(The World Tarot Meaning) 21. Universe – Changing Woman – Saturn

KEYWORDS: Expansion, cycles, travel.

The Universe represents the final stage of the descent of spirit into matter. Here we emerge on the planet in our present form, to deal with the joys and struggles of living in a material world.

For the last card of the Major Arcana, I chose the Native American image of Changing Woman. She is an anthropomorphic figure representing nothing less than Mother Nature, bringer of the changing seasons and cycles of life, death and rebirth.

The Navajos’ Changing Woman is similar to the Taoist concept of nature, in that both believe in “Walking in the Trail of Beauty.” “The Apache called the earth goddess by this name (Changing Woman), for she never grew old. When her age began to show, she simply walked toward the East until she saw herself coming toward herself. She kept walking until her young self merged with her aging self and then, renewed, returned to her home.”

This concept of cyclic renewal is a very important aspect of this card for many reasons. Trump XXI is not the end of the journey for the cosmic wanderer of the Essence card; rather, it is a new beginning on a different, more earthly level of development and awareness.

Saturn, the planetary ruler of this card, is the guardian of the Laws of Nature and her endless cycles. The ringed planet brings momentum for change in 7-year cyclic patterns and in multiples thereof; the notorious “Saturn Cycle” visits us roughly every 28 years.

The Universe of Changing Woman represents the final rung on the ladder of initiation. It is now time for her to “meet herself” and become at once the child and the crone. According to Navajo lore, Changing Woman brought forth the Navajo people parthenogenetically by rubbing her skin, again demonstrating her ability to change and renew.

“It is Changing Woman who teaches the flow of life, the restlessness of the sand as it flies with the wind, the wisdom of the ancient rocks that never leave their home, the pleasure of the tiny sapling that has risen through them.”

To illustrate this powerful image, I have placed all the aspects of Changing Woman and her Universe inside a shield. In Native American tradition, shields are designed as sacred magical tools; they protect the bearer or tribe from various negative influences, and they are a mark of achievement. To “Walk in the Trail of Beauty” with Changing Woman, with full understanding and acceptance of the nature of her cycles, is to bear a magnificent shield indeed, shielding us from the vissisitudes of ignorance and unawareness.

In the center of the shield, Changing Woman stands in a dance-like posture. Her arms and head form the triangle of spirit, over crossed legs representing the cross of matter, i.e., spirit over matter. She stands naked on a bed of flowers, surrounded by the rainbow, which was her bed and blanket as an infant.

From her body emanate the four mountains of the compass points, each portraying the appropriate season and astrological symbols. A turquoise band is wrapped about her temples, connecting her to her crone image which appears above her.

The mountains to the East feature Changing Woman’s autumn palette of colors at work, she soars above in her guise as the Eagle, during the fixed watery sign of Scorpio. Hallowmas is the witches’ new year.

To the North, snow caps the barren wintry peaks, which are presided over by “Grandmother Who Walks With A Turquoise Cane,”56 during the fixed airy sign of Aquarius.

To the West, the mountain is in full bloom as the earth rejoices in Changing Woman’s rebirth from her snowy winter blanket. Here, she holds court dressed in a bull-buffalo headdress, in honor of the earthy fixed sign, Taurus.

In the South, we see the fiery-red mountains of summer, guarded by a cat-like Changing Woman draped in a cougar skin to celebrate the fixed sunny sign of Leo.

In the Universe, all things change, evolve and grow within the cyclical structure of nature’s eternal rhythm. To resist with human audacity by trying to reweave her intricate web of life is to destroy life. To dance to the beat of her drum and answer the call of her voice is forever to Walk the Trail of Beauty.

When receiving this potent image in a reading, be aware that your life is invoking a period of growth, expansion and success. Change may well provide a route or gateway for your expanded consciousness. Don’t resist; enjoy the dance of your liberation as you become one with the Universe.

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(Death Tarot Meaning) 20. Transformation – Phoenix – Scorpio

KEYWORDS: Change, birth, regeneration.

This is the final burning of karma preceding the rebirth process. The transformation is now almost complete, and something new emerges from the ashes of the old.

To represent this Scorpio-ruled trump, I chose the Egyptian image of the Phoenix. This legendary bird self-immolates yearly and is reborn from its own ashes. I feel that the “grim reaper” version of Death associated with traditional decks doesn’t adequately show the regenerative, positive side of this card. The Phoenix is a metaphor for reincarnation, as well as the highest evolution of the astrological sign Scorpio.

The ancient Indo-Europeans universally believed that souls could take the form of birds. Latin aves meant both ‘birds’ and ‘ancestral spirits’ or ghosts or angels. Roman Emperors achieved godhood in the form of an eagle which was released above an Emperor’s funeral pyre to carry his soul to heaven. A bird call, a magic formula, and singing were expressed by the same word in Germanic languages.

