I love tarot cards. This raises a lot of eyebrows. The religious go on about the alleged evils of the occult, without really knowing what the word “occult” means, which according to Merriam-Webster is “matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them.” (In other words, pretty much every rite and ritual in every religion.) My fellow atheists go on about “superstition.” Everyone else except fellow tarot-lovers goes on about “new agey b.s.”
Well, I don’t care. I’ve said here before that tarot cards help me sort through things and bring up ideas that were bubbling in my subconscious. I also love the artwork in many decks. I don’t use them for “fortune-telling” or divination, as I don’t believe the future is either knowable or predetermined.
Point is, I find tarot cards useful and generally nice to look at barring pretty much every depiction I’ve seen of the Ten of Swords. The Three of Swords and the Nine of Swords are never pleasant, either.
But some cards are just all-around amazing because of their meanings, so I was delighted to find duplicates of some of my favorite cards in a deck that arrived yesterday, The Guardian of the Night Tarot by MJ Cullinane. All of the other cards are there, so these are extras.
When you buy anything through Amazon (yes, I know, bad billionaire supporter, BAD), there is an increased chance that whatever you’re buying is counterfeit, so I checked the author’s website. I love Cullinane’s work and already have two of her decks, the Crow Tarot and the Urban Crow Oracle, and I’d be upset if the cards were counterfeit and someone else was profiting from her hard work. However, the publisher is correct and the deck came with a guidebook in a two-piece box like her website says it should, so I think the extra cards are just a manufacturer’s mistake.
But oh, what cards they are!
Nine of Pentacles: Financial independence, self-sufficiency, a little luxury, enjoying abundance, treating yourself to a little something nice (without going overboard), enjoying the fruits of your labor.
Ten of Pentacles: Financial security, wealth that is passed through generations, permanence, accomplishment in your career that allows you to have all you need, abundance.
Page of Pentacles: Good news regarding money, business, education, career, property, or health; manifesting your goals; opportunities to create your own security and prosperity.
Knight of Pentacles: Hard work, productivity, determination, diligence, ambition, tenacity, finishing what you start, striving toward your goals.
Queen of Pentacles: Prosperity, financial security, nurturing the practical, balance between home and work, being resourceful to create peace and stability in your life.
King of Pentacles: Worldly success that is shared with others, generosity, fulfilment in creative tasks, creating a rich life emotionally as well as materially, knowing what you’re doing and having success with it.
I’LL TAKE IT. I’m in my late 50s. I’m in journalism, which is not exactly the most lucrative of fields. I’ve survived several recessions by the skin of my teeth, and fought off homelessness twice. I have a day job and freelance on the side. I’m pretty good at what I do, but grew up with a lot of financial instability and insecurity and never really feel financially secure. Plus, like many people in the middle class, I’ve had to start over a few times and am vulnerable to the effects of recession. So if the Universe wants to encourage me with a message of abundance, I’m happy to embrace it.
The timing is great, too: In a personal journal I recently whined about wondering what the purpose of my work is if I’m not even sure it’s making a difference in the world, especially with the strange and dark times that are coming to the U.S. (I cover mental health and substance use. The U.S. is not okay and I sense it will be even less okay when the new administration gets in there and starts cutting funding for mental health and substance use treatment services. Those two things have been bipartisan causes for a while—suddenly they became important when White kids started dying by suicide and overdose—but still. Something heartless and ignorant this way comes.) So I’ll take this as a nudge to persevere.
At any rate, I think this deck will be fun to work with. I’ve set the duplicate cards aside, but it’s nice to know that the extra tarot goodness of those particular cards is there. Now I’m off to manifest.
zenzalei 