Desert Oracle

It’s the morning of Christmas Eve, and I have decided to look ahead at the New Year. The year 2010 will be an Empress year (2+0+1+0=3); adding in my birth day & month (10/1) gives me a Hierophant year (2+0+1+0+1+0+1=5), underscored by the Empress. So, more teaching and learning to come, in a more relaxed and creative form, much like the PDR exercise has been this year. I can’t believe I actually created a blog and have posted at least once a month for an entire year!

For my PDR (Primary Deck Reflection) exercise, I used the beautiful Fifth Tarot by Martien and Teressena Bakens.  I met the authors in January 2008 as they were touring the country promoting their just published deck.  They gave an amazing lecture on the history and development of the deck, and as I watched the slide show of the deck’s art, I knew it was a deck for me. The Bakens later returned and presented their interactive workshop for a select group of us, and we had the opportunity to work with the essential oils that Martien created for the Majors. We also worked with Teressena’s beautiful original artwork for the deck!  As I made the decision to blog my PDR exercise, it was obvious that the Fifth Tarot was the deck to use.

And here we are, twelve months later, as I bring to a close the PDR exercise. I have learned a great deal from the Fifth Tarot. Not only is it a deck for the 21^st century, with an amazing energy, five suits instead of the traditional four with a goal of raising our consciousness in a time of transition, it is also a great reading deck.  Other people who have used the deck have said it is not good for reading on mundane issues; I think my blog entries show that is not the case, at least for me.

So, to take a sneak peek at 2010, I decided to use a three-card spread (I have quite a collection of New Year spreads, some using as many as 24 cards).  But as the year 2010 reduces to the number three, it seemed fitting to use three cards. The spread I created asks three questions: What can I look forward to in 2010? What must I leave behind from 2009? and What must I carry over from 2009 that is not yet complete?

Here are the results:

1. What can I look forward to in 2010? – The Chariot: It seems that 2010 will carry me forward on my path. This is one of a few Chariot cards that is depicted moving through water. The journey will help me rise above emotion and allow my ideas to lead me to success. A skeleton reaches from the water to draw me back into the emotional drama, but I ignore it and move forward. The charioteer is naked, completely open to all things yet to come. He also carries the Egyptian ankh, which glows with vibrant light and energy. 2010 will be a year of movement, of development, of growth, and a leaving behind of emotional upheaval. An auspicious first card indeed!

2. What must I leave behind from 2009? – 5 of Shells (Release): As the Chariot rises above and moves through the waters of emotion, the 5 of Shells tells me that I must truly let go of any emotional attachments that have not been productive for me.  The starfish, sand dollars and shells have all been left high and dry as the waters have receded. The Fifth Tarot says “You are strong, resourceful and accumulate new information fast…(y)our emotional life is at peace with what seems unknown, trusting that all is in divine order…” (page 139). It is important that I release what holds me back in order to be able to move forward with drive and purpose.

3. What must I carry over from 2009 that is not yet complete?  — One of Fire (Creativity): The One of Fire “signals a time of creativity and passion…so be sure to find positive ways to give it expression…(it) asks you to use it to inspire and create” (page 97). Having attended the 2009 Readers Studio and SF BATS, I became inspired to write a Tarot book based on exercises I created for my Tarot Circle. Several people offered encouragement after I had discussed the idea with them. So I have been working on it, polishing the rough edges, working with an editor to bring it to life. I have permission to use a wonderful deck to illustrate the book, too, so part of my 2010 journey will be to use my creative inspiration and complete the book. And once it is done, who knows where it will lead me next…

I want to thank Martien and Teressena and The Fifth Tarot for inspiring me to do the PDR exercise and to create Desert Oracle. This is by no means an ending…simply a transition.

Happiest of holidays and a joyous New Year to all!

Images from the Fifth Tarot © 2008 by Blue Dolphin — Used by permission