-
Welcome to Tarot, Tea, & Me - The Tarot Forum!
TT&M is currently the largest active Tarot Forum on the web, and we are so happy you are here!
Come join us in learning card meanings, browse our growing tarot library, or participate in reading exchanges with other members.
We invite you become a part of our family and read with us!
Little Fang
Forum Owner
-
Deck to Check
-
Blogs
-
- 152
entries - 36
comments - 21459
views
Recent Entries
Feedback, comments and questions are welcome.
We entered the astrological month of Capricorn on December 22 of this week.
The bottom row, representing the Jewish calendar according to the Tarot Netivot system has already been featuring Major Arcana card XI Doreshet ‘The Seeker’ since December 21; and the Matriarch of Wands for the beginning of the week of the Full Moon December 31.
The Major Arcana card XV Babylon ‘The Devil’ represented the December Solstice in the Tarot Netivot system. It now continues as the card that represents the entire month of Capricorn. Cards which represented animal, plant, gemstone/metal correspondences for the Solstice — Dog and Birch; and Dolphin and Willow remain on the board.
The top line features Tarot cards as they relate to today’s Western Hermetic Astrology using primarily the Tabula Mundi Tarot Silver Edition by M.M. Melleen. This works with the Solar Calendar. These are the correspondences that Benebell uses when working with the SKT and astrology.
The bottom line features Tarot cards as they relate to the Hebrew calendar according to Tarot Netivot. I am using the Lurianic Tarot by Basilikon — one of the few truly Jewish Tarot decks out there and certainly one of the most beautiful; and the hand painted Illuminated Tarot Starlight Rainbows edition by Carol Herzer. These work with the Lunar Calendar.
The middle cards are animal, crystal, and plant correspondences according to T. Susan Chang in the book ‘Tarot Correspondences’. These are tied to the Major Arcana cards as they appear in Tarot Netivot representing each Jewish month, Jewish holidays, and major lunar and solar events as well as to the Western Hermetic Major Arcana in the top rows. These are taken from various decks in my collection. New additions: Elephant, Mountain Goat, Scorpion, Eagle, Snake and Dolphin. We have black Onyx, Turquoise, Obsidian, Silver, Pear, Aquamarine, and Peridot. Plant representatives are Poppy, Thistle, Water Hibiscus, and Lotus.
We have two cards that overlap the two systems here: Dolphin and Willow.
Benebell Wen, in the Book of Maps notes that in Biblical symbolism, the willow tree represents a perpetual source of nourishment and resource. She writes, ‘Willows are also sacred in Tibetan mysticism, believed to hold powerfully magical properties and can be used in divination.’ Dowsing rods — used to locate water sources, are commonly made from willow branches. The willow is also paired with Kuan Yin as a symbol of truth.
Existing cards will be exchanged with new incoming cards as the wheel of the year turns. Lunar phases change every 3 - 4 days; decans change every 10 days. Months change every 28 - 31 days. Note: I am working with 2 different systems to mark the months, one solar and the other lunar.
- Read more...
- 0 comments
- 152
-
- 4
entries - 15
comments - 2644
views
Recent Entries
Latest Entry
The cradle of tarot (So many decks 2)
By the time playing card decks had become prevalent in Europe, the Kingdom of Sicily was the Korea of its time: There were two political entities claiming to be the real Kingdom of Sicily. This reminds us, that there was no unified Italy at the time. The old kingdom of Sicily split in 1282, and it wasn't until 1816 the two claimants reunited into one kingdom, the strangely named Kingdom of the two Sicilies.
North of these two rivalling southern countries, the Papal States (Holy See) were located. Today, the Holy See oversees the world's smallest country, the principality of Vatican City, consisting of a few city blocks in the middle of the city of Rome, Italy, but in the Middle Ages, the land-claims of the Papal States were quite substantial, running from the west coast (Tyrrhenian Sea) to the east coast (Adriatic Sea). The bishop of Rome had become a head of state in 756, after a Frankish army defeated the Lombards, but the 14th and 15th centuries eroded some of the Pope's secular political power. From 1305 to 1378, popes resided in the Avignon enclave surrounded by Provence, and, in his absence, local aristocracy strengthened their secular power over city states such as Ferrara, Modena and Reggio (House of Este) and Rimini (House of Malatesta). Another semi-autonomous city-republic formally under papal rule was Bologna, significant for its old university, founded in 1088 AD. The ecumenical council of Basel had begun its first session in 1431, but moved to Ferrara in 1438. Its purpose was to mend the schism between the Eastern Orthodox church and the Roman Catholic church.
