Zolar’s Astrological Tarot

Zolar’s Astrological Tarot
Fortune Telling Cards

Author: Zolar
Artist: Unknown
U.S.Games Systems, Inc.
1964, 1983
ISBN #0-88079-016-4

“Zolar’s Astrological Tarot Fortune Telling Cards” is a 56 card deck, divided as follows: the 56 cards of the Minor Arcana, broken down into four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles), with the Court cards entitled King, Queen, Knight, and Page; the 22 cards of the Major Arcana (appearing on the back of 22 cards in the Minor Arcana); 32 astrological cards appearing on the back of 32 of the Minor Arcana cards; a pack of 52 regular playing cards, obtained by taking the Knight out of the four suits in the Minor Arcana.

Houston – we have a problem! We could do a reading with Minor Arcana only, or Major Arcana, but not both. Can we see that this does not function well as a Tarot deck?

Okay, on to the LWB (Little White Book). There is a short history of the Tarot (reasonably well written), followed by a short explanation of the structure of the Tarot. The Major Arcana is seen as depicting a series of “ curious figures, each bearing a distinct meaning that typifies human nature, morality, and the life of the world”. The first seven cards are associated with the intellect, the next seven cards morality and our attitude towards others, and the last seven cards aspects of the material or worldly life. (It is to be noted that the Fool (0), follows Judgment (20), and the World (21) stands alone.)

The Minor Arcana suits are associated with playing cards and a symbolic meaning: Wands/Spades/Enterprise, Cups/Hearts/Love, Swords/Spades/Misfortune, and Pentacles/Diamonds/Material and Monetary concerns.

The court cards are broken down into the following associations: King/Man/Spirituality and the Divine World. Queen/Woman/Vitality and the Human World, Knight/Youth/Materiality and the Material World, Page/Childhood/Transition and the Past.

The number associations are: cards 1-3 relate to man, and signify creation and enterprise; cards 4-6 relate to woman, and signify reflection and negation; cards 7-9 represent youth and materialism; card 10 refers to childhood, a transitory or neuter period.

Several speads are presented: a Minor Arcana spread of 30 cards, representing the next 30 days in the Seeker’s life; a Major Arcana spread that covers a seven day period; an eleven card spread called the Ancient Tarot spread (the traditional Celtic Cross spread); a twenty-four card Astrological Card spread; and a spread for use with playing cards, using the Past/Present/Future format.
At the end of the book meanings are given for the regular playing cards (i.e. King of Spades – A dark man, ambitious and successful), and a short table of associated meanings (i.e. Prudence – Ace of Clubs, Six of Spades).

The cards are 2 ¾” by 4 ¾”, of good quality, non-glossy card stock. The Minor Arcana side shows a 3/8” white border, followed by a thin black border. The top of the card gives keywords for the upright position, the bottom of the card gives keywords for the reversed position. On the top left hand side and the bottom right hand side are the card number, and the playing card symbol. Underneath the picture for the Ace and Court cards is a ½” red band, with the card name and suit in black text. Above the picture for the Pips (2-10) the card number and suit appears in black text.

The Major Arcana cards show a ½” green border. At the top of the card, in black text, is the major quality of the card. At the bottom of the card, in black text, is the reversed meaning for the card. Underneath the card, in a ½” red band, the number and name of the card appears in black text. On the right hand side of the card, in black text, are the words Major Arcana.

The astrological cards show a ½” green border. In the middle of the card, against a white background, a border of green asterisks surrounds the name of the Sign, the icon for the Sign, and a lucky number. On the left and right hand sides of the card are the qualities inherent in the Sign. (i.e. Scorpio denotes considerable money, or the receipt of a costly gift, and the lucky number is Nine.)

