Sitting in Judgement

I’ve been challenged, recently, about my interpretation of the Judgment card.  In a reading, I’d said that Judgment wasn’t about judging and being judged – or at least, not only about that.  But others clearly don’t agree, so I thought I’d have a look and see what other views are around.

© Judgement

Universal Waite Tarot

The Little White Book (LWB) that accompanies the Universal Waite Tarot deck simple says “Change of position, renewal, outcome.”  Short and to the point. 

Rachel Pollack, in her Seeker: The Tarot Unveiled (Llewellyn, 2005), adds “rebirth, new possibilities, and wholeness” to the list.  In fact, she maintains (as do I) that Judgment is not about judging others, showing good judgement, or being judged themselves at all.  The child in the image reminds us that new opportunities and possibilities can appear when we heed the voice that tells us to let go of old, out-of-date, ways and beliefs.  The nakedness of the figures symbolizes openness as well as new beginnings – the state in which we were born into this world, but also the state in which we need to embrace this “re-birth”.  The trumpet, far from being the call to judgement, is in fact the “voice”, the push, the call – however it manifests – to step into the unknown and stop hiding.

© Judgement

Game of Thrones Tarot

Juliet Sharman-Burke, in her Beginners Guide to the Tarot (Connections, 2001), adds “resurrection and resolution” to the list.  She too sees this as an opportunity to greet the new with joy.  She calls it the card of karma, saying “it heralds the time of reaping what has been sown”.  You might see an element of judgement in that but, reading between her lines, I feel it’s more about assessment.  Yes, she does use the word “judge” – “to judge your actions and appraise what you have done” – but she goes on to say it’s more about the preparation for the next stage in life. 

Liz Dean, in the accompanying guidebook to The Game of Thrones Tarot (Home Box Office, Inc., 2017), doesn’t use the word “judgement” in her description of the card.  She writes about being on the edge of a change, and focuses on the need for second chances after a review or appraisal, and about the chance to make sense of the past.

© Judgement

Shadowscapes Tarot

In the accompanying book to the Shadowscapes (Tarot Llewellyn, 2010), Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore do refer to making a judgement.  They talk about holding an accounting, and about it being “time to evaluate the phase of life just past, to recognize and to appraise with an unbiased mind and honesty to oneself”.  They too see Judgement as a card of awakening, of hearing and responding to a voice or call, and the need to respond to it.

The creators of the Wildwood Tarot (Connections, 2011), Mark Ryan and John Matthews, are very clear in their view.  In the accompany book, they write that “The major element in this process [surviving inevitable change] is judgement of yourself and others.”, yet the word “judgement” doesn’t come up in their list of keywords.  “Karma” and “cosmic law” do, as does “inescapable truth”.  They do talk about renewal and rebirth, themes that are echoed in the image that Will Worthington has created for the card.  That idea of rebirth is also seen in the DruidCraft Tarot’s image (also by Will Worthington).

© The Great Bear

Wildwood Tarot

© Rebirth

Druid Craft Tarot

So yes, my challenger was right in saying that the card is about judging the self and others, but I think perhaps it depends on how we define “judgment” – and maybe I need to be clearer about that when I read!  (To be fair, the deck I was reading with, Kim Krans’ Wild Unknown Tarot, does focus on the forgiveness aspect, as I did in the reading.)  Kim Krans’ view is that the word carries such negative connotations – fear, guilt, shame – that it’s more helpful to seek the truth and forgive, not blame.  The image, the dove rising up above all the negativity (the darkness) and spreading its wings reflects that beautifully, I think.

© Judgement

Wild Unknown Tarot

Pollack, Rachel. Seeker: The Tarot Unveiled. Llewellyn Publications, 2005.

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Druid Craft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Game of Thrones Tarot, created by Liz Dean, published by Home Box Office, Inc., 2017

Shadowscapes Tarot created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn

Universal Waite Tarot created by Mary Hanson-Roberts & Pamela Colman-Smith, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Wild Unknown Tarot, created by Kim Krans, published by HarperCollins, 2016.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Scorpio in the Major Arcana: Death (part 3)

13 The Journey (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

In Part 1 of our exploration of the Death card, we saw the raven appear.  The raven is considered to be, among other things, a guardian of the dead, or a guide to the otherworld.  In The Wildwood Tarot’s ‘The Journey’, Will Worthington has given us an image of the raven tearing flesh from a skull of a reindeer - a symbol of the stripping of life, and of the (re)cycling of life through death and birth; all Scorpio (and by affinity, astrological 8^th house) issues. 

