A Fainter

Daily Draw: LLewellyn Tarot ~ 10 of Cups

If you've listened to the Chet and Bernie mysteries, you will know what it sounds like when I say, "am I lucky or what".
I've been booking through Expedia this trip, normally we wing it. But we've heard enough people be told no rooms left when we finally get to the motels to wise up.

Yesterday in Paducah Kentucky was a fainter though. We could see by the map we were on the river front, on Front St.. Up and down we went, no Front St. I pulled up my confirmation in email, AKKK, I was booked some place on Front St. in Illinois! Turned out it was OK, Metropolis Illinois comes up in the Paducah search, it is on the other side of the river. Another twenty minutes drive we were there. The point of the story though is Rob didn't get mad. Not a bit. Am I lucky or what? (A fainter because the best rates are non-refundable)

"The growth of wisdom may be gauged exactly by the diminution of ill temper." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900.

Slept Through It

Daily Draw: Llewellyn Tarot ~ 4 of Swords

The 70s and 90s are so clear to me but the 80s are pretty much a blank except for our jobs. Weird that.

Perhaps I don't want to remember shoulder pads, big hair, disco balls, Tammy Faye, and have put it all to sleep in the back of my mind. It is better off there.

"I suggest you icksnay on the artalecsmay." ~ Nicki Elson  Three Daves

Flinch? Or Not?

Daily Draw: Llewellyn Tarot ~ 10 of Wands

Flinch? Or unflinching?

Our first mortgage kind of made our shoulders hunch and flinch. We laughed because the payoff date was 2001.  Like that was ever going to get here.

Hamilton Missouri and the Missouri Star Quilt Company yesterday. Arabia Steamboat Museum today via Al's Sweet doughnut shoppe...

Jump

Daily Draw: Llewellyn Tarot ~ 2 of Swords

Making choices without all the facts.

I'm reminded by this card, that is the norm most of the time if you stop to think about it. There is always something you didn't know before you made the decision. Might not change anything...but then it might have. At some point you just have to jump.

"You can only live in the world you ken. The rest is just wishful thinking or paranoia." ~ Irvine Welsh 1967-

Shared Experiences

Daily Draw: Llewellyn Tarot ~ 6 of Cups

Shared experiences. Yesterday was Wyoming, with the Teton Mountains and hard scrabble names.  Duck Creek, Wind River, Crow Heart, Eleven Mile Hill, Gun Barrel. We are in North Platte Nebraska this morning.

I'm reminded by this card, name a town west  of the Mississippi and Rob has been there and can tell you the roads that will get you there. Today's fun is he hasn't been across Nebraska since he hauled Oly Beer in the early 70s. An me? As always, the geology.

"The terrain looked like Nebraska—perpetual plains that faded into the horizon. When I asked Taukane where the forest was, he said, simply, "Gone." ~ David Grann 1967-

Scars

Daily Draw: Llewellyn Tarot ~ Sun

Love, love betrayed, death, renewal, vengeance, life. Does he love me, will he love me, did he love me, will he love me again?

I'm reminded by this card, Llew Llaw Gyffes loved, was betrayed and recovered. Having been there I know it changed me in ways that echo still. Turns out he married my best friend and sent her to the hospital a dozen times before she left him. Outer and inner scars, most of us have them.

"A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with." ~ Harry Crews 1935-2012

Eeek

Daily Draw: Llewellyn Tarot ~ 3 of Coins

Reputation for quality, considering options. Our 1986 World's Fair room was actually a poorly maintained rooming house in its real life. The boarders, with no where to go, hung around the front steps. $110.00 per night and lucky to get it. Bed and towels were clean. The second night it caught fire, we ended up out on the street at midnight and in the end had to go home  All in all more an adventure to reminisce over.

I'm reminded by this card of me. I like clean. Our prebooked room last night rates as a horror. We didn't stay, but are still shuddering. Dirty sheets, bloody mattress, sink didn't drain, stench, uncapped wall plugs, no towels, and that was the good parts.  Another adventure to reminisce over as we cross our beautiful country.

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." ~ Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Clarity

Daily Draw: Llewellyn Tarot ~ Horned One/Devil

"No chains or pain, just life in its natural state"
A life well lived accepts all the consequences we bring to it.

I'm reminded by this card no one made anyone do it and no one but we can forgive it, by letting go of the idea we can still change our past actions.  A life much improved by clarity opened up when I accepted this. And my mind's Mad Monkey calmed down, always a good thing.

"Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men." ~ Thomas Huxley   1825-1895

Pinched

Daily Draw: Runic Tarot ~ Nyd/Nauthiz

Time of need, feeling the pinch.
I have  a friend on the other side of the country who is caring for a seriously ill husband. I'd give a lot if I could be there for her, to give her respite care she sorely needs.

I'm reminded by this card of the zero family support Rob got through all my dramas. All I had to do was do as I was told, be where I was told, he had to carry the whole load of caring on his own. Would it have hurt any of his family to call and ask how he was?

"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?" ~ Alfred Hitchcock 1899-1980

Chew Over Enlightenment

Daily Draw: Runic Tarot ~ Ken/Kenaz

Enlightenment, revelation, positive path via new knowledge. Sounds great doesn't it?

I'm reminded by this card of the 1976 national election. I made up my mind to vote for Ford early on. On the eve of the election I saw a long ad for Ford in which the final sentence shocked and angered me. So I voted for Carter. It was a mistake, he wasn't a DC insider, he had no contacts or leverage or history and he spent 4 years spinning his wheels. Of men I admire he would be at the top..but in DC? I learned a lesson to chew over enlightenment, see who or what is manning the switch.

"Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water." ~ Zen Proverb

Harvest Of What?

Daily Draw: Runic Tarot ~ Ger/Jera

In agricultural societies, a good or bad harvest meant life or death and what you couldn't grow yourself could be expensive or difficult to get. Now we have grocery stores and EBT cards and a comparative bed of roses life.

I look at Ger and wonder what my harvest has been, of the fallow years devoted to anger and illness. Of the productive years and all we've accomplished and gained. Of a working life with few vacations but fun every day Rob was home; I'd choose that again. An overharvest of possessions, oh yes, I'd redo that in an instant. Totally differently.  And I wonder what exactly am I harvesting now. Will I look back in ten years and wonder, "what was I thinking?".

"Life is not a harvest. Just because you have an apple doesn’t mean you have an orchard. You have an apple. Put a fence around it. Once you have put a fence around everything you value, then you have the total circle of your heart." ~ Sheila Heti 1976-  How Should a Person Be?

Hug Bridge

Daily Draw: Runic Tarot ~ Mann/Mannaz

Who we are internally and externally in relationship to mankind. A big subject. We could start with race and dwell there a lifetime, never partaking of the cup of friendship across culture, our loss. We could start with faith, and spend a lifetime alienating/fighting/prothletising something that should be internal. We could start with gender and never get past agenda and suspicion.

I'm reminded by this card, in a small world that has always been safe I could say I have reached out on all planes. But it hardly counts because I've never been out in the large world. I would hope I would offer my hand, open my mind, and give and take a hug. Hugs bridge much.

"The human species is made up of seven billion subspecies each consisting of one specimen." ~ Robert Brault, author

Extreme Craze

Daily Draw: Runic Tarot ~ 12 of Coins/Lugnasadh

This deck is Extreme Craze (but isn't this a powerful card!). I have all the Smith/Astrop decks because I appreciate their differentness. On the other hand the Runic has no courts, twelve cards per renamed suit, reordered majors as runes, eight extra seasonal cards. Plus packaging that must take the prize as worst idea ever. Because it is sold as tarot, I reinvent the wheel each time I use it.

I'm reminded by this card to wonder, why? Because I can. Because I chose to bring order and searchability to my blog for my personal use. The deck that tipped me over? The Halloween with it's Imps, Bats, Ghosts, and Pumpkins in 2009. Extreme Craze.

"Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, build on to that which is already excellent." ~ Auliq Ice 1994-

The Momentous vs The Mundane

Daily Draw: Shining Tribe Tarot ~ Knower of Stones/Knight of Coins

The momentous. That great idea, the thrill of discovery, the sudden knowing, when each hair follicle contracts and stands on end. The importance of important.

The mundane. I got one of those haircuts yesterday.  Just call me moonboy.

"Even the most piddling life is of momentous consequence to its owner." ~ James Wolcott 1952-

Strawberry Jam

Daily Draw: Shining Tribe Tarot ~ Speaker of Birds/King of Swords

Inspiration, knowledge, truth. What more could we ask of a leader?

Health? Brains? Transparency? Self  respect? Sense of responsibility? Moderation? And the opposite side of the coin, which cannot be separated, where do we measure on the list of expectations?

"Ryodan says softly, “Holy strawberries, Dani, we’re in a jam.” ~  Karen Marie Moning 1964-  Burned

Brain vs. Spine

Daily Draw: Shining Tribe Tarot ~ 7 of Wands/Trees

Our spine at work. It isn't just danger coming up over the edge, the twelve pound headball at the top is working toward our downfall too.