For the Planetary cards, there is a ½” green border. In the middle of the card, against a white background, a border of red asterisks surrounds a text denoting favorable or unfavorable, the name of the planet, the planet icon, and lucky number. On the right and left hand sides of the card are the qualities inherent in the Planet. (i.e. Saturn denotes temporary misunderstandings with friends or associates, is unfavorable, and carries the lucky number Five.)

The artwork follows traditional Rider-Waite symbology, using the colors light green, white, black, light red, and a “Malox” pink. If one were to use these cards for entertainment purposes (“fun to use” is written on the front of the box), that might fly. I do not feel that they would work for anything else. Why do I have them? Because they came with a box of other things sent to me by a friend when she was cleaning out her home office!

© March 2009

Social Media

Social Media – The New (To Me) Frontier

I have never considered myself to be up to date on anything, so I am amazed at my learning curve regarding social media. Now, you have to understand that until I see something on the news, or hear it talked about on Internet lists, I have no clue what is going on. I have put off working with FaceBook for so long that I completely forgot that I had ever signed up for it! The same for LinkedIn. Twitter is new for me – and I owe Stephanie Arwen Lynch thanks for posting her Twitters on her LiveJournal blog. This is where I first saw Twitter, and it still took me forever to sign up!

So what exactly are these social media venues? And why exactly would a writer, or a Tarot professional, need them? Social media venues are all about networking. Whether we are professional readers, writers, or just learning to read the Tarot, it pays to have a network of people to fall back on. Social networking is all about having conversations – about connecting, and about caring. We need to be true to who we are, to be willing to ask for help or advise when needed, and to offer it when we see that we have something to offer.

This last point is especially true on a site like Twitter, where there are a ton of posts, all mandated to be under 140 characters. Chat here should be interesting, or you will lose followers (there are so many people to choose from, you have to offer quality, but you also have to be a real person). Talk about the parts of your life and your interests that you wish to share, and intersperse this with links to articles you have written, blogs that you are writing, business sites, pages where you are offering a product or service or to videos that you have done. Be polite, and work with the site. Comment (in a polite manner) on other people’s posts if you have something to add. Use the DM function to send a direct message that only the individual that receives it will see. ReTweet (RT) posts that you think your followers would be interested in seeing. Take an active part in the site, and actively look to connect on other social media sites with your Twitter friends..

FaceBook is one of the five largest sites on the Internet, and a wonderful place to connect. You can keep up with friends and business associates, upload pictures, and share links and videos. This is a very important place to add links to your other social media sites, blogs and personal or professional sites. Comments can be shared on what is called the “wall”, and there are applications for sending different types of acknowledgements to your friends and associates.

YouTube is probably the greatest place in the world to play around and find great videos (or place a video of your own). People get to know the real you through You Tube, and you can either share the link to your You Tube page, or you can get the embedded code for your video (or for any video that you wish to share) and place it on your blog, on your site, or on your other social media sites.

LinkedIn is a fantastic site, where you can connect with people who are on the list of people that you are already directly connected with. I see this as basically a professional linking site – one that is relatively easy to use. (Remember – I am a non-techie.)
A good marketing tactic is to link each of these sites together – place your FaceBook link on LinkedIn, and your LinkedIn link on FaceBook. On Twitter, simply let people know the sites that you are on – you can do this through Tweets, and/or include this information in your bio.

The least “best kept” secret to social media venues is not that you are making connections – but that once you make your connections, you then have the opportunity to view and connect with the connections of the people that you are connecting with! What is termed the “hidden network” (the people that your personal connections are connected to) is a tremendous resource.

In my next blog, I am going to discuss things that you can do within each of the social media venues. (According to my limited understanding, I am going to do this!)

Mystereum Tarot

Mystereum Tarot This is a link to video from Jordan Hoggard showcasing his independently produced Mystereum Tarot. Enjoy!

Adam McLean

I am currently reading Speculative Philosophy, by Gerhard Dorn. It comes with an introduction by Adam McLean, and was, in fact, translated by Paul Ferguson at McLean’s request. I am about half-way through the book, and totally enamored of the topic and the presentation.

