Life Is Lumpy

Daily Draw: Grand Etteilla Tarot ~ 2 of Coins

Alliette suggests a pretty grim outlook with this card, failed lawsuits, difficult trouble, plans unworkable.

I'm reminded by this card how easy it is to jeer at the idea of unusual troubles, but I won't...because life can turn on a dime. I'll be content to recognize my good fortune and not laugh in the face of Life lest I repent in leisure.

"If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire—then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. Learn to separate the inconveniences from the real problems. ~ Sigmund Wollman, quoted by Robert Fulghum, Uh-Oh, 1991

Tend The Roots

Daily Draw: Grand Etteilla Tarot ~ 7 of Coins

Due diligence required. We had the nicest garden this year, everything has produced prodigiously and it was pretty also, with both of us here to feed and weed.

I'm reminded by this card we've had our first storm of the season and today our garden is flat on the ground and north bound. Under the strong growth are the fragile stems and roots of annual crops. Easy to forget when the tops in our life look and feel so vibrant.

"So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of all money?" ~ Ayn Rand quotes 1905-1982

Grand Etteilla dates back to the late 1700's and is based on the idea that tarot came out of Egypt with Gypsies. It was also the first deck designed for esoteric purposes, prior to that tarot was used for gaming. A beautiful deck, meant to be used both upright and reversed. This is the 1977 edition published by Grimaud France.

Expectations

Daily Draw: Roots of Asia Tarot ~ 6 of Coins

Freely giving without expectations and and being open to receiving. Giving of our time, material goods, and knowledge, and joy in the good fortune of others.

I'm reminded by this card this should be a no brainer, sometimes it is, but because we are humans, sometimes it isn't. Is it because we've occasionally been rebuffed and cultivate the attitude of 'fine, I won't help then'?  Because we've given and our expectations were dashed?

"Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality." ~ Ralph Marston   Motivator

Foibles

Daily Draw: Roots of Asia Tarot ~ 5 of Wands

Facing distress. Similar to addicts, we must identify and claim whatever is creating our 5 of Wands. According to the author those are: desire of the senses, ill will, sloth and laziness, distraction and anxiety, doubt and uncertainty.

Well I can belly up to the bar and identify the last three groups as current distress. I could eliminate sloth and laziness with focus and a kitchen timer. Distraction and anxiety could be eliminated by reaffirming I can't change what is. Doubt and uncertainty...well we need our little foibles or we'd be perfect and no one could stand us.

"Shite and onions!" ~ James Joyce 1882-1941  Ulysses

Culmination

Daily Draw: Roots of Asia Tarot ~ 3 of Coins

Lesson Practice Skill. I bemoan my lack of skills, but when did I ever sign up for lessons? Not often I can assure you. If I didn't learn a skill correctly in the first place, what have I been honing? Bad habits, poor results. Should I be surprised? Not really but I'm in good company.

I'm reminded by this card we never know it all, to keep listening and looking and learning. Life is good.

"Some idea of inflation comes from seeing a youngster get his first job at a salary you dreamed of as the culmination of your career." ~ Bill Vaughn

Blush

Daily Draw: Roots of Asia Tarot ~ Star

The author reckons this is the Fool, with experience. She has become creative by learning from her mistakes and finds great joy in life.

I'm reminded by this card I'd never go back a day in time, but if I had to I'd hope to retain what I know. Sure would make those younger years less painful. Less embarrassing...

"Call your troubles experiences; every experience develops some latent force within you, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be." ~ John Heywood 1497-1580

Hug

Daily Draw: Roots of Asia Tarot ~ Empress

Unconditional Love. So hard to give, so hard to find. Is it because we judge first, love later? Is it because unconditional love comes with unconditional responsibility?

I'm reminded by this card the Empress always seems to scare me. What if I give and it isn't enough? What if I give and it is the last thing needed? Is the Empress why I always hug people when meeting them, even strangers? Is hugging my new special purpose now? Is that all I have left?

