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 or Pagan and witchcraft rituals along with Mythology connected with Astrology and Tarot.

April 2009

Beltane or May Day you may know it is the night of the April30 and the day of 1st of May. One of the great Celtic solar festivals,celebrated in ancient times with bonfires and marks the end of theyear’s dark half and the beginning of the light half- Summer. Iremember as a child, in not so ancient times I might add, going to MayDay fêtes with a flower garland in my hair to watchthe Morris Dancers, dance round the May poles and only dream of one daybeing the May Queen at the head of the parade.The Beltane Celticfestival isdedicated to Belenos, the god of light and healing who in modernBritish celebrations takes the form of the Green Man—a man with greenleaves covering his face and body. Beltane rites celebrate birth,fertility and the blossoming of all life, as personified by the unionof the Goddess and the Sun God, also known as King Winter and QueenMay. It was also a traditional time for Handfastings (marriages).Supposedly it is bad luck to be out late the night before becausewitches and fairies roam the countryside in great numbers and conductwild revelries. When Beltane was Christianized by the Church, the paganrites were replaced with church services and processions in the fields,where the priests lit the fires and the maypole was replaced by theRood or Cross.This festival is known as Feast of Saint Walpurga.

The name Beltane means “fire of Bel”. It is believed that the god oflight has to be rescued from the god of death that has kept himprisoner for six months. In some areas a hawthorntree is cut down and used as a maypole.Maypoles were often danced around at Beltane to bring fertility andgood fortune. The later addition of ribbons which were wrapped aroundthe pole by the dancers. Beltane bonfires are believed to bringfertility to crops, homes and livestock. People danced clockwise,aroundthe fires or leapt over the fires for protection against illness.Cattle are driven through the fires for protection against disease.Like Halloween at Beltanethe veil between this world and the world of the spirit is thin. It isan excellent time for divination/Tarot Readings. Other Beltane ritualsto perform byyourself or with friends included preparing a May basket with flowersand goodwill, then give it to one in need of care, or make a wish asyou jump a bonfire or candle flame for good luck—but make sure you hookup long skirts first! and if you live near water, make a garland ofspring flowers and cast it into the water to bless the water spirits.Also, do not forget to leave an offering on the doorstep over night forthe fairies. If you treat them kindly, you will be assured that theywill be kind to you throughout the year.

March 2009

A Pagan Easter

Easter celebrations were held hundreds of years before Christianity hitthe shores of Britain as festivals of the Spring around the SpringEquinox in March honouring the Celtic goddess Eostre, the ancient wordfor spring is Eastre. The goddess Ostara was the Norse equivalent whosesymbols were the hare and the egg. From this comes our modern traditionof celebrating Easter with chocolate eggs and Easter bunnies

The Christian version of Easter is celebrated the first weekend afterthe first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Either way, the ultimatemessage is of rebirth, fertility and the advent of springtime!

Here on the Mediterranean, there was a pre-Christian celebrationcentred around the Spring equinox (March 20 or 21) that honouredCybele, the Phrygian goddess of fertility. Cybele’s consort, Attis, wasconsidered born of a virgin and was believed to have died and beenresurrected three days later. Attis derived his mythology from evenearlier gods, Osiris, Dionysus, and Orpheus, who also were supposed tohave been born of a virgin and suffered death and resurrection as longas 500 years before Christ was born. The death of Attis wascommemorated on a Friday and the resurrection was celebrated three dayslater on Sunday. It all sounds so familiar!

Anyway that aside the best bit of Easter in our house is the EasterBunny handing out eggs which also has its roots in Celtic paganmythology. Where does a rabbit handing out eggs come from? The rabbit,or hare, is the symbol of Eastre and of the spring in general. Haresrepresent fertility and rebirth. The egg is one of the most basicsymbols of renewal and new growth. The myth goes like so, Eastre changed a bird (Lapwing) into a hare to be her totem (a totem is anynatural or mythical animal to whom you feel a close connection). Inthe spring, this specific species of bird, nests onthe ground. Hares have been known to sit in these nests thereforelooking like they are hatching eggs.
Easter celebrations were held hundreds of years before Christianity hitthe shores of Britain as festivals of the Spring around the SpringEquinox in March honouring the Celtic goddess Eostre, the ancient wordfor spring is Eastre. The goddess Ostara was the Norse equivalent whosesymbols were the hare and the egg. From this comes our modern traditionof celebrating Easter with chocolate eggs and Easter bunnies

The Christian version of Easter is celebrated the first weekend afterthe first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Either way, the ultimatemessage is of rebirth, fertility and the advent of springtime!

Here on the Mediterranean, there was a pre-Christian celebrationcentred around the Spring equinox (March 20 or 21) that honouredCybele, the Phrygian goddess of fertility. Cybele’s consort, Attis, wasconsidered born of a virgin and was believed to have died and beenresurrected three days later. Attis derived his mythology from evenearlier gods, Osiris, Dionysus, and Orpheus, who also were supposed tohave been born of a virgin and suffered death and resurrection as longas 500 years before Christ was born. The death of Attis wascommemorated on a Friday and the resurrection was celebrated three dayslater on Sunday. It all sounds so familiar!