Becoming a bird in a visionary or trance state was a widespread symbol of initiatory death and rebirth. Shamans and prophets in the South Pacific, Indonesia, Central Asia, and Siberia claimed to transform themselves into birds. According to the Chinese, women knew the secret of flying before men; for that matter, women were long known to be the source of all magical powers in China, as well as in the rest of the matriarchal world.

The central focus of this card is the Phoenix, depicted as a brilliantly feathered bird emerging from her own ashes. A blazing sun rises, reminding us that each death and each transformation creates the space and is the breeding ground for new life.

On either side of this magical bird, women and children of all races raise their arms skyward; they acknowledge the transformation of their status in the emerging New Age, as well as a positive change in attitude toward global unity and sustainability.

Shamans, or more appropriately “she-mans,” glide effortlessly on feathered wings through the air, illustrating the transformed consciousness. The earliest images of shamans were female. See Marija Gimbutas for remarkable archeological work on and numerous images of the many “bird-headed” preColumbian or Neolithic Goddesses. We can only guess that originally rituals were performed by women and later appropriated by the conquering patriarchs.

Now the Wheel turns again, we see people becoming more whole, with less need to dominate. Not all beings readily accept these shifts in the wind; but whether experienced as a dance or as a grueling torture, change and transformation are in process.

When receiving this card in a spread, expect dramatic changes and transformation in your life, values, or just your plans. The changes indicated are usually not the type that take you totally by surprise; rather, they come to term and bloom into new growth.

Rarely, if ever, does this card indicate a physical death. Sometimes a psychic death or a complete letting-go is in order. This may seem like a frightening process, but the end result is a newly regenerated consciousness. What a joy and gift to yourself this can be!

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(Wheel of Fortune Tarot Meaning) 19. Wheel of Life – Kali – Jupiter

KEYWORDS: Auspicious turn of events.

With the next revolution of the Wheel, we spin off into yet another level of our evolutionary process. The Wheel of Life illustrates the constancy of nature’s everexpanding cyclical changes; light to dark, ebb to flow, life to death to life.

The planet Jupiter rules this card; in earlier decks, the concept of luck, chance or fate (as in the Wheel of Fortune) was an appropriate interpretation. In The Wheel of Life, we don’t see luck or fate as something that suddenly drops into our laps or hands. Rather, it is the gift which comes as a result of an awareness of cycles and timing.

Being generally pretty self-centered, we are usually spinning in small circles around the hub of this great Wheel, enmeshed in our day-to-day struggles. As a result, we often miss the Jupiterian “Big Picture.” Opening up our vantage point toward the circumference of the Wheel, we become capable of a more philosophical overview of cyclical events. From this perspective, we are better positioned to make our own luck, or consciously to reap the benefits of a cycle which has come to term.

The Wheel is the universal symbol for cycles. The symbolism of the Wheel is also referred to thus by Neumann: “In the Western Middle Ages, we find a symbol corresponding exactly to the Tibetan Wheel of Life, this is the wheel of life… as Wheel of Mother Nature, on which the ascending cycle of human life is represented. Below, the wheel is held by the Earth Goddess, above, on a throne sits three-headed Time (i.e., an angel-like female figure) whose wings are the months and who makes life revolve with the alternations of day and night.”

For my image of the Wheel of Life, I included a composite of various cyclic symbols. I drew heavily on the Tantric images of Kali, the White Dakini and the triple-headed Goddess image, above the circumference of the Wheel.

The ancient Tantric tradition is extremely important; it is the only portion of the Hindu religion that reveres women and discourages the racist caste system. This tradition may also underly the origins of the female-centered Sufi sect.

Enthroned on the Wheel is a triple-headed winged Goddess. Her first aspect is the “white dove (the virgin creatrix)”; the second is the “blood red serpent (the Mother and preserver)”; and the last is the “black sow (the Crone and destroyer)”. Her two six-fold wings represent the 12 months of the year.

Rising from the bottom of the Wheel is the White Dakini, an embodiment of female wisdom-energy. The Dakinis, or Skywalkers, were Tantric priestesses and attendant spirits to Kali, their mistress. The sixtyfour Dakinis are traditionally expressions of archetypal energies within each person. According to Tantric teaching, the visualization of each of these archetypes can bring about profound alterations in one’s consciousness; this is yet another turn of the wheel.

Below the Dakini is Kali, the birth-death Goddess who is “simultaneously womb and tomb, giver of life and devourer of her children.” Kali’s name literally meant “Black Mother Time” and Hers was a world of “eternal living flux from which all things rose and disappeared again, in endless cycles.” She appears as the black devouring crone with protruding tongue and wide, all-seeing eyes wearing Her traditional skull-necklace.

