The Good Dad

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. This is the last day of April and the final one in the series. 

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The Keeper of Boons (in other contexts King of Pentacles), being of the Earth element, embodies the highest practical wisdom. He’s a rescuer and problem-solver and has all sorts of physical skills and knowledge. 

When the card indicates its qualities rather than a personality, it tells you that material help or practical advice is available. As a person, it suggests someone ‘warm, jolly, lusty and generous’. The Emperor in Tarot represents the father among other things, but I see this fellow as having a fatherly energy too (and a king is traditionally the father of his people). 

Of course I like even better the decks such as Voyager, where the highest card in a suit has no specific gender. But – loving the one we’re with – this is a good expression of male energy. His shadow side is described as overbearing and judgmental, but hopefully by the time one gets to become a king, one has learned how to accept and integrate the shadow so as to achieve balance. (Though, let’s face it, few of us get to be perfectly integrated and balanced. Most people are a bit of a mixture.)

Some men can be what I once heard described as ‘a benevolent bully’ – so focused on looking after you and giving you what they think you want and need, that they don’t give you much chance to make your own decisions, let alone the necessary mistakes we all need to learn from. Hopefully the Keeper of Boons is not like that, and will step back and give women, children, colleagues, friends (and even subjects … er, subordinates?) room to move as they need.  

I liked having

a Dad who knew things

and could whittle

In Shining Armour?

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

Here Knights are called Seekers – which fits quite well. To understand the Court Cards, think of an old-time royal court.

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The little Pages (who were indeed children) carried messages between the adults. Knights, young men, protected the realm, fighting on behalf of King and country. They undertook various quests. Queens (mature women) were nurturers – of the realm as well as heirs to the throne – and could stand in for the King in a leadership role if required. Kings (mature men) were the supreme Heads of State, ruling the whole kingdom.

And young women? Included with the children! Which is how they were generally regarded pre-feminism – and even now there are places where liberation lags. Aleister Crowley renamed the Pages as Princesses. He kept Knight and Queen; Kings became Princes. James Wanless, of Voyager, recasts them as Family Cards: Child, Man, Woman, Sage. The Sage, or wise elder, can be any gender.

So there are many ways of describing them, but the Seeker of Challenges (Knight of Swords) is indeed a knight, shown in full armour. He is called 'menacing'. I’d rather see him as protector than aggressor.

Soldiers – heroes or thugs? A psychiatrist I knew told of a colleague who had occasion to escort a number of VC winners. He said they were all ‘raging psychopaths’! (But remember, VC winners are rare.)

In the Waite-Smith and Thoth decks, we see this Knight, sword raised, against a background of sky. I’m reminded of a legend I once read, about a tribe of warriors who had to leave earth and ride forever through the heavens. But if their people should ever need them, even generations later, they promised: ‘We shall swoop down from the skies to save you!’

This card's abstract qualities include bravery and loyalty, but could also indicate ‘an impasse, a breakdown in diplomacy, or a movement toward war’.

Or – this is the suit of the mind; perhaps it's an intellectual challenge this Seeker faces. He has the skills to do so.

the brawler said 

I use my fists because

don't have the words

Sticking His Finger in the Light Socket

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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There are four suits in the Minor Arcana and four court cards in each suit. I’ve already given you the Weaver of Visions. With three days left in April, I’ll pick a different suit each day, and highlight a different court card too. Today I pick Child of Spells – more usually known, in other decks, as Page of Wands (the Pages are always understood to refer to children). 

This is the suit of the element Fire – dynamic, passionate, full of natural magic. The  Ace in this deck, you may recall, shows a fire-breathing dragon. 

This child is a bold lad, striding into the forest with a homemade magic staff to try and transform a rabbit, which remains nonchalantly untransformed. The text tells us the kid hasn’t put any work into studying how to do it! 

