Tarot of the Crone

Exposure of an Illusion – ND #82

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VI – Crossroads – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Exposure of an Illusion

Let’s face it. We have witnessed an unprecedented exposure of an illusion this weekend. Without a doubt, ‘conventional wisdom’ was tolling the death knell for Ukraine when it became clear last week that Putin was actually going to mobilize the nearly 200,000 troops he’d amassed along Ukraine’s eastern and northern border. No one believed Ukraine could stave off the Great Bear.

Yet the manner in which Putin’s attempt to run roughshod over Ukraine is imploding has the world agog. Indeed, the sheer refusal of the Ukrainians to yield has rallied and united almost the entire world against the bully Putin. Ukrainians are the model of a people willing to ferociously fight with every fiber of their being for everything they find precious: their freedom, their families, and the principle of democracy. The manner in which Ukrainians are fiercely protecting themselves and each other is probably how all of us – all over the world – would like to imagine we would personally act if faced with similar dire circumstances.

Given our mythology, I’d guess we Americans are especially prone to thinking we’d be as brave and resilient (and defiant) as the Ukrainians. Whether we would or we wouldn’t may yet be determined – sooner than we think.

Starting the Week

The unified slap down on Russia (I should say Putin – I don’t think anyone wants the majority of Russian people to suffer) by so many major nations is going to have a huge effect on the Russian economy, almost certainly by the time you’re reading this. As I write this, the value of the ruble has already plummeted. Knowing this, and sensing that this week could be like no other we’ve experienced (possibly ever), I sat with my Tarot of the Crone deck and asked what we need to know.

VI – Crossroads – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

VI – Crossroads

“If you think      you can go back now

Think again

The choice must be made

No one can help you      All you know cannot help you

You cannot know the future     But you must know your heart     And choose to follow

Faces cloaked in shadow, triple Hekate stands at a crossroads on a moonless night. The brown paths indicate you have come to a time when making a decision affects your bodily existence, your life in the flesh, what you will do with your days and nights on this planet. The great hill behind Hekate says you don’t always get to choose the ways your life will turn. You don’t always get to see ahead. But when life does turn, make the best of it. Every face of hers is dark. She is not there to show you the way, she is there to challenge your path, to tell you to choose your course like your life depended on it. Her red cloaks and the living earth of the hill behind her, tell you the knowledge of the way lies in the quiet of your mind, the strength of your heart and the deep wisdom of your body. Listen. Each aspect is telling you, in it own way, how to live a life that includes their power.”

Underneath the Crossroads

Seven of Wands – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Seven of Wands – Risk

“To go further, to be more

I will light the match     I will fan the flames     I will dance with danger

Let Power lead

A cloaked figure stands with arms outspread amidst flames and lines of raw power. She plays with fire, as well as opening herself to let power play with her. She is willing to embrace danger in the hope of further achievement, knowing that sometimes you have to take chances. Trust your experience gained thus far; you know when something has potential. It’s time to take a real risk, but not a blind one. You know you can’t stay comfortable where you are. There’s more you want. So let the discomfort goad you into a creating a more powerful future and investing in a proposition. Go stand out on that limb.”

My Take

World-wide, we’re going to have a week unlike any in a very long time. The risks inherent in doing what’s right may feel daunting. May we choose wisely, with our hearts and minds balanced and unfettered by fear. And may we all find and embrace our inner Ukrainian ferocity.

And seriously: you cannot make this stuff up. These cards could not feel more potently accurate and sobering.

(T+82)

Leo Full Moon – ND #70

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Leo Full Moon (Almost) rising – Photo: L. Weikel

Leo Full Moon

We have a Leo full moon to embrace tomorrow (today when you read this). The precise moment the moon reaches its exact opposition to the sun on Wednesday, the 16th of February, will be 11:56 a.m. And I venture to guess it’s going to be a big week for all of us, either personally or as bystanders to things playing out on the national and world stage. That’s because there’s a bunch of Pluto action mixing stuff up (more on that in another post) and Mars and Venus conjoining (and also messing around with Pluto). In addition, we can look forward to the illumination (and culmination) of patterns and intentions that happen with a full moon.

It’s hard to believe the moon wasn’t full when it rose early this evening. You can see from my photos how robustly ripe she was and how much light emanated from her as she rose.

If she’s not full until tomorrow…all I can say is, “Wow. Look out. This is going to be a big one.”

