Tarot Reading for the Collective ~ December 2017

Dear Collective,

This month I am using the Triumph of Life Tarot – a deck conceived and coordinated by Andrew McGregor of thehermitslamp.com, and created by 72 different artists. What makes this tarot deck extra special is that it is entirely volunteer-made, and 100% of the profits will go towards cancer research! At time of writing over $700 has been raised. The deck also passes my looks-good-feels-good-smells-good test with flying colours! If you want to buy the deck go here.

I’m doing things a little differently this month. Instead of coming up with the questions and then drawing cards for the responses, I randomly pulled a card to ask the question, and then randomly pulled another card to provide the response. This way we get to see more cards and I get to test drive a new way of doing things.

Let’s begin!

Question 1: 8 of Cups

8 of Cups - Triumph of Life - this image by Jennifer Badot, deck coordinated by Andrew McGregor

Artwork by Jennifer Badot

How can you show your love a little more obviously… how can you translate your feelings in such a way that people can find you in your isolation?

Answer: 7 of Discs

Artwork by S. Johanna Hill

Show your love by working on projects that require care and attention to detail, that require you to consider the world around you and then respond with creative force. Translate your feelings with a healthy dose of patience and hope, knowing that it’s always worthwhile putting in the effort to reach out to your community, even when your own mind-state makes it hard to trust that.

Question 2: Ace of Wands

Artwork by Aisling Dreamrange

How can you bring light into impossible situations… how can you challenge outdated ideologies in a way that purifies and heals, rather than destroys?

Answer: The Hermit

Artwork by Linda Jones

All that you can do is feel the strength of your own heart and push that light out in gracious flows or timid stutters, as it comes, as it goes. The light gets stronger with your ability to look within and see what treasures lie beneath the murkiness. Even though it will seem as though progress is slow and ideologies are suffocating – at least there will be the tiniest bit more awareness than there was before with each of your efforts. Bit by bit, it all adds up, and by spending time with other seekers, that force is bound to grow.

Question 3: The Wheel

Artwork by Lori Lytle & Matthew Brown

Which way do you need to turn to better understand what’s ahead…where is it safest to seek solace, when the challenging parts just keep on keeping on?

Answer: 10 of Cups

10 of Cups - Triumph of Life - this image by Katalin Patnaik, deck coordinated by Andrew McGregor

Artwork by Katalin Patnaik

Turn to what you know works every time, even when you are resistant to it. Turn to the practices that ask you to pay attention to what you are feeling, rather than suppressing things. The safer spaces will be with the wise words of all those who have touched you – those living as well as dead – for now those words live inside of you and can guide you through chaos as it arises and falls away.

Question 4: The Tower

Artwork by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

What do you need to break, in order to discover what’s within… what do you do when you can’t find anything within just yet, and it all feels empty and dry?

Answer: King of Wands

Artwork by Ryan Edward

Break the ideas that bind you to the past and break the illusion that you need to be stronger for the task. When there is nothing to be found within right now, embrace stoicism with resigned curiosity until there is relief from the pressure, with the understanding that we cannot wait for others to change their behaviour in order for us to have release in our own mind state.

And, because when I contacted Andrew to ask for permission to use this deck for a Collective reading, I also asked if he was okay if I published more than the usual four cards on my blog, to which he responded, ‘use as many cards as you want’…here is a wild card:

7 of Swords

Artwork by Sally E. Garrison

Hold for the right moment. Notice where the trapdoors lie. Speak from a place that is unsettling for everyone, including yourself, but only for this moment. When the moment passes, you can relax again, knowing that you can trust yourself to speak your awareness when necessary.

This Tarot Reading for the Collective was done with the Triumph of Life Tarot, conceived and coordinated by Andrew McGregor of thehermitslamp.com . These images are used here with permission. To find out more about this deck and to buy your own copy (remember, 100% of the profits go to cancer research!) go to thehermitslamp.com/tol