ladyofsmyrna

[ladyofsmyrna]

The Woman Behind The World’s Most Famous Tarot Deck Was Nearly Lost In History

For centuries, people of all walks of life have turned to tarot to divine what may lay ahead and reach a higher level of self-understanding.

The cards’ enigmatic symbols have become culturally ingrained in music, art and film, but the woman who inked and painted the illustrations of the most widely used set of cards today – the Rider-Waite deck from 1909, originally published by Rider & Co. – fell into obscurity, overshadowed by the man who commissioned her, Arthur Edward Waite.

Now, over 70 years after her death, the creator Pamela Colman Smith has been included in a new exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York highlighting many underappreciated artists of early 20th-century American modernism in addition to famous names like Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Nevelson.

CNN

#tarot #tarot deck #divination #tarot reading #pamela colman smith #rider waite smith #rider waite

[ladyofsmyrna]

You’ve always had the power my dear.

#witches #coven #esoteric #mystical #witchy aesthetic #witchcraft #wicca #pagan #witchblr

[ladyofsmyrna]

Eight of Cups and Death

You knew, when you left, that things would never be the same.

#tarot #rider-waite-smith #eight of cups #death #tarot divination

[ladyofsmyrna]

Knight of Wands reversed and Three of Cups

Sorry I couldn’t make it, I had transportation issues.

#tarot #rider-waite-smith #knight of wands #three of cups #tarot divination #tarot deck #tarot reading

[ladyofsmyrna]

The signs as Cartier rings

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

#the signs as #zodiac aesthetic #astrology #horoscope #cartier #high jewelry

[ladyofsmyrna]

How to Read Playing Cards: Introduction

Playing cards have been used for divination purposes for centuries. They are a discreet method of divination because most people would assume you have them for their intended use: playing games. Playing cards can be a good way to introduce yourself to divination if you are in the broom closet or if you find tarot cards overwhelming. That being said, there are a few things I'd like to talk about regarding playing cards.

Do tarot cards and playing cards have the same meanings?

Whatever you have been told about tarot cards and playing cards being similar, get that out of your system now. Tarot cards are a 78 card system split between the major arcana and minor arcana, and then the minor arcana being further split between the four suits. Standard playing cards have 54 cards split between four suits and then the two jokers. Even the suits are different because while tarot cards have the king, queen, knight and page cards, playing cards have the king, queen and jack cards. You can immediately observe that these are two very different card systems, and thus they should be treated differently.

Can I use the card's imagery to read them?

If you want a playing card deck with imagery, that's fine. There are a few out there that have art depicted on the cards, but most don't or only have art on the kings, queens and jacks. This can make your experiences with playing cards tricky if you prefer having imagery to help interpret the cards, but that doesn't mean it won't work for you. Get yourself a journal and document the card meanings (next posts will be talking about the individual card meanings and then some). This will help you in the long run.

Who do so many books and articles have different interpretations to the cards?

I don't have a concrete answer for this one. I think part of it has to do with the fact that most playing cards lack imagery to keep a theme, and part of it is because individuals are taught how to read the cards differently. Many families have their own ways of reading playing cards, but there are usually similarities among them. That doesn't mean the books and articles are invalid- it just means you're going to have to put in the work to determine what works for you.

Can I deconstruct the gendered interpretations of the kings, queens and jacks?

Yes, you can. Most interpretations say that the kings are men, queens are women and jacks can be either. Some will also say that kings and queens are older people (think 40+ years old) and jacks are younger people. Personally, I usually describe the kings as people who are generally masculine-presenting, queens as people who are generally feminine-presenting and jacks... well... can be either depending in the individual reading. If that doesn't work for you then that's okay. You can figure out your own interpretations for the kings, queens and jacks as you go.

Can all playing card decks be read the same?

Personally, I don't think so. I use the standard French-suited playing cards, but there are other types of playing cards (such as the Italian-suited deck or the Spanish-suited deck) that have a bit of a different structure to them. If you plan on using anything other than the French-suited deck then my posts may not be for you.

If you have any questions regarding using playing cards for divination, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[ladyofsmyrna]

new tarot card "fuck your entire life" and its a guy being attacked by devils and flaming skulls and wild animals and screaming and fire everywhere

#tarot #tarot reading #tarot deck

[ladyofsmyrna]

#tarot #tarot reading #tarot deck #divination #lady of smyrna

[ladyofsmyrna]

new tarot card "fuck your entire life" and its a guy being attacked by devils and flaming skulls and wild animals and screaming and fire everywhere

[ladyofsmyrna]

[ladyofsmyrna]

X

[ladyofsmyrna]

Bonjour, new deck ;)

[ladyofsmyrna]

Death

The Nine of Cups

Justice

The Nine of Swords

The King of Swords

The Hanged Man

The Hermit

The Six of Swords

The Eight of Cups

The Five of Cups

The Sun

The Three of Swords

‘The Ghetto Tarot’: Haitian artists transform classic tarot deck into stunning real life scenes:

Welcome to the Ghetto Tarot, a project from award-winning documentary photographer Alice Smeets and a group of Haitian artists known as Atis Rezistans. The idea was to take the classic Rider-Waite tarot deck of 78 cards and create a photographic version of each card using settings and objects in the vibrant ghetto of Haiti.

