Eyes Wide Open

I think I can safely say that that wee devil, Procrastination, has been kicked out of my house…ah, but the act of speaking those words might have jinxed me and invited him back in. No, I’m not having it. He’s gone. I’m working, dieting, writing and organising…and keeping the flat kind-of tidy, finding homes for stuff that has been camping where it should never have been.

There are two books switching between front and back burners: Learning to Read the Tarot, and Tarot Tales - fact/fantasy/spiritual and definitely fiction…each of them holding at least 20k words, at the moment. I had a burst of inspiration the other night that will help re-shape and structure Learning to Read the Tarot so it could be ready for publication on Amazon by the summer.

Tarot tales is an exploration in using tarot cards to create characters and their stories, some of which will be linked and you will see names and places intertwine, star in each other’s sidelines, backgrounds and gossip. There are other projects underway so I can’t make any estimate about when this one will be finished…the fact that I am at it, tidying files and writing/mashing work together/at all is a constant surprise, but it’s all looking good - even to the state of my blogging!

Reading is a big time-spinner for me; I don’t watch TV but have been kidnapped by audio books and often return to the same old stories again and again - this is a habit that is being shattered as I type, even. This year, I will read more of my paper books, more kindle and close my ears - eyes are the windows to the soul, not the ears.

DAILY CARD DRAWS

I began this on a lilt on an optimistic breeze but everything followed the path I normally take, though I enjoyed the enthusiasm at the time.

Using my lovely new Favole Tarot deck in an effort to study it, the artist, the symbolism, and me.

7.12.10

I should mention to anyone reading this that I split this deck because the number cards are just pips, but I kept the courts with the Majors and am using them together as I study.

Also, this deck veers away from the norm and the suits are: Crosses, Masks, Flowers and Butterflies. There is nothing in the details to tell you what suit is what; I guess that the crosses are swords and masks are wands but it’s up in the air as to whether the cups are black roses or butterflies. I feel that the emotion lies with the butterflies, the celebration and tragedy of their short lives – so they should represent the cups. The thorny danger of roses indicates the problems we all have with money – but, it is possible to see the other side of this argument. Don’t we all cry and bleed tears when pricked by the dark side of love? And wouldn’t the petals catch those tears?

The butterfly as a precious and jewelled beast might be an earthy trait, even though it is flighty and creative and everyone loves them; the other terrible truth is that butterflies feed on excrement, and they are here today, gone tomorrow – a life as short as cash-flow.

I spent a while studying the two sets of court cards and have come to the conclusion that the Flowers are the Cups, because the king is wearing a mask, the knave is dressed as a pierrot and the knight has her arms around a statue in a poetic and romantic gesture; they all denote theatre and therefore the arts. Both the queen and the knave have the stem of a rose in their mouths which suggests – a cupping.

- back to the future

I really love the way I leapt onto these cards, and even though I didn't keep up with the readings the practice of deliberately not really using the traditional meanings much and just catching what might be suggested by how the characters were dressed and the juxtaposition of them and the environment, it was a lesson in detailed roaming. Tarot are meant to stimulate and inspire meaning which might lead to decision-making and change, but this is a busman's holiday - I already know most of the answers as to what I need to do to achieve either my goal/dream or contentment… but that wee bugger, Procrastination, is hard to eradicate.

Arrival

I woke up last night, feeling the need to get on with it, do it now for goodness sake, to stop faffing around at least try to time-table myself so that there will be some kind of forward movement. If one thing is created/moved/finished every day my back will be collapsing beneath all the slaps. So, slap me once for achieving this, and wholeheartedly thump me if there's more.