6 of Wands - "You're Gonna Hear Me Roar!"

                                                         “I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing 

                                                              through the fire Cause I am a champion 

                                                                  and you’re gonna hear me ROAR”

                              

                                                                                                                   by Dr. Luke and Bonnie McKee

The zen version of tarot's Six of Wands
OSHO Zen Tarot©, illustrations by Deva Padma
a superior deck and a must have!

In life we should all have our own theme music – nice, snappy, up tempo numbers that pull us out of the doldrums and gets us moving again.  The same should be true of tarot cards.  Take the Six of Wands from the OSHO Zen Tarot deck for example. (see: OSHO Zen Tarot blog) It’s a great theme card – sort of “Rocky” meets “Life of Pi” (without the “Yo,  Adrian,” or the 3.14).  Nothing says leadership, acclaim and victory like riding a tiger through streamers of confetti.  I like pairing up OSHO’s Six of Wands with Katy Perry’s song, “Roar.” It’s particularly useful during breakups, or worst yet, when you’ve let someone’s opinion of you (even your own) become your reality.  

Wands are elemental fire and represent action and creativity. 

Beyond Illusion or #20 Judgment
seeing past the illusion easily pulls us to our higher self
OSHO Zen Tarot© illustrated by Deva Padma

In Wands, you don’t sit back and imagine a pretty picture, you get out your easel and paint one.  The Six proclaims victory over the confusion and conflict depicted in the Five of Wands.  Six is the turning point of the suit where you’ve become strong enough in your sense of self to accept that your actions have consequences and that one of those consequences can be conflict. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” The Six tells us to triumph over our detractors, even if those detractors are ourselves.  The card tells us to lead and if other people follow, that’s great, but if they don’t, then we must continue to celebrate our triumph over our own insecurities and claim our place center stage in our own lives. Once we’ve learned this lesson, we are ready to move on to the Seven of Wands, defending our territory and holding on to our convictions. 

Celebration, or three of Cups
a truly wonderful depiction from
OSHO Zen Tarot© illustrated by
Deva Padma

We all get the blues from time to time and we all fall prey to listening to the negative downloads from the big cloudplayer in our head. It doesn’t take much of a funk to decide the glass is half empty and that not only does it have a hole in the bottom, but there’s a chip in the rim as well.  When this happens, don’t simply wait for things to get better.  Take a proactive stance.  Select a tarot card that’s image gets your mental and emotional juices flowing.  Use it as a focal point for a meditation or keep it handy to look at all day.  Select a theme song – something that is personally uplifting to you.  Make it your anthem. Play it fifteen times in a row if necessary until you not only feel the happiness and success portrayed by the song, but you become it as well.

LADY ORACLE

Thanks to Katy Perry for her inspiration check out her official "Roar" video on You Tube!

visit me at www.ladyoracle.net

Mars in Leo August 27 To October 15, 2013 - “Fighting Fire With Fire”

“like fire and powder,

Which, as they kiss, consume.”

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 6 by William Shakespeare 

Tarot's card for Mars in Leo the
7 of Wands from "Steampunk Tarot"©
by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell

Mars gives us Leo at its vainglorious best.  Passion, drama, intrigue.  The only thing missing is the sword fight – well, let’s hope so, anyway.  Mars in Leo brings fire (Wand energy) to everything the great lion touches.  People with this configuration in their birth chart and those born in the lion’s den will feel the effects of this transit most dramatically, but there will be more than enough power spilling over us all.

Bold moves, individuality, self-confidence and creative

#8, Strength is Leo's ruling tarot card
from "Steampunk Tarot"©
by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell

expression are the framework for Mars in Leo.  We are risk takers, holding our own against all comers.  Tarot’s Seven of Wands (creed, principle, defiance) embodies the spirit of Mars in Leo.  This is not a transit of humility, or quiet confidence.  Mars in Leo makes its claims loud and clear. “If I want it, I will take it and what I have, I hold.”  Don’t be surprised to see images of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara (I’ve been on a Clark Gable binge lately) springing to mind either.  This is also a sexually heated transit filled with heavy-lidded looks and bedroom athletics.  Leo can be very carnal and Mars is a conqueror. Sigh! 

