2012, and reading cards
I think last night was probably one of the best new year celebrations I've ever had, if not tied for first. It was a super simple affair too. I just hung out with my best friends-- Megan, Andrew, and Adrienne-- we cooked dinner, watched pirate themed movies, played board games, and drank booze. Very quiet, very intimate, and totally fun.
At around 3 in the morning my friend Megan gave me a tarot reading (Adrienne had fallen asleep and Andrew was in the other room playing Saints Row 3). I'm not a new agey person, and for all intents and purposes I consider myself mostly skeptical, but there are a few things/people that I let myself believe in. Megan is pretty good with her cards, and it's always an interesting/fun experience anyway. This reading was altogether interesting.
Cliff notes: I was asking about the major events to expect in 2012 (this year, I should note, I have long since claimed as "my year" in which I'm gonna make sure everything changes for the better. MY year, damnit! MINE!) but as she was shuffling and prepping she said that the question just didn't feel right, that the cards wanted to talk about something else. So had me reshuffle while concentrating on seeing what the cards wanted to show me, and she dealt them out. She came up with a totally different spread then she'd ever done, one she made up as she went, and it was surprisingly interesting.
The first three cards were all aces-- stone, staffs, and swords. The following three cards (in the place of the east card, where there's usually one but she felt three was more 'right') were ALSO stone, staff, and sword. The likelihood of getting three aces in a row in the deck are pretty insane, not to mention getting the same three suits immediately after in relation to those cards is really bizarre.
She then dealt out the rest of the cards. A little backstory, she separates her deck into three parts-- one with all the minor arcana, one with the major arcana, and a third with other cards that aren't part of the regular deck and mostly represent gods/goddesses from various cultures. In the center were the minor arcana, up top she used the major arcana, and beneath were the gods.
On first glance she told me that the whole spread was about change and finding balance. She also mentioned how strange it was that given all the cards, that the only suit almost completely missing was the cups-- which represent emotions and relationships. They weren't completely missing, but were only elements of the major arcana, and were represented strangely.
The center spread though, the minor arcana, basically showed that in the coming year I should be careful about taking on too many things. I like to be busy, to be doing things all the time, but I also have a tendency to spread myself thin. This, she said, will only be a hindrance for me. If I really want to make a change, I need to focus myself and be sure to keep myself open to other things coming my way, and not be so busy that I deflect an opportunity should it arise.
Related to that was the fact that in the coming year I will likely be beginning many new projects, big projects, important projects, and that several of them will fail. But more importantly, several will succeed, and the cards warned that I need to make sure I don' harp on the failures and focus on the successes. One of the cards represented courage and determination, which will help me. But there was another card-- the ten of swords-- which showed several swords embedded into a stone (which bled where they stood), and several broken tips on the floor beneath it. What Megan posited this meant was that yes I will have failures, but even those failures will be successes as shown by the fact that even with the broken tips, all of the swords were embedded in the stone.
It also showed that I will likely find stability, and that I'm at a place where I should spread my wings and fly, but be wary of people trying to keep me tethered down. This almost definitely represented my family, because moving out of home is a HUGE HUGE issue for me, and it's my family that keeps me here. But on the plus side of that, we've recently opened a dialogue wherein I finally expressed my issues with certain things, and everyone seems to be beginning to realize the same things I've been trying to point out-- and that I really need to GTFO, don't'cha know.
The major arcana were all about finding balance. They were the magician, alchemy, and the hanged man. The magician showed that I had a tendency to be very all over the place. I have my hand in so many pots, creatively (writing, acting, photography, etc.), academically, and that I'm always seeking new tasks to take on. This has been fine in the past, but it's time to begin to focus and find balance. Alchemy was the total representation of this, as it means balance. The cups showed up in this card, but it was split in half and on opposing sides, which Megan suggested means that either until I can find a balance that I may not be satisfied emotionally, or that someone will come into my life and make me happy, which will make me find balance. The hanged man represented, according to Megan, sort of finding myself, becoming at peace and focused. The particular hanged man in her deck shows an invisible man hanging from a hook, and his hair dangles to the grand and becomes roots (not how it normally looks), which we both deduced that he was both hanging as well as growing. And his hands were unbound, with a rainbow behind him, which felt peaceful. It also meant logic and focus.
The bottom cards represented gods. I can't remember the name of the first goddess in the spread, but it was a Hindu goddess which represented someone who would come into my life and help guide me to where I ought to be. She'd be young, dark haired, involved with music, and energetic. It was pretty effin' obvious to the both of us that this card represented my friend Adrienne, who was sleeping like two feet away, haha. Adrienne is helping to keep me motivated in a lot of areas, from writing and acting to music, and she's been actively writing down funny shit I say but always forget so that I won't, you know, forget them. So, yeah, it was clearly her.