Anyway that aside the best bit of Easter in our house is the EasterBunny handing out eggs which also has its roots in Celtic paganmythology. Where does a rabbit handing out eggs come from? The rabbit,or hare, is the symbol of Eastre and of the spring in general. Haresrepresent fertility and rebirth. The egg is one of the most basicsymbols of renewal and new growth. The myth goes like so, Eastre changed a bird (Lapwing) into a hare to be her totem (a totem is anynatural or mythical animal to whom you feel a close connection). Inthe spring, this specific species of bird, nests onthe ground. Hares have been known to sit in these nests thereforelooking like they are hatching eggs.

February 2009

As Valentines day is rapidly approaching I will share with youa great passion or love of mine....The Tarot. I have been a successfulinternational Tarot reader for over 12 years now and it is the mainbasis of my work. I have researched study and taught The Tarot for manyyears. Its is the reason why I choose the Mantic Arts as my careerpath. But it has also lead me on to such interesting and diversesubjects as Astrology and Feng Shui. My work is a great passion of mineas it lets me delve into Mythology folklore and traditions many ofwhich have been forgotten.

Valentine's Day origins go as far back as ancient Rome, February 14thwas a holiday to honour Juno the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses.Also known as the Goddess of women and marriage. On February 15th,theFeast of Lupercalia began. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia (Feb 14th) the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper andplaced into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jarand would then be partners for the duration of the festival with thegirl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted andoften, they would fall in love and marry.

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to seewho their valentines would be. They would wear these names on theirsleeves for one week. Wearing your heart on your sleeve literally!.Some people believed that if a woman saw a Robin flying overhead onValentine's Day, it meant she would marry a Sailor. If she saw aSparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw aGoldfinch, she would marry a millionaire. Lastly I read if you cut anapple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also knowhow many children you will have. It's similar to that childhood game Iplayed where you twisted the stalk reciting the alphabet and when itfinally snapped the letter it snapped on was the initial of the boy youwould fall in love with.

All good but seriously our desires are formed from the source calledLove. It's sometimes interpreted as "lack" or "wanting". In truth, weradiate this love/passion constantly, this is a natural form of healingby admitting that it is LOVE that we are seeking in all that we do, itcreates a magnetism that attracts all that we are - the true Source ofHappiness - LOVE! . We should celebrate it more often not just on onespecific day.

Goddess Worship
May 2008

Its May and Astrologically we are now in the zodiac sun sign of Tauruswhich is ruled by the planet Venus, the planet of Love andHarmony.Taureans love to be loved and love all things beautiful, you will always findTaureans have sumptious homes. Taureans are nurturing creatures and willbe a mother figure to all, the male Taureans will have that tendency tobe the ones that everyone loves. Venus the 2nd planet in our solarsystem was named after the Roman goddess Venus. It is the brightestplanet in our night sky, as it known by two names, Morning Star, andthe Evening Star .The Roman goddess Venus was originally the goddess offerility. She was later honoured as the goddess of love and beauty,when she became identified with Aphrodite her Greek counter part. Bothhad reputations for having many lovers. But both will always besynonmus with Love, Beauty & Fertility and worshiped for thosequalities

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

Looking at the Statues of the "Fat Ladies" brought me much closer tohome 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, maybeshe was a princess of some kind or wealthy lady from her time, she mayhave been a He, a warrior in battle dress, but the one I favour with mylove of legend and mythology, is that she is a significant figure fromthe lost mythical city of Tartessus (Tartessos in Spanish) About 2,500years ago, in 533 B.C., a city of ancient Spain (Iberia) was conqueredby the Carthaginians and disappeared its was said to be situated on the Spanish coast between the Gibraltar Strait and the todaySpain-Portugal border line covering a huge area of inland Spain. Thecity has not been found yet, although traces of big buildings werefound, during the excavations done in a muddy soil, too close to thesea to allow further investigations. The ruins of Tartessus may beunder water, or underground, hidden under hundred tons of mud. Reportsof findings in this area tie in with Plato's writings on the lost cityof Atlantis. The "Lady of Elche" remains an emigmatic creature and Ilook forward to hearing more about her in time to come.

Finally the ultimate living modern Goddess we all should worship morethan we do is our Mum and even though Mothers Day in the UK has beenand gone, we live in Spain and on the 4th of May all the Spanish willbe honouring their Mothers so lets honour ours, Mine in my minddeserves honouring every day but being a mum myself I forget but I dotry so here's to you Mum twice in one year! Oh and Happy Birthday forthe 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 Loversis mainly a card of emotions, and it often portrays love that isdivinely blessed, This implies that nothing but good can comeof it, but there is always a possibility of an emotional ending, inspite ofthe 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.