Temple of the Twelve: Black Month Tarot Reading

[windinthemaples]

As 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? :)

Comments

[rubymulligan.livejournal.com]

Okay, as promised, here are my cards. Let me know what you think?

1. Queen of Serpents (Wands): (What it looks like:) She sits upon a gold-green throne, mountains towering behind, grasses and rocks underfoot. An orange striped tabby sits at her feet. Her gown is white, simple, edged in periwinkle ribbon. Her hair is long, flowing, and golden red. Her crown is thin, simple, unassuming, not on top of her head, but across her forehead. Her rod/scepter is held in her right hand and is simple wood with a natural root-looking formation on top. Her left hand holds what appears to be a baby dragon (or a duck/platypus with a lizard tail?). There are two gold snakes intertwined behind her, making up the back of her chair and coming to rest their heads on either side of her head, each of their mouths filled to bursting with a golden sphere. A small smile plays upon her lips and her eyes seem to be sparkling. She is looking in the same direction as the cat.
2. Four of Fishes (Cups)
3. Seven of Serpents
4. Page of Fishes: A long golden-haired youth on a white horse, wading through the gentle waves of the seashore. The horse is bridled in blue, the rider swathed in mostly blue, but accented in red and gold, raising a silver chalice with two hands. There are also three humpback whales cresting in the distance.

[sugarmaplelife.livejournal.com]

A tarot book that I *love* is called Spiritual Tarot: Seventy-Eight Paths to Personal Development by Echols, Mueller, and Thomson. Several pages talk about some of the personal, spiritual development aspects of each card and it includes some questions to ask yourself when certain cards pop up. Knowing nothing about your reading, the cards you used, or where you're at, I turned to that.

Queen of Serpents/Wands
Four of Fishes/Cups
Seven of Serpents/Wands
Page of Fishes

Your plea to the Lady Black was the Queen of Serpents/Wands. Her key phrase is manifesting the spiritual potential. "I am the force that makes dedication to a spiritual path possible. I have learned to combine and draw inspiration from both the spiritual and material realms."

Her reply to you was the Four of Fishes/Cups. It's key phrase is finding the balance between action and inaction. "It seems sometimes as if there's something missing in my life. I don't know if it's a higher purpose, but I do know I have to find my own way. I wish I could just do, feel, and believe the way others seem to, but I can't. It just isn't me. Maybe if I sit here and listen to my inner feelings, I'll figure out what I want or need. Once I get settled, though, it's tempting to simply sit forever and never do another thing."

The book also says, in sort of a section about actions to take/questions to consider:
* Make an honest assessment of where you stand and why you are keeping yourself from joining in with others in your life.

* Don't wait for someone else to provide solutions. Listen to your higher self for guidance.

* Accept and enjoy the 'cups' of emotional strength you have, even if you decide not to accept the helping hand or new opportunity that's offered to you.

* Look for the 'higher purpose' in your next task or relationship, and you'll make life an everyday experience of the Spirit.

The Work of the Month is the Seven of Serpents/Wands. The key phrase of the card is having the courage of my convictions. "I thought that...I have achieved enough. I was ill prepared for conflict and competition--so much so that I left home wearing two different shoes. I am an example of learning the hard way."

Consider:
* Your present position in terms of your original purpose or ideals. Does it still benefit you? Is it still necessary to maintain a protective stance?

* Identify some of the ways you are not prepared to handle your present situation. How could you become more prepared?

* Consider whether you are acting from a position of strength or defensiveness.

* Take some small action--clean out a messy drawer, finish a project left hanging, do a load of laundry--that will help you feel more capable.

[sugarmaplelife.livejournal.com]

The Token She'll gift you, if you accomplish the month's work will be the Page of Fishes/Cups. The key phrase is the complexity of emotions. "I thought I knew all about emotional expression and emotional control until I entered this initiation. Now I find that what came before was baby stuff."

Consider:
* Look around. Be open to helpful suggestions and stimulation from many sources: people, inspiring books, visual and audio media.

* If you have been waiting for someone to compliment you or reconcile with you, wait no longer. Take the first step yourself. Give up the waiting game.

* Although you want to express your inner state more frequently, take care with whom you choose to do it.

* Remember this. You are experiencing emotions that everyone experiences, and few of us deal with or express them any easier or more comfortably than you do.

[sugarmaplelife.livejournal.com]

(See why I think that book is so awesome?!) :)

Hope that illuminates things for you or gives you a place to start.