1

I've just noticed that my last three blog posts all have the word "one" in the title. There's gotta be some deep cosmic significance in that. ☺

oneword

I have discovered a wonderful new unintentional practice resource.

I was looking for online journaling sites that might encourage me to journal/write more and I came across oneword.com. Here's the basic concept:

A gong will sound when your time is up and you're then invited to share your opus, but you don't have to. You can just exit the page.

Now here's my brilliant idea. Why not treat the word you're given as a card's keyword or title? And you've got 60 seconds in which to "interpret" that card. No time to gather your thoughts or summon up meaty aphorisms. You just have to let it flow.

Here's my first go:

Click image to make bigger

"Drop" triggered "drop it" which immediately became "let it go". Where the subsequent battle imagery came from I have no idea. It just flowed.☺

You only get one new word a day, so you can't binge on this, but I'm going to have a go at it every(ish) day for a while and see how it works for me. Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Edit 26 Jan 16: Ok, this is certifiably freaky. You know what today's word is? "Armor" (spelt the US way, of course). Did I have a premonition? Can I have the lottery numbers next time please?

Thirty down, one to go

My responses to the final few questions in Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge...

...with the exception of the very last question, which involves reading a few cards for myself. Live. On camera. For (potentially) other people to see. Gulp!!

It's one thing for me to throw some cards in private, study them at my leisure and then carefully construct a reading out of them to post here. Quite another to pull three cards out of a hat, so to speak, and interpret them on the fly in front of a virtual audience.

Reading live for someone is different, because that person is invested in the reading, it's for and about them, so they're busy concentrating on what you're telling them (one hopes). Unaffected strangers just watching a reading, especially those with a background in Tarot, tend to be more critical. Yep, nervous.

Downbar info you won't see unless you go to YouTube to watch the video:
Dusty White - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSwhQIfLHm3vd6Ihj2q1vQ
John Ballantrae - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2fId7s7OdtTrnPeZe1JcBw

This one's for me

If you've watched my latest 31 Days of Tarot Challenge video then you know I've been suffering with a cold for a while now, and that card reading takes a back seat when I'm ill.

But sitting here this evening, I suddenly got the urge to dig out Madame Dora and have a go. I thought perhaps I'd post an "open reading" for you. It's been a while, after all. But as soon as I saw the cards, I knew they were meant for me.

Richard and Simon: You're improving but the reality is you're not quite up to it yet. Ivy: (somewhat less irreverently) They can wait.

So there you have it. Madame Dora has spoken. I'll wait a bit longer before I tackle a reading for you all. That said, if this one says something you feel you need to hear right now, take it with my blessing.

Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Challenge - Days 20-26

The next instalment of responses to Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge.

I've just found out that question #16, which I said in my last video I thought would probably be better as two questions, IS supposed to be two questions - #16 and #17. They've now been split, but I've been working from a list I printed off a couple of weeks ago, so the numbers I refer to in this and the previous video are out of sync. Sorry about that.

And no, I'm still not over this #@?%&! cold.

But what does this card mean?

The cards don't mean anything.
Because it depends on the question.

John Ballantrae did a live stream video session the other day on reading Tarot. What John has to say about reading Tarot is always worth listening to.

"Tarot is 'in the moment'. And it's for that particular moment, for that particular question, for that particular questioner at that time." John then goes on to ably demonstrate this idea.

31 Days of Tarot Challenge - part 4

Edit: I've just found out that question #16, which I said I thought would probably be better as two questions, IS supposed to be two questions - #16 and #17. They've now been split, but I've been working from a list I printed off a couple of weeks ago, so the numbers I refer to in the video are out of sync. Sorry about that.

If you're still with me, here are my Days 14 to 18 14 to 19 of Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge.

So much for looking a bit less peaky. :/ I'm still feeling rough, and it shows! But if I fall too far behind with these questions I know I'll give up and I really don't want to do that.

If you're taking part in this challenge please leave me a link to your channel in the comments!

Downbar info you won't see unless you go to YouTube to watch the video:
Kelly-Ann Maddox - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO3TVUyNxIdMdR9RljTIzaQ
Etteilla - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etteilla
"Tarot Cards in Early Modern Europe", with reference to Etteilla's influence - http://www.ultimatehistoryproject.com/history-of-tarot-cards.html
Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot - http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/dame-fortunes-wheel/

The show must go on!

Despite being laid low with a cold for the past 4 days, I went ahead and recorded my next segment of Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge. Because I'm a professional.

Yeah, I know. But the makeup department can only do so much. Hopefully I'll look a bit less peaky for the next one.

Downbar info you won't see unless you go to YouTube to watch the video:
Beth Maiden's "Creativity, Courage, Commitment Spread" - http://littleredtarot.com/creativity-tarot-spread-new-moon/

31 Days of Tarot Challenge - Days 5-8

Here is the next instalment of my responses to Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge. I was maybe a teeny-weeny bit less nervous this time?

If you missed my film debut, you can catch it here.

I came down with a cold yesterday so I'm going to have to put off recording the next segment. Right now 15 minutes of footage would contain about 5 minutes of... excuse me, ACHOO!!... sneezing.

A Star is Born

I did it. I finally recorded my first YouTube video. I was inspired by the responses I'd seen to Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge.

Most vloggers were tackling days 1 to 7, but towards the end I couldn't hold my train of thought (nerves!) so I packed it in at four. But it was kinda fun, so once I stop shaking I'll have a crack at the next few days of questions.

Who says?

An excerpt from my New Year's reading, "Marseille Tarot, Towards the Art of Reading", by Camelia Elias.

Now, some may be tempted to ask: "If it's oral transmission that you'll be referring to, how do we know that you're not making things up?" Indeed a legitimate question. To which I have this to say: There is no way of testing the veracity of whatever information gets passed down to us from the so-called "generation of readers", other than to point to what makes sense and what doesn't; what works and what doesn't; what's logical and what's not.