The book is a part of Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks, which is a series of books (35 to date) on Hermetic Sourceworks that began production in 1979. They are signed and numbered limited editions. I believe only nine books are currently available from the site – to obtain the other books, you would have to go to a second hand book site – and I rather think the price would be extremely high!

In 1997 McLean began production of The Hermetic Studies series. There are eight volumes currently available, with more in production.

McLean’s alchemical site is the kind of place that one could spend days at – and barely scratched the surface. Courses (six months each), CD’s, artwork, books, articles, alchemical imagery – this is just part of what you will find. A lovely rabbit hole for those interested in the esoteric side of life!

McLean also has a number of projects going on in the world of Tarot. One of his projects is an upcoming exhibition, where he will be showing examples from different decks with related themes, and Tarot books and deck layouts. He also offers a course in the Tarot, and publishes limited edition decks (100 copies, signed by the artist). At present there are seventeen different decks being offered. The decks are, for the most part, Major Arcana only, and are offered strictly through McLean’s site.

The Tarot site can be seen here: Alchemy Website, the Tarot blog here: Tarot blog, how the Tarot decks are produced here: Tarot Deck Production, information on alchemical texts here: Alchemy, and his alchemy blog here: Alchemical blog.

Enjoy!

Nine Designs for Inner Peace

Nine Designs for Inner Peace, by Sarah Tomlinson (Destiny Books, 2008) is one of the most interesting books that I have read a long time. It’s sub-title is “The Ultimate Guide To Meditating With Color, Shape and Sound”. I wanted to share this on my Tarot blog because I think that it fits in well as an “added value” product.

Tomlinson studied Yantric painting in India with tantric master and artist Harish Johari, who revealed to her the healing power of meditation with Yantras. The gift here is an active meditation that promotes positive healing, as well as grounding and centering. The foundation of this practice is that each of the nine designs corresponds to nine qualities of body and mind that are essential to well being: radiance, nourishment, passion, intellect, expansion, bliss, organization, uniqueness and spirituality.

Basic elements include the geometric forms of the square, circle, and the triangle. These are the same elements that are common to the Tarot. The process of creating the Yantra is in itself a visual meditation as the practitioner works clockwise from the outer for to the inner form, finally reaching the central point of stillness (bindu), the source of happiness within.

Tomlinson suggests a few moments of silence when leaving the project, whether it is finished or not. In this way the practitioner honors the project, and the work they are doing. She also suggests framing the finished work, and placing it where it can be seen.

Each of the Yantras, and their accompanying mantra, is fully discussed. There are full color presentations of each Yantra, as well as a black and white version at the end of the book that can be copied and used as a model if one does not want to do the design themselves.

Two coloring techniques are discussed – gouache (a water based paint), and colored pencils. The instructions are in-depth, and easy enough for a beginner to follow.

As an added value for Tarot readings, I would suggest copying each of the Yantras in both black and white and color. Write a short (one page) set of instructions, and a listing of each of the Yantras, and their accompanying mantra. At the end of the reading (for those clients that you believe would benefit from this practice – and would be willing to spend the time doing it) discuss how they would like to use this technique. They may want to resolve or heal something, or they may want to open themselves up in some area. Whichever Yantra they wish to work with, give them a color copy, a black and white copy, a list of the Yantra/mantra correlations, an a set of instructions.

Whether you choose to use this technique for yourself alone, or whether you wish to offer it to your clients, this is a tool of empowerment that will open new doors of understanding.

Tarot Links

Today I thought that I would share a few links gleaned from my Twitter friends.

This link is to a short video on doing a business reading. Interesting take, and worth watching. Tarot For Business

This link is of interest for those that read professionally, and reflects the (alleged) surge in business for all types of readers. I have to disagree, because I saw about a six week period when gthe 900 line that I read for was doing less business, but it has stabilized and gotten better. Tarot Business