Tucson Tarot Class!

Morgana Dragonfly was my Tarot teacher. I took her class twice, and if I still lived in Tucson, I'd probably ask if I could take it again.  The first time I took it, I signed up for the beginner class. The second time I took it, she suggested that I take the intermediate class, but I had switched to a new deck and wanted to "start from scratch."  At this point, I'd take any class that she felt I was prepared for.

Morgana has another class started up in October. The class starts October 7. Here's more information.

Morgana's class style was relaxed and helpful. I was upset at first because she requested that we not read the booklet that came with our Tarot cards until after we had completed the class. It was very for me to not read what the "authority" who had designed the cards said they meant. I have always been a read-ahead type of student, and I was told not to do that!

It turned out that Morgana's request was beneficial to me. When I use my cards, I connect more strongly with the cards that I found the meanings for instead of being told or hinted at their meanings. That doesn't mean Morgana just had us find all our own meanings for the cards. We started off discussing general themes (what are cups, what do aces mean, etc.), and then we "jumped off" from there.

The only negative consequence to this learning style was that I misplaced the booklet that came with my deck, and now I wish I had been more careful about it. That is not something I can blame Morgana for, though! I am currently working with a Mary Greer book at Morgana's suggestion. I plan to get more of Mary Greer's books in the future.  If you have any other book suggestions for future development, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Morgana offers more then just classes.  She does readings professionally, apparently she even does them for parties.  I've also attended two of her divination workshops that she did at Bookmans as part of TAWN's education series a few years ago.

If you're looking for someone to give you a reading, or someone to take a class with, and you plan to be in the Tucson area, check out Morgana Dragonfly's webpage!

Gut Reaction or Learned Response?

I had grand plans for this week’s edition of Tarot of the Week, but the weather did not cooperate.  I woke to an absolutely stellar day and had no choice but to hop on the motorcycle and go for a beautiful ride instead of doing my weekly card meditation. I don’t have a photo of the trip, but here’s my favorite photo of my bike.

I woke up this morning and did a reading that has me thinking about card interpretations (truthfully, the reading went so well that I’m afraid to think too closely on it!). The card that got me thinking this way is the Nine of Wands.  My scanner won’t talk to Vista, and I can’t find anyone else’s picture of the Arcus Arcanum Nine of Wands, so I hope that my description is good enough.

The Nine of Wands shows a man whose facial expression is clearly over taxed. He shows signs of facial strain, and he’s holding eight wands. One wand has been removed from the center of the stack and is being held by a woman in the background. 

I always have a gut reaction to the Nine of Wands. The weird part is that I have two different, contradictory gut reactions! Sometimes I get one reaction and sometimes I get another. When I think about it for a moment, I remember the other interpretation. Sometimes I see him as over doing it, and if he doesn’t let the other person help more, he’ll drop everything. Sometimes I see him as over doing it because the other person isn't helping enough. Today’s reading clearly showed me that the other person isn’t helping enough.
 

I find it interesting that some cards have these gut reactions that jump out at me and other cards give me nothing more then basic information I’ve gleaned from people around me. The page cards are an excellent example of this,. Two pages that clearly illustrate my point came up in today’s reading, so I’ll use them as examples of two cards – one that gives me a description without my having to search for it and one that I have a memorized interpretation that I can’t shake but don’t really get much more then that.

The Pages are messengers.  The Page of Swords bears his message (which is about words) with pride.  However, that’s pretty much all I can get from this photo. When I was studying with my teacher, I believe she gave an example of a job offer as the message being brought out. The reason I believe that is because it’s the only thing that ever comes to mind when I look at any Page of Swords, and it’s not something that I feel inside myself – it feels like a memorized shopping list.

The Page of Disks is different. I can’t find a photo of the card, but the Page of Disks is bringing a message about financial security (or lack thereof), and he’s obviously struggling with the message.  Depending on the position, it could have a few meanings. Today’s meaning was clear. I was asking about job stuff, and the Page of Disks came up in the position of what’s on my mind. The head of the place I work announced layoffs recently, so the fact that my future financial stability (or instability) and messages about it are clearly on my mind!

I’m currently doing meditations with the Major Arcana cards, but some days I just have to draw something else to work with. This week, I plan on working with these three cards since they were the ones that left me the most unsatisfied with my interpretation of today’s reading.

UPDATE: It is a full year later, and I am contemplating my future as a writer. For some reason, I had this urge to look over this paltry blog that never got off the ground, and as I stare at the Page of Swords, for the first time I see him clearly. He is not just bearing his swore with pride, he is offering it to others with pride. I wonder if I'll still see him this way later.