ARCANIS TAROT

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Come. Sit.

Truth be told, I’m a crazy dog lady. I paint dogs and I walk & hike dogs and I share my home with a dog, and I have studied and practiced herbal medicine for dogs. So when it came time to name my tarot practice, I thought of Canis Major and Canis Minor, which comprise a portion of the night sky – much like the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana, which comprise the tarot. Arcana, Canis… you see where this went.

Our dogs are our mirrors. I learned this first-hand while training and while studying herbal medicine, seeing how dogs manifest issues we have stuffed down into the depths of our psyches. They can see it, even if we can’t, and they reflect it back to us if we pay attention. As do the cards. They aren’t here to tell us what the ego wants to hear, but simply to reflect back.

Dogs also remind us to live in the present, and it’s a great lesson to bring to a reading. Questions about the future are welcomed (part of what I do is planning for the future); but let’s take it from here, now. What can we do in this moment to step forward to that future outcome?

Our approach to tarot should be much like our relationship to dogs – never a fear-based approach, but with an open heart, as theirs always is.

May you always have an open heart to accompany you on the path.

The SpiraCycle Spread

There are various ways to do a Celtic Cross. I was never really a fan until I played around with it, moving the last 4 cards from a separate column to the corners and adjusting some placement meanings to align more with my numerological meanings, and taking some liberties with the order of card placement.

I’ve always preferred the more amorphous nature of box spreads to the more structured ‘one meaning per position’ spreads, anyway; so this combines the breadth of the Celtic Cross with the more flowy, relational 9-card box spread, with hints of a Tirage en Croix. It’s laid in sort of a spiral of a cycle, but also reads well flowing outward from the center, going down to the underlying factors and then up the left through some meatier stuff and then finally over to the right in resolution.

Now, as in a box spread, the center line is the situation, the bottom is what’s underneath it, and the top is how things could turn out, moving forward… but flows in a more spiralic form. It’s flexible enough to be used as a predictive spread for fortune telling or for a more introspective spread for self-awareness, and the ways that the cards interplay in this blending of systems has made for some really layered readings.

Following traditional spreads, some pairs play off of each other – 1 & 2 are internal and external, 4 & 6 are unconscious and conscious intent, 5. & 3 are what’s behind the matter and what’s ahead. It can be read with just the central 6 cards, but the outer 4 add the more developmental or introspective elements of the situation.

So, it’s no longer a Celtic Cross but still sort of resembles it and carries all of the breadth of one, but is now morphed with a 9-card box and there are so many potential ways of reading it, with layers of meaning. I’m still playing with it, but this is what I have, so far.

Don’t get stuck in how other people tell you it is. Play around with your cards and have fun. In the meantime, give this one a go and let me know how it reads for you!

Reimagining Astrological Correspondences

Being in the midst of Aries season, I’ve been thinking about The Fool. While originally it had no number and sort of hung out between Trump XXI (The World) and Trump I (Le Bateleur), it has come to be accepted in modern times as the beginning of the deck. In fact, its meaning has evolved to be about beginnings and first steps, enthusiasm and initiative, rebirth and impulsivity. And, doesn’t that sound a lot like Aries? Starting things off with a leap of faith, pioneering, carefree. The life force, just like buds springing forth in April as Spring bellows to a waiting world that it’s time to begin anew, again.

The “I am”-ness of Aries refers to identity. “I am… what?” as the 1st House asks. Its glyph, the ram, lives on mountains much like the one The Fool is about to step so boldly off of. It teaches courage, like that which is needed to take risks. How else do we grow?

And so I got to thinking about the astrological correspondences of the tarot trumps, and how my Fool will always be Aries. I mean, sure- I get the Uranus connection. It’s the free spirit of the planets, following its own path… but have you ever sat down and tried to match up the cards with the signs & planets? There are so many possibilities. Who’s to say that what a bunch of middle-aged white guys from a hundred years ago with a spiritual stick up their butts decided were the best possible correspondences? Tarot wasn’t developed as an esoteric tool, that application came later. I have nothing against esoterica, but I don’t usually use it with tarot. To me, The Fool’s Journey is more like a roving tale of fluid archetypal imaginings than a sterile game of match-up.

