Moon – True Tarot Tales

Today’s Tarot: 28 January, The Moon card and the waning moon in Virgo

Today’s card is The Moon, and this is likely to be a theme for many of us one way and another over the next few days. The illustration is from the Astrology Reading Cards deck.

Astrology Reading Cards: Your Personal Guidance From the Stars: 96pp book & 36 full colour cards

The Moon card means many things in physical concrete terms, not only in terms of what is emotional or abstract, immensely powerful or consequential as these invisible workings are. But The Moon also speaks in literal terms of observable, material phenomena and events, including floods, diseases, pandemics, infections, poisoning, or the menstrual cycle, conception or pregnancy.

And the Moon card is not wrong of course, deciding to show up today. We are after all in Aquarius, THE season for floods, colds & contagion, in the northern hemisphere at least. Such are the seasonal workings of nature. The Moon card is Nature itself, the ebb and flow of the tides, and the governance of all cycles, and fertility.

The Moon can mean all these things, plus powerful dreams, psychic insights or even ghosts…or it can mean confusion, delusion, paranoia, lies, infidelity, our deepest fears. The Moon is our wild side, walking on the wild side. The dog and the wolf. Our home side and our OTHER hidden side, or our hidden potential. The foragers, the naturalists and the animals, the hunters and the hunted. Let’s all go bark at the Moon or howl….while the crayfish signifies secrets emerging from the hidden depths of the water.

Is there something here for someone to do with salts, sea salt, the kidneys or diuretics? This is not a prediction, only an observation.

First Decan of Aquarius

We are still in the first decan (ten days of Aquarius) which in tarot is represented by the extremely challenging Five of Swords (defeat, chagrin, or a pyrrhic victory that comes back to bite someone.) We’ve already discussed this card in recent posts, and the reputation of Aquarius as the Babylonian “Curse of Rain.”

Five of Swords from the Tarot Illuminati

Once upon a time I did a reading for a lady who asked me to draw a card about her father. She was worried about him. I drew The Moon and asked about flooding, and she explained that he lived in Bangladesh. His house had been badly flooded the previous month, leaving a lot of damage, and he was in frail health.

two people in a small boat on a river — Photo by Nishaan ahmed on Unsplash

The Moon can, on occasion, be speaking literally in respect of timing issues, indicating something that may happen in a month’s time or a Monday. Surrounding cards may suggest to the reader which of the two seems more likely.

The Moon in Virgo

Today’s waning Moon is in Virgo and the moon will stay in Virgo until Tuesday when it moves into Libra. Virgo is the sixth house of the zodiac, to do health, food, arts, crafts, household management, duty and service to others. Virgo is also the sign of lab analysis, medical tests and so on. Those born under Virgo, or with Virgo rising or a Moon in Virgo are known for a talent for art. But the Virgo artist is still somewhat scientifically inclined. Big on technique. Virgo dots the “i.” There is a certain analytical flair, making them suited to investigative work of all kinds.

Many of us, it stands to reason, especially this time of year, are preoccupied with health matters or test results at this time. However this is a waning Virgo moon which in symbolic terms, says an seasonal illness or infection is – slowly- on the way OUT.

The old Norse rune LAGUZ (lake) carries this meaning in divination, and may be used magically for protective purposes to do with travel or health. We draw it on a piece of paper, say its name, call on it, asking for its agency. It looks like this…

The Moon card can be referring to far travel and events at sea, when it may be warning us about the risks of travel, and reading the fine print if we are thinking of booking such travel at this time. What is the cancellation policy? Make sure you insure it to the hilt.

The Moon may be referring to a risk of food poisoning. Beware buffets, says The Moon card, except for small domestic or social ones. or ones you have prepared yourself. The Moon can be poison where a Virgo Moon rules the digestion.

The homeopathic cell salt associated with Virgo is Kali Mur- potassium chloride.

“It is most beneficial dissolved in warm water for cramps in the stomach, or crushed and rubbed onto the gums of infants for colic. Kali Sulph No 7: Virgo rules the alimentary canal. Its salt is a cell oxygenator, supporting the action of Ferrum Phos (iron phosphate)”

All in all, The Moon is a tricky card, and mighty powerful. Its gifts are immeasurable; its mysteries, its governance of the cycles of the tides and fertility.