The second card represented me, and it was the Runes card-- specifically, it was Odin. I've always had a connection to the god Odin for some reason. Something about him resonates with me. In this spread, Megan said that he represented being wise, tired, and a man who sacrificed for his kin. Odin, as the story goes, plucked out his eye as sacrifice for the knowledge of how to defeat the giants in the final battle. This, Megan said, represented my relationship with my family. This felt connected to the minor arcana, specifically the part talking about my need to spread my wings and fly, and to not let my family hold me back. I've sacrificed enough, basically.
The final card, Kali, was about someone who was going to teach me a lesson. Megan wanted to make it clear that this did not mean it would be a positive experience, or that it would be a direct lesson, but rather the taking away of something from someone elses experiences. Kali, to explain, is a Hindu goddess which, to put in simple terms, represents the necessary evil in the world (evil isn't the right word, but it'll work for now). The story is that before evil, the world flourished and grew and began to become unbearable as it was becoming overcrowded and what not. Kali stepped in and created death, and all the bad things that would lead to it. She wasn't a bad person herself, but she was necessary to ensure that there was balance. In this spread, Megan pointed out, she represented someone who had great love for me and my best interests in mind, but was a destructive force. Again, as with Adrienne, we both knew exactly who this card represented-- my sister, Carissa, who has basically been (through my whole life) the example of what NOT to do. Exactly what the card said she would be.
So, to summarize, the spread showed that change is coming, but I have to be prepared and to not overdo it. I need to not let myself get bogged down, or get derailed when I have a failure. I need to find balance and focus, and if/when I do I will be better for it. And I need to spread my wings and fly.
She wanted to do another spread for me, because the fact that the cups were missing seemed to indicate that there was more to be said. But when she went to shuffle the deck again there was something off. It was like the cards didn't want to go at it again for some reason. She had me try to shuffle them (without saying anything, just asked me to shuffle) and I actually had the same issue. It was weird. It will clearly sound insane (though, honestly, if you've even read this far you're probably open to hearing me out, so keep on truckin') but it was like this anxiety built inside, and whenever I moved the cards it was like I just knew that they didn't want to be read.
Megan suggested that this had something to do with my love life, and she said this because in the past when she's read my cards-- specifically when we were talking about love, etc-- there was a similar issue. But this time it was like REALLY prevalent. Hell, I felt it.
At this point we decided to take a break and go watch Andrew play Saints Row 3 (which, holy fuck, I need that game in my life) and I promptly fell asleep on their bed.
So for those who skipped all that crap about the tarot cards, you may now continue reading HERE: So, like I said, this was probably one of the best new years celebrations I've had so far.
At around 3 in the morning my friend Megan gave me a tarot reading (Adrienne had fallen asleep and Andrew was in the other room playing Saints Row 3). I'm not a new agey person, and for all intents and purposes I consider myself mostly skeptical, but there are a few things/people that I let myself believe in. Megan is pretty good with her cards, and it's always an interesting/fun experience anyway. This reading was altogether interesting.
Cliff notes: I was asking about the major events to expect in 2012 (this year, I should note, I have long since claimed as "my year" in which I'm gonna make sure everything changes for the better. MY year, damnit! MINE!) but as she was shuffling and prepping she said that the question just didn't feel right, that the cards wanted to talk about something else. So had me reshuffle while concentrating on seeing what the cards wanted to show me, and she dealt them out. She came up with a totally different spread then she'd ever done, one she made up as she went, and it was surprisingly interesting.
The first three cards were all aces-- stone, staffs, and swords. The following three cards (in the place of the east card, where there's usually one but she felt three was more 'right') were ALSO stone, staff, and sword. The likelihood of getting three aces in a row in the deck are pretty insane, not to mention getting the same three suits immediately after in relation to those cards is really bizarre.
She then dealt out the rest of the cards. A little backstory, she separates her deck into three parts-- one with all the minor arcana, one with the major arcana, and a third with other cards that aren't part of the regular deck and mostly represent gods/goddesses from various cultures. In the center were the minor arcana, up top she used the major arcana, and beneath were the gods.
On first glance she told me that the whole spread was about change and finding balance. She also mentioned how strange it was that given all the cards, that the only suit almost completely missing was the cups-- which represent emotions and relationships. They weren't completely missing, but were only elements of the major arcana, and were represented strangely.
The center spread though, the minor arcana, basically showed that in the coming year I should be careful about taking on too many things. I like to be busy, to be doing things all the time, but I also have a tendency to spread myself thin. This, she said, will only be a hindrance for me. If I really want to make a change, I need to focus myself and be sure to keep myself open to other things coming my way, and not be so busy that I deflect an opportunity should it arise.
