Lapis Philosophorum

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.

It is now again time for the Sacred Days of Yule Spread.

The Sacred Days of Yule Interpretation says: “This spread will help you to learn to apply the tarot to enjoy and enrich your passage through the twelve festive days from December 20th to 31st. The meaning of each card in the spread reflects the energy of the festivity associated with each of the twelve days.”

I’m using the DruidCraft Tarot again for this spread, since it’s pagan imagery fits the idea of Yule well.

I’m returning to my job from 11 month long maternal leave tomorrow. I’m quite excited as to how everything will work out.

So for various reasons, I decided to do a quick and easy layout – and use the little cross known as the core of the well known Celtic Cross Spread. I asked how will this first week back at work be. 

There is only two cards; the first crossed by the other:

1. The Situation and the 2. The Challenge

And both cards I’ve drawn within the last four weeks of the Primary Deck Reflection Process, namely the 6 of Coins and the 10 of Staffs – The Phoenix.

The first card has to do with my two children I think. It is there I still am now, and this position  is being challenged by the Phoenix, the card of death and rebirth, of what is coming to an end, and what has to be transformed to be something or someone else.

Therein lies the challenge of this week. Emotionally and mentally to be with the two children in the picture  – but then to be forced by the challegences of my work to be in an entirely different state of mind.

This spread is inspired by a post at Mary K. Greer’s blog on variations on the 3-card spread. I commented on this, suggested to let the 3 positions be:

1. White: The Virgin (purity)
2. Red: The Mother (passion, maturity)
3. Black: The Crone (experience, wisdom)

We could also call them the Spread of the three Ps : Purity of Innocence, Passion of Life and Power of Knowledge.

Using the Alchemical Tarot Renewed, I drew:

1. 6 of Coins: Youths;  generosity, sharing, innocence, trust

2. Lady of Staffs: Dance, love of the new

3. 9 of Vessels: The Mountain goat; experience, confidence, perspective

I can’t help getting the feeling that the deck has distanced it self a bit from me this time, and is now showing me what it can.

I’m asking it about innocence, and it is showing me the two nude children, exchanging the coins, (one them has an owl – symbol of wisdom – on it), like saying: This is (one of) my image(s) of innocence.

The Lady of the Staff is an image of the dance of life, love, newness and passion, and the goat with it’s nine vessels barried in the hill side is an image of – well, knowledge, experience and perspective. It is a treasure, waiting to be dug out by living the life itself. 

The Tarot Wisdom for this card, according to the Alchemical Tarot Study Group, is: “Take all your emotions and memories, and let by-gones be by-gones. Be on your way. The emotions and memories associated with the past are your foundation, and can be built upon, but cannot be changed. Don’t try to change the past, but look to the future. Don’t worry; you are sure-footed and will not stumble.”

This remind me of this first step on my journey, that I took today. 

Images from The Alchemical Tarot, copyright Robert M. Place, are used with kind permission. Visit the Alchemical Tarot website.

I’ve decided to – in spite of Christmas busyness – to do the Sacred Days of Yule Spread again this year.

The Sacred Days of Yule Interpretation says: “This spread will help you to learn to apply the tarot to enjoy and enrich your passage through the twelve festive days from December 20th to 31st. The meaning of each card in the spread reflects the energy of the festivity associated with each of the twelve days.”

I’m using the DruidCraft Tarot for this spread, since it’s pagan imagery fits the idea of Yule well.

The purpose of this spread is knowing the present condition of one’s heart on a physical level, as well as on emotional and spiritual levels. It is also about purifying and healing the sorrows of the heart to be wise from one’s life experience and what stands in the way of this process of healing.

Through experience and sorrow the heart becomes wise

Shuffle and lay out the cards in the shape of a heart:

6          7        
      8
4          5
  2     3
      1

1. What is my heart’s present physical (health) condition?
2. What is my heart’s present emotional condition?
3. What is my heart’s present mental condition?
4. What should my heart forgive and forget/let go of/close out?
5. What should my heart remember/let in/open up to?
6. What hurts my heart?
7. What heals my heart?
8. “Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing” the Danish christian and existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkeggard said – so What is the purity of this heart – what is it that my heart most want?

(2+3: i.e. what thoughts and feelings have serious importance for my heart’s present state, my present “inner landscape”.)