Tarot Perspective

We’ve already experienced rather startling revelations unfolding this week (DT’s accounting firm’s disavowal, the settlement of the Sandy Hook parents’ suit against Remington, the doping scandal of the 15 year old Russian skater, and the settlement of Prince Andrew’s sordid sex scandal lawsuit, to name a few) and it’s only Tuesday!

And of course everyone is trying to figure out what Putin intends to do to Ukraine – and how the rest of the world should react. From all out war to the threat of cyber-attacks, things could deteriorate in the blink of an eye (or the press of a single keystroke).

So what illumination on this full moon might my Tarot of the Crone bring us?

Seven of Wands – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Seven of Wands ~ Risk

“To go to further, to be more

I will light the match

I will fan the flames

I will dance with danger

Let Power lead

A cloaked figure stands with arms outspread amidst flames and lines of raw power. She plays with fire, as well as opening herself to let power play with her. She is willing to embrace danger in the hope of further achievement, knowing that sometimes you have to take chances. Trust your experience gained thus far; you know when something has potential. It’s time to take a real risk, but not a blind one. You know you can’t stay comfortable where you are. There’s more you want. So let the discomfort goad you into creating a more powerful future and investing in a proposition. Go stand out on that limb.”

My Take

While I chose this card with the intention of receiving insight for all of us as this full moon shines down upon us, in this moment it feels like this is most obviously speaking to the Russia-Ukraine situation. At least that’s how it feels at first blush.

Certainly, however, we’re all being pushed (‘goaded’ is such a great word) into pushing our internal envelopes. It feels like this full moon may find a lot of us saying, “Screw it. It’s time to make a move.” Indeed, the urge may hit us like a wave. So…knowing that, it might be wise to take a few moments to assess where this might come up for you and – before that wave of feeling goaded hits – have a think on what’s worth going out on that limb for. And what’s not.

Rising Leo Full Moon (almost) – Photo: L. Weikel

(T+70)

Clean Our Slates – ND #24

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Ace of Swords – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Clean Our Slates

2022 has arrived. We’re embarking upon an opportunity to clean our slates, begin anew, and re-set our internal aspiration-clocks.

So much has changed in our personal and collective worlds over the past two years. More, if you start counting at the 2016 election. But the last two years, dominated as they’ve been by a pandemic of the body and a pandemic of the mind, have brought us to the brink – right now – where many people are beginning to crack under the pressure.

I’m concerned that we’re on the precipice of experiencing a pandemic of the spirit.

Wasteland

I’m reminded of the foundational card I chose on our behalf last week from the Tarot of the Crone. I chose the Shadow of Wands – Wasteland. What could be more awful and feel more like we’re living in a wasteland than when we feel unheard, unseen, and misunderstood? Not much.

I look around and try to listen to what’s being said and the pervasive feeling that comes through is hopelessness. And when we lose hope, we lose our vitality.

As we enter this new year, how can we avoid lapsing into despair? Is there something we can focus upon or learn that can help us reclaim hope for ourselves and our world?

A New Perspective

Asking these very same questions of the tarot deck I used last week, I received the following answer:  Ace of Swords/The World.

I have to smile when the cards seem so on point in responding to my query. I promise you, I let the questions in the paragraph above flow out of my fingertips onto the page. I then picked up my deck and shuffled with the essence of the questions filling my heart and reaching out for guidance. And as stated above, I chose the Ace of Swords – and the foundational card was The World.

This looked and felt familiar to me, so I did a search of all my posts and – lo and behold – I discovered that I actually chose both of these cards at the same time back on 31 August 2020. Two months before the election. The only difference was that The World was on top and the Ace of Wands was on the bottom. They’re switched now. But how incredibly fascinating that these cards have shown up for us – together – before?!

I was completely surprised when I read the prior post and saw that I’d chosen the word Perspective the day before! What are the chances that we’re revisiting all of these ‘issues’ again? Given the present state of affairs? The chances are huge. That it’s playing out for us all to see in the cards is especially affirming, and even more concerning.

For Your Contemplation

Perhaps we’re being shown the way to begin healing ourselves and our world (especially our country). Showing up as they have, together again, these cards are at least worthy of our contemplation:

Ace of Swords ~ Thought

“In my Sight/ In my Mind/ Is the Power to Perceive

The One or the Many/ Worlds of Creation

A great blue eye shines with stars within and reaches out to a piercing point. The Ace of Swords, the root power of the Mind is Thought. See now with fresh eyes. Hear with new ears. Perception is a power not to inhibit or to take lightly. Strive now for lucidity. Foresee what may be and speak your truth. Settle for nothing less than original thought. What is your vision? It is time to share what you see, what you know. Let the world not be diminished by the lack of your voice.”

