True Tarot Tales – True Tarot Tales

The Lupercalia, Venus, Valentines and Vampires

Painting Andrea Camassei 1635, Museo del Prado

Once upon a time there was a fertility festival called The Lupercalia. Men in wolf masks ran about the streets of Rome, and, in honour of the fertility god Lupercus, and in memory of the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus, would symbolically thrash (lightly touching) any women they met of child-bearing age. Any woman not wanting to be fertile had better stay indoors. But some would deliberately loiter in the streets, hoping to encounter the wolf men.

Later, Christianity claimed the festival originally held on February 15th, renaming it in memory of Valentine, a Christian physician who was beheaded in Rome after doing many a good turn to other people, including the daughter of his jailer, whom he apparently cured of blindness. The violent death of a well-disposed person on religious grounds. What could be more romantic? Another account tells us he was a priest who was conducting illegal marriages, at a time when Claudius 11 did not want military men to marry, because it deterred them from seeking active service overseas. This story makes more sense.

Valentine’s Day is nowadays an uber commercial-fest, but, still, it serves to remind us, if we ever needed a reminder, of the eternal power of that magical experience of the human condition – ‘that ol’ Devil called Love’.

The Devil card however, more truly speaks of infatuation than love. The Devil card in the Tarot speaks of passions and powerlessness. It betokens entrapment, frustration, and the urgent need to break free, even if the wish to escape is not there.

Scorpio gets the rap -or the credit-for all things sexy. But The Devil card of Capricorn also represents the nature god Pan, and the imperatives of our most earthy animal nature. And it is mighty powerful. In terms of human body chemistry, sexual passion might as well be regarded as an addiction.

The Energy of The Devil card

I have more than once encountered the experience of what we might term a psychic vampire, in my professional reading work. One such reading left me so physically drained I had to go straight to bed afterwards, where I slept like a stone all night, but not in a good way, feeling slightly unwell.

It stands to reason. The Devil is fear, and people can be very upset and worried when they come for reading. Sometimes this fear or worry is palpable. And so is obsession.

The client was a very pleasant person to read for, but she was struggling with ‘the ol’ Devil’ all right. She wanted another man but he was married. So was the lady. Her husband brought her to the reading to make sure she would be safe, and that I was who I said I was. Then he left and later returned to take her home.

This was an agreeable, congenial, good looking and glamorous lady, and I could tell from the cards that the other man in question had powerful charisma. Then I had a bolt from the blue, an outright ‘psychic’ moment, and I saw a picture of the man in my mind’s eye. I told the lady who I was ‘seeing’, and asked if this was the person we were discussing. This man was a well known circus and stage performer.

The lady was extremely shocked that I correctly guessed his identity. And so was I, actually. But so it goes sometimes. She said to me, rather sharply, “you know him!”

I did not. I had never met him. and I knew nobody else who knew him. But he had a public profile, and all at once, looking down at my cards, I seemed to ‘see’ him standing behind her, looking out over her shoulder. These things happen every now and then, though I know readers far more clairvoyant than I am.

Would she get to be with this man for keeps? This was what the lady wanted to know. I felt she might get a taste of what she was hoping for. She might get a little more time with this man. But if she did, I had to tell her I could see no ‘happy ending.’ Sometimes, rightly or wrongly, we can only say what we do not see.

I hope she got free of this unhappy situation one way or another and was happy. But I doubt it. That man moved away to the U.S, to Las Vegas. I found that out because she must have given him my number. One day I got a call from the States from this man, using a different name, saying he “had heard about me, and he wanted to know his future.”

I didn’t let on that I knew who he really was, although his accent was an immediate alert. But I declined to do a reading then and there, just like that over the telephone, and recommended he find a local reader. It’s funny sometimes, how some people will deliberately mislead or misdirect a reader, but still expect to receive accurate feedback. If we can deliver that, then we can also see they are not playing straight with us, and no-one likes to feel they are being made a monkey of.