It also says that, in a reading, if the card doesn’t mean a particular person, it may refer to ‘an audacious attempt, a well-meaning mistake, or child-like enthusiasm for a project or plan.’ If an  actual person, they can be playful, enthusiastic, curious, brave, risk-taking, funny, and inclined to learn by trial and error. 

As the mother of both a son and a foster-son in the fire sign of Aries, that sounds familiar! (I have an Aries stepson too, but he was already grown up when he came into my life.) I’m glad to say that they can mature into responsible, hard-working adults – while still dynamic and full of infectious enthusiasm. 

(My Virgo son and Taurus foster-son could be daring lads too, but more strategically and less impulsively.) 

mustn’t let Mum 

see what I’m up to –

oh s**t!

The Dreamer

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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The Weaver of Visions is more usually called Queen of Cups. This is the card I would use as my Significator in a reading – if I were to use one at all.

The Significator represents the person for whom the reading is being done – an identifier, if you like. It’s not necessary to use one, and I rarely do. The Powers That Be are quite capable of identifying the querent (the enquirer, the subject of the reading) without that. But it’s traditional to use one to start a Celtic Cross reading – once upon a time the classic layout, the only one that many people knew, and still an excellent all-purpose spread. Tapping into such an old tradition feels magical!

The Significator is always taken from the Court cards, which stand for people. (Major Arcana cards might represent people very well, but are so important when they turn up in a reading that one doesn’t take them out of action in this way.) 

It used to be said that Wands represented redheads, Cups blondes … and I forget whether Swords were supposed to have black hair and Pentacles brown or the other way around. This categorisation would obviously be silly if one were in China or Haiti, say, or any country without an exclusively white-skinned population. So nowadays Significators are assigned on the basis of Zodiac signs. As a water sign woman (Scorpio) I get Queen of Cups – or, here, Weaver of Visions, which is rather lovely.

She’s ‘a shapeshifting enchantress’ says the text, either woman or ‘leaping salmon’. I prefer to see the hint of a fish tail in the illustration as suggesting a mermaid.

In any deck this woman is described as emotional, dreamy, sensitive, intuitive, psychic.... This book even says, ‘She is poetry.’ As a poet, I do like that!

[Note: All the court cards can represent their qualities rather than specific people, when they appear in a reading – as distinct from being chosen as Significator.] 

laying out

the Celtic Cross –

connecting

Blessings Received

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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Ace of Pentacles / Discs / Coins, in some other decks labelled things like Success or Material Gain, is here called Ace of Boons. The suit is to do with all things physical. As you’ll gather from these names, the Ace is a good card to get, indicating material prosperity.

The ‘enchanted ally’ associated with it is a toad which offers the gift, or magical tool, of a toadstone. Toadstone is reputed to have healing and protective properties.

The thought of having a toad as an ally is repugnant to me. In Australia the only toads we have are the cane toads introduced from South America, which are devastating our native wildlife. They are a very nasty pest, which have proved impossible to eradicate – though we try. I’m glad we are heading for winter, when the unpleasant creatures go into hibernation. 

But I know that in the Northern Hemisphere there are other toads, which folklore regards as magical. If I were to use this deck to read with, I would have to suspend my preconceived ideas about toads and accept the scenario given, in which the toad bears a blessing to bestow on the person receiving this card.

that dark lump

at the edge of the track –

just a rock?

Sharp

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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Ace of Challenges is this deck’s Ace of Swords. It makes sense. Fighting some battle or getting out of difficulty often shows up in Swords cards. A sword is a weapon, after all. But this suit is also seen as representing the mind or intellect. The Ace is where it’s keenest.

In a reading I might interpret this card (depending how it was placed) as a new beginning in mental brilliance.

The Golden Dawn mob saw it as ‘invoked force’ – suggesting deliberate, purposeful use of magic, e.g. spell casting. (I guess picking up a weapon is also a way to invoke force!)

The ‘enchanted ally’ is white raven, a bird of ‘fabled intelligence’ who excels in ‘strategic communication’, knowing when to speak, when stay silent. Even better, we’re advised to call on him when we want the truth. Truth isn’t always palatable, but I’ve found it’s always better to know it than not. 

