November 22- Daily Draw (Thanksgiving!)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers in the US; and to all international readers feel free to enjoy some turkey as well!  The holiday season has me behind on all of my writing!  Just in case you're behind as well, I'd like to remind everyone that the deadline for Christmas orders in the US is coming up - December 3rd!  If you'd your deck to arrive by Christmas please place your order soon!

Today's daily draw was done with the absolutely lovely Rumi Tarot by Nigel Jackson.  I believe it's still in print by Llewellyn, and if you don't have one you should pick one up before they go out of print.  This is my spiritual go-to deck.  Not only is it beautifully illustrated, but each card also has a line from a poem by Sufi poet Rumi on the bottom; many of them relate to the Rider-Waite meaning of the card, but many are just little encouraging, spiritual asides that can comfort even in the darkest times.  This deck has gotten me through so much in my life, I can't tell you how much I love it.

My draw for today was the Empress, the Three of Swords, and the King of Cups.  On this Thanksgiving day, the Empress reminds us of the beauty of the feminine archetype; today we appreciate the Empress's gifts of abundant food and a great cook!  The Three of Swords reminds me of the tragedy that this day also represents; our country's terrible mistreatment of the people who first walked this land - and also a reminder that acknowledging that grief is an essential part of this happy occasion.  The King of Cups is the King of his emotions - he lets warmth and affection for his family shine through while keeping minor annoyances and squabbles in check.  Overall, a good reminder for this Thanksgiving!

I used the Mystical Lenormand for my Lenormand draw, and today have Heart + House + Moon.  Love and affection is central this Thanksgiving, love of family and home, reflected among all the members of family and friends (Moon).

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 15 - Daily Draw

I received a package in the mail today, and just had to dig out my Cary-Yale Visconti Tarot to play with my new Visconti Lenormand!  The Cary-Yale Visconti Tarot is a (huge!) reproduction of a fifteenth-century deck, published by US Games.  It's absolutely beautiful, the lovely gold highlights are still clearly evident.

I'm not quite ready yet to dive into the world of reading pips from the old historic decks, so I chose to do my daily draw from among the Major Arcana. I drew Strength and Death, an interesting combination.  Unlike many other tarot decks at the time, which featured Hercules subduing a lion - quite forcefully - as their representation of strength, the Cary-Yale has the now-familiar motif of a woman holding open the jaws of a lion.  I've always seen this to represent both courage, and inner strength.  Death is also pictured in a quite traditional way, riding his horse with a scythe, and trampling over all classes and kinds of people.  I often read this as an ending, as many do; but these decks which so obviously feature such a variety of people falling to Death I sometimes picture as referring to the 'common denominator' in all of us, the great leveler that shows us we are all truly the same, subject to the same wants, concerns, and ultimately death.  What this says for my day is that I must have strength in the face of something ending; presumably something I'd rather keep around.

My Lenormand draw for today is done with the stunning Visconti Lenormand, a self-published deck available through theGamecrafter.com.  From what I can tell, it replicates the background of the Cary-Yale Visconti cards, and juxtaposes them with art from other paintings at the time to make a beautiful Lenormand deck.  I drew Mountain + Tree + Child.  The Mountain describes obstacles and delays, while the Tree can speak to both health issues and can refer to a long time span.  The Child, as you might guess, refers to a young person or innocence.  This one is fairly obvious to me - my oldest child went to get a cavity filled today, and she's having quite the time with it.  This tells me that her healing will take longer than anticipated.

November 11 - Daily Draw

Today's daily draw was done with one of my favorite decks with Rider-Waite imagery; the Nigel Jackson Tarot (also known as the Medieval Enchantment).  Nigel is, in my opinion, one of the most gifted modern Tarot artists; his Rumi Tarot is also exceptionally beautiful.

I drew the Ace of Staves (Wands) and the Ace of Cups.  (As an aside.. I sometimes have a hard time concentrating with decks where the Wands are titled Staves, especially if the Ace comes up! For half the reading, I have Motörhead's song 'Ace of Spades' stuck in my head, except as 'Ace of Staves'.  Yes, this is a serious problem)!  The Staves in this deck are represented as arrows and associated with the element of Air, which I think is a nice twist on traditional Rider-Waite imagery; it allows the usually passionate Wands to be read in a more moderate way, and the usually cold Swords have some passion in them.  Drawing two Aces obviously means that something is starting up, and it has the potential to be big.  The elements of Air and Water tell me that this will be something that's intellectually stimulating, but also something that I'll be emotionally invested in.  Sounds to me like this is a perfect day to start reading a good book; one that's well-written and informative, but has a nice storyline as well.

Under the advice of a few people in an online Lenormand study group that I'm a part of, I'm going to start doing my daily draw as a line of three rather than a pair; it seems from their experience (and mine, after a few tries!) that two cards is a bit too generic to really learn good combinations with.  To start out, I chose the Mystical Lenormand, a pretty deck from Germany that's not extremely traditional with its symbols, but is still very much a Lenormand.  It's quite beautiful, and goes well with the Nigel Jackson Tarot.

In this new method, the 'focus' card is the one to the left, and the other two cards describe it.  I drew Anchor + Snake + Fox today, which tells me that my comfort and stability (Anchor) is being threatened by a deception (Snake) involving work (Fox).  I'm working with the concept of the 'magnitude' of the cards - basically, cards for a daily draw describe much lesser things than, say, cards for a month-long reading.  So it seems to me as if a little white lie will come out into the open today, and I will probably be a bit perturbed about it.

