Tarot Blog Hop - Lammas 2013

'Prairie summer storm'. Copyright Alison Coals

Welcome to Alison’s Alembic!   You may have arrived here as a stop on the Tarot Blog Hop from either Bonnie Fernandes's blog or Christiana Gaudet'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!

 

For anyone outside the community who might be reading this and who's not yet familiar with Lammas (!), it’s the festival of the harvest.  Also known as Lughnasahd, the cross-quarter fire festival, it’s celebrated on the evening of the 31 July and on the first three days of August. More specifically, Lammas is the first harvest (usually of grain and fruit – the basic food that sustains us through the winter), when farmers begin to reap the rewards of their hard work.  It’s associated with baking bread from that first harvest of grain, but has also been called ‘the festival of gratitude and first seeds’ because the grain is also the seed that becomes next year’s harvest – a reminder of the cycle of life.

 

6 of Bows, Wildwood Tarot

Lammas celebrates the alchemy of Water and Fire - we’ve just left the water sign of Cancer and are now in the fire sign of Leo.   The sun still carries enough energy to help the crops to ripen, but we need rain as well.   Lugh, the Celtic god and Sun King, gives up his power at Lammas, just as the sun starts to wane and lose its power.  We too need to give up something of our outer selves as we prepare for the inner journey of the winter.  It’s a time for assessment, as well as celebration.

Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Although I associate Thanksgiving (that’s my North American upbringing coming through!) with giving thanks for the harvest, I’ve come to see Lammas as a time to give thanks for abundance as well.  A time to share what we’ve harvested, both together  and individually.  With this in mind, the Tarot Blog Hoppers have been asked by our Lammas wrangler the following question: ‘what can I share from my table to enrich my community?’

Well, I haven’t grown anything edible in my garden this year, so that’s out!  Last year though, I had lots of tomatoes, more than I could eat at once, so I turned the excess into chutney. I thought I’d share my recipe (actually my mum’s) for green tomato chutney:

1 kg (2 lb) green tomatoes, washed and chopped

225g (8 oz) cooking apples, peeled and cored

225g (8 oz) onions, peeled and chopped

5cm (2”) root ginger

100g (4oz) dates, stoned and chopped

225g (8 oz) brown sugar

300ml (1/2 pt) spiced vinegar*

1 teaspoon salt 

Bruise the ginger and tie it in a square of muslin. Put everything in a heavy pan, and stir until the sugar has dissolved.  Bring it to the boil, then simmer until the mixture is thick. Remove the muslin bag. Put into warm jars and seal.

(* Spiced vinegar: 1 litre/1.75 pints malt vinegar, 25g/1 oz whole allspice, 25g/1 oz mustard seed, 15g whole cloves, 15g black peppercorns, 7g root ginger, dried chillies)

 
Now, back to the tarot table.... a Lammas spread, and the cards that I drew from the Wildwood Tarot.

 

What is ready to be harvested from this year?

What still could benefit from the light and warmth of the sun?

What needs watering to bring it to fruition?

What seeds can be preserved and nurtured for the future?

I drew the following cards from the Wildwood:

The Ten of Stones tells me that I can begin to harvest the fruits of my labours in terms of feeling more ‘at home’ in the community.  It’s true that I’m starting to feel a sense of belonging, just over a year after moving here, and that my efforts to become part of the community are starting to reap rewards.   

The Four of Bows suggests that I could allow myself a little more time to enjoy these rewards, celebrating with my friends, old and new, before starting on the next phase.

The King of Vessels, represented by the heron (and sitting just after Lammas on the Wildwood’s Wheel of the Year!), indicates that I need to keep watering my long-held beliefs in justice and equality so that they don’t wither and die – a timely reminder not to allow myself to become too jaded!

The Two of Vessels – ah, what a lovely card to see in this position! ‘The initial attraction and exploration of potential’, to quote Mark Ryan and John Matthews in the accompanying book to the Wildwood deck.  The seed of a new beginning - a new friendship or relationship of some kind, perhaps - build from the abundance of the past year, to nurture... 

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

The next stops on the Tarot Blog Hop are - depending on whether you’re moving backwards or forwards through the list – Bonnie Fernandes' or Christiana Gaudet's blog . The Master List can be found here.

