Merry full moon in the sensitive sign of Cancer. The perfect moon for shining light on emotional patterns rooted in ancestral agendas.
Along with 30 ancestral healing teachers, I was invited by the Shift Network to participate in their outstanding Ancestral Healing Summit hosted by the eminent Lisa Bonnice. The interviews are free to watch between January 18-21 and feature new practices and insights for connecting with the wise and loving among our ancestors. For my part I wanted to share a lunar inspired divination map that uses the phases of the moon as a way to recognize, illuminate and release ancestral inheritances.
Before the invention of timepieces, our ancestors worked with the moon’s phases as a way of living in harmony with the seasons. Today we can adopt a similar type of lunar logic to pinpoint recurring patterns that weave their way through the family line. For this talk Lisa and I discuss how eight moon phases can be viewed as opportunities to release ancestral patterns over 29 ½ day period. Feel free to follow along with our interview using the following moon phase map and descriptions, or make a map of your own. As mentioned in the interview, you can begin with any moon phase. The goal is to create a month-long healing experience that works in tandem with the moon as our guiding light.
New Moon: A time when the moon is located between the sun and Earth and the night sky is at its darkest making the stars more visible. Several indigenous cultures, from Celtic to Aboriginal view the stars as representing the ancestors and today we often hear the phrase we are made of stardust. Carl Sagan wrote, the Nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are star stuff. He also reminds us that our ancestors who worshiped the Sun were not that foolish, It makes sense to revere the Sun and the stars, for we are their children. Let’s use this phase to reach out to our ancestral line and ask for their blessings as we inform them of our plan and our intention which is to release an ancestral pattern in order to heal and evolve the generational line.
A few days after the New Moon we move into the Waxing Crescent Moon. This is when the moon is traveling east in the sky and we begin to see a sliver being illuminated. The moon’s light is increasing in visibility. This is a claiming time where we give light to our goal by claiming how we will to commit to this work and also by claiming our desired outcome. At this time I recommend designing a lunar schedule, or printing the included lunar map and adding notes that help deliver you to your result.
First Quarter Phase: This is when the moon’s cycle is ¼ of the way complete and half of the moon is illuminated. During this phase select an action that you can repeat daily and visually depicts a successful outcome. This can be movement, music, words or a ritual act that ask, If I take this action, this is what I want the result to look and feel like—these are the changes that will occur. This can be enhanced with items like photos, altars, poetry or anything that stands for the action of your desired end result. This is something you want to make visible so you can give it everyday attention. Keep your eye on the prize!
Waxing Gibbous: Gibbous means growing shape so with this phase the moon’s shape and light appear to be growing as it nears being full. This is a time to grow your focus by giving it more energy and light. This can be candlelight or your own energetic light. Both work. Another option is to literally bathe your focus in moonlight by placing items or intentions outside or near a window that is touched by lunar light. This is the phase to give your items, intention and desired results a strong daily dose of focus and light.
Full Moon: Here the face of the moon is illuminated by the sun. Use this time to illuminate what keeps the ancestral pattern hidden or locked away. This can be achieved through magic, divination, ritual, whatever helps you bring light to your situation so you can see where and why the pattern may have originated. The goal here isn’t to blast the pattern with a harsh exposing light but instead to nurture it with the type of light that illuminates healing and lasting possibility—one that will support not only yourself but future generations.
Waning Gibbous: For this phase the moon’s shape and light are now decreasing. And so this is a time to harvest and bring in what you’ve discovered from your work so far. This is also a good time to share what you’ve discovered in creative ways and for this I like to write letters to my ancestors that tell them how much I’ve learned or gathered from the family pattern and also this experience of releasing the pattern. This letter serves as both a message of gratitude and release.
Last Quarter: This moon is opposite of the first quarter moon and yet half of it is also illuminated. This is an excellent phase to release and clear any remaining energy you might have around the ancestral pattern. A great way to achieve this is by revisiting and amplifying the action and outcome you set in place during the First Quarter phase. This is also a great time to ask yourself: What action can I do or double down on that will support me as I release the family pattern? How can I commit to giving this action a little more energy? Each time you invest in this action try to nurture it by envisioning how your life will change when you reach your desired outcome and then add to this a little more magick to actually sense what that outcome looks and feels like.