XXI – The World – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

XXI ~World

“I am all you have been/ And all you will become

I am the exercise/ Of your power

And the key/ To your future

In the World, a large black figure holds twenty-one smaller figures within her. Each of the smaller figures has a face colored to represent the special power she possesses. The fact of the larger World, however, is transparent. Through it and hallowed around her is the swirling blue and white of a beautiful brave new world. the overall shape evokes a keyhole, outlined in a  glow of blue against rich black.

The entry to a new world and your ability to create it, is in giving all that you are a place, Devil and Empress and Fool. Forget none of their lessons. Give up none of your power. Within your World, all of them come together and create a whole more than the sum of any amount of parts. More than a balance, more than integration like some locking together of pieces, when you are all, you are on another scale entirely.”

My Take

I didn’t initially intend – tonight – to choose another set of cards to help us answer those questions that arose spontaneously. Hence the hour has grown late.

But it bears noticing that the repetition of these cards together is certainly synchronistic.The approaching anniversary of the insurrection feels essential to observe as well. And the fact that we just entered into the year of the mid-term elections feels significant too.

We have to figure out a way to come together.

Here’s to 2022.

(T+24)

Bushed – ND #22

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Six of Wands – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Bushed

I’m feeling a tad bushed tonight. I think it may be a combination of simply running out of energy as we approach the end of the year and the consequences of yearning to give myself time and space to reflect on what’s next but always finding something else to be more important.

And of course it isn’t more important. But if I truly believe that, then I need to walk my talk.

Grease the Wheel

Perhaps some of you are in the same boat. You want to maybe pick some cards and take a look at the themes that will be playing out in your life, but on the other hand, you’re just not making the time.

So this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to choose a card from The Tarot of the Crone while holding the question in my mind, “What do I (we?) need to face in order to move forward?” Seems like a provocative question that might serve to get us thinking…

Six of Wands/Shadow of Wands

The main card I chose was the Six of Wands, which is described by the creator of the deck, Ellen Lorenzi-Prince as follows:

Six of Wands – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Six of Wands ~ Radiance

“I found the Heart/The Source and the Sun

Closer within than without

A bright and exotic six-petal flower opens to reveal a black hooded shape, the inner crone, the source of its unfolding. Six surrounding plants turn to the flower, as if to the sun. The expression of the power of fire in the harmony and awareness of the Six indicates recognition and rewards arising organically. Others respond naturally to you when you radiate from the center of your being the person you truly are. In everyday life, in everyday ways. You know now that being whole and real, in touch with your own source, is what it takes to create beauty that enriches the world.”

The Foundation (Underneath) Card was the Shadow of Wands:

Shadow of Wands – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Shadow of Wands ~ Wasteland

“My power is blown/My strength has faltered/And my influence/is burnt to ash

Only the indestructible/Remains

In the Wasteland, a barren, burnt out land and a vague, closed face are all that remains of a Magician who once created living worlds. Shadows are a harsh reality check. Power can be destructive and you can get caught up in that part of it. In the Wands, Spirit has become deadened, withdrawn. Maybe the effort was too much; maybe the goal was impossible; maybe the passion was too personal. Now effort, goal and passion are gone. Forgotten were body, heart and mind in your endeavor you lost their balance and support. Your bridges are burned. You are left with yourself, so take a good look at what survives. And rest. Until you do, the only place to go in the Wasteland is deeper.

My Take

I relate far more to the bottom card than the top, at least in this moment. Granted, I admitted at the beginning that I’m tired, and weariness can certainly color one’s perceptions of self and world.

Every once in a while I feel glimmers of the top card. My sense is that in order to get to the Six, it is essential to heed the warning of the Shadow of Wands. For me, I must stop running around and, instead, allow myself to bring my life back into balance of body, heart, and mind. When I do that, and allow myself to go within, I will emerge much more in touch with my inner crone.

I think I know what I want to do tomorrow.

(T+21)

Unsettled – Day 1061

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Unsettled Weather – Photo: L. Weikel

Unsettled

Things felt weird tonight. We had one of the Shamanic Caravan ‘Wagons’ I offer (usually twice a week), and the journeys described by almost everyone attending yielded unexpected, disappointing, or unsettled results. Most of the participants felt a bit ‘off.’

