Master of Your Domain: Justice

Today's card is Justice.  It is the card that says it time to stand and be judged. To account for your actions. But judged by whom? Are you to be judged by a Higher Power? No, the judgement that Justice brings is more severe, for you are to stand in front of the soul mirror and give testament on your life choices and decisions. You are held accountable to yourself.

The Eight of Swords: Reflections & Dreams

Last night I had a dream. It was an almost conscious, or lucid dream. I was aware of the dream I was having and I was aware of another part of my mind, my conscious, my ... whatever ... trying to analyze the dream as I was having it. Since the dream involved the Eight of Swords I thought we would take a look at the card.

The Eight of Swords in the Gilded Tarot has always been strangely alluring to me. A card of self imposed bondage, it shows an inability to move (either forward or back) brought on by our own insecurities, worries and fears.

On it we see a woman surrounded by eight shining swords. Each of the swords radiate energy as they circle, but do not touch her. The woman is dressed in white and kneeling. Her ears and eyes are covered and her hands are bound by a golden chain. Her feet are bare. Her head is positioned downward. However, she does not look distressed. Instead she seems resigned to the fact that she is in this position.

But look a little closer, this is not as desperate a situation as first it seems. As we said before, the swords are not threatening her and the golden chain hangs loosely from her wrists. In fact, if she chose to she could probably free herself from the chains and remove the blindfold covering her ears and eyes. She could then see the energy and wisdom that is emanating from the swords.

The lesson of the Eight of Swords is that we are the creator of our own jails and of our own bondage. When thoughts are racing through the mind telling us we can't ask that person out because they are too beautiful, or we can't start that business because we are not smart enough, or even; we can't take the time to better ourselves by reading a self help book, meditating or going back to school to earn a degree because we don't have the time we feel the influence of the Eight.

Now is the time to step back and take a deep breath. Put our emotions to the side and let our logic show us the way. We need to break the chains and rip off the blindfold so we can see clearly, and we can realize the worries were just illusions constructed by our own minds. As easily as we built them up we can tear them down.

What does this have to do with my dream? Good question. Let's find out.

The dream was more of a thought and sound dream than a visual dream as I don't remember any images. In fact, I don't think there were any. I remember a grandfather. I felt, more than saw an image of the kindly old, smiling grandfather of Hallmark Cards or Norman Rockwell paintings. I don't think it could be my grandfather because all my grandparents passed before I turned one. I don't think it was my ex-wife's grandfather because I never met him before he passed and when he did make his presence known to me it was always through the smell of garlic.

Add to the image or feeling of this grandfather figure the image or feeling of the Eight of Swords. I could not see the card or even recall it's meaning. It's at this point I remember the "other" part of my mind mentally running through the deck to put definitions to the card.

I kept thinking Nine of Swords? No that's a prison built of worry. Eight of Wands? No, that's swift movement. Nine of Wands? No, that's a pleasure becoming a burden. Seven of Swords? No, that's a thief in the night. Seven of Wands? No, that's sticking up for your beliefs. It wasn't until I woke up and checked my Tarot Journal that I remembered the look and meaning of the Eight.

While these two image-feelings where playing around in my head I heard the chorus to "Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones. You know:

"Right here, right now
There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history."

Over and over and over again. Even when the images of the grandfather and the Eight of Swords faded the chorus kept on loud and clear.

So what does it mean?

The Eight of Swords coupled with the chorus of "Right Here, Right Now" tells me that the illusions created by my worry and fear need to stop. Right Here. Right Now. This would also validate the reading I did with my spirit guide.

It's funny, I am currently reading Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom (yes, I ripped off the title for my blog) and this morning I just finished reading about Justice. The basic theme of which is, we have to learn to accept the past if we are to have any chance of moving forward. We created the present by our actions in the past even as we are creating the future by our actions Right Here, Right Now.

It seems my guides are persistent little buggers!

The only thing I don't don't is who the grandfather figure is.

Ideas? Thoughts?

Reading For A Skeptic

Today I was hanging out with my friend William. We ran some errands together and later he brought over his super-duper Kirby vacuum so I can shampoo my carpets. We were sitting around the kitchen table when he asked me to do a reading for him. He said he was a skeptic and wanted to understand the art form of Tarot reading. I agreed to read for him.

I asked if he had a specific question. He said no and asked if I couldn't just throw some cards and do a reading. I told him I could do a simple Past, Present & Future spread.

I cleared the energies from the deck and threw three cards:

Past - The Moon
Present - Justice
Future - Emperor

Position - PAST
Card - XVIII The Moon
Description of Card - Two dogs bay at the moon from the base a "lunar machine." The moon sits in a globe like clear sphere atop the machines gears, that have a ying yang quality about them. The moon gazes to the east night sky as two podiums flame on either side. A hermit crab snaps his way up from the depths.
Interpretation - I advised my friend that in his past he often flew off the handle. Relying on gut reactions rather than logic. I also told him I saw a betrayal, or what he defined as a betrayal or disappointment and he blames or judges the person or people to harshly because of it.