It is another curious thing, that often there will be a succession of readings all dealing with the same card as their main focus. It is almost as if The Everything is setting homework for the reader. The Devil turned up in the following three readings, and in each one we also drew the Moon card, signifying hunting, fantasy, dreams, emotional extremes. Obsession. Illusion.

Image from the Smith-Waite deck, U.S Systems

In each case, some poor soul was having a desperately unhappy time, struggling to let go of a romantic relationship, though they had decided that they must. They no longer felt wanted or respected, or welcome.

One such client was now in danger of starting to behave like a stalker, and I had to warn them against certain behaviours, although on none of these subsequent three occasions did I feel quite the same physical impact of the ‘show biz’ client.

Perhaps this was physical impact was only to be expected. A showbiz sized energy field is likely to carry a highly charged aura, to be anticipated in such readings, and when we talk about a vampire in real life, this is what we’re talking about. A habit, an encounter or a situation that can physically utterly drain your batteries on contact.

Blake 5 Whirlwind Of Lovers 5 Illustration To Dante S Inferno A4 Print - Picture 1 of 1 — William Blake’s illustration, ‘A Whirlwind of Lovers’…from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Obsession Has Consigned the Lovers To A ‘Circle Of Hell’…in Tarot…captivity, servitude, an dependent, obsessional and un-free state of mind.

The Devil card drawn upside down or Ill-Dignified, is usually better for being drawn upside-down, as this tends to say the worst is over, denoting clarity and self control, which is to say, liberation and the recovery of our equilibrium and the reclaiming of our personal sovereignty.

If you need to move on from a damaging personal relationship or a habit that’s proving harmful, this card is an encouraging sign when drawn reversed.

The Devil card is known, with justice, for its powerful negative aspects. It speaks of fear, frustration, anger, unhealthy habits, obsession and addiction, and the evil that can ensue from these things. Usually, the situation that it’s referring to could do with overturning.

The tough news is that it’s going to have to be us that overturns it. No-one else can do it. It is simply not in their power. Possibly too, there is no real solution as yet, and the situation meantime can only be managed or endured. Now it is a case of damage limitation.

But The Devil isn’t all bad.

As an image of Pan, god of all wild creatures, rather than in its guise as Christianity’s Devil, this beastly card is still strong stuff, requiring careful handling.

But this is the power and the glory of Cardinal Earth. And the animals, however “red in tooth and claw”, are ultimately innocent.

The Devil can be one heck of a sexy beast. It is charisma. It is the drive and passion to create. It is our connection to our roots in earth and our general animal vitality – (steady tiger!) – a strong glue for keeping relationships together over the long haul. And as they say, a little of what you fancy does you good.

The anger of The Devil comes in handy, is downright necessary, when you find yourself dealing with disrespect or downright nastiness. Let that Devil look out of your eyes, as you politely say ‘Excuse me?’

Subtext. ‘You better back off.’

If your inner Devil can clear some cr*p out of your space, there’s nothing the matter with that. Let him off the leash.

No. The Devil is not all bad. The challenge is to keep him in his place and not feed him too often. Just watch for the signs and make sure it’s your devil, or your cheeky imp, that’s under control, locked up inside that cage.

And not you.

gray concrete lion statue on gray concrete floor — Photo by Anna on Unsplash

Meantime, Venus, the planet of love, beauty, luxury, fashion and finance leaves behind our friend Pan, The Devil of Capricorn, and meet up with Pluto in Aquarius today or tomorrow depending where you are in the world. The dates for this transit are February 16 to March 11.

Venus needs a bit of fresh air. She loves you. She loves everyone, but at a bit of a distance. Lucky colours for a bit of added Venus power during this transit: white and soft silver, hot cobalt blues, soft shades of lavender and aqua.

a bust of a woman with a group of lamps above her — Photo by Yura Timoshenko on Unsplash

Thank you for reading.

Back soon.