At the hub of the Wheel sits the Sphinx, a symbol of our essence, which never changes from lifetime to lifetime. Around her whirls a Lemurian Wheel of Life symbol. She is also the focus of a smaller zodiac wheel, complete with all the astrological signs and symbols. The lower hemisphere is dark, representing the night, while the upper portion is light like the day.

As in the Rider/Waite, around the wheel of the zodiac appear the letters T-A-R-O-T. Viewed from both sides, they form five anagrams which together form a cryptic phrase: TARO ROTA ORAT TORA ATOR meaning respectively and collectively: The royal road–the wheel, speaks the law of Ator (Hathor or Mother Nature). To my mind, rearranging these same four letters to create different words and concepts is symbolic of reincarnation; we try on different bodies and personalities to learn each lesson.

When receiving this card, know that you are on the brink of a major change. This is an auspicious time and the end of a cycle of development. The boons or failures that you incur at this time are directly related to your own efforts in the past. As the Great Wheel turns under the watchful eye of Kali, remember that with the beginning of each new cycle we get another chance.

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(Justice Tarot Meaning) 18. Justice – Maat – Libra

KEYWORDS: Karma, timing, balance, equality, justice.

This card of Justice appears following the lunar and solar images to ensure balance between these energies before they manifest into form.

To illustrate the concept of Justice, I chose the Egyptian Goddess Maat. As law giver and dispenser of justice, this Goddess weighs each soul against a feather. Thus the Plume of Maat is a symbol for “Truth.” She is described as a woman with “the ostrich feather upon her head, a sceptre in one hand, the ankh in the other.” She is referred to in Egyptian texts as The Eye. Maat is associated with the heart as the place where moral judgements are made. “Maat had no temples but was worshipped in the rhythm of truth, wherever it was perceived.” Maat symbolized the order of the universe and all that was righteous and good. She came to be known as the Eye of Horus; the cobra is her symbol.

The concept of Justice in the most organic sense is identical to the law of cause and effect, or karma. This law implies that we are at the center of our universe as pace-setter and director; there is a causal relationship between our actions and how our lives unfold.

Sometimes, there can be a gap of several lifetimes between cause and effect. This situation becomes impenetrable to the time-bound mortal mind, leaving us with a feeling of being out of control, or wrongly punished or praised.

Karma is absolutely not an excuse for non-action or apathy, and it does not preclude free will, the backbone of all paths to liberation.

Maat as the symbol of Justice refers both to the abstract principle and literally to the “meting out” (after Metis, the Greek Goddess) of justice, as illustrated by her scales and sword. Seeking justice can be a very active pursuit, rather than passively waiting for the will of God or Goddess to drop fate into one’s lap. Understanding this concept is the cornerstone of the fusion of politics and spirituality. We actively pursue the goals of peace, justice and equality on the planet, while we also seek to understand the underlying laws of cause and effect and their manifestations.

The all-seeing “Eye of Truth” which has been used to describe Maat is a more discerning “Eye,” and it sees into the heart of the matter and weighs it, making judgements only in the fairest, most even-handed way, symbolized by the balanced scales.

In Trump XVIII we see Maat before us, crowned with the sacred ostrich plume, sitting on her throne with the ankh in her left hand and sceptre in her right. Above her looms a large scale, perfectly balanced, with a heart on one side and an ostrich feather on the other.

This card is ruled by Libra – also symbolized by the scales. The fact that Maat looks to the heart to make judgements reminds us that Libra is ruled by the planet Venus, often symbolized by the heart and the ankh. Libra is also a cardinal or action-oriented sign; this further explains the sword which rises to Maat’s breast as a symbol of her “meting out” of justice. Her sacred Cobra is wrapped around the length of the sword.

According to Elizabeth Gould Davis in her groundbreaking book The First Sex, “When the goddess of justice gave way to the god of vengeance, man became inhuman and authoritarianism replaced compassion as the law of life.”

When Justice appears in a spread, you will literally get what you deserve. There is something karmic and timely pertaining to whatever area or issue it surrounds. Fairness is ensured.

Sometimes this card indicates legal issues, papers, court cases etc. Unless negatively aspected by other cards, justice will prevail.

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(The Sun Tarot Meaning) 17. Sun – Amaterasu – Sun

KEYWORDS: Self-expression, joy, well-being.

The Sun represents the radiant globe that illuminates our solar system, as well as the solar, masculine or yang archetype.

