ONE NEW FOUND TAROT CARD: The Death Card, XIII

Yes, it's been quite some time since I've posted a FOUND TAROT card here. I do have a few in mind (and on my computer) but none have really grabbed me. Then tonight I was thinking of the photo below for some reason and it hit me "Death, it's the Death card!" (I've already posted a tentative Death card here - a tree stump - but I like this photo below much more.) Very untraditional design, true. But it says it for me. Especially that aspect of the Death card that is about transition. And even if one notes the bit of green growing in the distance, that this card is about clearing away the old so that the new can grow.



I'm struck that I've also chosen a door image for The Empress. But this makes perfect sense to me. She's our doorway into this material life and Death is the doorway out. That is, both III and XIII, in my understanding, can reference liminal states. The difference between them being the direction in which the energy in each is going.

If you are interested, there are several previous FOUND TAROT card posts below.

OK, off to work on finishing my Halloween Costume for the party in the retirement community I live in. I'm going as "Words in Search of a Poem." I'm pinning lots of my favorites words all over my all black outfit, and I'll carry around yellow sticky notes and a pen in case anyone wants to add a word to me. Last year's costume party was lots of fun, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow's.

Oh, my it occurs to me it's highly appropriate, and may even be the reason why, I thought of a Death card for the FOUND TAROT tonight for 'tis the season to honor those who've gone before, while the veil between the worlds is very thin.

Blessed Samhain!

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‘til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****

From My House to Yours:
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
and A BLESSED SAMHAIN!

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FOUND TAROT UPDATE, by Roswila

[See the several previous posts for other Found Tarot cards and info on this process. Also, please note that in most browsers you can click on the image for a larger version.]

OK, so I posted a Found Tarot Star card already. And expressed some doubt about it (the bright red color) and did not express a niggling sense that it has a harshness to it that doesn't go with The Star. But I was just letting those thoughts simmer. After I'd taken some more recent photos, I was told by one of our resident gardeners here that the particular flower's name is "amaryllis belladona" and that it's commonly called "Naked Lady." That's when I realized I'd found a far better Star card.

THE STAR



It's intriguing that this was the first photo that I waited a couple of hours to take because the sun was too bright. (As opposed to going ahead anyway, and getting lots of white "sugar dusting" over everything. LOL! This "dusting" effect works in a couple photos I have, but I knew it would have simply whited-out these blooms.) I also had waited a day for the buds to open.

The next is the Two of Cups. As I've mentioned before, I have many beautiful flower photos that vaguely call to me to represent various cups pip cards. However, this one isn't a vague call, but a definite gentle, embracing pull:

THE TWO OF CUPS:



This next Found Tarot card I've been wanting to post for a while, but kept hesitating as it's so architectural. (I happen to love the contrast of architecture and nature, and have lots of pictures in which I'm trying to capture that.) Then today it hit me, so is the Rider/ Waite/ Smith Two of Wands -- the figure is looking out from a castle rampart. [P.S. of July 12th -- Duh! Just realized I posted a different Two of Wands earlier, so the one below is an alternate version.]

THE TWO OF WANDS:



And last, a possible Queen of Cups. I have probably a dozen poor shots of this figure. It's in front of building windows that often show through the foliage in a distracting way; there's a blue hose running off/to the fountain on the ground on one side I need to be aware of; and it's difficult for me to get up close enough (my arthritic knees) to get good detail even if I manage to be by it when the light is right. This photo of it comes close to what I think I will eventually be able to capture; I want more of the fountain/water in the picture:

THE QUEEN OF CUPS:



That's all folks, at least for now. (By the way, since I first started taking digital photos in March of this year, I've taken 1,200. Who's addicted? :-D)

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‘til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****

THE FOUND TAROT CONTINUED, by Roswila

I'm still taking digital photos as frequently as ever, and finding Tarot images in them. In this post you'll note that I'm putting up two possible Tower images, and another Hanged Man (see previous post for a different version). An email friend even found a probable Fool image in one of my photos that I'd not caught. (I'm not posting that one yet, as I want to re-take it from a slightly better angle.) What fun this all is! I'm even digging deeper into the manual that came with the camera to get more technically proficient. :-)

By the way, if you'd like to see some of my non-Found Tarot photos, visit my dreams & poetry blog. I've started posting a picture a day with my Daily Dreamku.