XIII Death (trimmed):

© Wild Unknown Tarot

The skeleton in Kim Krans’ Wild Unknown Tarot’s Death card may or may not be a raven, but the image reflects that idea of the stripping of life - the disintegration of flesh, leaving only bones behind.  Again, the cycling of life, and the knowledge that something needs to come to an end.  Krans talks about the need for closure, in the book that accompanies her deck, and about the inevitability of the ending.  And through experiencing the ‘death’, we’re able to move towards a new stage in our lives.

Wild Unknown Tarot, created by Kim Krans, published by HarperCollins, 2016.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Full Moon in Taurus

Today’s offering comes from the Wildwood Tarot, created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, beautifully illustrated by Will Worthington. 

18 The Moon on the Water (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

The Moon on the Water seems like the perfect card to work with on the day of the Taurus Full Moon.  Full moon overhead, casting light over a marshy landscape – that’s appropriate too, as we’re in the watery sign of Scorpio.  And against the backdrop of that moon we see the silhouette of an aurochs, the ancestor of our bull – the symbol of Taurus. 

Taurus is associated with fertility, among other things.  In the old Druidic traditions, a bull or ox might be sacrificed at midwinter, as a symbol of new life emerging from the ‘dead’ of winter.  In the accompanying book to the Wildwood Tarot, the creators write of the auroch’s horns representing not only the waxing and waning of the moon, but also fertility: they see the womb and fallopian tubes in the bull’s horns. 

New growth emerging from death is also a theme of Scorpio, of course, with the transformation from what’s decaying or no longer of use into something from which new life can emerge. Just think of your compost heap!  The Moon represents this too – the cycles of life: birth and death, new and old, waxing and waning.

So what might The Moon on the Water be saying to us today? It’s difficult to see a way through the marsh, although the Moon does cast a path of light (reflected from the Sun) over the water. The 'passage through the unknown', perhaps? The heron, a water bird, represents psychic ability as well as reflection - and there's plenty of reflection in the imagery. The heron also stands at the gateway between life and death, acting as mediator on the soul's journey to the underworld. Or between conscious and unconscious? Under the surface (how Scorpionic!) lies the “primal egg” (to quote Ryan and Matthews), waiting to be fertilized. So, at this time of the Taurus New Moon, perhaps it’s time to stand still for a moment, and see the potential that lies before us. Pay attention to your dreams and your imagination – what are you being called to create?

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Scorpio in the Major Arcana: Death

After dipping into the Minor Arcana – and the excitement of the Samhuinn Tarot Blog Hop! - let’s look at Scorpio in the Major Arcana.  Given what we know of Scorpio, it probably comes as no surprise that the card associated with Scorpio (in the system I follow) is ‘Death’.  Death, as in the end of a cycle – something that’s necessary in order to allow something new to grow and develop.  Not physical death, or at least, not necessarily. 

Traditional depictions of ‘Death’, number 13 in the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, show us a knight in armour on a white horse, a king dead underfoot, a religious figure in its path, sometimes children.  The image in the Sharman-Burke/Caselli tarot (Beginners' Guide to the Tarot) is a variation on that theme; here the horse is black (the colour associated with death in some cultures), its rider a skeleton.  The skeleton’s headdress is a swaddling cloth, used at birth, reflecting the link between birth and death and the unending cycle of life. 

The skeleton carries an hourglass, reminding us that everything has its time. In the distance, we see a river – another reminder of the ongoing process of transformation, this time in the form of the hydrological cycle (the river water evaporates and forms clouds, the clouds rain, the water falls back to earth).  The boat is said to symbolize both the cradle and the coffin. In the foreground we see a raven, thought to be a harbinger of death in many traditions.  The theme is Scorpionic – transformation and change; endings linked with beginnings.

XIII Death (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

The skeleton with his scythe are also seen in the Crowley Thoth tarot’s version of ‘Death’.  He wears two faces here – one is that of the destroyer, the other that of the liberator – reminding us that in order to change, we may have to let go of things that hold us back, that no longer serve us.  The headdress of this skeleton is a funereal head-covering, used in ancient Egypt – a reminder of the need to bury old, out-dated, invalid ideas and beliefs so that new life can begin.  We see the scorpion at the bottom of the image, ready to sting, and the snake – perhaps THE symbol of transformation – ready to bite.  A fish, representing the past, swims through the serpent’s coils: is it the next victim?  Above it all, the phoenix, which can only rise from the ashes once the fire has consumed everything in its way. Intense? Oh yes!