For the image of the Sun, I chose Amaterasu, the Japanese Sun Goddess. “Of all the religions currently practiced by significant numbers of people, the only one whose chief deity is female is Japanese Shinto, based on the worship of the Sun-Goddess Amaterasu ,“Great Shining Heaven”. She is worshipped in her simple shrines, notable for their architectural purity and unpretentiousness, and for the central mirror representing the Goddess.” She is regarded as the supreme deity and guardian of the Japanese people. The rising sun, which is her symbol, still adorns the Japanese flag.

Shintoism or “the way of the spirits”, is a religion of contrast, combining a deep reverence for nature and simplicity with a concept of “Divine Right” for the royal line descending from Amaterasu.

If one thinks about it, these diametrically opposed concepts of simplicity and regality are appropriate to the worship of the Sun. The Sun is the most luminous, brilliant, regal heavenly body in our universe, while its function, although essential to life and growth, is simply to shine. The ancient Shinto beliefs are similar in style to Taoist and Native American concepts of Mother Earth.

As Stone observes in Ancient Mirrors: “The one word most important in understanding this perception of the world is kami. Defined as spirit or spiritual essence, it is the acknowledgement of the kami in each manifestation of natural life that endows the perceiver with an understanding of the spiritual dynamics of the world.” This word comes from the Ainu, who were the original inhabitants of Japan.

The elaborately dressed image of Amaterasu is the focal point of this card. Her hair is wrapped in bunches, as was her custom. About her neck are 5 strands of maga tama beads. These Beads, together with her Mirror and her Sword (eight hands long) are the famous “Three Holy Articles.” She holds the Mirror in her left hand; interestingly, the left side is often considered the “honorable” side in this female/solar culture.

Also hanging from Amaterasu’s neck are the four sacred jewels: the Jewel of Life, the Jewel of Resuscitation, the Jewel of Plenty, and the Jewel of Turning Back on the Road. Criss-crossed over her breasts are the Snake- and Bee-Repelling Scarves, while around her waist she drapes another Scarf to Ward Off Various Things.

She is also shown as bearing two quivers of many arrows, the Sword eight hands long, and a bow. Amaterasu is described thus: “She put on an awesome high arm-guard and shaking the upper tip of the bow, stamping her legs up to her very thighs into the hard earth, and kicking the earth about as if it were light snow, she shouted, stamping her feet.”47 The shamanistic duties of a Sun Priestess imitate this description of Amaterasu’s behavior.

Behind this magnificent figure, the sun rises over a dormant Mount Fuji, the sacred mountain of Japan. Before Amaterasu are the three rice fields: the Easy Rice Field of Heaven, the Level Rice Field of Heaven, and the Village Join Rice Field of Heaven. They are continually prosperous, thanks to her constant light and beneficence.

When you draw this card, your world is bright and cheery. Projects are in gear, prosperity is realized and your heart is filled with the joy and simplicity of love shared.

By reducing all things to their spiritual essence or kami, we discover a collective spiritual unity that is important in understanding the esoteric aspect of this card. In short, allow yourself to be steward to all the riches and prosperity that the universe can offer, by focusing on the essential unity of all life, rather than the separations. Once you separate yourself from one thing, you have lost touch with the Totality. When placing yourself in the center of the Light, you become that light, and you shine like a beacon for all to appreciate. The feeling of being “born again” typifies the rebirth that you feel from placing yourself in the center.

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(The Moon Tarot Meaning) 16. Moon – Ixchel – Pisces

KEYWORDS: Catharsis, reflection.

The Moon card is symbolic of both the lunar heavenly body and the female, or yin, archetype.

For the Piscean-ruled Moon card, I chose an eclectic series of images. The astrological sign Pisces, the final sign of the zodiac, embodies traits of all the other signs, as well as embracing a universality all its own. The planet Neptune rules Pisces and tends to bathe her in mysticism, intrigue and mist.

The woman in the moon is Ixchel, the Mayan Moon Goddess, and the Goddess of disastrous floods. “Crowned with the feathers of an eagle, eagle feathers carefully woven in intricate design into her heavenly throne, Ixchel was known as Eagle Woman and eagles were seen as messengers of her moon essence.” Ixchel is described in myth as a woman who comes and goes as she pleases, obviously a metaphor for the moon’s changing phases. It is not surprising that independent and oppressed women alike take Ixchel for their heroine.

The great Stonehenge looms in the background of the card. These huge stones framed auspicious moments in the paths of the moon and sun. “Stone megaliths and lintels are universally holy constructions symbolizing the os and womb, the sacred doorway to the center of the universe, the dwelling place of the life force.” Stonehenge was an astronomical observatory, as well as being a temple. In this card, these stones stand also as a gateway between the known and the unknown spheres of existence.