Waning Crescent: With this phase we can begin to wind down our work as the moon reaches its final lunar cycle. During this time it’s important to give yourself time to recuperate and retreat with what you’ve accomplished. Try not to do too much and instead simply observe what you set out to do. Explore what did and didn’t work for you and without a lot of effort, simply locate any changes that presented themselves through this work. These changes can be large or small. Whatever the size, try to view them as milestones that mark your progress.
Once you’ve accomplished the 29 ½ day experience, you can build on your accomplishments by giving back. For many, the promise of giving back becomes the greatest healing opportunity and can be achieved by making offerings through the next 29 ½ day moon cycle. For now, give focus to an emotional ancestral pattern you’re ready to change and heal
Posted on January 16, 2022, by Carrie Paris
Category Watch & Learn
There is nothing like the Bay Area Tarot Symposium (BATS) to get your divination game on. Organized and hosted by Thalassa and the Daughters of Divination, BATS (now in its 21’s year!) offers tarot enthusiasts the opportunity to learn on several levels; tarot history, art, divination and exploration to name just a few. Although I’ve attended BATS on many occasion, this was my first year to present. Below is a video I promised to post to those who attended my talk. It works in conjunction with the Neoplatonic fourfold model for interpreting image, and in this case, tarot.
How many times have you experienced the Hierophant in your life? For many, the association is less than desirable and rarely have I witnessed someone say, “Oh good! I pulled the Hierophant!” In this series of interviews called, The Trumps, I set out to break the bad card spell by exposing each trump’s personal side. I wanted to actually interview the cards, give them voice and see them move while telling their story. The best option for this was to locate a team who would share my vision of moving tarot outside the box and into what I coin, Tarot with a Twist. First up, the powerful web-designing duo of all things creative, Gabe Marihugh and Roz Foster of www.glopilot.com. Both Gabe and Roz jumped on the opportunity to put this project together and between the three of us and a few animation programs –both Mac and PC, we brought to life Trump 5, the Hierophant.
The next step was finding a match to do the voice over work of Trump 5. Tarot enthusiast and all around good sport, Mike Hernandez of www.JustEnoughTarot.com volunteered for the job and I think you’ll agree this was a match made in Hierophant Heaven. To capture the voice of the Hierophant, Mike and I each sat at our computers in Seattle and Santa Fe and through the magic of video conferencing recorded the Atu 5 interview. As synchronicities go, I think it fascinating that Mike’s birth card is also the Hierophant. True to his birth card Mike stepped right into his role of helping the tarot world see another, dare I say, less traditional side of the Hierophant.
Have you ever been petitioned by a disembodied voice to step into your vocation? In this interview, Mike Hernandez and I discuss how he experienced an audibly loud request from his guides to read the tarot. A call he couldn’t refuse! Join me as I interview Mike and discover more of his incredible journey with the cards. Mike also shares with us his powerful and easy to follow spread titled, The Issues at Hand Spread (pdf). Get your decks at the ready!
Click the image above to watch the interview.
The Issue at Hand Spread - click image to download pdf
It is with a happy heart that I send out this invitation to view Margaret Letzkus’ online class during this time of year when people around the globe are adding touches of holiday cheer that transform their mood and environment. After attending Margaret’s talk titled, Sacred Space in the Tarot, I have joyfully developed a new way of looking at the environment in my deck. Through Margaret’s presentation, my way of viewing the tarot now extends beyond the familiar imagery and artistry of the cards and explores their often overlooked backdrops and overall nature. I now move into what is best described as the greater picture via the smallest details. One that is all inclusive in that it adopts the hidden meaning of the vast skies and rich landscapes existing therein as messengers that inspire sacred space. Since Margaret’s presentation, I now consider myself a spelunking, star gazing, tarot diviner and I suspect you will too!