So, go ahead. Grab a piece of paper and write the majors down the left. On the right, list ten planets and the 12 signs. Now start linking them up. Does the warrior-driven Chariot really embody emotional Cancer? What does The Hierophant mean to you? What’s the best placement for the goals-driven structure of Capricorn? If the Sun corresponds to The Sun, might the Moon be linked with… The Moon? What does Pluto mean to you and which card best represents that?

It’s a fun game, actually. And a great way to learn or refresh or re-examine your astrological knowledge. What makes more sense to you?

Decks

For those interested in a reading, I like to offer a snapshot of available decks for those who would like to choose; and for other readers who just like to look at various decks, I am including a quick little blurb about each.

Listed in no particular order, they display the same cards for consistency in comparison.

Deck of the Bastard
by Tarot by Seven

Called Deck of the Bastard for its bastardization of different decks, it combines Rider Waite Smith (RWS) for minors, Etteilla for majors, and classic Italian Aces (see Tarocco Soprafino, below). It’s like the perfect Frankenstein of tarot decks.

This is the deck I use most for others, as its imagery is more easily identifiable (and I just like shuffling the supple, linen-finished cards). I also have a bridge-sized edition of this deck that is always in my bag.

Infernal Tarot
by Erik Pollitt
I was drawn to the antiquated style of this deck, which was created from illustrations in the Dictionnaire Infernal; it gives me the nostalgic feel of the dusty old books I used to rummage through in the basement of my childhood home. Based on RWS, the imagery is pretty straightforward, but I have found it to be somewhat more cerebral in its tendency to make me think differently when interpreting their meanings.

It’s a very versatile deck that presents well, visually, in readings.

Dreamkeepers Tarot
by Liz Huston
(now published by U.S. Games)

Although I loved the dreamy Victorian feel of this deck, I’m not generally a fan of collage effects in tarot and resisted buying it for many months. Once I did, its watery nature clicked immediately for me and I fell in love. The same thing happened with the book – I disregarded it as a little too traditional for me at first, but soon realized that there are pearls of wisdom contained in the ways that she articulates the meanings.

It has become my main journaling deck. I can ask it a deeply introspective question and it really hits the mark.

Murder of Crows
Lo Scarabeo (distributed by Llewellyn)

My shadowy inclinations squealed with glee when I saw this shiny new thing, and ordered it directly from the publisher before it was even released. Gorgeously illustrated by Corrado Roi, it speaks directly and effortlessly to our shadowy parts.

This is a great deck for those who like a darker aesthetic in their spreads, but the heavily laminated card stock makes the deck a little thicker, and thus harder for my small hands to shuffle. But I still love it.

The Relative Tarot
By Carrie Parris

Designed specifically for working with our ancestors, it was created from a myriad of old tintype photos that followers submitted of their own relatives, with symbols from the Waite-Smith card overlaid into the image. The border of each card contains its numerological / birth card constellation along with the name and number.

It came with an 80-card companion oracle in the same format, and – though not apparent in these dozen cards – both decks are culturally inclusive of regions around the world.

Salvador Dali Tarot (trimmed)
Taschen Publishing

Dali was commissioned to produce this deck in the 70s for one of the Bond films. Although the contract fell through due to disagreements with the director, he still completed the deck.

With its surrealist style and random swirly brush strokes, the highly creative artwork lends itself to a more intuitive reading, and it remains one of the decks that is always out on my table.

Darkness of Light Tarot
by Tony DiMauro

Don’t be fooled by the dark aesthetic of this deck; its mood is very sweet. This is one of those decks that feels like an old friend happy to share a blanket on the couch while sipping tea and sorting through life’s curve balls. The inclusion of his dog in several of the cards only adds to the comfortably loyal vibe.

Sometimes it’s obvious when deck creators aren’t readers, but in this deck it doesn’t really matter. He was true to RWS imagery without any new twists, and puts forth the scenes with beautiful painterly technique.

