A Card for Today, 3 of Grails

Here is a delightfully dark deck called the Tarot of Vampyres by Ian Daniels. Today’s card is the 3 of Grails.

From the book: “We are urged to embrace the simple joys of life and to welcome the love and support of others. This card stands for simple yet sublime pleasures that touch the depths of our hearts.” No further commentary needed. Be on the lookout.

Here are some selected cards from this beautiful, haunting deck. It's like watching a Twilight movie or an episode of Vampire Diaries while doing a tarot reading. Pretty people doing terrible things.

Epic Rap Battle: Tarot vs. Ouija Boards

I’m going to ask the tarot the question that I know a lot of people are wondering. How is using the tarot to contact the dead any different from using a Ouija board or some similar device?

Maybe you’re like me and have been warned away from Ouija boards all your life by bad movies and your mother. I never liked the idea of them, even though I have a small collection. I love them and I’m drawn to them, but I don’t use them. In fact, when I put them out on display, I have visions of spirits peeking through them like windows from the other side, just waiting for me to invite them in—not visions as in revelations, but visions as in crazy mental images.

I’m conflicted about these spirit boards because as a child they gave me some good information. My cousin and I participated in the Ouija board craze as tweens in the ‘60s. One day we (like millions of other kids) asked the spirit of the board to tell us who it was. It spelled out E-F-F-I-E. We laughed. What a hilarious name. So we told my grandmother, and her face went white as a sheet. Effie was my grandfather’s sister. Not only that, but she read palms and the tarot for anyone who came asking. My cousin and I didn’t know this. In fact, we had never even heard the name mentioned prior to this. That’s when we were scared off Ouija boards.

I’ve told that story about a million times whenever spirit boards are mentioned. Like most of you, I’ve felt that we can invite all sorts of nasties into our lives if we have unprotected Ouija. In essence, we are turning on the beacon and using a bullhorn in the spirit world to call for random spirits to come on in—both good and bad. We’ve all seen the movies and had our share of scares. On the other hand, Effie got through to me. My interest in the tarot and things unseen certainly got a jump start that day.  So like most things, proceed with caution. I use a pendulum to get yes-no answers all the time. I don’t see how that is much different. This is my opinion, but let’s ask the tarot.

The question: How does using the tarot to contact our Beloved Dead as we’ve been discussing here differ from using a more dubious (to some) device like the Ouija board?

The cards (from the Morgan-Greer tarot deck):

“Wow” is becoming an overused word on this blog. But, wow. I shuffled and cut the deck into two piles. The top pile is about Ouija boards. The bottom pile is about tarot. Let me state that the kind of Ouija board use I’m talking about is the kind where people just pull down a board and start asking questions. (I have no doubt that spirit boards can be highly effective tools for the spiritually adept.) Sure, people can just pull down a tarot deck and start asking questions, but the tarot system requires study and practice to make sense of it. It is inherently a more thoughtful process.

The bottom card on the Ouija pile is the Magician. The bottom card on the tarot pile is the High Priestess. Remember that I use these cards to inform my readings, just as I might use a card that jumps out of the deck while shuffling. Both these cards have to do with spirituality and otherworldliness. The Magician is a more outward energy that manipulates the elements around him. The High Priestess is the inner wisdom that comes through meditation and deep spiritual insight. So already we see that one is a more yang, aggressive process while the other is more yin and receptive.

The cards I pulled for each further amplified the differences. With spirit boards, the entities that you contact can come from a place of grief, sorrow, or confusion (5 of Cups). They might be lost or angry. In fact, they may be in any of those famous five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, or acceptance. This is where you have to be careful. It takes someone skilled in such things (as denoted by the Hermit card) to suss out these messages. It’s kind of like tuning in a radio. You can listen to static and everything out there or you can tune into the right program. Responsibility is the key in these sessions. The Knight of Pentacles represents taking practical, safe steps when using these boards. It’s not a game! I would be lying to you if I said there weren’t some ugly things out there. The knight also appears to be on guard against outer forces. Pentacles is the suit of the material plane, and it really looks like he is protecting the material plane from spirit invaders.

The first card in the tarot row is the Ace of Cups. These readings come from a place of deep and abiding love. Not only that, but they can bring cathartic, emotional healing. Sure, the dead connect with us as with spirit boards, but the recipient of the reading almost always heals some broken part of themselves. It is a two-way process. The 2 of Pentacles tells us that balance is the key—balance within ourselves and balance between this world and the spirit world. We can’t become too obsessed with either. The Dead don’t hang around waiting for our calls. They have their own work to do. However, they are invested in giving us direction from time to time because they love us. We each have to stay firmly planted in our worlds. The Death card here represents our Beloved Dead. This is the major difference between the two processes, in my opinion. We aren’t contacting random spirits, good or bad. We are contacting our Dearly Departed, whom we love and who loves us. Big difference.