High-minded Mars in Leo is the proverbial “Lion Heart.”  Mars carries an expansive, fiery energy that when combined with leonine sensibilities, has little tolerance for oppressive and restrictive people, situations, or ideologies. Positive Leo in Mars sets the  tempo and others easily fall into step.  This is leadership at its most natural.  The Mars in Leo transit is a time for expansive thinking and action.  See your goals and move towards them steadily and with confidence.

Mars' ruling card, #16, The Tower
as envisioned by Ciro Marchetti for his deck,
"The Legacy of the Divine Tarot"©

There are only a couple of concerns about this transit.  Ungrounded, you can fall into a boastful swagger rather than confidently moving forward.  Pride is the Achilles’ heel of Mars in Leo.  Holding your ground can too easily turn into bullying to achieve what you want.  You may tell yourself it’s a matter of principle, but remember, everyone has principles: Genghis Khan, Custer – even Blackbeard had them.  Pull information through your heart, not through your ego.  Some fires burn too hot and too quickly.  They consume all the fuel without completing their intended purpose.  Expansive thinking and actions are great, but pace yourself and be mindful of the situations around you.  Otherwise you end up sitting in a pile ash leading nowhere.

Pull in the power of this transit, work with it and achieve your personal best.  Just remember to pace yourself with meditations and physical exercise.  Enjoy!

LADY ORACLE

"Steampunk Tarot" and "Easy Tarot"
are available for sale at my website!
click here

Victory and the Seven of Pentacles - All In a Day’s Work

Today was a terrific day.  I accomplished my five mile cardio power walk, basic household chores, hoisted and moved two, count ‘em, two, diesel marine engines, worked on a dance costume, mediated, read the tarot and wrote.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am now deeply under the influence of the Seven of Pentacles.  In just a moment I’ll indulge in my slippers and a glass of wine in the garden while dinner cooks on the grill.  Life is sweet.

You know the Seven of Pentacles - the fellow leaning on his hoe and gazing with satisfaction (and probably a sore back) at his pentacle harvest.  Number seven is about rewards received for efforts expended.  Six, healthy, good-sized pentacles grow on a vine while a seventh pentacle grows alone on another small plant.  The reddish earth is rich and fertile.  Our farmer has worked long and hard for this harvest and now his reward is at hand.

The definition of the Seven of Pentacles is pretty straight forward.  You’ve worked hard and now you’re ready to harvest the fruit of your labor.  But, what about the small plant?  Some readers view the little shrub as a warning that you must decide whether or not to remain content with your present good fortune, or risk losing it all on a new venture.  An interpretation like that really depends on the question asked and the surrounding cards in the querent’s spread.  

Instead of a lesson about the whole bird in the hand theory, let’s view the new plant as a sign of self-propagation. Even though the plant, or new opportunity yields a small return now, the return is still proof that your efforts are self-sustaining.  Victory over material circumstances.  As long as you continue to weed out the unnecessary and provide the proper environment, your success will continue.

All sevens in the tarot suits deal with aspects of victory.  The Seven of Wands shows us an individual who will hold their ground successfully.  Will it be a hard fight?  You bet, but hold his ground, he will.  In Cups the seven shows us the variety of choices our victory gives us.  The lesson here is to be mindful of what you are choosing and the underlying reasons for your choice. Lastly, the Seven of Swords offers us an intriguing look at a bold victory through covert and perhaps less than honorable actions. Sketchy, but victory none-the-less.

Next time you collapse on your couch after a tough day at the gym, work, or mulching the entire backyard, take time to celebrate your personal victory.  Think about the Seven of Pentacles and reward yourself with some of your favorite little things in life.  You’ve earned it.  Besides, a reward today makes picking up the hoe again a heck of a lot easier tomorrow.

LADY ORACLE