Learning Tarot Archives < Arwen, Professional Joy Seeker

Do You Dream In Color?

Today’s card is from a deck I very much want. It was crowd-funded via Indie-Go-Go. I love my crowd-funded projects. Sadly, I couldn’t swing this one at that time. I did share it out though. 😀

The creatrix, Nora Huszka, is lovely. She shared some images with me so I could share them with you. I hope you will go like her Facebook page as well.

This self-published deck is limited and signed (which makes the collector in me drool, twitch and whine).

Here is her World. I love that the name is in English, German, Spanish and Hungarian. How interesting to see A Vilag for The World. I guess we really are one big village.:D

The eyes of Mother Earth peek out here with what seems, to me, to be a lava flow above her and the blue ocean beneath her. There is a spider web as well as fanciful tropical flowers. I can also see birds in this. What do you see?

This is one of those cards that would rock for meditation work. I can see setting this up then just falling into it. Can’t you? In a way, it brings to mind one of my favorite movies. That’s the lush “What Dreams May Come” with Robin Williams. He falls into a painting at one point. That scene is embedded in my memory for the colors and textures.

You see, I have a confession to make.

I dream in black and white.

I can think of a handful of times where I remember color in my dream.

Maybe that is why I am more drawn to the color decks on some days but the black and white decks also work.

What about you? How about this for today’s journal prompt:

What colors make me happy and why?

The World, The Gypsy Palace Tarot, Nora Huzka, 2013

#Seekjoy, y’all. Pass it on!

What Do You See?

So today’s card isn’t a card. It’s a card reader. It’s a fanciful take on a beautiful Romany woman. She’s outside her caravan with the cards in her lap. There’s a fire off to her side with another caravan in the background. This is a detail from a larger piece, but I don’t know the name of it.

I have to wonder what others think when they hear I’m a professional psychic. That I read cards for a living. Just today I had to give my email out.

That’s readings like reading a book with an s on the end.

mmmhhmmm

I’ll spell it out. t-a-r-o-t-b-y-a-r-w-e-n dot com.

So that’s readings@tarotbyarwen.com?

Yes, but it is Tarohhhh not Tarott.

The blank look on the other end of the phone was probably my imagination, right?

But still, what do you think they saw? Pretty Romany girl? Wizened old crone? Evil witch in a black corset? Wizened old pretty witch in a corset?

I look at me and see, well, me. Glasses. Middle-aged. Curly hair. Green eyes. Friendly smile. Great skin.

I don’t see ooky spooky psychic.

Now I can dress the part for sure! I have what I call my Traveller Drag. It’s floaty skirts etc.

And I love it because I look pretty darn good in it. 😀 I have always leaned towards the South Austin Bohemian Yoga Vegan Hooper Hippie style anyway.

There are days when I worry that I will disappoint my clients. Not because of how I read. No, I’m solid there. More because I won’t be their dream reader when I show up in leggings and a shirt. 😀 Do you think they expect this dreamy Romany girl?

What about you? Do you ever think you don’t look the part of whatever it is you are called to be today or tomorrow?

How do you deal with it?

Today’s journal prompt is: How do I present myself to the world?

Romany Reader, Unknown,

#SeekJoy, y’all. Pass it on.

Where Is Your Hidey Hole?

Today’s card reminds me of the peace I find when I am alone. I am a gregarious enough girl. I like going to dinner with friends, talking to my love on the phone, joining in the fun at pool parties. But there comes a point when enough is enough and alone is all I want.

Chatting with my honey on the phone yesterday, I blurted out, “I have to go. I’m done talking for now.” Just boom. No warning. Luckily, after nearly three years, he gets me. He just asked when we might be talking again.

I laugh now but I used to suffer through long conversations on the phone even when it was unpleasant.

Not the person I was talking to. Not the subject. Just the fact that I couldn’t find silence when I needed it. And I don’t just need silence. I require it. If you put me in a situation where it is constantly noisy, I will wear down. I get cranky. I’m like a napless toddler. Never a good thing, right?

So I’ve learned to make space for myself. Quiet times when I can do for me. This includes animals as well as people. Right now I’ve got the dogs out in the yard. 😀 Poor babies. Having to run around a well-fenced, grassy yard with water and plenty of shade. I know, right? Cruel!