I'm reminded by this card and Pollack's version of a spine, looking down at a phone exerts thirty to sixty pounds of weight on our spine. Sixty pounds is roughly the weight of four adult-sized bowling balls. Or six plastic grocery bags worth of food. Or an 8-year-old. And people wonder why their back hurts.

"We have met the enemy and he is us." ~ Walt Kelly 1913-1973 Pogo

First, Do No Harm

Daily Draw: Shining Tribe Tarot ~ Page of Wands/Place of Stones

When we recognize the spiritual and the practical are the same thing, and can not be walked as separate paths.

I'm reminded by this card "do no harm" to ourselves and to others in all matters, rather than when it is convenient. A difficult point to navigate because it is far easier for me to see where you go wrong rather than were I go wrong. Finger pointing...way more fun. Way less honesty.

"Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage." Thucydides 460 BC-395 BC

Tree Sanctuary

Daily Draw: Shining Tribe Tarot ~ 5 of Wands/Trees

In this world the bough never breaks, the baby and cradle are not lost in the fall. Pollack has made this a time for healing and maturation of our hidden aspects.

I look at this card and think "there ain't nuttin wrong with  me" in my most belligerent tone. Then I think of this blog as my tree and see 3000+ posts stretching back to the roots, the shoots, the trunk and limbs and me in the stable cradle. Writing this blog/tree has saved my life any number of times. Sometimes I think to close it, surely I've said all there is to say, too many times. Then I think about getting up, making my coffee, sitting down to see what today's card is...and my tree embraces me once more. Thank you tree.

"Sanctuary, on a personal level, is where we perform the job of  care of our soul." ~ Christopher Forrest McDowell

Life Tour

Daily Draw: Shining Tribe Tarot ~ Temperance

Having lifted the Hanged Man and grown via Death, Temperance now emerges to create the balance and inner strength to survive the Tower to come and to disdain whatever the Devil will have on offer.

"I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate
A poet, a pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself flat on my face
I pick myself up and get back in the race" ~ Frank Sinatra 1915-1998
lyrics by Vernon Duke, E.Y. Harburg

Unintended Ramifications

Daily Draw: Shining Tribe Tarot ~ Hermit

A funny thing happened on my way up the hill as a techno-hermit.

I'm reminded by this Hermit, in unwittingly using up most of our broadband allotment, I penny pinched the last GB for blog and email so was off the internet grid until the next allotment rolled last week. Guess what. Blog stuff and email is still all I'm doing except one visit to my tarot forum. Would that other bad habits were as easy to break.

"First we form habits, then they form us." ~ Rob Gilbert

Love My Credit Union

Daily Draw: Marziano Tarot ~ 4 of Phoenixs/Coins/Riches

Saving, burying, investing, hoarding.

I'm reminded by this card of the days when banking cash gave a decent return of interest. Which they in turn loaned out for a higher rate of interest, so we both got paid. Banks are no longer intuitions, just one more grubby business, shiny on the outside, dirt on the inside.

"It is easier to rob by setting up a bank than by holding up a bank clerk." ~ Bertolt Brecht  1898-1956

People Watching By The Pound

Daily Draw: Marziano Tarot ~ 2 of Turtledoves/Cups/Chastity

Fidelity, Trust, Partnership, Companionship. Although we have always been in contact the last two days were the first time as adults we'd stayed over and had some real visiting going on. We are double cousins, her dad was my mom's brother, her mother was my dad's sister.  We have many things in common, based on similar childhoods and values. One thing we don't have in common...she loves shopping thrift stores and garage sales. I love getting rid of things via garage sales and thrift stores.

I'm reminded by this card the first thing we did, at my request was to visit a Goodwill Outlet store, where things which didn't sell at the Goodwill store go. I wanted to add some variety to my small box of recycled men's shirts in order to make my next quilt. The charge there is by the pound. I got twelve!! pounds of masculine patterned/colored shirts. And had fun with my cousin. Partnership and companionship of the 2 of cups.

What I also got was another lesson in prejudging. It was not a smelly madhouse of flinging and crowding and grabbing and having to wear rubber gloves I'd envisioned. The area was huge and clean, the bins heaped and moderately sorted (all media or all clothes or all shoes etc) and the most fun of all? My new all time people watching spot, knocking the airport back to second place. I can hardly wait to go again. I'll take a refreshing beverage and sit on a chair until it is sold out from under me and just people watch. 

Vesta

Daily Draw: Marziano Tarot ~ Vesta

Associated with the turtle doves/wands Vesta represents hearth and home, duty, sanctity, and contemplation.