Leading up to the center of the stone temple is a winding path; it is flanked by the wild dog or wolf on the left, representing our intuitive side, and the domestic dog on the right, the intellectual side. This image can be traced to the ancient Vedic concept of the moon as death’s gate, ruled by the Goddess and guarded by Her two dogs. According to the Vedic tradition, the Bitch Goddess Saroma was the mistress of the death dogs and a divine huntress like Artemis, Diana, Anath, and other western versions of the lunar maiden. Just as the Goddess has several aspects, so does the dog, her totem animal; “dangerous, nocturnal, primitive on the one hand, and a protector against forces of evil on the other.”

To the left of the path, huddled inside a magic circle, is a coven of witches. As a group, they have gone on an astral journey, leaving only their physical bodies behind, under the watchful eyes of their faithful hounds. This astral journey relates to the aspect of the Moon card which deals with our endeavors to push beyond the boundaries of what is known. Here is the gray area, the astral plane, a place of infinite possibilities, as well as a place where one connects with the “Infinite.”

One of the inhabitants of the pool in the foreground is the dreaded Hydra of Greek mythology. She is symbolic of all the hidden fears lurking beneath the surface of consciousness. According to Robert Graves, the Hydra has another symbolic purpose: he feels that she represented the persecution of the matriarchies. “For every goddess-honoring group destroyed or converted, another sprang forth in its place.”

Pisces is a mutable water sign; it is precisely from the watery depths of this card that we derive the most significance. On the edge of the pool symbolizing the depths of her unconscious, a woman emerges to begin the difficult and potentially dangerous journey to wholeness. She is guided by the intuition and intellect of her loyal hounds. She has immersed herself in her emotions for a long time; now it’s time to come out into the light of day so that she can view her feelings more clearly. She must leave Neptune’s lavender veil and her whirlpool of confusion in favor of lucidity. She needn’t abandon her watery domain forever. It’s simply time for a change, to bravely reach beyond the known.

When one draws this card, it is a time of emotional catharsis, for digging up all those buried fears and feelings, and for “cleaning house,” so to speak. As we all know, viewing an object through water distorts our vision; it’s important to climb out of the watery emotions in the pursuit of clarity. On the other hand, we often need to immerse ourselves in something in order to get the “feel” of it. Truly both the intellectual and the emotional faculties are necessary in the pursuit of wholeness. What is called for in this card is the mastery of the emotions. To deal with feelings, not avoid them, and to cope with and not collapse into the emotions presents quite a challenge.

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(Judgement Tarot Meaning) 15. Awakening – Hecate and Pandora – Pluto

KEYWORDS: Inspiration, renewal, soul retrieval.

The Awakening represents the stage in our evolution when we begin to remember a pre-existent higher level of consciousness. We remember our own divine essence.

For this Plutonic card of Awakening, I use the Anatolian (Turkish) image of Hecate, and the Greek image of Pandora. Hecate is known as the protector of women, a Goddess of witches and of the dark side of the moon. She is also the Queen of the Dead and the guardian of the gates and crossroads. The threefold crossroads are especially sacred to Hecate. It is here that on a moonless night, bearing a torch and accompanied by her hounds, she walked. “A queen of death, she ruled the magical powers of regeneration; in addition, she could hold back her spectral hordes from the living if she chose.”

Pluto, the ruling planet of this card is mainly concerned with the concept of regeneration and the purging of the soul, thus awakening a higher consciousness. The intense subterranean nature of Plutonic energy is evoked in trump XV – Judgment in traditional decks,. Sometimes one needs to crawl through the flaming caverns of hell in order to find the route to heaven.

Pandora is a figure who got a bad reputation from patriarchal mythographers. Originally her name meant “rich in gifts, the all-giver, and the earth, in female forms.” Her “box” contained not the evils of the world, but the secrets of women’s knowledge and mysteries; these were never meant for “man” to see, but were wholly appropriate to be discovered by women.

Pandora is shown kneeling at the center of a threefold crossroad with a glowing key in her left hand with which to unlock a giant treasure chest. “The key, an attribute of Hecate, is related to the goddess as opener of the treasure chest of the door to the world. Finding a key signifies the stage – after great difficulties – just prior to discovery of treasure.”

Beside Pandora is a sacred black stone, one found in many of Hecate’s shrines. In front of her, a fiery tear in the earth’s crust exposes her to the potentially dangerous flames of the underworld, as she moves toward her “box.” The chest is decorated with moons and labyrises, both symbols of female power.

Hecate’s tree, the willow, flanks Pandora on either side. Above her, Hecate’s spectral figure, surrounded by her hounds, calls out. Seven rays emanate from her lips, reaching Pandora’s seven chakras, thus awakening her spirit.

