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.

October 18 - Daily Draw (Etteilla)

Today I felt like going with a more Egyptian theme, so out come the pyramid and the obelisk!  This deck is a strange one, but quite interesting historically.  It is published by the Gamecrafter, a website that sells a few Tarot and Lenormand decks as well as other games, and it is as far as I can tell, the only readily-available Type II Etteilla.  Titled the Z. Lismon Etteilla, it was first published in 1838 by Simon Bloquel, and is very similar to Grimaud's Grand Etteilla.

I drew the Chaos, the Eight of Wands reversed, and the Five of Wands.  The keywords are 'Etteilla', 'destructive dispute', and 'gold'.  The Chaos card is meant to represent the time before creation in Etteilla's conception of the Major Arcana, and also be the significator card for a male questioner.  Since I am not male, I suppose I'll interpret it as Chaos.  I know just what this one is talking about - being unorganized leads to a dispute over money!  No need for details, but suffice to say that my family is living this at the moment.

For the Lenormand pair I once again used the Gypsy Lenormand; it just fits so well with these Etteillas!  The Snake + Anchor tells of the illusion of stability, something I count on that won't be there when I really need it.  Not sure what this one is referring to, but I'll be sure to update if it becomes clear.

October 3 - Daily Draw (spanish style)

For today's draw I'll be using El Gran Tarot Esoterico, published by Fournier in 1978.  It is done in a modern woodcut style similar to many modern Marseilles restorations; but it follows the Spanish system as laid out by Eudes Picard.  I almost suspect this deck is the reason the system is referred to as the Spanish school of Tarot - it was probably the first deck following Picard's attributions to be published.

I drew the Seven of Coins, the Ace of Wands, and the Three of Swords.  The Seven of Coins here is said to represent charity; that is the only keyword given by Picard.  But I think the growing, branching tree can tell us more about this card: to me, it is charity given because you are prospering and growing.  Helping others is incredibly important, but make sure you have your own house in order as well.  The Ace of Wands is the idea of action; the beginning of a creative and fiery process.  As with most every day, I've had a couple of new ideas for decks, but perhaps this is a signal that I ought to follow through with one of them.  The Three of Swords is not a pretty picture here; it seems this is an ill omen in most all systems!  The fish is floating upside down, the plants have fallen to the bottom of a wind-whipped sea; Picard gives the meaning as a "morbid condition, or perverted instincts."  Though our instincts and intuition are often incredibly helpful, there are certainly times as well when they can lead us down the wrong road.  Perhaps this card is telling me to be wary of which of my ideas I pursue, as only one has the potential to root strongly as the tree on the Seven; and pursuing an idea that won't pan out is likely to be detrimental to my motivation.

I used my lovely Gypsy Lenormand again today, with the pair Anchor + Clouds.  My stability, that which I consider permanent and unchangeable, is actually much more insecure than I think.  I tend to start feeling trapped or bogged down when life becomes too mundane; but it's good to remember that the things we think of as everyday, mundane life can be pretty exciting and unpredictable when you think about it.

September 22 - Daily Draw

I'm using the Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg for my daily draw today, one of my first decks and still one of my favorites.  I especially love it around Christmas-time, all that gold seems so ornately festive; but it's wonderful any time of the year.  Once again I drew the Ace of Coins.  The tarot's message is pretty clear: concentrate on getting this new deck off the ground!

For my Lenormand pair I chose the Gypsy Lenormand cards - these seem to have recently gone out of print, but they're still available fairly cheap on eBay.  These two cards don't quite do it justice - there are many more fully illustrated and absolutely beautiful.  The Lenormand cards have a similar message as the tarot today.  Anchor + Fish tells me that stability and security today will come from my self-employment - a welcome message, as things seem less than stable lately!