My mother was the epitome of homemaker. I only remember two times as a child coming home from school to an empty house. Awful feeling, and lead to a lifetime habit of leaving a couple of small lamps on to welcome me home from work. I'm a pretty weak Vesta otherwise, if my bed is made and the kitchen is tidy to come home to I've got home dialed.

"The ache for home lies in all of us." ~ Maya Angelou 1928-2014

Generations

Daily Draw: Marziano Tarot ~ 10 of Doves/Wands/Sensuality

Family commitment through generations. I fall down in this department. Through releasing my mother's and both grandmother's stuff over the last five or six years I have made a decent connection with 3 cousins, one I've never met and one I haven't seen since we were teenagers and one I'm going to see today.

I'm reminded by this card, these days there are any number of ways to stay in touch with people the world over. And it doesn't have to mean forty-two guests for a holiday dinner.

"Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it." ~ Stephen Covey

Sanctimonious Old Iceberg

Daily Draw: Marziano Tarot ~ Ace of Cups/Turtledoves/Chastity

Chastity, Solitude, true to vows. Some days back I burnt up nearly all my remaining broadband time on vacation, thinking I had flipped to Wi-Fi. It was a fun and unusual day, swilling way beyond my normal daily maximum of two hours total tech.

I'm reminded by this card, I could have just bought another GB for $15.00 and got on as normal. I didn't because my limit is one way to make each day count, to use my allotment of life in ways which mean something to me, to look back each night and see what I've accomplished and think 'this was a good day'. It sounds pious and sanctimonious truly, but a vow is a vow. And I've broken my recent dirty little daily habit, how many lies did he tell today. Win win.

"A solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg who looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity." ~ Mark Twain 1835-1910

Is it Marseilles?

Daily Draw: Marziano Tarot ~ 6 of Turtledoves/Cups/Chaistity

Respect and admiration. Robert Place and Ross Caldwell.

I'm reminded by this card of the three base tarot deck types. Marseilles/TdM, Waite, Thoth.  
I'm not sure where this deck falls because the minors have two courts and 10 pips.
Two of the suits begin with Ace, two begin with the tens.
There are sixteen majors, all mythic gods, four each dovoted to the four suits.
I've had many Marseilles/TdM decks over the years and all of the Robert Place decks. His decks are unusual, and deeply researched. I've read many Ross Caldwell scholarly thoughts on historical tarot decks; the basis of the art, the original use for gaming. His translation of the original Marziano document was the seed for this deck in particular, and he is in the process of writing companion book for this deck. The question remains...Is it Marseilles, or Oracle?  Place has named it Tarot.

A link to images of the Marseilles styles.

Suit Of Virtue

Daily Draw: Marziano Tarot ~ King of Swords/Eagles/Virtue

Respected authority.
Mom and Dad. Mrs. Camp, Miss Senn, Mrs. Nash, Mrs. Bingham.
Alberta Brown, Selma Piccko, Fankie, Linda Blascovic.

I'm reminded by this list current only up to eighteen years old...I have learned so much from so many, parents, teachers, bosses. Perhaps my mature years cynicality is based on the early teachers having no agenda, just sharing or teahing what they know and my willingness to listen. Somewhere past this stage I must have been betrayed, led astray, cheated, lied to...joined the real strream of life where authority needed to be vetted, cross tested, stand the test of time.

"So our virtues lie in the interpretation of the time",. ~ William Shakespeare 1564-1616

Pleasure Of Deowning

Daily Draw: Etruscan Tarot ~ 3 of Cups

Is it the natural progression of age to realize I have everything I need?
Is it depression or common sense to note in  some way to guide my death clean up crew between junk and family things?
Is it morbidity to keep sending family items to widespread cousins?

I'm reminded by these three cups it is just me being me. Raised by a mother who until late age didn't have much in her home that wasn't useful and used. Today I'll focus on the pleasure of what I love, rather than focus on deowning the rest.

"When you’re clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support this." ~ Victoria Moran 1950-  Lit From Within

Justified

Daily Draw: Etruscan Tarot ~ Justice

The hunter or the prey? I'm reminded by this card I can be each and prefer neither.

I've been reading In the Sanctuary of Outcasts. It could be a puff piece by a spoiled white man to claw himself back into the rich and famous circle. Or it could be the story of Hansen's Disease and the ages old treatment of them, cast out, cut off. Hunter or Prey sounds an easy conclusion. But is he redeemed? Or are the patients riding a free train?

"Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968