Given the celestial influences bombarding all of us on the planet and the odd energy most of us felt this evening in our Wagon, I thought I would ask for some guidance from the Crone. It seems to me that her wisdom could come in handy as life becomes a bit more intense. Things are roiling just below the surface, it seems to me. And it will soon become impossible to ‘keep a lid’ on it any longer. Again.

Three of Swords – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Top Card

“Three of Swords – Inspiration

Within confusion
I find my way
I find a place to discover
Thoughts greater than my own

Thee blades of light strike the head of a figure, cutting and flashing through her to create a footpath in a dark and mysterious landscape. The principle of creation in the realm of mind becomes inspiration. This is the lightning flash, the intake of breath, the birth of a new awareness. Look for a light that shines in the darkness; follow the vision that beckons you on to bigger things. For it is the compelling image of the mountain seen at a distance that gievs you the idea the mountain can be reached at all.”

Shadow of Cups – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Underneath/Foundation Card

“Shadow of Cups – Drowning

All I feel
Is all I am
And I am
No more

A naked figure hangs unmoving in dark waters. Shadow in the suit of Cups is drowning and dissolution. A powerful emotion has flooded all boundaries, broken down all solid ground. Your behavior may or may not be passive at this time, but your soul is. Inside you are sinking, accepting obsession, heaviness and darkness. Allowing one thing to comprise your entire life and denying yourself a separate identity. It could be it’s time for this and you need to rest here until some understanding is found. Just take care you don’t lose yourself in this forever.”

My Take

I just want to let out a huge sigh. Not a sigh of relief necessarily, although I guess I’m glad the order of these two cards weren’t reversed. More a sigh of mixed sadness, hope, and exhaustion.

The foundational (underneath) card, “Drowning,” holds particular depth and pain to me, as might be imagined. It’s depressing. And quite honestly, I feel it is where we, as a nation and perhaps even many of us as individuals, are finding ourselves in this moment. That’s especially true given the revelations that are coming to light day after day this week. The magnitude of complicity, greed, and downright malignancy we’ve both wittingly and unwittingly been subjected to year after year is stunning. The erosion it’s caused on the very underpinnings of our democracy, of our understanding of who we are (again, as a nation and as individuals), can’t be overstated.

And yet it feels as though we had to get here. We had to reach this place where we’re drowning in our own denial. We had to see it all ‘die’ (or come darn close) before we would choose to lift our heads in the midst of the storm and see the mountain in the distance that’s being revealed by the lightning of the storms we’re weathering.

Inspiration

I’m heartened that the top card, the main card I chose, was the Three of Swords. We desperately need to call Inspiration into our lives. We need to realize that what we thought we had has died. That’s a powerful admission, and one very few people come to willingly.

But that’s the energy of now. That’s the influence of Pluto (Lord of Death and the Underworld) squaring Eris (the Goddess of Chaos) and beginning to move ‘direct’ or forward. Pluto is catalyzing inspiration within us in order to bring something new into being. This new moon, conjunct with Mars (another character in the nature of Pluto and Eris) is birthing something new – but the struggle is real.

Is the struggle over the final realization that something has died? Or is the struggle tied to the fear of being struck by the lightning of inspiration that will lead to something new and better – something we’ve only glimpsed from afar? Inspiration is something most of us yearn to experience and channel into our lives. But the prospect of being struck by lightning is scary. No wonder we feel unsettled.

Will we survive the jolt?

(T-50)

Momentous Week – Day 1051

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Skyrunner Leaping Over Obstacles – Photo: L. Weikel

Momentous Week

No matter how you look at it, this is going to be a momentous week in the history of our country. I know, I know. It’s as if we live in a land of hyperbole anymore. “The most consequential election.” “ The worst (and most) wildfires ever.” “The scariest pandemic in a century.” We all know I could fill the page with the myriad examples of extremes being exceeded we find ourselves dealing with every day.

All of which is why I don’t toss out that first sentence lightly.

So much has changed in the past five years or so (and that’s only the most accelerated change) that it’s virtually guaranteed that the direction our country takes by the end of this week could easily mark a mass transformation of the trajectory of our country. We will either be poised to meet the future with optimism via a change of perspective and values or we will be hamstrung by the old way of doing everything and subject to oppression by the moneyed few.

Infrastructure Impacts All of Us

If our lawmakers pass both infrastructure bills, we will begin addressing climate change as a priority, thereby enormously benefiting the planet and humanity but also, on a smaller scale, creating a huge new sector of quality jobs that will finally begin re-growing the middle class.