"Bewildered as he might be, sometimes a man's highest calling is simply to stand, and hug." ~ Brent Weeks 1977-  The Blinding Knife

Be The Tree

Daily Draw: Roots of Asia Tarot ~ 3 of Wands

This three speaks of being 'in the moment'. Aware of our surrounding, an active participant in life as it happens to us and around us.

Here, not there, wherever there is.

Bob: I still don't trust Jerry. I'm not taking my eyes off him. If he so much as looks crosseyed at you I'm gonna punch him in the breadbasket.
Kay: You're gonna do what?
Bob: It's not funny Kay. It's very serious. Houdini died from that.
Tricia: Didn't Houdini die trying to escape from a water chamber?
Harlan: No. In the movie that was how Tony Curtis died.
Albie: I thought Kirk Douglas stabbed Tony Curtis in the movie.
Chad: No, no you're thinking of Spartacus.
Harlan: No, Tony Curtis killed Kirk Douglas in that.
Albie: No, that was The Vikings.
Bob: I didn't, I didn't see that.
Tricia: So what happened to Kirk Douglas?
Chad: Cut his ear off.
Harlan: No that was in Lust For Life when he played Toulouse-Lautrec.
Tricia: No, that was Jose Ferrer
You know, interestingly Kirk Douglas lost his ear in Lust for Life and his eye in The Vikings.
Harlan: What brought this up?
Albie: Mr. McCay is threatening to punch Tony Curtis in the stomach.
Harlan: C'mon Bob, Tony's no kid.

Taker

Daily Draw: Roots of Asia Tarot ~ 2 of Cups

The pure freedom of both giving and receiving. Not the same as giving and taking...

Of the three, I find I am most often a taker.

"Some often repent, yet never reform" ~ Bonnell Thornton 1725-1768

Roots of Asia, republished by AGM AGMuller 2001. Original version was published by Amaravati Buddhist Monastery 1988. Artist is Amnart Klanprachar, the paint technique was done with fingers, knives, and rods. Accompanying 87 page digest by Thaworn Boonyawan.

Missed The Obvious

Daily Draw: Tabula Mundi Tarot ~ Ace of Swords

The root of knowledge. Or, how to miss the obvious. Suddenly two months ago I could no longer read the giant green freeway signs until I was two car lengths from them. Bizarre. Wednesday I went to the optometrist who sent me to the ophthalmologist Thursday. Turns out I have cysts behind both eyes. My surprise knew no bounds...

I'm reminded by this root of knowledge card of all the ways something was wrong and still I missed the obvious. For the last two months I've been monkeying with font size. I donated three books with just a few pages read, WHY are they printing books with such small type? Instead of sitting normally and threading the sewing machine I've been getting on my knees to have a straight-on view of the needle. Everything I looked at yesterday I could see there was a real problem...how did I miss it before? I guess because the human mind and eye are both adaptable and will always seek a way to cope. There is no treatment but knowledge is power and my research shows there are a zillion ways for low vision folk to adapt. It's all good because it could be so very much worse.

"What do you call a one-eyed dinosaur? Douthinkhesaraus"

Directional Coin

Daily Draw: Tabula Mundi Tarot ~ 2 of Swords

Years ago when I was working my way through Julia Cameron's books I got in the habit of taking an Artist's Date five or six times a year. Just get in the car and go where it went. To be sure it was random I flipped a coin at junctions. Over the years Rob has fallen into my lair and also has a directional coin in his vehicles for lazy day drives.

I'm reminded by this card there are decisions that require more thought than either or mentality. The coin is part of my tool kit though and if I just can't decide I'll flip and my heart's reaction, relieved or distressed, tells me what I can't see with my mind. The heart never lies.

"Either you run the day or the day runs you." ~ Jim Rohn 1930-2009

There Is No Grey

Daily Draw: Tabula Mundi Tarot ~ Prince of Cups

Yes or no, peace or war, depressed or manic, our Prince has no grey areas.

