MY ODE TO THE TAROT
I thought I’d learn the tarot cards. My friends were quite surprised.
You’d think I’d sprouted little horns; my mum was traumatised.
“Don’t touch that stuff!” she yelled with shock, “It’s rubbish, don’t you know?
Don’t touch what you don’t understand, it’s dangerous, let it go!”
The fear was clearly in her voice across twelve thousand miles,
The subject thus was firmly closed, placed in the “too hard” files.
My curiosity drove me on, my interest was aroused,
My intuitive urge was strong. Through cards and books I browsed.
My lessons gave me food for thought; I learned some skills and tips,
And when I started reading spreads the words flowed from my lips.
“This card is telling my you’re sad, that card says you should look
At all the good things that you have and all the turns you took.”
I often find while reading cards it’s very clear to see
The message that I’m giving out is also meant for me.
“You should be kinder to yourself,” I feel compelled to say,
“Don’t care so much what others think, just give that stuff away.”
They say, “Thanks for your kind advice. Can’t follow it to the letter,
But I’ll get a massage like you said. I’m feeling so much better!”
It’s such a thrill when people who come to me feeling down
Leave smiling, feeling positive, instead of with a frown.
If this is doing “devil’s work” I’m really quite surprised.
All I can say is, if it is, he’s very well disguised.
Those whose minds are closed with fear will never really know
That all the devil means is choice – WE choose which way to go.
In everything there’s darkness but there’s also love and light,
For every choice a different way; for every wrong, a right.
In every thing that fills us with such dread I think it’s clear
The problem is a lack of love, and lack of love is fear.
So many fear the tarot, but it must be understood
That a pack of cards within itself, cannot hold bad or good.
Images upon a card shouldn’t shake our peace of mind,
It’s how and what and the way we see that colours what we find.
All is “dangerous rubbish” if done with wrong intent.
When done with unconditional love and words sincerely meant,
With good interpretation skills, definitions not too narrow,
You’ll find great help and love and light contained within the tarot.
I haven’t sprouted little horns, nor have I sprouted wings -
I've opened up my heart and mind to new and different things.
I’m looking at what’s possible; the deeper parts of life,
While learning more about myself and easing others’ strife.
Life is a lesson to be learned in varied permutations,
And tarot shines a light to guide us through its complications.
ãJan Hunneybell
Wheel of Fortune
The one thing in life that is certain is change. Life is like a wheel, ever turning, never stopping, always in perpetual motion. Change is inevitable. To cope with life, we need to flow with it, for as the old cliche says, "Resistance is useless". We can’t stop change any more than King Canute was able to command the tides, so we need to learn to accept it and perhaps even eventually learn to welcome and relish it. Relinquish thoughts of control and discover what may be learned from flowing with the cycles and the seasons.
At the centre of the wheel, the hub, is a still point, just as there is stillness in the eye of a storm. This point is the part of the Self that is permanent and timeless, existing forever. The life events that occur, day turning to night, seasonal changes, births, deaths and rebirths, beginnings and endings, give our soul Self the experiences we need to grow and develop. They ensure we increase our knowledge and wisdom so we can write our unique book of life. We can learn from what has been written in the past, the ancient wisdom of the Sphinx, and can add to this knowledge by paying attention to what we meet in our present and future. In each corner of the card, the figures are reading books. Life is for learning. Every experience, positive or negative, can add to our eternal growth.
It may feel at times as if we are at the mercy of external powers, being tossed around helplessly on a world spinning through space and time. However, the power that causes the world to spin is the same power that flows through us. We can connect with it by holding to that still point at our centre through meditation, contemplation and adopting a tranquil attitude. In the peace of this inner place, we find the strength to deal with whatever comes our way.
Although the Wheel might be seen to represent a belief that we are at the mercy of destiny, in reality we have the power to change that destiny through our decisions and actions. Whilst we do not control the future, we can influence its path. It is possible to rewrite sections of our book of life by taking a different approach. We can look back through that book, learning from past experience. We don’t have to repeat the past - we can recognise a repeating pattern and change it. A lesson is finally learned, the penny drops, and a particular cycle of karma may be completed. The wheel is numbered 10, indicating that a stage of development has reached a conclusion and we are at a new stage of growth.
This completion marks the beginning of a new chapter where we can move onto something entirely new. Alternatively, if we have not completely grasped concepts we have struggled with in the past, the new cycle may provide another chance to experience and learn the lesson, possibly clothed in different circumstances. Each lesson carries “degrees of difficulty”- hopefully even the most unobservant person may eventually understand that this challenge has occurred before and needs attention.
Without the benefit of seeing the bigger picture, it is easy to feel that life is not fair. The great thing about change is that although the good times end, so do the difficult times. We are told “This too shall pass”. The Wheel of Fortune indicates that the wheel always turns - current difficulties become distant memories, new experiences are on the horizon. Learn from what has gone before and look to the future. Roll with the wheel. With acceptance comes peace – and success!
ÓJan Hunneybell
THE TOWER
(Based on the Tower card of the Rider-Waite Tarot)
Have you ever wondered at the raw electric power
That illuminates and illustrates the image of the Tower?
Did you think the Tower represented only gloom?
That breakdown meant disaster, just one step away from doom?
If that is so then I have news for you, my puzzled friends,
For that is not the story – it can have much better ends.
When thunderous lightning strikes the Tower it illuminates,
Electrifies and magnifies; directs us to our fates.
It doesn’t necessarily mean trouble, pain or strife,
But eventually could end in gain - lead to a better life.
The Tower is struck and as we see, the King has lost his crown,
For lightning has the job of breaking outworn structures down;
The structures that we build around our attitudes and lives,
And round careers and families, lovers, husbands, wives.
When the Tower is activated, nothing stays the same,
For its effects can induce changes we may thank or blame.
When tyrants with oppressive ways fall victim to the Tower,
Its actions then are positive and end destructive power.
The person struck by lightning may find they’ve been set free
From ties, restraints, relationships based on tyranny.
The Tower falls and as it does the whole world falls apart,
But breaking down may be the key to opening our heart.
Although when crisis hits us it may feel like bleak despair,
That naught will ever be the same and no-one seems to care,
We find that through the darkest night a light may still be found,
And after falling from the Tower we land on solid ground.
We notice drifting from above the yods of golden light,
Precursors of a golden dawn that ends the darkest night;
And in the stillness, following the fury, wind and rain,
The new day dawns and peace descends. We can begin again.
©Jan Hunneybell, Aug 1999