The 3 of Wands from the Wizards Tarot.

According to the deck’s designer, Corrine Kenner, the magic power of this card is expectation and hope. Today the Tarot gives us a reminder that often whatever we expect and hope for is what comes to us. Let us hope for the best, from ourselves, others, and the world. Let us expect that we will all rise to the occasion(s)!

Tarot and astrology have been linked for centuries. Most people are familiar with (whether they realize it or not) the astrological associations assigned to the cards by the Golden Dawn. But there are suggestions of even earlier connections. For example, the Minchiate Tarot (an 18^th century deck of 97 cards) includes cards for the twelve astrological signs.

Tarot readers and astrologers are often very different people (although there are plenty who are both). Their approaches and generally accepted writing and learning styles vary greatly. Because of this, many tarot readers found it difficult to learn astrology. The books didn’t resonate with them or connect with their existing knowledge base. Now, tarot readers can learn the basics of astrology in their own language…tarot! Corrine Kenner’s new book, Tarot and Astrology: Enhance Your Readings with the Wisdom of the Zodiac, shows exactly how astrology relates to tarot. In addition, she shows how to use that knowledge to, well, “enhance your readings.”

Another nifty aspect of the book are the “Astrology in Action” sections. These include spreads based on astrological concepts, so we not only have another (fun) opportunity to learn astrology but also get useful spreads.

For example, her Eclipse Spread is simple yet powerful. Use it when you feel confused about a situation. Simply take the Sun and the Moon cards out of your deck and lay them side-by-side. Shuffle the rest of your deck and deal a single card between to the show you what part of your life is being eclipsed. After you have read this combination, pull a final card to show how to bring light back into your life, illuminate the issue, and resolve your problems.

Get your copy HERE

I think we do need so many and that they are not essentially the same. First, they all differ in terms of voice and presentation. People learn differently and respond better to some styles of communication than to others. Every author has his or her own voice and way of explaining things. Second, not every tarot reader interprets or reads the cards in the same way. By seeing that there are so many different methods and schools of thought, new readers are encouraged to explore until they find what works for them.

This month we will look at eight different books that might be appropriate for beginners. Today’s book is Simple Fortunetelling with Tarot Cards by Corrine Kenner.

This is an excellent larger beginner book. The presentation is perfect: the voice, the layout and design, and the content. It all works together to give the beginner a lot of meat but cut up in smaller, very tasty bites, so that they easily take it in and before they know it, they know a lot!

The book has fortunetelling in the title, but it is not really about old-fashioned tarot reading techniques. At least not entirely. The “how to” parts and most of the interpretations are firmly rooted in contemporary tarot practices. However, she includes charming, historical interpretations as well as traditional keywords, mythic connections, numerical and astrological associations, and timing cues.

For example, in the Three of Cups, we get allusions to the three graces of Greece, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia; the three Norns (Scandinavian goddesses of destiny); and the Greeks story of the Moirae sisters. There are common sense interpretations: female relatives, female companionship, or a girls’ night out. Reversed, we see another side of the card in petty jealousies, backstabbing, and gossip. And we also get my favorite, the historical meaning: a foretelling of a promotion or advancement for a member of the military. I just find those so interesting, even I don’t get them or use them.

Simple Fortunetelling isn’t really simple. It just makes it feel easy to learn, which is great thing in a beginner book. Lively, smart, clear, and practical. It is the perfect blend of depth and conciseness.

In Simple Fortunetelling with Tarot Cards, Corrine Kenner shares some ideas.

Sit down at the tarot reader’s table. Shuffle, and let the cards fall where they may. One by one, they’ll reveal your future.

Provided, that is, that you ask the right question.

In fact, defining your question might be the single most important part of getting a good tarot reading. Solomon Ibn Gabirol ben Judah, a ninth-century philosopher, put it best, “A wise man’s question,” he said, “contains half the answer.”