On Hecate’s breast she wears her circle, “a gold sphere with a sapphire in its center, hung on a thong of oxhide, used for divination.”  In her left hand, a torch blazes, lighting the turbulent night skies. Hecate was also revered as a storm goddess.

A butterfly flutters through the sky, a symbol of the goddess as transformer. “In the 2nd millennium B.C., because of their increasing importance, axes were made in imitation of a butterfly (therefore doublebladed). When finally the butterfly became a double-axe, the image of the goddess as a butterfly continued to be engraved on double axes.”

When we connect with the awakening energy of this Plutonic card, we feel compelled to cut away all that does not resonate with the innermost core of our being. Sometimes this awakening requires that we undergo major life changes. We view and explore the darker, hidden side of our natures in order to become more whole. This journey is not always pleasant, and it is very intense. Often our “Awakening” takes us back to people, places and things from our past for review and reassessment. In this way, we deepen our understanding, enabling us to let go of old feelings, resentments, and habits. Past life information may come forward as well, to help us realize our current life’s destiny. As we awaken our hidden resources, we have the opportunity to become all we can be.

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(The Hanged Man Tarot Meaning) 14. Initiation – Eclipse – Neptune

KEYWORDS: Inner journey, immersion, incubation.

After evolving to the point where souls were preparing to incarnate into denser forms, beings required a gestation period to prepare for the trials of their earth walk. This is the initiation period between death and life represented by the Hanged Man in traditional decks.

The process of birth was perhaps the first and most significant miracle witnessed by our ancestors. For this reason, most (if not all) female initiatory rites of passage involve a type of simulated womb-to-birth experience. They also include a more spiritualized concept of eternal rebirth, exemplified by the changing phases of the moon.

The mysteries of the lunar Goddesses were all very simple. The three phases of the lunar cycle remind us of the constant waxing, blossoming and waning process of life. We observe the rhythm as She pulls the tides to and fro while they ebb and flow; we know that one follows the other as day follows night, so life follows death.
Grasping these simple natural manifestations breeds a religion or spiritual philosophy full of hope, serenity and ecstasy.

Assignment of paternity was inconsequential in matriarchal time. All children were “legitimate,” as all children knew their mothers. In addition, all people were considered children of the Goddess. This belief instilled a more universal concern for one another.

In his Book of Runes – Rune 12, Joy (Reversed), Ralph Blum states, “The process of birth is long and arduous and fears arise for the safety of the child within. A crisis, a difficult passage – even if brief – is at hand.”
Attunement to Neptune, the ruling planet of this card, opens one to an Initiation into a universal spirituality. Neptune’s energy can be quite convoluted when we try to mentally approach her in a linear way. Our mind dissolves into an endless boggle of “what ifs.” Our egos become eclipsed.

When we can face and accept death or even the death and dissolution of our individual egos, fear loosens its death-grip; we can truly, for the first time, be reborn to a world of joy and hope.

In Anne Kent Rush’s book Moon Moon, she describes an initiation ritual: “The Initiation began in the sacred lake with a journey in a moon-boat through the waters to a region where one went through rituals of warmth and emotion. After secret and awesome events, the sacred vessel was presented for the initiate to see with a spear and blood in it carried by attendants. The initiate is supposed to know at this point to ask, ‘What do these holy vessels mean and whom do they serve?’ If the initiate has passed through the trials well, a celebration follows and she is awarded the Roses of Isis to become a Daughter of the Moon. She is also thought to have become married to the moon and therefore, a whole and independent person, knowledgeable in the highest secrets of the natural order. The following chant is the initiate’s confession sung in recognition and rejoicing of the event:

I have eaten from the timbrel
I have drunk from the cymbal
I have borne the sacred vessel
I have entered the bridal chamber”

In this inspiring card, we see three initiates guided by a priestess in a moon-shaped vessel. They scarcely ripple the midnight-blue waters as their ancient ship glides effortlessly to its destination. The only audible sound is a low melodic chant like the one above, as they enter the sacred lake. A lunar crescent hangs in the dark night sky and is reflected in even darker waters.

In the center of the card an initiate emerges from a turbulent whirlpool of fears, doubts, and emotions. She is far from the comfort and safety of the warm dark womb waters.

Before her looms the sphinx in Neptunian shades of purple and lavender. As well as being a guardian of the underworld, the sphinx is a symbol of our essence which never changes from lifetime to lifetime. Between her huge paws an open chamber beckons the initiate to walk through the gate of death. To allay her fears, a golden light emanates from within a huge inverted triangle; this triangle is the most ancient symbol of womanhood. Behind this gateway awaits the prize for her efforts and bravery, the Rose of Isis –enter the chamber and experience your own initiation!