If the entire Biden agenda is not enacted and the more ambitious of the two bills is ‘postponed’ (read: smothered), a startlingly large portion of our country will plunge into even greater despair than many of us imagined possible during the Trump presidency. Those most disappointed and despairing will include vast swaths of precisely those who profess cynicism and mistrust of ‘the government.’ I truly believe most people who hold extreme views of our country are actually people who have lost hope that anyone will actually pass laws that benefit them.

They no longer believe that our country is one where those who commit great crimes are held accountable. How many of us despair of ever seeing justice truly meted out to those most egregiously and blatantly giving the finger to all of us who do actually play by the rules?

Held Hostage

Now? Let’s face it. We are being held hostage by a cynical minority that cares only about its ability to wield power and nothing about the common good. They don’t care about us.

We have to care. It is up to all of us to stop believing the lies and stop cowering in fear of each other. The only cheaters are those accusing everyone else of cheating. The actual liars are those caught lying over and over to all of us – but are never held accountable.

Those who are busy stoking our fears of anyone who doesn’t look like us are the ones who want us to give up on our country (and fellow citizens), baselessly reject our long-standing ability to conduct free and fair elections, and smear our internal and international reputation for being a place where honest work, integrity and innovation are rewarded and celebrated.

The Outlook

I’m sure you haven’t noticed that I’m fired up about both the stakes involved in passage of the infrastructure bills as well as the craven brinksmanship and utter disregard for our country being shown by the Republicans’ refusal to raise the debt ceiling. Their behavior is akin to a fanatic holding a gun to their own head. And the filibuster is a relic that is killing our democracy.

So what is the outlook as this week unfolds? What might be in store for us as the battle for our democracy unfolds before our eyes? I asked Ellen Lorenzi-Prince’s Tarot of the Crone for insight, since a Crone is probably the only one brave enough to look this stuff in the face and call it the way she sees it. This is what she said:

I – Magician – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

I – Magician

I am the Something

That comes from Nothing

I am the Mistress of Illusion

I am the Mistress of Reality

I am the One

Who Passes between

A mask with living eyes bursts out from the darkness of a cave. The Magician is the force that can manifest itself out of the void and out into the world. She is the ability to appear and act as one wills, the confidence to live one’s own life and no other and the power of originality. But the mask is also illusion. Your very body is the mask your soul wears, how your soul happened into flesh at the time of your birth. The Magician is one who knows both reality and illusion and who crosses between.

The animal of the mask is the Crone manifesting in the form of her familiar, her first companion and her aide in the making of magic. Magic crosses the boundaries between worlds, bringing the energies of spirit into form and dissolving forms back into essences. Magic will do the same for you, if you have the courage and the confidence to take it into your hands and shape it to your will.

The Outcome

Four of Swords – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Four of Swords – Reason

Necessity to guide me

Purpose to ground me

Construction begins

Construction to last

Four blades of a windmill stretch in each direction in a gentle sky. Solidity in thinking is represented by Reason. There are no figures in this card, illustrating how reason’s products and effects can appear disassociated from human sensibility. Yet the card also shows how the power of logical thought and planning can benefit humanity, by harnessing natural power and building the structures that define civilization. Clarity of thought, separated from both desire and daily routine, will redefine the problem and provide the steps necessary to resolve it.

The Obvious

My interpretation of the guidance represented by these cards is that if anyone has the ability to be a Magician in the circumstances our country and Congress is facing, it’s Madame Speaker. Love her or hate her, she is a Magician when it comes to doing her job. And unlike another arguable “Master” of the realm, she genuinely has the wellbeing of the populace at heart. She actually cares about regular people and wants all of us to have a better quality of life – and hope for our future.

The Outlook card, the Four of Swords, sure seems to indicate that perhaps – just maybe – our country really may begin the process of rebuilding our infrastructure after this week. We will begin to harness our natural power, which includes our innovation and optimism. Given even half a fighting chance, our country can rebound from the pall that’s come over the majority of our population over the past 40 years. We can begin making things again. We can create a country and a world that’s sustainable and in harmony with Mother Nature. We just have to have the will to do it.

Maybe we can learn something from the Magician in the House.

(I gotta believe.)

(T-60)

Pre-Full Moon Pick – Day 1039

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Three of Wands – Tarot of the Crone

Pre-Full Moon Pick

Even though I’m technically writing this on Wednesday night (15 September 2021), it won’t be read until Thursday. So I feel comfortable choosing a card for us to contemplate in this post in anticipation of navigating the last few days of our week and into the weekend. Let’s call it a ‘pre-full moon’ pick.