Sharman-Caselli Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections.

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

 

Tarot Blog Hop - Summer Solstice

Welcome to Alison’s Alembic!   You may have arrived here as a stop on the Tarot Blog Hop from either Louise's Priestess Tarot or Joy Vernon'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.   However you came to be here, welcome to this installment of the Tarot Blog Hop!
 

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it’s the Summer Solstice today (5.04 a.m. UT) - the longest day, the shortest night. It’s the time when the sun appears to have reached a standstill; the word ‘solstice’ means ‘the standing of the sun’.  The sun has reached its zenith in the sky - its furthest boundary of power, if you like – and as such, its greatest potency.  For those of us below, it’s time to stop and look back at what we’ve achieved on our journey, since the Winter Solstice six months ago.  Now we can celebrate what we’ve created, as well as acknowledge what hasn’t worked.  It’s no surprise that this solstice (again, in the northern hemisphere) has been called the ‘Festival of Achievement’.  

Various images from the tarot flash through my mind as I think about this. The Sun is an obvious one, as cards often show the sun at either its highest point in the sky, or at full power.

Universal Waite Tarot

'The Sun of Life' , Wildwood Tarot

The Sun, Mystic Spiral Tarot

 

Six of Bows, Wildwood Tarot

But another card, from the Wildwood Tarot, seems to reflect some of this too: the Six of Bows.  Subtitled 'Abundance', I see the fire in the centre symbolizing the warmth and light of the sun, while the placement of the bows in a circle represents the wheel or cycle of life.  The 'fruits of our labours', the things we've achieved, the abundance, whether that be material or something less tangible, sit at the edges of the wheel - things we've gained along the way.

To celebrate the Summer Solstice, our wrangler for this year’s Litha Tarot Blog Hop, Sharon, has asked us to share our gifts with each other, in creative ways – to allow the Sun to shine on something that we’re good at, within the circle of the Hop.  It’s not always easy to do this – some of us, I suspect, have a tendency to hide our light under the proverbial bushel.  But if this is a once-a-year opportunity, then it’s time to grab it!

I’ve decided to draw (quite literally) on some of the traditions and images associated with the Summer Solstice and create a card which, who knows, may even become ‘The Sun’ card in my long-talked-about (but slow to materialize) tarot deck!   

The first image that comes to my mind is the sunflower, its face following the path of the sun across the sky.   I couldn't imagine summer without these, perhaps because I would see fields of them on the prairies where I grew up!

The wheel is another image.  Centuries ago, people would set fire to wooden wheels at the top of hills, representing the zenith of the Sun’s power, and then rolling them down the slope to symbolize the declining power of the Sun as the yearly cycle progresses.  The path of the sun through the sky, the ecliptic, is another sort of wheel, and gives rise to the wheel of the zodiac.  With the Sun at its peak, you might think it would make sense for the Sun to be entering the fiery sign of Leo, rather than the water sign of Cancer!  But apparently, in Denmark, the solstice is celebrated (and has been since the time of the Vikings) by visiting wells, especially those thought to have healing qualities - as well as by bonfires!  The well-visiting seems to have fallen by the wayside nowadays, but I'll re-visit that idea in my next post...

 

This is also the time when the Oak King reaches his prime, and gives way to the Holly King, who will rule for the next half of the cycle, until we reach the Winter Solstice. From now on, everything will be withdrawing – the crops will be harvested and stored, the earth will prepare to rest, to sleep – and we will begin to think about what it is we want to nurture during the time of the Holly King. But today, it’s time to celebrate our creativity – the gifts we’ve been given which allow us to express ourselves best – and to pass that on to others in our circles.

And so, I offer this ‘Sun’ card as my gift on this solstice – may the blessing and the abundance of the Sun shine on you and your creative endeavours!

'Summer Solstice' copyright Alison Coals 2013

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

The next stops on the Tarot Blog Hop are - depending on whether you’re moving backwards or forwards through the list – Louise's Priestess Tarot or Joy Vernon's blog . The Master List can be found here.

Mystic Spiral Tarot created by Giuseppe Palumbo & Giovanni Pelosini, published by Lo Scarabeo.

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

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

Tarot Blog Hop – Beltane 2013

Welcome to Alison’s Alembic!   You may have arrived here as a stop on the Tarot Blog Hop from either Arwen Lynch's or Morgan Drake Eckstein'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!

