2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop: Divination and Myth

Welcome to the 2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop. This time around I'm the wrangler. That means I got to set the topic. If you want to see the reasons behind the topic you can visit the Master List. There you will also see a full list of our participants and the links to their blogs.
The Tarot Blog Hop is an amazing exercise in global tarot community and creativity. I am so honored to be a part of it.

Perhaps you are joining me from Olivia Destrades' First Earth Tarot Blog.

When you finish here please continue on to Chloe McCracken's Celtic Lenormand Blog.

If you find a break in the chain refer to the Master List.

Some myths are ancient. Some myths are stories we make up. Here is a story a friend of mine made up. Or maybe he intuited it. Like all myths, it’s hard to know for sure if it’s true or not. And, like all myths, it has enough truth in it to make you think.

This myth answers the question “How did Random Token Divination begin?”

First, let me explain “random token divination.” Tthis is a term my friend and I coined. It describes any divination method that draws from a group of tokens (cards, stones, etc.) at random.

Tarot, of course, is random token divination. We know that tarot originated as a trump-taking card game. Eventually Tarot Appropriati, a game of telling poetic stories that compared people and events to individual tarot cards, led to random token divination with tarot.

I have always believed  random is a divine energy. When we shuffle the deck we are giving the Universe the opportunity to have a hand in the outcome. To me, random is a source of spiritual power in divination.

And now it is time to tell our story.

Let’s go back to a very early time in the history of our species – perhaps even before we had a written language.

Perhaps one day a man walks to the river and catches a fish. It’s a big fish that will make a wonderful meal for his family. After he catches the fish he sees an unusual shell at the river’s edge. He picks the shell up and takes it with him. Later when he looks at the shell it reminds him of the large fish he caught and the wonderful meal it made.

Another day he is out in the woods and a large animal chases him. For a moment he thinks his life is over. Finally he climbs a tree and the animal loses interest.  When he climbs down the tree he picks up a stick that appears to have fallen from the tree that saved his life. He brings the stick home. He shows his family the stick and tells them the story of his close call.

A bit later he goes out to hunt and it rains. He is cold and wet, and finds nothing to bring home. He knows his family will be hungry. He is frustrated and disappointed. On his way home he finds a stone on the path. He picks it up. Later, that stone reminds him of his disappointment.

Over time these objects grow into a collection. He knows which one reminds him of victory and which reminds him of defeat. Before taking a journey he chooses one at random to see what he might encounter on his journey.

Perhaps this collection of sticks, shells and stones is the first oracle of random token divination. Or perhaps this is just a made up story to explain something we don’t quite understand.  

That is the power of myth. In a simple story we find truth; something that makes sense. That is the power of divination, too.

Blessed Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox and Second Harvest Festival!

Now it’s time to continue your journey through the Tarot Blog Hop. Your next stop is Chloe's Celtic Lenormand Blog. If you are working in the other direction you can visit the blog before mine, Olivia's First Earth Tarot Blog.

If you find a break in the chain visit the Master List.

2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop Master List

Welcome to the 2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop. The Tarot Blog Hop blogs together eight times a year. We are tarotists and diviners from all over the globe. Each time we hop a different volunteer is the wrangler, with the responsibility of setting the topic and hosting the Master List. This time it's my turn!

Here is the topic and instruction I gave to our bloggers. Below that  you will find a list of all our participants and the links to their blog posts. Enjoy the Hop, and please comment on the blogs if you can. We appreciate your participation!

Mabon is a name for the Autumnal Equinox. Mabon is also the name of the “Great Son” of Arthurian legend.

In the Northern Hemisphere this is the first day of autumn. While the days have been growing shorter and the nights longer since the summer solstice, on the equinox the day and the night are of equal length. From here the days will be shorter than the nights until we reach the winter solstice.

I often celebrate the holiday of Mabon with myth. I read stories about Mabon and King Arthur’s Court. I gather my friends to reenact the abduction of Persephone and tell the mythical story of how winter began with Demeter longing for her daughter.

Myths are an important part of our culture, our spirituality and our personal identity.