I'm reminded by this card, and my occasional ruthlessness, I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. But it must be incredibly exhausting to always live on the far edge of everything.

"Compromise is never anything but an ignoble truce between the duty of a man and the terror of a coward." ~ Reginald Wright Kauffman 1877-1959

Molehill

Daily Draw: Tabula Mundi Tarot ~ Tower

Boogeyman on steroids. The difference between expected Towers and out of nowhere Towers. We seldom see the first.

I'm reminded by this image of today's doctor appointment.  In my mind I have the potential of five serious issues, starting with a brain tumor and working backwards to another result of long term critically low B-12. I've been laughing at my frightened mini-me for two months, but it is time to face the music and find out what mountain I've made out of the current molehill.

"If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy." ~ Jack Handey 1949-

Fiddlers

Daily Draw: Tabula Mundi Tarot ~ 4 of Coins

The stability provided by money or power comes with a price, it must be maintained, there is no going free.

I'm reminded by this card of the powerful and rich who've taken a great fall. Usually morals charges, but stock and money fiddlers and drunks aren't far behind. They don't lose their innate knowledge and skill though. Do they ever claw their way back? Are they changed? More determined, or better balanced?

"Sometimes I wish for falling
Wish for the release
Wish for falling through the air
To give me some relief
Because falling's not the problem
When I'm falling I'm in peace
It's only when I hit the ground
It causes all the grief." ~ Florence Welch 1986-  Falling

Listen And Follow

Daily Draw: Tabula Mundi Tarot ~ 8 of Coins

Prudence. How come once we learn it no one wants to hear about it?

I'm reminded by this card to wonder if I ever listened to and followed someone else's advice? Not that I can remember, but then I'm the one that can't remember anything anyway...

"It is no less a feat to keep what you have, than to increase it. In one there is chance, the other will be a work of art." ~ Ovid 43 BC-18 AD

Outcome

Daily Draw: Tabula Mundi Tarot ~ Universe

She exits the other side of the Ouroboros portal once entered by the Fool.

I'm reminded by this card of outcomes. Are they ever what we planned or imagined? I would sincerely hope not. Along the way to the portal we will have inadvertently changed so much the earlier conception will never fit. But it's all good, if we aren't moving we are stagnant, if we aren't alive we are dead. Ain't going there, bring on the change.

"Much outcry, little outcome” ~ Aesop 620 BC-560 BC

Thoth based Tabula Mundi Tarot. 232 page book and art by M.M. Meleen, 2015.

A to B

Daily Draw: Sacred Sites Tarot ~ Ace of Coins

Machu Picchu Peru, 1500. Summer Palace?  Cheyenne Mountain? Who knows, an amazing village, abandoned by its makers. A cut rock citadel by Incans who had no knowledge of the wheel or iron or steel to carve or move rock.  Surmise, conjecture, speculation will always be the flavor of the day for a people who had no written language.

I'm reminded by this card of abilities, outstripped by the knowledge and tools to use them. Many Ace of Coins get started this way.  We have the idea, clear cut in our head, but no idea of how to actually get from A to B. If one hundred of us were put in a room and told to complete a minor complex task, how many ways would it be done?

"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill." ~ Barbara W. Tuchman  1912-1989

Excavation

Daily Draw: Sacred Sites ~ Judgment

Jericho. A 10,000 year old city whose history is mostly guesses. Or myth.

I'm reminded by this card, it is also the very first card on this blog, from March 5, 2007, Fairy Tarot. I said "The landscape is fallow, even blasted. A reminder, when I set myself above others by judging them I gift myself with a heart much like this landscape". This truth still applies, as layer after layer of personal excavation is still being revealed.

"Time forces one to realize that the interpretation of an excavation is partially formed by the archaeologist's own world-view." ~ Multiple sites.

Gen-u-wine

Daily Draw: Sacred Sites Tarot ~ 9 of Cups

You think internet rumors and jokes spread fast? It is the 1600's and you've just heard about the reputation of the Fountain Of Youth. In 1900 was anyone in first world countries unaware of it?