When receiving this card, you may feel as though you are in a limbo-like fog, unable to “make things happen” in the material world, everything seemingly on hold. The “light’s on and somebody’s home” but this is not the time for outer action. There is much internal action and introspection taking place. Nothing external matters here except as it clarifies your inner world.

Events in the outer world may keep you spinning and feeling thwarted, but help is on the way. Ask your guides and ancestors for help too. As you break through the shell of your outmoded patterns, the roadblocks in your path seem to disintegrate before you.

Trying to push the river will leave you spinning your wheels at best, and at worst drowning in a sea of frenetic thoughts and emotions. Be patient, your metamorphosis is in progress. The eclipse of the caterpillar gives birth to the butterfly.

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(The Devil Tarot Meaning) 13. Limitation – Delphic Oracle, Healer, & Amazon – Capricorn

KEYWORDS: Blockage, negativity, limited thinking, frustration.

The card of Limitation represents the point in time when beings no longer enjoyed the easy flow between levels of consciousness, from spirit to matter. Because they ceased seeing all as divine, they weakened their own link to the Goddess, becoming stuck in a material existence. In other words, by viewing those they deemed inferior as being separate from the All, they affirmed separation, thereby losing contact with wholeness.

If all were not of a Goddess/God essence, then the next step would be to create an intermediary, like the Hierophant in traditional decks to bridge the sacred and mundane worlds, and to reach those who had become estranged from their direct link to the Source. I removed the Hierophant combining it instead with the Devil to create this card of Limitation, showing how intermediaries limit our experience of the Divine.

Once this intermediary was enthroned, it encouraged those beings to seek Divinity outside themselves, truly enslaving them to a limited consciousness. This card is the antithesis of the Lovers/Wholeness card. Where there is a free-flowing channel for energy, that energy stays in a positive mode; when it is blocked, we find driven, compulsive people.

The biblical allegory of “the Fall” is an aberration of the truth, at best. According to Judeo-ChristianIslamic theology, “God” created all that is good and wonderful while “man” must take responsibility for all that is evil. To cope with this overwhelming task, a scapegoat had to be found to assume the burden for man’s “sins” – hence the creation of the Devil.

The most common image of the Devil is modeled after the pagan goat-footed (scapegoat!) God of sensuality, Pan. Christian dogma deplored Pan’s life-affirming unbridled affirmation of sexuality. Beyond procreation, sexual impulses were deemed sinful and thus were projected on – who else? – the Devil. In addition, anything unexplainable or beyond human comprehension [deemed negative] was considered the work of the Devil; those who probed the unknown were ‘in league with the Devil.’ Around the world, the ancient Gods and Goddesses became the devils to the conquering new patriarchal order. Even the word “devil” is derived from the Indo-European word “devi,” meaning Goddess.

As beings affirmed separateness rather than unity, the need for scapegoats and intermediaries arose. As long as people looked outside themselves to discover their divine essence, they were limited by and subject to the religious dogma of their cultural setting. The externalization of the deity lays the cornerstone for the oppression of all who are deemed “other” by the prevailing system. When all beings truly recognize their own divinity, no priest or politician can demand subservience. After all, who can pull rank on a Goddess or God?

According to Madame Blavatsky in her masterwork, The Secret Doctrine, “God is light and Satan is the necessary darkness or shadow to set it off, without which pure light would be invisible and incomprehensible.” Claiming our shadow now becomes our path to enlightenment.

When we project our negative feelings or shadow side on another, we constellate the scapegoat. This scapegoat takes away our “sins” and robs us of our ability to free ourselves. The disowning of our shadow is a binding limitation as it denies us insight needed to release outworn behaviors which hold us back. The powerlessness one feels at this point can snowball into a myriad of negative thought-forms, creating a stalemate or a place of no action. Frustration can lead to anger which can lead to violence.

We must learn to break this chain. As long as we look outside ourselves for deliverance or to allot blame, we collaborate in the maintenance of our repression and frustration; we limit our ability to move forward.
In the center of this card, we see the Oracle, the ancient intermediary, at her shrine at Delphi. Delphi, “the womb,” was in fact the site of the oldest, most famous oracular shrines to the earth mother, Gaia. Gaia was worshipped through her priestesses known as Delphyne.

The Oracle, wearing blue-bird robes, is seated upon a tripod stool, with Python, her oracular serpent, coiled around her labyris sceptre. After a person becomes immunized, the effect of a snake’s bite (especially the cobra’s) can put one into a trance-like hallucinogenic state; perhaps this priestess was actually bitten by her “familiar” to invoke prophecies.