February, the Fae and the Fires of Imbolc

The first of February marks the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s also known as Candlemas, the Christian festival of presenting Jesus at the temple. But long before Christianity, this time of year marked a more ancient celebration in Gaelic Britain: the rites of spring, and the fire festival of Imbolc.

Let’s get with the programme, Imbolc style, and parade down the street, and go pray for the health of the fields! It’s all about the soil. Modern soil scientists will agree.

February

The name February comes from the Latin ‘Februarius,’ referring to Februa; a Roman festival of ritual purification. Below, the Roman spa at Bath, UK.

Two new months of January and February were added to the older Julian calendar in the 700’s BCE to create the new Gregorian calendar, matching it up more closely with the actual length of the Earth’s journey round the sun.

But the Anglo Saxons called February Sōlmōnath, from sōl , the Old English word for wet sand or mud, alluding to the weather this time of year, and the effects of rain and snow-melt. The romantic Solway Firth between North West England and South West Scotland is actually the massive tidal ‘Mud Way’ rather than the romantic ‘Sun Way.’

The northern English scholar monk , saint Bede, wrote that February was celebrated as “the month of cakes,” when ritual offerings of savory cakes and loaves of bread were made to ensure a good year’s harvest.

Imbolc

The fire festival of Imbolc and Brigid began as a neolithic festival marking the 1/2 way point between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Beltane.)

Imbolc marks the start of spring, celebrating the arrival of the goddess deity Brigid, “The Exalted One,” the harbinger of the first lambs, so vital to the survival of those early communities. The deity Brigid later became conflated with the Christian figure of Saint Brigid of Kildare.

‘Imbolc’ is thought to mean ‘in the belly,’ referring to the precious ewes in lamb. Soon it would -it will be- be the time of the first lambs, though the start of the lambing season can vary by up to two weeks in any given year.

Brigid was a protector of women in childbirth, as well as the safe birthing of precious livestock. She was not only a goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, The Tribe of the Gods, but a triple goddess of healers, poets and smiths.

Via Wiki Riders of the Sidhe, the Tuatha de Dannan

“The Tuatha de Danaan, the people of the (mother) goddess Danu in Celtic mythology; a race inhabiting Ireland before the arrival of the Milesians (the ancestors of the modern Irish). They were said to have been skilled in magic, and the earliest reference to them relates that, after they were banished from heaven because of their knowledge, they descended on Ireland in a cloud of mist. They were thought to have disappeared into the hills when overcome by the Milesians. The Leabhar Gabhála (Book of Invasions), a fictitious history of Ireland from the earliest times, treats them as actual people, and they were so regarded by native historians up to the 17th century. In popular legend they have become associated with the numerous fairies still supposed to inhabit the Irish landscape.”

From The Encylopedia Britannica

Brigid might visit one’s home at Imbolc. People would make a bed for her, and leave food and drink and items of clothing outside in the hope of receiving her blessings, petitioning her to protect their homes and livestock.

This was a time for feasting and visits to sacred wells, and a time for ritual divination. A St Brigid’s cross is made from rushes and was placed in doorways to protect the home from harm, representing the wheel of the seasons.

By Culnacreann – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3500722

The Fire of Imbolc and the Fire Rune INGWAZ

Fire and Spring is not gentle. New life is not gentle. It rises up fast and fierce. It has to, or it would never break through. Spring is fierce in its quickening of new shoots. It is initiation. Spring is fire, just as Aries the Ram of the zodiac is a cardinal fire sign, though we do not enter Aries until late March.

Where Brigid represented an essentially feminine energy, the old Norse rune ING/INWAZ or INGUZ is a fire sign rune, associated with male fertility, vitality and recovery from sickness. You can read more about runes here in a previous blog post on my website, True Tarot Tales.

This ancient masculine fire rune represents the power and potential of “The Seed” matched with action. Literally, the name of this rune means “the seed of the god Ing.” When we say we are do-ing, writ-ing …anything at all with -ing at the end of it, we are describing an action, and indirectly, invoking the magical energy of Ingwaz.