Well, I feel better about that now. Remember that all spiritual tools—tarot, spirit boards, crystal balls, pendulums, and the like—can be used for good or ill. It is all about intent. I thank the Universe for graciously communicating with us as we ask these heartfelt questions.

Card for the Day: The Lovers

Today's card comes from the Vampire Tarot by Robert M. Place. Spooky. What I love about this deck is that it explores the literary world of Bram Stoker. It's a beautiful, dark deck.

The Lovers card can be about Big Love. It can also be about choices. I'm not surprised this one came up today because I was just thinking about this card when I was doing the spreads about the spirit world. Spirits choose whether they will move on or not. In this life and the next we choose our paths. Choice is vital to our spiritual progression. Everday we choose between virtue and vice.

So I ask you, gentle reader, which do you choose today?

In Which I Attempt to Unravel the Mysteries of the Afterlife through Tarot

Before posting the third part of the blog series on the tarot and communicating with the dead, I had some questions of my own. I profess to not having a blueprint of the afterlife. I am tempted to make sweeping statements sometimes that are not grounded in anything but opinion. I want you to know that I, too, am muddling through this.

My thoughts turned to our Beloved Dead and our Ancestors and how we are all connected through that amazing cosmic glue called love. What can I say with conviction? What is the truth of the matter? So I decided to do a tarot reading on it.

When I pull out my deck, I always look at the card on the bottom. That card is usually a reference to the reading that is about to come. This morning, the card on the bottom was Death. Can’t get anymore literal than that, can we? Here are the cards:

I started to write a long explanation of what each card means, but it all came clear after a minute or two. It’s so simple, it hurts. This life is a painful process. We die, becoming participants in the cycle of life/death/rebirth. We are enlightened and empowered on the other side. (The Sun card comes up so much in these readings. Usually in response to the question, “Are you okay?”)

Lest you think I’m flippant about this, I’ll give you a little more detail. The 5 of Pentacles is the card of loss and destitution. It speaks to impoverishment, to the human condition. The Empress is Mother Nature herself. She governs the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Where the 5 of Pentacles represents loss, the Empress represents abundance. She is a nurturer who soothes anxieties and eases pain. She is also the portal through which we must pass when this life is over. Having emerged from this life through the door of our death, we step into the next phase of existence. The Sun represents enlightenment and empowerment as well as creativity and rebirth.

Our Dearly Departed have much to share with us. They have completed the work of this life. They desire to help us by shining a light on the things that weigh us down—in the ways that they can. Yes, I believe they continue to participate with us here.

Okay, so I know you people. You’re thinking, “That’s all well and good, Yvonne, but what about the BAD spirits that we hear so much about? I believe they are out there, but I’m making a distinction here between random, maybe not so well meaning spirits and our loves ones who have made the next step into the soul’s progression. I call the later the Beloved Dead or the Dearly Departed because they care about us and their communications are helpful.

This should really be another blog entry, but it’s pretty exciting so I will continue. I consulted the cards again about the other kinds of spirits. This is what I drew:

Some fight against death and are so obsessed with their struggles here on earth that they can’t move on. Some can’t release this life and its trappings and refuse the next phase.

The 6 of Swords is a very literal ride across the River Styx, isn’t it? This represents death and the journey to the afterlife. Here are a couple of categories that spirits who refuse to move on may fall into: The 7 of Wands is about our struggles and fights. The uphill battle. These are the people so invested in some struggle or strife that they won’t move on. Maybe they feel they have to stay and help loved ones through hard times or see some problem to its conclusion. I believe these spirits can find some resolution and move on in time. Or not. Next is the 4 of Pentacles. This is the person who can’t let go. They clutch their lives and material trappings around them tightly. If they can learn to let go, they will move on.

I don't really know what happens to these spirits once they choose to stay here. Common sense tells me they can make the decision to move on later. Those who refuse to move on may grow in frustration and anger or simply fade out...I'm not real sure. That's an entry for another blog.

If you have questions about any of these things, ask away. We'll consult the cards about it.

Card for the Day: 5 of Cups

Today's card is the 5 of Cups from the Gothic Tarot by Joseph Vargo, my favorite of my many vampire decks.

