Arcana of Astrology
Here we go! It’s time for another card reading post!
This time I will be examining Claire Goodchild’s Arcana of Astrology: a 42 cosmic card deck that serves as a tool to harness the wisdom of the cosmos to help guide you in life. What’s really cool about these cards is their versatility. The Arcana of Astrology has many uses that include oracle readings, milestone readings, moon phase readings, meditation, spell-work and also serves as an astrology study guide.
This deck includes 12 zodiac constellation cards, 10 planet cards, eight moon phase cards, 10 asteroid cards and two eclipse cards. For this particular reading, due to its popularity and easy structure, I will be using the past, present and future card spread.
The question applied is: “What things must I keep in mind this summer, in all aspects of my life?”
As the freedom to read cards is vast with no hard rules, when shuffling any type of deck for divination purposes, always focus on the question, deep in thought. After spreading the cards in a line face down, I personally like to imagine the touch of a loved one that has passed away. I hover my hand over the line of cards, and imagine their own hand guiding me along the cards, helping me decide which cards to pull. So for this reading, the cards I received were Sagittarius, Pallas, and Earth.
The card representing the past is Sagittarius. This cards represents mutability; it’s element is fire, and its keyword reads “explore.” Using this card to reference the past, my intuition tells me that things in the past were perhaps a learning experience. Such an answer is obvious to me as I am still relatively young and still realizing that perhaps the map I’ve been holding to life has been upside down at times. As a result, it is now time for me to really explore what I want to do with my career and relationships.
The element of fire is no surprise to me. I consider myself to be a very passionate person, perhaps often impulsive in my decision making and also creative in many ways. This explains all the twists and turns I’ve experienced, the relationships I’ve had that may had not worked out as I thought, the surprises I realized about who I am, and the manifestation of abilities I never thought I had. Overall this card refers to my past as a time of creative and expressive exploration, to find myself and understand who I am as an individual.
The present card I pulled is Pallas. An asteroid card, it represents “The Warrior” and it’s keyword reads “justice.” Immediately, this card makes me feel all sorts of emotions. When I think about events that have recently happened-- particularly our socio-political climate and even upsetting situations that have happened in this very town-- I realize there is a distinct and collective sense of need for justice. We are all aware of the stabbings and shootings that have happened around town, and with such a morally corrupt administration running our country, it’s no surprise that terrible people start to come out. However, as villains come out, heroes come as well. The hate crime stabbings on the MAX, with two brave people that protected those who needed it, is a prime example. As these conflicts keep happening, this card tells me, warriors are in need and justice should prevail. As a result, those of us with good intentions-- those of us who care about the good of the world-- and the positive progression of society need to continue to stand tall in our ideals. The truth is, things seem to be getting worse. So we can’t help but wonder “Will it ever get any better?”
This leads me to the next card.
The last card I pulled that represents the future is Earth. This card signifies “The Magician” and its keyword is “grounding.” When I think about this card I envision elements of power, skill, concentration, action and resourcefulness. This is where our own responsibilities come in. If we wish to fight those in power, full of corruption and selfishness, we need to utilize the resources around us to counterbalance. We need to revolt and rebel in our own way. For me personally, queer pride week is coming in very close, and celebrating this holiday is a form of revolt against those who wish harm against people like me.
As many of the events I am doing this pride month are donating funds to nonprofits like the Sexual and Gender Minority Youth Resource Center, I need to stay grounded in what I know is ethically right. I wake up every morning and seem to read another horrible new briefing. Another stabbing, another shooting, another dangerous person on the bus.
As things seemingly get worse all around us, I also start to see that the art gets better, more poignant, more relevant. The love from those we care about gets better, the sex gets better, and our relationships get better because we need those around us to stay strong. This is what this card means to me.
All in all, I found this sample reading very eye-opening. It has given me a new perspective on myself as well the current events. It’s hard to stay positive when there’s so much negative, but I also realize there is a duality in life that has always been a constant balancer; a reality in the world that can often be very harsh, and it’s up to the rest of us to make it better.
I hope you stop by the shop soon and pick up the Arcana of Astrology, it has been a remarkable deck to explore. <3