The people would light bonfires on the hilltops by night, and by day, they might run cattle through the smoke of lower lying bonfires, asking divine protection for the livestock.

The Cailleach

Imbolc was a key moment in weather forecasting. This was the time when The Cailleach —the divine crone of Gaelic tradition—gathered firewood for the rest of the winter. If the Cailleach knew the winter was going to last a good while longer, she’d make sure of good weather during Imbolc and would use it to gather more firewood to top up her stores.

Bad weather at Imbolc was regarded as great news. It meant the Cailleach wasn’t worried about running out of firewood. She had turned over and gone back to sleep, and the worst of winter was almost over. We shall see. It has been cold and clear and glorious today where I live on the NW coast of England.

I am somewhat mixing up cultures, systems and traditions here, but Nature is the common ground and I make no apology for it. Imbolc falls in the second decan of the fixed Air sign of Aquarius. The fixed signs denote the height of a season. The second decan of Aquarius marks the height of winter, at least symbolically speaking, in the northern hemisphere and now the snowdrops are here.

The Six of Swords in the Tarot deck is a card of recovery and onward progress. This can be read in terms of the natural seasons as the thawing, the passing of winter’s peak point, and now we are steering into spring.

The Gilded Tarot

See the toad in the rushes? The frogs and fishes are, right now, undergoing a alchemy of profound physiological changes, getting ready to spawn.

The light is coming back again, galloping faster it seems, by the day. Dark sacred night’…yes, and the night is dark. It is sacred. It brings rest and healing. But when the dark goes on too long, we start fighting back with the Promethean gift of fire and action.

We are HERE. And we overcame such odds just to be here, to get born as US and not someone else. Science suggests the statistical odds against you and me getting born as us and not someone else were 1 in 400 trillion. Yet here we are. Somehow WE burst through.

We must have had the need. We must have had our reasons. Mighty powerful ones.

Back soon.

Thank you for reading.

Songs of Solstice, Capricorn the Cosmic Sea-Goat

On 22 December 2023 at 3 AM we experienced the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, and thereby entered the first decan of the zodiac sun sign of Capricorn the Goat.

Traditional associations

Symbol:

Date of Birth: 21/22 Dec to 20 January

Ruling planet: Saturn

Lucky Day: Saturday

Lucky Numbers 2 and 8

Energy: Yin

Element: Earth

Quality: Cardinal (the start of the season of winter)

Key phrase: I build, I use

Body: Skin, knees, skeletal system

Birth Stone: Red Garnet and Black Onyx

Colour: Deep red

Herbs/Flowers: Wintergreen, Ivy, Carnation

Origin Story

The story of Capricorn evolved from an ancient creation myth of the Akkadians and the Sumerians. Enki the Mer-Goat, the wise teacher, found himself all alone when the rest of his kind left the oceans for ever, and went on to the land, ascending to the mountains.

Enki mourned the loss of his children, and in his terrible loneliness was placed in the heavens where he could look down and still see them, following their new destinies as creatures of the land. The Greeks later told a similar story, in which Enki was known as the Sea-Goat Pricus.

But why was earthy Capricorn ever seen as a sea-goat? A mer-goat? Here is one of those curious things. The planet Neptune was discovered in the constellation Capricornus, near Deneb Algedi, the brightest star in the tail of the goat, on September 23, 1846.

This illustrates a powerful mythic connection between earth sign Capricorn and the deep water sign of Pisces the Fishes. This connection is many ages old and goes back to the Babylonians 21 centuries BC. But how did the ancients know? How could they have known, to have come up with the story of the Sea-Goat?