Here are some tips for phrasing your questions:

1. Focus on a single issue.
2. Try to avoid yes or no questions, which can be difficult to answer with tarot cards and go for more open-ended inquiries, like “what can I expect from my relationship?” or “where is my career headed?”
3. Be as detailed as possible in your queries. Zero in on specifics, like who, what, when, where, why, and how. If you have trouble narrowing the focus of your question, try to put it in writing.
4. Don’t assume that the cards will intuit your intention. Clarify the background of the questions, as well as the type of response you would like in return.
5. Define your terms. The cards can be literal in their response. If you ask whether you’ll have a date for your cousin’s wedding, for example, the cards give you an unequivocal yes. As the wedding draws closer, however, you may find yourself heading off to the ceremony by yourself. Were the cards wrong? Not if you think back to the question you asked. In all probability, you did have a date for the wedding. It was printed right on the invitation, next to the time and place. But that wasn’t the kind of date you meant. You wanted a charming companion on your arm, not a circle on the calendar.
6. Include a time frame fro the response, such as a week, a month, six months, or a year.

Whether you write professionally, for personal enjoyment, or journal, Corrine Kenner points out that “any blank page can be intimidating.” In her book, Tarot for Writers, Corrine devotes an entire chapter to breaking writer’s block. Her ideas are, of course, excellent for doing just that. But I also think they can be great journal prompts or tarot meet up exercises. Here’s a few for you to try:

1. Complete Description

Describe a single card in as much detail as you can muster. Start at the top and work your way down. Then describe the background and work your way toward the foreground. Notice the predominant colors as well as the mood and emotion in the card. Describe the scenery, characters, and action—and don’t be surprised to find an entire story unfolding as you work.

2. Zoom Lens

Find one small detail in a card. Describe it completely, and then zoom out to incorporate that description into the larger picture.

3. What Happens Next

Draw a card and write about what you imagine might happen next.

4. Alternate Point of View

Choose a card and write a story or poem from the point of view of any person in the card—or for that matter, any animal or even any thing in the illustration. Then write the same story or poem from the point of view of any other figure in the card.

5. Changing Rooms

Pull a character from one card and plop him into another card—possibly displacing the original inhabitant in the process. Or take the character from any card and put him in a completely new location: try a high school dance, a car dealership, or a grocery store. Send him into a pharmacy, a fitness club, a hotel bar, or a taxi. Experiment with your own favorite places.

Also, there are lots of other gatherings that I should at least mention, because not everyone wants to come visit Minnesota, although I don’t know why (because it is quite fabulous here AND you’d be here for the State Fair, which don’t tell anyone, but I love almost more than anything).

Bay Area Tarot Symposium

Readers Studio (this link is to the 2010 conference; the info for 2011 will be up soon!)

Tarot Association of the British Isles (at which yours truly will be teaching two workshops)

Tarot Professionals Conference (Tarosophy)

I am sure I missed some…please correct my errors in the comments and I’ll amend this post.

MATS is a local conference (this will be its second year) that provides a forum for established and rising Midwest Tarot Talent. We seek to develop this talent and nurture interest in all things tarot (and tarot-related subjects).

After Corrine, Melanie, Nancy, and I got back from RS 2008, we shared our experiences with our Tarot Meet Up group. Afterwards, a few of us stuck around and while we were still high on Tarot Tribe Fumes, we decided to do a local conference. And we did.

Planning a small conference (50 – 100) takes work, investment of resources, and a little faith, but if you have a great team (and I think we do), it can be pretty easy on everyone with no one person taking on too much or feeling overwhelmed. Back in the day (in the late 1990s-early 2000s), the American Tarot Association ran a bunch of smaller regional conferences. These were nice for several reasons. First, not everyone can afford to travel across the country. Second, it provides opportunities for up and coming teachers to reach a larger audience. Third, it helps solidify local tarot connections.

Maybe your local Tarot Meet Up will start a local conference. If you don’t have a local Meet Up, start one! Who knows what great things will come of it.

A while ago, I asked readers if there were any card images that they’d like me to post. One request came from Corrine Kenner who wanted to know more about the Lo Scarabeo Professional Edition of the Universal Tarot.

Here are images of the Professional Edition and the standard edition:

As you can see in the picture, there is a difference in size as well as a difference in border color. The backs are also different:

The Professional Edition, I think, is a great tool for professionals. It is handy to use in workshops or classes. For smaller classes, the teacher can use this deck as a visual aid. For larger classes or workshops where the students work in groups, this deck would be perfect so that everyone in the group can easily see the card. For those who read in either dimly lit or distracting venues, the larger size cards are easier for both the reader and the seeker to focus on.

