Dear reader of signs,
Welcome to the Saturday, the 17th of June’s observation from my daily ‘Reading the Signs’ June challenge, an exercise of paying attention with a focus in mind as the day unfolds.
We’re living in the era of thunderstorms. Saturday was a series of mini-monsoons and constant rumbling thunder, but no dramatic lightning show. On such a heavy day I finally reached for the Thoth Tarot Deck.
I drew two cards, the Queen of Cups and the Two of Wands.
The Thoth deck is one I felt obliged to have in my collection, because of the dedication and thought that was put into creating it. It is named after Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing and magic, and was designed by infamous magician Aleister Crowley and painted by Lady Frieda Harris. Both of them were dedicated occultists, and Harris encouraged Crowley to bring his full attention on the deck and re-evaluate the Tarot in a systematic way.
They ended up spending five years on the project, from 1938 and 1943. Crowley renamed several of the major arcana and moved the ordering of their position to suit his interpretation. The deck was finally published by the Ordo Templi Orientis (the magical order Crowley heavily influenced) in 1969, after both of its creators had passed away.
The two cards I drew were the Queen of Cups and the Two of Wands. I pulled the second card because I thought I’d drawn the Queen of Cups earlier in June (in fact, I’d pulled the Queen of Swords and the Page of Cups, so I probably conflated them in my mind).
This Queen of Cups is hardly visible behind the beautiful swirls of water/energy that radiate from her and the pool of water she sits before, with a lotus in her hand. This is a woman deeply in touch with her intuition and can reflect deeply upon subjects. This Two of Wands — termed ‘Dominion’ in this deck — is presented in a more energetic form than in most tarot. It depicts two Tibetan dorjes crossed, and is Mars in Aries — this is a card of action and opportunity. They form an X, which to me looks like an amplification and a definite setting down of a mark.
The two cards create a balance: the dreamer who imagines great ideas and the dynamic need for action. In order to create fully, the dreamer must come out of the period of reflection to initiate action and manifest their vision.
This was applicable to me as I had a project I needed to refine, but I wasn’t in the humour to do the difficult work of poking at the idea repeatedly until I could get to its core and summarise it easily. It would have been easier to remain in the seer state, pondering endlessly but without concrete progress.
Instead, I took up my pen and began writing my way towards the centre.
I've always been intrigued by but slightly afraid to use the Thoth Tarot! What malignant forces might I unleash?? I like your cheerful practicality with it!