XIII Death (trimmed):

© Shadowscapes Tarot

The Shadowscapes Tarot also draws on the promise of renewal with its phoenix rising from the ashes of the devastation, the tearing down of what has been, ready for what’s to come.  It's one of the more 'optimistic' versions of the Death card, I think - the fiery-red phoenix, symbol of death and rebirth and life all in one, looks upwards and outwards towards what appears to be a sunny future... What do you think?

The creator of the Shadowscapes deck, Stepanie Pui-Mun Law, incorporates a lot of botanical symbolism in her images. Here we see irises, my favourite flower. These are also associated with death, through Greek mythology: Iris, goddess of the rainbow, would not only travel down to earth with messages from the gods, but also transported souls to the underworld.  

13 The Journey (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

Deadly nightshade can also been seen here - an extremely poisonous plant, so associated with deception, danger, and death - as well as sumac, which (according to the Victorian language of flowers) says "I will survive the change". 

The Wildwood draws on different images of death, representing transformation.  In ‘The Journey’, Will Worthington has given us an image of the raven (considered to be a guardian of the dead, or guide to the otherworld) tearing flesh from a skull of a reindeer - a symbol of the stripping of life, and of the (re)cycling of life through death and birth; all 8^th house/Scorpio issues.  

Both the Druid Craft’s creators and Margarete Petersen have made reference to the Crone in their depictions of Death. There’s an element of looking backwards and forwards with the Crone-Hermit, and that ‘crone knowledge’ or wisdom associated with the Hermit is necessary in order to make the changes that Death demands. The serpent, representing transformation, is present in both images – in fact, in Margarete Petersen’s version, we see two serpents, one white, one black. There are links back to her High Priestess, Chariot, and even the Lovers in the way she’s used duality and opposites in her work. Her Death image is almost a mirror image: white serpent meets black serpent; Death, in the form of a cloaked skeleton, stands behind the white, earth-bound figure. Out of the dark comes light. A bit like the phoenix, then?

Death (trimmed):

© Margarete Petersen Tarot

XIII Death (trimmed):

© Druid Craft Tarot

If you’ve enjoyed this post, you might be interested in my e-book, Astrology in Tarot, now available from Amazon.

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

DruidCraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Margarete Petersen Tarot, AGM-URANIA/Deep Books, 2004.

Shadowscapes Tarot created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Scorpio in the Minor Arcana: The Five of Cups

Let’s start our exploration of Scorpio in the tarot in the Minor Arcana.  In the astrological correspondence system that I follow, Scorpio is linked to the Five, Six and Seven of Cups. Today I’m going to look at the Five of Cups, which corresponds to the first ten days of Scorpio (this year, the 23^rd October to around the 1^st November) – and to Mars in Scorpio.

Scorpio is the fixed Water sign, so we’re looking at maintaining our emotional resources, delving into the depths to get at the heart or root of what’s going on.

Mars, the traditional ruler of Scorpio, is associated with the element of Fire.  Mars is the warrior, the Roman god of war – powerful, passionate, driven by strong desires, and very likely to take the initiative.  Mars is decisive, and needs to express himself freely – which could come into conflict with the Scorpio preference for keeping things hidden, buried away in the depths.  Mars likes to be in control but when combined with Scorpio’s energy, this is likely to manifest through an intense transformation of emotional power at a very deep level.

Five of Cups (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

So how might this play out in the Five of Cups?  Let‘s start by looking at a relatively ‘traditional’ depiction of the Five of Cups, from the Sharman-Burke/Caselli deck (Beginners Guide to Tarot). Here we see a figure facing away from us, looking down at the three overturned cups in front of him. He’s so intent on these and what’s spilling out of them, that he doesn’t see the two that still stand, intact.  Juliet Sharman-Burke uses the words ‘regret’ and ‘sorrow’ for this card. So we have someone who feels deep sorrow at what’s happened (the three cups emptying), but who’s ignoring or overlooking at what still exists (the two full cups).  The decisiveness and freedom of expression that Mars would usually exert is being held back by the compulsion to look only at the loss and the emotions that accompany it – to become lost in the emotion itself perhaps?