The immediate takeaway here, apart from the things we’ve already touched upon, is to do with watching our words at this time, choosing them with utmost care and double checking everything. It’s not a case of being over-vigilant. We are always right to trust our instinct, but if we get stuck up in our heads, now we are grinding the wheels, engaging in wishful thinking or worry, and that’s not the same thing. Instinct is felt in all of the body. Moonlight shadows can play strange tricks.

It’s about working with daylight, dealing in workable facts, and when we are in doubt, sticking with those workable facts. Does this stand up to scrutiny under the microscope? Sometimes our worries can get the better of us, and we may misconstrue comments or situations in the light of that worry. Virgo is big on investigation.

green and white typewriter on blue textile — Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The Moonstone

Moonstone Gem Guide and Properties Chart

The Romans and the Greeks associated the Moonstone with Artemis/Diana/Cynthia/Selene…the many names of the goddess of the Moon. In India, the moonstone was seen as an amplifier of divine wisdom or clairvoyance.

Moonstone, also written as moon stone, is a unique form of feldspar; a sodium potassium aluminum silicate. The feldspars are the most common group of rock type on the surface of the Earth, but vary widely in their makeup.

“The name moonstone derives from the stone’s characteristic visual effect, called adularescence (or schiller), which produces a milky, bluish interior light. This effect is caused by light diffraction through alternating layers of orthoclase and albite within the stone. The diffracted light varies from white to blue, depending on the thinness of the albite layers…” via Wiki

Magical uses: calming, stress relief, clarity, clairvoyance, right brain stimulation, lucid dreaming, hormonal support, strengthening the “yin”-feminine power and protection.

Something needs sorting, putting in better order. The waning Moon in Virgo says tidiness is the order of the day. Stuff, paperwork, health, home. The Moon card is always to be treated with an element of precautionary care and discipline when it appears, but this is a largely benevolent moon.

“For broken dreams, the cure is, dream again and deeper.” C.S. Lewis

person seated on grass — Photo by Илья Мельниченко on Unsplash

Thank you for reading, and my best wishes to you.

Back soon.

The Water Carrier, The Full Wolf Moon and The Lion

Tonight, 25 January in Aquarius season, is the first Full Moon of 2024 and this Full Moon is nicknamed the Wolf Moon. At this time of year in northern America and Northern Europe, wolves used to come down to human settlements in late winter in desperate search of food- and with resulting conflict.

The dog in this picture is looking a tad nonchalant, just lounging about next to the man, as he does all the hard work, struggling with the wolf who is clearly about to get the worst of the encounter. Folk stories suggest the last wolf in England was killed in 1390 by John, son of Sir Edgar Harrington of Wraysholme, after he chased it all the way from the Coniston Fells to Humphrey Head in Cumbria (coastal North West England).

Windblown trees of Humphrey Head, Cumbria via Wiki

There were always wolves in Britain, but by the late middle ages, they were rare in England, although they survived in Scotland until the 17th or 18th century. Officially the last Scottish wolf was killed (shot) by Sir Ewen Cameron in 1680 in Killiecrankie (Perthshire) But other reports suggests wolves survived in Scotland till much later, with one possible sighting as late as 1888.

Astronomy

This Full Moon is in Leo astrologically speaking, but from the point of view of science and astronomy, this Wolf Moon is technically situated in the constellation of Cancer, next door to Leo, for reasons to do with the wobble of the earth in the 2000 years since the western zodiac was codified.

EarthSky on X: "Tonight's full moon - the Wolf Moon - is located in the direction of Cancer the Crab. You're not likely to see any of Cancer's stars in the moon's

However, according to the working model of Western/Tropical astrology, for profound arithmetic, historic and symbolic reasons, the full moon is in the celestial territory of proud, passionate, playful Leo, the Lion King of the Zodiac.

Tarot cards of Leo

The major arcana Tarot card associated with Leo is Strength, signifying not only the raw power of physical strength, but fortitude; determination moral courage, although it is also, as one would expect, a physically lucky card, suggesting sporting success, military success or recovery if someone has been ill.

