A week with the Twin Tarot Oracle

[Rachelcat]

I got my box from the Llewellyn tarot sale, so we’ll be having (more) new decks for the next few weeks! (New to me, anyway.)

This week we have Lo Sacrabeo’s Twin Tarot Oracle, which is 2 sets of majors, one “light” and one “dark.” As you know, I’ve already experimented with decks composed of 2 or 3 sets of majors, including the Threefold Oracle and one I made myself by shuffling together 3 sets of Lo Scarabeo Grand Trumps (large format majors of their most popular decks).

I like this deck more than I thought I might. The light and dark are obvious without being too one-sided. Some of the pairs are very similar with small differences, and some are quite different to show the “opposite” meanings. The Fool makes an appearance in the Wheel cards and is the World Dancer, along with her white and black pups. The meanings are easy to grasp from the illustrations for the most part. I only had to look up a couple of pairs in the booklet to get the full gist. The art isn’t beautiful, but as I said, it gets the job done, which is good enough for me.

I’m almost reluctant to shuffle because I’m still enjoying comparing the pairs, but, hey, let’s get started! I’m using the shorter interview spread because there are only 44 cards.

Strength: Dark World
I think this was one I had to look up in the booklet. It says it’s not yet time to dance and celebrate the successful completion of something. There’s still work to be done. Which is a strength of the deck for me. I feel like putting some more work into understanding it.

Weakness: Dark Devil
The deck has some of the weakness I suspected of it: Each side is too one-sided, like the devil’s particolored pants and shoes. It can be manipulative to tell people what they’re reading about is all light or all dark. (Although the mix of cards in a spread ameliorates that. I don’t recommend one-carders for this deck then!)

What can I learn from deck? Light Sun
I can learn what light really means! And clarity. I can learn that what you see is what you get, and to enjoy that. And to keep a childlike beginners mind.

Outcome of our work together? Dark Hanged One
This is someone who is being detained against his will, probably as a punishment for something he did wrong. And he’s going to lose time AND money from it. And he’s definitely upset about it. Not sure what that means as an outcome. Maybe because I am positively surprised by this deck, I’ll spend money on less worthy decks in search of more good surprises. But I’ll be disappointed instead.

Ok, that’s it for today! I look forward to sharing more with you this week!

[Rachelcat]

Monday
Well, the tutoring is on, as far as I know, so another reading on that. The most current question is will the scheduling work out? (Maybe I won’t get the Tower this time!)
All-Purpose Spread again.

Me: Light Judgement
This is an unusual illustration for Judgment, the Lady of the Lake offering Excalibur. I guess she’s offering me my destiny? Booklet says it’s life purpose. I do feel like the tutoring thing is a big step for me. Just getting out there. Committing to something besides work. Using my talents to really help someone.

Issue: Light Tower
Really??!! Well, at least it’s not the outcome this time! The booklet says for the light version, yes there’s going to be a big shake-up and some chaos, but only the top is broken, the foundation is firm. And the people are going to land in the moat, so it will be an unpleasant but not deadly landing. So the scheduling is going to be chaotic and a bear to deal with. I guess I can handle that.

Outcome: Dark Strength
Ok, it will be a LION to deal with, not just a bear. It will all turn out in the end, but it will take brute strength to force it through.

Advice: Light Emperor
The advice is to follow all the rules but also take responsibility to do what I have to do to make it happen.

I’d be very happy not to get any more Towers for a while, but I think I can deal with this reading! Have a wonderful week ahead!

[Rachelcat]

Tuesday
I was watching a video featuring a spread cards deck, so I thought I’d try three astro houses cards with three majors with no question. (Plus I get to use my Heavenly Bodies deck!)

All light side majors today, so that’s good!

Fifth House, Light Moon
My creativity and playfulness will be furthered by my intuition and subconscious. If I want to create something or just have fun, I should open up to the fullness my hidden or unnoticed ideas and feelings.
It’s a full moon, so it suggests accomplishment and completion. The dog and the wolf, domestic and wild, join together in one endeavor. The lobster is still coming up from the depths. The moon is reflected in the water. It might be an illusion, but it’s an illuminating one.