Tuscany, north of the Papal States, had fallen apart in 1115, at the death of Matilda, Margravine of Tuscany, and was replaced by several long-lasting city-republics, the most important of which were Florence, Lucca and Siena. The Republic of Pisa was absorbed by the Republic of Florence in 1405. The House of Albizzi and the House of Medici were influential in Florence. Cosimo de' Medici, who was an aristocratic banker, returned in 1434 to Florence from exile in Venice and expelled the Albizzis. The ecumenical council of Ferrara moved to Florence in 1439, in order to avoid bubonic plague, and lated until 1445. The presence of learned Greeks in Florence made Greek literary works available, such as Corpus Hermeticum, the dialogues of Plato and the works of Plotinus and Proclus. Cosimo de' Medici attended lectures by the Byzantine neopagan philosopher Gemistos Plethon (1360-1454). After decades of intermittent war with Milan, Florence entered a period of peace when its neighbours, Milan and Venice, signed a peace treaty in 1454. From 1462, Medici sponsored the Florentine philosopher and translator Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), who gathered a circle of thinkers, the Florentine Academy, around himself. One of the members was Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494), one of the first Christian Kabbalists and a cousin of the poet Matteo Maria Boiardo (1441-1494), the latter famous for his chivalric epic Orlando Innamorato. Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence in 1445. Leonardo da Vinci was born in the Republic of Florence in 1452. Michelangelo was born in the Republic of Florence in 1475.
Milan had been a city-republic, governed by several wealthy families, among them the House of Visconti and the House of Sforza, but became a duchy in 1349. A republic was proclaimed at the death of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti in 1447, but in 1450, Francesco Sforza (married to Bianca Maria Visconti) dropped all pretense of governing a republic, and proclaimed himself Duke of Milan. He defeated Milan's eastern neighbour Venice in the following years.
The Most Serene Republic of Venice was a very old country, founded in 697. Yes, 697 CE! Padoa and Verona became close allies after 1405. Trade with the East Roman (Byzantine) empire had favoured the economy of Venice for ages, but, when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, Venetian economy took a hit. Intermittent naval war lasted from 1423 to 1571.
West of the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Genoa (lasted 1005-1797) was located. It controlled Corsica 1284-1755.
North of Genoa, in a mountainous region, there were the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Aosta, the Principality of Piedmont and the County of Nice; all of them ruled by the House of Savoy (much later kings of Italy).
Sardinia was under the Crown of Aragon (one of the Spanish kingdoms) for many centuries.
There were also a few dozen other small political entities, but, of those, only The County of Monaco (since 1612 The Principality of Monaco) and the Republic of San Marino (independent 301 CE) ought to be mentioned, because they are still independent sovereign countries, but, as far as I know, none of them never developed any separate card deck or tarot deck of its own.
- 4
-
- 12
entries - 91
comments - 7383
views
Recent Entries
Latest Entry
More Gold Foil
I've been browsing the gold foil decks on Amazon. To my surprise I found that there are lots of them but they're all called Gold Foil so I just figured they were all the same. I was wrong. I've now ordered three more decks, all different patterns and trimmed with all different borders and backs. These are spectacular decks so of course I'm collecting them now. I can't help myself. They're so mesmerizing that it's almost like they're alive.
The cards are very slippery so you have to develop your workable shuffling tactics but once you get the hang of it they're nice to shuffle. If you drop cards during a shuffle, you can just scoop them up any old which way and you'll have reversals.
Speaking of reversals---I don't like just turning a section of cards upside down for reversals. Then you always have the same cards reversed. I've decided to have the sitter draw
cards from a fan, keeping all the cards face down. Once they've drawn their cards, then I'll have them draw X number more from the first cards they've drawn, keeping the cards face down and those will be the reversals for that spread . Once the reading is finished, I'll put all the cards all upright again and shuffle a couple times and then put the cards away till the next reading.
- 12
-
-
Recent Forum Activity
-
3Spirit Guides in Tarot & Beyond--Your Thoughts and Experiences?
1) An Angel ("messenger of God" or "messenger of the Source") - takes numerous forms. Including people like you 🙃. 2) Who knows? They are demi-deities and thus by definition unfathomable - apparently. How can "God" guide every single person on the planet personally? etc. 3) Yes. The have come to me gradually over the years, along my "spiritual journeying". This is the order of my experiences: N.B. I have no strong cultural "roots" of guides as my father's traditions had been overwritten by Christianity. They are known somewhat - but my father was a "modern educated man" - if you get my drift. Mother had un underlying Roman-Catholic upbringing (which she disagreed with). First, many years ago (all young, curious and enthusiastic) - I went to see a lady who "drew your spirit guide". She drew a Native American for me - which I thought was odd as I have an underlying belief that guides etc, should have some link to ones DNA/history etc. (don't know where I got this belief from) - so I stuffed the pencil drawing away and forgot about it. Until years later, when I was having an acupuncture treatment and the therapist burned moxa (mugwort. Which is hallucinogenic) on my acupuncture needles. My vision was this - I was in a smoke lodge and a Native American man was shaking a rattle and directing me to cross the river (of my fears). I didn't tell the acupuncturist until the next session - because well - it was just weird and at first I wondered if I'd fallen asleep. I had not. She was amazed. She'd never had an