Now to the new Found Tarot cards/images:

Here's that alternate XII/Hanged Man I mentioned above:



And here's a "maybe" II/High Priestess, I really like those two pillars:



I'm seriously considering having the Page cards in The Found Tarot be Child cards. Here's what could be the Child of Swords, followed by the Child of Cups:





Now for something a bit darker, both literally and figuratively, the Five of Wands. This was taken in a rather small but fecund and jungle-like corner by our community's front gate, from a cross walk above:



I'm not sure about this one. I loved the willow that it once was, and now even the stump and it's beautiful patterns are gone. The patterns aren't quite as clear or colorful in this photo; I know now how to take a better one but it's too late. So this picture I'm considering for XIII/Death is permeated with feelings of loss for me:



Hm, is there is theme emerging in this post? Yeah, I'm in a rather blue mood. Anyway, the next and last are two photos I'm considering for XVI/The Tower. I think I actually slightly prefer the palm to the building as it has a mild sense of "looming," though I've still not quite captured the angle I want in a palm photo and I've taken many of them:





I have others in which I clearly see Tarot cards, but want to re-take due to some angle issue or obstruction/distraction. (Sheesh. That could be the theme for my life at the moment, why I'm in a blue mood. LOL! I just thought of that expression: "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.") I also have many in which beautiful flowers speak a little bit to me of various Cup pip cards. But I would like more than a whisper, so I'm waiting on those.

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‘til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****

CONTINUING WITH THE FOUND TAROT, by Roswila

See previous posts for more info on the digital Tarot I'm beginning to develop.

This first new Found Tarot card I took the picture for weeks ago. But did not see The Empress in it until I'd begun using it on my desktop. I've always liked the feel of that little door; I kept thinking of it as a mysterious hobbit door. But then it hit me that III's Hebrew letter is Dalath, which in noun form means door! The association I have always made to that is She is our doorway into life. BTW, this door is to one side of Hillel Foundation's Jewish Student Center (Isla Vista, CA). So I think it's highly appropriate I made a Hebrew letter association, albeit unconsciously.

THE EMPRESS




This next Found Tarot card I'm a little unsure of, but only because I don't usually have a sense of the color red or fuchsia associated with The Star. But those "whiskers" (stamens?) just make me feel The Star's abundance pouring down on us. And the shape is rather star-like. I saw The Star in the process of cropping this picture.

THE STAR




Here's one that hit me as I took the fourth photo of this planter from yet a different angle.

THE HANGED MAN




And this next I'm saying is the Eight of Wands, even though there aren't technically 8 definite branches in it. To me it just so clearly called up the Rider/Waite/Smith Eight of Wands when I saw it on my computer screen, that that's what I'm saying it is. So there! :-)

EIGHT OF WANDS




This is one of my personal favorite photos. I had it up on my desktop, and even hung a small print for a while on my front door. The card within only surfaced (at least to my eye) after my first couple of Found Tarot posts had already been done.

TWO OF WANDS




And that's the last, at least for today. I can't stop taking lots of pictures. It's like Lay's potato chips, I can't have just one!

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‘til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****

MORE FOUND TAROT CARDS, by Roswila

Here's some more cards I've been finding in digital photos I've been taking. These are truly "found" cards as when I take the photos I am not seeing them as Tarot cards, but as something intriguing. I only see a card in any photo once it's on my computer screen, and even then not right away. I have, though, begun revisiting certain photo sites to attempt to get a better shot for a card I found in an unsuccessful shot. (See three previous posts for the found Tarot cards already posted.)

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE



STRENGTH [not sure how well this works, but I see lion's feet in these roots, and root systems might be seen as a metaphor for the rising of kundalini in the human body often said to be represented in Strength]




QUEEN OF PENTACLES [This could also be The Empress as I see III as a combination of earth and water, but She feels more like a Queen; She could also be the Queen of Cups or Wands, but all that earthly abundance makes me settle on the Queen of Pentacles]




ACE OF SWORDS [All four Aces are now represented, which is nice given Aces tend to be about beginnings.]




THE SUN




FIVE OF CUPS





THE WORLD




That's all for now, folks! I'm obsessed and loving it. What I really want to do soon is squeeze in the time for some sort of class in digital photography. There's only so much I can learn about the technical aspects on my own, methinks. :-)

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‘til next time, keep staying open to the myriad universes around us (even in the familiar!) and enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****

P.S. TO "MORE FOUND TAROT CARDS"....

I was just wandering through some older photos I took. After cropping one I suddenly realized I had a much more powerful Ace of Wands than the one I posted yesterday (see previous post):



I may still take another version of the first Ace of Wands (in the previous post) when the light is actually lit, just to see how it comes out. Can you tell I'm having fun? ... Hold the phone, er, the computer, I'll go take one now. The light is by the entrance to my building and I'm on the ground floor...



Oh my, now I'm torn. I like both the striped red leaf and the lit lamp Ace of Wands. O joy, joy, joy.

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‘til next time, keep being open to joy's surprising arrivals, and enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****