Tarot Articles from Jane Burton

Tarot, Tarot cards, History of Tarot, Astrology & Tarot connected, Golden Dawn,Qabalah, Eliphas Levi Zahed, Aleister Crowley and Arthur Edward Waite; sometimes I write articles for magazines and notes for my workshops and these are some of the subjects I have covered. I have decided to put them here but also sometimes I will write about my opinion on current subjects or theories ie 2012 and the astrology connection in the Astrology Blog section.

Goddess Worship
May 2008

Its May and Astrologically we are now in the zodiac sun sign of Taurus which is ruled by the planet Venus, the planet of Love and Harmony.Taureans love to be loved and love all things beautiful, you will always find Taureans have sumptious homes. Taureans are nurturing creatures and will be a mother figure to all, the male Taureans will have that tendency to be the ones that everyone loves. Venus the 2nd planet in our solar system was named after the Roman goddess Venus. It is the brightest planet in our night sky, as it known by two names, Morning Star, and the Evening Star .The Roman goddess Venus was originally the goddess of ferility. She was later honoured as the goddess of love and beauty, when she became identified with Aphrodite her Greek counter part. Both had reputations for having many lovers. But both will always be synonmus with Love, Beauty & Fertility and worshiped for those qualities

Other cultures much older than Roman mytholgy worshiped the Goddess, the Egyptians worshipped the Goddss Isis the giver of life and the Goddess Moon to Ra the God of the Sun. One particular goddess worship that connects with me are the "Fat ladies" of Malta and "the Venus of Malta" as Malta is the placeof my birth and my first home for the first year of my life.
Nowhere on earth did a Goddess ever reign as she did in Malta. The Maltese temples where a collection of these stautes were discovered, are the personification of the Earth Mother, with chambers that reveal sumptious maternal curves. It's easily imagined, the concept of entering the "womb" of the temple for worship with the Goddess, and emerging "re-born" into the sunlight. Fertility worship was prolific in pre-patriarchal societies of the Neolithic period, and which in most parts of the world some 4,500 years ago worshipped a Goddess.

Looking at the Statues of the "Fat Ladies" brought me much closer to home and my thoughts now rest on the"Señora de Elche" "Lady of Elche" statue, not much is known about her but the theories are rife, maybe she was a princess of some kind or wealthy lady from her time, she may have been a He, a warrior in battle dress, but the one I favour with my love of legend and mythology, is that she is a significant figure from the lost mythical city of Tartessus (Tartessos in Spanish) About 2,500 years ago, in 533 B.C., a city of ancient Spain (Iberia) was conquered by the Carthaginians and disappeared its was said to be situated on the Spanish coast between the Gibraltar Strait and the today Spain-Portugal border line covering a huge area of inland Spain. The city has not been found yet, although traces of big buildings were found, during the excavations done in a muddy soil, too close to the sea to allow further investigations. The ruins of Tartessus may be under water, or underground, hidden under hundred tons of mud. Reports of findings in this area tie in with Plato's writings on the lost city of Atlantis. The "Lady of Elche" remains an emigmatic creature and I look forward to hearing more about her in time to come.

Finally the ultimate living modern Goddess we all should worship more than we do is our Mum and even though Mothers Day in the UK has been and gone, we live in Spain and on the 4th of May all the Spanish will be honouring their Mothers so lets honour ours, Mine in my mind deserves honouring every day but being a mum myself I forget but I do try so here's to you Mum twice in one year! Oh and Happy Birthday for the 11th of May and all the other Taurean Goddess'.

The Twins The Lovers
June 2008

On May 21, the Sun began its month-long journey through Gemini, the sign of the zodiac associated with the lovers trump of the tarot. The sign Gemini belongs to the element air and is ruled by the mental planet Mercury (the Greek messenger of the gods)

Gemini (Latin for "twins") is the third sign of the zodiac.The original Gemini twins were Castor and Pollux, born to Queen Leda who slept with the god Zeus and then with King Tyndareus of Sparta in quick succession. Castor is the immortal son of Zeus and Pollux is his mortal "twin" brother, they were inseparable. When Pollux died in battle, Castor begged Zeus to allow him to join Pollux forever in the afterlife. As a result, the two boys were placed in the heavens in the constellation of Gemini, the Twins.

