Emma – Page 5 – Tarot Training

Queen of Cups

She is watery water, so is a strong emotional character. The queen here is mirrored in a pool beneath her – what you see is what you get, as above so below, she is a woman who will not hide her feelings but expresses herself as she is in the moment and then is is gone – She has a maturity about her when it comes to emotions and knows that emotions held in are only going to fester – rather than this she expresses herself and lets it go. Yet despite this it can be hard to fathom this woman she is shrouded in mystery and you can only just make out her face, she is a woman of deep intuitive understanding and has known her own depths – because of this she may be a mystery to many people – yet her understanding and empathy for others is very high. She is a mother type and nurtures all those around her, instinctively knowing what is needed when.

Her power comes from her self awareness and self acceptance and she is comfortable in emotional territory – nothing phasing or scaring her as she knows all she sees in another is also within her. Using her own map she can help others charter theirs.

She reflects others in her behaviour and presents people often with a mirror for their own selves. As she does so she offers an opportunity to others to be as aware as she is herself. Many do not take it. But their response does to affect her – she may therefore be seen as a master of illusions, and sometimes you may not know who she really is in herself she reflects you so well. But none of this matters to the Queen – for she knows herself and that is all that is required – to those who know who they are they can understand and see of the queen too. As both their own reflection and also the truth that she is deep down.

She is someone who is psychic, mediumistic, and understands the symbols of the other planes. She can be lost in them if she has not healed her own psychology. She is receptive and feminine, loving and patient. There is no rush to action only being and experiencing the world as it unfolds. Whatever that may hold.

Prince of Swords

This month I am going to look and chat about the card – Prince of Swords. This card has many different aspects and as a court card can both represent a person with certain qualities as well as the querants own self, qualities they are expressing and also events around the querant.

As an event this card is talking about cutting off from someone or some people. The idea being that you need to be following your own path and not be influenced by others who are not actually in your shoes. It is time to break patterns of behaviour that leave you feel trapped and either unable to move forward or any movement made is difficult as you are pulled in many directions. This aspect can be seen easily through the figures that are trying to pull the chariot – each in a different direction the chariot not moving very much at all. You are in charge though and have the sword of discernment to cut those free who are going in a different direction to you – so you can put all your energy into your own goals and thus move forward much faster.

On an internal level these diverse pulls can be coming from different aspects of oneself each wanting a different thing and when this card comes up it is time to make some clear decisions about what your direction really is and to heal voices or decisions from the past that may be trying to stop you.

In relationships if this card comes up it is very likely that the relationship it refers to is needing to split as each is pulling in a different direction, sometimes there is hope of resolution if both parties can speak openly about their direction and agree to differ and not hinder the other from their pathway, however more often than not it has come to a point where each person has learned what they needed to from the other and it is time to go separate ways.

This is a swords card and in a person of youthful age, so represents someone who is logical and clear thinking – who will find solutions to problems and no longer allow blocks to get in the way of their progress. Obstacles can be removed by applying logic and will to the issue. However this is the healing power of the card, often when first active in your life there will be a sense of jumping about from one goal to the next – one place to the next not quite committing to anything and dissipating your energies – however what is called for is to not please everyone and to get clear about what of the myriad of possibilities really speaks to your heart. Usually it is actually quite clear what way is the way to go, but it is the fear of cutting off options that prevents that decision from taking place. This card suggests it is time and you will lose nothing by letting go of the paths you know are not the right ones right now.

Rational thinking can be a curse as well as a gift, You can dream ideas and plans but do nothing with any of them, get stuck in analysis whilst never getting to the emotional core of the situation. The application of what has heart and meaning to you is needed to fully use the discrimination and mental activity of this card and character. Often whether this is available can be seen from the surrounding cards.

The yellow suggests mental powers and possibly self-esteem coming from recognition of intelligence, the green is the desire – the drive – the feeling of loving each idea that arises, and also the idea of using love as a force to decide between pathways which each bring their positive qualities to you. As you immerse yourself in a deep love for who you are your decision becomes clearer.

Living With a Card

Often when we read tarot for ourselves with the Thoth, we have a position in the spread which is the main focal point – it might be the outcome card, it might be the ‘card to focus on’ it might be the ‘key’. Whichever it is the card that we are most drawn to and seek answers from. Sometimes in readings this card is the very one that we understand the least – or in this particular reading it seems not to provide the direct answers we usually gain or expect. This is a good time to build your tarot knowledge, both in a traditional way and in a very personal way.