This card represents sorrow and regret, but with some consolation. It's a bittersweet inheritance or a loss with something remaining. I often read this card as grief. In many decks, three cups are knocked over, but two remain standing. It indicates that though there is grief and sadness, all is not lost.

Consider this my friends: Not all is lost.

(Wow, these cards are so far continuing the theme of the blog posts for the day. Click on the picture if you want to see a larger image.)

My Dad's Message

After writing my last blog entry, I decided to do a reading to see if I could reach my Dad. He died 9 years ago, and I have never opened channels to him. It’s complicated.

The first reading was so very complex. It presented an accurate snapshot of how Dad left things when he died. I always said he was a horror show under a thin veneer of civilization. That’s harsh, I know. He wasn’t evil, just conflicted and mean-spirited and judgmental. When I envision him, I see a dragon crouched on his treasure hoard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it—he was stingy in every way. He was also very paranoid in his last years.

That reading is way too messy for our purposes here. It would take a long time to explain all the details. It was spot on, though. And it gave me the sense that Dad has done a lot of work since he left us. The reading also said that soon I would have my “aha” moment about Dad and be able to put all these things into perspective. Read on.

I did a second reading this morning using a different spread and based on the info I already had. Number 1: Dad and I both recognize there was a lot of hurt on both sides. Number 2: Dad is repairing his own soul and wants us to heal as well.

I started the reading with four cards that represented Dad. These would let me know I was in fact talking to him. They are descriptive. Judgment tells me he’s met his maker. Died and gone on. This card also heralds a fresh start. The two pentacle court cards describe him as a very materialistic man. The King of Pentacles is connected to the sun sign Taurus, which he was. The 7 of Cups says he was very self-indulgent, pandering to his own fantasies and whims. That’s Dad. (Later for clarification, I drew the 6 of Swords, telling me that he is past all that now. In both readings, he stressed that he is not that person now.)

The next four cards were Dad’s message to me. He wants success and happiness for me. He sees that I am stressed and sad about things in my life and wants to help. I drew the Queen of Pentacles next. He wants me to contact my Mom. He believes she can help me, that we can help each other. (And there was a very specific thing he wants me to tell Mom.)

At this point, I experienced an odd emotion from him—compassion. It was my undoing. I cried. I recognized that our relationship was a two-way street. I spent a lot of time pushing against him. I told him I forgive him. The revelation came when I asked him to forgive me. I have never asked my Dad’s forgiveness. I always felt perfectly justified in the things I felt about him. He prompted me to draw more cards.

The 2 of Swords. Dad says, “We’re even now. Let’s put down this feud.” (Said with much love and compassion. He let me know he put it down a long time ago.)

And then his perspective of our relationship: So many Wands. I am impulsive where he was practical. I was always running off half-cocked, never seeing the big picture. I was constantly on the defensive when it came to him. I will own that. It’s true. This wasn’t more of his judgment. This was a true explanation of how he viewed me in life and why we were always at loggerheads.

So I next asked him for guidance. What would you tell me, Dad? The Five of Wands is a card about strife and competition. Not malicious stuff, but the stuff of life. The message: Life is a struggle and you’re fighting your way through it right now.

The next card was the 9 of Pentacles. Dad said, “You are a strong woman. You can handle all this.” Exactly the warmth and the love and the guidance I so wanted from him in life. This was Dad’s pat on the back and the encouragement that every child yearns for from their parent. “I have faith in you. You can do this.” Is it sad that Dad never said this to me in life? I think so. But he has said it now.

Friends, I was bawling, and I still tear up every time I read over this. With this message, I have been given a healing release of emotion. The grudge and all the twisted feelings I have retained about my Dad all this time are gone. Today I let the mean Dad go.

Card for the Day

Here begins our one-card readings using my various spooky decks. My all-time favorite is the Halloween Tarot by Kipling West. This looks like a lightweight, fun little deck, but let me tell you--it's a heavy hitter. It reads every bit as seriously as my Rider-Waite decks. When I looked over my collection for decks to use in this endeavor, I discovered that I have five...FIVE...vampire decks. Seems a little much, even for me. But I digress.

Our Card for the Day is the Ace of Ghosts, the Ace of Cups in standard decks. Love! Ghosts! This is some mighty synchronicity considering my last post. Pure, unadulterated love. So keeping with the spirit of the blog post, love is all there is. Have it.

Her Daddy’s Spirit

With this post I wanted to get into a little tarot theory—how tarot is a symbolic language, how reading the tarot is an art, how each tarot reader creates his own language based on the general interpretation of each card…

But what I want to do is tell stories about the Dead.

