October 20 - Daily Draw (Etteilla)

Today is the last of the Etteillas, and I've saved the most relatable for last!  This deck is the Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot by Paul Huson and published by Lo Scarabeo.  It is an Etteilla-inspired deck, with a Marseilles-based Major Arcana and Minor Arcana drawn according to Etteilla's meanings.  It's very colorful and fun to read with, and is honestly half the reason I want to learn to read Etteillas - it's just so beautiful and I'd like to use it more!

Today I drew the Three of Coins, the Tower, and the Knave of Cups.  The Three represents someone or something of great importance (Etteilla keyword: 'noble').  The Tower is said by Huson to be the house of the Devil, and the lightning striking it is a blow struck against tyranny.  The Knave of Cups refers to a blonde youth, a messenger of affections and a slave of his or her feelings.  These cards seem to tell the story of a blonde youth conquering over the tyranny of someone placed above him - literally the only blonde youth I know is my younger brother, and I know his boss can be a bit tyrannical at times; so perhaps this heralds him finally getting fed up and quitting his job.  This wouldn't be a bad thing for him - the job is a bit beneath him and he took it because of burnout in his field of expertise; but the family would be happy to see him back in a position he's better suited to.

For my Lenormand pair, I've used Pixie's Astounding Lenormand; many of the cards have bright enough colours to pair nicely with Dame Fortune's Wheel, though I didn't draw any of them!  The Woman + Lilies I interpret as a calm and serene woman; not much is happening in my life right now, and I'm okay with that.

October 11 - Daily Draw and Observations (spanish style)

For the last of my Spanish-style daily draws, I'll be using the Thomson-Leng Tarot.  Not strictly in the Spanish school, as three of the four suits are illustrated RWS-style, but it does follow Picard's elemental attributions and the suit of Wands follows his geometric layouts.

I drew the Four of Cups, the Eight of Cups, and the King of Rods (wands).  The Four of Cups illustration has its typical RWS connotations; dreaminess, willful ignorance, but with an Airy, intellectual quality.  I like to think of it as the absent-minded professor card.  That's been me lately: diving in and out of Tarot books, spending time with my decks, and forgetting about most everything else!  The Eight of Cups is less traditional; the landscape remains the same but the only person pictured is staring at the cups in the riverbed rather than traveling away from them.  Picard's interpretation is balance and reason.  I ought to be trying for a bit more balance in my life at the moment!  The King of Rods represents genius, or great talent; it seems to be saying that I'll have more luck with the tarot if I put down some books for a bit and get myself involved in life.

I used Pixie's Astounding Lenormand for my Lenormand pair.  Clover + Garden seems to say that I'll have good luck or fun at a social event; I'll be heading out this evening, so hopefully that holds true!

After spending some time with Eudes Picard-inspired tarots, I've come to see and appreciate a few things about them.  I believe they're intended, and represented faithfully in the El Gran Tarot Esoterico and Universal Wirth Tarot, to be a more 'natural' tarot, sort of an offshoot of the Marseilles vine and flower decorative elements.  The Minors are the 'effects', as Picard says in his book Manuel synthétique & pratique du tarot, and they are also intrinsically connected to the world, especially the natural world, around us.  I really appreciate this interpretation of the Tarot, and I hope to revisit Picard's designs again in another series.

September 24 - Daily Draw

For my daily draw today, I felt like spending some time with Pamela Coleman-Smith.  Her illustrations are featured on the Rider-Waite Tarot, brought to life here by the PCS Commemorative Edition of the RWS.  It's an absolutely beautiful deck, feels and reads like a dream.  To go along with it, I got out my Pixie's Astounding Lenormand; a wonderful deck by Edmund Zebrowski.  It feels just as creamy and shuffles as wonderfully as the PCS, and features art taken from Pamela's work, so I love to pair them together.

The Tarot seems to be telling me that I have perfect happiness at the moment with the Ten of Cups, but to make it last I'll have to have a strong will and keep my ducks in a row (Chariot); otherwise I'll begin wishing and dreaming this happy time away as pictured on the Four of Cups.  This certainly applies to my life as a mother - it's hard to sit back and enjoy the children as they are, without wishing they were either more grown up or smaller again.  No Pentacles today, for the first time in several days!  I suppose that means it's time to turn  some of my concentration away from the business and back towards my other responsibilities.

The Lenormand pair for today is Mountain + Ship.  This tells me there's an obstacle I'll have to actually move around and avoid, I won't be able to conquer it or move it myself.  Sometimes when life puts something in your way it's best to just turn and take the longer route, rather than beating your head against a roadblock for ages.