Five of Cups (trimmed):

© Shadowscapes Tarot

In the Shadowscapes Tarot, we have a slightly different interpretation. The figure is ignoring the three overturned cups at her feed, focusing on the one in her hands. The fifth cup bobs on the waves in front of her – does she see it? Which one holds her hopes – the one she’s gazing into with Martian determination, or the one that’s trying to head out to sea with Martian determination of its own?  Perhaps the cup she holds represents what’s happened, and her feelings of sorrow or disappointment, while the cup on the waves is pushed and pulled by the tide, unable to move forward. Again, the decisiveness and freedom of expression associated with Mars being held back by being lost in the emotion of loss.

Five of Cups (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

In the Thoth deck, the emphasis is the same – regret, sorrow, and the disappointment of unfulfilled expectations.  The cups are empty and look as though they could easily break. The lotus has been uprooted, and its blossoms have died. Even the water looks dead.  But the roots of the lotus form a butterfly shape, representing the idea of transformation – the theme of Scorpio.  The card warns against allowing the potentially aggressive, potentially destructive Martian energy to spill over.  That energy can be used usefully though, by transforming it – by shifting the emphasis from what’s lost to what’s still available to us. We can learn from disappointment – nothing is ever wasted. Remember that Scorpio represents cycles, endings and beginnings – and is the ultimate recycler!

Five of Vessels (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

The Wildwood, on the other hand, shows us a rather different view!  Although Mark Ryan and John Matthews, the deck’s creators, haven’t use astrological correspondences I see Will Worthington's figure symbolising the passion of Mars, using that energy to travel to deep levels through dance.  I think here of shamanic work – dancing in trance – and the revelations and transformations that can come through this. Powerful stuff!

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Shadowscapes Tarot created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Libra in the Major Arcana: Justice

Libra is one of the three Air signs, along with Gemini and Aquarius, as well as being one of the cardinal signs.   As such, its energy focuses on the outer world, rather than our inner world, and its main thrust is on social contact.  It seeks partnership – friendship, business, marriage.  It’s not about the passion of a personal relationship – Libra is not thought to be a passionate sign - but more about the ‘contract’, if you like – the need for equality and fairness within relationship.  Libra is the peacemaker, the negotiator, the mediator.  It’s ruled by Venus, providing a sense of refinement, and an awareness of beauty and harmony.

As usual, let’s start our exploration of Libra in the tarot with the Major Arcana.  In my previous post, I mentioned the idea of balance in various traditions – Egyptian and Greek mythology, Christianity – all of which use scales to symbolize the weighing up of whatever’s ‘in the balance’.  That, and the use of the blindfold in some of the imagery, leads us to the Justice card. 

Justice (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

Depending on which deck you use, this is probably either the eighth or the eleventh card in the Major Arcana.  Most (but not all) Rider-Waite-Smith-based decks will have Justice as XI in the Major Arcana – the mid-point of the Fool’s Journey.  Personally, I like the idea of it being the 11^th card; having it as the fulcrum of the journey, half-way between the start and the end ‘embodies’ that sense of balance.

Some RWS-based decks (for instance Juliet Sharman-Burke and Gionvanni Caselli’s, shown here) place Justice at VIII.   I haven’t found a clear reason for this in the case of the Sharman-Caselli deck, but my guess is that it’s because they wanted to have all four virtues appear in order: 8 – Justice, 9 – Temperance, 10 –Strength, and 11 - The Hermit, the card to which they attribute the virtue of Prudence.  Regardless of the card’s position in the Major Arcana, the image contains most of the ‘traditional’ (i.e. RWS-based) symbolism – the scales representing perfect balance in one hand, the sword of truth in the other.

Libra has a reputation (unfair, in my opinion!) for being indecisive. Following from Virgo’s need to analyze everything in great detail, Libra weighs it all carefully but is always having to take new factors into account, upsetting that delicate balance, hence appearing to be constantly changing its mind.  For this reason, my favourite version of the tarot card associated with Libra, Justice, comes from the Thoth deck (although Crowley has re-named the card ‘Adjustment’). 

Adjustment VIII (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

Like many versions of the Justice card, the image still shows a figure with a set of scales, although here the scales appear to be balanced on her head.  She holds the sword of truth in both hands, between her legs, while balancing on her toes. The entire image of one of balance and harmony – including the coloured spheres (blue for spirit and intellect, green for creativity) in their symmetrical placement. But how long can this balance be held?  All it takes is one distraction, one thought, one new factor, to be added to the scales, and the whole thing is no longer balanced.  So it’s not that Libra is indecisive per se – it’s more that that the picture isn’t static; there’s always something else that needs to be considered, something else to knock us off track. That’s why I like the name ‘Adjustment’ – we’re always having to make adjustments as new elements come into play, in order to maintain our (always precarious) balance!

