The Cosmic Bartender of Art, Time and Alchemy

From Visconti Sforza Tarot, the world's first Temperance.

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For this round of the Tarot Blog Hop, wrangled by Alison Cross, I’ve chosen to write about one of my favorite cards, Temperance. I am illustrating this post with some of my favorite Temperance images.

My nickname for Temperance is “The Cosmic Bartender.”

The Waite-Smith Temperance

I like to consider the twenty-one numbered cards of the Major Arcana in three groups of seven. Cards one through seven, Magician through Chariot, speak to me of the lessons of the material world. Cards eight through fourteen speak of the lessons of emotional balance, and cards fifteen through twenty-one speak of the lessons of spiritual enlightenment.

Within this construct, then, we see the journey of body, mind and spirit. Temperance is significant in that, as card fourteen, it is the final card in the journey to emotional balance, before we confront the Devil and begin the journey to actual spiritual enlightenment.

Emotional balance is tricky.  It doesn’t mean “happiness”. Many people strive to be happy and fall short. Those who follow the lesson of Temperance strive simply for balance. They tend to have a much easier time finding their bliss.

From Gilded Tarot Royale, by Ciro Marchetti.

Temperance is the card of art, time and alchemy. When we think of these three ancient key words for this card, we get a deeper sense of its meaning. The angel is an alchemist, carefully and patiently mixing the ingredients together to create the perfect blend.

Life is like that. Nothing is perfect, but if you take a little of this, and a little of that, and blend it together, you can find the perfect blend, and the perfect balance. It doesn’t get much better than that.

From World Spirit Tarot, by Lauren O'Leary and Jessica Sczuka Godino

Here is a poem I wrote for Temperance, as part of my ongoing 78 Poems Project.

Temperance

Water poured from cup to cup, and metal turned to gold.
Sorrow turned to patience, and ego turned to mold.

One foot on the water, another balancing on land
Not a drop is spilt by the angel's gentle hand.

Caution guards the recipe, stirring grace with balance
Art and time make alchemy with these select ingredients.

Change forged of disappointment, mingling with hope
Built on tragic lessons learned that gave us skill to cope.

Expectation and assumption gone, accepting what will be
Still the angel blends the cups, creating perfectly.

Perfect are the cups' contents, and perfect is the measure
And perfect are the woes and joys, blended into treasure.

From Spiral Tarot, by Kay Steventon

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When Good News Makes a Frustrating Reading

We tarot readers often share frustrations with each other, both online and in person. Often our frustrations are about readings where we see serious problems of which the client is determined to remain oblivious (even though they sought out the divination).

“Everything in my relationship is perfect,” Says the client whose spread includes the Seven of Swords, Devil, Tower, Three of Swords and Ten of Pentacles Rx.

Often, the way we readers process these difficult readings is by understanding that people come to the truth they can handle, when they are ready. Sometimes the cards come up to allow us simply to plant the seed. It may be months, or even years, before the client is ready to deal with their truth. We have to be OK with that.

We readers don’t talk as often about the opposite problem. That is, folks who can’t imagine that good things might happen to them, or folks who don’t want to believe that their problems really aren’t the end of the world.

Certainly, people often have readings to discuss their problems, and we have to be able to provide a forum for that. Often, the trauma they have endured is visible in some of the foundational cards, while the cards that point to the future show significant improvement.

Some people are happy to hear that we see improvement, and happy to believe that improvement is possible. At the same time, many people seem to end up in in a “Five of Cups headspace”. They catastrophize their problems, take on a victim mentality, and stubbornly refuse to admit that good things could possibly happen in the not-so-distant future.

What can we do when we are more optimistic about our clients’ futures than they are?

Sometimes it’s helpful to understand why the client feels more comfortable with pessimism than optimism. Perhaps it feels safer, or more normal. Pulling a few cards to discuss this issue will often lead to profound results.

It’s also a good practice to pull cards to determine whether or not the client’s pessimism will in fact serve to limit the good possibilities of the future.  Some readers believe that negative thoughts can only attract more negativity, and positive thoughts are necessary to attract positive things. In my experience, each situation is different. That’s why performing the divination is so much more important than simply schooling a client on your belief system.

We have to meet our clients where they are, not where we wish they would be. That includes being compassionate with denial, whether they are denying the challenges in their lives, or whether then are denying the possibilities of their wonderful future.

Making Tarot Welcome

It’s a fact that tarot isn’t welcome everywhere. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way a few times. However, my personal mantra, and the advice I give fellow tarotists, remains the same. Always assume support.

If someone doesn’t support your tarot work, they will let you know. Otherwise, why give people a reason to distrust it, or you?

I’ve heard tarotists begin their introduction with negative statements about tarot, as if they are trying to anticipate and preempt objections even before the objections come. That doesn’t usually work as well as assuming support, and forcing a few uninformed individuals to voice their lack of support, or remain silent. (I know that’s hard when those uniformed individuals happen to be your friends or family.)

Sometimes, those uninformed people are surprisingly good unintentional advocates for tarot. When the obviously undereducated person in the room is the one with the strongest negative opinion, well, that just speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Yesterday, I had my first library summer speaking engagement. I’m on the speakers list for our local county library system. The program I offer is “An Evening with the Tarot.” Most libraries run a series of speakers in the summer. I’m happy to be a part of that. It’s an opportunity to promote the library, to promote tarot, and to promote my practice. I always meet some great people when I do these events.