This figure – we may think of her as Una- “The One”-but she is you and me, has not tamed the lion as such. They walk side by side, facing futurity, focused on their purpose, looking inward on their dreams.

The lion walks alongside as an equal, though it could deal with Una any time it likes. One bite, one blow of the giant paw and she is toast. Una is holding the leash only very lightly, while the lion remains entirely by his own choice. No-one may sensibly or safely presume to think to altogether subdue or “tame” another. Likewise there is no true Strength, or right to command, without the power of self-restraint and self-command. Any one who would be a leader must first learn to rule himself, or herself. And to control their temper. More haste, less speed. There is a reason patience is a virtue. Lack of it can cost us everything, our lives included.

Leo says ‘fame’. Leo says shine your light, walk the stage, write your part and play it, but don’t overlook the audience. Not only is there no play without them, but they too, have their part to play. An author writes and publishes a book but it needs a reader for it to come alive. The Lion of the Zodiac is capable of many things, not always good. The Lion may be loud, demanding, careless, arrogant, or even cruel, but he is incapable of pettiness.

The minor arcana cards of Leo are the Five, Six and Seven of Wands, representing stress, conflict, competition, victory, fortitude and strategic advantage respectively. We are likely feeling a need to call on these right now.

The Heart of Leo

The heart of the constellation of Leo is its alpha star, Regulus, meaning Little King or the royal star. And in medical astrology, Leo rules the heart.

I had a strange night last night, not least due to a sensation of heaviness in the chest, though I think I may also have seen a ghost. I don’t often see such things, but I have seen them, and they are not necessarily frightening, though they can be. This one was not frightening, only startling. A figure. A man. No details. Today is the anniversary of the death of my husband’s father, whom I never met. But I could not see the face.

The heaviness in the chest was due to long standing inflammation; a sero-negative form of systemic arthritis, which has damaged the aortic valve.

I happen to have both the Moon and Mars in Leo in my natal chart. The Moon is square the sun, and now that I reflect on that, I won’t be surprised if this heaviness eases off again once the gravitational drag of this Full Moon has passed.

The dandelion –dents-de-lion, “the lions teeth” is traditionally used as a diuretic which by removing fluid that places an extra load on the heart, can also support heart health

The Dandy Lion

Dandy Lion’s

Golden Mane

Prideful, Greying

Casts Away

Alight on chance

To Lionise again

–Katie-Ellen

white dandelion flower — Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

Lion and Blue

by Robert Vavra, illustrated by Fleur Cowles

Here’s a book fit to make you roar like a lion, or more likely, howl like a winter wolf any time. It says it’s for 2-6 year-olds but this is a story for anyone.

A lonely old lion loves a beautiful blue butterfly, but the butterfly must leave him to follow its own destiny in search of sunflowers to feast on. The old lion pines for his friend and goes in search…

His devotion will be rewarded, not in the way we were hoping, but in a way far sadder, and more tragic but also immeasurably majestic, when he lies down and dies and decays, and in time a sunflower grows where his body lay. He is reborn as a sunflower. And now the beautiful blue butterfly returns to find him again.

Tarot cards for today 25/01/24 (UTC formerly…Greenwich Mean Time I am writing in the UK. It is 16.20 PM as I write this and the Full Moon is rising here at 17.54 PM)

I am asking the Tarot for its general comments please. Typical! The first three cards out of the deck (The Legacy of the Divine Tarot) are mirroring and almost, though not entirely correlating with real time astrology.

The Star (right now we have the Sun and Pluto Aquarius) The King of Wands reversed (The Full Moon in Leo) and The Seven of Wands (second decan Leo)

This full Moon is actually in the first decan of Leo, 5 degrees and 14 minutes which strictly in terms of date correlations is represented in the Tarot by The Six of Wands. Still, that’s spookily close in respect of real time, and if the Tarot wants to show us the Seven of Wands and not the Six, well, the interconnections and overlap are wondrous, but the Tarot is an oracle unto itself. It contains elements of astrology but it is not astrology. The Tarot is in charge here, and it has its reasons.

General impressions

All three of these cards represent fixed energy. The Star reversed is fixed Air energy, while the King of Wands reversed and the Seven of Wands are fixed fire energy.

