This week’s cards come from The Wild Unknown Archetypes Oracle. You can read more about the tools I use on my tools of the locksmith page.
Reading from bottom to top we have the Archetype of the Mother, the source, the feminine. Next we have the Initiation of Thanatos, so pretty much death, and in this aspect of death we acknowledge its transformative nature, not just of the being that experiences the end of cycles, but for those who transition to a life without them. And last we have the Initiation of Anima Mundi, or the soul of the world, all that is, and the principle of Accept all, reject none. This last card relates well to the Universe card of the standard Tarot.
I spent a lot of energy this weekend delving into the world of Zen meditation. Trying to stay in the present moment using all of my senses, and connecting with myself as I am, which is in essence connecting with the universe. We can only make this connection when we are in the present moment, not when we are stuck in the past, and not when we are searching for the future.
I think this is what this week’s reading points to. We should acknowledge where we have come from, but release any power the past holds over us. We should hold hope for the future, but try to stay in the present moment. In doing so we can find our place in the Anima Mundi.
How will you try to stay in the present moment this week? Where you find your connection with the Anima Mundi?
This week my reading is a three card spread using the Brady Tarot. I think it may be a doozy, but lets see.
My original intention was to do a spread representing the root, the heart and the crown, and I drew a root alright, the Mother of Roots who correlates to the Queen of Pentacles or Coins in more traditional decks. More on her in a bit, but I think you could read this two ways, one as a story with a beginning, an action and a result and one as a root, heart, crown. Lets dive in!
First lets focus on the Mother of Roots as she is the star of this reading, and if were to pick a card of these three to take into the week with me its this one. Here a Mexican Honeypot Ant queen and drones is shown. The queen is holding up the an egg that looks like the number for the fool, ready to start the souls journey. She has built the most nourishing environment and sacrificed her wings for the good and preservation of the colony. She is a person who readily sacrifices for the good of others.
There are three ways to look at this person, one is as the ant showing mindful preparation:
The ant in the grass hopper and the ant fable
The Hopi creation story where the Ant people hid the Hopi people underground during the destruction of the first two worlds by fire and then by ice, going hungry themselves
A second is the ant as a messenger. This mother is about the send the fool out to communicate with who? It could be the world, it could be her own heart and crown. There is a Wiyot Native myth about the ant as a messenger that a large earthquake is coming because the ant once beat the earthquake in a long and arduous game and after this became the messenger to man.
Last this could be someone who is sacrificing too much and denying themselves spiritual or other nurturing medicine.
Which one of these Mothers of Ants do you recognize either in yourself or in those around you? This matters when we look at the rest of the cards so choose wisely!
The very literal reading of this spread is that a lack of preparation in the beginning, has lead to or will lead to scarcity of an important resource through an unforeseen turn of events, or turn of the wheel of fortune. Its a warning to make sure we are prepared for what comes next, either emotionally, spiritually, or physically which could be financially or literally in the case of an earth’s resource….like water as California prepares for a drought this summer. The suit of roots represents the physical so if you want to take this as literally as possible that’s what it means.
In order to take this into a deeper meaning we have to know who the Mother of Roots represents for us.
In the first and second case are told to look at where we might need to prepare for scarcity in any of the above cases, and this ant reading is bringing us this message, that a turn of events is coming to us, and if we don’t prepare we may find ourselves in a situation of emotional, spiritual, or physical scarcity.
In the third case which is where I would read this as a root, heart, crown orientation, the cards are illustrating that you are depriving yourself of something important and that you are not connecting to something you need in the web (or wheel) of your own life, your crown energy is blocked and you are experiencing scarcity or lack in that way. In order to remedy this look further into the four directions and see what you need to reconnect with, or what you need to nurture and store up to heal your crown. The root is strong. The heart is strong – its the wheel of fortune where all things connect, and our journey is represented by the wheel. But we have scarcity in our crown which is where we connect to our creative and spiritual energy.
I hope you have enjoyed this reading, and that it has given you something to bring into your week or your own practice today.
