Northwest Astrology & Tarot – Introducing Cynthia Giles

In November of this year the inaugural Northwest Astrology and Tarot Salon will be held at the Breitenbush Conference Center, near Detroit, OR. (More information about the Salon can be found here – nwsalon.com) I would like to introduce you to Cynthia Giles, one of the Conversation Leaders for this event.

Cynthia Giles is the author of The Tarot: History, Mystery, and Lore, as well as The Tarot: Methods, Mastery, and More and The Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg.  Other life highlights include a Ph.D. in archetypal studies—and three memorable summers as the very first Tarot reader at Scarborough Renaissance Faire.  She supported herself and two sons for several years with a full-time Tarot practice, teaching dozens of classes and working with numerous private clients.

There followed a parenthesis of two decades (!) during which Cynthia became an improbable expert on data warehousing strategy, corporate communications, and marketing.  She applied these skills as a consultant to several large companies (among them, Southwest Airlines, La Quinta, Pepsico), and as a freelance resource, working with small businesses and independent professionals.  In 2007 she retired from corporate life and returned to writing.  Since then, Cynthia has written for several different academic publications, including Chadwyck-Healy’s Literature Online series (LION), Gale/Cengage’s Literature Criticism series, the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, the KnowledgeNotes and  LitFinders series, and the compendium volumes Literature of War and Literature of Protest.  She also pursues research into the relationship between Tarot, mathematics and contemporary science.

Cynthia is currently working on a new Tarot book that will present her reading methodology, Four-Dimensional Tarot.  4-D incorporates an extra space-time structure that significantly expands the information contained in a reading, and encourages new ways of interacting with the cards.  Cynthia will be discussing 4-D and its integration of astrological principles at the Northwest Astrology & Tarot Salon in November.

Read an excerpt from The Tarot: Methods, Mastery, and More on Cynthia’s website, The Fool and the Moon.

(c) 2000 – 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

 

 

Tarot Birth Cards – Justice/High Priestess

Justice/High Priestess (Papess)

Theme:

The theme for a 11/2 lifetime is bringing life into a sense of balance through the analyzing and synthesizing of ideas. Learning to trust in yourself, your intuition, and your psychic abilities.

Justice and the High Priestess (Papess) represent form the gateway into an 11/2 lifetime. Justice (ruled by the planet Libra) places focus on harmony, understanding others, and finding a sense of balance in life. Libra is by nature active and social, with the need to balance between nurturing self and helping others.

The High Priestess (Papess) is ruled by the Moon, which places focus on our inner selves, our inner needs, intuition, unconscious, and psychic abilities. Here we are looking at reacting, rather than taking action. The nature here is a passive one.

The path that the individual walks is one that addresses bringing a sense of balance to life through analyzing and synchronizing ideas.

Astrological Associations:

Justice: Libra
The High Priestess (Papess): The Moon

Keywords:

Justice: the need to bring balance, past lessons, debts paid, success in legal matters, refusal to recognize the need for balancing, past debts not addressed
The High Priestess (Papess): intuition, knowledge, in tune with inner self, connection with the feminine mysteries, anima (female sense of self), psychic ability, connection with dreamtime, lacking intuition, blocking information, negative nature, coldness, insincerity

How Does An 11/2 Individual Empower Themselves?

Personal empowerment is the ability to focus our personal and spiritual energy in a manner that enhances how we experience our life. As we define our true power, we actualize out potential and begin to live life from a core of inner confidence.

In empowering ourselves, we set the conditions so that we can:

* Find our inner voice … who we are as an individual.
* Take charge of making our own decisions … not allowing other people’s wishes/needs to over-ride our own.
* Understand why we are dissatisfied with our life, and determine what will give us a feeling of satisfaction.
* Take control of our life … make the impact that we wish to make on the world/
* Integrate ourselves within our local and global communities.
* Be proud to be the person behind the mechanics of our own life.
* Know that we have the power to manifest our own lives … in any area that we wish to manifest in.
* Make life transitions easily.

We are whatever we tell ourselves we are. If we don’t understand why we are making the decisions that we are making, if we find that our decisions/actions are not making us happy, that they are not taking us where we want to go, then we have a disconnect somewhere. Our Birth Cards help us to understand the landscape of each lifetime, to focus on what is important, to understand where our focus needs to be, and to understand what internal resources we have to draw from.

Questions to ask ourselves focusing on Justice:

* What is out of balance in your life?
* Where do you need to receive justice?
* Where do you need to make amends and bring about justice?
* What decisions are you currently making?
* Are you seeing the pros and cons clearly?
* What are the possible consequences of your actions?

