Tag: tarot

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The Empress – Major Arcana Tarot Card 3

The Empress
The Empress Major Arcana Tarot Card

In this blog we are exploring one of my favourite Tarot cards The Empress, which is an appropriate card for Mornington Chinese Medicine as she is one of the main cards representing fertility, the mother, abundance, living life to the fullest, feminine power, pregnancy and love.

We have previously looked at the earlier cards starting with The Fool, The Magician and The High Priestess.  The Empress is the fourth card out of the 22 Major Arcana cards within the tarot.  The Empress closely flows on from the previous cards we have investigated as the Major Arcana describes an overall cycle of life and development.  We started out with The Fool which is the energy of the limitless possibilities that the universe can deliver, this then flows into the Magician allowing us to actively channel this energy into our pursuits, then The High Priestess which allows the more internal, instinctual qualities to flow through.  

Following on from The High Priestess we enter the card of The Empress, a card with lots of depth and some amazing symbolism included within the Waite-Smith deck.  The Empress sits on her throne comfortably surrounded by cushions with a heart shape pillow by her side that has the astrological symbol for Venus, the roman goddess of femininity, beauty and love.  She has a forest with a flowing river and waterfall ending at her feet, with this water bringing emotional fulfillment and life to the nature around her.  The Empress has wheat in front of her representing fertility as the seeds are ripe for harvest taking on the waters of life that are flowing around her.  Her crown has 12 stars representing the various cycles of life including the zodiac, the months of the year, and time in general.  The red cushions represent love and the pomegranates on her dress represent fertility with its free-flowing nature alludes to pregnancy.

Within a Tarot spread The Empress can signify a time of abundance, prosperity, creativity and passion is surrounding you.  It can represent happiness, security, emotional fulfilment and pregnancy.  Aside from fertility it can also represent domestic harmony and stability, a home that if there are already children, may be used as a hub to support, feed and nurture those around you. It resonates with the number 3 in numerology as it combines card number 1 The Magician with card number 2 The Empress. Through this combination of energy, it signifies the path between Chochmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding) within the Hermetic Qabalistic tree of life and merges these two special sephirot’s spheres of influence.

Tarot is used within each Esoteric Acupuncture session at Mornington Chinese Medicine with Simon Altman.  He has had the wonderful opportunity to train personally with Dr Mikio Sankey the developer of Esoteric Acupuncture and completed all levels of Esoteric Acupuncture training.  Simon uses tarot as an adjunct to give direction, purpose and meaning to the session as well as Sound Therapy, Reiki and Astrology.  Tarot within the session can be concise, or if there is a specific interest, a longer interpretation can be arranged.  

Esoteric Acupuncture is a style of heart centred acupuncture that works on the deeper levels of the body to promote balance and direction in life.  It can be used as maintenance or a tune up and incorporates a more spiritual esoteric acupuncture pattern on the back of the body, then a complementary esoteric acupuncture pattern on the front of the body, which can then be combined with a standard Chinese Medicine to help with core issues. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me for further information or to discuss these amazing topics.

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The High Priestess – Major Arcana Tarot Card 2

The High Priestess
The High Priestess Major Arcana Tarot Card

In this blog we are continuing the story of the Major Arcana in the Tarot.  Previously we covered The Fool and The Magician.  Now we have The High Priestess which is the third card within the 22 Major Arcana cards of the tarot.  The High Priestess closely follows from The Fool which takes that leap of faith into the current cycle of events, to The Magician bringing about the enthusiasm, energy and motivation at the beginning of your journey.  Following on from the external forces The Magician represents moves into The High Priestess  presenting the more internal nature of reflection, meditation, looking within and taking time to reflect whilst trusting your intuition or gut feelings.

She holds onto a scroll of inner knowledge, representing our true purpose or our destiny and the cross at the level of her heart slightly hidden refers to looking inwards for deep spirituality.  The Moon at the feet of the High Priestess can signify the subconscious or unconscious mind, hidden knowledge, the need to look within and use the more feminine aspects of our psyche.  The two pillars on either side of The High Priestess are Jachin and Boaz and represent the two pillars from the entrance to King Solomon’s Temple.  These pillars can symbolise the three pillars of the Qabalah which are Mercy and Severity and the High Priestess sits right in the middle represented by the middle pillar or balance between Jachin (masculinity) and Boaz (femininity).  The High Priestess is sitting in front of a veil stretching across the two pillars decorated with pomegranates, these mythologically symbolise the fruits of the underworld and are also symbol of fertility.

