and I am fairly hungover, so the fact that I am doing any sort of activity is a bonus. Normally I like to lie still in the sun for several hours then order pizza, and rest assured phase two of the plan will still be carried out, but I felt a sudden desire to write something to you. No doubt  you will have noticed I haven’t written anything in awhile.

You may wonder why; there is no real answer, I just haven’t. For lack of a subject, not really, for a break and a breather and an evaluation of ones goings on, possibly. I choose D, all of the above, I just wasn’t sure so I didn’t.

That’s not to say I haven’t being doing anything, quite the opposite, I’ve been doing not quite everything. One thing in particular is I have started a new project, of sorts. What the final product will be; a show, a film, I’m not sure, at this stage it’s just researching and learning, which is proving rather fun. And the subject is Tarot.

I’ve always thought I’d like to know more about it. Whether I was attracted to the visual smorgasbord depicted on the cards, or the strange kind of magic around it, D again, it posed an intriguing pull. Whether this project comes to anything or not, I am excited to finally feel like I am getting to look behind the curtain, and start to grasp at an understanding.

I started with the basics.

There are 78 cards in a deck and these are split into the 56 Minor Arcana and the 22 Major Arcana. The Minor Arcana divide into four suits, with 10 pip cards in each numbering from ace to ten, and 4 court cards: Page, Knight, Queen, King. Similar to a regular deck, but instead of Hearts, Clubs, Spades and Diamonds, in Tarot you have Cups, Wands, Swords and Pentacles.

Each suit has different associations and moods that come with it. Wands represents the element of fire, and is concerned with inspiration and creativity and passion. Cups is water, and is emotion and feeling and love. Swords are Air, they are action and intellect and conflict. And Pentacles are earth. They are material aspects like work, and home and stuff, but also serve as a reminder that there are two sides to every coin.

The Major Arcana, meaning ‘great or big secrets’, represents the most fundamental energies of life. Some of them are characters, individuals who personify a certain quality, such as the Hermit and the Fool, some are ideas or themes, such as strength and judgement. While others are tangible elements, and are deeper forces at work: the moon, the sun, the star.

It’s interesting to encounter these cards and find you have natural associations with them even before you have looked up their meaning. For example ‘Death’ is the most feared and misunderstood card: but it is not an omen of whats to come, yet so many people would think its presence bad. On the contrary Death is a positive card, it is all about transition and new beginnings. As Maria says,” When the lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window”.

There is the matter of shuffling to take into consideration, whilst preparing to deal. Advice on the subject encourages a relaxed, meditative state. Breathing in and out, thinking about whatever it is that you’ve been thinking about and wanting to gauge some wisdom on. It may sound silly but i think you need to focus, to allow the energy to flow from you into the cards and be able to gain some kind of understanding. Like I said, there is a certain kind of magic to Tarot, laugh if you like, but I’d like to believe in it.

Layout is a whole different story. There are many, many different ways to do it, and how you spread depends on the subject and what your asking, and also your own personal style. There is no real rule book on this, as experts suggest when you’ve tried a couple out go ahead and try some of your own. Figuring out what makes sense and rings true with what you’re asking, which is going to take some time and practice.

But I have been practicing. Not to brag and say I’m excellent and a natural eerie talent, but I’m practicing, and I have to say I’m really enjoying it. Sometimes a card will just make so much sense and provide some much needed clarity, others will fall with no real significance and confuse the situation even more. It makes me wonder if perhaps my thoughts themselves were confused, and I need to get better at the meditation side of things.

But revelation or no, there’s something kind of special and exhilarating about it; the moment before you turn over a card and you get a little rush, that moment of feeling right on the edge of discovery. Its a wonderful feeling.

So I’m going to keep practicing. I want to gain some confidence in the cards, I want them to know me, and me to know them. Recognition of the different meanings happens slowly; when I draw a card from a previous reading is like seeing a familiar face, I know you- what’s your name again?  But like any bigger picture, it takes the sum of all the parts to derive your meaning. Being able to bring each card together, and look at their relation to one another to truly understand.

Something that will take patience, and diligence and balance. Me being an excitable sometimes rash, most times passionate and stubborn girl this is something I will need to work on. But I didn’t expect this to be easy.

I think Charlie is also quite enjoying the Tarot. She perches on the edge of the action, the occasional paw making a sudden bid into the fray to claim a card. How very witchy poo that I even have the black cat, perhaps that’ll help me get in the zone.

Also on the subject of charlie, as you haven’t had word on her in so long I am sure you are on the edge of your seat for news; she’s starting to get a little fat. In my personal opinion fat cats are better cats so I in no way see this as failure, but am dreading the upcoming vet appointment just a tad. No one wants the guilt of a fat child, just ask the people on the Biggest Looser.