As tarotists and diviners we have a special relationship with myth and story. Tarot itself is the story of the Fool, and thus tarot is the story of each of us on our journey through life.

With the cards we are able to see the stories of people for whom we read. We are able to see the ways in which people create myths about themselves in both healthy and unhealthy ways.

Many tarot decks honor mythology. Consider Mythic Tarot, the Lover’s Path Tarot and Ancestral Path Tarot.

Our topic for the Mabon Blog Hop is this: Divination and Myth.

Tell us a story from your own life that involves divination. Talk about divination tools that honor mythology. Write a reenactment of your favorite myth. Design a spread that reveals a story. Discuss the myths that you see in your tarot deck, or in the characters of particular cards. Write a poem about your favorite mythical character, or do a reading for them. Dispel erroneous myths about tarot or divination. Create a new mythic story. Tell the story of a God or Goddess from your culture or spiritual path. Create a myth about divination.

The possibilities are endless.

How you want to handle the topic is up to you. Be creative and have fun!

Here is the Master List for the 2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop.

1. Jordan Hoggard http://divinationstudio.com/tarot-myth-divination-bloghop-the-myth-of-the-potss/

2. Olivia Destrades http://firstearthtarot.blogspot.com/2013/09/mabon-blog-hop-2013-persephone-high.html

3. Christiana Gaudet http://tarottrends.com/content/2013-mabon-tarot-blog-hop-divination-and-myth       

4. Chloe for Celtic Lenormand http://www.celticlenormand.com/2013/09/mabon-blog-hop-making-of-meadow.html

5. Karen Sealey  http://pureblessedtarot.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/a-mabon-tarot-blog-hop-bouquet/

6. Louise Underhill http://wp.me/p1IleY-10Q

7. Stella  http://www.usgamesinc.com/tarotblog/mabon-tarot-blog-hop-2013

8. Lynda http://thecauldronborn.blogspot.com/2013/09/frigga-and-her-handmaidens-tarot-spread.html

9. Chloe for TABI http://tabitarot.blogspot.com/2013/09/tarot-blog-hop-myth-tarot.html

10. Alison Coals http://alisonsalembic.blogspot.com/2013/09/tarot-blog-hop-mabon-2013.html

11. Cassandra Santori: http://www.quickcardreading.com/fall-equinox/

12. Joanna Ash http://sungoddesstarot.blogspot.com/2013/09/autumn-made-richer-with-lessons-from-a-myth.html

13. Pepi Valderrama  http://www.depepi.com/2013/09/22/inanna-and-the-journey-to-the-underworld/

14. Chloe McCracken http://innerwhisperscouk.blogspot.com/2013/09/mabon-blog-hop-mythical-things.html

15. Anita Perez http://circlingin.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/future-fool-for-mabon-tarot-blog-hop/

16. Joanne Sprott http://cosmicwhisperstarot.com/2013/09/22/mabon-tarot-blog-hop-star-stories

17. Arwen Lynch http://tarotbyarwen.com/?p=17086

18. AndybC http://boroveshengra.blogspot.com/2013/09/tarot-blog-hop-mabon_22.html

19. Margo Benson http://wynntarot.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/mabon-tarot-blog-hop.html

20. Aisling http://tarotwitchery.blogspot.com/2013/09/tarot-blog-hop-mabon-2013-divine-mythos.html

21. Tierney Sadler http://www.tierneysadler.com/2013/09/92313separating-myth-from-fact.html    

22. Joy Vernon http://joyvernon.com/Blog/divination-and-myth

23. Amanda Levesque http://tarottopics.org/content/mabon-tarot-blog-hop-2013

24. Bonnie Fernandes http://tarotsalve.com/2013/09/22/mabon-blog-hop-divination-and-myth/

25. Morgan Drake Eckstein http://gleamingsfromthedawn.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-mythology-is-brand-new-more-or-less.html

 Bonus Blogs! Though not part of our official hop, a few of our tarot friends have also blogged on this topic. Read their blogs, and check back again to see this list grow!

Jenna Matlin http://www.queenofwandstarot.net/queen-of-wands-blog.html

Sophie Juneau http://sophiejuneau.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/inanna-and-erishkigal/