The mythology of Gemini is replete with difficult decisions. Castor had to choose between living as an immortal god or joining his brother forever in the afterlife. Other choices centered on Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, the "twin" sisters of Castor and Pollux. Like Pollux, Clytemnestra was mortal, but Helen, being fathered by Zeus, was immortal.
The trouble with Troy began when Zeus forgot to invite Eris, the goddess of strife, to a popular wedding. To avenge the slight, Eris sent a golden apple to the wedding with the inscription "To the most beautiful goddess of all." Athena, Hera and Aphrodite immediately claimed the prize, and a bitchy controversy ensued. To settle the dispute, the three goddesses agreed to binding arbitration by Paris of Troy—the sexiest man alive. Aphrodite bribed Paris with the promise of the Greek beauty Helen (then of Sparta). Paris decided in favor of Aphrodite who, in turn, helped Paris to steal Helen from her husband, the Greek hero Menelaus. Helen, who already had the hots for Paris, did not put up much resistance. The Greeks went to war against Troy to reclaim Helen, who throughout the war was divided in her loyalty to the Trojans and to her native Greeks.

The Rider-Waite-Smith lovers trump, numbered six (like the six stars in Castor), is a representation of the biblical story of Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall. Behind the two lovers stands an angel. Eve stands next to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and around that tree is coiled the snake that circles the waist of the magician in card one of the tarot. Adam stands next to the tree of life with its twelve fruits, one for each sign of the zodiac.

In the bible, God created Adam in God's image and likeness. Because Adam was lonely, God took a rib from Adam to create Eve, also in his image and likeness—a type of twinship. Adam and Eve were the lovers who started the human race. The serpent convinced God's human creations to eat the forbidden fruit. Human suffering and misery was the outcome of that choice.

The Lovers card is not just about love and sexuality; it has several meanings which are all related to the duality expressed in the image of the card.The Lovers is mainly a card of emotions, and it often portrays love that is divinely blessed, This implies that nothing but good can come of it, but there is always a possibility of an emotional ending, in spite of the best of starts. Finally, this card carries the meaning of choice. The most familiar instance of such a choice, sadly, is the choice between your spouse and someone else with whom you have fallen in love. Alternatively, it could be between two possible partners, both of whom you love, but only one of whom would be best for you.

This reminds me of all those tragic Chinese love stories I have come accross in my research into feng Shui here is one such beautifully tragic tale. A young woman named Zhu Yingtai from Shangyu, Zhejiang, disguises herself as a man traveling to Hangzhou to study. During her journey, she meets and joins Liang Shanbo, a companion schoolmate from Kuaiji in the same province. They study together for three years, during which their relationship strengthens. When the two part, Zhu offers to arrange for Liang to marry her 16 year-old fictitious sister. When Liang travels to Zhu's home, he discovers her true gender. Although they are devoted and passionate about each other at that point, Zhu is already engaged with Ma Wencai a man her parents had arranged for her to be married to. Depressed, Liang dies in office as a county magistrate. On the day Zhu is to be married to Ma, whirlwinds prevent the wedding procession from escorting Zhu beyond Liang's tomb. Zhu leaves the procession to pay her respects for Liang. Liang's tomb splits apart, and Zhu dives into it to join him. A pair of butterflies emerges from the tomb and fly away.

Ok so hopefully your love life is'nt as colourful or difficult as those above but for those who would like to inject a little spice into your love lives and erotically charge your relationships then below are some of my favourite easy to implement Feng Shui tips

You can turn your bedroom into a romantic retreat by using the ancient art of feng shui (pronounced fung shway). Feng shui is about enhancing the environment or the energy around you.

In feng shui, romance begins in the yin vibration of your bedroom. Excite the ch'i by making your bedroom romantic.

Here are some of the basic ways to erotically charge your bedroom with sex positive energy by using the guidelines of feng shui.

First of all remove all clutter so positive energy can flow throughout the room. Clutter blocks the flow of ch'i.

Get rid of items associated with loneliness. You should not have just one of an item, not one flower in a vase, or one single photograph or one painting and definitely not one night stand. Everything should be arranged in pairs to symbolize a union.

You should also avoid having a mirror directly facing the bed. The mirror should not reflect the bed.

You should not be able to view your bathroom from your bed.

Red, the color of love and passion, is best for sexual energy.

Women should avoid filling the bed with lacy pillows, dolls, and stuffed animals, comfortable but uncomplicated.


The bedroom should be an erotic retreat for a couple. Display photos of the two of you doing things together.

Open your curtains and let sunlight into your room during the day. Let sunlight charge your bed with positive energy.

Even if you can not apply every principle of feng shui into your bedroom, try to use as many as possible to get the erotic energy flowing.