However, if I apply my ‘moving pictures‘ technique then the card can appear in a whole new light.  Pull away from the card; zoom out.  Doesn’t this version (the Mary Hanson-Roberts recolouration of the RWS) look as though the figure is an actor on a stage? His movements are exaggerated and his enjoyment is undisguised. He is almost relaxed as he prances off with his trophies. And look at it this way, aren’t all stage performances attempting to deceive the audience in some way? Albeit with the audience’s willingness to participate in the deception.

When the Seven of Swords appears in a reading, as well as mentioning, the ‘take care of your wallet’ mantra, I begin to wonder what is the querent deliberately overlooking? What ‘game’ is s/he participating in? Is the client ‘practising to deceive’ or are they allowing someone else to deceive them?

I also try to look at the situation in a positive way… after all this guy is happy; this may not be a bad thing.  How about if this card means that the client is in the process of reclaiming something that belongs to them? It might not be a physical object – it might be their reputation, their confidence, their self-belief, their talent or even their faith. Perhaps they allowed someone to humiliate them or denigrate them and this is their version of revenge – they simply stop believing that that person can hurt them any more.

I like this card.

Read more about ‘Moving Pictures‘.

My Best Tarot Decks

Tapping Into Your Inner Muse With Tarot

Moving Pictures

The Ragged Edge Bio

I was recently contacted by a mother, concerned about her 18 year son, who seems to have lost any interest in life.

The full reading is here.

See her reading in full here.

Using the Medieval Scapini deck I have drawn the Star

A great card for the New Year and the start of a new venture. This card indicates that Cheru, the owner of AlphaInventions, will have many resources to draw on and many people will make themselves available. I would guess that life hasn’t always been easy for him but this year it will improve beyond his imagination… or maybe not beyond his imagination…. the Star often appears to represent an ability to visualise ina magical way.

His personal life will be good too – the Star shows that much love surrounds him. A new cycle is beginning and the past must be used for all the experience it brought. Knowledge has been assimilated and can be put to good use in the future. Every good (and bad) thing has brought you to this point – nothing happened that didn’t  need to happen.

The next few months will be filled with serenity but at the same time there will be a build up of excitement. There is a distinct possibility that AlphaInventions will catch the attention of an interested investor or buyer. Then Cheru will have the financial resources to take him on to his next adventure.

Good luck!

Also, anyone visiting via AlphaInventions – if you want a little fun tarot reading then please get in touch. Free readings are published (without contact details, of course) on this page.

Nothing to report of much interest. My last reading was for a dear friend of mine in Canada on the 23rd December. Soooo I am feeling a little tarot-less at the moment so if anyone would like a free quickie one-card reading for 2009, I would love to hear from you. See link: Get a reading.

I used the Deviant Moon deck, which has a lot of fans out there. The cards turned were the Eight of Swords and the Eight of Pentacles.

See the the reading here.

This is the request I received:

My mind, body & soul are in total turmoil. Following a wonderful whirlwind romance, and the happiest couple of months ever, the man in question has suddenly pulled down the shutters – saying he is confused and not sure where we are going – all he reminds me is that he loves me (which sort of breaks my heart even more). He says he needs time.

My brain is saying stay away, there are many men who ‘freak out’ when faced with relationship issues, but my heart cannot let go. It has now been 3 days with no contact, & i feel very sad & confused.
Can you please help me approach this situation which some clarity & reason. At the moment I am a mess !

I think this is a common thing early on in some relationships. One of the partners takes fright, refuses to contact the other and provides quite unsatisfactory reasons for suddenly slamming the door shut. Of course this results in total bewilderment and confusion for the other. I wanted to find out why this was happening.

Here is the reading:

I am using a deck called the Revelations Tarot and drawing two cards and asking the reasons behind your current situation:

1.    The Hierophant

2.    Six of Cups

My first reaction upon seeing these two cards together is this is about marriage and children. I am assuming that you know for sure that this man isn’t married, however, it seems to me that marriage is a definite factor in this. The Hierophant can have several layers of meaning; one is guidance, another is ‘formalised institutions’, such as religion, large organisations and.…. marriage.

The Six of Cups represents childhood and situations connected to children. It can be directly related to children being part of the querent’s situation or to something in their past affecting present circumstances.

If you were here with me I would be asking questions such as do you have children and is your beau comfortable with that? Or does he have children from a previous relationship?

I’m turning another card and it is the Hermit. This card represents spending time alone. Now this could mean that the reasons he has given you for this sudden withdrawal are genuine – he really does need time to work things out. Conversely, the appearance of this card means that you are being given the gift of time to work out what you truly want.

So what do you do in the meantime? Last card for guidance is the Magician. So out of four cards you have three Major Arcana cards, which means that influences around you are pretty much unchangeable by you. In other words, you have to go with the flow for the time being. However, the Magician tells you that you have the ability to bring into being the life that you desire. Now this isn’t necessarily the life you think you desire. There is part of you that knows what is best for you at this time. Like the Magician, we all have access to this information any time we need to. You have to put your hurt and pain aside just for a little while. Take a step backwards and kind of disassociate yourself. Try pretending that this is happening to a friend. Think about the man in question. Feel it in your solar plexus. Do you feel good when you think about spending the future with him or is there something niggling at you? Just relax and tune-in. Look at the card – all the action is in his gut area. Our bodies are receivers and transmitters – we have just forgotten to listen because we spend too much time in our heads.

To sum up: I think his reasons are probably genuine but I also think that you need to take a long hard look at the relationship. You may have dived in heart and soul, too quickly. You need to make sure that the foundations are strong before you start building up your hopes and expectations. There may be issues that you don’t know about that have to be resolved. Make a decision that you will give him x amount of days in which to contact you – this is the ‘going with the flow’ bit. Let things unfold by themselves for a little while. You decide how long. Then make a firm resolution to take a positive step – either by contacting him yourself or by moving forward towards a new future.

I do hope you get this sorted out one way or another, ****. I am sure whichever way it goes will be the right one in the end.

~~~~~~~~

I received some feedback from the lady concerned. She confirmed that there are children and previous relationships on both sides but doesn’t think that’s the problem. She wondered if depression might be a factor but the cards don’t show that as a definite, although that’s not to say it mightn’t play a part. I reiterated that taking a step back and endeavouring to determine what SHE wants is the key to the desired outcome. Often we become overwhelmed and muddled by the unexpectedness of the feelings unleashed – the key is to become clear about what we really want. This can be completely clouded by our emotional response. For example, I remember being dumped, feeling devastated and wanting nothing more than to get back together with the boy (yes, it was a very long time ago). We did get back together and I realised immediately, despite all the angst, tears and feelings of loss, that I didn’t want to continue the relationship after all. Therefore, the lesson to be taken is to view the ‘gap’ as a gift of time in which we can determine our genuinely preferred direction. Easier said than done.