Librarians are some of the most open-minded people on the planet, quite contrary to their prim reputation. The many librarians who have booked me to speak all voice the same concerns. They know there will be members of their community who don’t approve of tarot. At the same time, they know their few tarot books fly off the shelves.

The librarians fret that adults don’t often come to library programs. They hope maybe the people who borrow the tattered tarot books from the library might come out for an evening program about tarot.

Last night, at the Thonotosassa Branch Library, the folks that came out, some with tarot decks in hand, proved that theory true.

I had never been in Thonotosassa before. I am still not sure exactly how to say the name of this small Florida town. Although it’s a suburb of Tampa, you would never know there was a large city twenty minutes away.

Driving in to town, I saw the run-down mobile homes interspersed with Pentecostal churches. There were huge, hand-painted signs about the financial habits of Jesus (He saves). I could have been anywhere in the Bible Belt, or in a scene from a swamp-themed horror film.

When I got to the library, there were exactly two cars other than mine in the parking lot. This can’t bode well, I thought.

The librarian echoed my fears. She didn’t want me to be disappointed if no one showed up for my program. Apparently, to her dismay, the flyers advertising the program had only gone out a week ago. There were literally no patrons in the library at that moment.

The community room was decorated for the successful children’s events. My tarot display seemed a bit surreal set up next to the brightly colored games and toys.

One by one, folks drifted in to the community room, anxiously looking around, hoping they were in the right place.  A few of them were carrying tarot decks.

For the next two hours, we had a wonderful time learning about tarot, talking about tarot and experimenting with tarot. The event was a resounding success.

Our small group was diverse. Our youngest was twelve years old; our oldest was closer to eighty than fifty. Everyone stayed engaged, and participated and interacted with each other.

The next time I drive through a small Southern town with hellfire-and-brimstone hand-painted billboards lining the main road, I’m going to remember what happened in Thonotosassa. Somewhere in between those ramshackle churches and trailer parks are people who love tarot, who are hungry to meet like minds and to learn.

I know it’s easier to be a tarot reader in Massachusetts than in Oklahoma. However, this is a reminder to all of us who find ourselves thinking “No one around here is interested in tarot.”

It’s true tarot isn’t welcome everywhere. However, every day, everywhere, tarotists are making strides to make tarot welcome in more places.

Events such as last night’s library program are encouraging signs that we’re moving in the right direction.

Tarot Reading: Say What You See and Assume Nothing

Even after more than twenty years of full time tarot reading, the cards in action still amaze me.

I had any interesting reading while providing tarot entertainment at a teen birthday party this weekend. (When they are too old for clowns and too young for strippers, hire a tarot reader!)

The trick to reading for people who are radically different that you in age, gender experience or culture is simple. You have to read from their perspective. For instance, the same romantic cards will appear to talk about the love life of a thirty-year-old or a thirteen-year-old. The reader has to recognize the difference between a grown-up Two of Cups experience and a young teen Two of Cups experience, and structure their interpretations accordingly.

Sometimes, though, the cards will appear in an improbable way.

This weekend, when reading for a person who was clearly too young to be employed, I saw issues about a current job.  Oddly, it didn’t appear to be a typical kid job like dog walking or lawn mowing, it looked like a lifelong career in which the child was already working. How could this be?

My sense of this was so strong I had no choice but to address it. I told her what I was seeing. Turns out, my young client was indeed employed as a child actor, and expected a life-long career in show business.  From there, I was able to give her an age-appropriate reading that truly addressed her unique set of issues.

This reminded me of two of the fundamental rules of professional tarot reading. First, as long as it isn’t hurtful or dangerous, say what you see without worrying about whether it makes sense, or whether it’s a long shot. You don’t have to understand the reading as long as the client does!

This second is this. Although we must make some demographic assumptions in order to read for a diverse group of people, we really can’t assume that anything is or is not true about a client. We must get the information that we receive from the cards, from intuition and from Spirit, without the filter of our assumptions.

Each time we go to the cards to read for others, we have the opportunity to learn something about tarot reading itself, and about ourselves.

Roots and Wings Tarot Spread

Miniature Rider Waite Tarot Deck, Published by U.S. Games

In honor of Mother’s Day, here is a tarot spread about one thing we all have in common. We are all born to a mother. From there, our experiences with our mothers vary widely. Nonetheless, we each have a mother who has given us the gift of life, along with many other gifts and lessons, whether through experience or DNA. Here is a spread about those gifts and lessons. Use it to help you understand that part of you that came from your mother.

These are the card interpretations. Watch the short video to see the layout, and to see the spread in action!

Card 1:This card will show you, or help you understand, a gift, talent or positive quality you inherited from your mother.

Card 2: This card will show you, or help you understand, a challenge, problem or lesson that came from your mother, or from your interaction with your mother.

Card 3: This card will show you, or help you understand, what you must do to mitigate, release or heal from that challenge.

Card 4: This card will show you, or help you understand, the best way to use and develop the gifts and talents you have inherited from your mother.