Card of the Week: 4/11

Happy rainy Monday (at least in Ohio), Tarot Friends!

This week I decided to mix it up a little and pull a card from the second tarot deck I purchased, the Llewllyn Tarot. For those who don't know, Llwellyn is a pretty school site where they have all sorts of new age content, such as wiccan, astrology, and of course tarot products and articles. This deck I purchased at, of all the mystical places in the world, a Books-A-Million in Ohio.

This deck and I have been struggling for a while. They say a deck has to get acquainted with your energy, etc, and that always feels true when I pull out my Llwellyn tarot for a reading. However, it's been getting to know me for a while now, so I thought I'd give it another try. And folks, it's a good one! Let's get to it.

Card of the Week: The Chariot

Card Description: 

This card depicts a chariot driven by a capable warrior. The waves suggest the pace of life, yet the rider remains steady and firm. The two horses contrast in color, one light and one dark, showing the two poles within all situations and people. (Paraphrased from The Llewellyn Tarot companion book). 

Archetypal Meaning(s): 

As the image suggests, this card represents victory and triumph--the success of a multi-faceted effort. It suggests control over the current situation and life moving at an accelerated pace. It indicates finding one's stride and engaging in one's ambitions. Some say this card represent actual physical travel. 

What It Says to Me: 

This is an amazingly positive card to draw the week after I got my first MFA acceptance letter! I hope this means that I'm about to take charge and move in a positive direction with full control. It also makes sense in the physical sense because I will be taking a trip to visit the campus of this program this weekend. So tell me, Tarot Friends--does this card resonate with you this week? I sure hope it does!

Card of the Week: 4/4

Welcome to a bight, shiny new month, Tarot Friends! While T.S. Eliot referred to April as the cruelest month, I happen to love the signs of spring that are popping up all around. This week's card, however, seems to be more aligned with Eliot's sentiments than my own. Let's get to it!

Card of the Week: The Four of Cups

Card Description:

Just looking at this one makes you go "uh-oh!" The card depicts a woman leaning over four cups, which have spilled over. She seems to be trying to drown her sorrows with their contents and looks weary of what life has brought her. One of the cups, however, has a few drops left--a small morsel of hope if one only remembers to keep trying. All is not lost.

Archetypal Meaning(s):

This card, as you might guess, represents weariness and disappointment. It may also represent a stationary period in one's life or some kind of bitter experience.

What it Means to Me:

Whew, we sure have had a lot of Cups on this blog since we began. That's probably a result of my influence on the cards--as a Pisces and a naturally emotional person, almost every reading I've had has been full of the cups, which represent emotion.

Speaking of my emotions... they've been on the roller coaster that is applying to grad school since the process began back in September--nay, probably even August! As such, I can't help but say I identify with this women's exhausted expression. I am also stagnant in my life until I hear back from every school and know what my possible next steps are. Would that I could relate less to this card, but I will be clinging to the message of hope that the fourth cup represents--if I persevere, there is always hope.

As I ask this, I have to hope it isn't the case, but did this card resonate with anyone this week? Are you having a difficult or stationary period in your life right now? Does spring promise a thaw?

Card of the Week: 3/28/2016

Hello, Tarot Friends! Sorry for the missed week last week, but the universe sent me a mandatory break from all things internet during my Spring Break--our cabin at Hocking Hills didn't have internet! This week I'm getting back into the swing of my normal, daily life, which means I'm back into the swing of bringing you the Card of the Week. Let's get to it!

Card of the Week: The Queen of Cups

Card Description:

The queen, wearing an impressive headdress that shows her rank, holds the cup outward, as if to present a gift to a worthy friend (paraphrased from The Tarot of the Cat People).


Archetypal Meaning(s): 

Being a court card, this card most often represents a person. This card denotes a warm-hearted and fair person. It can signify someone who is poetic, beloved, and adored. Sometimes this indicates a wife and/or mother. It is a sign of practicality, honesty, and a loving intelligence. 

What it says to me:
I always struggle to interpret court cards like this one, mostly because I don't like to say things like "a kind person will enter your life this week." However, this card likely means that the influence of someone kind and honest will be in the air this week, whether this person is you or someone close to you.

In my personal case, I hope this is a sign of me settling well back into my role as a mentor and tutor at my AmeriCorps position after our spring break.

So, gimme a shout out in the comments. Does the Queen of Hearts resonate this week? Does the card remind you of anyone you know?

Tarot Card of the Week: 3/14

Happy Monday, my tarot readers! This post is getting up later in the day than usual, but I am sure you'll all understand because Daylight Savings Time screws with most people's systems. Without further ado, let's get to this week's Tarot Card of the Week!

Card of the Week: Queen of Swords

Card Description: 

The Queen of Swords is a private person. Proud and withdrawn, she keeps a sharp watch over her kingdom, influencing in effective but subtle ways. The Queen of Swords is somber and stately, holding her sword down as a symbol of pacification by force (paraphrased from "The Tarot of the Cat People"). 

