Natalia Lee

A nest of sorts

Meditations on stability

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The Pips

The Spanish Tarot by Fournier.

I should clarify, I mean emotional stability.

I have been leaning lately more and more towards traditional cartomancy, the cards have been speaking in a way that is very grounded, practical and even mundane. That is a good thing, embracing the quotidian aspect of life. Lately, that is the kind of reader I have been striving to be, practical.

Here is the four of cups paired with its playing card equivalent.

The Spanish Tarot by Fournier and Pagan Playing Cards by Uusi

The number four is just plain square, all sides are equal, no corners hidden nor misshapen. This card is about the stability deduced from the square. Grounding emotional stability, connection, practical and established. Nothing surprising here. Yet, if you look at the vines growing between the four cups you see that these qualities also have an underbelly. A negative aspect.

Stability is good but too much can lead to lackadaisical complacency. We need tension, duality, struggle. Or else, what are we living for?

The 4 of cups pleases us with its balance, a relationship that has settled into its niche, all the gears turning in unison and smoothly. No mystery hidden, no shady corners, no secrets to discover. If the 5 of cups didn’t exist we would have invented it, or the 7 of cups. The tension is necessary for advancement, to keep the flower growing and flourishing, experiencing all the cycles of life.

But then again, when I am aware of the qualities of this card, I strive to be this kind of reader, a practical, direct and balanced reader.

I have been toying with the idea of reading professionally, deliberating within me the logistics of that endeavor. Also, poetically speaking, I long to create stories that can reveal, illuminate, entrance and elevate others. I feel the cards are about this, about contextualizing what we oftentimes can’t find the words to express, like a concise story, or the perfect painting, or the most beautifully constructed verse. At the right moment, these pieces can be revealing, and in that precise moment of revelation we see, truly see without distractions, without a blindfold, without presumptions, assumptions, without judgement. We are above duality, and capable of seeing the message and ourselves crystal clear. This is what drives me, those moments.

Before any of these wishes of mine can flourish, they must have roots, so perhaps I will dabble in the suit of batons for a little while.

Until the 5 of cups, happy reading.
Cards: 3 of cups

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The Pips

I pop in after a couple weeks of absence to talk about the next card in the suit of cups.

I have been a little busy with a move, adjusting to a new place, plus I started Camelia Elias’s course Cards and Magic 2.0, and all this converges into me having limited time for ludic pleasures, such as writing. I will still be writing here, it will just be less frequent.

Jean Noblet Tarot reproduced Jeane-Claude Flornoy.

Now for that wonderful card, the 3 of cups. An expansion from the 2 of cups. A balanced expansion. The vines curve elegantly around the 3rd cup, elevating the product of two. I occasionally see this card in relation to having a baby. Where the two cups produce a baby. It is a blessing, the fruit of love and union. Also, the liquid inside the cups is measured and visible, and in all three cups the amount is the same.

The 3 of cups doesn’t have to be about physical manifestation of love, it could very well speak of 2 becoming one. Marriage. Or a joyous meeting of three dear, close friends. It could also be about finding a resolution to an emotional tension. Finding what lies above, beyond that tension, accepting, and welcoming it. Finding the ONE in the duality.

As I associate the cups with emotions, hearty gatherings, intuitive flow, the heart, the home, family. We all need water to survive. This suit is about all the manifestations of our loves, our gatherings, our emotional interactions with people.

This card speaks of a dynamic triad. A united front. Emotional flow.

Until next time, happy reading.
Cards: 2 of cups

by

The Pips

Fournier’s The Spanish Tarot.

Instead of the traditional Lovers Trump card, this is the one that makes me see the lovers in communion, merging. Trump 6 is about cupid, how love, our heart, plays out in our decisions and in our lives. It is about decisions and the overcoming or the merging of two different roads.

The Spanish Tarot by Fournier.

The two of cups, on the other hand, is about two individuals seeing eye to eye, coming together, communicating. It is a card about equality, about seeing the heart of things as they are. The two cups stand on equal footing, facing each other as the two “fish” faces face each, mouth open, expressing themselves.

The Spanish Tarot by Fournier.

This card can also be seen as a meeting of two close friends, of like minds coming together. Effective communication, meeting your love or a loved one, closeness, bonding, are all qualities of this card.

The suit of cups is emotional, about communication, the heart, the hearth and home. As we progress through this suit we experience the nuances that come with dealing with our emotions as we experience the ups and downs of life and also with relation to those around us. It can also be a suit of great intuition, where we learn to follow our feelings in a way that leads to successful or not so successful results.

As always, happy reading.
Dark Tarot Deck Review

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Reviews

I start off by saying that I received this deck unexpectedly. In the site darktarot.com you can find two free printable decks, this one and another black and white deck. Furthermore, at the site there is a trove of resources for tarot learning and history.

Onto the review… Firstly, the card stock is nice and sturdy and the coloring of the cards has a nice aged finish that complements the artwork well. There is a stark white border that surrounds the images but that can easily be resolved with trimming. The back has a beautiful shinning sun and is reversible.

The Dark Tarot, reversible back.

What called to my attention from this deck were two things, the suit of wands and the court cards. The court cards are descriptive, and many of the characters seem to be draped in lush fabrics that gives them a regal air. Reminded me of the Minchiate cards. The minors are all pip-style, or not illustrated, but this is where the suit of wands especially shines. There is a wonderful sense of interaction, differentiation, separation and merging that plays out within this suit that really brings the story to life. Unlike the Marseilles Wand pips, the wands here interact viscerally. The color of intruding or opposing wands differ from the others, directions change, and there is a real sense of watching a story unfold as the wands interact. Adding to this is the fact that the Ace of Wands starts as a thick, rustic, tree bark being firmly held upright. I must admit, the suit of wands is a suit of contention for me, sometimes I have trouble reading it clearly, but with this deck the suit shines and the story clearly plays out.

The Dark Tarot, the Court cards.

The Dark Tarot, Wands suit.

Benebell Wen did a great review of the deck over on her site, she posts more pictures. In this review of mine, I just wanted to highlight a couple aspects of the deck while also talking about my interaction with the deck.

The Dark Tarot, deck interview.

I used this deck for a couple weeks, plus I also did an interview spread and all in all, I must say the deck is very straightforward and clear. In the interview the deck highlighted its practical and fiery aspect. The opener card was a wands card, fitting. Two knights followed, the lovers, ending with the 9 of coins. There is a sense of escalation. This deck is about opening up, about pinpointing logistics and clarifying what is unclear. It is direct and nonsensical. Not one to wallow in the emotional aspects of life. Throughout my time interacting with and using the cards the readings were always clear and the messages were explicitly laid out. I really like that about this deck.

Here are a few other cards that I found striking.

You can view the rest of the cards at the site. As always happy reading.