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windinthemaplesAs part of my Summer Solstice ritual yesterday, I cast cards for a tarot reading concerning my work with Lady Black this lunar month. It seems like I'm in for quite a demanding first month with the Temple Colors! If you have additional thoughts on the cards I've pulled and how they relate to the essence of Black, I'd love to hear them. :)
(I'm using my beloved Tarot of Jane Austen for the reading and will do my best to describe how the cards differ from the standard.)
1. My Plea to Black: 7 of (Tea)cups
2. The Lady Responds: The Lovers
3. The Month's Growth Centers On: 10 of Quills (Swords)
4. Her Token If I Choose to Grow: 9 of (Tea)cups
1. In the 7 of Teacups, Emma's Harriet sits at tea. She's drinking from a cup, but her eyes are elsewhere, either in dream or in boredom. Above her float six other teacups with the image of handsome suitors in each. I share her state. I was born with Venus in Scorpio and so I'm emotionally changeable and unpredictable. I have a wealth of talents and opportunities before me and an almost impossible time choosing one to faithfully pursue. Sure, this leaves my options open, but I recognize that I'm not utilizing my talents fully because I don't commit to them or their development. My plea to the Lady Black seems to be that I yearn for direction, as Harriet did, in knowing the true calling of my heart. I want to know which cup to choose so that I can begin work on the rest of my life drinking from it. It would be so much easier if an outside force chose for me instead of me having to take responsibility for a choice I can't step back from.
I want Her to tell me, to send an unmistakable Calling my way. I am filled with brilliant ideas, am standing at a crossroads of possibility where I could choose to do so many things well, if I invest the time, but I lack the energy or commitment of follow-through.
My plea is also my answer. I need to lay out everything I have this month, examine it all, and decide what is worth my energy and time and what, ultimately, isn't. Nobody but me can decide that, as hard as it is. I must be an active participant in my life and in my life's direction. Only I can steer the craft.
2. Lady Black responded with The Lovers. In this Austen deck, Mr. Darcy is at his writing desk, distracted. At his back, Caroline has her hands on his shoulders and is flirting with him. Coming in from the gardens outside with an iris in her hands is Elizabeth Bennett. She's absorbed in the flower while Mr. Darcy, clearly, is absorbed with her. A hand mirror on his desk top reflects her as Venus.
For me, I think, this means that what I ultimately choose to "do with" my life, I must make my choice from the heart. There might be some more glamorous options, but the best match will be one made for soul-deep reasons.
3. This month's growth, the lessons of Black for me, revolve around the 10 of Quills (Swords). In the Austen deck, the image of the poor guy stabbed in the back with ten swords has been replaced by an image of Elizabeth Bennett, devastated, having just read the letter that tells of her sister's (and thereby also her) ruination. Mr. Darcy can be seen leaving out the door and to Elizabeth, it must have also felt like he was leaving her life completely. At this point, though, life as she knows it, with all its hopes and dreams, has ended.
This is a reoccurring theme in my Underworld work. One that I know intellectually, spiritually, but can't always see in the dark times. Still, this card made me nervous because, as far as growth is concerned, I think this really is something I kinda 'got'. Do I need to reinforce that with ten swords in the back or a devastating, life-changing letter this month? I guess we'll see! :D The end is the beginning of the beginning. I can't know what tomorrow will bring, I can only remain calm and balanced and wait for opportunities to reinvent myself and to find joy, learning, and peace after upheaval and change.
I guess if I apply this to my question, though, that Seven of Teacups, then I may have to learn that abandoning some callings to focus my energy on others is not a death but a transformation, a time of regrouping and reinvention.
4. If I accomplish my month's work, choose to grow with Black, then the Lady's token will be the Nine of Teacups. In the Austen deck, the image is of Emma's Mr. Weston, seated at the head of his own table at an elaborate dinner party, raising his glass in a toast. He's happy, found contentment with his kind and wonderful new wife, his son returned to his table, and new in-laws and neighbors. Everyone is happy together, at last.
Will I, like Mr. Weston, reach my truest state of satisfaction and joy later in life? Will I get to sit in the company of loved ones, secure in the knowledge that they are true blue and happy, too?
