The Times New Tarot: WHEEL of FORTUNE

The card that I pulled for my 26th birthday is WHEEL of FORTUNE! In recent memory, I don't recall ever getting this one but I'm very happy about it! :)



via aeclectic tarot:

With Jupiter as its ruling planet, the Wheel of Fortune is all about luck and change. The wheel symbolizes completeness as well as the rise and fall of fortunes and the message that what goes around comes around. Almost every definition of this card indicates abundance, happiness, elevation, or luck; a change that just happens, and brings with it great joy.

As much as the Tarot is about what a querent can do to change their life or self, there are cards that admit that sometimes you just get lucky. Sometimes things happen to you over which you have no control, and you rise of fall on that turn of the wheel.

This is the card about how we sometimes find ourselves soaring up or down on life's Ferris wheel. The Wheel can mean movement, change or evolution, and in that respect it can be about how we all change positions, some of us rising some of us falling, some dropping to a nadir, some reaching a zenith.

Most of the time, however, this card suggests that such changes will bring with them good fortune. The person you're reading for is going to get that money, that job, that promotion, that marriage proposal, that break they've been waiting for. Call it karmic payback for all the good things they've done in life - destiny or just luck - but whatever lotteries are out there, large or small, they've just won one.














Now Playing: "And I" by Portugal. The Man

The Times New Tarot: FOUR OF WANDS

The Four of Wands

The card that I drew for myself this evening is one that I don't recall ever getting before (at least not in recent memory)- THE FOUR OF WANDS. It symbolizes happiness in regard to relationships. I've been single for a long time, so this is quite promising. I'm not exactly looking for love at the moment but I'm always open to its possibility.

Psychic Elizabeth Palin explains her interpretation of the Four of Wands:




Card Meaning (via Biddy Tarot)

The Four of Wands heralds celebration, good times, a happy and harmonious home environment and good news. In numerology, four symbolizes stability and firm foundations, and in the case of the Four of Wands, you are now enjoying a period of happiness and stability. This card indicates a sense of harmony and balance as well as completion, and thus symbolizes a time of peace and joy in life that come as the result of often difficult and challenging effort. The Four of Wands is one of the most positive cards in the Tarot deck and indicates general good fortune, satisfaction, and fulfillment.


With the Four of Wands, it is the perfect time to get together with your family and friends and to celebrate all the wonderful times that you have had together. Often, this card reflects the holiday period where you get together with the extended family and join in a celebration. Alternatively, it may be as simple as inviting your closest friends over for an intimate dinner and a few glasses of nice wine. The Four of Wands often points to a marriage, engagement, birth of a child, a birthday, graduation or other type of celebration that marks a special milestone.


If you have been working on a project, you will reach an important milestone and will have cause to celebrate. You have completed a significant phase of the project and can feel very proud of what you have accomplished so far. This card augurs a time of joy and satisfaction in life and represents the personal gratification of a job well done, a goal attained, and a vision beginning to be realized.


Given the Four of Wands is closely associated with the home environment, you may be working on improving or renovating your home. You may have recently purchased a new home or are very close to finding a new home and getting ready to settle down in your new environment.


The Four of Wands indicates peace, harmony and tranquility. You may find a refuge from the turmoils of life, perhaps by meeting someone new in a romantic setting, or by finding a new place to live that is ‘away from it all’. If you have been experiencing any disagreements with others, now will be the time to make a peace offering and instead focus on creating harmony in the relationship.


The Four of Wands provides encouragement when things seem too daunting. The card serves as a reminder that most things in life do not come easily, and so when you do accomplish a major milestone, you should be proud of everything that you have achieved. The Four of Wands is also representative of move from one stage to another, and moving past mistakes and challenges to a place of peace, acceptance and happiness.


















Now Playing: "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
*Looking forward to seeing RHCP live in the (hopeful) near future!

Get Lit: NEW TO THE BOOKSHELF!

Yesterday afternoon, I ran some of my usual errands. I went to the bank, bought some wine and then stopped at Borders. I'm really sad that Borders is closing. It's one of the last book stores in my area (and I live in a large city). As someone who spent a lot of her childhood in libraries, it pains me to see that there aren't many places left to buy books. I suppose that it's a sign of the times. The internet is changing the way brick and mortar stores are operating. I question how any stores are surviving these days. Between online retailers and the economy, I wonder how much longer traditional malls will survive. But back to the books...

I spent a couple hours inside the store. The sales weren't that great but I wanted to enjoy the experience of just browsing. Being inside a book store is one of my favorite things to do. It's very relaxing to let your mind wander. My favorite section is Metaphysical Studies. As a total weirdo, I love all things New Age. While in my little niche of the store, there was a guy whose phone rang with my favorite ringtone; Jack Horkheimer's Star Gazer theme song (Arabesque No. 1 by Isao Tomita)! It made me smile to be around like-minded individuals but also sad to think that these types of encounters would be far and few between when I'm stuck ordering from Amazon. When Jack Horkheimer passed away last year, I tried for days to try and find that ringtone! I contemplated asking the man where he found the tune but I was too immersed in Coast to Coast Ghosts by Leslie Rule.

