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Lapis Philosophorum

New Site

Posted in Tarot on February 8th, 2011 by Kristine Gazel

I’ve decided to stop posting here.

You can find me at Prima Materia where I’ll write (in Danish and occasionally in English) on topics as symbols, tarot, alchemy, jungian psychology and creativity.

Love, Kristine.

The Four P’s Spread

Posted in Spreads, Tarot on January 16th, 2011 by Kristine Gazel

The inspiration for this spread I got from James Wells, and through him from Marion Woodman. I added the position of Passion, since I think Passion is what it is really all about.

Choose a deck, shuffle it, and then separate the cards into four piles. Shuffle each pile four times. From each pile choose or draw one card, and place them all four in a matrix as illustrated below.

You can ask one or all of the question for the four positions, or make up your own questions relevant for the positions:

Presence

  • How am I right now?
  • How do I celebrate the presence?
  • How do I become better to be in the presence – and thereby attend better to those I am with?
  • How do I live in the Now, and let go of the past and the future, which is not Now?
  • How do I accept and love my self as I truly and deeply am?
  • How do I accept and relate to my current conditions?

Process:

  • Which (kind of) process am I going through in this phase of my life?
  • Where in the process am I now – in or out, up or down?
  • How do I let go of the goal to focus intead on being in the process?
  • How do I enjoy the ride and let go of frustrations and fear?
  • How do I let go of my urge of controlling everything and everyone?
  • How do I manage not knowing what the next step is?

Paradox

  • What is the Paradox in or of this situation?
  • What is my Paradox?
  • Which opposites do I contain and how do I balance them?
  • How do I hold the tension of Paradox, instead of falling back into opposites and extremes?
  • How do I cope with other people’s ambivalence, frustration, or extremes?
  • How do I keep my cool&calm?

Passion

  • How do I honour Eros in my life?
  • What is my Passion and how do I express it/live it/communicate it?
  • What is the Passion of the Other?
  • How do I nurture and stay true to my passion (my shine, my fire) in this (or any) situation?
  • Where is or what are the hot spots of this situation? Where is the fire burning hottest right now?
  • How do prevent my Passion to be stolen or disminished by others?

Pay attention, if the same suits or numbers show up, and where. It will mean that there is a connection, for example between where you are now and af what your are passionate about. Pay especially attention to the majors.

Let my know how it works and your thoughts.

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Ace of Cups

Posted in Tarot on December 31st, 2010 by Kristine Gazel

New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay – Dec 31st This card shows us how to release the old and let in the new. This relates to both our external lives and our inner being.

Ace of Cups

The Holy Grail floats over with 5 streams of Water. 5 is the number of the Goddess.

This card tells me: Do not be afraid to let go of the old. Everything floats from the Source in abundance. Likewise do not be afraid of the new. Have confidence that everything coming your way is for a greater good.

This card is about love, deepening of relationships, inspiration, creativity and fruitful dreaming – which I’m glad to hear, since I’ll be trying to dig deeper into Soul in the coming year – and the blessings of the Goddess:

“At a spiritual level this card represents the gift of the holy Grail – the blessing, inspiration and love of the Goddess that is now being offered to you.”

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The Hanged Man

Posted in DruidCraft Tarot, Tarot on December 30th, 2010 by Kristine Gazel

Day of Rest: – Dec 30th This card shows us how to walk our path in a relaxed and confident way….with the ability to deal with stressful situations in a philosophical, detached way.

The Hanged Man.

This man is in fact The Corn King or God, soon he will be sacrificed to ensure peace and fertility. He is closely connected to the Lady, The Corn Goddess.

Letting go of expectations, of attempts to understand things rationally, to hold and to have, of attention and approval from others. Letting go of trying to control situations. When we think we are in control of certain situations, they are in fact in control of us, because we are striving so hard to be in control.

Instead; surrender, sacrifice, patience, peace.

This card is about getting a deeper experience when surrendering to something greater. He is telling me to be confident in the path and the process, and to give in to the experience of just being. Surrendering will be an initiation to the mystery of life.

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10 of Cups

Posted in DruidCraft Tarot, Tarot on December 29th, 2010 by Kristine Gazel

Day of Nymphs – Dec 29th This card encourages us to connect to our playful side, our inner child and how best to cultivate this aspect of ourselves.

I shuffle and draw 10 of Cups.

This card is about happiness, abundance, love and relatedness. Just as is the Lady. This is the Lady’s energy expressed through real life relations; family, children and friends. To be playful and childlike (not childish) and to make room for my own inner child is simply to be with my family and to cherish the time I spend with them and for them.

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

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The Lady

Posted in DruidCraft Tarot, Tarot on December 28th, 2010 by Kristine Gazel

Feast of Alcyone: – Dec 28th This card gives us a personal inner message – one that speaks directly to our heart and soul (again I’ve changed the description from spirit to soul).

The Lady.