So far as we aware, they didn’t. They could not have known about Neptune to have made any such connection. And yet somehow they seemed to have apprehended this cosmic connection, poetically, understanding that life on Earth had begun in the seas, and then some of that life had left the seas for ever.

a mountain goat standing on top of a snow covered mountain — Photo by Jack Charles on Unsplash

The constellation of Capricorn which gives its name to the sun sign, was known to the Neo-Platonists as The Gate of the Gods, through which the souls of the newly dead ascended, returning home to the Source of all things.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is capricorn-stars-wiki-256px-capricornuscc.jpg

Tarot

Tarot cards: The Devil (Pan/Nature, Mystery, Charisma, Fascination, Obsession, Powerlessness, Fear, Entrapment.) Also the Queen of Pentacles and the 2, 3 and 4 of Pentacles.

Tarot card: The Devil (Pan/Nature, Mystery, Charisma, Fascination, Obsession, Powerlessness, Fear, Entrapment.)

This card from the Gilded Tarot deck paints The Devil as one hell of a beguiling sexy beast. We know that the Devil- whether this is our own worst nature or Nature itself -can be downright cruel, vile and nasty. “Nature red in tooth and claw” (Tennyson)

But one can appreciate the artist’s take on this. The Devil is also the angel of the Morning Star, fallen or not. And if he is invariable hideous and stinky and manifestly hostile, who is going to let him anywhere near them? Whom shall he snare? Whom shall he tempt? And entrap.

The complexity here is that the cardinal earth sign of Capricorn is the most grounded and self-disciplined of all sun sign archetypes. Responsible, shrewd and also devoted. But “all that glitters” is not gold. For someone to get EVERYTHING they want, who is going to get hurt? Who else is going to do without? Capricorn at the macro level is about worldly power and the price that is paid for that power, and by whom. Capricorn represents the rock bottom line of our material reality and all that attaches to it: safety, comfort,identity and the luxury of free time.

Resources are not infinite. Who loses so that someone else gains? Here is the the danger of Capricorn as the Devil. Here is the flex playing out on the world stage as power-monger Pluto gets ready to leave Capricorn by stages in 2024. Pluto sweeps a board clean, but not kindly, and not without creating a whole lot of mess.

History has shown this many times. When Pluto changes signs as it will finally do in November 2024 when it settles in Aquarius until 2043, world changing events occur.

1853 Pluto into Taurus: The Crimean War

1914 Pluto into Cancer: World War One

1938/1939 Pluto into Leo: Spanish Civil War/World War 2

It does not always or necessarily signify war when Pluto changes sun signs, but it is always huge.

1984 Pluto into Scorpio: the AIDS epidemic

2008 Pluto into Capricorn: the financial crash which impacted the entire global financial system, caused by bad lending practices which created a mortgage crisis in the United States.

In 2024 we say farewell to Pluto in Capricorn. Astonishing things are in store during Pluto in Aquarius, the sun sign of I.T and Space Tech and “The People” versus “The Establishment.” The possibilities are fascinating, the challenge being that history shows us “The People” have a way of becoming “The Establishment.”

The Queen of Pentacles

From The Sacred Circle Tarot.

The court card of Capricorn is The Queen of Pentacles. She may equally represent a Taurus or Virgo subject, and she may be male or female when we are reading for someone, but this is her specific archetypal card.

She is the Queen exalted in the Earth. Born older than her years. Wise and canny, shrewd and patient, she initiates. She works. She provides. She creates and conserves all things beautiful. Her feet are planted in the soil, connected with the wild creatures but her spirit spans the globe. She is a cook. She is a gardener. She is a keeper, a curator, the queen of rocks and gems. She is a wise woman, consulted by many, bridging traditions of the the ancient past with the present, building a future, sure-footed, one nimble step at a time.

In some tarot decks she is called the Queen of Pentacles. In others, the Queen of Coins, Disks or Stones.

The Stone People

We are the people and we are the stones

The greater the stones the higher we stand

We are the stones, our feet in the earth

And under the earth and over the ground

The shape of the stones is the shape of the land

And the shape of the land is what shapes us

And the shape that we are says who we are

The shape of our land is the secret of us

And we are the stones, and our bones are the stones,

And the stones are us, are us.

