Hello and greetings! After an absolute wild and hilarious month of a “D&D” party of decks (maybe one day I’ll share the crazy draw my Tarot friend and I came up with), it’s time to slow down and savor the final (hopefully) month of the hot summer—with decks that encompass the idea of movement! That may sound like an odd theme, but while using my last months decks I found it interesting how the juxtaposition between “action” and “inaction” portrayed in art had on how I felt about an image. So of course I need to look at it more closely in the Tarot world! And I wanted to start with movement, to experiment and explore what this does to a tarot reading.

I didn’t have a difficult time at all choosing decks for this month’s theme as I tend to be drawn to decks that are, well, not exactly stagnant in their art! I tried to pick some decks that have had very little time on this blog in general, except I had to bring out an old favorite!

Right to left: The Tarot of the Silicon Dawn, The Whisper of the Stars and Garden Tarot (“Self” edition), Spiritual Cycle Oracle, The Riderless Tarot, the Shadowscapes Tarot (Czech Edition).

Naturally, all of these decks this month encompass excellent examples of art that portrays movement, but I especially am excited to start learning The Tarot of the Silicon Dawn as it is a deck I have wanted for years and years and only recently was able to snag an affordable used copy! I also have the recently acquired through Kickstarter The Whisper of the Stars and Garden Tarot, which is just drop dead gorgeous and turning out to be an excellent, moderately traditional RWS. The Spiritual Cycle Oracle and The Riderless Tarot I’ve both had and used frequently for quite a while now, but have somehow not ended up the monthly subjects of study (which considering how much I adore The Riderless, is a crime). And of course, the Shadowscapes is the deck that really pulled me into the fascinating world of Tarot and is a deck I still refer to and love for all the motion that is constant in the images.

So I’ll admit, I had a totally different layout for the cards planned this month, but I first drew this intriguing 2 of Cups from the Silicon Dawn (though, every card from SD is intriguing to me!), followed by these double jumpers from Stars and Garden, and I decided to completely restructure my draw to match this 2 of Cups.

When I “read” Tarot for myself, I tend to take a fairly Jungian point of view, or point of meditation, and this image of the dark and light figures, the darker one sinking and the lighter one rising, combined with the cups’ contents flowing down and up, not only do I get strong Temperance vibes, but I also see this as a recognition of our “shadow” self often described in Jungian psychology. We need both the “light” and the “dark” self to function and be healthy individuals, but we often struggle to identify the shadow self and thus struggle to integrate it into our understanding of self. From a card that I typically see as making a new, or refreshing a connection with another, to seeing the “true” inner-self is indeed interesting! I also like this notion of how things must go up and down to achieve a balance. It asks perhaps how is my shadow self nourishing or affecting my conscious self, and how shall I nourish my shadow self?

This concept is further explored with both The Sun (upright) and The Devil (reversed) from the Stars and Garden. Very simplistically (and perhaps a petitio principii fallacy), I might read this as “at your best, you are your best, at your worst, you are your worst”! I certainly think that if the Devil has an “opposite” card, I’d likely pick the Sun, and visa versa. If I think immediately of our Jungian 2 of Cups, I see this as when you are at your best, you can see what you are at your worst, or, of course, the opposite. Speaking personally, I know my best and worse selves certainly coesixt together and some of the things I regret doing or saying tend to happen when I’m feeling “at my best” and I’m most willing to take risks. I can also read this as though I’m enjoying life and living authentically in the sun card, there’s always the undercurrent of my own shortcomings that can change my state of being. Though this is a little bleak, and I like to believe we have agency over how we act towards the outer world. I like how the horse and the child move together across the field of flowers, where as the two people in the devil are stuck, and motionless.

This card came out sideways, and while I up-righted it, twice the wind from the window flipped it sideways again, so I decided to just leave it that way! This card seems pretty black and white (haha!), you either win or you lose. But, it reminds me of one of my favorite cards in the Tarot, the Five of Swords, which is often a “make or break” card for me when I invest in a new deck. I, typically, read the V of Swords as “the cost of winning.” Sometimes that cost is losing a lot before you gain the skills to win. Sometimes is means losing something precious because of winning, or in the attempt to win. It’s important to decide if the risk of wining and the sustained losses that go with it are worth the win. Or, in another way, do the ends justify the means? It also makes me think what in my life am I pursuing to “win”? What are the risks associated with that? What happens if I lose? I see the “win” side is next to my previously drawn cards—I think being honest with one’s self is always a win!

Hmm, and interesting set of three cards! On the far right is the Shadowscapes Knight of Pentacles, the card of “slow and steady wins the race,” unwavering diligence, and methodical work–certainly the most contemplative of the otherwise rash knights! This may be the year of the Knight of Pentacles seeing as I keep getting him. In the sense of movement, it seems like the wyrm he rides is looping back on itself though he looks forwards at his end goal—in what ways are the motions I’m taking not helping me progress? It also makes me think of X The Wheel of Fortune major card seeing as it speaks of a wheel of cycles the human experiences in their life.

Its interesting the Knight of Pentacles is paired with the VII of Pentacles (see how the golden apples look like they’ve rolled right down the hill into the center of the knights woodland wyrm?) a card of steady work and application of skill, juxtaposed with the short fused but sharp minded Page of Swords, whose ready for action. If we think back to the 2 of Cups and ask in what ways does these two things exist even if at first look they seem opposite, we can say that the attentive practice of skill is juxtaposed with the new sharp ideas that are different from what you’ve already been doing. It can look threatening when there’s something new, and especially (given its a Page) when that concept is untested. But there is no motive to practice and get good at a skill if there wasn’t that initial spark.

The three together with the “Lose” side of the oracle, I see as a desire to make motion forward but that motion needing room for a new spark to ignite new ways of thinking and ideas! If those new things are repressed there’s no wining that endless grid!

All together, I see this as a reading of the ability to take two paths; one that seems at first glace rather hedonistic, but is really the path of staying true to yourself (your whole self), while the other has an inner argument of the best way to go about things where there’s already established “way things should be” process. Unfortunately this is a path that doesn’t seem to want to progress! Perhaps I should ask myself what ways am I being dishonest with myself that is preventing me from progressing?

Hmm, a very interesting introspective month! What do the cards say for you these days?