Isidore Tarot
by Bethalynne Bajema; via Attic Cartomancy

This deck reframes RWS in ink illustrations typical of the Victorian era. Its mood is light and fun, and since there are only animals (and the weird animal hybrids of that time period, like the frog with a duck head), pet lovers often like it. Though it carries a sense of whimsy, it can dole out the dark just as easily.

Bohemian Gothic Tarot
Baba Studios

The darker sister to Baba Studios’ Victorian Romantic Tarot, it presents as dark & gothic at first glance, but its campy humor lightens it up. This is a really fun deck — especially if you like old horror movies, cold stone towers, and creepy kids in graveyards. It’s got a nighttime vibe and is cloaked in cool blacks and blues. It reads well in general; not just for the shadows. Though used copies are selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay and elsewhere, I’ll never give up this gem.

Touchstone Tarot (trimmed)
by Kat Black (now published by U.S. Games)

This is the deck that started me on the trail of independent tarot decks, and I still love the seamless blending of various Renaissance and Baroque works into RWS themes. I did have to remove the chunky “frame” borders, which allows them to expand a bit in a spread.

The card stock of the original deck is like stiff cardboard; so this may be one indie deck that benefits from mass market production.

Sola Busca Revisited
by Tarot by Seven

Neither RWS nor Sola Busca, it’s sort of a mash-up of them into a hybrid. The original Sola Busca artwork lost its names, was given a redder color palette, and had several of its cards reconfigured, swapped out, or moved around to more easily fit a RWS scheme.

This is my favorite tarot deck for several reasons, but since it’s from a deck that portrays its own system of esoteric meanings around the process of alchemy (and/or is suffering from a bit of an identity crisis), it’s a little bit wonky to read.

Tarot of the Holy Light (trimmed)
by Christine Payne-Towler and Michael Dowers

Speaking of decks with their own unique esoteric formulas, Tarot of the Holy Light is a Continental deck with 17th century-styled artwork. Its correspondences differ from the other esoteric systems such as Golden Dawn and Thelema, so it has a voice of its own. I haven’t used this deck a lot, yet; but plan to. With the white borders gone, they intermingle really well in a spread.

Tarocco Soprafino
by il Meneghello

I love historic decks, and this beautiful reproduction of a historic Italian tarocco by il Meneghello retains the thick paper quality of the cards and square corners.

Because it’s a pip deck, it reads differently than the decks with scenic number cards, but is no less informative. In fact, the lack of scenic narrative can open up more intuitive reads.

1JJ Swiss
by U.S. Games (out of print)

This is my first deck, found in the basement of my childhood home. A Besançon tarot, derived from the Tarot de Marseille, it’s called 1JJ because it’s the first to replace the Popess and Hierophant with Junon and Jupiter . This deck (from the 1970s) is of superb quality in both card stock and printing. I wish U.S. Games still used this card stock!

Marseille Sophistiqué
by Three Point Comics

As much as I love more traditional decks, I just don’t like the crudeness of most Tarot de Marseille (TdM) artwork — nor the boldness of the colors. This is a TdM set in much softer tones with an antiquated stained look, and I love the sketchy, watercolor style of the artwork.

All tarots de Marseille are pip decks and as such are read differently than most of the more contemporary types, as mentioned above in the Soprafino description.

Gnostic Tarot
by Chris Leech / Welkin Tarot

Created more for personal use in shadow work, I’m including it because it is my most profound deck. Combining Gnosticism with a Jungian approach, it invites the reader into deep introspection and transformation by identifying how the various parts of our psyche may be (re)presented in each card.

Shakespeare Tarot
by Chris Leech / Welkin Tarot

This is a great deck for the literary nerd, as each card’s meaning is presented as a scene from a work of Shakespeare using the complexities of the characters involved. The card orientation is landscape instead of the usual portrait, as a metaphor for the stage. We are all merely players, no?

Herbcrafters Tarot (trimmed)
by U.S. Games

I was drawn to this deck as an herbalist, and the artwork is beautifully presented, but I use it more for health and other well-being questions than my usual tarot inquiries.

