We will be meeting for our August MTS meeting on Saturday, 8/5/17 at the Lilly Library in Florence, Mass.
Paris will present a series of Tarot mini-lessons each of which is designed to create an “Aha” moment for participants. The lessons cover court cards, colors, astrological insights, numbers, seasons, compass directions and more. Any non-black & white deck with illustrated minors will do.
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PLEASE NOTE: The date of our July meeting is not the first Saturday, but the second Saturday of July, to account for the Independence Day holiday. The date of our July meeting is July 8th, 2017 from 1PM to 3PM at Lilly Library in Florence, MA
This presentation will explore the practice of Elemental Dignities, both in a traditional sense and in ways that go beyond a strictly rule-based approach. Bring your favorite tarot deck to join in practical exercises at the end of the session. All other materials will be provided.
The system of Elemental Dignities was created at the end of the 19th Century by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a British esoteric society, as a way to fine-tune the relative potency of the cards within a spread. This is done by relating a card’s assigned element to those of neighboring cards and looking for sympathetic or antagonistic combinations. Elemental dignities work with cards in pairs and triplets, using the four classical elements of Empedocles: Fire, Water, Air and Earth.
These elements in various combinations are either friendly (Fire and Air, Water and Earth and any two instances of the same element), unfriendly (Fire and Water, Air and Earth), or neutral but supportive of one another (Fire and Earth, Water and Air). Elemental friendliness with adjacent cards strengthens a card and augments its effectiveness, unfriendliness weakens and dilutes it, and mutual supportiveness creates a complementary situation, one card providing what the other lacks. There are six possible combinations of the four different elements within this matrix, and matching any two cards of the same element brings the total to ten pairs. Working with three-card sets produces sixteen possible permutations for each element, for a total of 64 variations.
In the words of Elizabeth Hazel in The Tarot Decoded: “Elemental dignities should be regarded as a flexible dynamic between neighbors rather than a set of ironclad rules.”
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Hi, Fellow Tarot Lovers!
On April 1st we had to postpone our session with Rachel Pollack on the Raziel Tarot because of snow (yes, snow!), but our new date of Saturday, June 3rd at our regular time of 1pm to 3pm is coming right up.
We need a head count for space planning. Please let me know right away, if you have the intention to come.
If we needed more space, we would not move too far, possibly Easthampton. Stand by for details.
Thanks!
Carolyn
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Mass Tarot friends, we thought you might be interested in a special gathering that two of our honored MTS members are conducting near the Summer Solistice. Please follow the link for details. *Note: this is not a Mass Tarot meeting and our June meeting will take place on the 3rd. More details on that to follow.
Summer Solstice Spiral Gathering w/ Sheilaa Hite Saturday, June 17, 2017
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Making Peace with the Suit of Swords with Jill Scott
This month we will be exploring the suit of swords. We will examine how this psychological suit can be useful to our readings and both positive and negative in nature. Please bring your input and opinions to our gathering, as well as a tarot deck and your journal or notebook. This is a good session for tarot practitioners at any level. Hope to see you there!
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Greetings, Tarot Friends!
It is not an April Fool’s joke! We are excited to be hosting Rachel Pollack on Saturday, April from 1pm to 3pm. We will be collecting $5 at the door and passing it on to Rachel. It would be handiest if we could meet at our usual Lily Library space, but we are wondering if we will all fit.
So please, please, respond via email: Carolyn@artofchangetarot.com, and let me know your intentions for April 1st. Things could change for you, but a this point, can you join us on the 1st?
On the 1st,Rachel will be working with the newest deck she and Robert Place have created, The Raziel Tarot, to do wisdom readings exploring questions on collective, spiritual, and/or philosophical topics. The Raziel is a Majors only (at this point) deck inspired by Jewish esoteric teachings, stories, and lore. More info is here: https://robertmplacetarot.com/the-raziel-tarot-the-secret-book-of-adam-and-eve/. I have been working with the deck; it is beautiful with many rich teachings to offer.
This leads to another straw poll question. If you are coming on the 1st, are you thinking about buying a Raziel from Rachel that day?
Let me know your questions!
Be well,
Carolyn
P.S. And Happy Equinox! I have some Equinox reflections and a spread on my newly launched blog, you can check out at
http://soulpathsanctuary.com/2017/03/20/solstice-seed-at-equinox-reflection-spread/
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Justice at the Heart of the Tarot with Carolyn Cushing – Saturday, March 4th
As always we will be meeting at the Lily Library in Florence, MA from 1:PM to 3:PM
In our time together we’ll explore how the Tarot is a structure that
provides moral guidance for living with Justice at its heart. After
looking at the Faces and Spaces of Justice as seen in different decks,
we’ll work with a map [i.e. template(s) for spreads] that weaves
together social change making models and the Tarot’s elemental
structure. Our Tarot play will help us identify what is important to
pay attention to as we make individual and collective choices on how
best to serve Justice in these times. Any deck can be used during the
session, but if you have more than one to choose from, bring the deck
with the image of Justice that most inspires you and/or has Knight
cards that you particularly like.
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Please join us on February 4, 2017 for our February Mass Tarot Meeting: Tarot for the Heart, facilitated by Jill Scott. This meeting will be held at our regular meeting place, Lilly Library, Florence, Mass.
Tarot for the Heart will be an exploration of a method that can be used to explore the relationships and connections in our lives that concern us and stir our emotional center. We will look at a basic heart spread and expand and customize it as we go. This session will move beyond romantic relationships and attempt to equip you with the tools to explore all types of relationships both for yourself, and when reading for others. We will focus on both evaluating relationships, and the possibility of facilitating change in those relationships.
Tarot for the Heart will be open to readers at any level. Attendees are invited to bring notes, journals or books to use as guides, as needed. You should bring a tarot deck that you are familiar and comfortable reading with. If you are new to the practice, there are usually many experienced attendees that are happy to assist and advise.
In the end only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.
—-Buddha
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Start the year with Tarot! Our next Mass Tarot session will be Saturday, January 7 from 1pm to 3pm at the Lily Library in Florence.
Come to our annual Wheel of the Year session where we’ll reflect back on 2016, identify a focus for 2017, and use a special spread to glimpse the lessons of upcoming seasons of 2017 as well as best ways to meet these lessons.
If you did a Wheel last year, feel free to bring it, but no worries if you did not. Bring a Tarot deck – or more than one – or any oracle deck really.
You’ll leave with a handout that includes ideas for working with the spread throughout the whole of 2017 as a guide for goal setting, reflection, and perceiving the wider patterns in your life. RSVPs are helpful to know how many copies to make.
You don’t have to do any homework to prepare for the session, but if you are looking for some New Year’s ritual, you can adapt the Selecting of a Solstice Seed (that Carolyn does in her Soul Path Sanctuary) to finding a New Year’s Seed and arrive with that to be at the center of the spread that we do on the 7th To find your seed, you may want to set aside a little time for ritual, including:
– Identifying what you need to release and let go of before setting off into the next cycle of light and the new year. You might sit in the dark and imagine what you want released being taken into the dark to be composted, to be transformed.
– Light candles and celebrate your new lightness.
– Pull a Tarot or oracle card or two to represent your Solstice Seed of the New. Before jumping to meaning making, just let the images settle into your heart.
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