I don't know. I guess I'll have to see.
~*~
If you use the Tarot, what does this month hold in store for you? :)
(I'm using my beloved Tarot of Jane Austen for the reading and will do my best to describe how the cards differ from the standard.)
1. My Plea to Black: 7 of (Tea)cups
2. The Lady Responds: The Lovers
3. The Month's Growth Centers On: 10 of Quills (Swords)
4. Her Token If I Choose to Grow: 9 of (Tea)cups
1. In the 7 of Teacups, Emma's Harriet sits at tea. She's drinking from a cup, but her eyes are elsewhere, either in dream or in boredom. Above her float six other teacups with the image of handsome suitors in each. I share her state. I was born with Venus in Scorpio and so I'm emotionally changeable and unpredictable. I have a wealth of talents and opportunities before me and an almost impossible time choosing one to faithfully pursue. Sure, this leaves my options open, but I recognize that I'm not utilizing my talents fully because I don't commit to them or their development. My plea to the Lady Black seems to be that I yearn for direction, as Harriet did, in knowing the true calling of my heart. I want to know which cup to choose so that I can begin work on the rest of my life drinking from it. It would be so much easier if an outside force chose for me instead of me having to take responsibility for a choice I can't step back from.
I want Her to tell me, to send an unmistakable Calling my way. I am filled with brilliant ideas, am standing at a crossroads of possibility where I could choose to do so many things well, if I invest the time, but I lack the energy or commitment of follow-through.
My plea is also my answer. I need to lay out everything I have this month, examine it all, and decide what is worth my energy and time and what, ultimately, isn't. Nobody but me can decide that, as hard as it is. I must be an active participant in my life and in my life's direction. Only I can steer the craft.
2. Lady Black responded with The Lovers. In this Austen deck, Mr. Darcy is at his writing desk, distracted. At his back, Caroline has her hands on his shoulders and is flirting with him. Coming in from the gardens outside with an iris in her hands is Elizabeth Bennett. She's absorbed in the flower while Mr. Darcy, clearly, is absorbed with her. A hand mirror on his desk top reflects her as Venus.
For me, I think, this means that what I ultimately choose to "do with" my life, I must make my choice from the heart. There might be some more glamorous options, but the best match will be one made for soul-deep reasons.
3. This month's growth, the lessons of Black for me, revolve around the 10 of Quills (Swords). In the Austen deck, the image of the poor guy stabbed in the back with ten swords has been replaced by an image of Elizabeth Bennett, devastated, having just read the letter that tells of her sister's (and thereby also her) ruination. Mr. Darcy can be seen leaving out the door and to Elizabeth, it must have also felt like he was leaving her life completely. At this point, though, life as she knows it, with all its hopes and dreams, has ended.
This is a reoccurring theme in my Underworld work. One that I know intellectually, spiritually, but can't always see in the dark times. Still, this card made me nervous because, as far as growth is concerned, I think this really is something I kinda 'got'. Do I need to reinforce that with ten swords in the back or a devastating, life-changing letter this month? I guess we'll see! :D The end is the beginning of the beginning. I can't know what tomorrow will bring, I can only remain calm and balanced and wait for opportunities to reinvent myself and to find joy, learning, and peace after upheaval and change.
I guess if I apply this to my question, though, that Seven of Teacups, then I may have to learn that abandoning some callings to focus my energy on others is not a death but a transformation, a time of regrouping and reinvention.
4. If I accomplish my month's work, choose to grow with Black, then the Lady's token will be the Nine of Teacups. In the Austen deck, the image is of Emma's Mr. Weston, seated at the head of his own table at an elaborate dinner party, raising his glass in a toast. He's happy, found contentment with his kind and wonderful new wife, his son returned to his table, and new in-laws and neighbors. Everyone is happy together, at last.
Will I, like Mr. Weston, reach my truest state of satisfaction and joy later in life? Will I get to sit in the company of loved ones, secure in the knowledge that they are true blue and happy, too?
I don't know. I guess I'll have to see.
~*~
If you use the Tarot, what does this month hold in store for you? :)