As we experience the energies building up to their fullest expression on Monday (the 20th), when the moon will be full in Pisces, we might want to bear in mind the counsel of the card that shows up.

Next Week

Actually, next week will have a lot of energy associated with it, even from a very basic astrological perspective. I don’t mean that to sound high falutin’. Trust me, I’m still wrapping my head around the new and full moons, equinoxes, solstices, and eclipses – which are all fairly big, bold, and obvious. My point is that there are lots of aspects taking place ‘up there’ (or is it out there?) and I’m just trying to alert us to the more obvious ones.

On Monday, as I mentioned above, the moon will be full in Pisces. If you gave yourself the gift of sitting down over Labor Day weekend (around the new moon) to contemplate the changes you wanted to make or the seeds of new ideas or directions you wanted to plant, well… two things.

First, there are few more days left to still take some steps, big or small, toward cultivating those seeds. And that’s only if you’re on a 30 day plan. If what you want to create has a bigger agenda, then perhaps you’re on the 2.5 year plan. It’s still a wise choice to take stock and assess whether you feel the pull to actively take a few action steps over the next few days to make your dream grow.

Besides the full moon, the second big energetic shift next week is the autumn equinox. This will occur at 3:21 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday the 22nd of September. The equinox is another time of powerful upshifts in energy. My suggestion is to continue cultivating those seeds, and if possible, pay them some extra attention that day. But until then, we have our work cut out for us. Let’s see what my beloved Tarot of the Crone suggests.

A Card For Now

Three of Wands ~ Magic

“I set my intention                   In sacred space

I touch Creation

Together we bring into Being

What has not Been                  Before now

Three glowing red snakes arise from a cauldron fired by three yellow flames. Spirit moving in the realm of creation is magic. Magic is the manifestation of intention and the infusion of energy into matter. Magic is recognizing what you have given in what is coming back to you. Now you see how it works. So take your tools, your intent, your ingredients and your container. Bring everything together as artfully as you can, weave and sing your best. Then let it go and sit back, for if you keep your focus up forever, it means you lack confidence, either in your power or the creativity of the universe. Give it time to give back and space to bring forth. But not before you’ve given all you have.”

Seems about right.

(T-72)

A Most Perfect Time – Day 1030

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XI – Strength – The Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

A Most Perfect Time

A new moon in the sign of Virgo occurred this evening at 8:51 p.m. Eastern Time. New beginnings. Setting new goals. A most perfect time to change things up in our lives, make fresh commitments, and start actively dreaming a new world into being.

The power of this particular new moon is magnified, of course, by the fact that it also marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year celebration of Rosh Hashanah, which began at sundown. The added ritual, prayer, and sacredness being brought to this month’s new moon precisely because of its significance to our Jewish brothers and sisters only adds to the power of this moment.

Yes, every new moon is a new beginning of one sort or another. But we’re also quite aware of the fact of power in numbers. There’s an energetic upgrade to our thoughts and efforts when we gather together to envision our future. So now more than ever it feels essential to our survival to work together toward imagining greater understanding, facilitating peace, and perhaps even seeking justice.

Spiritual Miracle Gro®

I asked for a card to serve as a form of fertilizer for the seeds we’re planting at this powerful new moon and New Year. The card that revealed itself from my Tarot of the Crone deck was Strength.

Perhaps this message can serve as a meditation or point of reflection this week:

“I am Spirit

Making a body

Is what I do

 

I am Body

Expressing a spirit

Is what I do

 

You are Primal

You are Sublime

 

You are the Strongest

When both are One

In Strength is the image of a woman arising from the belly of a golden cobra. The background is the red of healthy power and passion. Strength is enlightened flesh, the life force flowing from your heart, from your belly and from your spirit. Strength is the power of kundalini, the energy ‘snake’ that uncoils from the base of the spine and rises up, bringing healing and knowledge. This is not about spirit taming the body, or lusts of the body overpowering the spirit; this is integration; this is knowing these are not separate things. Spirit and will are not attributes of the mind alone. Emotion is not felt only by the heart. Your body holds them all.

Whatever shape your body is in right now, it’s time to celebrate its life. Know that every breath you take feeds your power and infuses you with goodness and inspiration. Every breath you take is a victory over the forces of destruction. Feel how each cell of your body is an entire endless universe and how al of it, all of it, belongs to you.”

