This is the encouraging image in the RW Tarot deck for the 2 of Cups. Well we got past those challenging images in the 9 and 10 of Swords — Mars and Sun in Gemini, respectively — more on that another time … I just didn’t want to go there this year.
And hey, I have a Gemini moon, so I’m not dissing the sign.
But now here we are at the start of northern hemisphere summer with lovely Venus in Cancer. The esoteric title of this card being ‘The Lord of Love’.
Jupiter in Gemini rules the last 10 days of May.
Multi tasking, many pursuits, books to read, people to see, coffee to drink. All done expansively.
Ah, but is it that simple?
The mound in the background of the picture reminds me of the Mont St. Michel, where indeed at this very moment people are eating gourmet meals, drinking fine wine, with possibly amusing digestifs to follow …
But down on the sandy flats where the tide is out, a transition is occurring. An adventurous figure has crossed a threshold, s/he is neither bond nor free.
Is this what therapists call “a growth opportunity”?
If so, what insights, what developments will the new territory reveal when the blindfold comes off?
May 11th to 20th gets this card. Saturn in Taurus.
Satisfied with your efforts? Need to weed that garden? Add a little mulch? Re-think the design?
Let loose the Saturnine aspect of your inner Capability Brown (the amazing 18th century landscape artist) and listen to what is said.
Review, reflect.
… And it happens to however many billion of us there are on the planet at the moment, but when the following occurs, it’s hard not to think the planet has singled you out:
But yes, the splendid astrologer extraordinaire Ms Sheila Roher, lately of New York City now relocated to North Carolina, and I, will be hosting a fun evening talking about the cards and the stars on Wednesday 18th May in Winston-Salem.
If you know anyone who might be interested, please contact me for details.
I went to an event called the Readers Studio and it was (as we say in England), brilliant!
What is the collective noun for about 200 Tarot enthusiasts? “A prediction”, maybe?
I include a link to the Tarot School site where details can be found of what they do. It was three days (four if you went to the psychology & tarot day) of inspired presentation, practical work with the cards, and meeting extraordinary people, and all occurring conveniently across the road from the La Guardia airport.
Attendees included (but were not limited to, in alphabetical order), British, Chinese, Icelandic, Italian, Indian, Russian, and of course a diverse squadron of Yanks (a Brit-word for American) of many ethnicities. All this diverse sample of humanity united in a quest to deepen understanding, and ranging from first time people, like me, to prolific authors and teachers well-known in the scene. For example, a gentleman passed by the table where I was and took a seat. His name tag said Stuart Kaplan, and I thought, “That’s not Stuart Kaplan as in the Stuart Kaplan?!? – the bloke who published the Rider Waite?” But it was …
It’s kind of hard to describe the magical vibe, so I won’t try. But I will say that I got my first tarot deck aged 19, and I learnt more this past weekend, than since I was that distant young man 39 years ago.
Big personal thanks to all involved, and especially to Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone.
The six of coins relates to The Moon in Taurus. The actual moon passes through each sign in about two and a half days, completing a round of all twelve each and every month with drumbeat regularity. With the six of coins the Moon rules the first ten days of May.
I’ve found this an unsettling card. I mean, ask yourself, with which figure in the picture do you identify? The one dispensing, the one receiving, the one supplicating? Could go either way, right?
There’s a Mullah Nasruddin story that resonates here:
One day the Mullah was walking along the street when he was approached by a beggar.
“Oh please,” said the beggar, “help me.”
“Well,” responded the Mullah, “What kind of man are you?”
“Truthfully,” said the beggar, “I like to sit in the coffee house all day and smoke a hookah. I’m not very keen on working.”
With no further discussion the Mullah gives the beggar three coins.
A little while later, a second beggar approaches the Mullah. “Please, Mullah,” says he, “give me some assistance.”
“Tell me about yourself,” says the Mullah.
“I’m very devout,” the second beggar says, “I like to read the scriptures. I go frequently to the mosque to pray. I can subsist on very little food.”
Without hesitation the Mullah hands the second beggar a single coin.
“What!?” exclaims this second beggar, “You gave that scoundrel who sits about all day gossiping in the coffee house doing no work, three coins, and me who is a holy man only one. Why is that?”
The Mullah says, “his needs are greater than yours.”
The six of coins. The ultimate get what you wish for card.
The five of Pentacles is Mercury in Taurus. Corresponding to the last ten days of April. It’s a swift transit, Mercury is the sprinter among the planets taking just 88 Earth days to orbit the Sun.
So Mercury doesn’t stay long in each sign. And maybe that’s ok with this challenging image of the Mercury in Taurus image.
But when the planet goes retrograde, the sign has a longer visit.
Today is April 25th 2016, and in four days the planet Mercury will begin some apparent backwards motion in the sky, going direct again on the 22nd of May 2016. It’s one of three times a year that Mercury does this.
Which means that this year Mercury will linger in the sign of the bull.
The coming retrograde is a great time to check up on details in all departments. Catch up on the filing, emails should be written with extra care, listen carefully when on the phone and keep an eye on the postal service!
The Page of Swords is one who likes to question, to gather information: … Here we continue the occasional ongoing conversation …
But seriously, what is a session like?
It’s not like anything.
How can that be?
There are no similarities in the unique.
Get the Special. Inquire for details.
Today … tomorrow … in life? Do you know? Does it matter?
Direction …
How does the strong man in the chariot relate to the most nurturing of the signs, Cancer?
“Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me!
A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.
If only I let it bear me, carry me, if only it carry me!
If only I am sensitive, subtle, oh, delicate, a winged gift! …”
D H Lawrence
This card is fire in all its potential. Fire speaks of will.
“Patience is the mother of will. If you have not a mother, how can you be born?” – G I Gurdjieff.
The puzzle of will-power …
If you have the ‘why’, you can find the ‘how’.