I was putting back last week’s Balance cards when this Nautilus popped right out at me. Such an amazing creature who has endured for millions of years through a sacred geometry of chambered sections in a Fibonacci spiral. As it grows it adds new chambers to support itself. What can this teach us this week?
I think we can look within ourselves to ancient wisdom we have forgotten that teaches us to endure, and also look for examples of long forgotten sacred geometry in the areas of our own lives.
Is there a truth you used to live by that had gone by the wayside in your later years? Is there a person in your life or your team that has not spoke up in a while but could provide the key to a whole new phase of things? What chambers have you been adding to support yourself as you grow.
What is your sacred geometry? The key to that could be the key to many things.
Happy Vernal Equinox! We have reached Spring, and because for me Spring represents balance (daylight equal to darkness), I thought I would go through some of the different ways that balance can be reflected in readings. Another word for Balance is Justice, which is how we seek to obtain equality. Our search for equality should become intentional, and to represent this I will not draw random cards this week, I will select those representing Justice and Balance, and carry this intention into my week with me. Which one of these images or aspects will you carry with you?
The card below is from my Voyager Tarot deck, where the card of Balance replaces Justice. The upward facing dancer is balancing the downward facing bird on the edge of a sword. We can see many things being balanced here such as the world on the foot of the dancer which represents the physical in this deck, with the cups which represent emotions.
Balance is usually represented in the Major Arcana of the Tarot by Justice found at number 11 – midway through the major arcana or souls journey, which is not by accident. It sits at a permanent equinox. Many of the Justice cards shown below incorporate a sword, but we should not mistake the sword for vengeance. The sword represents the mental component which must be balanced by action.
The first card comes from the Tarot of the Divine where Justice is represented by the “secret royal inspector” who was sent on secret missions by the King to make sure that the villagers were being treated fairly by the local rulers. If unjust things were observed the inspector would report back to the king and balance would be restored.
In the second set of cards which is from the Brady Tarot and comes from the perspective of animals, we see a turkey vulture who is balancing a skull with an egg, and therefore literally balancing life and death.
The last card is Audre Lorde from the Literary Witches Oracle. Audra Lorde was an activist who used her essays and other writings to speak out against racism, sexism, and homophobia. She fought for herself, her values and her community.
Another card I associated with balance in the Tarot is Temperance, which speaks to balance through mediation and moderation, and the ability to understand when to change with the direction of external forces, and when to resist these forces and try to change the situation itself. In the first set of cards Temperance is represented by the Buddhist Bodhisattva, and in the second set the Raven and the Eagle are coming together to balance the light and the dark to combine and make medicine.
In the Wild Unknown Archetypes Oracle we can find two archetype cards representing balance shown below – one is the judge which is similar to Justice. The Judge is the personification of Justice, and if the Judge acts out of fear or fails to act out of self doubt balance will be lost. The Judge must see with impartial eyes and see themselves and the situation as it truly is, not as they prefer to see it. This type of balance is difficult for most of us so it reminds us to ask if we are looking at a situation clearly or only seeing what we want to see.
Yet another way to achieve balance is to obtain enlightenment, and see that all things are connected. Its fleeting for most of us, and we may only feel this level of connection and balance once or twice in our lives. This moment or this feeling of ultimate balance in the universe is represented by the archetype of The One in this Oracle deck.
Lastly we can focus on animals or relationships in nature that show us where balance can be obtained even when it seems unlikely. For a way to represent this interpretation I turned to the Nocturna Oracle deck. It represents things in nature that are only found in the dark or are hidden behind or underneath things. At first this sounds scary or sad but in reality nature thrives in whatever way it can, and maintains balance in the face of much adversity and uncertainty. I usually find sources of hope and comfort where I least expect it in this deck.
Below we can see the Clownfish and anemone and a Manta Ray. The clownfish protects the anemone from predators, and the anemone gives the clownfish a home, a balanced and symbiotic relationship. The Manta Ray is up to 9 meters long and if seen outside of the water it would look anything but graceful, but it glides effortlessly under the sea. It dives to unseen depths with calmness and balance and knows it will always return. And maybe its a stretch, but I can see the hope in that.
How will you bring hope, balance, equality or even Justice into your week?
The Rambling Locksmith 
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