As our ingress into Libra is also marked by the Autumn Equinox, let’s also look at cards that are associated with this festival.  One deck that uses the Wheel of the Year as its base, rather than astrological associations, is the Wildwood Tarot, created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, and beautifully illustrated by Will Worthington.  Here we have two cards from the Major Arcana that sit at the Autumn Equinox – The Wheel (X) and The Mirror (XII). 

The Wheel (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

The Wheel reminds us of the constantly changing seasons, and that what comes around, goes around.  The equinox is but a moment in time – one where the hours of day and night are balanced, before the hours of darkness increase at the expense of the light.  In many traditions, the autumnal equinox marks the start of a period of withdrawal - not just in terms of physical withdrawal or hibernation - but a time of introspection and inner journeying, contemplation and rest. 

The Mirror (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

The Mirror shows us our reflection and allows us to see our inner selves, and by sitting on the Equinox represents the point at which our journey changes direction – from outer to inner; the point where we’re balanced between the two.  And although Mark Ryan and John Matthews aren’t making any astrological associations in their deck, the mirror is often used as to symbolize Libra. Both through Venus’ rulership and its affinity to the 7^th house, Libra is concerned with attraction and partnership.  Aries, the sign opposite Libra in the zodiac, is about ‘I’: -how we meet the world as individuals, how we’re seen. Libra is concerned with ‘the other’ - what we look for in our relationships with others.  The mirror allows us to see what others see in us. ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?’ indeed!

If you’ve enjoyed this post, you might be interested in my new e-book, Astrology in Tarot, now available from Amazon.

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by US Games Systems, Inc.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections.

Fertility and abundance - The Empress

Fertility and abundance - perfect Beltane topics!

The Empress has an astrological link to Taurus through its ruler, Venus.  Venus is probably best known to us as one of the great lovers in Roman mythology, along with Mars (Aphrodite and Ares in the Greek pantheon). In astrology, the planet has become associated with love and relationships.  It also, by extension, reflects our tastes – what we find beautiful or attractive, or pleasurable. Venus rules Libra, the Airy sign seeking peaceful and harmonious partnership.

The Lady (trimmed):
© Druid Craft Tarot

Our relationship to the more material side comes through Taurus, the Earthy, sensuous sign.  Here our relationship to money and ownership, for instance, comes through. It also reflects our relationship to the Earth itself.

The Empress symbolizes natural, earthy creativity. The earthiness of Taurus brings fertility into the mix, so in The Empress we have the heat and passion of Venus and the nurturing of creativity.  She’s often depicted as a pregnant woman, basking in nature and in the element of Earth, reflecting the idea of fertility and motherhood.  Sometimes a waterfall flowing into a river is present in the image, represents the union of female and male in procreation. Creating life is not the only possibility, of course, but it’s such a wonderful metaphor for the birth of any new creative process.

The Hierophant (trimmed):
©Beginner's Guide to the Tarot

Venus, representing the principle of attraction, brings passion and love to the process, be it a new relationship or a new creative project.  That unconditional love, particularly of a mother, is seen in the Thoth’s version of the card – a pelican feeding its young with its own blood. The Empress not only gives birth but also nurtures its creation through to maturity.

Sometimes we see a Horn of Plenty, or cornucopia, representing abundance – a very Venusian-Taurean concept. Venus’ rulership of Taurus reflects the sense of stability and contentment through being comfortable physically – and through bringing something to fruition.  

DruidCraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

The Beginner's Guide to Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Hello darkness, my old friend... Tarot Blog Hop Yule 2016

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Welcome to Alison’s Alembic!   You may have arrived here as a stop on the Tarot Blog Hop from Ania M's blog or Aaron Lozano's blog.  Or you may have found this through TABI’s Facebook page, or though one of the many wonderful tarot bloggers in the ether... It doesn’t matter – what does matter is that you’re here!

This is the Yule Blog Hop, celebrating the Winter Solstice (for those of us in the northern hemisphere) that falls on December 21st – the solar festival sacred to the Old King and to the reborn ‘Sun Child’.  Solstice means ‘sun still’, and refers to the sun seemingly being at a standstill – its turning point, the ‘shortest day’.  Up to now, the hours of daylight have been decreasing, the nights longer.  As the sun appears to ‘stands still’, the Wheel of the Year seems to stop, and time appears to hang...but from now on the light will start to increase and days will lengthen.

