Tag: animal wise tarot

Today’s Tarot: Tricky Beginning

The trick to getting started is a willingness to laugh at your own mistakes

“A beginning is a very delicate time” – movie adaptation of Dune by Frank Herbert

Many cards seem to have two tracks, two threads of meaning. The two aspects aren’t always related. The fool card has always been associated with new beginnings and taking the leap of faith needed to start something brand new. It seems like a chicken and the egg sort of feedback loop: the Fool card means beginnings because it is the first card in the deck, and the Fool is placed first in decks because it means beginnings. Outside of this, the Fool has been associated with play, humor and a court jester sort of character.

Ted Andrews combines a little bit of both by associating coyote with the card. Coyote has a reputation of being a trickster. That touches on the idea of laughter and play. Coyote has a touch of creation, the start of something new. Mr. Andrews’ interpretation “wisdom and folly” reminds us that beginnings can be a tricky thing. At the beginning of a journey we might head in exactly the wrong direction, a classic comedy trope. The good news is that we can laugh at out mis-starts, back up and start again. Including a little lightheartedness makes that whole process easier. If we use wisdom, we can avoid the folly. But if we end up a little foolish, laughter makes it better. Admitting folly and re-starting is certainly better than bashing forward out of foolish pride and allowing an unwanted destination to show us how tricky a beginning can be.

So if the Fool feels like the card for you today, begin. Take a leap of faith in yourself and begin. Choose your first steps and first direction wisely. Think of this as planting the seeds that the Seven of Pentacles will sow later, so plant good stuff. But if you catch yourself in a mistake, laugh and play your way back to the drawing board, and create a new beginning.

Related: Q&A Spirit Animals

YouChoose Interactive Tarot 20-26 Sept. 2020

As seems to be the emerging natural pattern, just have a quick announcement before moving on to this week’s cards: I’ll be on a reduced Tarot / online schedule Tue-Sat. because family stuff. If you are interested in a reading or anything from the store, don’t hesitate to order. The only change is that shipping & delivery might take longer than usual. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Left: 10 of Cups (grasshopper) Take the leap and dare to be happy. Beware of self-sabotage, and allow yourself to succeed. Don’t be afraid of finishing well. 10 cards, being the largest of the number cards in any suit, are a sort of pinnacle, the essence of the suit in its greatest expression. Taoism teaches that anything in its extreme holds the seed of its opposite. Be careful not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victoty. Finish, succeed, allow your self to be happy.

“People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be” – attr. Abraham Lincoln

Center: 5 of Swords (Goose) Overcoming obstacles is a journey as well as a destination. This card has shown up previously. My hunch this is for emphasis rather than a hint that we aren’t getting the lesson. Historic things have happened between the card’s appearances to show how important the lesson is: Stay chill, stay calm, work the problem. Swords are associated with the element of air and thereby mind and logic and cool intellect. My attention is drawn more to this elemental association than the contemporary relationship style of meanings. Mr. Andrews association with vision quest grabs my attention too. Especially the quest part. Big, systemic problems aren’t solved in a day. They take time, steps, parts, cooperation, and both tactics and strategy. The journey around or through an obstacle may be long and arduous but also needed and worthwhile.

“Let’s work the problem, people. Let’s not make things any worse by guessing. The Lunar Module just became a lifeboat. I don’t care what anything was designed to do.” – Ed Harris playing Gene Krantz in Apollo 13 (movie)

Right: Strength (Lion) This isn’t going to be easy, but when you have the strength to meed the challenges, the hard doesn’t matter. This card is just exactly that sort of reassurance. You have strength, whether you feel it ahead of time or not. If you don’t, get some. The ability to find solutions and to obtain resources is as good as having them in the first place.

“When you can’t walk, you crawl. When you can’t do that, you find someone to carry you.” – from Firefly (TV series) by Joss Whedon

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Hang in there, sky puppy.

Left: The Hanged Man. I was surprised to hear there had been social media backlash, even some racist comments made about a wildlife post featuring a bat on social media. There is a certain synchronicity and irony to having bat be the representative animal on the very first card we draw in one of these youtube videos. Fear and anger really do lead to the dark side of human nature. At the same time I think it goes to show that this deck is a good one for these times because it doesn’t pull any punches. Nature isn’t going to dance around our fragile little fee fees. As tragic, stressful and devestating as this pandemic is, it is also a gift from Nature. Bats are connected to not only the Hanged Man from the Tarot deck, but also transformation through isolation, the shaman’s journey. The pandemic is forcing us inside, literally and figuratively. It may well uncover the very worst of us. Only by facing the worst of ourselves can those things be transformed. Bats have, in that way, given us a gift and an opportunity. Besides, it isn’t the bat’s fault that human leader have failed so very miserably. So don’t hate on the sky puppies!

Center: Seven of Wands. I’ve been a die hard devotee of Ted Andrews’ work ever since Animal Speak was published around the time I started working with Tarot, ’93-ish if memory serves. Initially, I did not the connection between reptiles and wands and the element of fire and didn’t aesthetically appreciate it until Harry Potter came along with dragons, Hagrid and Norbert. But then, show could blame a cold blooded critter for wanting to cozy up to a fireplace, especially on a chilly rainy spring day like we are having (I looooove this kind of weather, by the way) Here again, as with the Hanged man, we are asked to turn inward, and to face our inner selves. In this particular case, Mr. Andrews associated Toad and the seven of wands with inner strength and inner resourcefulness. There is both the advice of staring yourself in the soul during these isolated times and getting friendly with the person you find…and the reassurance that the person you find is stronger than you might think.

Right: Three of Pentacles. Hello Pentacles. They are still here…the pandemic is still here. Keep doing what practically needs done to stay as safe and healthy as you possible can. Both here and in other decks the three of coins is connectied to skill and craftmanship. This card feels like pure advice. Do something productive today to help you keep on keeping on. Anything counts. Take a nap. Play a little. Let yourself stop worrying for five minutes. Change those 3 day pajamas. Anything. You don’t have to write King Lear or solve quantum physics. Otters are reknown for their playfulness and for attentiveness to their young. Play, take care of someone (including yourself) or try not to let homeschooling drive you too far up the wall.

Hang in there, sky puppy!