Her head is adorned with a wreath of cherry laurel. The Pythoness, as she was also called, chewed the leaves to induce her prophetic trances. The cherry laurel contains traces of cyanide, which can cause delirium and foaming at the mouth, both of which were reputed symptoms of the oracle’s divine possession. The Oracle is shown here as an old woman with flowing white hair, her face marked by lines betokening wisdom. Her breast and midriff show feathers symbolizing her vulnerability around the solar plexus and heart chakras. She is staring into a steaming, bubbling cauldron as vapors envelop and almost shroud the ethereal beings dancing in wild abandon above her head – the free souls that once graced this planet.

Chained to the throne of the Oracle are the matriarch from Major Arcana card X – the Healer, and the Amazon from card XI. They raise swords at each other; they have forgotten that they are of one Source, and they now see each other as the “scapegoats” for their own imperfections. They, like other beings, have bonded to the notion that they must go outside themselves, through an intermediary, to reach their divine essence. The chains about their necks are loose; so they can in fact free themselves whenever they choose. But the source of their liberation is hidden in the black background indicating the absence of light.

When this card emerges in your spread, don’t turn to others; look inside for your own divine guidance. Do not fear the frustrated feelings that this card evokes, they can lead you on a path back to your center to truly grapple with the shadow side of your nature. The positive side of this card generally unfolds only after we run into the same wall for the 99th time, and finally “get it.”

To the extent that we love our familiar chains, to that extent we suffer the pain of limitation. When beset by these feelings of bondage and frustration, look toward a light at the end of the tunnel, and go toward it.

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(The Tower Tarot Meaning) 12. Revolution/Revelation – Pele – Mars

KEYWORDS: Sudden change, shock.

A major revolution in the evolution of human consciousness occurred when the warriors raised their hands against the agrarian peace-keepers. This revolution unleashed the violent aggressive energies of the previous card, the Amazon. The peace-keepers became entangled in the fight and thus ceased to be peace-keepers.

For this Mars-ruled trump XII, I chose the Polynesian volcano Goddess, Pele. The planet Mars emits a very fiery and lusty energy, which manifests in a very intense, aggressive manner. At its core, this card is a metaphor for sudden, drastic changes, not unlike the power of an erupting volcano–earth-changing in scope and going beyond the destruction of mere mortal structures traditionally pictured in the Tower card.

Pele’s significance is enhanced by the fact that she is one who is still worshipped in a very literal manner by Hawaiians seeking to ensure the safety of their villages. Reportedly, shortly before a volcanic eruption, Pele is sometimes seen as a “wizened old woman who asks for a cigarette, lights it with a snap of her fingers, then disappears. Others say that a red-robed woman dances on the rims of the fiery mountains.”

Honored as “the essence of earthly fire, ” Pele was credited with building the Hawaiian Islands, no doubt with her volcanic antics. Her passion was renowned and feared. Her wrath when rejected would cause her to stamp her feet, creating a trembling resulting in volcanic eruption. “Her priestesses wore robes whose sleeves and hems had been burnt ragged by fire. When Mauna Loa erupted in 1880, 63-year-old Princess Ruth Keelepolani, who still knew the ancient chants of Pele, walked up to the edge of a lava flow.”33 She performed the various ancient rituals, and the eruptions ceased by the next sunrise.

Often we need to create total Revolution in order to make much-needed changes. While such changes may seem to come “out of the blue”; they are usually the result of slow-simmering issues being held in check by logic and intellect. Suddenly, without notice, like an erupting volcano that has lain dormant, hidden angers and emotions spew forth. They wreak havoc and create new fertile soil for growth amid the ashes and lava-rock-covered earth. At this point, and often only during such an aftermath, is the twin aspect of Revelation realized.

On the face of this card, we see Pele as a wild mountain woman. She emerges from the crater like a raging Fury. Her hair is like a fiery mane. Pele’s arms are outstretched, as if to invoke the powers of the lightning bolts, a symbol of illumination flashing in the darkness. The colors used in this card are the Martian shades of red, orange, and black.
The Tower in the traditional Tarot, and its counterpart Revolution/Revelation in my deck, may inspire fear when they turn up in a reading; this fear is in response to the sudden and seemingly unpredictable negativity of this card. There is a direct correlation between one’s resistance to change and the level of “destruction” experienced from the situation that occasioned drawing this card.

When drawing Revolution, you can expect the unexpected and may feel as if your world is upside down; inside-out is really a more apt description of what is occurring. Anger and intense feelings are not uncommon, nor are feelings of having the proverbial rug pulled out from under you. As the feelings pass, all sorts of revelations and new opportunities can manifest; the old is removed to open new doors, in this time of breakthrough and radical change. Sometimes these seeming, external changes are a direct result of procrastination. If we don’t make necessary changes in a timely fashion, the universe will make them for us and usually not as gently as if we had taken the initiative ourselves.

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