Magic Cauldron Spread ~ Halloween Tarot

Today, I did the Magic Cauldron Spread using the Halloween Tarot in a Tin.  It turned out to be very insightful (I think!).

This is the spread:

I didn’t ask a question – I just wanted a general overview of what was going on in my life.

Card 1:  What’s in the pot? The current situation or the problem at hand.  The card for position one turned out to be the Knight of Bats (Swords).  This seems to sum up my life at present pretty well.  It reminds me of the saying – he flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions at once.  That is how I feel lately, so scattered, so unfocused, so running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  I’m always busy - but with things I really don’t want to do; however, I think I’d better do them because people will be upset if I say no.  Lately, I’ve not been able to really relax or calm down – ever, I have been having a dreadful time sleeping.  Then after a sleepless night I’m hurrying to get ready to go do something I’d prefer not to do with only two hours’ worth of sleep.

Card 2:  What stirs the pot? What influences this situation or problem – something that agitates it in some way.  The card for Position Two is the Five of Bats (Swords).  This card so accurately describes what is stirring the pot for me – it started with the deaths of my cat and five kittens, that sense of loss was so acute that I just didn’t want to face it.  It was easier just to run around and be  busy all the time instead of facing the loss.  That loss came on the top of many other losses that have happened in recent years.  It seems like every time I stand still some unseen force pulls the rug out from under me so it’s just safer to not settle down at all.  It sometimes seems that the universe is somehow pulling cruel tricks on me – every summer for the past four years there has been a very hurtful loss in my life.  I thought this summer would pass without something dreadful but it didn’t.  I’m ready to move to Antarctica so I’ll never have to worry about something dreadful happening in the summer.

Card 3:  What needs to be added? What can you do to enhance the situation or problem (to solve the problem) – to make that brew taste better!   The card for this position is the Three of Imps (Wands).  This seems to be very good advice about how to make what is bubbling in my pot easier to stomach – I need to calm down and basically be patient.  I’ve gone through hell and high water through the years raising my son and coping with a cranky husband and I’ll eventually get through all this other stuff, too.  I just need to be patient and calm and realize running around like a headless chicken isn’t going to accomplish anything.  There also seems to be a message that life doesn’t have to be perfect – one of the Imps has a wand that is different than the others.  They are all waiting together but they don’t have to be all alike.  It makes me feel that I need to realize that no one has a perfect life.

Card 4:  What comes out of the pot? The end result, how the situation will develop or how the problem will work out in the end.  The card for the last position turned out to be the Six of Imps (Wands).  Hurray!  It looks like if I’m patient and keep working towards coping with life’s problems that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.  Life will never be perfect but hopefully, sometime soon I’ll get past this feeling that if I stay still for very long the rug is going to be pulled out from under me again.  I’m really glad this card that represents success or victory came up at the end.  It made me leery to do this spread because of what card might come up in the outcome position - I almost left it out.

It is interesting (perhaps significant) that Bats (Swords) and Imps (Wands) were the only two suits that showed up in the four cards drawn.

Halloween Tarot in a Tin ~ Leaving Hurt Behind

Today, I decided to draw a couple of cards from the Halloween Tarot in a Tin – it is a cute deck to use for October.  I really like the size of the cards in a tin – almost the same as playing cards.

Here are the cards:

• Ace of Pumpkins (Pentacles)
• Six of Bats (Swords)

The Ace of Pumpkins (Pentacles) can be about a fresh sense of well-being and comfort in your life.  I really like the way the hand is offering a pumpkin filled with lots of sweet treats – indicating that life will be filled with sweet things now.

The Six of Bats (Swords) is about moving away from the hurts and stresses that have happened.  It can mean you are ready to leave things behind now – you can finally walk away from those things that were weighing you down.

What a nice little reading - the cards seem to be saying that there can be a new phase in life now.  It is a time when life can once again be wonderful and sweet, it is time to move away from the bad things and enjoy the sweetness that life can offer.  I have felt lately that life is beginning to feel a bit sweeter.  Now, I need to set down the grief and the hurt and move away from it and enjoy the candy in that pumpkin!

It would be fun to do readings for people with this deck on Halloween night – I wish I was going to a Halloween Party where I could do that!  However, we will be at home on Halloween giving out treats – it is fun to see all the kids in their costumes.  If it’s a warm night we usually get a lot of trick or treaters.