This isn’t a bad reading on a general personal level, but it has a certain explosive potential for quarrels or other domestic issues including minor electrical mishaps, water damage, power cuts or trouble with appliances. Chances are we’ve been, not dragging our heels today, but likely feeling as if we’re rolling stones uphill.

Right now we may be embroiled with practical necessities and these take priority. We’re not looking for fights, but no one is going to go stamp-around with us either, whether this is a boss figure, an individual close to home, or issues with some organization not doing what it is supposed to.

All the same, we can see where we want to get to. The fires are lit, the words are on the tip of our tongues. A bright vision beckons. There’s a certain charisma, or an undercurrent of sexual, romantic or creative passion in the air today, and this will last a little while beyond the Full moon.

The Seven of Wands says we are up for defending our turf, standing up for ourselves, and getting ready to roll forward with new projects and ventures…driven the inspiration signified by the number 7, even though we may not have every detail perfectly worked out as yet. Not only do we have the seven of Wands but the Reversed King of Wands, the Leo king, is wearing a 7 on his belt. We may be handling something now, or imminently, that will happen, culminate or conclude in July.

This may also just possibly be picking up events in Ukraine. Why? President Zelenskyy is an Aquarius sun sign native; shown here embattled, weary (King Wands reversed) looking for a new strategy and more air missile support (because The Star is reversed.) The counter offensive has not delivered relief as hoped, but he has not lost the initiative. Look for “fires at sea” -potentially decisive maritime events in the Black Sea between now and Leo season 2024.

The West is not doing enough, is the picture here, and if it does not do more, faster, the West will feel the weight of an new age of The Star reversed and the Kings of Wands reversed, the rise of a new age of dictators. The Star is a beautiful card of hope and recovery , but when drawn reversed it contains the potential for hopes denied, and for the dawning of a new totalitarianism.

Thank you for reading.

Till next time 🙂

November Moon-raking, cartomancy…(and no, I didn’t say muck-raking)

19: 15PM GMT

I understand Mr Biden has now called it, and declared an Election victory for the Democrats 7 November 2020.

Mr Biden 290 Votes: Mr Trump 214 votes

Mr Biden is now the US President Elect.

What is astrology and why do astrologers study the Moon?

‘Astrology’ comes from Greek and means ‘the study of the stars.’

Humans have been studying and recording the phases of the Moon for at least 25, 000 years. The Moon is the closest celestial body to Earth, an average of 238,855 miles (384,400 km) away depending on its orbit.

The Moon provides not only a guide to the seasons, and a measure of predictability as to when certain things will happen, such as the migration of animals for hunting, but exerts visible effects on the tides and a lot more besides, for example, the spawning of corals, animal mating seasons, crop growth, hormonal cycles and quite possibly human behaviour.

November Headlines

You might get to wish upon a star this November…a shooting star, and heaven knows a lot of people will be wishing very hard right now, one way and another.

Look out for Taurid meteor showers on the 11-12 November looking to the right of Orion just after midnight and again on the 17-18 November.

The Taurids, Joshua Tree, California, Channone Arif via Wikimedia Commons

Key Dates

Nov 08 Last Quarter Moon in Leo (waning)

Nov 15 New Moon in Scorpio and this will be a super new moon

Nov 22 First Quarter Moon in Pisces (waxing)

Nov 30 Full Moon in Gemini and this will be a penumbral lunar eclipse.

A penumbral lunar eclipsehappens when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon and blocks some or all of the Sun’s light from reaching the Moon. In a penumbral lunar eclipse the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are imperfectly aligned. The Earth blocks some of the Sun’s light from directly reaching the Moon’s surface and covers all or part of the Moon with the outer part of its shadow, a penumbra. But the shadow is only faint, and a penumbral eclipse is often difficult to tell apart from a normal Full Moon.

What do the moon phases mean symbolically?

A waxing Moon as we approach Full Moon is the optimum time to grow, build, add to, make or get something. It is about bringing something new in, or bringing something to completion or fruition.

A Full Moon is the optimum time to take stock and evaluate, or to gather, collect, harvest or cash in on something.

A waning Moon after the Full Moon is the optimum time for ending something, clearing out what’s no longer wanted or needed, including unhelpful or unhealthy habits. It may mean releasing something, or even getting rid of something (someone.)

