Although this is, in many ways, a different holiday season than usual, some things remain the same. Holiday music is here! Different people feel different ways about 24/7 Christmas music. I have to admit that I kind of like it. Even though we hear the same songs every year, sometimes one will strike us a bit differently. From that, we might learn, or grow, or find a new perspective.

This year the song that did that for me is “Jingle Bells”. It is not really a Christmas song. But it is a happy song about enjoying winter weather. Living in Florida, snow references at Christmastime become fun and ironic.

The line that has stuck with me all week is “laughing all the way”.

I think it is interesting that “Jingle Bells” remains such a popular holiday song. How many of us have ever ridden in a one-horse open sleigh? And, if we did, why would we laugh all the way?

Laughter is a universal response to many different situations. In the song, there is probably nothing funny about being in the sleigh. The laughter that is referenced is the kind of laughter we do at amusement parks. Sometimes we laugh, not because something is funny, but because we feel joy. We laugh simply because we are having fun.

Children do this quite naturally. We often think about children laughing, not because they heard a joke, but because they are playing, and enjoying their play.

As adults, we don’t laugh this way as much as we did when we were children. We might laugh at jokes, at a comedy show, or at a funny movie. We might laugh in an unkind way, making fun of someone else’s misfortune.

Now, whenever I hear the song “Jingle Bells,” which I am sure I will hear an infinite number of times each and every holiday season, I am going to use it to remind me to laugh, simply at the joy of living.

There is something deeply spiritual about joyous laughter. There is even a yoga practice called “Laughter Yoga” which teaches people to practice laughter for their well-being.

Sometimes we need to laugh in the face of things that scare us. Laughter can be part of the grieving process, too.

Life is never easy, and only sometimes fun. Yet, there is always joy, and always humor.

Sometimes humor feels inappropriate, or irreverent. In spiritual matters, I think laughter can always be part of prayer, worship, and divination. If laughter hurts someone, or makes fun of someone in a hurtful way, it may indeed be inappropriate. Yet, if we can laugh at ourselves, and laugh at both our joy and our pain, our laughter can often lighten our load.

The StaarCorner

You can now see the agenda for Staarcon and see the Accelevents platform where we will be holding our conference. Tickets are available!

This week on StaarCast I was excited to catch up with Maria Luisa Salazar, who will be presenting at StaarCon in both English and Spanish. See how a science teacher became a full-time tarot professional!

You can watch the interview on YouTube, or listen to it wherever you get your podcasts.

We are so excited for StaarCon, and for the amazing team of presenters and exhibitors we are assembling. We hope you will plan to join us!

Tarot Stories, Trends, and Blends Live on Zoom

Join me Thursday, December 17, 7 to 9 pm EST, for a tarot webinar that will increase your ability to find meaningful information in every reading.

While a single tarot card can give a great deal of insight, the skill of tarot reading is in understanding how the cards work together to tell a story. This class will teach practical techniques for combining the meanings of cards and connecting the cards in a reading.

This will be the last Zoom class until February 2021, as we prepare for StaarCon in January.

Class fee is $37.50. Register now on Zoom.

Is Tarot Funny?

Years ago, I started a photo album on Facebook entitled, “Is Tarot Funny?” The goal was to find picture of people laughing during tarot readings and collect them there. All these years later, I still have only two photos. Yet, I know for a fact that a lot of laughter can happen at the tarot table. A lot of tears can happen there, too. I suppose it is hard to have one without the other.

I try to give my students the ability to find the humor in a tarot reading when it presents itself. Sometimes the cards speak in ways that are so poignant, or so ironic, that it really does seem funny.

Sometimes laughing helps us relax enough to find our intuition, and to find deeper meaning in the cards.

The important thing to remember is this. That we are laughing at the tarot table does not mean the information is trite, or that we aren’t taking the divination process seriously. A good tarot reading will elicit a great number of emotions. The more we can be present for those emotions, the better the reading will be.

The Week in Review

2021 is almost here, and it will be the Year of the Hierophant! Find out what that might mean, and learn more about tarot numerology, in my new blogpost.

Did you catch my class on YouTube, Time and Tarot? You can watch it in archive, and you can check out the rest of my YouTube channel while you are there!

My Facebook business page is where I do live readings most Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

I am also live on the StaarCon page on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

From Around the Web

Learn more about Laughter Yoga.

Here is a Happiness Tarot Spread from Maven Unmasked.

Sun Goddess Tarot has a Christmas Tree Tarot Spread for you.

Cards for Your Consideration

There are many tarot cards we might associate with laughter. The Fool, of course, can represent merriment. So can the Three of Cups.

The element of Fire is often associated with humor. Therefore, the Ace of Wands can inspire laughter, and all of the Wands court can speak of people with good humor.

The card I want to specifically consider is the Knight of Wands. In the way this card is illustrated in the popular Waite-Smith tarot images, he seems too big for his horse. There is something goofy about him.

Other decks picture him differently, but many find a way to express a certain care-free aspect of the Knight’s personality. In Word Spirit Tarot he is lounging on his back while riding his horse.

Like all Court cards, the Knight of Wands can represent a person, a situation, a quality of being, or a piece of advice. In any of those cases, laughter, joy, or humor might be a part of the equation.

The element of Fire is also associated with creativity, passion, motivation, anger, spirituality, and sexuality. That humor is in that mix speaks to its power.

The Knight of Wands might be one of the more humorous Fire cards, not only because of how he is often pictured. As a Knight, he is youthful, and may be expressing the joy of youth. He is in pursuit of something. Indeed, he may be actively pursuing fun!

Upcoming Events and Tours

Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 3 Issue 50
December 9, 2020