To download the questions from the tarot spread Margaret presents at the end of her talk, please visit the following link and click on the file titled, Margaret Letzkus:
What if I told you that being a diviner was considered one of the World’s oldest professions? In this three-part series, LETS presenter, Fern Mercier shares with us how she believes this to be the case:
“Fortune-telling is one of the oldest professions, and like story-telling, has time-honoured traditions and trappings. During this time of year when the fabric between the world of the living and dead is thinnest we will lift the veil of the High Priestess just a little, to explore the many roles a professional Card Reader plays, as well as the dynamics of a good Reading. In this presentation we will also cover the history of the profession of Diviners particularly in regard to the Oracles of Ancient Greece and the Sibyls there, as well as the Sibyls in Renaissance Europe. We will then extrapolate the themes from this that are relevant to Readers today. I believe Diviners and Readers are the “oldest profession” in the world and should feel jolly proud of that! This presentation also goes onto examining the role(s) of contemporary Readers and how many are placed in the modern cultural and social context.”
About Fern Mercier:
I’m Fern Mercier and I’ve been practicing my twin passions of Astrology and Tarot for over 30 years. I am a reader, writer, columnist and educator. Auckland city, New Zealand is my home base. I have a Bachelor of Arts in history and English from Otago University (1968). I discovered tarot in the early 1970s whilst in Europe and my first deck of cards was a 16th century woodcut reprint from the British Museum. I practiced as a consultant for many years before I began teaching both Astrology and Tarot in 1990. I mostly taught through Community Education throughout Auckland and occasionally in other parts of New Zealand. In 1995 I became an 0900 tarot phone worker on the first 0900 line (Smilelines) and was also a script writer for a variety of telephone lines. These days I prefer working in one-to-one consultations, writing and teaching privately. My year-long Diploma in Tarot course is particularly popular and absorbing. I am also involved in tarot art and art history and organizing events or tours that celebrate these.
Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. which offers many an opportunity to give thanks and show gratitude. In the tarot world we have much to be thankful for and our biggest appreciation goes out to you, our wonderful members who prove time and again their love for all things tarot. Your support made the first LETS gathering a resounding success. So much so that we are currently in the works of organizing next year’s theme. Stay tuned!
To extend the experience, we are happy to bring you this two-part talk given by Mary K. Greer at LETS.
Mary gave us much to consider with the 13, 4, 0, or Death, Emperor, Fool constellation which will be featured in her newest book, Who are you in the Tarot? Please click the following links to view Mary’s presentation. We recommend that you wear headphones to enhance the volume:
Please Note: At about 32 minutes into the program (part 1), Mary explores three points in the Death, Emperor, Fool constellation and invites you to join along. You can bypass the minutes of the Symposium exploring the cards by jumping to 40 minutes into the presentation:
Three Questions for Death, Emperor, Fool:
1. What does this combination most need in order to feel a sense of fulfillment?
2. What does this combination most fear?
3. What other significant characteristic are there for this constellation?
In Part 2, Mary presents a three-card spread with the following:
1. Emperor position: What is trying to rule you?
2. Death position: What you must release.
3. Fool position: Where do you have freedom of spirit?
We have also provided a link to a handout that goes over points that Mary covers in her presentation such as the calculation of the Birth and Year Cards. Go to the following link and click on the file titled: LETS Presents Mary Greer. Death Emperor Fool.
Class Description:
Death, Emperor, Fool: The Principle of Life Force and Realization of Power
The Death card belongs to a set or “constellation” of cards made up of all tarot cards whose number reduces to four, since 13 equals 1+3=4. The Fool, as the twenty-second card of the Major Arcana, also adds up to four. In this talk we’ll consider what it means for Death to be so closely related to both the Emperor and the Fool as well as the fours in the Minor Arcana. We’ll also look at what happens when our Personal Year cards cycle around to 13 in order to discover what Death has to teach each one of us. I think everyone will be in for a few surprises.
About Mary Greer:
Mary K. Greer has an MA in English Literature from the University of Central Florida where she also first taught Tarot in 1974. For eleven years, she was on the faculty of New College of California in San Francisco and taught Tarot as an interdisciplinary subject integrating art, literature, history, and psychology. She dropped out of two doctoral programs to work as an independent scholar, teacher, and professional tarot consultant, and is the author of ten books on Tarot and magic, including Mary K. Greer’s 21 Ways to Read A Tarot Card (2006), and The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals (2002). Mary won the 2007 International Tarot Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2006 Mercury Award from the Mary Redman Foundation for “excellence in communication in the metaphysical field,” and the 2006 Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) award for best divination book. Currently she produces “Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog” at http://marygreer.word… Her newest book, Who Are You in the Tarot?, comes out next year.
