I pulled 3 cards today:
Queen/Wands – inspiration, creativity, spirituality
VIII-WARRIOR (VIII-STRENGTH in traditional decks)
Queen/Cups – psychic, intuitive, stabilizer of emotions
I used a new deck, The Sacred Circle, (published by and available through Llewellyn) to show you something from a different perspective. Every Tarot deck incorporates the energies of its creator. Sometimes, working with a different deck gives you insights you wouldn’t get working with your regular deck.
This was a general 3-card spread simply asking, “Spirit, what is it I most need to know today?”
I was a tad surprised to see two Queens, one on each side of a Trump card. But what a Trump card…
As noted above, Arcana VIII is called STRENGTH in many traditional Tarot decks. The Crowley-Thoth deck calls it LUST and numbers it XI rather than VIII. “Lust” comes from the root word lustre. According to Angeles Arrien, author of “The Tarot Handbook,” we cannot be in our lustre and radiance if we are not also in our strength.
So on the surface, Queen/Wands and Queen/Cups, one on each side of VIII-STRENGTH, suggests I am in the process of expressing my full creativity (Queen/Wands) and psychic abilities (Queen/Cups) and have or am developing full faith and trust in myself (VIII-STRENGTH).
OK, that resonates. But for some reason, the message doesn’t seem particularly useful or insightful to me today. And since I didn’t use my usual decks for this reading, maybe, rather than going with my usual interpretations of VIII-STRENGTH, I should take a look in the book that came with The Sacred Circle Tarot to see what the author has to say about VIII-WARRIOR. Maybe it will provide me with a different perspective – a deeper insight.
VIII-WARRIOR, The Sacred Circle Tarot, published by and available through Llewellyn
According to the Sacred Circle Tarot, VIII-WARRIOR depicts the British warrior woman Scathach. Her name means “The Shadowy One.” She is accompanied by her familiar, Badger. OK, I am stopping here for a moment… Do you ever feel a surge of electricity/energy go through you when you confront a truth about yourself? Well, I do, and I did!! Badger is my governing Totem. I carry Badger medicine. I use unconventional methods of healing, anything that works. I’m persistent, grounded and I don’t give up.
VIII-WARRIOR stopped me dead in my tracks. I spent a few moments concentrating on the card and felt it suck me up and transport me to a space that is practically impossible to describe. In 3-D time, we’re talking about a few seconds. But it was in the spaces between the seconds that I was able to see and feel VIII-WARRIOR’s message.
According to the Sacred Circle Tarot’s author, Anna Franklin, VIII-WARRIOR is a psychic warrior who uses body, mind and spirit as weapons. She faces her own fears, develops her spiritual courage and hones the Will, defined as “the unwavering strength that seeks the personal Truth and Path.” Notice the parallel here to VIII-STRENGTH? What VIII-WARRIOR is ultimately about, is that spirituality is a personal quest, one to be aggressively pursued. Each one of us must defeat our own fears, find our own truth.
Here is the insight VIII-WARRIOR downloaded into my consciousness: You ARE your own Truth. Wow. Kind of makes you feel strong (VIII-STRENGTH) and empowered….
Blessings,
Mary Hawkins
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