The High Priestess is associated with Pisces and is a card of possibilities, looking inward and using your intuition to achieve the results you desire.  Whilst the Magician has the outward energy to achieve results, the High Priestess is a card of using your gut feelings and intuition to transverse a situation.  Trust your gut is one of the messages of the High Priestess, if you trust your intuition and your gut feelings it is very hard to stray of the correct path in life.  Trusting your intuition as you may need to use that feeling because some aspects of the situation could still be hidden, however your inner world can navigate this map without effort.  It is also a card for psychic and spiritual development, as this requires you to go within and meditate or for a relationship it suggests one that psychic or spiritual development can take place.

Tarot is used within each Esoteric Acupuncture session at Mornington Chinese Medicine with Simon Altman.  He has had the wonderful opportunity to train personally with Dr Mikio Sankey the developer of Esoteric Acupuncture and completed all levels of Esoteric Acupuncture training.  Simon uses tarot as an adjunct to give direction, purpose and meaning to the session as well as Sound Therapy, Reiki and Astrology.  Tarot within the session can be concise, or if there is a specific interest, a longer interpretation can be arranged.  

Esoteric Acupuncture is a style of heart centred acupuncture that works on the deeper levels of the body to promote balance and direction in life.  It can be used as maintenance or a tune up and incorporates a more spiritual esoteric acupuncture pattern on the back of the body, then a complementary esoteric acupuncture pattern on the front of the body, which can then be combined with a standard Chinese Medicine to help with core issues. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me for further information or to discuss these amazing topics.

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The Magician – Major Arcana Tarot Card 1

The Magician
The Magician Major Arcana Tarot Card

In our previous post we looked at the first Major Arcana Tarot card, numbered 0, The Fool.  The Fool represented the first step in the beginning of a new journey or cycle in life.  This is then followed by The Magician, numbered as card 1, is the second card in the Major Arcana. 

The Magician generally depicts a person holding a magic wand with esoteric tools laid out in front on a table or altar.   In the Waite-Smith deck, four tools are displayed which are also the symbols for the four suits of the Minor Arcana, these are Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles.  This symbolises the power you now have to manifest plans into the world.  It could be new opportunities in life such as changing or finding a new job, new emotional opportunities, new intellectual pursuits or simply putting those plans into action.  The magicians hands traditionally (in Waite-Smith symbolism) have one pointing up holding a wand and one down pointing to the ground empty.  This represents active and passive energies or the transmission of information and the transmitted.  

Each tarot card contains within it a vast system of symbolism, meaning and correspondences.  The Magician relates to the Philosophical Mercury (different to the traditional mercury), its colour is yellow, Qabalistically its number is 2, Beth, representing a house giving a hidden clue as to making a structure or tangible impact on your surroundings.  On the Qabalistic tree of life, the path of Beth travels from Kether (Crown) to Binah (understanding), or the inspiration coming down from divinity and being transformed into Knowledge or understanding.  The infinity symbol above The Magicians head is positioned at Kether, or the Crown Chakra, symbolising the universal energies coming down from divinity into the Magician and allowing that energy to transform from the immaterial to the material.

The journey of the Major Arcana started with The Fool, a card that indicates taking a leap of faith, trusting the universe will support you at this point in time, or with your current endeavours and shows a new beginning or cycle in life. Following this new start and burst of inspiration flow into The Magician, a card that allows that inspiration to manifest and enter our lives.  It is about putting that initial energy or motivation into action, and succeeding in that particular endeavour, or time in our life.  Having the energy to complete a task and also follow through with it is one of the themes of the Magician.  Using your own inner and external power to manifest and bring about positive change in your life.   Being a Major Arcana card, representing those big spiritual sign posts in life, means this event is one that can encourage learning a lot so that it becomes an unforgettable stage in your life, whilst demonstrating a change in a situation that then leads down a more spiritual or meaningful path.

The Magician is an excellent card within a Tarot spread, it is an exciting time and step in the journey of life with new ventures beginning and starting to take shape.  It allows spiritual, emotional and mental growth as well as the manifestation of a new stage in life.  Currently we have looked at The Fool (0) and The Magician (1).  The card that follows on from The Magician is The High Priestess which will be discussed in our next blog on the Tarot.

Tarot is used within each Esoteric Acupuncture session at Mornington Chinese Medicine with Simon Altman.  He has had the wonderful opportunity to train personally with Mikio Sankey the developer of Esoteric Acupuncture and completed all three levels of Esoteric Acupuncture training.  Simon uses tarot as an adjunct to give direction, purpose and meaning to the session as well as Reiki and Astrology.  Tarot within the session can be concise, or if there is a specific interest, a longer interpretation can be arranged.  