Margaret Whyte, 23 December 1939-27 February 2023

Capricorn says we stay earthed and grounded. We keep our own counsel. We look out of the window, lick our finger and stick it in the air to feel the wind direction for ourselves. We neither preach to others nor do we subscribe to mass hysteria, dogma or disinformation. It is hard right now, not to get angry and upset at the things we see and hear. But Capricorn has a way of going high while staying rooted. We know where we came from. We are children of the stones of our forefathers. We know where we belong. We are of a people, shaped by the landscape that formed our people, whomever they may be.

But a people, however distinctive, is not a homogenous, uniform entity.

Capricorn says we honour the land but we think for ourselves.

Back soon with more stories about Capricorn, the cosmic sea goat.

Thank you for reading.

Second decan Sagittarius

Nine of Wands: Standing to and Standing by

IMG Abstract: Sagittarius. Own image in watercolour and pen

We’re in the second decan for just a few more days, till the New Moon in Sag 12 December, represented in Tarot by the Nine of Wands.

The keywords here are vigilance and stamina. This figure, stalwart but injured, is resting, battle weary. The second decan Sagittarius native is quick of mind, good with their hands, adventurous, technically proficient, Sagittarius-Aries fire. More generally, this card says we would rather not go it alone. But we’ll do it if we have to. Oh yes. And we’re not done. Oh no. We’re still standing, and we are standing by. Sentinels. Watchmen. Ready. You won’t catch us with our guard down.

Neptune has gone direct in Pisces as of 6 December, having been retrograde since 30 June. We might have been having some mighty odd and vivid dreams just lately. In my own case, there has been a rather entertaining spate of dreams involving raccoons popping up in odd places, possibly reflecting symbolically tricky dealings to do with certain matters. The raccoon can warn against dealing with tricky people and those who aren’t dealing straight with us, wearing its little bandit mask. The raccoon has positive associations too, of course. The raccoon is agile, and endlessly resourceful.

But it’s curious where these things come from. And I wouldn’t mind but we don’t even have raccoons where I am (in the UK, North West W England) I can’t just put it down to watching nature programmes on the box either.

a raccoon standing on a rock looking at the camera — Photo by Jennifer Uppendahl on Unsplash

Things have been heavy going in recent months for almost anyone. Something has been weighing heavy on our minds for some time. Problems for which there can be no solutions as such. We’ve just had to do the best we can, maintaining a holding position, and trying meanwhile not to make matters worse.

The New Moon in Sagittarius 12 December suggests new possibilities, and a clearer way ahead. And don’t we all wish that for the whole wide world. Looking into my cards for 2024 there are no clear signs of a lasting resolution in the dreadful conflicts and events in Ukraine and in Gaza. Though there are windows of opportunity, and perhaps I will write more about that later.

But right here, right now, says this card is our individual power of action in our own, personal battles.

The New Moon on the 12 December is in 20 degrees of Sagittarius. We might get the strong urge to go somewhere new, learn something new, change our horizons, however vicariously. Even reading a book is a form of travel. Reading rolls up telepathy, mind reading, space travel and time travel all in one page. Each page a magic carpet.

There are so many sad events, and we might well ask ourselves, what use is philosophy? What use is poetry? (Or Tarot)

We are made that way. Words can lift us up. Why else do we conjure special words for births and weddings and funerals? Words are invocations. Words are comforters. They can help us readjust and regain our equilibrium when everything is dark. Words contain the magical power of Wyrd. We get the word weird from Wyrd, meaning mystery and destiny.

Word. Weird, Wyrd. They are all the same thing.

“I will lift mine eyes up to the hills from whence cometh my help.”

-Psalm 121

The higher we can go, the more bearable or at least, immediately manageable things are when the going is really tough. We don’t have to be religious to feel the truth of this.

woman in white dress sitting on ground under tree during night time — Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow (on his pipe. “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails.”

-T.H.White, from The Once and Future King.