(I did have most of the white borders trimmed, but in a new deck the plant names are included in the bottom border of each card.)

Art History Tarot for Past Lives
by Red Orchid Publishing

This deck includes some beautiful paintings from the Renaissance and other eras, though not necessarily reflected in the cards shown. Created for inquiries involving past lives, it includes keywords to indicate categories such as familial relations, parts of the world, causes of death, time periods, personas, and life circumstances. I love that each painting’s artist, title, and date appears on each card.

Arcana Full Tarot Playing Cards
by Dead on Paper

Combining playing card cartomancy with Tarot, this is a standard deck of playing cards (complete with Jokers) with beautifully illustrated trumps added in. The suits are presented as playing cards, but also include the tarot suit symbol, on the right.

I don’t use this deck a lot, yet, simply because playing cards are read differently than tarot cards, and I just can’t reconcile the different reading styles in this hybrid! I love the deck, though, and plan to use it more.

Paracelsus Dreams
by Dark Synevyr

Based on the writings of Paracelsus, most cards include a quote from his writings. The quotes and card meanings do not follow the RWS system but a more esoteric one more in keeping with his 15th century Hermetic approach to physiology and the natural world.

Personally, I love using this deck in conjunction with the Herbcrafter’s Tarot for health questions (though I don’t offer health readings for others).

Spiral Tarot
by Kay Steventon (sold by U.S. Games)

This is a gentle deck with a slightly Victorian feel. I had to trim the purple borders (which I’ve seen others do, too — they really clashed with the cards), and it’s now a great little poker-sized deck that fits neatly into the palm of my hand. The paintings of the Major Arcana are some of my favorites (just look at that Moon card!).

Leonardo da Vinci Tarot
by Lo Scarabeo (out of print)

I love masterful art in a tarot deck, and these cards were beautifully created in the style of da Vinci, including the titles of the majors in backward handwriting. The meanings follow more of a TdM system and so the imagery differs from most of the other decks with scenic pips.

Medieval Scapini (trimmed)
by Luigi Scapini (sold by U.S. Games)

A hybrid deck that follows the more traditional Italian decks system but has scenic pips, it includes details reminiscent of a Visconti-Sforza deck. I trimmed its ornate borders and like how the off-white backgrounds allow the scenes to flow into one another. I also like that the trumps and the court cards have darker backgrounds and more visually differentiating in a spread.

Proletariat Tarot (trimmed)
by

I love the concept of a deck portrayed through the lens of the working class. The artist is also local to me, and I’m a bit of a fan of supporting local artists. I did have the borders chopped because they were just too colorful for me (and the colors were random, not organized by suit or other system (which I suppose is in keeping with a socialist approach!). It’s a modern deck depicting everyday scenarios, rather than a more erudite deck dealing with the esoteric or higher spiritual pursuits.

Deck of the Dead
by Tarot by Seven

Centered obviously around the theme of death, I usually use it more around Halloween — but the artwork is so good that it really shouldn’t be taken out seasonally as a novelty item. For us Scorpios, especially, this is a deck worthy of any reading at any time.

Antique Anatomy (1st Edition)
by Black and the Moon

Again with the skeletons, and again with the fabulous drawings. Later versions of the deck have colorful additions such as flowers, but this edition has only black anatomical illustrations (and some astronomical). No guidebook is available for this deck, and some of the imagery is puzzling, making it a very airy or heady deck.

This post is a work in progress! The following decks are still to be added:

Golden Visconti-Sforza

Rackham Tarot

Hirajeta Tarot

Cary-Yale Visconti

New Orleans Voodoo Tarot

Rider Waite Smith

Tarot as the Calm in the Storm

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We humans are complex beings. Our brains are constantly rationalizing what is in our hearts, and our hearts are busy feeling what’s in our heads. Headline news screams unrest here in the U.S. (and has been poking our core value systems for at least the past 5 years). Social media is constantly buzzing with new perspectives, new stories, new vitriol. Put us in a year of chaos and change, and we may just need an escape hatch. Some strive to close ourselves off like The Hermit, others are feeling so stressed by pandemic isolation that they crave connection and activity. Either way, it’s not going away any time soon.