A Thought

It occurs to me as I share these words of Ellen Lorenzi-Prince (creator of The Tarot of the Crone) that this specific interpretation of the Strength card could not be more perfect for the times we find ourselves in.

Given the misogynistic ‘law’ passed by the Texas legislature ripping power over women’s bodies away from women themselves and handing it over to random religious zealot vigilantes, I have a feeling we’re going to see the Power of Woman rise up. It’s going to be a new day in Texas and this country.

Women will not knuckle under to this fear-based oppression. On the contrary, now that the stakes have been set, and the gauntlet thrown (thank you, Supreme Court), we will rise up from the belly of the cobra – precisely like the woman in the Strength image. It is a most perfect time for us to do so. Our bodies hold our spirits, will, and emotion. And I guarantee we will not relinquish our power to the fear-based minority (the forces of destruction) who quake at what they do not know or understand.

(T-81)

Hot and Humid Week – Day 1006

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IX – Hermit – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Hot and Humid Week

Here’s something pretty interesting that just happened. As I sat down to write this evening, I felt a nudge to pull a card from Ellen Lorenzi-Prince’s Tarot of the Crone deck. It’s been an oppressively hot and humid week, and weather like this is exhausting in and of itself. Add to that any personally stressful or tough emotional stuff one might be ‘weathering’ and inspiration might best be sought outside of oneself.

I’ve mentioned before that I love this deck and yet I haven’t worked with it for a while. As with anything, I go through spates of working with one deck or another. There are about six decks I own that I go back to again and again. Others, while they may look good or have cool artwork or imagery, just never seem to click into a deep, reliable groove with me. I tend to cultivate relationships with the decks that speak to me.

Looks Familiar

So when I chose a card (and looked at the bottom card for context) for tonight’s post, I thought it looked familiar. In fact, it felt like the pair, working in tandem, felt familiar.

Doing a quick search I was surprised (but not surprised) to see that I’d chosen this exact same PAIR of cards back on June 9th. Only I chose the Hermit on top (as the main card) this time, with the 9 of Cups providing the ‘healing’ foundation.

Well, here we are. Last time, I chose the 9 of Cups as the main card for us to focus upon. Healing. How appropriate. With the Hermit card underneath providing the foundation upon which to heal.

This time it would appear this Hermit/Wise Woman has us continuing to consciously separate ourselves for a time from the intensity and insanity of society. Hmmm. Wisdom indeed.

One interesting synchronicity I discovered when I read my post from the last time these cards appeared together? I chose them during the last oppressive heat wave we endured – the one that started our summer ‘early.’ Tarot decks are comprised of 78 cards and I tend to shuffle relentlessly and bordering on the obsessive. So their appearance in reverse positions is…notable. And my title in that post? “Our Collective Feelings.”

Here are the images and passages of those two cards again. Apparently they require our considered reflection yet again:

IX – Hermit

“I speak

No one listens

But I know what I know

The Hermit is a bag lady rejected by and rejecting comfortable society. She stands on the street of a faceless city, her own face exposed and eloquent. Her dress is a blue that recalls the depths of ocean and sky and the boundlessness that lies beyond their shallow edges. She carries her bags in both hands because she’s learned that balance gives her endurance. She is alone but her isolation is the result not the goal of her journey. Where she goes, others cannot follow. She seeks the mystery at the core of life, at the core of herself. She looks for the magic that exists even in the most artificial environment. She seeks answers to questions that have not yet been born.
The Hermit says look to yourself for the answers, look into the worlds inside you and the uncharted realms within, behind and beyond the ordinary. There are secrets only you are meant to discover and truths only you can divine.”

9 of Cups – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

Nine of Cups ~ Healing

“I am the Many and One

I am whole who has been broken

I am the power of redemption

I am the renewal of creation

Two unusual beings, with ribbons of red life spiraling through the serene lavender of their skin-like cloaks, touch and twist and merge in the creation of something wonderful, whole and new. The Nine of Cups represents healing of the heart and soul: when what has been separated comes together again, when feeling flows free and true, when you are aligned with your greatest good, when you become more than you believed you could. The authenticity of your self is not subsumed by bonds with others, but is enhanced through acting with integrity and love.”

(T-105)

Crone Calling – Day 968

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: L. Weikel

Crone Calling

Or should I say, “Calling all Crones?” No, even though I embrace my personal status as a Crone (and therefore prefer to capitalize it), I’m not writing this post as a rallying cry solely to my sisters. Rather, I’m excited to announce that there’s a crone calling all of us right now in the form of a brand spanking new, hot off the presses, limited run of 250 Tarot of the Crone decks.