These, perhaps confusing, yet central cards hold a key for us. There are a number of different ways to approach this:

the academic study
the meditation
the journey
the holding the card with you through life

I want to focus on the last of these here this month, but before I do I will briefly talk about the others to give you an idea of what I am not meaning with the last one.

The first is to go to the books you have, the online resources you have access to and to read all anyone has ever seen in the card and go with those statements and concepts you have an intuitive reaction to. You are starting to gain a deeper understanding of the card and how it relates to you specifically in your situation and you are adding to your remembered bank of card meanings.

In this section I would also include studying the things that have been associated with the card by the deck creator, so you may also be going to references about the astrological associations of the Thoth card you have, the Kabbalistic position of the card, the meanings of the sephiroth or path connected to the card etc. Perhaps even looking further into that into the associations from the Kabbalah correspondences.

All of this can lead to great depth and often when we experience a one of card’s many meanings it stays with us much more strongly than others we have just read about. So picking out the parts that you feel a ah-ha with of a click is a powerful way of learning.

Then we come to the second way of working with the card – to do a traditional meditation on the card – sitting quietly and still in front of the card and allowing the different parts of the card to draw you and to wash over you – once quiet within and at peace with the card then you can allow intuitive understanding and inner wisdom to arise within the session. Also within this there is the Inner Discursive method of meditation where you can allow yourself to first describe the images you see within the card and the to allow yourself to think about what this image means and what other concepts and situations also are connected with the image.

There is then the creative visualisation, pathworking or journeying technique where you prepare yourself for an inner journey in your usual manner and then allow yourself to walk directly into the card, initially seeing some or all of the pictures on the card but as you progress you see the environments change and you may travel on a very personal journey into different terrain even with the same card on separate occasions. This gains you intuitive insight as you assess and reflect on your journey after you return you ordinary consciousness.

Then we come to allowing the card to work with you.

In many ways this allows all the above to process within you – but it can also be done on its own. You look at the image and see it clearly in your mind’s eye, then you take it with you in your mind as you go about your day-to-day activities. You set your unconscious mind to work on the issue of finding this cards true message to you. As you intend this you then can forget about the card and watch out for patterns of action, behaviour or events around you in your day. Any time something stands out to you hold the card in your mind and against the activity or event.

Ask yourself what is the connection between these two things – if any?

<li”>Sometimes a connection will clearly be made and you can log this as a confirmation of a certain slant of meaning of this card at this time for you.

<li”>Other times there is a tenuous connection – this you can hold in a ‘maybe this’ pile and wait for further confirmation or a missing link between two things the card and that event to show itself to you.

Sometimes there will be no connection – here you can leave the situation as being about a different part of the process you are in currently – perhaps it relates to one of the other cards in your reading, perhaps it is just in a different realm of your life.

You can also look out for connections between your thoughts on the topic you have asked about, when you find yourself reflecting on the issue and exploring it in its own nature then remembering the card and looking for these same connections, the card its images, energy and possible meaning and the relation of this to your situation of enquiry.

As you work through the process of a card you can find its meaning and your understanding changes, you begin to see the whole story of a card rather than just the initial concepts your intuition and mind was able to latch onto. When flowing at its best you can experience moments where everything feels very connected – both in your life as well as how it is mirrored in your reading and this specific card.

As we set intentions like this with our unconscious often these processes of inner analysis take place almost by themselves, we come in and out of awareness of the process through our day. As we become more conscious of this process we start to become conscious of our own intuitive and inner being knowledge making its voice known in our conscious world – we come to know what we have been seeking for, often triggered by the tarot, and sometimes feeding back into a depth of knowledge of the tarot for future use with others.

You can encourage this process by having the image of the card about you – perhaps as a backdrop on your phone or desktop on your computer, or just out by your side when you are working.

Have a go at this process yourself, see it working in your life. All the processing of understanding the meaning of the card to you are valid and worthwhile, and if we use them together then our learning process becomes a very rich and personal experience which accelerates our own inner growth and the skills we have to offer others.

5 Wands Strife

This month I picked a card to work with for these Thoth tips and came up 5 wands – strife.

Sometimes people see this card as being a hard card to work with – indicating stresses and strains and general difficulties in making things work as they wish. It can indicate conflict with others and with the situation in general. However it is a card which also indicates that the effort expended is worthwhile. The intense, clear yellow, reminiscent of the sun, in an indication of self-esteem being the background of the effort expended. The wands themselves have behind them the motivation of flames of passion and energy to move things forward despite the difficulty. This can apply to both business situations and also personal relations.

