![\"\"](\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/weylands-way-4-300x225.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
April Fool’s Day Needs No Introduction.\u00a0<\/strong>It’s the first of April in most countries and received its name from the tradition of playing practical jokes at this time. It’s been around for hundreds of years, but its actual origins are unknown. April Month<\/em> rituals and spells tend to be about moving on and starting new ways of living, loving or simply being alive. During the late Middle Ages in fancy European courts, popular witches and sorcerers made up aphrodisiacs and potions in April especially, since it was thought to be a dandy month to conceive male heirs. Hey Presto.<\/p>\n This Card Might.\u00a0<\/strong>The Tarot Fool card usually shows an oblivious guy walking blithely off a cliff, often with a small dog yapping at his heels. The first card in the Major Arcana, most of the time it’s an advisory one. The position of the card when dealt or drawn is of significance too. Upright<\/em>: when it shows up this way in your reading it can also mean you should take time to look before you leap.\u00a0Reversed<\/em>: Still hints at new beginnings, just not the kind you’ll like. Can indicate recklessness, loss, lack of faith, or even stupidity.<\/p>\n (The Tarot Guide, www.britannica.com, shirleytwofeathers.com)<\/p>\n Weyland’s Take Away:\u00a0<\/strong>In my previous column I paraphrased the macabre King in saying the Deities think a lot like Jim Carey and Groucho Marx. I intended that to be insight, not blasphemy.\u00a0And\u00a0<\/em>a handy segue into the April Fool’s Day and Tarot Fool’s card ensemble. The Day provides context, the Card illumination. Look before you leap this week, Pilgrim. And make it a real\u00a0<\/em>look, not just a glance. Now, call me an optimist (“Hey, Optimist!”), but I believe in most cases you can “flip” a reversed card reading over into a happier one with a little luck and sheer force of will. Note I said\u00a0“most cases”<\/em>. You can’t luck your way out of a meteor strike or any situational facsimiles thereof, and from sad personal experience I can assure you that you just\u00a0can’t<\/em> fix stupid. Other than that, you’ve got a chance. So whatever your reading, go for it.<\/p>\n What’s on\u00a0Your<\/em> Nightstand?\u00a0<\/strong>I’m into online professional journals this week, but Sparkle managed to distract me with a recent\u00a0People<\/em> magazine. (The one with Sarah Michelle Gellar on the cover.) Sparkle herself is reading a biography she found at our local library.<\/p>\n MUSIC Review:\u00a0<\/strong>“Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)”, Jesus Christ Superstar.<\/em> Andrew Lloyd Webber, music. Lyrics by Tim Rice. 1971. Simply awesome song. 5 broomsticks.<\/p>\n Happy Passover.<\/strong><\/p>\n Bio:\u00a0<\/strong>Weyland composes essays and flash fiction for\u00a0Purrfectly Pagan\u00a0<\/em>ezine and also writes columns and book reviews for\u00a0Pagan Pages<\/em>. He can be contacted at weylandsmith@yahoo.com<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" April Fool’s Day Needs No Introduction.\u00a0It’s the first of April in most countries and received its name from the tradition of playing practical jokes at this time. It’s been around for hundreds of years, but its actual origins are unknown. April Month rituals and spells tend to be about moving on and starting new ways of living, loving or simply being alive. During the late Middle Ages in fancy European courts, popular witches and sorcerers made up aphrodisiacs and potions in April especially, since it was thought to be a dandy month to conceive male heirs. Hey Presto. This Card Might.\u00a0The Tarot Fool card usually shows an oblivious guy walking blithely off a cliff, often with a small dog yapping at his heels. The first card in the Major Arcana, most of the time it’s an advisory one. The position of the card when dealt or drawn is of significance too. Upright: when it shows up this way in your reading it can also mean you should take time to look before you leap.\u00a0Reversed: Still hints at new beginnings, just not the kind you’ll like. Can indicate recklessness, loss, lack of faith, or even stupidity. (The Tarot Guide, www.britannica.com, shirleytwofeathers.com) Weyland’s Take Away:\u00a0In my previous column I paraphrased the macabre King in saying the Deities think a lot like Jim Carey and Groucho Marx. I intended that to be insight, not blasphemy.\u00a0And\u00a0a handy segue into the April Fool’s Day and Tarot Fool’s card ensemble. The Day provides context, the Card illumination. Look before you leap this week, Pilgrim. And make it a real\u00a0look, not just a glance. Now, call me an optimist (“Hey, Optimist!”), but I believe in most cases you can “flip” a reversed card reading over into a happier one with a little luck and sheer force of will. Note I said\u00a0“most cases”. You can’t luck your way out of a meteor strike or any situational facsimiles thereof, and from sad personal experience I can assure you that you just\u00a0can’t fix stupid. Other than that, you’ve got a chance. So whatever your reading, go for it. What’s on\u00a0Your Nightstand?\u00a0I’m into online professional journals this week, but Sparkle managed to distract me with a recent\u00a0People magazine. (The one with Sarah Michelle Gellar on the cover.) Sparkle herself is reading a biography she found at our local library. MUSIC Review:\u00a0“Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)”, Jesus Christ Superstar. Andrew Lloyd Webber, music. Lyrics by Tim Rice. 1971. Simply awesome song. 5 broomsticks. Happy Passover. Bio:\u00a0Weyland composes essays and flash fiction for\u00a0Purrfectly Pagan\u00a0ezine and also writes columns and book reviews for\u00a0Pagan Pages. He can be contacted at weylandsmith@yahoo.com <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10004],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monthly-columns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32812"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32871,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32812\/revisions\/32871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}