Related to that was the fact that in the coming year I will likely be beginning many new projects, big projects, important projects, and that several of them will fail. But more importantly, several will succeed, and the cards warned that I need to make sure I don' harp on the failures and focus on the successes. One of the cards represented courage and determination, which will help me. But there was another card-- the ten of swords-- which showed several swords embedded into a stone (which bled where they stood), and several broken tips on the floor beneath it. What Megan posited this meant was that yes I will have failures, but even those failures will be successes as shown by the fact that even with the broken tips, all of the swords were embedded in the stone.
It also showed that I will likely find stability, and that I'm at a place where I should spread my wings and fly, but be wary of people trying to keep me tethered down. This almost definitely represented my family, because moving out of home is a HUGE HUGE issue for me, and it's my family that keeps me here. But on the plus side of that, we've recently opened a dialogue wherein I finally expressed my issues with certain things, and everyone seems to be beginning to realize the same things I've been trying to point out-- and that I really need to GTFO, don't'cha know.
The major arcana were all about finding balance. They were the magician, alchemy, and the hanged man. The magician showed that I had a tendency to be very all over the place. I have my hand in so many pots, creatively (writing, acting, photography, etc.), academically, and that I'm always seeking new tasks to take on. This has been fine in the past, but it's time to begin to focus and find balance. Alchemy was the total representation of this, as it means balance. The cups showed up in this card, but it was split in half and on opposing sides, which Megan suggested means that either until I can find a balance that I may not be satisfied emotionally, or that someone will come into my life and make me happy, which will make me find balance. The hanged man represented, according to Megan, sort of finding myself, becoming at peace and focused. The particular hanged man in her deck shows an invisible man hanging from a hook, and his hair dangles to the grand and becomes roots (not how it normally looks), which we both deduced that he was both hanging as well as growing. And his hands were unbound, with a rainbow behind him, which felt peaceful. It also meant logic and focus.
The bottom cards represented gods. I can't remember the name of the first goddess in the spread, but it was a Hindu goddess which represented someone who would come into my life and help guide me to where I ought to be. She'd be young, dark haired, involved with music, and energetic. It was pretty effin' obvious to the both of us that this card represented my friend Adrienne, who was sleeping like two feet away, haha. Adrienne is helping to keep me motivated in a lot of areas, from writing and acting to music, and she's been actively writing down funny shit I say but always forget so that I won't, you know, forget them. So, yeah, it was clearly her.
The second card represented me, and it was the Runes card-- specifically, it was Odin. I've always had a connection to the god Odin for some reason. Something about him resonates with me. In this spread, Megan said that he represented being wise, tired, and a man who sacrificed for his kin. Odin, as the story goes, plucked out his eye as sacrifice for the knowledge of how to defeat the giants in the final battle. This, Megan said, represented my relationship with my family. This felt connected to the minor arcana, specifically the part talking about my need to spread my wings and fly, and to not let my family hold me back. I've sacrificed enough, basically.
The final card, Kali, was about someone who was going to teach me a lesson. Megan wanted to make it clear that this did not mean it would be a positive experience, or that it would be a direct lesson, but rather the taking away of something from someone elses experiences. Kali, to explain, is a Hindu goddess which, to put in simple terms, represents the necessary evil in the world (evil isn't the right word, but it'll work for now). The story is that before evil, the world flourished and grew and began to become unbearable as it was becoming overcrowded and what not. Kali stepped in and created death, and all the bad things that would lead to it. She wasn't a bad person herself, but she was necessary to ensure that there was balance. In this spread, Megan pointed out, she represented someone who had great love for me and my best interests in mind, but was a destructive force. Again, as with Adrienne, we both knew exactly who this card represented-- my sister, Carissa, who has basically been (through my whole life) the example of what NOT to do. Exactly what the card said she would be.
So, to summarize, the spread showed that change is coming, but I have to be prepared and to not overdo it. I need to not let myself get bogged down, or get derailed when I have a failure. I need to find balance and focus, and if/when I do I will be better for it. And I need to spread my wings and fly.
She wanted to do another spread for me, because the fact that the cups were missing seemed to indicate that there was more to be said. But when she went to shuffle the deck again there was something off. It was like the cards didn't want to go at it again for some reason. She had me try to shuffle them (without saying anything, just asked me to shuffle) and I actually had the same issue. It was weird. It will clearly sound insane (though, honestly, if you've even read this far you're probably open to hearing me out, so keep on truckin') but it was like this anxiety built inside, and whenever I moved the cards it was like I just knew that they didn't want to be read.
Megan suggested that this had something to do with my love life, and she said this because in the past when she's read my cards-- specifically when we were talking about love, etc-- there was a similar issue. But this time it was like REALLY prevalent. Hell, I felt it.
At this point we decided to take a break and go watch Andrew play Saints Row 3 (which, holy fuck, I need that game in my life) and I promptly fell asleep on their bed.
So for those who skipped all that crap about the tarot cards, you may now continue reading HERE: So, like I said, this was probably one of the best new years celebrations I've had so far.