The 4 wands preceding the 5 is in balance and now the energy builds and needs to face conflict next to create the changes needed to achieve the overall goals being worked for. This can be likened to breaking out of the old ways of success and facing new challenges to keep business projects afloat. It can also be the stage of a relationship where you have decided that the relationship is good and worth investment in time and energy, however the honeymoon period is just over and with the areas of commonality fully explored – now the territory of how you are different from each other is broached. This brings conflict, but also respect as you gain a measure of each others integrity and ability to hold their own. You also work out the ways you can deal with the conflicts between you that enables both parties to be both respected and also honoured in their individuality as well as in your togetherness.

The phoenix heads on the ends of two of the wands indicates the ability to come through this time of conflict renewed and refreshed, the lotus’ on the other two wands indicates the love that is still there and influencing the conflict as it arises, for love is within conflict as well as within peace. The main wand has upon it a symbol of the sun and the guiding principle of self-esteem, personal self value and from here value of others as individuals with their own perspectives. You hold your own, discipline yourself, and work with the conflict rather than run from it.

The efforts expended with this card can be compared to training for a sporting achievement, the effort required needs discipline and the building of stamina, the competition – or conflict – is what enables, or rather sparks, the growth to take place. It is the striving for the highest outcome in a situation and being prepared to go through personal difficulty to achieve it whilst also holding true to ones own values and respecting ones limitations. A card that can bring powerful growth and success.

4 swords – Truce

This card is one of balance in the realm of the mind.

There is a place of seeming peace that has been reached – yet this has come by way of compromise there is a force represented by Jupiter of desire to move things on and expand, to grow – but Jupiter in Libra has that balancing force of Libra acting on it preventing full expansion unless all desire it. The peace is kept at all costs. When this comes up it is a time to allow the balance to be as it is for the time being – recovery and recuperation can take place in this period of time. No striving, just resting with things as they are. It can be a good time to begin to realise what will need to change when the energy shifts from this place. Anything that has been sacrificed to bring this peace will need to be recovered for truth to be reclaimed and integrity regained. It is a force of love that is keeping this balance – there is no error. Awareness is needed though and the strength to allow the waters to be stirred when the time is right. What has been un said will need to be communicated, what has been conveniently forgotten needs to be remembered. The blue of communication in the background it punctuated by the yellow of self-esteem. The self-esteem and desire for the truth is building in this phase, whilst the situation is stable. The rose of love and beauty in the center is being held back by the swords coming to this focal point of seeming peace. Only when the courage to face the truth is taken then can the rose truly be seen in its full glory. So gather your strength and resources and make ready for the uncovering of the truth. For the truth will set you free. The cross is a protective symbol you may have been kept from the truth by another and their motivation may have been one of protection and the idea that protecting you from the truth would hurt less – however this premise is false and needs to be challenged as you have the strength and self-esteem to face the truth and once it is known it can be dealt with effectively. So do not keep the peace with others to protect them rather understand that there is a great respect in knowing someone has all skills needed to deal with whatever the truth is in a situation.

Affirmations to go with this card include:-

I am at peace within myself
The trust sets me free
When I am at peace in myself nothing can disturb me
I trust that I and others have all the skills we need to face the truth of the situation

Numerology

Numerology is the synchronicity of numbers as a reflection of the universe. How numbers add up, subtract etc brings meaning. It is an old tradition and there are many well used and accepted ways of determining aspects of our character. This month I am going to look how we find our soul and personality numbers and relate them to the Major arcana of the Thoth deck. I will use my own numbers as an example.

So My birthday is 4th June 1966

that’s 4/6/1966

To find out your personality number you add up the digits until you come to a number under 21

4 + 6 + 1966 = 1976

then reduce this down to a number under 21

1 + 9 + 7 + 6 = 23

2 + 3 = 5

So my personality number is 5 and this matches to the Hierophant in the major arcana.

In my case my soul number is also 5, however if your first number under 21 is something like 14 then you can reduce this further 1 + 4 = 5 so someone with a personality number of 14 – which is Art also has the Hierophant as their soul number.

If you have three numbers under 21 then the middle one is the creativity number. for example if your first number under 21 is 19 then this reduces to 10 which then reduced to 1

So your Soul card would be 1 – Magus

Creativity card 10 – Fortune

Personality card 19 – The Sun

So once you have your card you can see the essences that will play out in your personality and the lessons you are learning in your soul in this lifetime.

For me I am the Hierophant both in personality and in my soul growth..

This shows in my life as a need to teach and also to learn constantly, all through my life I recognise this energy. There are aspects of wanting to find the higher purpose in all that life presents before me – both in my inner world and in my outer expression within the world. As I look at the Hierophant card I see my determination and sometimes stubbornness in the bull – and also the determination to overcome obstacles that present themselves to me in my path from the elephant – often looking to the highest view to understand and overcome the block in front of me. My intuition (high priestess on the card) guides me as I walk forward and aim to both learn and teach all who would be open to learning. I have a tendency to like rules yet also fight against them, finding the highest rules, the spiritual laws, that govern all things wherever possible. Knowing too that I am ever as a child and will never understand it all, nor should I – retaining the innocence of incarnation in this world – though we can touch other planes, experiencing then in many and varied ways, we can never forget that whilst we are living in the physical we can’t fully comprehend the magnificence of the whole, nor assume we can truly know another’s pathway fully – though we are sometimes privy to snapshots in time of another’s life, only our own soul truly knows our destiny over time and space, lifetime through lifetime.

The Hierophant is ruled by Taurus so Taurean energies are apparent also, The love of beauty, creativity and art. A strong connection with nature and the earth and the fixed nature of change coming slowly and in a considered way. More details on Taurus can be found on Skyscript – an excellent astrology resource

Princess of Cups

This month I picked a card to see what would be of use to talk about with you all…

Princess of Cups

This is a beautiful card of self-worth and value. Princesses as we have seen before correspond to the position 10 on the Kabbalah – Malkuth, this is the point of manifestation of the suit. The princesses are the manifestation of the potential we find in an ace. So here we have an emotional new start, where much work has been done in the emotional realm and can now be put into practice on the physical plane.

So in relationships, this is a card of emotional freedom, there is no need for jealousy, manipulation, power games etc. These things have been explored and now are no longer needed. There is trust and freedom and also joy. The swan of her head is a symbol of freedom but also a symbol of monogamy and trust between people. She holds the lotus upright and high and is able to see love everywhere and through everyone.

She offers her talents and skills to everyone without wish for reward, yet also without pushing herself on anyone – she quietly helps out and moves on, she needs no recognition and is able to protect herself through her own innocence and comfort with her vulnerability. She seems to sidestep power games that others offer her invites to play, effortlessly. She is pure and capable, receptive and free.

The dolphin symbolises love and trust as well as the idea of loving guardianship of this world and all that is in it.

This card is earth of water and so is the physical practical application of emotional knowledge and understanding. So she is empathic, understanding and loving in all she does.

As a card representing a person she can also represent a sensitive young child – or someone older with the apparent innocence of someone very young. With this youth or youthfulness comes simple wisdom and ways of seeing the world which cut through the complexities we often have learnt to use as resistance to doing what is in our heart. The answer and the truth is often so much more simple, but almost too hard to see for our doubts. The princess can see through these things and get to the core by trusting her own views on the world and trusting what is in her heart. She lives by the truth that all is love ultimately.

Thoth and the Weather

Thoth and the Weather
This is something I am recently working with, as I go out into the mountains on regular occasions I have decided to see what the Thoth has to say about the weather – from time to time I will update you to my findings. Please feel free to discuss your own findings on this thread.

So last weekend there were two choices for walking in the Brecon Beacons I picked a card for each,

The Black Mountain area – Queen of Swords
The Beacons themselves – Hanged Man

This was for the physical experience of the mountains rather than our personal or emotional experience.

The Associations that came up for each were as follows:
Queen of Swords:- She is sitting on the clouds, has her head in the clouds, there is a feeling of height and being able to see the view below. So I felt this was a good indication of the cloud cover being high and we would be able to see around us for the most part of the walk. She is also someone who is quite detached and cool headed in things which I associated with it being colder than usual – or than it had been recently.

Hanged Man:- He is upside down, perhaps we would experience an inversion – a relatively unusual occurrence where the top of the mountains are in clear sky and the clouds are below in the valley, This is a card of water, so there is suggestion of rain or fog, and with the ideas of trust and surrender I have the association that we wouldn’t be able to see where we were going but would have to trust in our skills. So low cloud, some rain and fog, possible inversion too.