A New Moon is the optimum time to launch something, to make a new plan and to start from scratch.

15 November 2020: New Moon in Scorpio

The major arcana Tarot card associated with the water sign Scorpio is Death.

Traditional meanings: Death, endings, transformations, resurrections.

This coming New Moon does not indicate a slackening of the current post Election Day roller-coaster, even if the winner is announced.

I have looked at this more than once since June 2020, and though it seemed to be clear it would be Mr B…my cards just would not send me that clear signal of confirmation.

But it’s one or the other, right? Simple, yes?

Well, I get a lot of good psychic ‘hits’. That’s how I came to learn Tarot in the first place, but I am not a soothsayer. I do it in a spirit of experiment, sounding myself out.

Plenty of others do public predictions, and are very often right, as well as brave, because who needs the trolls, and they get stick whether they get it right (cheating) or wrong (ya, boo, jeer)

I expect to deliver reliable soundings and directions for strategy, but am not a sayer of sooth as such. Though if I was, and I was on the payroll of the Emperor Tiberius he would probably have me thrown off the cliffs on Capri. That’s what he used to do to his psychic advisors if dissatisfied, and if they survived the fall, his soldiers would finish them.

But then, it wasn’t so much a correct prediction that saved his famous astrologer, Thrasyllus, but a joke.

‘What’s YOUR future, do you think,Thrasyllus?’ said Tiberius quietly, as they took a walk out along the cliff-tops at Capri, and Thrasyllus read the signs and said, knees knocking, ‘Oh Caesar, I fear my life is in the most terrible danger RIGHT NOW!’

So it was, except Tiberius was amused and changed his mind.

Good decision on Tiberius’s part. Thrasyllus got it right far more often than he got it wrong, and that meant, far better than a toss of the coin and 50:50

Sometimes the future exists, sometimes it doesn’t.

That is not a gnostic pronouncement. Nor is it a cop-out. It is common sense. Death is certain but not the day or the mode. When it does ‘exist,’ such that is it available to forecasting, there is a change in the wind, we feel it, we smell it, or the windsock points, and then there is consensus.

When I know what I think, my cards line up consistently. When I do not know what I think, something is niggling at me. Maybe only time will tell me what it is.

The current pandemic and other events and winds of 202/2021 was forecast in 2011 by a French astrologer Andre Barbault, using his knowledge of history and his charts as his tools of navigation in practicing mundane astrology (real world events rather than personal horoscopes/astrology).

“It may well be that we are seriously threatened by a new pandemic in 2020-2021.”-Translated in The Astrological Journa, May-June Issue 2020

Not a peep about this US election though. Except in terms of social unrest. Does that make his contribution any the less relevant, extraordinary or striking?

Anything else is divination for analysis….reflecting events in real time or just a little ahead of the curve.

Astrology is like mapping. Tarot is more like this. One is trying to hover above an ant-heap, getting a drone’s eye view as it were, while also being an ant inside the ant-heap, and also looking at a handful of the heap itself under a microscope.

Everything points to Mr B, but the cards are still not being consistent, and there will be a profound reason for this, which perhaps only time can tell, unless, which is entirely possible, I am simply being stupid.

The resistance in my cards is not due to wishful thinking. I am a little ambivalent about Mr B, but have always felt he may represent the best chance for a vital re-calibration, if he has the nerve, strategy and stamina to also restore peace in those places that have lost control of law and order.

My cards showed surprises weeks ago, in a blog post here, and there have been several subsequent appearances of The Joker, logged on Twitter, drawn against Mr T’s election prospects.

The Joker is the planet Uranus, rebellion and revolt. His element is Air and at this time he is retrograde in Taurus, and stays retrograde until January 2021.

Mr T does not need this job. His election in 2016 represented a protest. This this after two terms of a Democrat president, the most affable, sophisticated, urbane President imaginable…and yet…

There seems a widening existential schism between Rural, Small Town and City America.

The Joker

Mr T came in and played The Joker card….and the Joker as we know, is often perfectly serious and not at all funny.

Uranus which rules the concept of the archetype of The Joker is not all bad news. Its nickname is The Great Awakener, and it betokens invention, innovation, electricity, and technology.