Posted on November 30, 2010, by carrie
Category Watch & Learn
Tarot and Hand Analysis are two divination systems that go hand in hand. Get your deck out for this easy to follow video that teaches you how to locate and match the four primary lines in the hand with the four suits in a tarot deck. Enjoy!
Posted on January 16, 2010, by carrie
Category Watch & Learn
Download PDF
New Moon: A time when the moon is located between the sun and Earth and the night sky is at its darkest making the stars more visible. Several indigenous cultures, from Celtic to Aboriginal view the stars as representing the ancestors and today we often hear the phrase we are made of stardust. Carl Sagan wrote, the Nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are star stuff. He also reminds us that our ancestors who worshiped the Sun were not that foolish, It makes sense to revere the Sun and the stars, for we are their children. Let’s use this phase to reach out to our ancestral line and ask for their blessings as we inform them of our plan and our intention which is to release an ancestral pattern in order to heal and evolve the generational line.
A few days after the New Moon we move into the Waxing Crescent Moon. This is when the moon is traveling east in the sky and we begin to see a sliver being illuminated. The moon’s light is increasing in visibility. This is a claiming time where we give light to our goal by claiming how we will to commit to this work and also by claiming our desired outcome. At this time I recommend designing a lunar schedule, or printing the included lunar map and adding notes that help deliver you to your result.
First Quarter Phase: This is when the moon’s cycle is ¼ of the way complete and half of the moon is illuminated. During this phase select an action that you can repeat daily and visually depicts a successful outcome. This can be movement, music, words or a ritual act that ask, If I take this action, this is what I want the result to look and feel like—these are the changes that will occur. This can be enhanced with items like photos, altars, poetry or anything that stands for the action of your desired end result. This is something you want to make visible so you can give it everyday attention. Keep your eye on the prize!
Waxing Gibbous: Gibbous means growing shape so with this phase the moon’s shape and light appear to be growing as it nears being full. This is a time to grow your focus by giving it more energy and light. This can be candlelight or your own energetic light. Both work. Another option is to literally bathe your focus in moonlight by placing items or intentions outside or near a window that is touched by lunar light. This is the phase to give your items, intention and desired results a strong daily dose of focus and light.
Full Moon: Here the face of the moon is illuminated by the sun. Use this time to illuminate what keeps the ancestral pattern hidden or locked away. This can be achieved through magic, divination, ritual, whatever helps you bring light to your situation so you can see where and why the pattern may have originated. The goal here isn’t to blast the pattern with a harsh exposing light but instead to nurture it with the type of light that illuminates healing and lasting possibility—one that will support not only yourself but future generations.
Waning Gibbous: For this phase the moon’s shape and light are now decreasing. And so this is a time to harvest and bring in what you’ve discovered from your work so far. This is also a good time to share what you’ve discovered in creative ways and for this I like to write letters to my ancestors that tell them how much I’ve learned or gathered from the family pattern and also this experience of releasing the pattern. This letter serves as both a message of gratitude and release.
Last Quarter: This moon is opposite of the first quarter moon and yet half of it is also illuminated. This is an excellent phase to release and clear any remaining energy you might have around the ancestral pattern. A great way to achieve this is by revisiting and amplifying the action and outcome you set in place during the First Quarter phase. This is also a great time to ask yourself: What action can I do or double down on that will support me as I release the family pattern? How can I commit to giving this action a little more energy? Each time you invest in this action try to nurture it by envisioning how your life will change when you reach your desired outcome and then add to this a little more magick to actually sense what that outcome looks and feels like.
Waning Crescent: With this phase we can begin to wind down our work as the moon reaches its final lunar cycle. During this time it’s important to give yourself time to recuperate and retreat with what you’ve accomplished. Try not to do too much and instead simply observe what you set out to do. Explore what did and didn’t work for you and without a lot of effort, simply locate any changes that presented themselves through this work. These changes can be large or small. Whatever the size, try to view them as milestones that mark your progress.