This is the Goddess in her Mother aspect. After Death comes – as I wrote about yesterday – new life. Here in the form of the yet unborn baby in womb of the Lady, and all the ripeness of wheat and fruits surrounding her.

She is majestic in her feminity and abundance.

The mother aspect of The Goddess is about connectedness and relatedness, of being fertile and fruitful, and of course of eros, sexuality, sensuality and passion. About beauty and happiness.

According to the book the message os the Lady is:

Open yourself to the fertile nurturing power of the Goddess. This power will fill you with passion and the ability to be creative and to enjoy a life of abundance and sensual delight.

I do not think I need a clearer message confirming me that I am on the right path in my life right now. Thank You!

All I need is to be, shine, love.

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Death

Posted in DruidCraft Tarot, Tarot on December 27th, 2010 by Kristine Gazel

Birth of Freya: – Dec 27th This card points to issues of love, luck, artistic and creative expression and female wisdom.

I shuffle and draw Death. The Goddess in the shape of the Crone. There is really not much to say. I order for something new to be born and grow to ripeness and maturity the old must die. The Goddess knows this, and as the Crone she is helping life to die to be reborn again.

It is not that we should not feel sorrow and mourn when things die – like relationships – but things die all the time. That is the cycle of life and death and that of the year.

It is no shame to be hurt or sorry, but it is a shame to be reluctant to let go.

Interwoven with death is sex or passion or love. The great goddesses like Aphrodite, or Inanna, or Isis or Astarte – or of course – Freya – also know that. Therefore they love passionately and grief when their son-lover dies like Osiris or Dumuzi or Adonis. But it is also in their (Her) power to save him, like Isis saves Osiris.

So it is in the power of the Goddess to let things die – and live (again). She is the ruler of death, love and life. And those three things can not be separated.

For me this cards means that I – in order to love, to be creative and to be wise – must accept things to die, and to let go of them with passion and compassion.

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King of Cups

Posted in Tarot on December 26th, 2010 by Kristine Gazel

Yuletide, Kwanzaa: – Dec 26th This card shows us how to express nurturance, to attend to our families and to express the protective energy within us towards others.

I drew the King of Cups.

This King has his roots in artistic expression – being a barde – and creativity. But as a King his duty is to serve others. He has channelled his creativity into the service of others and thereby has mastered his need for self-expression and his own feelings. He is tolerant, compassionate, sensitive and jovial, and makes an excellent therapist, teacher or doctor.

So to be caring for and protective of others means to be mature enough to know one’s own desires, needs and wishes, but to let this self-knowledge and insight into the human nature be beneficial for those that it is one’s responsibility to care for. That be children, family, spouse, clients, patiens, pupils or disciples – and simply anyone else who happens to be crossing one’s way.

A challenge for him is to maintain and nurture his own creativity and connection with feelings, dreams and the unconscious, symbolised by the water and the animals surrounding him.

Be kind, wise, tolerant, and mature is what he is telling me.

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Prince of Pentacles

Posted in DruidCraft Tarot, Tarot on December 25th, 2010 by Kristine Gazel

Festival of Life, Christmas: – Dec 25th This card shows us how to connect directly with Spirit.

Again, I want to rephrase the description. I want it to say: This card show us how to connect with Soul – since that is of outmost importantance to me in this phase of my life. (If you have read works of Hillman or Woodman you will have an idea of what I mean by “Soul”).

I shuffle and draw Prince of Pentacles.

He is a Prince of the Earth, being grounded and bound to the land and the earth – as the Queen. He has the downward pointing Triquetra of the Goddess on the horse collar. And the five pointed star on his shield – which is also a symbol of the Divine Feminine.

Connecting to light and to soul is both about being patient, earthbound, and sensuous.

The reverse meaning of the card is interesting in terms of Soulmaking. It says (from the accompanying book):

“… [A] search for the gold in the self that lies in the darkness, that needs a period of introspection and apparent inactivity to unearth it.”

Golddigging is an apt metaphor of soulsearching – finding the gold in the darkness, learning to know one’s Soul by patiently digging and accepting to get dirty in the process.

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Queen of Wands

Posted in Tarot on December 25th, 2010 by Kristine Gazel

Feast of Mothers, Christmas Eve: – Dec 24th This card shows how we can connect with the spirits of our ancestors for communion and to ask for wisdom and guidance. It is also a time for Christians to reflect on the birth of Christ.

Hmm – what to think of this description, I do not really know. Actually, what I most think of is the idea of Christmas Spirit – and how to connect with it?

I drew Queen of Wands.

Connecting with Christmas Spirit is about being passionate, and to really love and enjoy this time of year.

It is also about generosity, an important aspect of Christmas, which I’m afraid we often forget amidst busyness and even stress up to and round the days of Christmas.

It is not just about giving as many gifts as possible, this generosity, but to set others free and give them freedom and space to enjoy christmas the way they like it, instead of having certain expectations as to how things should be for christmas to be “perfect”.

Perfect is not the spirit – peace is.

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