White raven’s gift, or magical tool, is not a sword but another sharp, piercing weapon: ‘a silver arrow that never misses its mark’. Using it requires focus and ethical intention. ‘If your aim is true you cannot fail.’ There’s a promise that firing this arrow ‘straight into the heart releases all evil from an adversary’ – which ‘can be done on the etheric plane as well’.

Adversarial magic’s tricky. Most serious magical practitioners take very seriously indeed the injunction, ‘Do as you will so long as it harms none’, plus understanding that whatever energy we put out comes back to us multiplied. Then there are questions of self-defence, and/or the defence of others.

I’d rather prevent an enemy from doing harm, if possible, than harm them – which might be easier on the etheric than the worldly plane! On either plane, perhaps the ability to think well is a more effective as well as safer weapon than something aggressive – for all concerned. 

As a young woman, I once talked myself out of a potential date-rape. That conversation felt like duelling! My brain, on high alert, operated coolly despite my fear. I doubt that a physical fight could have succeeded.

child me wanted

to be Robin Hood – not

Maid Marian

  

Rejoicing

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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The book with this deck tells us that each Ace offers us ‘a magical ally, a helpful companion’ who gives us a magical gift. The previous card showed a dragon offering a wizard’s staff. 

This one, Ace of Visions, features a swan whose gift is ‘a tiny enchanted pool in a secluded glade’ which becomes a magic mirror when the water is still. It reflects one’s desires and also one’s true self. We are assured that this is nothing to be afraid of as the true self is ‘noble, pure, and beautiful’. (Have a look at the reflection in the illustration!)

Obviously this is to do with the Water element, which is usually designated as the suit of Cups, and symbolises the emotions. Ace of Cups is one of the best cards you can get in a Tarot reading. It means joy, pleasure, beauty, love … all sorts of good things on the emotional level. It is usually one of the most visually beautiful cards in any deck.

When I was working the monthly markets, I had one regular customer who always longed to get Ace of Cups. It turned up for her quite rarely over the years. When it did, she was ecstatic – which is fitting, as the card, in the Voyager deck I use professionally, is called Ecstasy. The image is a great red rose. Roses, as we know, represent both love and beauty.

The swan, too, is regarded as an archetype of beauty. And we are reminded, here, that swans mate for life – so it's also an appropriate symbol for love.

embracing 

I see my reflection

in your eyes

A Burst of Energy

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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I’ve run out of  Major Arcana cards but not of days in April. I’m doing the Aces of the four suits next. In a reading, an Ace can mean a birth: literally a new baby, or else a new beginning of some kind. I’m choosing them because Ace holds the pure essence of the suit.

Here is Ace of Spells. The Spells equate to the suit of Wands and the element of Fire. Fire has a dynamic quality. The suit of Wands was once understood as pertaining  to business enterprise. Now it’s more usual to relate it to the human spirit (the other suits representing water/emotions, air/intellect and earth/the physical).  

So the Ace of Wands would indicate the pure spiritual essence we’re born with. It has been seen – by the Golden Dawn magicians, Waite, Crowley, etc – as the essence of natural, spontaneous magic. They described this card as ‘Root of the Powers of Fire. Energy. Strength. Natural (as opposed to invoked) force.’

Here it features a wyvern (a dragon with two legs instead of four). Specifically it’s a forest wyvern or Firedrake. It has a gift for the person who draws this card: a wizard’s staff. But we’re told, ‘The power of the staff depends entirely on the person who wields it. … Intention is everything in magic, and the staff directs the wizard’s will toward the desired outcome.’

At the very least, drawing this card indicates that you’ll have a burst of energy. That could translate into new confidence, a new sense of purpose, or a new project. It’s a good card to get.

watch that spark

shoot up the chimney

and pierce the air!