'Taurus' . Copyright Alison Coals

We’ve arrived at Beltane, an ancient Celtic festival which marks the beginning of summer and celebrates the waxing of the Sun. It’s symbolized by the lighting of bonfires, which also act as a means of purifying and cleansing.   Beltane is a cross-quarter day, marking the mid-point of the Sun’s journey between its location at the Vernal or Spring Equinox (0° Aries) and the Summer Solstice (0° Cancer). In astronomical terms, the date this occurs is usually 5-7 days later – this year the Sun reaches this mid-point (15° Taurus) on the 5^th May.

Beltane falls in Taurus (in the northern hemisphere).  As a double Taurus myself, I feel a real sense of connection to this festival, perhaps through the link to the land – although I think it’s more likely to be the promise of longer and warmer days!  I have very little Fire in my natal chart, so perhaps I’m drawn to the Beltane fires, searching for that spark to set my creativity alight...

There are so many traditions tied in to all our festivals, Beltane included. It’s linked to May Day, to Walpurgis Night in Germany, to Calan Mai in Wales – mainly northern traditions, it would seem.  It feels fitting, then, that our wrangler for this Imbolc blog, Arwen, has asked us to write about traditions – in particular, what traditions are important to us in how we read the Tarot.  

As it happens, I’d been thinking about traditions anyway. In a recent blog about the Hierophant, the Major Arcana associated with Taurus, I was reflecting on the ‘outer’ forms of tradition that have held communities together, in the form of the written or oral word – texts, prayers, teachings, and yes, ritual.  Such traditional forms of ‘teaching’ have held together societies and cultures for millennia – the Haindl Tarot’s Hierophant carries (top left) the Hebrew letter ‘vav’, meaning ‘nail’, to remind us of this.  And ritual carries with it, of course, a sense of the seasons, the turning of the year. We celebrate the passing of the year through a variety of rituals – leaping through the fire on Beltane being one of them!  Again, the Haindl’s Hierophant carries a reminder of this through the rune ‘radh’ (top right), meaning ‘wheel’, while the Wildwood’s Ancestor represents the end of hibernation and the coming of warmth and light; the return of abundance – a very Taurean word!

Social mores, religious dogma, cultural traditions passed down from one generation to the next (depicted by the grandfather-father-son in the Haindl image) - these all carry the idea of being fixed – perhaps even (Taurus being the fixed Earth sign) ‘set in stone’.  But the Hierophant is also about the need to transform and change, not just about sticking with tradition. Sometimes our traditions outlive their usefulness, and we need to recognize what no longer serves us as well as what’s still useful.

With all that in mind, how to answer Arwen’s question?  What traditions do I use when I read the tarot?   Am I a traditional or non-traditional reader?  Well, I do draw on traditional meanings, but I’ve come to realize, over the years, that just sticking with tradition doesn’t work for me – so I can connect to the Hierophant in that regard.  I’ve come to rely more and more on being able to connect intuitively to the symbolism in the cards.  I prefer decks that have images on all the cards, so I’m not a traditionalist in terms of using unmarked pip cards.  More of a High Priestess approach perhaps, which feels appropriate, combining the 'opposing' (in terms of duality) forces, creating a more 'complete' reader?

Just thinking about the fires of Beltane has sparked my imagination, inspiring this little spread to gain some extra insight...

In what way do I read ‘traditionally’?

In what way do I read ‘non-traditionally’?

What helps me to ‘leap through the fire’ when I read?

What is fuelled by the fire as I leap over it?

Using the Wildwood Tarot (created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections), I’ve drawn the Nine of Stones, The Wanderer, King of Arrows, and the Ace of Bows.  I follow tradition in the way I respect and use card meanings that have been passed down through time, yet I can allow myself to trust my intuition and necessarily ‘follow the rules’ – which for me required a leap of faith when I first started out!  I’m able to remain impartial, offering clarity rather than ‘judgement’, and in doing so, I can give the gift of empowerment to others.

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

The next stops on the Tarot Blog Hop are, depending on whether you’re moving backwards or forwards through the list, Arwen Lynch and Morgan Drake Eckstein. The Master List can be found here.