October 7 - Daily Draw (spanish style)

I'll be extending my week of Spanish school Tarot readings for two more entries, to highlight the two remaining Spanish style decks I own.  The only other deck I'm aware of is the Balbi Tarot, which I have unfortunately been unable to get my hands on yet.

Today I'll be using Lo Scarabeo's Universal Wirth Tarot, with Wirth-style majors and a minor arcana designed according to Eudes Picard's specifications. I drew the Seven of Chalices (cups), the Knight of Wands, and the Knave (page-equivalent) of Chalices.

The Seven of Chalices represents the world getting out of the way of love; material problems get out of the way and emotions are free to rule.  For me, material concerns that get in the way of love is mostly our children - they're wonderful and I love them, but they make having an adult relationship difficult!  The Knight tells of an adult that is unmarried, perhaps an artist or actor or in some other creative endeavour.  I'm honestly not sure who this could refer to; the court cards are a bit confusing in this deck and I don't have them figured out yet.  The Two of Chalices tells of the union of two magnetic principles.. I'm beginning to think my husband has stacked the deck *giggle*!

For my Lenormand draw, I used Lo Scarabeo's Art Nouveau Oracle; it matches nicely with the art style of the Universal Wirth.  I drew Clover + Coffin, which seems to say that my luck is coming to an end.  I'm heading out to a dinner with the in-laws soon, who I usually get along quite well with; here's hoping the cards are wrong on this count and my luck continues!

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.

October 1 - Daily Draw (spanish style)

Whew!  It's been a busy week!  I've been finishing up another deck to send off to the printers for a sample, and also waiting (impatiently!) to receive the first for-the-public copies of the Lasenic Tarot so I can start shipping them out to their future owners.  During my week-long haitus from actually reading Tarot, I've decided to take this next week to dip my toes in the Spanish school of Tarot.

It's a fascinating subject.  Apparently begun by the frenchman Eudes Picard in his 1909 book Manuel synthétique & pratique du tarot, I'm not sure how this system made its way to Spain and became incorporated in so many Spanish decks.  This school of Tarot thought has a lot of interesting changes.  The Majors follow the Wirth sequence of Hebrew-letter correspondences, though I must admit I know little enough about the Qabbalah that the significance of that is over my head.  The most interesting change is the switching of elements: swords become watery, and cups take on the qualities of air.  I can certainly see this change: emotions are well known to cut like swords.  The Cups/Air association is a bit harder for me to fathom, however.  Picard believes that the Major Arcana represents the causes, and the Minor Arcana the effects.

For today's draw I've used the Crystal Tarot, illustrated by Elisabetta Trevisan and published by Lo Scarabeo.  The art in this deck is absolutely fantastic - I'm not sure what to compare it to artistically, except for perhaps stained glass windows; they just have a shining, ethereal presence, as if they're lit from behind.  Absolutely stunning.

I drew the Wheel of Fortune, the Seven of Wands, and the Two of Wands.  The Wheel represents the Cause according to this method of reading, which seems to be saying that my day today is rather out of my control, and will go according to the dictates of Fate.  The Seven of Wands in this system represents the victory of mind over matter, or invention.  The Two signifies cooperation, or an alliance.  This seems to be saying that Fate is pushing me towards a partnership or alliance that will help bring my creative and inventive dreams to reality: perhaps a new publisher that will be a bit more on the ball with things, or maybe my husband will give me an opportunity to ask him about drawing a few cards for another upcoming project.

For my Lenormand pair, I've used Lo Scarabeo's Art Nouveau Oracle, titled generically though it is a Lenormand oracle.  I find it at once very beautiful and a bit silly: the artwork is amazing, but many of the cards feature very large beautiful women, while the symbol of the card is very small and unnoticeable by comparison.  You can see that in the picture of the Key above, and I'd say it affects about a third of the cards in this deck.  They are still quite lovely, however; and because Lenormand is not as intuition-heavy or picture-centric as Tarot is, I find the deck to still be quite useable - unlike the Art Nouveau Tarot, which suffers from the same complaints and is unusable for me.

The pair today is the Key + Path.  I see this as a moment of inspiration or flash of understanding that will prompt me to make a decision I had previously been unable figure out.

I'm really liking this Spanish school of Tarot so far!  I have a few more pretty decks that I would love to bring out that follow this system, so stay tuned this week to learn more about Eudes Picard's way of reading the Tarot.