There were so many things I wanted but I only picked up a few of the books & magazines that I knew I'd get around to reading right away.

1. Rider Tarot Deck
One of my best friends, Valerie, and I both love tarot. She gave me a check for my 25th birthday to go towards a new deck. I finally got around to getting it!

2. Sydney Omarr's Aquarius (Day-by-Day Astrological Guide for 2012)
For the past few years, I've bought this book. It's a nice little day-by-day guide to the stars. I highly recommend picking up a copy of your sign's forecast.

3. She Walks in Beauty (A Woman's Journey Through Poems) by Caroline Kennedy
The title jumped out at me because I thought it sounded poetic... turns out I was right. It's an interesting book that includes various poems that correspond to a woman's life. I think it's always good to read about other people's life experiences. With age comes wisdom. Caroline Kennedy surely has lived a life worth reading about.

4. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Hair Cut by Rob Sheffield
I love memoirs. It's probably my favorite genre of literature. A book that talks about life and interweaves music into its core is something I will always give a shot. I haven't read Sheffield's first book yet (I probably should have) but I'm sure this will be good.

5. Harvard Review
This magazine/book is full of interesting thoughts from some of the most gifted people in the country. I enjoy reading into the minds of the highly intellectual. Call me an elitist.

6. Life by Keith Richards
I've heard great things about this book. As I mentioned before, I love a good memoir and who better to read about than someone who has seen it all? Fame is such an unnatural thing. Many people want it but if you step back and realize what it implies, I don't think it's something to aspire towards. A little recognition and notoriety are great but fame on such a grand level seems like a very daunting existence. To not know who is interested in you for "the right reasons" and to have no privacy at all sounds like a death sentence to me.

7. Christie's International Real Estate
If you read my blog regularly, you have probably noticed that I'm into architecture and homes. Maybe it's materialistic but I am intrigued by the lifestyles of the uber wealthy (and conversely people who have nothing). It's fascinating to see how people choose to decorate and how it relates back to their personalities and self-expression.

8. Wine Spectator
I love a good bottle of vino. As I get older, I'm trying to be a better cook. It's nice to know what to serve with what at dinner parties. A magazine is a lot easier (and cheaper) than enrolling in a random "extended learning" course.







Now Playing: "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" by Led Zeppelin

The Times New Tarot: HIGH PRIESTESS

 

The card that I drew for today was the HIGH PRIESTESS: A pure, exalted and gracious influence. Education, knowledge, wisdom, and esoteric teachings. The forces of nature. Intuition, foresight, and spiritual revelation of the most mysterious and arcane sort.

via aecletic:

Basic Tarot Story
Continuing his journey, the Fool comes upon a beautiful and mysterious veiled lady enthroned between two pillars and illuminated by the moon. She is the opposite of the Magician, quiet where he was loquacious, still where he was in motion, sitting while he stood, shrouded in the night where he was out in the bright of day. Sensing that she is a great seer, the Fool lays out his sword, chalice, staff and pentacle before her. "The Magician showed me these, but now I'm in a quandary. There are so many things I could do with them. I can't decide."

The High Priestess doesn't speak. Instead she hands him a pair of ancient scrolls. Seating himself at her feet, the Fool puts his decision-making on hold and reads by the light of her crescent moon.

"I did not know any of this," says the Fool. The scrolls, like a secret manual, have given him insight into his new tools. "This information helps me to narrow things down, but I'm still afraid of making a wrong decision."
The words come to him then, not from without but from within: "What do your instincts tell you?" The Fool reflects on that, and that's when he knows what he should do. Decision made, he rises to leave even though he suspects that the High Priestess has more secrets she could reveal to him--like what lies behind the pomegranate curtain. Right now, however, he is focused and ready to be on his way.

Thanking the High Priestess, he heads off. But as he leaves he hears that inner voice, rising like the waters which spring and flow from beneath her throne: "We'll meet again...when you're ready to travel the most secret path of all."

Basic Tarot Meaning
Once you have an idea, you also have decisions to make. The High Priestess holds scrolls of arcane information in her arms. In addition, the moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see about a job possibility, an investment, love, career, family, etc. But you need some alone time, some quiet time to meditate and reflect.

This is what the card is all about. Seated between two pillars as between two choices, the High Priestess is not about making a decision so much as holding decision-making at bay while you take time to listen to your inner voice. She wants you to gain knowledge before you act: instinctual knowledge, supernatural knowledge, secret knowledge, self-knowledge.

The High Priestess, however, goes beyond even that for those who seek more. Behind her throne is the curtain that leads to the deepest, most esoteric knowledge; the pomegranates that decorate it remind us of Persephone, who was taken down into the land of the dead, ate its fruit and became the only goddess allowed to travel to and from that strange land. The High Priestess is our guide to all that is mysterious and mystical.





Now Playing: "Weekend Wars" by MGMT