A little research shows Ponce de Leon's fountain is now ensconced deep in a theme park. Why am I surprised? No ferris wheel and cotton candy, but still, a tourist trap at heart.  I'm reminded by this card nothing is ageless, nothing remains the same, each arising should be treated as Fountain of Youth day, we'll never again be as young as we are today. Take advantage of that good news, and don't bother with the 3 bottles of youth water for $9.99. You don't need it, you are just a pup...

"Take a sip and experience history firsthand."

Something To Cry About

Daily Draw: Sacred Sites Tarot ~ 3 of Swords

Tunguska, Siberia. In 1908 what is now believed to be a space rock about 120 feet across entered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated at 28,000 feet. It heated the air to 44, 500 fahrenheit and blew people over, 40 miles away. The power expended at core equaled about 185 Hiroshima bombs.

As an info-junkie I find all that fascinating. As a human I find it astounding as far as anyone knows no human life was lost. Unlike the Chicxulub meteor that killed all living things above ground within a few hours of its impact. In typical 3 of Swords fashion, we are back to mothers saying "stop that crying or I'll give you something to cry about".

"We’re transients. The land remains." ~ Neil Gaiman 1960-

Surely There Is Something?

Daily Draw: Sacred Sites Tarot ~ Sun

Teotihuacan Mexico. Who built it? Who lived there? Still questions without answers today. They came, they built, they went. The Aztecs who gave it the current name arrived a thousand years after it was founded.

I'm reminded by this card fame and fortune and infamy are fleeting in real time. So many civilizations have come and gone, what will remain of ours in a thousand years? When the Sun comes out then what have we created that will be worth excavating? I'm scraping my brainpan this morning, I can't think of anything. Surely there is something?

"Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy." ~ Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790

Mystery

Daily Draw: Sacred Sites Tarot ~ Devil

Standing in for the Devil's site is Rennes-Le-Chateau, at base, just another tourist attraction, but flogged as greatly mysterious and associated with a fortune in hidden assets. All the area tales, going back to 1645, hold at least grain of truth and each builds on the last, with gold at the root and an overlay of ritual as a dressing gown. It draws in mystics, Grailers, Templars, and anyone who loves a good ooga-booga.

I'm reminded by this card and it's dark associations, humans believe what they want to believe. Most of it bogus, but even bogus can give comfort in the dark. Plus we love a good mystery, don't we?

"Mystery is not profoundness." ~ Charles Caleb Colton 1780-1832)

Burnt And Bombed

Daily Draw: Sacred Sites Tarot ~ Strength

Do you think of Strength as being physically strong?
Or as a beneficial quality of your character?  Skills, assets, purpose, or influence and power?

I'm reminded by this image of the Summer Palace, Beijing, of how our Strength needs change over a human's lifetime. The summer palace was just for the highest royalty and consequently a war target, burned to the ground once and later bombed. In the course of living we too are sometimes burnt and bombed, heart broken, body and mind assailed, and still we rise and go on, often 'more' than we were before. Amazing really...

"If I am to meet with a disappointment, the sooner I know it, the more of life I shall have to wear it off." ~ Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826

Sacred Sites Tarot by Lo Scarabeo, 2012, art and words, Federico Penco/Massimiliano Filadoro.

When Momma Aint Happy

Daily Draw: New Earth Tarot ~ 5 of Swords

Have you heard the phrase "when momma ain't happy, nobody's happy"?  It always makes me laugh, probably because it is so true. Oddly, I've never heard this of dads or seen it played out.
Perhaps because mothers hold the center, the core of the family as a general rule.

I'm reminded by this card dads aren't peripheral, just their core spot in the family is different.  I wonder how many times I've missed out on friendships because I don't know where the core resides. Or maybe I'm too much of a lazy bum to do the work it requires. The swords on this 5 know where the problem lies.  I'm disconnected and unfocused, still.  Maybe my brain has been tasered behind my back...