November 7 - Daily Draw

My daily draw for today uses the Haindl Tarot, a beautiful and stunning deck painted by Hermann Haindl.  It's vaguely Thoth-based in its titles and attributions, but the imagery is unique and absolutely wonderful.

I drew the Ten of Cups (Success), the Chariot, and the Son of Wands in the East (Page of Wands).  This speaks of success and happiness accomplished through force of will; happiness involving a fiery and energetic young person.  I always think of my middle daughter when I get the Page of Wands; she's strong and impulsive and everything the page represents.  The cards are saying we'll have a wonderful day together - if I can use my force of will to master hers!

My Lenormand daily draw uses the Britta Lenormand, a new addition to my collection and a lovely one.  It's one half collage, one half watercolor, and I think it goes beautifully with the Haindl.  Today is Rider + Ship, which brings news of travel, or a message from very far away.  Perhaps I'll receive an email from my grandmother today, or maybe a call or message from one of my husband's relatives, all of whom are halfway around the world.

November 5 - Daily Draw (Etteilla-style)

This is an incredibly fun deck! I was under the impression that Dame Fortune's Wheel was the only Tarot that put illustrations to Etteilla's meanings for the Minor Arcana, but I recently discovered the Tarocco Indovino by Sergio Ruffolo, published by Dal Negro. It's not incredibly sophisticated art, but it certainly has charm; and I must admit I'm so happy that another deck like this exists.  It uses French suit symbols instead of the usual Italian of most Tarot decks, but this is easily overlooked if you know the correspondences.

I drew the Sun, the Four of Spades (Swords), and the Magician.  The Four of Spades carries the keyword 'solitude'.  These cards tell me that success in my endeavours is possible, but only if I withdraw into solitude and spend some time on my own working diligently.

This post is the conclusion of my series on Etteilla-style decks, though after a bit of a break I'm sure I'll want to jump right back into them again!  But I want to make some observations on these interesting decks and their descendents: specifically Golden Dawn-based Tarots.  Doing these readings, it's easy to see that the Golden Dawn, and by extension Arthur Waite and even a bit of Aleister Crowley, cribbed meanings from Etteilla.  Where did the picture on the Rider-Waite Tarot's Four of Swords come from, if not this meaning of 'solitude'?

For my daily Lenormand draw, I used a different kind of deck; not really a proper Lenormand at all.  It was published in 1940, called simply 'Fortune Telling Cards' (though I've seen them referred to as the Whitman Cards); and while it features 36 cards, many of which are the same as or very similar to a Lenormand deck, it also has some unique ones as well.  I have a comparison post coming up, but in the meantime I'll have to leave you with this teaser!  The Flame, according to the instructions that came along with the deck, is a good luck card that strengthens good messages and weakens negative ones.  Flame + Rider I interpret as some news coming today, and it will be very good news indeed!

November 3 - Daily Draw (Etteilla-style)

Here we've got another Etteilla-style deck, and I quite like it, though it's certainly a bit strange!  It's an Etteilla III type deck - of sorts.  The Major Arcana is full of Hebrew letters and Egyptian symbols (though the booklet is unhelpful as to their origin or meaning), and the Minor Arcana has inserts for both Italian- and French-style decks.  I believe that the keywords are Etteilla in origin, but I haven't been able to translate enough of them to be sure.

Today I've drawn the Knight of Coins, the Three of Wands, and the Eight of Cups.  The keywords for the Knight are 'profit' and 'utility'.  The Three of Wands is 'enterprise' and 'initiative', and the Eight of Cups is a 'young blonde'.  I'm not great with Italian; but I think it might be specific to a blonde woman.  However, I've found that when the cards talk of a young blonde it's often my brother, as he's the only one I know!  It looks like he will be reaching the end of some money problems, if he acts on his initiative and stays motivated.

The Lenormand pair for today is Lady + Stork; this seems to be saying I'll be in for a change.  It should be a change for the better, so I'm hopeful!

November 1 - Daily Draw (Etteilla-style)

Back to your regularly-scheduled Etteilla-esque decks!  Today it's the Grand Tarot Belline, drawn by Edmond Billaudot probably around 1863.  It's partially based on the work of Paul Christian, with Etteilla-style keywords and a brief platitude written by Billaudot.

I drew the Mistress (Queen) of Scepters, the Wheel of Fortune, and the Two of Swords reversed.  The Major Arcana each has another title, which as I mentioned before comes from the work of Paul Christian - the Wheel is titled the Sphinx.  The keyword for the Mistress of Scepters is 'woman from the country'; the inscription says that 'Your future will depend on the power of a woman, you'll find her if you know how to look for her'.  The keyword for the Sphinx is 'fortune', and has an inscription that speaks of patience and perseverance.  The Two of Swords reversed has the keyword 'false', and the inscription says 'protection against enemies both known and secret'.  This looks to me as if a woman will come into my life, perhaps from a rural area (not hard around here!) or with a country attitude, promising to aid me with something in the future; but due to a turn of the Wheel I will discover that she is playing me false.

I love reading with these Etteilla decks - they're interesting and fun - but I'm afraid I'm not very good with them.  Hopefully with a bit more practice these readings will become more natural.