Dear reader of signs,
It’s another day in my ‘Reading the Signs’ June challenge, an exercise of paying attention with a focus in mind as the day unfolds.
This morning I chose to work with an old favourite deck of mine, The Ghetto Tarot. There was a period when I worked with this set of cards frequently, but it has seen less use in the last couple of years.
This deck was created as a collaboration between photographer Alice Smeets and the Haitian artist collective, Atis Rezistans, and I’m pretty sure I was part of the Kickstarter which funded the deck. If you want to get a sense of these fantastic cards, then check out this Guardian review of it from 2015.
One of the things I love is that the booklet that accompanies the deck also names the model photographed for every card. There’s a deep sense of reality to these cards, yet the people are expressing mythic concepts. In this way it grounds the symbols and makes them everyday and accessible. They’re not difficult ciphers to understand. They are a relatable part of our world.
The card I pulled is familiar, since it showed up on day one of this challenge: The Emperor.
When a major arcana is selected it’s always wise to notice, but when it reappears from another deck, just over a week later, then it’s worth paying close attention.
The attitude of this Emperor is boss energy: get it done. The keyword for this card in this deck is ‘implementation’. He will not hear excuses about work not being completed or anyone who attempts to gainsay his guidance.
I had an appointment in the afternoon which was unavoidable and had the potential to be stressful. In the past I would spent a lot of time obsessing about it as well as actively trying not to obsess! Both are equally exhausting.
An easy solution would be to find an activity in which I could distract myself: playing a video game, scrolling mindlessly through a variety of social media, or watching a film.
Instead, I thought of the Emperor’s stern look, and chose not to space out in thoughtless activities for the intervening hours. I wrote, and because I was fully engaged in it the time passed quickly. Also, that red mantle the Emperor wears was a specific pre-existing detail in the piece I was reworking. A small thing, but it made me consider the element a little closer.
What did it signify… was there a deeper connection I was missing? It gave me a slight perspective shift that was useful.
Later, everything went smoothly at the appointment, and I accomplished a couple of other errands.
Then I got to sit and luxuriate in my realm.