Tarot Thrones | The Court Card Blog

Year: 2016

  • February Full Moon | Princess of Cups

    The full moon of February is known by various names – Snow Moon, Wolf Moon and Hunger Moon (Northern Hemisphere) and Grain Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Red Moon, Wyrt Moon, Corn Moon, Dog Moon and Barley Moon if you live in the Southern Hemisphere.



    I’m in the Northern Hemisphere and Wolves are a bit thin on the ground here in Scotland. I don’t have any snow (at the moment) and since I’m in the throes of trying to cut down on the amount that I’m eating, I thought I’d plump for the Hunger Moon!

    The spread is just a one-carder gem and only uses the 16 court cards as my deck πŸ™‚

    Who helps me successfully handle my hunger pangs from now until the next full moon?

    The answer comes in the form of the Druidcraft Tarot’s Princess of Cups.

    In this deck, the usual Page is replaced with a Princess, but she serves the same role.

    How she helps me with my hunger pangs, purely from the image:

    1  She has her eyes closed – don’t drool over gorgeous food when it’s a fast day.

    2  She holds a cup – drink plenty of fluids and make them as interesting as possible.

    3  She’s outdoors – get outside whenever I feel hungry.

    4  I like her clothes – focus on treating myself to a new item of clothing when I am less portly.  Honestly, just a few inches off my bosom and belly would be GREAT.

    4  Meditation.  And not involving the glories of the co-op’s almond croissants in any way, shape or form …

    So much for how she looks, but what might her Tarot meaning contributes to my successful wrangling of my hunger?

    Begin a relationship.  Well, Tom Hiddleston doesn’t know that I exist. YET.  So I prefer to flip this to mean that I should fall in love with SOMETHING. Maybe by focussing my attentions elsewhere, I won’t be too conscious of feeling hungry.  You know what it’s like when you fall in luff – you can happily exist on salad, even in the cold and damp πŸ™‚

    The Princess of Cups is also a creative little soul – get the paints out and refocus.  But don’t paint pictures of food …

    How else can the Princess of Cups help me with my hunger pangs? What do you think? 

  • S L MacGregor Mathers| Etteilla | Court Cards

    I’m all about spreading the Court Card luff, as you know, so here are a couple of useful things that I picked up the other day from a slender volume called The Tarot by S L MacGregor Mathers.

    Yes, you know, the Golden Dawn guy.  Right at the back of the book, under the heading ‘Special Insights’ I noted the following:
    Knight of Sceptres
    (Knight of Wands)
    You can interpret the DEPARTURE of the energies of the card following the Knight of Wands.  So, if the Knight of Wands is followed by 3 Swords, it would mean the departure of grief/loss.

    Knave of Sceptres
    (Page of Wands)
    Reversed:  See what cards it lies between and they shall show you the source of the news and what the news is about.

    The Knight of Cups
    Where the Wands Knight showed departure, the Cups Knight shows ARRIVAL in the following card.  So Knight of Cups followed by 3 of Swords shows the arrival of grief/loss.

    The Queen of Swords
    Much less useful information for us – can show someone who has just been widowed.  Or simply show that ‘if two people are married, the one will die some time before the other, but not necessarily that the event will occur immediately’.  See? Not hugely useful.  But presented for you nonetheless πŸ™‚

    The Knave of Swords
    (Page of Swords)
    Reversed:  Indicates that the card following is UNEXPECTED.  So, followed by 6 of Wands, you would have an unexpected victory.

    Knave of Pentacles
    (Page of Pentacles)
    Reversed: The following card will show where the querant is PRODIGAL  (ie wastefully extravagant)

    These are ‘chiefly’ taken from Etteilla, according to Mathers.  Am now, of course, sweeping myself off to the dustiest corner of the Thrones Tower library to inspect Etteilla for more court card info πŸ™‚

    I’d be interested to know how you get on when using these insights.

  • Chinese Elements | The Fire Monkey Year

    In the West, we tend to use the classical elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.  However, this is not the only system of elements available and as we move into the Chinese Year of the Fire Monkey, I thought that we could take a look at their elements.

    Why the interest in China? Well, hubby has just relocated there for maybe the next two years and, with any amount of luck, I’ll be able to go and visit him from time to time (worry not! he will still be coming home every eight weeks, for eight weeks!) but I am delving into all things Chinese.  And you cannot escape my burgeoning interest in all things Chinese either!  πŸ˜€


    In Chinese astrology, just as in the West, there are 12 signs that you can be born under.  However, there is no Leo, Aquarius or Taurus … instead we have:

    Rat
    Ox
    Tiger
    Rabbit
    Dragon
    Snake
    Horse
    Sheep
    Monkey
    Rooster
    Dog
    Pig

    Every 12-year cycle begins with the Year of The Rat. This year we have entered a Monkey year, so next year will be Rooster etc.  An additional dimension is added to this, with the inclusion of the appropriate Chinese element:

    Wood
    Fire
    Earth
    Metal
    Water

    Yup, the Chinese have FIVE as opposed to our usual FOUR.

    Each of the signs has its own natural element – for example: Monkey’s natural element is Metal.

    But this is a Fire year.  So how does Fire and Metal sit together with Monkey’s nature? Well, clearly you would need to go to an expert in Chinese astrology for a proper reading but, here’s my tuppence worth!

    Metal is associated with the wind – so it’s changeable very quickly. Couple this with Monkey’s mischievous and curious nature and you have got a potentially tricky year ahead!  Be aware that things can/will change quickly, so there is a lack of certainty and bear in mind that while curiosity is the source of many marvellous discoveries, that it also killed the cat πŸ™‚

    新年快乐 !!!