Esoteric Acupuncture is a style of heart centred acupuncture that works on the deeper levels of the body to promote balance and direction in life.  It can be used as maintenance or a tune up and incorporates a more spiritual esoteric acupuncture pattern on the back of the body, then a different esoteric acupuncture pattern on the front of the body, which can then be combined with a standard Chinese Medicine to help with core issues. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me for further information or to discuss these amazing topics.

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The Fool – Major Arcana Tarot Card 0

The Fool
The Fool Major Arcana Tarot Card

The Fool is the very first card in the Major Arcana sequence of the Tarot Deck.   A standard tarot deck consists of 78 cards and they are split into two categories; the Major Arcana consisting of 22 cards and the Minor Arcana consisting of the remaining 56 cards.  

The Minor Arcana cards describe mundane aspects of life including work, relationships, finances and general decision making.  These cards are similar to your playing cards consisting of four suits Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles which can be transferred to the modern Clubs, Hearts, Spades and Diamonds.  

The 22 Major Arcana cards deal with more spiritual life lessons than everyday matters and can show you the overarching reason why a situation is happening.  These are the spiritual signposts that direct an individual to understand the meaning behind the card and its importance at that particular moment.  

The Waite-Smith tarot, or Rider-Waite as it is commonly known was the first modern tarot deck originally published in in 1910 and used the symbolism, numerology, astrology and Qabalistic correspondences taught by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a mystery school active around that time.  It was originally published by William Rider & Sons, designed by Arthur Edward Waite, an occultist, mystic and member of the Golden Dawn.  Waite commissioned artist and Golden Dawn member Pamela Coleman Smith to draw and design illustrations for each Major Arcana card.  

One of the most unique aspects of this tarot deck was that Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Coleman Smith designed images and symbolism all the cards within the Tarot Deck.  Previously Tarot cards only contained pictures on the 22 Major Arcana cards, the remaining 56 cards would simply have 4 swords, or 7 pentacles drawn on the card, rather than a pictorial representation of the mystical meaning of the deck.  The Waite-Smith deck was the first deck to include pictures on all cards and tarot decks of today have Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Coleman Smith to thank for this great innovation as many are based on their specific symbolism.

The first card in the Major Arcana is known as “The Fool” or “Jester” and is often listed as card number “0”.  In some sets “The Fool” can act as a wild card either starting the journey of the Major Arcana in which case it comes in at the number “0” or ending the Major Arcana set coming in at number “22”.  In most common tarot decks, based around the Waite-Smith symbolism and ordering, The Fool starts our journey of the Major Arcana as the first card.

The Fool represents taking a leap of faith into the unknown and trusting that the universe will support and guide you.  It is the beginning of a spiritual journey that starts our progression in life and through the trumps of the Major Arcana.  It is a time in life when anything is possible, and simply taking a leap of faith will succeed in your endeavours.  It is not a time to dwell on possibilities or problems that you think may occur, or internally rationalise why you shouldn’t complete a task or start a new venture, this is the moment where we can delve into challenges or goals head first with confidence.  The fool represents opportunities available to you that you can see, which acquaintances may overthink or be cautious, and the importance of trusting your own instincts to begin your own spiritual journey and life path.

The journey of the Major Arcana begins with The Fool and ends with The World, it is a cycle that repeats numerous times throughout our lives as we evolve, learn and develop both physically and spiritually.  The Fool represents taking that initial step into this world, or a new chapter in life showing the beginning of a new and exciting journey of discovery.  It represents exciting opportunities that you may be hesitant to pursue, but it is a great indication to take that leap of faith and start that venture, relationship or chapter of your life as you move into a new phase that may be unexpected.

Tarot is used within each Esoteric Acupuncture session at Mornington Chinese Medicine with Simon Altman.  He has had the wonderful opportunity to train personally with Mikio Sankey the developer of Esoteric Acupuncture and completed all three levels of Esoteric Acupuncture training.  Simon uses tarot as an adjunct to give direction, purpose and meaning to the session as well as Reiki and Astrology.  Tarot within the session can be concise, or if there is a specific interest, a longer interpretation can be arranged.  

Esoteric Acupuncture is a style of heart centred acupuncture that works on the deeper levels of the body to promote balance and direction in life.  It can be used as maintenance or a tune up and incorporates a more spiritual esoteric acupuncture pattern on the back of the body, then a different esoteric acupuncture pattern on the front of the body, which can then be combined with a standard Chinese Medicine to help with core issues. 

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me for further information or to discuss these amazing topics.