"Avoid fragmentation: Find your focus and seek simplicity." ~ Dan Millman 1946-

Shaken Not Stirred

Daily Draw: New Earth Tarot ~ 3 of Cups

The pair becomes the trio, 1 + 2 = 3.

I'm reminded by this card to remember 1 and 2 were viable before joining each other or 3. Blending doesn't have to be loss and suffocation.

"The thing about chameleoning your way through life is that it gets to where nothing is real." ~ John Green 1977-  An Abundance of Katherines

One In One Out

Daily Draw: New Earth Tarot ~ 2 of Swords

I want what I want and don't want what I don't want. I brought in two 50's  era sewing machines in the last few weeks, so sold one and have another up for sale to make space. That is the way I like stuff...if one comes in one has to go out.  Minimal clutter, no suffocating feeling.

I'm reminded by this card Rob likes my old machines and doesn't want any of them gone. They are cheap, and in tidy boxes. Aren't hurting a thing he says. True, but keeping is the slippery slope and I'm not going there. 2 of Swords, parallel thoughts or opposing thoughts...

"I've spent most of my life making quilts.The rest I've just wasted." ~ Unknown

Reality

Daily Draw: New Earth Tarot ~ Ace
of Swords

Responsibility and commitment and reality.

Three big thoughts coming out of the black cone I've been recovering from. My house looks like a tornado hit it because thinks are morphing into action and reality. I'm finally capable of committing to something that takes more than a few minutes...the future, what ever that turns out to be.  Am I well? May never be, but I'm sure better. I hope I can live with that.

"When somebody dies after a long illness, people are apt to say, with a note of approval, "He fought so hard." And they are inclined to think, about a suicide, that no fight was involved, that somebody simply gave up. This is quite wrong." ~  Sally Brampton   Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression

Zero To Sixty

Daily Draw: New Earth Tarot ~ Fool/Zero

Simultaneously everything and nothing. We are filled with limitless possibilities. At some point, usually childhood, we begin to fulfill the possibility of I can't.

I'm reminded by this card yesterday was an I can day. I found someone who could, but was busy. I had to bring out the big guns, "you have no idea how loud or long I can cry" and it was finished in twenty minutes. Call me a Zero indeed...

"You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period." ~ Christopher Gardner  The Pursuit of Happyness 2006

Pyre

Daily Draw: New Earth Tarot ~ 7 of Wands

This is an unusual triumph card...honored in absence so to speak. What popped into my mind was my current hair-brained project.

I'm reminded by this card to wonder at what point someone smart would say that's enough, drop it. Luckily for me, if I ever was smart I'm not anymore so today I'm taking my project to a machine shop and have them make the dealybob just a shaved hair smaller so the whatchamacallit will fit my new thingamajig. What? Burn my best idea on a pyre? No way!

 "In order to make a perfect and beautiful machine it is not requisite to know how to make it." ~ Robert Mackenzie Beverley  1798-1868

Applied Intellect

Daily Draw: New Earth Tarot ~ 4 of Swords

Applied intellect. That is a different take. Although a new project's mental work could be a form of respite. We get so involved other things drop off the radar.

I'm reminded by this card that isn't always a bad thing. They will rise again but the resting in the background often brings new insight both in importance and solutions.

New Earth Tarot, Art by Kate Silver, digest by Charlene KeLong. Self published 2012. Ancient and modern symbolism drawn from multiple traditions.  Suits are Mirrors/coins, Cups, Swords, Wands. Several majors have been retitled.

Strength

Daily Draw: Guardians of Wisdom ~ Strength

Going beyond our limits. I have done that, don't recommend it. But our strengths are not mercury in a meter of some sort, we really have no way of knowing what we can and will do when pushed by necessity.

I'm reminded by this card we know in hindsight though. Experience is a good teacher, when we pay attention.

"If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time." ~ Shimon Peres 1923-