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When Mercury Crosses the Sun: A Tarot Exercise
A rare Mercury transit inspires a tarot exercise.
This week, on May 9th, we had a rare astronomical event. Mercury crossed in front of the sun.
For a look at the astrological impact of this event, see what Astrology King has to say.
I am much more a tarotist than an astrologer.
When I heard that Mercury crossed the Sun, all I could think was, “Hmmm, what a powerful reading that would be!”
Often, we create tarot spreads to perform in celebration or commemoration of holidays and special events.
This Mercury transit across the Sun made me think of another sort of tarot exercise; not a spread, but a configuration.
This configuration could be a reading, or a lesson, for the whole planet this week, and for each person on the planet.
Mercury crossing the Sun, for me, translates into tarot like this.
The Sun, Major Arcana 19, is the card that represents what is currently happening, or the energy that is currently available to us.
Mercury, for me, is the Magician, Major Arcana 1. That’s because Mercury is attributed to the Magician in a prominent system of tarot’s astrological associations.
The “As Above, So Below” arm gesture of the Magician calls to mind Hermes, who is conflated with Mercury.
As a crossing card in this configuration, the Magician represents the challenge or obstacle.
The Sun is the energy that we have available to us, the Magician is the thing we have to overcome to utilize that energy to its fullest.
Since this Mercury transit across the Sun is planetary event, we could say that, for just a moment this week, these two tarot cards, in this configuration, are pertinent to each of us.
The question is, how will you interpret them in your life?
What do you think they say to our planet as a whole?
Shooting for the stars: Introvert? Extrovert? Chart your tarot
Tabitha Dial joins our Community Blog with an intricate and personal discussion of social energy, tarot and astrology.
Astrology charts your social energy
Some astrologers find a correspondence between natal chart planets, their positions and a person's likelihood of being an introvert or extrovert.
Gemini does not default to extrovert.
The best way to gauge what kind of energy someone has around social involvement involves looking at where different aspects fall on the chart.
According to my astrological chart, I am equal parts inclined to be an extrovert or introvert. I have Gemini Rising and Moon, and certainly love to communicate and enjoy technology and travel.
I was rather introverted as a young gal, and kids were cruel ... I worked hard to open up to others and befriend everyone I could, to avoid feeling like an outsider.
Your Birth Chart meets Tarot
Astrolabe provides quick, free birth charts, though they aren't the best substitute for real astrologers, who can elaborate on what your chart means, and answer specific questions.
To show how Tarot correlates to astrological birth charts, I'm sharing my birth chart.
Sources: The 36 Decans illustrated in resources such as Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen. Amelia Quint inspired the bulk of these cards.
Rising Sign is in 05 Degrees Gemini
The Lovers
Sun is in 03 Degrees Pisces.
The Moon
The Moon in Tarot Mucha is a favorite rendition of the card.
Moon is in 00 Degrees Gemini.
The Magician
Mercury is in 20 Degrees Pisces.
The Page of Cups
Venus is in 15 Degrees Aries.
Four of Wands
Mars is in 06 Degrees Virgo.
Knight of Pentacles
Jupiter is in 05 Degrees Virgo.
Nine of Pentacles
Saturn is in 25 Degrees Virgo.
Two of Pentacles
In the interest of showing all the cards in my chart, I didn't try to place them where they should be, exactly.
Uranus is in 25 Degrees Scorpio.
Four of Cups
Neptune is in 22 Degrees Sagittarius.
The Fool
Pluto is in 21 Degrees Libra.
Justice
"For your entire generation, this is a time of radical changes in society's attitude toward marriage and interpersonal relationships. There is a general fear and awe at the power inherent in making emotional or contractual commitments -- they will not be entered into lightly." --Astrolabe
N. Node is in 29 Degrees Leo.
Strength crossed by Ace of Wands
The North Node determines soul purpose or direction. I initially chose the Ace of Wands for this position, as it represents pure wand energy: passion, fire, ambition, and creativity. Leo resonates with the Strength card in many traditions.
I think the next portion of the North Node Leo description is accurate, as for how I teach and what I do with Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter: "You love to entertain in a big way -- you're at your best when throwing a large and lavish party." --Astrolabe
The world's a stage! And with my North Node in Leo, I exhibit the performing arts. This image features the Two of Wands from the Tarot Mucha at Tattered Cover in Denver. Follow TabithaDial at Instagram for more images like these.
Exploring your birth chart in terms of Tarot can be rewarding, but if doing it all at once seems too daunting, try something like this:
- Find a card to match what your Mercury is in (you may use Astrolabe) and let it speak to the card that matches your sun/birth sign or rising sign. Mercury is the planet of communication -- How do these cards seem to communicate with each other? Reflect and journal, or record your spoken thoughts.
The Page of Cups represents my Mercury in Pisces and The Lovers is my Gemini Rising. Using the exercise above, I'm confident they communicate relatively well.
Thanks for the read -- keep in touch!
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Find Yourself with Divination
This is a cross-post from my Tarot Trends Personal Blog.
Who are you, at your core?
This is a topic I often speak about, and write about, because it comes up so often in readings.
One of the reason that divination is so helpful is that divination is a way to help us discover our true identity – our core.
Sometimes we get stuck trying to be the person other people want us to be.
Sometimes we get stuck trying to become the person we think we should be.
Sometimes our self-perception is marred by low self-esteem or over-inflated ego.
Tarot, astrology and numerology are ways for us to look into a cosmic mirror, and discover things that are true about the self.
The more we are able to understand the core self, the more at peace we will be.
There are some people who misuse tools of divination, like tarot. They use the tool only to make predictions in an effort to assuage anxiety about the future. They never use the cards, nor any psychic tool, to actually question their own behaviors and discover more about the self.
The irony is, this very practice works to dispel anxiety, because once we feel solid in who we are, it is very hard to feel anxious about anything. Anxiety is most often born of a misunderstanding of self.
The significator card in a tarot spread is helpful in discerning “Who am I at the present moment?” Significator cards that we chose to represent ourselves help us discern “Who am I at core?”
If you want to learn about yourself, learn about your birth number, your sun, moon and rising sun, and the tarot cards associated with them.
This information should paint a clear picture of your motivations, your path and your sense of self.
There are those who say that we should not read tarot, or use other tools, for ourselves. They people may think we will come from the perspective of the anxious person using tarot to relieve her fear of the future.
But when we use our tools to understand who we are, we become strong, self-aware and healed.
I will be teaching a webinar on self-reading on July 24. Join us!