The Joker is a force of change whether for good, ill or both. He is Loki, crafty, and maker of mischief. An instigator, a subversive, the rebel of the planet Uranus. He can be downright scary as an agent of revolution or chaos.

The cat among the pigeons, and the old Chinese curse, ‘may you live in interesting times’.

Many will be mightily relieved to see the Joker depart. But for now, the door is still ajar.

But assuming Mr B is declared the winner…a logical assumption, and this has been the ‘safer’ bet all along….Mr T’s got plenty else to do….over there in the ‘money meadow’ unless he can be bothered with opposition politics.

I did look at Ms Harris too, some weeks ago – also here in the archives – and for many she represents the darling hope, but I was not shown that she has the wherewithal, not for the job that’s needed right now, which is no disparagement, but what I was shown were superb executive skills.

It has been messy, and it might not be over.

Only last night the Supreme Court ordered a halting of counting of late Pennsylvania ballots.

SOURCE: The Epoch Times

November 6, 2020 Updated: November 7, 2020 EST

“U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito late Friday ordered Pennsylvania election officials to segregate ballots that arrived after Election Day.

Alito granted a request by the state’s Republican Party to separate mail-in ballots received between 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 and 5 p.m. on Nov. 6 from those that arrived by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, in accordance with state guidance.

He ordered (pdf) that those segregated ballots must be kept “in a secure, safe, and sealed container separate from other voted ballots.”

The justice, however, did not order the counties to stop counting but instead ordered that “all such ballots, if counted, be counted separately.”

Alito also directed any responses to the application by 2 p.m. on Nov. 7.

The Republican Party of Pennsylvania (RPP) filed a request (pdf) earlier on Friday asking the court for an order to log, segregate, and not take any actions over mail-in ballots received after Election Day.“

I understand it may have inferred or directed a process of dating and proving provenance for these segregated ballots, and indeed, even as I am typing this, Il Matrimonio has shouted through from the other room that Mr Has won Pennsylvania.

Mr Biden is a deep Scorpio subject, a King of Cups in Tarot symbolism, with friendly fiery mutable Sagittarius as his rising sign or outward persona.

Mr Trump is an airy, volatile Gemini subject, a King of Swords, with drama-king fiery fixed Leo as his rising sign.

How odd, then, what a small curiosity is this, that the New Moon this month is in Scorpio and The Full Moon is in Gemini.

A New Moon will Wax (Biden) and a Full Moon (Trump) will wane.

30 November 2020: Full Moon in Gemini

The major arcana Tarot card associated with the lively air sign Gemini is The Lovers.

Traditional meanings: Lovers, love, romance, making commitments, weighing up choices and decisions.

This November, the full Moon is about messages, sudden developments, new ideas, speed of communications, new contacts, highly likely to do with job hunting, and possibly having to make a few snap decisions.

Some of these decisions could be tough, but important decisions need to be made with the head, not the heart.

A Gemini Full Moon lunar eclipse such as this one on 30 November is traditionally considered an unfavourable choice of date for surgery, including dental surgery, on similar principles as gardening by the moon…translating here as ease of extraction and issues of blood loss, and risk of infection afterwards. Ideally, one would avoid the next three days, and if concerned, one might consider re-scheduling if practical.

In Summary

There may be further secrets and surprises and upsets this month, as already happening vis-a-vis the US Election counting

I see now why in a card reading done some weeks ago, Sounding The Last Trump) I drew The Ace of Swords for Mr T (Law/court) and why other things did not seem to stack up.

On a personal or family level, old history may haunt us, though this could be an opportunity to resolve them. Some things though are best left, no poking the ant’s nest.

The lunar eclipse 30 November is a reminder to take extra care with important communications, not to believe everything you are told (huh) and to be extra careful with paperwork. Double-check everything.

A bit of peace and quiet would do us all a power of good….and all the sniping and screaming on the media and social media… well, that’s the Tower of Babel.

Love them and leave them. Block, Mute, Avoid, Let Be, Switch Off.

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (and that is the perennial problem with prediction, unless you can see avoiding action and the other person decided to use the warning)

It’s a wonderful world.

Till next time 🙂