This is the long overdue cartomantic forecast or augury for January. Given that I am slinging the cards and writing this mid-January, the augury looks at the second part of the month. This one will be brief.
The Medieval Scapini Tarot, Luigi Scapini, published by US Games Systems, 2005.
January holds a wreath over our heads, sending us into a state of somnolence. What we’ve achieved as we look back at the year gone is substantial, but there is more to do, more to grasp at. This month is about clarifying how we follow our desires, and what we desire. It is about the distillation of the elixir that keeps our hopes and dreams alive. It is not about foundations and building, but about refining. What holds sway in our hearts, what do we look forward to this 2019?
The Medieval Scapini Tarot, Luigi Scapini, published by US Games Systems, 2005.
The Medieval Scapini Tarot, Luigi Scapini, published by US Games Systems, 2005.
Find the time to ruminate on these matters, see where the ruminations (the contemplation) takes you. Afterward, begin.
Wishing everyone a wonderful, blessed, and full 2019. Here’s to another year…
Lastly, there are the kings in the court. Here each king will speak in its own voice.
The Spanish Tarot published by Heraclio Fournier, Spain.
The King of cups
“I am elegantly draped, a graceful man with good taste. I speak from the heart and I charm all my listeners. On occasions, I’m haughty, and love beautiful things. I’m a man that loves, sometimes a father, and the potential to love. Like cupid I point my arrow and nail my target.”
The Spanish Tarot published by Heraclio Fournier, Spain.
The Kind of swords
“My sword is unsheathed and I’m ready for whatever may come my way, poised for combat. I’m a young king, alert and unscrupulous. I’m also self-righteous, and seek to prove my might. Some consider me dark, but in truth I’m the power of might and cunning. I am war, I am swift action, quick movement, a magician, and on occasions the dead.”
The King of batons
The Spanish Tarot published by Heraclio Fournier, Spain.
“I am young and wily, strong and hardworking. I have a clear vision, and a determination that always shapes that vision into fruition. With my mighty scepter in hand and confident stance, I am virility personified. Self-assured, direct, a man of brawn. I’m the power to act, willingness, the determination to construct, to create, to form.
The King of coins
The Spanish Tarot published by Heraclio Fournier, Spain.
“A wise king I am. A measured man. I stare intently at my treasure as I have amassed substantial wealth. My robes are costly, my throne is grand. I know the machinations of the mind and how to use them to my advantage. The land at my feet is fertile because I am acquired abundance. I am often a learned man, astute, with the power to spend, also the potential for financial freedom, and the best business partner. I am sovereignty.”
~~~
I hope you like what I’ve done with the courts, specifically with The Spanish Tarot. This can be done with any tarot deck, just look and observe what is unfolding in the card. Now to finish these surveys with the suit of batons…
As the solstice and holiday season have passed, the old year has passed along with it, and I feel like it certainly has. And good riddance I say to 2018. It was a long year, a heavy year, a pressing and eventful year for me. It was a year of strife and turmoil, and I have had to summon hope and strength when there seemed to be little left. Moreover, I’m certain I’m not the only one. As last month’s augury foretells rightly, it was a month of closing doors and healing wounds. I’ve found myself looking for inner confidence, looking for the inner hope that trumps doubt and fear and reminds me that nothing is certain but change, change is always constant. And likewise, this too shall pass.
These reflections come from this low point, not lowly from a pessimistic perspective, but from a point of nothingness, no expectations perhaps? They’ve been stripped, the ground has been agitated and stirred, the soil is tilled and now ready for the seeds to be put in. As I look ahead to this new year, I want to reflect on those things which served to agitate this ground.
There were times when the happiness was brimming overfull. The sun beaming down on me as my family and I spent delicious times together, laughing, drinking, eating, and generally just being merry. All of my beach excursions have been memorable, both alone and with family.
Images taken by me Natalia, Isabela Puerto Rico 2018.
We also spent a weekend during the summer up in the mountains, away from the city, the lights, the noise, and the wireless connection. That was rejuvenating, and I often now long to be back up there, closer to the stars, with the trees and the birds.
Images have all been taken by me Natalia, Puerto Rico 2018
Images have all been taken by me Natalia, Puerto Rico 2018.
The last portion of the year was filled with increasing doubt scurrying in and occupying my space, until it all culminated in a stressful loss of employment. This change further stripped me of my confidence, which I’ve been daily making efforts to regain.
2018 was characterized with shifting changes, unexpected health issues, emotions, and stirrings both good and bad. Tension.