Third House, Light Wheel of Fortune
Something good will come to me as a result of communication, maybe with my family. Well, I hope so. I just found out that my sister-in-law has covid, so I hope this means we’ll get good news about her soon.
The fool is celebrating her position on top of wheel with her little white pup. But it’s not all that stable. The wheel might start turning at any moment. This is similar to the card backs. Is the significance of the peacock feather is that the eyes are watching? The deck is about awareness, maybe? And I’ll need to do a regular pentagram elements reading with this deck for sure. And the number of positions is just right for the number of cards!

Sixth House, Light Hierophant
In my work and routine, I’ll need to start following tradition and learning the accepted way of doing things. This could be returning to the office. Or it could be learning how to do the tutoring thing. How it works, what’s expected of me, the curriculum, etc.
This is a benign teacher balancing light and dark. He teaches peace and is gentle and kind and reverent. His crosses are equal armed and he has the four lobed window, which makes me think of equal reverence for everything that should be reverenced, and a connection with the natural world, all the four elements. Also the window opens to the sky. What he teaches is traditional but it has at least some connection to the higher reality, not just dogma. (The meanings for this card really come forward when compared to the dark Hierophant.)

And that’s it! I think the houses thing really worked. It mostly told me things I already know, but it focused my attention on them! Have a lovely Tuesday, everyone!

[Rachelcat]

Wednesday
One dark, one light.

Dark Temperance
It took me a minute to figure this one out, but now I see it: She’s off balance and not grounded. And her cups have spilled separately instead of blending. The rainbow is there, but it ends in the river, not on land, so again, not grounded. The book also brings out that she’s Iris, the rainbow, a messenger from the heavens. And the flowers are iris, too.

Light Wheel of Fortune
We already had this one. The fool is on top. For the moment. I was trying to fit the background into the four elements, but I think it’s just sky and land and water . . . I wonder why it’s a pentagram instead of a quartered circle? We also mentioned the peacock’s feather as an eye. Fortune sees everything but doesn’t act on what she sees. She just does her own random thing. So it’s a light card, but a warning that things can change at any time.

Have a happy evening! I’ll try to post earlier tomorrow!

[Rachelcat]

Thursday
Am I on the right track? (Very generally)
Wirth Courtroom Spread

Going against me: Light High Priestess
I might be going too long on the skepticism thing and risk throwing the spirituality baby out with the religion bathwater.
The priestess is offering life-giving water to the spiritually thirsty. She deals in mystery, but her eyes are wide open and per veil is translucent. The moon is waxing.

Going for me: Light Devil
This might be my favorite card in the deck. As you can see from the interview reading, it’s very different from the Dark Devil. I have an emotional connection with satyrs, I think the way that some people have with mermaids and centaurs. I just like this earthier version of half-humans! (It all comes from reading Hawthorne’s The Marble Faun before I understood it was an allegory about original sin. Not to mention a travel guide to Rome.)
As something going for me, it says I’m on the right track about (philosophical) materialism. And pleasure and fun are good, represented by the grapes and poppies. Food and wine (and maybe even mind altering substances) can be enjoyable and good and for you, but caution and reason are always also necessary.

Advice: Dark Magician
This reading is very much tapping into my feelings. I’ve always been uncomfortable with the idea of actually practicing magic. I really feel like it’s not for me. So this card is in contrast with the Priestess. There’s something out there or in there, but it’s not for getting what you want. And that’s the advice: Don’t use spiritual means for physical ends. To me, this guy just seems SO controlling. And that’s what magic is, an attempt at controlling things you probably shouldn’t be in control of.
The power is destructive fire, his tools are chaotic, and he doesn’t have a good attitude!

Outcome: Light Sun
Well, that’s always a good outcome. Perhaps after everything, I’ll gain some clarity and understanding. And I’ll be able to retain some of my innocence and joy in the face of the ups and downs of life (preview of the Wheel!).
This deck equates nudity with purity, I think. These children are nude, as are the Light Lovers, while the Dark Sun children and the Dark Lovers are clothed. And the white horse is for purity, too, of course, of course.