I am not a ghost whisperer. I’m not what I would call a medium, but sometimes the Dead get my attention when I’m reading tarot. Most often this happens when a client has recently lost someone and has them strongly on their mind. It’s that point where they haven’t let them go yet, while they are still very much intertwined energetically. Based on my experiences, I believe spirits like to hang around until they are sure everything is going to be all right.

One Halloween, a lady asked me if her newly deceased father was okay. The question had barely left her mouth when he was right there, standing behind me. The only way I can explain how I knew he was there was that I got the chills the minute he got there and I kept them until he left--that and the fact that he was insistent that she get her answer. I didn’t hear him with my ears, his words just formed in the center of my brain, clear as a bell.

She was depressed and sad. She was pretty sure that death was the end. The cards said he was happier than he had ever been in life. He was free of pain and worry. The cards said his only worry was her. He wanted her to be happy. To quit grieving for him and have the life she always wanted. As is always the case in these readings, his love for her was so strong that the air felt soupy. I tried to let her know.

She told me he had been an electrician, and he was the go-to guy whenever anything needed to be fixed. I told her she might experience his presence by flashing lights or other disruptions in electricity. Generally the dead use the things they were familiar with in life to communicate with the living.

I could tell she didn’t really believe me. She said as much. We came to the end of the reading. I kept hammering away at what the cards said. I felt like I had stuck my finger in a socket throughout the entire reading. When she got up, he said, “NO! Bring her back.” I didn’t. I moved on to the next readings. I knew that nothing I could say would convince her.

In between every reading he tried to get me to bring her back. It was an insistence in the back of mind. When I was ready to pack up for the night, he came back full force. “Gah,” I said. “Okay.” I asked the hostess to bring her back. I told her that her dad wasn’t going to let either one of us go until she really heard him. I pulled a few more cards for her. I said the same things in different ways. I reminded her to watch for electrical…”Wait,” she interrupted. She was staring at something behind me. “What?” I asked.

She said, “Do you realize that the lights behind you have started flickering?” It was Halloween. The hostess had hung Halloween lights behind me in the window. They had not flickered all night. But now, in a last ditch effort to get his daughter to hear him one more time, the lights were blinking on and off.

She heard him.

We could come up with all kinds of practical reasons why those lights started blinking exactly when they did. I prefer to think it was her daddy’s spirit. To me, that is the simplest explanation. I wish you could have seen the relief that washed over her. Or heard the life-affirming, healthy conversation about life and death we had afterwards. Or watched how she carried herself as she left for home.

So…

Here is what I know. In my experience, the Beloved Dead won’t tell you where they buried the money. They don’t care what you do with the inheritance. None of that matters anymore. In most cases, the thing that remains after they pass is pure, unadulterated love. That is the glue that holds us together, in this life and beyond.

Welcome to Tarot by Yvonne!

Hello friends! Welcome to my blog. I had planned to wax poetic about tarot in this first post, but instead I'm going to ask the tarot what we need to know about this blog launch. As I shuffled, the Queen of Pentacles jumped out of the deck. I read these jumpers as undercurrents to my readings. The Queen of Pents heralds a time when intuition and reason work together beautifully. Through this blog I hope we can experience the spiritual energies of tarot and bring them through our lives in a tangible way.

A quickie three-card spread using the Universal Waite deck gave me the following cards.

Temperance is a card of alchemy--blending energies, creating new things, channeling cosmic energies, and finding balance between opposites. Tarot helps us do all that.

Next is the 4 of Wands. This is a card of celebration. I love the tarot. Every reading to me is a reason to celebrate because it has the potential to change reality. Every card is its own revelation. When we put them all together, we create a statement that has the power to change lives. I hope we have a fantastic time doing it here.

Finally, the King of Pentacles is the embodiment of success and accomplishment. He has his feet planted firmly on the ground. He is the epitome of balance--and truely, tarot helps us come to balance and wholeness. Isn't it interesting that we are looking at both the King and Queen of Pentacles in this reading? Male/female. Again with the blending of opposites--the alchemical marriage of intellect and soul.

Can tarot do all that? Yes! It helps us access the deep undercurrents of our soul. It uncovers our hidden motivations and reveals the paths that are open and clear before us. I have heard the tarot called the Poor Man's Therapy and I agree wholeheartedly. If we meditate on the messages we receive, we can find balance and purpose in our lives.

Well, look at that. I've waxed poetic about tarot after all. Through this blog, I hope to talk about the tarot, what it means and how it works. I want to tell you some life-altering stories of readings I've given (names changed to protect the innocent). I want to share the little insights that come through a life with the cards. I hope that you'll come back often and share this journey with me.