Mercury went retrograde on thanksgiving day, in Sagittarius, sign of the archer. Time to pull back on that bow, reflect on your target, before following through...
I thought to myself, what better way to review my goals than a tarot reading? I decided on a Nine Lives Spread using the Cat's Eye Tarot by Debra M. Givin, DVM, recently published by U. S. Games Systems.
Softly illustrated, this is obviously a great deck for any cat lover, one of my favorite parts being the green cats eyes on the back of each card. I loved XII - the Hanged Kitty, as being one of the best cat interpretations of tarot. I also enjoyed seeing the cats paws on each of the aces, reminiscent of the hand coming out of the clouds in the Rider Waite deck. I would have liked to see more on the royal cards, for example the king of cups could have had one paw in the fish bowl, but overall a delightful deck and one I am happy to introduce to my students of tarot and to gift to my friends.
I shuffled the cards while focusing on my career, curious as to what the cards would reveal on my path to being in service. Pulling from the top of the deck, I laid on nine cards in a three by three pattern. The columns represented youth, middle age and maturity. The rows corresponded to playing, straying and staying.
I liked this simple spread sheet type of lay out, easy to remember and work with. Starting in the middle column and moving down, for my current life experience the cards showed me first in play, five of swords reversed, a hissing cat at the vet. The message is to not ever react with emotion. Fives are the number of change, swords symbolize the mental plane, and I thought about the ways in which I can play with changing my mind.
The next card was showing where I have strayed - ten of pentacles showed two contented cats, fat and sassy in the barn, an affirmation of my own striving for abundance. Tens are completion, pentacles on the physical realm, and I contemplated what having a full client schedule would look like, feel like, where it would energize me, where I fear it would tire me.
The third card was indicating where I will stay - XIX, the sun card, showed a Ginger tabby basking by blooming daisies, seeming to be supported by a pillar of marble while gazing at a garden. What a lovely card, the message being confidence, clarity and renewal of sunnier energies.
I moved to the youth column, representing my youth. Play was two of pentacles, a white bellied tabby flinging a mouse on a string creating an infinity loop, a reminder of balancing the physical realm. Stray was VI, the lovers card, upside down, with the clear message of the difficult choices relationships can bring. Stay was Knight of Wands, the quester of passion, a big orange tabby high up in a tree, smugly looking at the dawn below.
Last was the maturity column, starting with Wheel of Fortune in the play position, a couple of cats hunt two mice while sparrows narrowly avoid the same fate. Change is always my friend. The stray card was VIII - Strength, a kitten and a big dog sharing a calm space, again a message to not over react but instead to come from a compassionate place of inner strength and acceptance.
The third card, representing stay, was eight of cups, traditionally the card of withdrawal, showing a black and white cat leaving a home after a new puppy has arrived. A sad card, I did not want this to be my ending, so I pulled one more card, XX- Judgement, two Siamese cats bask on a stone ledge by a cat gargoyle, a purple twilight gracing the background. The message is to take an honest look at myself, and to not ignore any opportunities for true progress on my journey, which left this tarot reader purring...