Summary: 2+15+1+19=37=10 Wheel of Fortune
So, while it looks like, yes, I’m on the right track, I will still suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, just like everyone else. And my opportunities to go on the right path might be brought about by fortune, too.
We haven’t seen the Dark Wheel before. It’s not really running her over, but maybe she has the weight of it on her head? And maybe the worst part of being on the bottom of the wheel is the worry that it brings, for her and her pup. Interesting to see that it’s exactly the same wheel, she’s the one that’s in a different position. Oh, the feather is reversed too.

Well, that was an interesting reading! Once again, the artwork is nothing to write home about, but the ideas, and the feelings, are really on point! Have a happy Thursday, everyone!

[Rachelcat]

Friday
3 Houses

Ninth House, Light World
In higher learning and understanding, I’m on the right track and will come to the right conclusions, so to speak!
Here’s the Light World. She and her pups are dancing in celebration of a good accomplishment. I like the way her ribbons are full of movement.

Twelfth House, Dark Emperor
I need to beware of locking myself into being too confrontational or adversarial.
This is a very warlike Emperor. He’s wearing armor and has his sword in hand. And lots of red for anger and martial emotions. Even his dragon is breathing fire. Out the window, there’s not much life, but there’s plenty of death, or at least deadly conflict, right here inside.

First House, Dark World
I’m on the right track in my intellectual understanding and worldview, but I’m nowhere near accomplishing all the work I have to do on myself as a whole. According to the booklet, I shouldn’t give up prematurely. I need to persevere to be the best I can be!

This is the first time we’ve had both light and dark of the same card show up in a reading (except when they were chosen like yesterday’s). Interesting to see how they compare and contrast in their spread positions.

Have a happy day and a great weekend ahead!

[Rachelcat]

Saturday
Last day for Twin Tarot Oracle
I almost forgot I planned to do a five elements reading to match the card backs.
What do I need to know about work? Let’s see what I get for such a general question!

Ok, Death and 2 Towers . . . What’s all that about?

Physically: Light Magician
We will be able to create a healthful environment at the office. And I’ll be able to keep creating financial abundance for myself by doing good work and being loyal.
This is the same person as the Dark Magician, but I see them as different genders . . . Just me I guess. Here her energy is balanced and organized, not chaotic. Her tools are also ordered and ready to work. Her hands are in the “correct” position: receiving energy with her left and providing energy with her right.

Emotionally: Light Temperance
I’ll easily have a handle on my work-life balance. I’ll be happy that they blend together to made something greater. I’m thinking the tutoring will be very satisfying, especially with the support of the firm.
This is a very nice Temperance card. The rainbow here is under control and being used instead of all over the place. She is grounded and in connection with the water. The sun of a new, more balanced day is rising. Not sure what that swan is doing there . . . And there are 2 different colors of iris, closer to comprising a rainbow.

Intellectually: Dark Tower
I’ll come to some kind of unpleasant realization that I really won’t like. Maybe the firm isn’t in such good shape financially as they’re saying it is? It will be scary and sudden. Maybe another early retirement scheme that I still can’t take advantage of? Hmmm.
Here we see the contrast with the Light Tower. Everything is cracked, including the foundations of the tower, and it’s even being undermined by the ocean. One person is falling into the stormy ocean and the other onto the ground. Both are going to have very unpleasant landings.

Energetically: Dark Transformation
Maybe because of the above realization?, I’ll experience a serious loss. And I’ll only see the loss part, not the change that will bring, for good or ill.
This guy is blinded by his hood. He only sees the loss right in front of him. His bridge is dilapidated, but he could still get over it to a greener place, but he’s turned his back on it. For now.

Spiritually: Light Tower
Unpleasant things might happen, but personally, I’m spiritually strong. I will be shocked but not broken by whatever big change is coming. One of the advantages of being old, I think. I know I can depend on myself when the going gets tough. And my friends and family, too, of course.

Well, I wasn’t expecting that! But, once again, don’t ask if you don’t want to know! See you tomorrow with a new deck!