As we navigate this terrain, it’s important to find our center of gravity. What keeps us sane? What reminds us to breathe? Where can we close the door on the agitating and dysfunctional chatter and connect with Self? Where can we open the door to connect with something larger? The task for each of us is to find that peace. For me, it became tarot.

My watery nature is comfortable imagining possibilities, and my brain is busy rationalizing them. I’m a dreamy idealist that loves systems-based methods. It’s no wonder that when I needed to hit the “eject” button on pandemic and political news for a while, I turned to a practice I had long held dear but had allowed to drift into my periphery. Reconnecting with the cards allowed me to find that still, quiet space by allowing the parts of my internal system a voice on a come-as-you-will basis, while also opening up channels to higher consciousness. It’s empowering when they co-exist.

Our fears, our anger, our frustration can stem from any number of sources. Being able to sit in quiet connection with the cards helps to assuage our fears and feel a sense of control in a climate of uncertainty. Whether we use it to dissect current events and gain a better understanding of their place in our histories or as a detour to escape the toxicity for a moment, it allows a respite to come back to center, and to operate from a sense of knowing calm.

Tarot offers us a place to check in. It’s nice to have a place to come home to.

The Power in the Precarious

A9B8CADD-0306-464C-B180-5C723D5B8720_1_201_a I’ve been enjoying a relaxing and solitary long weekend of this New Year celebration (good riddance, 2020), and spending time in my favorite tarot groups and activities. Everyone is posting their Year Ahead spreads, and I’ve been having some fun creating and throwing some, as well. I’m also secretly relieved that my own cards have been pretty non-pokey, as I see others with their Towers and 5 of Pentacles outcomes. A friend texted in the afternoon, deflated by her 3 of Swords theme, “I just remembered why I don’t like new year spreads.”

I’m a silver linings person. Being an optimist to the very core of my being can prove challenging when reading cards (which is why focusing on their shadow aspects is really balancing, for me); but what I’m seeing this weekend is the highest potential of tarot on full display. Oh, sure, you say, you’re not the one with the 10 of Swords and 5 of Cups.

It’s really easy to see these shades of doom & gloom and to throw up our hands, resigned to the fate of another tough year, but isn’t this why we use tarot? Don’t lose sight of your autonomy. The cards are providing some much needed guidance on your trajectory, and this is a jumping off point, where you start really asking questions. “OK, 3 of Swords, what are you really doing here? Are you my reality or just that part of me that overreacts and sees crisis where none exists? How might I process this realization and respond from a more balanced or Self-led place?” “I see you, Tower. What aspect of my life needs my attention and tending right now, in order to re-stabilize on my terms and minimize fallout?” Don’t just sit there, start shuffling again and get into it with these cards!

This is the beauty of tarot. Use the cards to help you navigate, to avoid upsets, to recognize obstacles so that you can maneuver more gracefully. A tarot deck is a powerful thing, indeed. Use it to help you steer your chariot.

Spectrums of Meaning

To use reversals or not? That is one of the most commonly discussed choices in tarot. I suspect it’s more relevant to predictive readings than introspective, but as a seeker drawn more to the shadowy aspects of the cards, I was spurred by the descriptions in Paul Quinn’s Tarot for Life which separated the reversed and shadow meanings. As I explored them, I realized that while his reversed meanings were often the opposite of the upright, his shadow meanings were often the exaggerated aspects (as our shadows are so often expressed). Over the years of integrating theories and practices, this naturally merged with my tendency to look to the more therapeutic aspects of the cards, as what fear and shame holds us back from pursuing our dreams (or exaggerates our pursuit), and the spectrum just made sense.

We are living in a time when spectrums are, thankfully, gaining a wider acceptance in understanding the topics that we as humans love to polarize. The gender binary is slowly coming to be recognized as a spectrum of gender fluidity. Neurotypical and neurodivergent expressions are now more commonly referred to as “the spectrum.” As artists, we’re trained from a young age to see color in spectrums — not just in the hues of individual colors, but across the whole wheel. Green is simply a point on the spectrum between yellow and blue.

