monday, twelve july: son of pentacles
So the tarot thing. I used to do a lot more tarot, like, twenty years ago.
(I am so old. This is a theme lately, I am so old, I am not used to that. Graduation this year (at work, I mean, not at my old high school) was recorded (and live-streamed, literally around the world since I had two kids graduating from Beijing) and I looked at the video the other day. I was looking at the video in order to show Declan the part where the kids threw their hats in the air and then they were all laughing and crying and singing the alma mater and hugging each other and there was just so much joy. Anyway, I was looking for that part, and on the way I saw a lot of myself on the video, since I was emceeing the ceremony. The point I'm getting to is that I am undeniably a dowdy middle-aged lady now. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but my internal image of myself is much cooler and more graceful, so it's been a bit of a shock.)
Right, back in my early and mid twenties, more into tarot. I believe a lot of things that I don't like to talk about, but I do not believe that tarot cards are channelling mystical energies and helping you see the future. I do believe that a good deck of cards is an excellent clarifying tool. The human mind is a pattern-maker, and you can learn a lot from the patterns that you see. This is what's interesting to me about dream analysis too--your brain generates a lot of static and your mind tries to make meaning out of the noise. Mostly it's going to be fluff, but why that fluff in particular? (Why do I have so many dreams about finding unused rooms in my home? I know the answer to that, it's annoying.) Tarot is the same--give yourself a rich set of images and see what your mind wants you to think about.
I used to have a lot of decks, but like I said, twenty years ago. It's only two survived the move, the straight-up Rider-Waite and the Vertigo Comics deck. I bought a new one last year, The Wild Unknown, it is apparently trendy? But I like the pictures a lot. Remember, I am now a middle-aged lady, I crochet during meetings and have strong feelings about herbal teas, I can withstand the shame of buying the trendy tarot deck.
Today's card is the Son of Pentacles. If a card-a-day tarot is supposed to give me a focus or an intention for the day, I've no idea what to do with court cards. The Son of Pentacles is loyal, determined, sometimes stubborn, earnest and trustworthy. I suppose I can try to be earnest and trustworthy today. (From the guidebook: he can be "hard to get to know and socially awkward at times. He commonly has only one or two close friends rather than many." Well thanks for that.)