Halloween Tarot in a Tin ~ Two Readings

This week has been turning out to be a busy one with not much time for cards or blogging. I’ve been having fun playing with my new Halloween Tarot in a Tin – it is exactly the same as the my other Halloween Tarot except it’s much smaller and comes in a very cute tin! It is the same size as the Vanessa Tarot and Gummy Bear Tarot and in the same sort of tin. The cards are about the same size as a standard bridge size deck of playing cards – very easy to shuffle and very easy to cary around with you as the size is good and the tin keeps them nice.

For some reason, this isn’t available at Amazon or any of the other major retailers. There is a seller on eBay selling them – that is where I purchased mine. There has been some talk on the Forums at Aeclectic Tarot that this deck will never be available through the big retailers – very weird. I’m glad to have found mine on eBay.

On Monday, I was very ill with food poisoning. We had eaten out on Sunday and the chicken in my dinner was RAW. I had a chili chicken burger and for the first two or three bites the green chili masked the fact that the chicken wasn’t cooked at all in the middle. My hope of it not making me sick didn’t happen – spent all day Monday feeling very ill indeed. These are the two cards I drew from the Halloweeen Tarot in a Tin:

• Four of Imps (Wands)
• Knight of Pumpkins (Pentacles)

These seem like strange cards to draw on a day you are sick but they do reflect what was happening. I was kind of in a celebratory mood because my husband had called and when I told him I was sick, he said he’d come home to take care of me! He was my knight in shining armor who did the right thing and came home to care for me. That made me very happy because it hasn’t always been like this in our marriage. It was great to have someone make you cups of tea and go to the store for Gatoraid.

On Tuesday, I drew a couple more cards from the Halloweeen Tarot in a Tin – didn’t have time to blog though as I was babysitting my grandson after school. These are the cards:

• Eight of Bats (Swords)
• Four of Ghosts (Cups)

These two cards have inspired some serious thoughts for me.  The cards seem to be saying that sometimes that feeling of being trapped is all in the mind. There are options and instead of looking at them I’m just so busy being upset that I don’t see that kindness and compassion all around me for the taking if I’ll just turn my head and see that instead of staring straight ahead at my own misery.

Yesterday, I didn’t even get a chance to look at any cards – that always makes me feel sort of disconnected. Most days, I try to find some time to do something with cards to get in touch with myself.

Two Spreads and the Halloween Tarot

Ohhhhweeeeohhhhhh……….(Imagine a spooky sound there!) Well, today is Friday the 13th – one of those days that’s supposed to be mysterious, spooky and unlucky.  Sometimes, a Friday the 13th will come and go and I don’t even notice it but today has that Halloween feel to it – not quite the ordinary day. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and it comes in my favorite time of the year.

Since I feel in a Halloween mood – I thought up two card spreads with a kind of spooky, mysterious feel about them!

Here’s the first one:

I call this one the “Afraid of the Dark Spread”. It uses two cards and you can use it with or without a question and with any kind of deck – Tarot or oracle.

1. What are you afraid of? Deep down, inside yourself – where you don’t look very often, what is it that you are really afraid of that you won’t admit even to yourself.
2. What will turn on the light? What can make this secret fear go away, to make you feel more at peace within yourself or what will reveal this fear to you.

This is the second spread I thought up – I had fun with the graphics for both these spreads but especially this one:

This one is called ”The Magic Cauldron Spread”. It uses four cards and can be used  with or without a question and with any sort of deck – oracle or Tarot.

1. What’s in the pot? The current situation or the problem at hand.
2. What stirs the pot? What influences this situation or problem – something that agitates it in some way.
3. What needs to be added?What can you do to enhance the situation or problem (to solve the problem) - to make that brew taste better!
4. What comes out of the pot? The end result, how the situation will develop or how the problem will work out in the end.

I haven’t tried the Cauldron spread yet but in honor of today, I used the Halloween Tarot for the Afraid of the Dark Spread. Here are the cards:

1. What are you afraid of? The Hanged Man: It looks like deep inside I’m afraid of not being in control of my life. This is something I’ll have to chew over in my head as I’ve never really wondered about this at all.  In some ways, it could explain some of my reaction to life.
2. What will turn on the light? The Nine of Ghosts (Cups):This seems to indicate that being satisfied and happy with what I have will dissipate this inner fear of not being in control. I need to come to the realization that I have all that I need for happiness and don’t have to worry about being in control or not. Perhaps, it means that if I will just sit back and be happy with what I have – then I will be able to see that this fear of not being in control has been being a negative influence on my life.

These two cards literally jumped from the deck when I was shuffling the cards. It was very strange.  This reading has really given me something to think about on this day that has a feel of Halloween.