Blossoming

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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Card XXI, which completes the Major Arcana, is sometimes called The World and sometimes The Universe. In this deck it’s The Wide World. It’s a card of completion and new beginnings. Here it shows the white hart we first saw as The Fool, having completed the journey through the forest, coming out into the wider world and beginning a new journey towards the next objective.  It is not a purposeless wandering.

The author quotes The Wind in the Willows: ‘Take the Adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!’and adds that ‘One cycle ends and the next begins’. 

It’s good to remember that the cycle now ending has been completed – no loose ends, nothing left to accomplish – so we are free to move forward into the new adventure. 

It’s a positive message. The stock phrase that I tell my clients when this card turns up is, ‘The world’s your oyster.’

The white hart looks back over his shoulder. There is no regret in his expression, and his stance tells us he is about to turn his head and move decisively forward. He is perhaps just taking a moment to acknowledge everything that has brought him this far. 

my cat calls me

to get out of bed –

here’s a new day

Confronting the Depths

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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Oh, this is interesting!

The Judgment card — which in Waite-Smith shows images of the dead coming out of their graves to meet the Christian Day of Judgment, as Gabriel sounds his trumpet to summon them — is usually interpreted these days as ascending to a higher level, rather than the older idea of being judged (and possibly sent to Hell). 

In this deck, the card is The Council of Animals. The text makes it clear that this Council is very much sitting in judgment on whoever comes before it. In these days of climate change, mass extinctions and the destruction of wilderness, I am not at all sure I’d like to be judged by representatives of other species! Just being a member of the human race might be enough cause for condemnation.

However, the situation is also seen as an opportunity for growth — after you have been faced with the terrible truths about yourself. It is an opportunity for your own reassessment of yourself, your life, and your direction … an opportunity to make changes for the better.

There is even a reading in the back of the book, based on this card, posing such questions as: What brings you delight? What do you covet? What is your madness? What is your song? etc. It looks like a fascinating way of getting to know oneself better, and I’ll be exploring it very soon. 

if you go

down in the woods today …

heavy steps

Here Comes the Sun!

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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The Sun card, called Sunlight in this deck, is positive and life-affirming. It evokes such sayings as, ‘a place in the sun,’ ‘the light of day,’ ‘the sun shines on you,’ etc. It represents new growth, life force, abundance, blossoming, fruitfulness….

How beautifully Lunaea Weatherstone, author of this Tarot deck, writes of it:

‘The Piper comes to the gates of dawn. The new day awakes! The hush of night is broken by birdsong – first one tender note, then another, then the whole chorus of joy.’

She also says: ‘When Sunlight blesses your reading, be ready to receive good fortune’  and describes it as the most positive card of them all.

I must agree. (I think Ace of Cups runs it close – but Major Arcana cards trump the Minors … and are even called Trumps in some decks.)

I would add that this is one of two wish fulfilment cards in the Tarot. (The other is 9 of Cups – or 9 of Visions in this deck.)

look! the sun

after months of rain 

fills the sky

Night Light

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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The Moon – here called Moonlight and presented as full of magic – is one of my life cards, i.e. indicating my life path. 

Traditionally this card comes with a warning not to be deceived, by oneself or others. It’s best to stay on the path directly lit by the moon, not stray into the darkness at the sides. Moonlight can both illuminate and distort. 

It is the card of dreams, the subconscious, imagination, intuition, inspiration. The Moon is often shown on the card of the Priestess as her inspiration – perhaps representing the Deity she communes with. The Tarot doesn’t say so directly, but many cultures and religions have viewed the Moon as a Goddess.

And the Moon is often considered the Muse of poets. The text with this deck refers directly to that:

‘It is said that those who sleep in the moonlight either go mad or become poets.’ 

Let’s ignore the first possibility! I’ll just tell you that all through my childhood I slept under an uncurtained window with the moon shining in. I loved that! I did personify Her and feel connected to Her. I felt safe with Her looking in on me. 

I didn’t know then about any relevance to poetry – but I did become a poet, starting at the age of seven. 

full moon

in the window –

sleeping child