At this time of greatest darkness (again, northern hemisphere bias, sorry!) our wrangler for this edition of the TBH, Joanne of CosmicWhispers, writes: "Winter Solstice was also a time to count the resources gathered during the previous harvest to make sure they would last, to look around and dig for hidden abundance beneath leaf and snow and soil, to know that all the bareness of tree and starkenss of landscape was just at time of sleep and not really death, and that life simply rested in preparation for another season of growth. we need to trust our intuition now more than ever since we can't see the abundance beneath our feet, in the living roots of the world."

With that in mind, she’s asked us to pick a card or cards, or develop a spread, that we think reveals a useful message from the Dark or Hidden realm of life. What can we learn from those messages as we wait for the return of the Light, and how do we find uses for the dark times in our own lives?

The Hooded Man (trmmed): ©Wildwood Tarot

THE card, for me, that represents this best is the Wildwood’s version of the Hermit, the Hooded Man.  The creators of the deck place The Hooded Man at the Midwinter Solstice, on their Wheel of the Year, a choice reflected in the (again, hemisphere bias at work) wintry scene, complete with holly and other evergreens, and a wren.  The Hooded Man survives the cold and darkness by drawing on his wisdom, and the strength he’s gained through what he’s experienced on his journey so far.  He can now withdraw, or perhaps even pass on the knowledge and wisdom gained to others in need.

The idea of evergreens being a constant throughout the year, and the qualities they imbue, seems to be a theme this year - not to mention Joanne's mention of living roots.  It just so happens that I took part in a midwinter gathering a week ago, where we called on the spirits of four evergreens to remind us of what we can draw on during the darkness.  I’ve borrowed from this idea to create the following spread.  

Spirit of Fir

Spirit of Mistletoe                   Spirit of Holly

Spirit of Ivy

Spirit of Fir:  A tall tree that, from a mountainside, offers views to the far horizon.  The smoke from its wood is said to purify and to cleanse.  Its gift to us then, in this time of darkness and withdrawal, is perception or clear vision – access to our own wisdom.

(moving clockwise...)

Spirit of Holly:  With its prickly leaves and hard wood, it offers protection.  When its wood is burned, it provides warmth and light during the cold months.  Its gift to us at this time is protection, but also the heat and energy we need to act, even during the bleakest times. 

Spirit of Ivy:  Associated with intuition, ivy needs the support of other trees or structures in order to reach the light.  Its constant spiralling around other trees echoes the search for spiritual understanding.  Its gift to us during the darkness of winter is to remind us of the importance of the support and companionship we can offer each other.

Spirit of Mistletoe:  Also known as all-heal, mistletoe grows on trees, suspended between earth and sky.  Druid tradition says you should never let mistletoe touch the ground… Its white berries symbolize fertility and growth.  Its gift is not only healing, but also the blessing of the seeds we nurture through the cold and the dark with good fortune and fertility.

I’ve then drawn a card from the Wildwood tarot to represent how I can use these gifts during the darkness (bearing in mind I’m just about to become unemployed again).  (All images copyright Will Worthington and the Wildwood Tarot)

The Pole Star

Ace of Arrows

Spirit of Fir/The Pole Star (17).  I breathe in the clear cold air of a starry winter’s night, and let the light of the stars show me a new path to take.

Spirit of Holly/Ace of Arrows.   The warmth of burning holly wood gives me energy to take that first breath, to speak the new idea and give it life.  

   

  

                                                

Queen of Arrows

Spirit of Ivy/Queen of Arrows.  It’s time to let go of some bonds, and seek out new companions on my next adventure.

Ten of Stones

Spirit of Mistletoe/Ten of Stones.  Subtitled ‘Home’ in the Wildwood, this reminds me how much ‘home’ – not so much a physical location but more to do with being with my family - gives me in terms of love and support. It’s/they’re where I go to heal.  And certainly, during the dark of the winter, the physical home and the comforts it offer are where I want to be.  Time to hibernate…

Thank you for stopping off here on your own journey through this Yule Tarot Blog Hop. Please do come back sometime and read some of my other posts.  

The next stops on the Tarot Blog Hop are - depending on whether you’re moving backward or forward through the list – Ania M's blog or Aaron Lozano's blog. The Master List can be found here.

Previous | Master | Next 

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections