tagged w/ divination
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Conformity, courage, friendship, comrades in arms; possibly tenderness, affection, intimacy. However, swords seldom bring good news..
Reversed
An imposter, falsehood, duplicity, disloyalty.
This is the infamous blindfolded lady with the crossed swords. Crossed swords suggest a clash of ideas or words. The blindfolded lady, indicating impartiality, cannot uncross the swords, but she keeps them still. This is the knowledge of how to compromise, keep these two sides in balance and at peace. Note that this is a temporary compromise. The Querent may be in the middle, or just forced to accept it. Either way, the must be told that it won't last. The direction of your new brain power here is how to keep these two ideas from fighting, to hold off trouble and make peaceConformity, courage, friendship, comrades in arms; possibly tenderness, affection,... more
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Successful conclusion of the matter. Perfection and happiness. Victory, fulfillment, solace, healing.
Reversed
Achievement, dispatch, ending. Also excess physical enjoyment, and pleasures of the senses.
Three maidens with three overflowing cups celebrate. The creation here, springing from the relationship in the two of cups, is happiness, togetherness. Two cups pour into a third and it overflows with love and joy, enough for all. This is a card of parties, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, birthdays. Any time that families get together and reunite in celebration of something new.Successful conclusion of the matter. Perfection and happiness. Victory, fulfillment,... more
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Widowhood. A woman's loss, sadness or embarrassment. Absence, mourning, sterility, privation, separation.
Developing a speech, making real a story, working on a debate, or just spreading news.
Reversed
Malice, bigotry, prudery, deceit.
She's a walking encyclopedia. Any information you want, this woman has it, and as such she can mingle with almost anyone. She can talk science with the scientists, history with the historians, literature with the poets. She knows obscure facts, strange tid-bits, and she seems to love nothing better than to pour it all out, give it away like gifts to help people. In fact this woman is likely to be involved in a job that includes talking: psychology, politics, radio, or information gathering, like the sciences. She absorbs information, and is able to relate it back succinctly, clearly, simply, so everyone can understand and use it; men who aren't threatened by her (and many are!) gather round to listen to her beautiful voice, fascinated. You can always pick out this woman in a crowd as she is always stylish in her own, unique way; almost eccentric in dress. The problem? These queens can be the most "queen-like." Aloof, even cold. They believe the right facts can fix any problem, and will offer that instead of sympathy or warmth. They also like to know everything, and are likely to listen in on conversations, read diaries. Worse, they might well spread what they've learned thinking it will do good. They mean well, but their need to know and solve problems often outweighs other considerationsWidowhood. A woman's loss, sadness or embarrassment. Absence, mourning,... more
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Contentment, happiness, ecstasy, riches; also quick wit; gold.
Reversed
The evil side of wealth. Great riches used badly. In any case, it shows prosperity, but whether it a benefit or detriment to the possessor depends on whether the card is reversed or not.
Earth. Represents the body. Best known for representing health and money, but is also anything to do with work, a job, a task, a craft. Also luck.
This is the raw material that can be used to make whatever the Querent wishes.Contentment, happiness, ecstasy, riches; also quick wit; gold.
Reversed
The... more
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New beginnings, new thinking, new opportunities, new friends and co-workers. The excitement of starting new projects or new jobs.
Reversed
Postponements, deferrals, cancellations. Depression. Loss of work or social contacts.
A new spark of energy for a new passion.
Fire. Represents passion. As such, in a reading it usually stands for a Querent's ambition, career, creative endeavors, religion and/or philosophy. Anything a person might put their energy and soul into, such as teaching and leadership.New beginnings, new thinking, new opportunities, new friends and co-workers. The... more
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Joy, contentment, happy home, nourishment, abundance, fertility.
Reversed
Falsehood, mutation, instability, revolution.
Water. Represents the emotions. Best known for representing the Querent's love life, but it also stands for emotional extremes, such as depression, elation, or bliss, and the negatives that come with such emotions, like over-indulgence in food, drink, drugs, or the positives like poetry or music. Also, psychic powers, visions, illusions.Joy, contentment, happy home, nourishment, abundance, fertility.
Reversed... more
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Different interpretations: Loss, theft, privation, abandonment; sometimes hope and bright prospects.
Reversed
Arrogance, haughtiness, impotence.
Basic Tarot Story
On the bleak landscape where the Tower stood, the Fool sits, empty, despairing. He hoped to find himself on this spiritual journey, but now he feels he's lost everything, even himself. Sitting on the cold stones, he gazes up at the night sky wondering what's left. And that is when he notices, nearby, a beautiful girl with two water urns. As he watches, she kneels by a pool of water illuminated with reflected starlight. She empties the urns, one into the pool, one onto the thirsty ground.
"What are you doing," he asks her. She looks up at him, her eyes twinkling like stars. "I am refilling this pool, so that those who are thirsty may drink, and I am also watering the earth so that, come spring, the seeds will grow," she tells him. And then she adds, "Come. Drink." The Fool comes to kneel with her by the pool and drink. The water tastes wonderful, like liquid starlight. "I can see you are sad," the girl continues, "and I know why. But you must remember that you have not lost all. Knowledge, possibilities, hope, you still have all of these. Like stars, they can lead you to a new future." Even as she says this, she began to fade away, like dew, vanishing. All that remains is a gleam that was at the center of her forehead. This rises up and up, until it settles in the night sky as a shining star. "Follow your star," the woman's voice seems to sing from that light, "and have hope." The Fool takes in a breath and rises. It is a dark night, a desolate land. But for the first time, he has a guiding light to show him the way. Distant as it is, it heals his heart, and restores his faith.
Basic Tarot Meaning
With Aquarius as its ruling sign, The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench the Querent's thirst, with a guiding light to the future.Different interpretations: Loss, theft, privation, abandonment; sometimes hope and... more
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Ace of Swords
Air. Represents the mind. Best known for representing problems and troubles, but really about anything to do with either words and/or the mind. Brilliant thoughts as well as nightmares; sharp ideas or a sharp tongue. This is the tarot card of scientists and analysts.
Reversed
Similar to upright, but the results may be disastrous. Another meaning, possibly childbirth or augmentation.Ace of Swords
Air. Represents the mind. Best known for representing problems and... more
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Representing:
Perfected work, rest after labor. Peace, prosperity, harmony. Romance, a coming marriage.
Reversed:
Though the meaning remians the same, there will not be quite the same fullness, peace, prosperity and success.
The ships have come in, and the Querent can sit back and enjoy them. This card, with its four wands holding up garlands, implies the foundation of a house, literally and figuratively. Whatever the Querent has been building, they have established it, strong and solid. They can take a moment to admire what they've done, enjoy the first rewards it has brought them, and bask in their initial success. Sometimes this card suggests marriage; once again, laying the foundation for the future.Representing:
Perfected work, rest after labor. Peace, prosperity, harmony.... more
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Representing:
Solitary enjoyment of the good things in life. Wisdom of where one's own interests lie. A person with a green thumb. Material well-being. Cautions to be prudent Great love of gardens and home
Reversed:
Danger from thieves, cancelled projects and possible loss of home or friendship. Move with caution.
A woman in her private garden watches over nine "blossoming" pentacles. Like the Hermit, the woman here has retreated from the world, but unlike him it is into a private world of pleasure. This card signifies a lucky windfall or payment for work well done, enough to buy what you most want. It can also indicate a retreat to a spa or one of those beautiful bed & breakfast inns where you're pampered and waited on hand and foot. Everything is lovely, luxurious. The physical things the Querent has been seeking, things they wanted but were unable to buy, they will finally be able to have.Representing:
Solitary enjoyment of the good things in life. Wisdom of where... more
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STRENGTH
Basic Symbols
A woman with a lemniscate hovering over her head, a lion.
Basic Tarot Story
The Fool, victorious over his enemies, is feeling arrogant, powerful, even vengeful. There is a hot passion in him that he can barely control. It is in this state that he comes across a maiden struggling with a lion. Running to help, he arrives in time to see her gently but firmly shut the lion's mouth! In fact, the beast, which seemed so wild and fierce a moment ago, is now completely at her command.
Amazed, the Fool asks her, "How did you do that?" One hand on the lion's mane, she answers, "Will power. Any beast, no matter how wild, will back down before a superior will." At that moment, the Maiden meets the Fool's eyes; though sanity and young, her look is knowing and filled with great power. "Likewise," she says to him, "there are many unworthy impulses inside us. It is not wrong to have them. But it is wrong to let them control us. We are human, not beast, and we can command such energy, use them for higher purposes." His rage quieted, the Fool nods, enlightened, and walks away knowing that it wasn't only the lion who was tamed this day by a Maiden's pure and innocent strength.
Basic Tarot Meaning
Like its ruling sign Leo, this is a card of courage and energy. It represents both the Lion's hot, roaring energy, and the Maiden's steadfast will. The innocent Maiden is unafraid, undaunted, and indomitable. In some cards she opens the lion's mouth, in others she shuts it. Either way, she proves that inner strength is more powerful than raw physical strength. That forces can be controlled and used to score a victory is very close to the message of the Chariot, which might be why, in some decks, it is Justice that is card 8 instead of Strength. This card assures the Querent that they can control not only the situation, but themselves. It is a card about anger and impulse management, about creative answers, leadership and maintaining one's personal honor. It can also stand for a steadfast friend.STRENGTH
Basic Symbols
A woman with a lemniscate hovering over her head, a lion.... more
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It wouldn't hold much hope for the success of Angels if it took as many as a Tootsie Pop to lick a DemonIt wouldn't hold much hope for the success of Angels if it took as many as a... more
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TEMPERANCE
Economy, moderation, frugality, management, accommodation.
Reversed
Things connected with churches, religions, sects, priesthood, sometimes the priest who will marry the Seekers; disunion, unfortunate combinations, competing interests.
Basic Symbols
An angel (often female or genderless), a pool or river of water. Two cups or beakers, a fluid flowing between them.
Basic Tarot Story
Continuing on his spiritual path, the Fool begins to wonder how to reconcile the opposites that he's been facing: material and spiritual (which he hung between as the Hanged man), death and birth (the one leading into the other in the Death card). It is at this point that he comes upon a winged figure standing with one foot in a brook, the other on a rock. The radiant creature pours something from one flask into another. Drawing closer, the Fool sees that what is being poured from one flask is fire, while water flows from the other. The two are being blended together!
"How can you mix fire and water?" the Fool finally whispers. Never pausing the Angel answers, "You must have the right vessels and the right proportions." The Fool watches with wonder. "Can this be done with all opposites?" he asks. "Indeed," the Angel replies, "Any oppositions, fire and water, man and woman, thesis and anti-thesis, can be made to harmonize. It is only a lack of will, a disbelief in the possibility of unity, that keeps opposites, opposite." And that is when the Fool begins to understand that he is the one who is keeping his universe in twain, holding life/death, material world and spiritual world separate. In him, the two could merge, as in the vessels that the Angel uses to pour the elements, one to the other. All it takes, the Fool realizes, is the right proportions....and the right vessel.
Basic Tarot Meaning
It is hard, at first, to see where Sagittarius, the ruling sign of this card, fits in. Sagittarius is an expansive sign and Temperance is, on a surface level, about "tempering." Butler points out that the original pouring from cup to cup might have been about cutting wine with water. So this is a card about moderation. There is, however, another angle to the card, that of merging seemingly impossible opposites. Sagittarius, the centaur, merges beast and man into a unique creature. And then there is the bow and arrow, one moving, one stationary, working together to point the way. Temperance may be, at first glance, a warning to the Querent to "temper" their behavior, to cut their wine with water. But it may also be a reminder to the Querent that seemingly irreconcilable opposites may not be irreconcilable at all. Belief that fiery red and watery blue cannot be merged may be the only thing standing in the way of blending the two. Change the belief, measure out each with care, and you can create otherworldly violet.
This is one of the hardest cards to interpret. I think, perhaps, Crowley is most helpful in understanding it, as he calls the card: "alchemy." It sometimes works best for me to imagine the Angel wearing a lab coat and very carefully pouring measured amounts of colored liquids into beakers rather than cups.
This card really does seem to be less about moderation then about the Sagittarian desire to find a unified field theory, a way of blending opposites, achieving synthesis. In a reading, this card can mean that the Querent sees two opposite camps (choices, belief systems, families, friends) and no way to unite them. But sometimes the only reason the two won't blend is that we're not taking the time, not measuring out the right amounts (the Querent might, for example, be trying to merge two full families when blending has to occur bit by bit with individuals). It is also a reminder that a bow and arrow are useless apart, but together a formidable weapon. This card tells the Querent that they CAN and should put thesis and anti-thesis together to get the even more useful synthesis. But it will take time, care, patience and experimentation. And also, yes, moderation.TEMPERANCE
Economy, moderation, frugality, management, accommodation.
Reversed... more
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Ah, the dreaded three of swords. Three swords pierce a heart. Against the background of a storm, it bleeds.
You were warned that the peace established in the two of swords couldn't last. What sharp words or cutting ideas have created here, not surprisingly, is pain and heartbreak. This card often relates to love-triangles; but remember this is an air sign, so what the Querent believes to be true was likely due to something they heard wrong or were falsely told, a wrong idea they got into their heads. It does not lessen the fact that hurtful words are going to be exchanged.
There is, however, an up side to this card, however bleak. Prior to now, the words and thoughts - possibly poisonous words and thoughts - have been bottled up. They now come out into the open, the cutting truth. I don't like you, or, I didn't say that, or, I'm sorry, but it's your best friend I love (ouch!). So, well, now the Querent knows; no more waiting, obsessing, wondering, worrying. Either blood or poison can drip out, and the Querent can get on with their life. They now know how things stand and can act on that, instead of on false beliefs, gossip and misconceptions.
Swords through the heart, just as it appears. Removal, absence, delay, division, separation.
Reversed
Confusion, alienation, error, loss, distraction, disorder.Ah, the dreaded three of swords. Three swords pierce a heart. Against the background... more
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A card of loss, but something remains. Three are taken, but two are left. Inheritance, alimony, but not up to expectations. Possibly marriage, but with some bitterness or frustration.
Reversed
Alliances, affinity, ancestry, return.
When trying to read the Fives, think of the Hierophant. The Hierophant represents a teacher, counselor, or priest, someone who advises people when they're in trouble. Likewise, the Fives are unique cards in that each one seems to pose both a problem and an answer. After four fairly smooth cards of growth and development, the fives represent the fly in the ointment. Instability; the changes that make one humble and allow for growth.
Of the question asked of the Hierophant by a troubled supplicant, the problem is real world. The answer, however, appropriate to the Hierophant, is usually spiritual or at least pragmatic. Understand that all Fives temper the Querent - you go through the fire, the low points, the hard times, in order to come out stronger.
Five of Cups
A very well known card; a young man looks down in despair at five spilled cups of wine, never seeing the two still standing. This is the card of spilled milk, one of the easiest to read. The Querent is obsessing over what is lost, rather than being glad for what they still have. The Querent might be feeling disappointed in someone for not living up to their expectations, making them blind to the person's good qualities. Or the Querent themselves did something they now regret, and they just can't get past it.
The problem, "How do I get past this?" The answer, "Your own blindness is what keeps you from getting past it. Open your eyes, look around, stop staring at what is wrong and bad and see what is right and good!" A simple but important answerA card of loss, but something remains. Three are taken, but two are left. Inheritance,... more
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Freedom, opulence, generosity, magnificence, security.
Reversed
Evil, suspicion, suspense, fear, mistrust.
Making real a business, altering a work situation, or developing an excessive or health plan.
This is the practical, down-to-earth woman. An enthusiastic outdoors woman, she's always encouraging friends and family to exercise. She also owns her own successful business. Her accounting is scrupulous, but that doesn't mean she's afraid to spend. She loves beautiful things and has an artist's eye. Her home is impeccably decorated with paintings, furniture, and trinkets. Her garden is also beautifully maintained. Tasteful is the perfect word for her. Likewise in her dress, jewelry and make-up. As in work, nothing less that giving her all to her family will do for the Queen of Pentacles. She wants them to have the best so they can succeed. But this can put a lot of pressure on them. The queen does not understand that buying a child a Steinway piano will not make them Beethoven; also, this Queen's pragmatism, her dislike of anything strange or distasteful, may exclude anything unique or imaginative - solutions as well as people. Her children or partner feel that they can't be themselves and still be loved.Freedom, opulence, generosity, magnificence, security.
Reversed
Evil,... more
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"With the upcoming disaster film "2012" and the current hype about Mayan calendars and doomsday predictions, it seems like a good time to put such notions in context.
Most prophets of doom come from a religious perspective, though the secular crowd has caused its share of scares as well. One thing the prognostications tend to share in common: They don't come to pass.
Here are 10 that didn't pan out, so far:
The Prophet Hen of Leeds, 1806
History has countless examples of people who have proclaimed that the return of Jesus Christ is imminent, but perhaps there has never been a stranger messenger than a hen in the English town of Leeds in 1806. It seems that a hen began laying eggs on which the phrase "Christ is coming" was written. As news of this miracle spread, many people became convinced that doomsday was at hand — until a curious local actually watched the hen laying one of the prophetic eggs and discovered someone had hatched a hoax.
The Millerites, April 23, 1843
A New England farmer named William Miller, after several years of very careful study of his Bible, concluded that God's chosen time to destroy the world could be divined from a strict literal interpretation of scripture. As he explained to anyone who would listen, the world would end some time between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. He preached and published enough to eventually lead thousands of followers (known as Millerites) who decided that the actual date was April 23, 1843. Many sold or gave away their possessions, assuming they would not be needed; though when April 23 arrived (but Jesus didn't) the group eventually disbanded—some of them forming what is now the Seventh Day Adventists.
Mormon Armageddon, 1891 or earlier
Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, called a meeting of his church leaders in February 1835 to tell them that he had spoken to God recently, and during their conversation he learned that Jesus would return within the next 56 years, after which the End Times would begin promptly.
Halley's Comet, 1910
In 1881, an astronomer discovered through spectral analysis that comet tails include a deadly gas called cyanogen (related, as the name imples, to cyanide). This was of only passing interest until someone realized that Earth would pass through the tail of Halley's comet in 1910. Would everyone on the planet be bathed in deadly toxic gas? That was the speculation reprinted on the front pages of "The New York Times" and other newspapers, resulting in a widespread panic across the United States and abroad. Finally even-headed scientists explained that there was nothing to fear.
Pat Robertson, 1982
In May 1980, televangelist and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson startled and alarmed many when — contrary to Matthew 24:36 ("No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven...") he informed his "700 Club" TV show audience around the world that he knew when the world would end. "I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world," Robertson said.
Heaven's Gate, 1997
When comet Hale-Bopp appeared in 1997, rumors surfaced that an alien spacecraft was following the comet — covered up, of course, by NASA and the astronomical community. Though the claim was refuted by astronomers (and could be refuted by anyone with a good telescope), the rumors were publicized on Art Bell's paranormal radio talk show "Coast to Coast AM." These claims inspired a San Diego UFO cult named Heaven's Gate to conclude that the world would end soon. The world did indeed end for 39 of the cult members, who committed suicide on March 26, 1997.
(continued below!)"With the upcoming disaster film "2012" and the current hype about... more
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Tarot isn't just about divining the future, it's about understanding how your mind and personality shape the future. Tarot isn't just about divining the future, it's about understanding how... more
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