Crafty Corner

As some of you know, I do enjoy my crafts as well as defacing my tarot cards by cropping. And because apparently I do not have enough to do to keep me busy between now and Yule/Christmas, I was so happy to find The Christmas Tarot. This Majors only deck, created using Victorian postcards, is only available digitally, which makes for lots of fun crafting opportunities. I downloaded the images, had them printed as photos, attached the fronts to the backs with spray adhesive, wiped them all with fanning powder, rounded the corners with a corner rounder tool, and then embellished them with metallic and glitter markers. For someone who loves Victorian Christmas images, tarot, and crafts, you couldn’t ask for more fun all wrapped up in one activity.

I did it! Using tarot cards, I actually wrote a novel. Well, very nearly. I wrote the required 50K by November 30 and before this week is up,  I’ll have finished the story.

The process was very interesting. I used Corrine Kenner’s Tarot for Writers to get started. I created characters using the spreads in the book. I  also used a three-card, a six-card, and a Celtic Cross spread for plot development. For me, the character creation was the most interesting and the most fun. In the end, I think they, more than the plot spreads, drove the action.

The protagonist’s foil, Alice, has been my favorite character. In this steampunk version of late 1890s St. Paul, MN, Alice is a priestess in a temple dedicated to the three faces of the goddess. She is an oracle and her medium is photography. Using solutions and chemicals infused with magical herbs for developing, the image becomes not the picture of the seeker that Alice shot but a message from the goddess.

The novel turned out to be more an exploration of the nature of divination and destiny and one’s role in creating the future than anything else.

So tarot created the story on many levels. Below is Alice’s spread. What kind of character would you create using that spread? How have you used tarot creatively? Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? Let me know in the comments

I always thought of the aces as the promise or possibility of abundance but not as abundance itself and as spring rather than fall, as I wrote in this article, Seasons of Tarot: Spring. So how do aces fit with the idea of abundance and/or giving thanks? I can think of at least two ways. First, aces are usually viewed as gifts from the universe (or god or goddess or the earth) and Thanksgiving is a day dedicated to giving thanks for the abundance of the earth and to enjoying the final bits of harvest before winter sets in.

It is also a time to think about the seeds planted earlier in the year and to see how they’ve grown and what fruit they’ve born. For me, I like to look back at the vows and plans I made around Yule/New Year’s Day and see how I did in nurturing the seeds I planted. So I would add the 7 of Pentacles to the list. How did I value and honor the seeds, gifts, and opportunities that I was given over the past year?

In the article link above, there are some spreads designed for exploring the energy of the aces. Just a few tweaks altered this one to make it more appropriate for the reflective quality of autumn.

Select a Major Arcana card that represents the theme, gift, or opportunity that came into you life over the past year and that you wish to explore now. Select and place that card and and the four aces as directed. Shuffle the rest of the deck and lay out cards 6 – 9. The phrase “this card” refers to the Major Arcana card you selected.

1. Select and place here the Major Arcana card that represents the theme, gift, or opportunity that came into your life this past year

2. Place the he Ace of Wands here

3. Place the Ace of Cups here

4. Place the Ace of Swords here

5. Place the Ace of Pentacles here

6. How did this card  find expression in your life spiritually?

7. How did this card  find expression in your life emotionally?

8. How did this card find expression in your life intellectually?

9. How did this card find expression in your life physically?

Bonus Spread

There is another spread that involves aces that I really like. It is the Four Aces Spread designed by Mark K. Greer. Although it is not necessarily about gratitude or abundance, I am sure you’ll enjoy it. I know I did!

Do you know what month is just around the corner? November! And do you know what that means? NaNoWriMo! That’s fun to say, but what does it mean? National Novel Writing Month. The organizers call it “thirty days and nights of literary abandon!” I call it a chance to play with the cards in a new way. It doesn’t matter if you can write or not. The goal isn’t the end product. The NaNoWriMo website says one reason to participate is “to write without having to obsess over quality.” For us tarot lovers, it is also a reason to play with our cards every day for a month.

Even if no great fiction comes of it, think of all that you can learn about the cards as you consider them in new and different ways.

I’m seriously thinking of participating, even though I’m not really a fiction writer. Anyone else in with me? Come on, let’s do it! Crazy loves company. Which deck or decks should I use? Which ones will YOU use?

PS Don’t forget to enter the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight drawing!