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.

A Papus Spread with the Papus Tarot

Today I had a reading for a friend who's wondering which path to take out of two options: to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry, or to continue to pursue entry into medical school.

Since I've been in an old-school mood lately, and this particular friend of mine is interested in Tarot mostly as a fun diversion,  I chose to go with a new spread and a new deck.  This is the Papus Tarot, created in 1981 and republished by US Games in 1982.  It's a nice deck, which is said to follow Papus's original designs quite closely;  though not owning a copy of The Divinatory Tarot myself, I can't say for sure.

This spread, according to the little white booklet of the Papus Tarot, apparently originates from Papus's book Tarot of the Bohemians.  It requires that you divide the Major and Minor Arcana.  Twelve Minor Arcana cards are drawn and laid out counter-clockwise in a circle to represent the twelve houses.  Then seven Major Arcana cards are drawn; four are laid in an inner circle and three in a triangle inside both circles.  The four in the inner circle represent commencement, culmination, decline, and fall.  The three triangle points are the past, present, and future.  I'm looking to the little white booklet for meanings, so while they seem genuine to me, I'm not sure if they're entirely in-line with Papus's ideas.

Of the twelves houses, cards 1-4 represent the past, cards 4-7 represent the present, and 7-12 pertain to the future.  The Queen of Cups talks of a poetic or loving person, the King of Batons of a fatherly person, the Queen of Batons of an understanding yet honorable person, and the Queen of Swords as a quick-witted or intelligent person.  The Major Arcana card for the past is the Emperor, and the card representing commencement is the Magician.  Right away, I notice that all of the cards from the past are court cards, and the Majors can represent people as well.  This tells me that my friend's past decisions were mostly influenced by others, but most especially by a man of strong will and self-confidence.

Next is the Queen of Swords, the Three of Cups which speaks of healing and compromise, the Eight of Cups which tells of discontinuing your effort and disappointment, and the Five of Cups is an unsatisfied desire, and struggle.  The Major for the present is the Tower; culmination is the Popess, and decline is Temperance.  These cards are telling me that a wise and intelligent woman and the thought of being a healer are pulling my querent towards medical school, but he is currently struggling in school and fears he won't be able to attain his goal.  He is in a crisis 'Tower' moment, which will resolve soon towards a more balanced emotional state.

The Two of Coins tells of new troubles, but the Valet (Page) of Batons bears important news.  The Queen of Coins tells of wealth, and the Six of Coins speaks of charity and kindness.  The Ace of Batons tells of creation and invention.  The Major card for the future is the Star, and the card for the outcome of the situation is the Lovers.  These cards are telling me that he will continue to struggle with his medical classes, but will receive an important push or piece of news from an outside source - perhaps a scholarship or grant.  The Star tells of hope and optimism, and the Lovers tells me that his decision will enable him to work on relationships as well as intellectual pursuits.

Knowing what I know of his situation, I told my friend that the cards are advising a change to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry.  His biology and anatomy work are becoming more and more demanding, and he feels he is unable to rise to the challenge.  While pursuing upper-level chemistry courses, he feels much more of an affinity for and understanding of the material, requiring that he spend less time away from his family.  I advised him to continue to do his best in all of his classes, and keep on the look out for scholarships or grants he can apply for; it's likely he will find a newfound optimism and creative drive that will aid him in his task of choosing his life's path.

October 12 - Daily Draw (Etteilla!)

I had so much fun with Eudes Picard the last few weeks, that I have become interested in reading with all my early occult Tarots!  And of course, if I'm interested in reading with occult Tarot, it's probably best to start at the beginning - the Etteillas.

There's several different versions of these decks, each more or less following the occult ideas and cartomantic interpretations of Jean-Baptiste Alliette, a Frenchman and rumoured hairdresser from the mid-18th century. He published Etteilla, or a Way to Entertain Yourself with a Deck of Cards in 1770, and the Tarot hasn't been the same since.

The version I chose today is a lovely reproduction by Lo Scarabeo, of what is called the Type III Etteilla deck: originally named Tarot Egyptien: Grand Jeu de l'Oracle des Dames, it is now published as The Book of Thoth Etteilla Tarot.  It was originally published in 1865, many years after Etteilla's death.  It's illustrated in a very nice Neo-Gothic style that whispers gently of old gypsies laden with softly jangling bracelets.  I cannot tell you how much I love this tarot stylistically - but up until now I haven't read with it!  The Majors are all renamed and reordered according to Etteilla's vision, and there are keywords influenced by his ideas on the tops and bottoms of the cards.  I don't usually use reversals, but as these decks are meant to be read with them, I changed up my shuffling pattern a bit to turn some cards around.

I drew 'Prudence' - apparently Etteilla's equivalent of the Hanged Man - the Two of Cups, and the Knave (page) of Cups reversed.  I'm not great with French, but with the help of an online translator and the accompanying booklet, I believe the keywords are 'prudence', 'love', and 'fondness'.  Prudence is about doing or saying the right thing at the right time: nothing hasty or rushed here.  The cards seem to be calling for prudence in love; a passionate relationship that fades to a fondness and familiarity - as most people in a long-term relationship will attest, this is the way things go.  It's impossible to be in such an intense emotional state 24/7, but it's sometimes difficult to accept that the honeymoon phase is past, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

For my Lenormand pair, I once again used the Astrological Lenormand, I think it matches nicely with the feel of the Book of Thoth Tarot.  More about love here - Ring + Heart.  A loving commitment.. perhaps my husband making a sweet promise in love?  I guess today is the day to ask for him to cook dinner!

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 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.