Position - PRESENT
Card - XI Justice
Description of Card - A woman dressed in white stands blindfolded in front of a golden scale. Her hands, mimicking the scales hold two sun like orbs that focus rays of energy down to a golden sun symbol. A warm summer sky at orange twilight surrounds the image.
Interpretation - I told my friend that right now in his life he is seeking balance. That he is trying to use a little more logic in his life rather than relying solely on his gut, instinct and emotion. I explained that this emergence of logic seems like a natural progression based upon the Moon in the Past position. I also saw that he was looking to balance his life with a female. I saw the energies coming forth from the hands of the woman and focusing into the emblem of the sun formed a V. This made me think of a vessel or a womb or a vagina. I told him that I though he was looking for a mother figure.

Position - FUTURE
Card - IV The Emperor
Description of Card - A bearded man stands regally in three quarter view wrapped in blue and red silk garments embroidered with sun signals. He wears a golden wreath on his hand. He holds a scepter at the top of which the planetary system revolve. The signs of the zodiac circle him. The scepter in his right hand his left points to the ground. This card reminds me a lot of the Magician in the RWS deck.
Interpretation - My friend was going to be successful in his attempts to find balance between logic and emotion and this was going to help him be successful financially.

Since the Emperor was the only card in the reading to talk about money, I wanted clarification on this and drew three more cards.

Clarifier Cards - Knight of Pentacles, Five of Pentacles (Rx) and Knight of Wands
Interpretation - Seeing these cards come up, I explained to my friend that Knights represented messengers, true believers and/or warriors. To me it felt as if he was going to get a job offer that was not in his profession right now and it was going to take him out of state. This job would be different from what he was currently doing. I explained that the Five of Pentacles represented people who were so consumed with worry they could not see the solution was near them. Since this was reversed I saw that his new job was going to helping people with their challenges or least helping them see that a solution was closer than they thought. This is how he was going to make his money.

My friend and I then discussed how I "got" these meanings. I explained it was intuition, instinct. I looked at the cards and based upon what I knew of the definition of the card, the imagery on the card, the energy I felt around us and my knowledge of him is what formed my reading. He challenged that my friendship with him was more of what I was reading rather than intuiting from the cards and "mystical" abilities. He asked for a second reading to validate the first. Glad for the practice I obliged.

I again cleared the deck and three another PPF spread. The cards I got this time were:

Past - Three of Pentacles (Rx)
Present - Nine of Cups (Rx)
Future - XII The Hanging Man

Position - PAST
Card - Three of Pentacles (Rx)
Description of Card - A worker holds a pentacle he just removed from the kiln high. There is a definite look of pride and satisfaction on his face. Two other pentacles hang, possibly bolted, above the kiln. The kiln is still hot with fire showing there is still work to be done and the pentacle being held is still alight with heat from the kiln it was recently removed from.
Interpretation - I told my friend that in his past he felt there was something he felt was not finished. The Three of Pentacles shows pride in work and also that that work was not finished. Reversed shows me that he feels that there was something he could have done better. Some opportunity that he feels was taken from him prematurely.

Position - PRESENT
Card - Nine of Cups (Rx)
Description of Card - A man welcomes you warmly into his establishment. He raises a cup in your honour while eight other golden chalices sit awaiting to be filled with your desires
Interpretation - I explained that the Nine of Pentacles is the ultimate wish card. It represented whatever you wanted was in your grasp. Reversed, not so much. I told my friend that it seems he has given up on his dreams or that he has been denied what he wanted. That something was taken away from him.

Position - FUTURE
Card - XII The Hanging Man (Rx)
Description of Card - A man hangs upside down in chains. He is dressed in an almost circus like garb. While he may look as if he is caught in the chains. They are in fact very loose and the man can escape anytime he chooses and right himself
Interpretation - I advised my friend that Hanging Man was a card of self discovery and exploration. That he purposely hangs upside so he can gain some new enlightenment from viewing things from a different perspective. I told him that if he wanted to reclaim this dream he was going to have to "think outside the box." To put aside all previous pre-cognitions and think different. I married this back to the first reading with the need for balance between logic and emotion, instead of the poles he tended to swing back and forth from. Reversed I explained meant that I saw him not doing this and missing the opportunity.

When the second reading was through. My friend told me he now understood the art form better and there was some validity to both Tarot in general and what I told him specifically. He then told me he wanted to run a help and rescue shelter for dogs and he actually was starting to train seeing eyes dogs in his mid twenties but stopped at 28 when he moved. He told me he was thinking about moving to Georgia, getting some land and starting to train dogs again.

As we were talking, I casually cut the deck and pulled the Four of Pentacles. I smiled as I explained to my friend that Four of Pentacles represents a man who has achieved success in business but must be careful of holding to tightly to that success lest it comes to define him and he misses out on other parts of life. At this point my friend started bugging out and yelling, "That's just like my dream! That's just like my dream!"

William explained to me that a few nights ago he had a dream that he was successful in business but lost his family because of his single minded focus.

I guess he's not a skeptic anymore ;)