But see this lovely Sage of Crystals (Sirian Starseed Tarot)? She’s taking in some me time by the edge of a lotus-filled pond. I imagine there are frogs and koi in the water while brightly colored dragonflies skip from pad to pad.

I imagine the only sounds she hears are the wind and the waterfall. And her own heartbeat.

When I was a girl, I would take the family canoe (truth be known, I considered it MINE) out on a nearly daily basis. Most often I was alone. Just me, some sandwiches, a book and some soda. I would paddle out to a spot that I knew and then just drift and read. I sometimes wish I could do that again. But that spot is now a subdivision so I’d have to find a new hidey hole.

Where is your hidey hole when you need it? Do you find silence offensive? Do you need music/sound/action to make you feel peaceful? Isn’t it brilliant of the Universe to make us different? So we can not all need the same place?

Your challenge today is to journal for 180 seconds on this thought, “When do I feel safest?”

Sage of Crystals, Sirian Starseed Tarot, North Atlantic Books, 2012 [aff]

#Seekjoy, y’all. Pass it on!

I DO IT MYSELF!

Today’s card is from a deck that I have on order. I haven’t heard yet whether it is in. The lush beauty of the first card I see pulled me in–hard. I am a very visual person. If there is a TV on near me, I check right out of any conversations. I try to position myself with my back to the tube if I’m out at dinner with friends.

And here’s why. As I stare at this card, I see the lions (all four of them), the Daliesque sunflowers, the cat who looks so much like my beloved Carmen, the hint of a peacock on the staff, the rich fabric of her dress and the face of Angeline Jolie staring out at me.

Is it Jolie? I don’t know. She’d make an excellent Queen of Wands though. But this card shows off the stylish side of the active Fire mistress. Odd that I am such a water sign but identify with this queen more than any other.

She is fierce. She is ready to get things done. She is a do-it-herself woman.

Those are pluses as well as minuses really.

That last one…that do-it-herself one? Yeah. That’s why I’m currently on two different medications. One to stop the inflammation and the other to help me sleep while the inflammation is still raging. In a word? I hurt.

Why?

Back to that do-it-herself. I could have easily asked for help moving the dog crate and other things for my house-sitting gig. Did I? No. Why?

Picture a three year old, curly black hair, hands on hips shouting, “I DO IT MYSELF.”

Yeah. Never quite grew out of that.

So now I get to pay for that toddler attitude. 😀

What about you? What is your “DO IT MYSELF” moment? How did you learn to stop and ask?

I’m still working on that one. Getting a bit better, but still…hands on hips!

Queen of Wands, Illuminati Tarot, Llewellyn, 2013[aff]

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Loopy and Naughty!

Today’s card is a video. What? That doesn’t make sense? See the pain meds I’m on for clarity. As I am loopy as all get out, I’m sharing an older video view.

I did a review of the Le Tarot des Femmes Erotiques which uses turn-of-the-century erotica. These women are plump and unshaven which may turn some off. But for me? I think they represent the best of feminity. I get so very tired of the media representations, don’t you? But back to this naughty deck!

I love the feel of this deck but the Youtube review was a bit hard to do. LOL Yes, I am blushing every now and again in it. WHAT? It’s so naughty! You can get your own naughty copy from Beauty, History and Magic.

And! They now have a playing card deck available as well. 😀

Fool, Le Tarot des Femmes Erotiques, self-published

Seek joy, y’all! Pass it on.