Questions to ask ourselves focusing on the High Priestess (Papess):

* What wisdom are you seeking at this time?
* Where are you in the cycle of life?
* How connected are you with dreamtime?
* Where do you seek your answers?

Affirmations:

Justice is all about balance, and the ability to make decisions. When we focus on Justice for the basis for our affirmation. We want to keep this in mind. Sample affirmations for Justice are:

* All of my decisions are authentic to who I am, and to what I believe.
* I bring balance into my life easily and effortlessly.
* I expect to give justice with grace, as well as to accept it with same.
* I balance the pros and cons of each decision that I make,
* I try to see all sides of each issue/situation that I am faced with.
* Justice is a process that applies to me as well as others.
* I am held accountable for my thoughts and my actions.
* I set the foundation for my future with my present decisions and actions.
* I understand the difference between justice and revenge, and choose to seek justice.

The High Priestess is all about feminine mysteries, dreamtime, and connection with our intuitive/psychic abilities. Sample affirmations for the High Priestess (Papess) are:

*The wisdom that I seek is to be found within me.
* I use good judgment in all things.
* I honor the wisdom that comes tome in dreamtime.
* I experience a strong connection with the Divine.
* I pay attention to and honor the voice within me.
* I easily understand the wisdom coming to me.
* I place the wisdom that comes to me actively in my life.
* I remember my dreams with ease.
* My intuition guides me in challenging situations.
* I use my insights in all areas of my life to make better decisions and take more appropriate actions.

Gifts/Abilities/Challenges:

Justice:

Gifts: balance without prejudice, ability to adjust quickly, ability to fair decisions, making amends, being true to one’s own beliefs

Abilities: to be able to bring a sense of balance to life

Challenges: not accepting responsibility for the consequences of your actions, making decisions without looking at all of the factors, being illogical, being disconnected from your higher self

High Priestess (Papess):

Gifts: connect with intuition/psychic ability, connection to the feminine mysteries, aligning with the cycles of life, accepting/believing in your own intuition

Abilities: working with hidden wisdom

Challenges: spending too much time in the mental realm, inability to listen to or accept intuition, fear of the unconscious/unknown, acting in a superficial manner

Template For Working With Gifts/Abilities/Challenges:

* Define the area or issue being worked with.
* Define which Birth Card energies are involved.
* Define where on the spectrum of the Birth Card the energy is manifesting. (Very positive to very negative.)
* Define whether the energy is being manifested, blocked, or simply not being recognized.
* Define what type of energy is needed to bring the Seeker back into balance.
* Looking at both of the Seeker’s Birth Cards, determine which gifts/abilities can best be used to return the Seeker to a balanced state.

Summary:

In an 11/2 lifetime, Justice and the High Priestess (Papess) act together to help you find the truth in your life. Justice asks that you slow down, that you take your time with the decisions that you need to make. With Justice there is a need to find where your balance point is, where you will find harmony in your life. The High Priestess (Papess) asks that you listen to your inner wisdom, that your decisions be based on a deep inner knowing.

Justice asks that we accept responsibility for our thoughts and actions, and for the consequences of same. With Justice we see the process that got us where we are, and are able to bring a balance to our conscious and unconscious thoughts. The High Priestess (Papess) asks that we turn inward for our answers, that we align ourselves with spirit.

In this lifetime, information is processed. Justice does so in an active manner, gathering information, then discarding everything not connected to the core issue. Everything must be brought out into the light of day, in the name of bringing a sense of balance to the Seeker. Justice can appear as a very abrupt archetype, stating its case in no uncertain terms. The scales of justice and the sword of truth leave no room for compromise.

The High Priestess (Papess) takes a more passive, internal path to the truth. Her voice is the silent voice of spirit … a voice that is like an all pervasive mist that surrounds the Seeker. The High Priestess (Papess) looks for truth through spirit. She is attuned to the natural rhythms of life.

Note: Scans are from the Tarot Lovers Tarot (Karyn Easton, Schiffer Books, 2013).

(c) 2000 – 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

 

Networking & Tarot Conferences

It is amazing to me how things have changed over the years that I have been connected to the Tarot world through the Internet (way back to 1997). As the Internet expanded, and we all got to know each other better, Tarot gatherings (under many different names) started popping up. They allowed us to meet each other in person, and to share out wisdom through conferences and classes. Many new friendships were forged, and many projects born. Whether you call them conferences, seminars, or by some other name, they are worthwhile venues. They are also expensive. What I would suggest is that at some point in time each year, we each take a look at the conferences/seminars being offered, and decide if we can afford to go, and, if so,  which ones we want to attend.