experience of any client reporting this before. (I wonder why. Moxa is a hallucinogen after all...). Then - in my 1st year at The College of Psychic Studies whilst learning "Psychic Awareness". We did an exercise once, where there was a tray of sand presented to us as a group - and each person closed their eyes allowed themselves to draw something in the sand (almost like automatic writing). I drew a symbol. When I looked at it - all I could think was - it was the sigil of an Angel. I decided it was my guardian Angel - and she was my companion from then on. 2nd guide. Next - I learned Reiki 1&2 and Seikhem. During my Reiki initiation I found I had a companion. A white wolf - & sometime white Arctic fox (dual forms). Hence the 3rd guide. This one was specifically for past lives, past blue prints and anything really scary - and cold. (I had an experience of the ghost patterns of the house I was in too, at the time. I've never been sensitive to ghosts except for this one time.). At my Seikhem initiation - I had a second visitor (4th guide). His name and background came to me immediatly - and at the time this was also pretty weird - because he is Mongolian. Much later though - I discovered I have 1% Russian DNA, so that - is in there somewhere. Finally (how funny I have 5 guides. Have I invited five specifically on an unconscious level? I am Wiccan - and Wiccan like the five components of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit). The last one appeared when I was meditating on my own at home. I have a set meditation sanctuary that I go to in my imagination - complete with landscapes. I met them there. Here - I also found my "astral steed". Don't know if other people have this - I've not specifically read about it anywhere. But - I have a gigantic Lammergeier (a bearded vulture) - that I ride on the astral plane 🤣🤣🤣. I don't fly about myself much. Riding is more fun. Fancy that! Thing about my guides - sometimes I pay zero attention to them for Aeons - and it's like they don't exist. Then... there they are again. 🤷♀️ For each guide - I now have a small Talisman that I can pop in my pocket etc. - if it so takes my fancy. And otherwise, they all fit in a tiny little heart shaped bowl on my Altar. My Altar has 4 sections: 1 corner is for the Ancestors. The main area is for daily practices. The other corner is for the guides. And the last bit - which is empty half-the-time - is for spellwork as, and when, it arises.- Tanga replied to Misterei's topic in Spirituality -
3Spirit Guides in Tarot & Beyond--Your Thoughts and Experiences?
I would say there's elements of that - some inner guidance that rises above the ego self, but you might also consider that you're moving between that guidance and the something outside yourself. Saying that, while something is "outside" our self it doesn't mean it's not a part of us if everything is from the one source. I'm not sure if that just confuses the issue but the following might expand in some way on that. I wouldn't say they're personal, I'd say that they're well known and so that's why they're referred to. The restrictions of Church doctrine might have something to do with that. It's OK to have Angels that are mentioned in the Bible, but not your own guides. So what I think happens there is that we call on the well known Angel, who sort of has a "specialty" area (indicated in the name, e.g. Michael as protector whose name means "Like God" sort of thing.) But the Guide allocated to us with that specialty - or who can help with the issue we're dealing with because they've had experience with that in an incarnation or through spirit training on the other side - comes through. So it's what the name represents, rather than an individual (in my opinion). Our guides have probably been incarnated previously and have skills and experiences to use from other lives as well as training. They'll move in and out of 'jobs' with us as we come through our own experiences and learn the lesson or are fulfilled in some other way. Some stay all the time. Yes I have spirit guides. My experience is that I don't engage with my spirit guides as often as I should. I have a place set up where I go for a walk and spend time with them in meditation. It's a sort of sitting/healing room and I've designed it with lush furnishings etc and equipment for the work we do together. The more you sit with them without asking anything the better you'll connect. You'll get to know their presence eventually. But just sit with them for a while. Then after a while ask for a sign - it could be a tickling nose or itchy palm or anything - maybe bizarre but don't discount what you're getting. Keep sitting and when it's the same thing all the time you'll know they're there. Then you can start asking questions. Get the connection right first though. It can take a long time. Years even.- JoyousGirl replied to Misterei's topic in Spirituality -
29
WHICH tarot deck do you use the...LEAST?
Love the Gendron. Shocking! My view here is alla @gregory. You are beginning to sound like a Troll. And at this rate - you will hardly be reading with any deck at all. 🤣 (if you know the history). Sorry - I just had to express this. 😆. I would say mine is the Thoth. I absolutely LOVE the artwork of the THOTH. Frieda was a GENIUS imo (and I have so enjoyed on various occasions, hearing about her and getting a bit of a flavour of who she was - from various lectures). But... sadly (or not) I am RWS trained and I cannot read with pip decks. If this deck had illustrated minors - it would be my GO TO, hands down. 🙃. And - though I learned with the RWS - I never actually liked Pam's art here. Hence began my search for an RWS style deck that I DID like... and so now, I have quite a collection of all sorts of things. (nowhere near @gregory 🙃 - I'd love to see that in person). So... I do use the majors and Aces of the Thoth - for Magick.0- Tanga replied to GreatDane's topic in Tarot Decks
-
-
Available Subscriptions
-
-
Current Donation Goals
-
Forum Hosting Fees (Resets 4/28/26)Raised $85.00 of $199.00 target
-
-
TT&M Deck Creations
Collaborative Deck Projects
We Are One
Purchase Deck | LWB | Guidebook -
Staff Online
No members to show
-
Who's Online (See full list)
- fire cat pickles
-
Links Directory
-
.png.7a937377d26b65d465a78762c7389153.png)