Tarotscopes July 28 – August 3, 2013

AQUARUIS TWO OF PENTACLES Partnership favored. Brilliant growth possible when you join with others who are heading down the same path. Balance=growth!
PISCES KING OF PENTACLES Connect w/ community in deeper ways. Spiritual leadership may be required. Accept but only for those you call family.
ARIES WHEEL OF FORTUNE Riddle me this. Why not go for what you want? Why not lean out and grab? Opportunity knocks. Answer the danged door!
TAURUS PAGE OF PENTACLES Job offer possible. Growth inevitable. Seeker? Put out more resumes. Belief in your own power is the key. Confidence!
GEMINI SUN So much attention on you this week. Shine like a diamond, baby. You have backing from your Higher Self so make it happen.
CANCER EIGHT OF SWORDS Careful you don’t cut yourself on those thoughts. Many “poor me” attitudes are from self-inflicted wounds. Release that negativity.
LEO QUEEN OF CUPS Spread your love. Share your happy. Others need to know it’s possible. You are their confidant this week. Nurture please.
VIRGO LOVERS Good week to indulge in the company of the one who makes your spirit glow. Open up on a spiritual level to really connect.
LIBRA Judgment Learn from past mistakes. Don’t blame. Grow. Time to rise to the next level. Old crap is just old. Move up and one.
SCORPIO TEN OF CUPS Gather with those you love. Indulge in celebrations of the heart. Connections this week will carry you forward. Reach out.
SAGITTARIUS KNIGHT OF CUPS Sometimes your emotions lead you astray. Please watch that this week. Not a good time to be a heart wanderer. You could be hurt.
CAPRICORN THREE OF SWORDS Emotional encounters could be murky, dangerous. Don’t venture into unfamiliar territory. Stay on safe ground with loved ones.

Fantastical Creatures Tarot, Lisa Hunt, U.S. Games Systems

Sad, Angry Humans

Today’s card reminds me that sometimes the only thing you can do to grow is to turn your back on things and people. Not all people are in our lives to help us grow. Well, maybe that’s not quite true. There are those people who exist to be examples of what not to do. So I guess they are in our lives for that reason.

We all have detractors. We all deal with those who just don’t want us to succeed. Generally that’s because they live in fear, y’all. You have to take just a moment to feel so very sorry for them. How awful it must be to live a life so full of negativity that nothing is shiny unless it’s focused on you. No one is worth a damned unless they are putting you above all others.

Sad, yes.

But if I’m going to be as authentic as possible, it also makes me mad. Mad because I see these people tear down others in order to build themselves up. I don’t want people like that in my world. I don’t want the sad,angry, narcissistic parasites. They suck me dry.

Just like with people who are never happy about anything, these fear-dwellers suck the life out of things.

Don’t suck the life out of things, darlings. Agree to disagree with people you love. Agree that sometimes they are going to tell you that you are being a dirtbag.

My sister did that for me today. And I threw it back in her face.

Oh. Yes. I. Did.

Then I apologized a few hours later.

Why? Because I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d said. Not what she’d said, but what I’d said. It came from a place of fear. I was afraid she was right. I was afraid she’d found a hole in my joyful life.

Then I realized that she had and that it was okay. I’m not perfect. And, thank the Gods, I never will be.

I promise to be as authentic as possible.
I promise to turn my back to those detractors who are fear-dwellers and attention-seekers.
I promise to pay attention when my trusted circle tells me I’m being an ass.
I promise to work at learning to listen and think before I respond from fear.
I promise to focus outward rather than listen to the negativity around me.

This beautiful Three of Staves is from Kris Waldherr’s Goddess Tarot by U.S. Games.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

And are you ready to stop living in fear? Are you ready to let your own creative goddess out? Come join me in an online course. I’m retaking it because it blew my doors open last year. (aff) and so worth it! You can take just the class or the join the full academy. Up to you. I did the full academy because I saw three classes I wanted to take right off the bat. 😀

How Many Unicorns?

Today’s card is from a deck that I own but don’t really work with. It’s a themed deck where the artist worked in the theme in just about every card. Don’t get me wrong! I’m as airy-fairy as the next sparkly pink princess, but at some point 78 unicorns is a few too many.

Still this card reminds me to stop and pet the unicorn–or at least smell the roses. I try to do that when I go for my walks. Now my walks have a purpose. Well they have two purposes. Okay, four really if you do the math. Two dogs who both have to…well, you know!

So I get to see my block at a lot of different times of the day. Early morning grey. Noon blazing sunlight. Late afternoon shade. Night time shadows. It’s nice to see it and know it’s my ‘hood, my turf, my place in the world. And I have to remember to love it even in the downpours, the 100+ heat and all. I have to celebrate the breeze when it hits my sweaty face. I have to celebrate the rain plastering my hair to my head.

It’s all part of my Joy Seeking life, darlings. I have to accept that it is all good.

The Nine of Pentacles is the traditional card of acknowledging success while looking ahead to the next effort. Do you do that often enough? Look yourself in the mirror to congratulate you on a job well done?