Just how do we do that … decide which ones we want to attend? I would look at the following:

1. Where is  the venue? East coast … west coast … middle america. Where is it most convenient to travel to.

2. Who are the presenters? Are they offering something of value that you want to learn?

3. Is there going to be a marketplace, where books and decks are being offered for sale? If you are an artist or an author, how much would it cost you to present your product?

4. Is there a discount for accomodations in connection with the conference/seminar? Are there reasonably priced accomodations nearby?

5. When is the event taking place? Does it fit into your schedule.

There are three events that I am going to talk about in this blog. There are many more, but these are the ones t hat I know about. The first one is the Reader’s Studio, founded by Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone of The Tarot School. It takes place in April, in New York City. I have attended several times, and was always happy that I did. More information on The Reader’s Studio can be found here. They SOLD OUT for 2014! How amazing is that!

A unique venue is being offered for the first time in November of this year. Founder Toni Gilbert is hosting the Northwest Astrology & Tarot Salon iat Brietenbush  Hotsprings, Detroit, OR. Conversation Leaders for 2014 include Toni Gilbert, Paul Nagy, Isha Lerner, Christine Payne-Towler, Jadzia DeForest, Robert Volkmann, Mary Jo Wevers, Alan Stein, and Cynthia Giles. There is an open group page on Facebook where everyone is free to ask questions and comment.

Another unique venue, the Northwest Tarot Symposium, is being offered for the first time  in March of 2015, in Portland,OR. Hosted by Jadzia and Jay DeForest, founders of Devera Publishing, the symposium will focus on Tarot, Lenormand, Oracle, and Cartomancy. More information can be found here.

I do not often make major errors … but in this blog, I did. If you are reading this now, you are reading corrected copy. The initial blog presented three Tarot venues, not four. And the venue that was unintentionally left out has been a MAJOR presence on the west coast for twenty-three years. My apologies to Thalassa, and the Daughters of Divination, for neglecting to present their information! Great effort goes into this symposium every year, and they certainly deserve recognition. And as readers of this column, you deserve to know about them!  Hosted by Thalassa and the DoD, BATS (the Bay Area Tarot Symposium), it will be taking place in August of this year in San Jose, CA. There is always mischief and mayhem at BATS … check it out! They can also be found on Facebook.

These are just four of many venues being offered to network and share Tarot, astrology, and other oracle wisdom. They are a wonderful way to meet people, network, and ck up some valuable tips!

Note: The Emperor is from the Magdalene Legacy Tarot, Casey DuHamel and Deborah L. Shutek-Jackson, Grail Quest Press, 2014.

(c) 2000 – 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.

 

 

Northwest Astrology & Tarot – Introducing Isha Lerner

In November of this year the inaugural Northwest Astrology and Tarot Salon will be held at the Breitenbush Conference Center, near Detroit, OR. (More information about the Salon can be found here – nwsalon.com) I would like to introduce you to Isha Lerner, one of the Conversation Leaders for this event.

Isha Lerner is an international astrologer, owner of The Power of Flowers Healing Essence Company, and has co-authored the best-selling Inner Child Cards: A Fairy Tale Tarot (published 1993 by Bear and Company) which illustrates the transformative relationship between fairy tales and human development. She is also co-author of The Triple Goddess Tarot, The Power of Flowers book/deck set and The Tarot of the Four Elements.

A long-time writer for numerous periodicals, including Welcome to Planet Earth, Healing Currents, Planet Lightworker and Children of the New Earth, she has also been a guest columnist for several newspapers and journals. You can listen to her latest interview on New Dimension’s Radio with Justine Willis-Toms on the topic of Fairy Tales as the Liberators of the Soul:

http://www.newdimensions.org/about-new-dimensions/

She was a member of the Findhorn Community in northern Scotland from 1976 to 1981 where she was privileged to live and work within the magical gardens and experience within community framework co-creative principles between nature and humanity.
Her work has grown out of the powerful impact of those early years of personal growth and the experiences of global connectedness they brought her.

She lives in Eugene, Oregon where she has raised three daughters: Gabriella, Katya and Sophia, and has one precious granddaughter and a grandson on the way!

The topic that Isha will be covering is Your Cosmic DNA – Astrology: The Code of Karma, Destiny, and Self-Realization.

You can find out more about Isha below:

www.ishalerner.com
New and Full Moon Reports: http://www.ishalerner.com/page_37926/Chinese%20New%20Year%20of%20the%20Horse%20Sourcing%20Individu
Publications: http://www.ishalerner.com/tarot
Power of Flower Essence Company: http://www.ishalerner.com/home/is2/cpage_9/flower_essences.html

(c) 2000 – 2014 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.