I learned this as an herbalist, as well. When we look at the physiology of health from a holistic framework, we recognize tissue states of the body. Biologically, our organs and cells are constantly striving for homeostasis. But aren’t we always striving for homeostasis emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, as well? In the tissue states of the body, we can look to the four humours, which are always at various points on the spectrum; but a major underlying factor is the spectrum between deficiency and excess. Deficient tissues are weak and saggy; tissues in excess are excited (and we utilize the energetics of plant medicine to influence them back into balance). My Libra moon thinks that everything is ultimately about balance, and so I thought that this translated really well to the cards.

If we look to the suits as humours, excess damp or water can be seen in the Cups, deficient fire in Wands, and so on. Is the bloviating extreme of the Knight of Swords not an expression of excess air? If we compare tarot to herbs, how can they influence us back to center? Mainly, they ask us questions which may encourage us to consider the issue from other perspectives. Hopefully, they help us to connect with the internal parts that may need some tending — or even just the opportunity to express themselves. For example, the 8 of Cups nudges us to move on from something that no longer serves us on our path. In deficiency (or, I use ‘resistance’ with tarot), we may remain in that situation — perhaps out of emotional insecurity — refusing the call to leave. At the other end of the spectrum, in excess, we may have a tendency to always walk away from situations rather than face them. The balanced center is where we consider the situation and take the appropriate action. The cards invite us into the questions which may influence right action. Do you have a pattern of walking away? What are you avoiding? Are you in denial about moving from one stage to another? And more. Lots more.

And so, I am thoroughly intrigued by this notion, and I look forward to exploring it further (ah, my Page of Swords is gleefully activated!). It will, of course, be a neverending pursuit, but the basic skeleton I’m laying out here in these meanings is, perhaps, a start.

The World

level up on the spiral to a new cycle of growth

from Sola Busca Revisited by Tarot by Seven

With The World, it all comes together. Our current cycle of soul work culminates and we’re ready to level up to a new cycle of growth. It brings with it a sense of fulfillment and integration to a more unified (hence the androgyny) whole. We see the big picture. We’ve gained a more holistic view of the universe; just as the four elements, the four seasons, the four directions work together within a larger sphere yet retain their individual properties, the ego realizes that we are a part of a greater whole and yet we are independent, free to be ourselves as we evolve to the next level.

(-) In resistance, fear of change or the unknown causes us to restrict our evolution into new levels of growth. We resist our potential, not quite sure where we’re going, which may result in alienation as we lack connection with or appreciation for our co-travelers.

(+) In excess, the constant pursuit of enlightenment is a refusal to cooperate in the earthly aims of manifestation. We’re trying to transcend our earthly limitations while unable to truly see the big picture. Or, we may be so caught up in the big picture that details and steps are elusive or overlooked. In a more practical application of this card’s meanings, we may be so lost in virtual reality or the World Wide Web that earthly day-to-day takes a back seat.

Questions we may be prompted to ask when this card comes up include

What are you having trouble manifesting?
Where do you feel constrained or restricted? Are you restricting yourself?
How might you gain a broader or more holistic perspective of the matter at hand?
Is there something you feel you need closure on? What can help attain that closure?
Do you feel the weight of the world’s problems on your shoulders?

What else? The archetypes of the majors are complex and you may have other insights. How has this card come up for you? What are some examples of this card’s energies?

Judgement

awaken to your true calling

from Deck of the Dead, by Tarot by Seven

From the historical depictions of the Judgement card to the more modern Waite Smith, we see the day of liberation as souls are trumpeted from the physical plane to unite with a higher consciousness. This the awakening for Last Judgement, where we are judged for our actions (how Christian!), atone for our sins, and are called to ascend. It is the archetype of callings, of summons to a new life. We’re called to account first, though; and while atonement may carry religious overtones, this is not about guilt. Taking stock in an honest personal inventory and making amends for our misjudgments can foster a sense of renewal — especially in the wake of The Sun’s illumination. Leave the past behind. Here, we awaken to a new awareness of our sense of purpose in this life, our higher calling, our raison d’etre; finding where we need to be in the larger community and making the shifts necessary to move toward that.