As Smeets says, “The spirit of the Ghetto Tarot project is the inspiration to turn negative into positive while playing. The group of artists ‘Atiz Rezistans’ use trash to create art with their own visions that are a reflection of the beauty they see hidden within the waste. They are claiming the word ‘Ghetto,’ thus freeing themselves of its depreciating undertone and turning it into something beautiful.”

#ghetto tarot #haiti #tarot art #tarot inspiration #tarot deck #tarot #tarot divination #alice smeets #atis rezistans

[ladyofsmyrna]

Major Arcana's Meanings Reversed & Upright With Yes Or No Questions Answered

Tarot is one of the most well known and used types of divination that you can find. Millions every year buy tarot decks and ask for guidance to maneuver this world and often it does not fail to reveal the truth these individuals have been looking for. Today, I’m going to start a series of posts on tarot where I can share the information that I have learned with you. I’m going to begin with the Major Arcana, the trump cards of the tarot deck.  The Major Arcana are the first 22 cards numbered 0-21 in a tarot deck, ranging from the Fool to the World. Many decks may have different artwork, but the symbolism remains the same. The numbers on each card including the Minor Arcana, the remaining 56 cards, have meanings as well. The Major Arcana generally is an indicator of important life events, lessons or milestones. The following are each of the meanings for the Major Arcana cards upright and reversed and their meaning for yes or no questions.

0 ~ The Fool

Upright: Innocence, enthusiasm, start of a new journey, inexperience, beginners luck, improvisation, opportunity, potential, freedom.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Appears when we are lost, confused, overwhelmed, reckless, naive. It is the ending of a journey or others may be taking advantage of you.

Yes or No: No

1 ~ The Magician

Upright: Control over one’s destiny, strong willpower, desire, manifestation, perseverance.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Illusion, indecision, lack of self-confidence.

Yes or No: No

2 ~ The High Priestess

Upright: Strong intuition, spiritual knowledge, mystery, follow your intuition, self-exploration, seeking knowledge.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Blockage in intuition, focus on yourself, confusion, reconnect with yourself.

Yes or No: No

3 ~ The Empress

Upright: Inspiration, competence, a project nears completion, femininity, beauty, creativity and a nurturing energy, positive growth, abundance, potential success, business ventures, creative ideas.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Lack of growth, narrow-minded vision, too many outside influences, neglect of your creative side.

Yes or No: No

4 ~ The Emperor

Upright: Assertive, structure, focus, reason dominates, encouragement to proceed on your path, confidence, perseverance.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: stubbornness, feelings of superiority, lacking responsibility, take a look at your drive and motivation, imbalance.

Yes or No: No

5 ~ The High Priest/Hieropohant

Upright: Spiritual truths and energy, spiritual lessons, commitment, tradition, seek advice, move forward, spiritual guidance.

Yes or No: Yes/ Maybe

Reversed: Rebellion, encouragement to question your own beliefs, breaking away from rules and restrictions.

Yes or No: No

6 ~ The Lovers

Upright: The greater perspective of unity results in trust and partnership, relationships, choices, a decision concerning a current relationship, love.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Relationships are strained, communication is hard, feelings in a relationship are not mutual.

Yes or No: No

7 ~ The Chariot

Upright: Success, determination, discipline, you're on the right path to making your dreams a reality, strong Willpower, strong Confidence.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Out of control, no willpower, hurdles must be crossed, lack of focus, powerless, insecure, develop self-confidence.

Yes or No: No

8 ~ Strength

Upright: Self-confidence, power, courage, willpower, mindfulness, you are someone others look up to.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Loss of inner strength, moments of weakness, insecurity.

Yes or No: No

9 ~ The Hermit

Upright: Search for wisdom and enlightenment, turn inwards, do not make drastic decisions, connect with yourself, spend time alone.

Yes or No: No

Reversed: The time of solitude is in the past and you are ready to get yourself out there again, inspired, aware, motivated, balanced.

Yes or No: Yes

10 ~ The Wheel

Upright: Positive energy, excitement, changes coming soon for the better, luck, fortune, encouragement, follow your intuition, destiny, seeking purpose.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Trying to maintain control of a certain outcome, mistrust, misbelief, stagnation, moving on to the next goal in life.