We chose to go to the Black Mountain area, and experienced a small portion of the time in some mist, but overall the day was clear we could see far across the land – there was snow on the tops which was unexpected, yet not from the Queens indication of cold. We could also look across to the Beacon area from where we were and there was indeed some inversion going on around the peaks there and a lot of white cloud which would be experienced as fog, with possible drizzle.

A positive set of associations with these cards I feel.

Beginning to work with Astrology and the Thoth tarot

Beginning to work with Astrology and Thoth

Many of the Thoth cards have astrological symbols on them. Looking at how the astrology connects with the card meaning can help us read the meaning of a card in the spread, especially if certain signs or planets reoccur through the spread giving an indication of how the planet’s or sign’s action is influencing the situation in the reading.

When reading a planet in a sign think of the sign being the arena that the planet is acting in. So Venus in Cancer can be thought of as the creative, beautifying, sensual energy of venus acting in the arena of Cancer, the place of family ties, loyalty, home, protection and safety. So we have the feel of ties between people being pleasurable and the idea of attraction – ideal for the card 2 of cups love.

However we can also take this further and look at some of the other attributes of Venus and cancer together and see that in some spreads this card could also indicate an artist – perhaps someone who works from home and expresses homely ideas through their art. The connection to the home and beauty in this card can also represent making a home beautiful, furnishings and colours, comfort and sensual place to be in.

Someone who is very generous (Venus) with their family (Cancer). Venus also represents values, how we value ourselves and others, so in the playground of cancer we are looking at self value within the family, family position. We can also see a possible avoiding of looking at the truth with cancers sidestepping nature and Venus’s ability to please others even if ultimately it serves our own needs. Perhaps too you might say that love is maintained by using tact and diplomacy coupled with a high self value.

There is a tendency of cancer to hold onto things and Venus is about emotional things, so we have the holding of relationships, a possible clingyness and a tendency to go over the past. There can also be a link to historical interests, archaeology, and the like.

There is a love of food and music with Venus, and in the realm of cancer then family gatherings, particularly the women of the family (Venus also) gathering to enjoy good food, most likely in a home or very homely setting.

You can discover other connections looking up attributes of both cancer and Venus and allowing your intuition to combine them to bring further meanings to this card and spread in which it is found. If you also are taking into account other attributes such as numerology and Kabbala then you can further refine and understand both the card and your intuitive messages from it at a specific time.

6 cups – Pleasure

This is a wonderful card of harmony and joy. The sixes in the Thoth deck correspond to Tiphareth on the Qabalah and as such as the most perfected point of the element they are in. Here we have joy in just being, the cups are not over full nor empty, they are in a balanced state of harmony connected together with the passion of expression of the self. It is life coming easily and also sexual pleasure, the idea of no goal, just enjoyment of the moment, sensuality and self-expression in the now. The cups are all about the emotions and emotional realms so when this card comes up you can be sure to be enjoying the time or area of life represented (unless in a difficult position… ‘what to avoid’ for eg)

The card is connected with sun in Scorpio so there is a feeling of the positive emotional feelings being creative, fertile and productive. Also the idea of commitment to the moment, Scorpio is the fixed water sign, and as such likes to maintain the feelings of this moment and delve into them deeply. So this card represents getting the most out of the good time that is with you. Allow yourself to fully experience the pleasures available to you as with everything it is a peak time and will not be maintained for ever so enjoy every moment while you can. In this sense it can also represent a holiday, or ‘honeymoon period’ of a relationship.

It’s position of Tiphareth also indicates the highest expression of spiritual joy in a physical way – Tiphareth being the point at which the son of God is made man ( in Christian symbolism) for the 6’s The 6 cups is the highest pleasure one can experience through earthly experience, one of the ways to gain this is through sexual pleasure and this card brings this association and energy forward to us.

Both the Scorpio sun and Tiphareth in the emotional world, indicate passion, desire and expression of deep emotions in a positive way.

There is movement in the sea below – the emotional arena must keep moving to prevent stagnation as was once experienced in the 4 cups, so with this knowledge this pleasure is not clinged to despite the delving into its depth. It is as it is and the honesty of the moment is experienced as an eternal truth until the energies change for more development of the soul. It is a card of experiencing the joy of renewal of positive emotions about oneself as well as about others. Celebration and fulfilment, enjoyable activities in what ever area of life the reading indicates. It is a wonderful card to experience.