If not you, who?

You really must be your own publicist, darling. Toot your horn as much as you toot someone else’s. If someone tells you that you are awesome, say, “thank you.”

Here.

Let’s practice that.

You’re awesome!

You know what to do!

Nine of Pentacles, Unicorn Tarot [aff]

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

Stagnation Makes Me Giddy

Today’s card made me giggle. Then it made me snort. Then it made me laugh until tears rolled down my cheeks.

And you are looking at me with your head tilted thinking, “Arwen, have you lost your mind? There is nothing funny about stagnation.”

I might agree with you if you didn’t know what I know. The Universe is mocking me again.

You see Monday night I did a reading for a young friend. It was her birthday and she is officially a tween now. Her parental units requested it. I was happy to oblige. While I did that reading, her parents unloaded a closet for me.

Close your eyes. Imagine a typical closet with sliding doors. Now imagine it is packed floor to hanging bar with boxes. Now wedge more in. Now realize that you can’t even slide the doors shut because there’s so much SHIT in that closet.

Then walk away from the closet for two, no…let’s make it two and a half years.

Yeah, talk about stagnation, right?

But here’s the thing. That’s not an imaginary demon of a closet. It was very real. And my friends moved all the boxes out.

Now I have to go through and purge, purge and purge some more.

I live in a cute, little condo. I’ve lived in larger spaces. I still have allllll the chit from those larger spaces. So you see where I’m going?

A lot of what I have hung on to has sentimental value. I have a turban and a pair of glasses. Both were worn by my mama during her battle with, and subsequent loss to, cancer.

I have books that took me places once upon a time.

I have Tarot decks that I wanted SO BADLY once upon a time.

Everything in these boxes has been in these boxes for two and a half years. Thirty months, y’all.

Like the chipped and no longer functional bowls in this card from the Vision Quest Tarot, my stuff is clogging me up. My chi is not flowing.

In fact, I think I heard my chi running for the hills.

Operation: Declutter Arwen is on the table. I don’t know how long it will take, but I’m going to do this thing.

Do you have anything that you hang on to that you need to let go of?

I know my mother will be happy to know her glasses are heading off to the Lions to be put to better use.

Eight of Water, Vision Quest Tarot, 1999

What’s Your Normal Flavor?

Today’s card reminds me that I need to figure out why I’m in this hand basket and where I am going sometimes. Here is the chariot from Katie Rose Pipkin’s black and white Efflorescent Tarot. Sorry kids but it’s OOP unless she finds a publisher. Or at least that’s what I heard.

But I digress. See! It really is about focus with this card.

I’m tired tonight. It’s 11:11 pm by my clock. I should have had this done and been in bed an hour ago. But it’s full moon energy so I’m wound more than normal.

And am I ever normal?

I saw a GREAT quote on Facebook that said, “The day I broke up with normal was the first day of my magical life.”

Awesome isn’t it

But sometimes I lose my focus. I get scattered. I let the magic dissipate. I let normal drive again.

I fear the quirky.
I shun the weird.
I eschew the unusual.

And I’m not very happy when I do.

In a weird way, my life has a normal, for me, rhythm to it that involves talking to dogs and trees, reading cards for a living, writing intensely erotic romance, and chatting with Themselves.

That’s my normal.

I have to rein in both sides of me though. I can’t let avant-garde Arwen outstrip stable Stephanie. Or is that analytical Arwen overpower sassy Stephanie? Either way, both sides have to be moving together to take me in my chariot where I want to go.

Oh how I ramble. Do you ever wonder how I start out at point A and end up at point WTF?

So here is the Chariot. Traditionally a card of mastering one’s life. I would say that the charioteer will never be happy until she is following her own lead. When she tries to be what someone else wants is when the problems start. That’s when she drops the reins and her two selves can squabble about who gets to lead.

Equally yoked. It’s all about keeping both sides equally yoked.

So what’s your normal look like? Take 180 seconds…just three minutes…to journal about that your normal is. The only ground rule is that you can’t compare your normal to anyone else’s.

Because it’s your normal!

Chariot, Efflorescent Tarot, Katie Rose Pipkin, self-published on Etsy

Seek joy, y’all! Pass it on.