Yes or No: No

11 ~ Justice

Upright: Fairness, virtue, righteousness, making a wrong right, the fairest decision will be made, comes up whe n there is a choice being made with long-term repercussions.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: You may have done something morally wrong, unfairness, lack of accountability, dishonesty.

Yes or No: No

12 ~ The Hanged Man

Upright: Pause, surrender, letting go, new perspectives, inner peace, suspended activity, wisdom not applied, ultimate surrender.

Yes or No: Maybe

Reversed: You need to press pause but won’t, distraction from the actually important things, your spirit and mind are asking you to slow down, blocked, stuck, resisted, you are content in waiting, stalling a decision.

Yes or No: No

13 ~ Death

Upright: Transformation, the end of something, relationships coming to an end, change, transition.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: You're on the brink of change, you still carry baggage from the past that may affect your future, massive personal transformation, self evaluation, teaching others.

Yes or No:  Yes

14 ~ Temperance

Upright: There are risks around you and you must depend on your intuition to make the right choice, don’t make hasty decisions, balance, no reckless choices, confidence, patience, moderation.

Yes or No: Yes, but don’t be hasty.

Reversed: Imbalance, recklessness, take time to reflect, focus on you, it’s important to have clear vision and focus, no sense of purpose or passion, emotion ruling reason, disharmony will end when unity is regained.

Yes or No: No

15 ~ The Devil

Upright: Shadow self, attachment, addiction, restriction, sexuality, trapped between short term pleasure and long term pain, comes up when you feel like you can not break free of your shadow self, unhealthy relationships.

Yes or No: No

Reversed: You’re on the verge of a breakthrough, confront your inner fears and anxieties, eliminate those that are harmful to you, release limiting beliefs, you are keeping a secret.

Yes or No: Yes

16 ~ The Tower

Upright: Sudden change, old beliefs vanish with enlightenment, upheaval, chaos, awakening, expect the unexpected, you’ve been building your life on unstable foundations, self-destruct to begin anew, spiritual awakening.

Yes or No: Yes if you ask if change is coming.

Reversed: Resisting change, avoiding self-destruction, clinging to an old belief or way of life.

Yes or No: Maybe

17 ~ The Star

Upright: Opportunity, good prospects, hope, creativity, inspiration, new beginnings, peace, optimism, changing your perspective, growing spiritually.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Insecure, afraid that you won’t reach your goals, start believing in yourself, attract positivity, build confidence, seeking creativity and success.

Yes or No: Yes, but have more faith in yourself.

18 ~ The Moon

Upright: Take a step back and listen to your intuition, don’t make hasty decisions, be honest with yourself, cut cords if you have to, represents emotions or suppressed emotions, encouragement to face your fears.

Yes or No: No

Reversed: You’re on the right track to releasing what is holding you back, moving forwards, growing, awareness of facades.

Yes or No: Yes

19 ~ The Sun

Upright: Success, contentment, mental and spiritual growth, manifestation, productivity, potential, personal development, encouragement, reassurance, opportunities, abundance.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Believe in yourself, have faith that things will work out, practice gratitude, empowerment, success delayed, answer to problems discovered.

Yes or No: Yes

20 ~ Judgement

Upright: Judgement, rebirth, inner calling, embrace your higher self, life-changing decision, spiritual awakening, decision requires intellect and intuition.

Yes or No: No

Reversed: Period of reflection, meditate, contemplate, focus on self-love/acceptance, acknowledge your fear, break free from self-criticism.

Yes or No: Yes

21 ~ The World

Upright: Achievement, fulfillment, unity, success, completion of a personal journey, everything's coming together, you feel confident, inspiration.

Yes or No: Yes

Reversed: Lingering feelings are causing a blockage, find closure.

Yes or No: No

So there it is, all of the Major Arcana’s meanings reversed and upright, along with their meanings for yes or no questions. Hopefully this gave you some good information and a starting point to begin with tarot. Thank you for reading!

[ladyofsmyrna]

[ladyofsmyrna]

Judgement and The Empress

In the end, you will probably be glad of however much time and effort you spent being nice to yourself.

[ladyofsmyrna]

The Hallowed.

a tarot spread for samhain.

1. The Coffin.

This is what needs to be buried. What in my life needs to be left behind?

2. The Grave.

Some things are written in stone and can’t be changed. What in my life do I need to come to terms with? What can’t be changed?

3. The Hallowed.

The veil between those who are living and those who have passed is thinnest tonight. What do the souls of those who have passed need to reveal to me?

#tarot #tarot reading #tarot deck #divination #tarot divination #tarot cards #tarot spreads