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Tarot Talk
Comparing the 4 of Cups and the 4 of Wands Many Tarot cards can seem similar enough to each other that interpreting them when they both show up in a spread can be challenging. One way to achieve a deeper understanding of a card is to compare it to another card. This month we will compare two Minor Arcana cards, the 4 of Cups and the 4 of Wands. We will explore similarities between these two cards, and then we will look at the differences. I will be using card images from the Rider Tarot Deck for this analysis. The basic messages or traditional interpretations of these two…
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Tarot Talk 2nd Edition
Comparing 2’s & The Hanging Man Many Tarot cards can seem similar enough to each other that interpreting them when they both show up in a spread can be challenging. One way to achieve a deeper understanding of a card is to compare it to another card. This month we will compare a Minor Arcana card, the 2 of Swords, with a Major Arcana card, The Hanged Man. We will explore similarities between these two cards, and then we will look at the differences. I will be using card images from the Rider Tarot Deck for this analysis. First, the similarities. The basic messages or interpretations of these…
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Learning Lenormand
Using Your Pendulum With Your Lenormand Cards I’ve been doing this for a while now. It came to me when I first laid out the all the cards for a Grand Tableau and I thought – gee, what if I used my pendulum to pick out the most important cards? But I didn’t do that for a long time because – ya know – I was still learning. But I’ve been stuck – really stuck – for what seems like ages. I think a big part of that is that the Lenormand is my “second language” – so to speak – the Tarot is my first language – and I’m…
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Tarot Talk
Comparing 3s and the Tower Many Tarot cards can seem similar enough to each other that interpreting them when they both show up in a spread can be challenging. One way to achieve a deeper understanding of a card is to compare it to another card. This month we will compare a Minor Arcana card, the 3 of Swords, with a Major Arcana card, The Tower. We will explore similarities between these two cards, and then we will look at the differences. I will be using card images from the Rider Tarot Deck for this analysis. First, the similarities. The basic messages or interpretations of these two cards…
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Tarot Talk
Comparing The Fool and The Wheel I’m in a Major Arcana kind of mood, so let’s compare two Major Arcana cards: The Fool and The Wheel, also known as The Wheel of Fortune. First, let’s review some terms. If you’ve read my column before, you can skip the next paragraph. There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a Tarot deck, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives. An archetype (pronounced “ark eh type”) is a generic, idealized model of…
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Tarot Review – The Shadowland Tarot
Tarot Review The Shadowland Tarot 208 Pages The Shadowland Tarot, published by Red Feather Mind, Body, Spirit, of Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310, is created entirely by Monica Bodirsky, a talented and prolific artist, author, educator, rootworking witch, and professional Tarot reader. This is not Bodinsky’s first deck; she is the author of the Lucky Lenormand Oracle and the House of Shadows Lenormand Oracle. I am thrilled to be reviewing this beautiful and powerful deck. The Shadowlands Tarot comes in a sturdy 9” by 6” box with a matt color finish. The front of the box has a card image and the…
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Tarot Talk
Comparing 6s & Judgement (image: The Rider-Waite tarot deck) Many Tarot cards can seem similar enough to each other that interpreting them when they both show up in a spread can be challenging. Beginning last month, we started using a new method to understand the cards: comparison. This month we will compare a Minor Arcana card, the 6 of Swords, with a Major Arcana card, Judgement. We will explore similarities between these two cards, and then we will look at the differences. I will be using card images from the Rider Tarot Deck for this analysis. First, the similarities. The basic messages or interpretations of these two cards…
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Book Review – Hieroglyphic Words of Power: Symbols for Magick, Divination and Dreamwork by Normandi Ellis
Book Review Hieroglyphic Words of Power Symbols for Magick, Divination and Dreamwor by Normandi Ellis 264 Pages Let me begin by saying that I may display a bias for this book from the start. I work with the Egyptian pantheon, have read other works by Normandi Ellis and find her works the perfect balance of academia and magick… … Words are magic. They operate on many levels through both sound and symbol. Egyptian priests understood that language and thought could create the realities if the exact words are uttered at the right time, properly intoned, and filled with intention. They called their magical language of hieroglyphic symbols, medju…
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Book Review – Tarot for the Fiction Writer: How 78 Cards Can Take You From Idea to Publication by Paula Chaffee Scardamalia
Book Review Tarot for the Fiction Writer How 78 Cards Can Take You From Idea to Publication by Paula Chaffee Scardamalia 160 Pages Tarot for the Fiction Writer: How 78 Cards Can Take You From Idea to Publication, by Paula Chaffee Scardamalia, published in 2019 by Red Feather, an imprint of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, Pennsylvania 19310. This is a 6 1/4 inch by 9 1/4 inch hardcover book with a matte finish color front containing the title of the book and showing The Hanged Man, with a description of the book and a brief author bio on the back cover. There are 160…
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Learning Lenormand
Where Is My Rug? When I started learning the Tarot – wow, over thirty years ago! – I used to “throw” the cards nearly every day because my life was so filled with drama that I had to know what was going to happen – or could happen – and the context of all this melodrama and operatic emotion! But nowadays, my life is much more serene – you could call it boring. One day is much like the next and I’m quite content like that. I recently moved into a new apartment and had to order new rugs for the entire place, since it has hardwood floors. The…