Clockwise from noon: Tarot Yokai: le voyage de l’ame et les espirits japonais, Seasonal Fox Day (bronze edition), Tarot from the World Behind the Veil, Oracle Lumi Air, Victorian Faery Tarot, Seasonal Fox Night (bronze edition)

April is consistently one of my most challenging months, and this one has been no exception. I also have always thought of April as a month of tricksters, probably because the weather where I live has a tendency to be swinging between extremes during this time–the flowers are starting to bloom but we still get snow! The sun is finally becoming intense but then we get days of showers. Its a roller coaster month. So I wanted to return to my roots and have a good old theme this month of tricksters. I’ve done it before many times but I always have great decks to use for this theme.

The two Seasonal Fox Tarots are old hats in this blog and I continue to adore them as the years pass. The Victorian Faery is also a deck that has popped up a couple times in my monthly decks, and though I often feel quite ambivilant about it, it does deliver good readings. Tarot from the World Behind the Veil is a new Kickstarter release from an artist I adore (she made the Yōkai Tarot, yet ANOTHER trickster-esque deck!) that I’m looking forward to using. And both Oracle Lumi Air and Yokai: le voyage de l’ame et les espirits japonais are both French decks I’m looking forward to really delving into!

We open up with the 1 Le Goupil, or The Fox. But, rather, the old french variation of Fox. His key words are Action, Energy, and Will. This gives me strong Magician vibes doesn’t he! We see the fox mid-pounce, we do not know the result of his action. This month is defined by the first step, the action of agency. Exerting ones self in the world.

Paired with le goupil we have II The High Priestess. She makes me think of Queen Titania, the fairy queen from A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Above her dangles a pomegranate, a throwback to Persephone’s story and a nod to natural cycles. She is marching away from us as if she does not know we look on, but she holds a book open to a page so we can see what is written. We now know what we need. The High Priestess usually is about inner intuition, knowing things innately and being in tune to the rhythms of cycles and nature.

(Fun note, the Magician in The World Behind the Veil is a fox man!)

Together I see this as having faith in one’s self, to think and to act accordingly. To know that there is no such thing as permanence and all things are constantly in flux and now is the time to take action with what we know. Trust my gut and if I have doubts, seek the written form and additional wisdom.

Wow! I pulled from from The Seasonal Fox Tarot Night the Fool Card with a rising sun. Then from the Day edition, the Sun card! I feel together these are a reiteration of the first two cards–do not fear striking out boldly on a new journey even if it seems on its face foolish and you are not sure of what will happen, you are heading in the right direction!

I then have two cards of tension ending my draw. From the Victorian Faery I have the Five of Winter/Swords—but this is an interesting Five of Swords isn’t it? This hedgehog is standing up to the fairies beating it, while the other goes on defensive mode. Certainly this is a card of “stand up for what is right even in the face of overwhelming adversity” but I also see that the hedgehog in the defensive position is not going to easily escape this situation. Use action rather than defensiveness.

The Tarot Yokai gave me The Moon card. This moon is sooo interesting to me. The story in the guide book is about Katsura Otoko, or literally the man in the moon. He is a handsome man that looks at those who gaze upon him and enchants them. The moon card speaks about trouble discerning truth from reality–here with the handsome man, it makes me think delusion, illusion, anxieties, a situation where the truth is hiding.

Together, I see as my action lead-journey being fraught with having to defend myself and also needing to see through illusion and seek truth. Lets take a larger look at the whole draw:

The Fool is juxtaposed with the Five of Swords–my leap into the next journey will not be appreciated by some and I should expect a reaction and possibly attack. The Sun is juxtaposed with the Moon–interesting! I think “illuminating that which is existing in the dark.” All together, April is a month of upheval, of taking action with what I know is truth, and working through the friction I will face when I take the first steps on this journey and shining a light into a place that has been hidden.

Active month! How about all of you? What did your April draw say?