I’ve written many posts (here, here, and here, for instance) in the past 967 days that make reference to my much-loved Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince. These cards always seem to bring an eerily accurate message when I consult them. And beyond whatever intuitive sense I may receive from the cards when I choose them – based simply on either the image itself or my pretty limited knowledge of tarot in general – the narrative provided by the deck’s creator is uncanny.

The exciting news I’m sharing today is that the deck, which has been out of print for a couple of years, I believe, is now available for pre-order.

Guidance for the Coming New Moon

Naturally, then, it feels only fitting that I consult the Crone for some guidance or insight on what to keep in mind as we approach this new moon in Cancer. Again – fundamental beliefs and structures are being challenged. Institutions we thought would always be part of our lives either no longer are or are on their way out. And we’re being asked to contemplate what we want to seed in their place.

As I write these words, I’ve not yet ‘picked.’ So I have no idea whether we’ll be given guidance on what is or needs to be ‘blown up’ (metaphorically, of course), radically changed, or suddenly exposed, or whether we’ll be shown what is waiting in the wings to be seeded as the structure or foundation of the next phase of our lives.

How and What I Chose

I decided to go a little rogue on all of us and instead of just choosing one card (and taking note of the card at the bottom of the deck – giving foundation or context to the ‘top’ card), I decided to pick three cards. The first card for insight into our ‘Saturn’ (i.e., the underlying, fundamental beliefs or structures that operate in our lives that need to be examined, perhaps challenged, and possibly torn down); the second card for insight into our ‘Uranus’ (i.e., how or in what way can or will sudden illumination strike or challenge that Saturn; how or in what area might we benefit from radical transformation); and the third card for insight into what seeds might be planted where the old foundations or beliefs we held (or were told) used to be.

Saturn – Uranus – Seed(s)

  1. (Representing Saturn): Ten of Disks ~ Age

    Ten of Disks – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

“My world is smaller

But my soul is not

My world is harder

But I survive

A figure with knobby knees and a sunken aged face sits with her thoughts in a throne-like chair. As the body is the root of life, age is the result. Hers is the voice of experience and the understanding of physical limitations. She may be valued for her wisdom, but her no-nonsense views often set her apart and keep her alone. Like her, know that life occurs mostly inside you. Value your own experience and the wisdom of your body.”

 

 

 

 

  1. (Representing Uranus): Witch of Cups ~ Siren

    “Where the waves dance

    Where the stars and tides align

    There I celebrate my passion

    There I abandon restraint

    There I create movement

    That will last a thousand years

    A red figure, whose body echoes the curl of the purple waves around her, reaches with them for the stars that arch overhead. The Siren flows with the power of water to move and transform. She draws to her what she desires from the strength of her own desire, like calling out to like to join in the dance. She sings with the power to carry you away to worlds where love reigns, souls merge and blood, the juice of your life, runs full and free.”

  2. (Representing the Seeds to be Planted): Nine of Disks ~ Community

Nine of Disks – Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

“Together we build

Home for us all

Nine homes with open doors are gathered on a rich brown hillside beneath a field of stars. Here connection reaches farther than family. It is not so personal a relationship, but it is quite as necessary. There are others who share your air, your earth, your dreams and there always will be. Each one is part of the whole. Acknowledge the endeavors that support your living. Consider your own contribution. The antidote to isolation is sharing. How do you want to touch this world?”

Food For Thought

The connection of each card with each ‘subject’ is fascinating to me. As is always true, we each bring to the table our own unique set of life circumstances and perspectives to interpreting the message of each card.

I invite you to sit with each card. Notice how you feel when you simply look at the image; then notice and pay attention to the words written by the deck’s creator. Which words jump out at you – and how do they make you feel?

Allow yourself to contemplate (and dare I suggest – write out in a journal?) a coherent message between the cards. Remember, Saturn (structure) being challenged by Uranus (transformation) could indicate that in order to achieve transformation we may need to bring more structure to our lives. Cultivate a secure environment in which to plant those new seeds.

In other words, don’t assume that Uranus always means things need to get flipped upside down and inside out. They could just need to be radically changed. And that can (almost certainly will) look completely different for each one of us.

Have fun with this. It’s time to shake stuff up one way or another. We might as well be active and conscious participants in the reshaping of our lives, don’t you think?

Finally, don’t forget to order your own Tarot of the Crone deck if you feel an affinity with these cards!

(T-143)