Archetypal Meaning(s): 

This one, being a court card, often signifies a person. This is a sharp, quick witted individual with intense perceptions. A subtle person. It may represent a widow or a woman of sadness. Mourning, privation, absence, and loneliness. It may represent someone who has experienced happiness, but who is currently undergoing the anxiety of misfortune and reversal. 

What it Says to Me: 


Depending on the cards that appear around it, this card could either represent the questioner him/herself or another person that is exerting force in the questioner's life. Either way, the person involved likely has recently had a setback, whether more major or minor. In my personal case, this card resonates in a big way. I have been experiencing a period of great happiness where all of my ducks just felt like they were nicely in a row. Last week, though, I got some bad news that really set me back emotionally. The reverberations from that experience will likely continue through this week as I try to work through the resulting emotions.

Does this card resonate with you at all? Let me know in the comments!

Also, don't forget I can try my hand at giving you a free, personal reading if you shoot me a message on Twitter @That1TarotChick.

Tarot Card of the Week: 3/7

Happy birthday month to all of my Pisces friends out there! I myself am a Pisces, so I think it's a little bit of that birthday month power that's led all of our Cards of the Week so far to have decently positive vibes. This week is no exception. Let's take a look!

Card of the Week: Six of Wands

Card Description:

We're back to minor arcana this week, and this card's description is short and sweet. As you can see, we have a man who is proudly showing off wands, each a trophy-like symbol of achievement. He is standing at the top of a hill, surrounded by contented cats. 

Archetypal Meaning(s):

As you can probably guess from the picture, this card symbolizes conquest, triumph, and good news. It talks of advancement, expectation, and desires realized. 

What It Says to Me:  

Like I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm waiting to hear back from graduate schools. This card makes me feel hopeful that my efforts will reward me (fingers crossed, right?). We are nearing both my birthday and the "mid March" period that my schools have given me as a vague ballpark for when I'll get responses; I can't help but hope these two forces collide and give me something good!

Of course, this could also symbolize a smaller victory of some kind. We'll just have to see what the week brings! How does this card resonate (or not!) with your week? 

Tarot Card of the Week: 2/29

Happy Monday, Tarot friends! Today I'm snuggled up at home sick, but with the aid of some cold medicine I'm finally upright enough to draw a Card of the Week for you!

Today has an interesting tie in, as it's the 4 year anniversary of my trip to Glastonbury, where I purchased the deck from which I've been drawing our Cards of the Week. To think, four years ago I was steeped in the magical aura of Glastonbury and of Stonehenge, and now I'm here sharing my Tarot journey with you all.

With that in mind... let's look at our Card of the Week! Appropriately enough for Leap Day, this week's card has to do with leaping in.

Card of the Week: The Fool

Card Description: 
 
The Fool is a young person without direction, drifting through life without discipline. He is more concerned with the trivia of life than with its substance. He has a naive and inexperience look, and is surrounded by a great void, symbolic of all the opportunities surrounding him and waiting to be fulfilled. He seems unaware of the awaiting chasm, for worries that would concern a more mature person don't bother him. The cat in the picture issues a warning, but The Fool notices nothing (Paraphrased from The Tarot of the Cat People companion book.)

Archetypal Meaning(s): 

In spite of its somewhat negative-sounding description, this card is not necessarily negative. It signifies the beginning of an adventure and new opportunities. It shows the pleasure, passion, and rashness involved in a new journey. It could also mean folly, thoughtlessness, excess, and indiscretion. The card may signify the tendency to start projects without full consideration of details or a reluctance to listen to advice. 

What It Says to Me: 

This card has been popping up in personal readings for me lately, and I can't help but connect it to the impending decisions I will receive from graduate programs in the coming month or two. While the idea of a new beginning and new opportunity fills my heart with excitement, I am careful to heed the card's warning about leaping in without considering details. Provided I am given more than one choice, this card reminds me to think carefully and fully before deciding where to pursue the next step of my education.

What comes up for you when looking at the meanings of this card? Do you have any opportunities or journeys on the horizon that this card reminds you of?

Tarot Card of the Week: 2/22

Hello and happy Monday, friends! Before we get into this inaugural "Tarot Card of the Week" post, I want to tell you a little story about how I drew this card.

When I pulled The Tarot of the Cat People from the box this morning in anticipation of pulling the weekly card, there was one card left in the box. I glanced at it, considering just taking that as a sign and making that my card of the week. After noting that it was the Three of Cups, a card that comes up often in my personal readings, I decided to go ahead and put it back in the deck to shuffle and draw a new card. Since I hadn't really been thinking of my question when the card stuck behind in the box, I decided it was most likely a result of cardboard box flaps and not of anything mysterious or mystical. I shuffled the deck for about a minute, asking "What is the theme of the week?" Imagine my surprise when I flipped the first card over and saw, yet again, the Three of Cups! I like stories like this because they really make you wonder, don't they?

So, I'm going to try to follow a standard outline format for these card of the week posts each week, where I give a photo of the card, the description from its little white book, the archetypal meanings, and a brief reflection on how the card speaks to me that week. Feedback is appreciated if there's something else you'd like to see in this format that I'm not doing!