(-) In resistance, we deny the call, perhaps always wondering about the road not taken. Passive, we may be waiting to be rescued.

(+) In excess, we judge others, even trying to convert or “save” them in what may be shades of a savior complex. If we can surrender our judgements and look into the mirror, we may realize that what we had judged a problem in an ‘other’ is really ours to own (or vice versa); but the shadow of Judgement is so caught up in its judgements that we’re not even aware that there’s something to be reckoned.

Questions we may be prompted to ask when this card comes up include

Are you able to do an honest self-evaluation?
Are there amends you would like to make for past actions?
What do you judge most in others?
How are you feeling called? Are you refusing that call?

What else? The archetypes of the majors are complex and you may have other insights. How has this card come up for you? What are some examples of this card’s energies?

The Sun

move forward with confidence and clarity

Like moving from darkness to dawn, the unknown depths of The Moon give way to the illumination of The Sun, and we have insight and clarity as what was occluded is now in the light. Eureka! We have come to know our weak points, and acceptance of our whole self has brought confidence with the awareness that the only thing holding us back is us. This clarity may prompt us to revitalize something that has always been with us but never expressed, but we now have the inner fortitude to stand up and take center stage (without the need to; others can shine, too). There is a warmth and a joy that comes with this card, and a sense that we’re not shedding or leaving anything, but growing. Things are brighter and we’re energized with the optimism and enthusiasm of a child.

(-) In resistance, we turn away from the light, failing to see the gold. We are insecure, avoiding recognition and unable to accept success. Physically, we may think of Seasonal Affective Disorder as one expression of a lack of Sun energy.

(+) In excess, it’s all play without any responsibilities. A childish state of vanity and self-centeredness demands that we are the only one shining, with everything revolving around us. The Sun card in excess is all ego, where we feel the need to prove ourselves by being the largest presence in the room.

Questions we may be prompted to ask when this card appears include

Do you tend to be more of a wallflower, avoiding attention? What parts protect you by keeping you in the background?
Or do you always seek the light, dominating the conversation and attracting attention? What need does that fill (or hide?)
Are you avoiding responsibility, having a party of fun & games without expecting the cleanup?
Where is your happy place?
What is your superpower and why are you hiding it from the world?

What else? The archetypes of the majors are complex and you may have other insights. How has this card come up for you? What are some examples of this card’s energies?

The Moon

relax into the darkness and take guidance from what is revealed

from New Era Elements Tarot, by U.S. Games

Just as the moon cycles across the sky, revealing different sides at different phases and keeping others hidden in shadow, The Moon card is the self in its complexity. This is an invitation into the deep waters of the subconscious and psychic realm. What part of the psyche is driving the current situation? The two wolves often included in the card’s imagery (one soft and one fierce) remind us of the Cherokee legend of the two wolves dueling inside each of us, with the winner being the one that we are feeding.

When The Moon pulls back the tides, that which had been submerged is exposed. If we allow ourselves to relax into the darkness, emotional and psychic gifts may be revealed, guiding us to deeper mysteries and meanings. It’s wise to remember that the psyche speaks in symbols, and to pay attention to dreams and other messages. We may also consider the cyclical aspect of the moon as it relates to our own cycles — not only the 28-day period of menses but any, such as bipolar cycles and others.

(-) In resistance, we find the situation at hand unclear and are confused, or we misunderstand it (are we lost in self-deception?). We may deny our intuitive voice, allowing only rational thought.

(+) In excess, our moodiness fluctuates and may be unstable. Things are not as they seem. We allow ourselves to fall into the depths of our darkest shadows, even losing touch with reality in a state of psychosis.

Questions we may be prompted to ask when this card comes up include

What internal part is driving the current situation?
How can you access and honor your occluded parts?
What did you dream about last night? What meanings or messages do you think lie in those visions? What parts of the Self had a role?
How have you been disillusioned? Is this a repeating cycle?

What else? The archetypes of the majors are complex and you may have other insights. How has this card come up for you? What are some examples of this card’s energies?