Throughout all this I’ve read a good share of books, some still hanging on to me. I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time just as 2018 begun, and I’m reading it again as 2018 ended. I had the pleasure of reading one of Scarlet Imprint’s recent publications, Julio Cesar Ody’s Magister Oficiorum. I began once more, and this time with luck, the heavy tome, The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki, which wrapped me in a veil of frustration with and love for Prince Genji, a haze I have yet to fully escape. I deeply enjoyed the psychedelic romp Reverend Danny Nemu took me through in his Neuro-Apocalypse. And I finally got my hands on Madonna’s That Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy Since the Fifteenth Century by Michael Caroll. Tarot related, I had the pleasure of reading one of Enrique Enriquez’s books, EN TEREX IT. Also my poem/essay, “Aphorisms of the Oracle”, was published in a collection of essays, 21+1: The Fortune-Teller’s Rules: Read Like the Devil Manifesto.
Related specifically to this website, I’ve been consistently writing the auguries and find that I still like writing them, they will continue this year as well, monthly auguries. My overview of the cards is almost complete, only the suit of Wands and the Kings of the court are left. I’ve been thinking about content and what to expand on, and after I’m done with my overview of the 78 cards, there will be more space for more. And this more is what’s occupying my thoughts at the moment.
I’ve reopened and renamed my etsy shop, and am looking towards this new year and what has potential to grow in tandem with what I love to do. I love to write, to share with others, to listen, to read the cards and divine, and to share these things I love with others. If you’ve been following me for a while now, enjoying what I’ve brought to the table, thank you. If you’re a new reader, I hope you enjoy what I bring to the table, that you gain insight and inspiration. Thank you.
As always, I’m available for one on one readings on my shop. I’m also available for conversations.
My shop is here:
If you would like to chat about tarot, books, or poetry, you can reach me at my email.
Here is to another year, may it be merrier, happier, more inspiring and rejuvenating! Blessings.
I promise I shuffled the deck for a good minute and cut it thrice and all that jazz. Alas, this is wyrd.
Playing Card Oracles: Divination Deck by Ana Cortez and C.J. Freeman, published by US Games Systems, 2012.
December is panning out to be an interesting month, two Aces and two Queens hug the ominous 5 of spades. Let’s look into the heart and water the barren soil so that the branches regain vitality and life. If these past couple months have been challenging, and I must say they certainly have been for me, then this is the moment to look into the heart of the matter with the eyes of the sage. This is the time to sift through the chatter, the clatter, the brambles, and bones. What needs to be watered? What need to be healed? This is the month for confronting and addressing these questions. Also, what edges need softening?
Playing Card Oracles: Divination Deck by Ana Cortez and C.J. Freeman, published by US Games Systems, 2012.
In the midst of the desert, the voices we hear calling out to us are of hope and love. We move through this arid land, these arid times, by filling our hearts, cleaning out pathways, and loving. Like the hawk, zero in on your prey, that which feeds you, and seize it. Look forward with vision towards what is coming and has yet to arrive, and feel your way towards better lands and improved ways.
Playing Card Oracles: Divination Deck by Ana Cortez and C.J. Freeman, published by US Games Systems, 2012.
The atmosphere is ripe with what is bubbling to the surface, surfacing from the deeps. Do not delimit what has not yet arisen, doing so would constrain the potential to move beyond barriers and walls. Instead, let the experience of this closing month guide what is yet unshaped. December is about sensing your way through, and about affecting the areas that need stirring.
On a more practical note, social activities might wax uncomfortable, and the prattling of others might be out to get you. As this is a very social month for many people, keep a level head and steady gaze throughout whatever turns uncomfortable. When in doubt, start from the heart, remember that none of us are perfect, and most of us† socializing are just human, at work as well in the art of being and living better, not necessarily from a materialist angle. Compassion with a calm head will be our aids through this month. Taking the cue from the eager dragon at the bottom, don’t throw fire and a hot-headed attitude into the mix. One does not water the soil with fire but with water, with love, with attention, care and compassion.
I close this month’s reading with the reminder that love starts with us, from within out hearts. It sounds overdone but I doubt these words will never be not true, be the change you want to see, and I add, be the love you want to see, share the love you want to receive, be compassionate and patient with others. Also, water your garden with frequency.
I must confess, St. Jude Thaddeus seems to have woven himself throughout this reading. Be well this holiday season and keep the candle burning.
~~~
† I say most of us because we could be socializing with pets, spirits, our beloved dead and ancestors as well.
Natalia Lee 