Okay, so without further ado, let's talk about this week's Card of the Week.

Card of the Week: The Three of Cups

Card Description:
"When a problem is resolved, one can sit back, relax, think it over, and enjoy oneself. A woman wears a loosely draped robe, indicating her freedom from concern. The cat on her lap is similarly relaxed, mirroring her mood. However, the cats sculpted on her chair are poised and alert, in case new problems arise" (Paraphrased from The Tarot of the Cat People companion book).

Archetypal Meaning(s):
Resolution of a problem; conclusion; solace; healing; satisfactory result; partial fulfillment; compromise.

What It Says to Me:
As an emotional, creatively driven Pisces, there's rarely a time when I pull cards for myself that I don't get at least one Cup, mainly because these cards are viewed as the emotional, creative suit. The Three of Cups this week feels apt in a couple of different ways for me.

First off, this is my first full week back after our midyear AmeriCorps conference, which was an exhausting, albeit fulfilling, 5 day experience that resulted in me having a 12 day workweek. Therefore, it's undeniable that I'll have a bit of healing and solace in being home and returning to my usual routines this week.

Second and perhaps more optimistically, I am expecting to hear back from one of the MFA programs I have applied to some time this week. The hopeful part of me wants to see this card's insistence on showing up as a sign that I will get a satisfactory result in receiving an acceptance from that program. Not one to make assumptions or predictions based solely on a personal reading of the cards, I can't say for sure, but I'll be sure to keep you posted when I know!

So, what comes up for you when you consider the archetypal meanings of this card? Does it resonate with what you expect of the coming week? Does it make you hopeful for a particular outcome?

How I Got to Here

In the interest of openness here at That One Tarot Chick, let's talk about what brought me to tarot. What better place to start than at the beginning, right?

During my sophomore year of college, I found myself studying abroad and landed in the very mystical city of Glastonbury. From an early age, I was enamored of fiction about witches and magic, vampires and other stories of the supernatural. I would go on to study many different world religions and to think deeply and often about how human beings try to ascribe greater meaning to our existence. That day in Glastonbury, I felt as if the very air was steeped in magic and I was determined to bring some of it home with me to the American Midwest. So I let a whim (or fate, universe spirit, what have you) guide me to a used deck of tarot cards priced at 8 pounds: The Tarot of the Cat People. Being a cat person, this deck felt like the right choice, so I purchased it. The deck and I traveled together after that for many years, not to directly encounter one another again until the year I graduated from college.

Halfway through my first year as the holder of a Bachelor of Fine Arts, I found myself battling an unimaginable jealousy for the very students I taught in my new AmeriCorps position as a College Bridge counselor. They were in classes, and I was not! I had no syllabus, no curriculum to follow. No one was leading me to learn anything. I couldn't stand it any more. I had to do something.

A few clicks through the Cincinnati Library website later, I found myself enrolling in a free online course: Tarot 101. That is where this journey truly begins. I (quite literally) dusted off The Tarot of the Cat People and began to study, for the first time in my life, for the sheer intention of learning something new.

Fast forward to the end of the roughly two weeks it took me to finish that course. I began to watch YouTube videos of astrology-based tarot predictions. I did daily readings for myself and, finally, I began to tuck The Tarot of the Cat People into my purse to bring with me to get togethers, just in case the night led us to doing tarot readings for fun.

Eventually, I found myself sitting on the floor spreading out the cards for each member of my AmeriCorps group who had come on our annual trip to West Virginia.

It was then that I started to realize that I had found my first true hobby, strange one though it may be. And then, of course, I decided I wanted to share it with the internet... so here we are!

Welcome to the That One Tarot Chick blog!

Welcome, internet explorers, to my humble blog That One Tarot Chick.

Let's get a few things out of the way. Since I know many different things may have led you here, let's talk about what you're going to find in this blog.

I do not profess to be a great psychic. Rather, I am a writer, a reader, and a studier of the great unknown. I enjoy exploring ideas and unraveling the great perhaps. In this blog, I will discuss the archetypes of tarot. I will pull weekly cards and present my interpretation of what they might mean in the coming weeks with the intention that they'll spark ways for you to reflect on your life, your hopes, etc.
 
My personal philosophy of tarot, and what drew me to the cards in the first place, is an interest in the archetypes and illustrations of the tarot and what they evoke in the individual. When you come to a deck of tarot cards, or to a tarot card reader, you bring many things with you to the table. You bring your questions, your concerns, your hopes and fears. You also bring your past experiences and, most importantly, you bring your answers--whether or not you're consciously aware of those answers. That's what I find so cool about tarot. I can pull a card and tell you what it traditionally means, and then you get to run off and reflect on that based on how it does--or does not--resonate with your life and your questions.

So if you're here for magical solutions and psychic guidance, I can't promise you that. If you're here to learn more about tarot and explore the ideas and potentials of the great perhaps, then let's do this thing together.

With a Diet Coke in one hand and a deck of tarot cards in the other, let's go forward and discover how we might add a little spark of the unknown and the voice of the universe to our complicated daily lives.