Tarot for self care and self exploration. A place to learn, develop and explore tarot.
Use your common sense day: Where do you need to think before acting?
Card: The Magician Rx: In everything, especially areas that concern manifesting and power dynamics. How true is what you see around you, and how much are you throwing your weight around to get what you want? Where is this ‘power’ really coming from?
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
All Souls Day Spread:
A message that your Ancestors would like to give you at this time: Card: Knight of Ink (wands) Rx: Just because others don’t see things the way that you do, doesn’t make them wrong. Reign in your pride and try to show some empathy.
A message your Ancestors have been trying to convey that you have not been receptive to in the past: Card: Six of Quills (swords) rx: You’re stuck in the past, worrying and focusing on how things were and what happened to you. Let this go, move onwards from the obsession. Look back at the good things that could have happened in the past, and take heart in what it has made you into.
How to be more open to messages from your Ancestors in the future: Card: Death
Let go of the expectations that you and others have placed on you. Bring forth a new start, new practices, new ways of honouring family and the past.
How to honor and connect more strongly with your Ancestors going forward: Queen of Ink (wands) Rx: Fight for what you believe is right, fight for others who aren’t able to fight for themselves. Don’t ignore your anger, express it in an intelligent way that illuminates the path forward.
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
Dia de los Muertos- What can you do today to show respect and care for those passed?
Card: The Tower. I can accept that everything comes to an end, that ultimate destruction is inevitable and the start of a new beginning, no matter how painful it may be.
Deck used: The Literary Tarot.
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
The wonderful Tarotholics Discord prompt exploring the Moon card. This is a card I like and hate- I usually think of the negative side- illusions, distrust, things are not always what they seem. To me, this card is often a warning. Have a look at some of the Moon cards I have, and my interpretation of this one from The Modern Love Tarot.
The Moon from the Modern Love Tarot: I get a strong sense of anxiety, subconsciousness and fear of the unknown with this card- the figure on the ground seems to be either anxious or deeply in meditation, not focused on the moon, but taking in the moment of darkness. The wolf howling in the background reminds me of a lot of moon cards I’ve seen, but it doesn’t seem dangerous as it’s so far away. When I think of the Moon, I often think of things not always as they appear/deception and illusion, but I don’t get a strong feeling of that with this card. Instead, I’d read this card as taking time to see things how they really are, taking a moment to look and clarify what’s actually happening- bringing the moon into focus more.
Mundane Magick tarot: The poem on this card reads: Dark and quiet/or is it?/a pile of dirty clothing/casts suspicious. shadows/ a symphony of nocturnal/squeaks/ordinarily drowned/under the noise of the day/resist the urge/ to turn on the light/there’s much to be learned/in the dark/ you don’t need to see/feel.
I get the same sense of uncertainty and anxiety as in the Modern Love card, but it seems a bit more scary here- the subconscious aspect too- letting your mind run in circles of fear from the unknown. Both seem to have a feeling of embracing the darkness, though this one also makes me think of questioning what you’re really afraid of, which I don’t get from the Modern Love card. I would read this one as an embrace your fear, question what’s really true or false, and don’t feel like you need to find all the answers.
The Literary Tarot: We can see Alice walking down the steps into Wonderland here, she seems aware and frightened, uncertain of what she’s really seeing or where the light is coming from. I get more of the feeling of illusions from this card- because the moon isn’t casting the light, as it should. The picture seems to blur at the edges too, so we have that feeling of uncertainty, things not always being what they seem. I’d read this one as ‘tread carefully,’ don’t only trust what your eyes seem but follow your inner guidance here. Like the Modern Love, I get a sense of anxiety, but more of a feeling of pushing on and carrying on a possibly dangerous path.
Tarot Violet.te: Here we have the wolves, like in the Modern Love card, but more traditionally we have two of them. There’s a similar feeling to the RWS imagery here with the multiple sets of eyes, all open (except for our figure- they’re downcast or closed) and all looking in a different direction. Our main figure seems to be staring into the reflection of the moon in the water beneath her- I get a stronger feeling of illusion with this one- what are you actually looking at/what are you ignoring in place of something else? What is it reflecting back to you? I would read this card with more of a feeling like you need to think of what you’re putting time and thought into- what’s troubling you? What seems to be real and fake around you in your life?
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
Omens, signs, symbology, what do I follow, what do I heed?
Follow: The Star. New opportunities, rejuvenation, hope, the things that make me feel like life is worth living.
Head: The Tower (always, bb). Total destruction, serving things that don’t work, burning bridges and setting fire to the world as I know it.
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
What have you learned from the Dionysian mysteries? How can you apply these teachings in your daily life?
Cards: The Moon Rx, Temperance, ten of cups
I’ve removed some of the illusions in my life and begun to see things as they are. I can continue to do this to see balance and to bring balance into my life. Bringing happiness into my home and into my life through connections will help me to keep these lessons in my life
These are a nice set of cards to put together- the amount of water we can see throughout really makes me think this is also about emotions- emotional balance, emotional confusion/camouflage, complete happiness and still emotions.
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
Here we have another great practice exercise from the Tarotholics discord. Check out my take on the Chariot.
Modern Love: determination comes through strong in this, especially with the little disabled pupperino with the wheels, walking confidently and keeping up the pace with the woman in the centre and the bigger dog on the other side. In most chariot cards we have a black and white steed of some kind, so it’s cool that that is echoed here, too. I would read this card as carry on your path confidently. Don’t worry about the things that might get in your way, because there are always ways to overcome your obstacles. We can see the seasons changing with the leaves in the trees, so this might also indicate a period of change, maybe a rapid one, but one that you can get through with the confidence of the lady walking her dogs.
It was hard to find some less traditional chariots from my decks, but here we go:
Transient Light Tarot: We have the black and white binaries here too in the road that seems to lead to the open mouth at the centre. It looks almost like the mouth is either swallowing or spitting out the moon or the ball in the centre. This card reads a bit more for me like the world is yours to swallow or to spit out- your voice will be the bringer of change, you have the ability to get through and travel on whatever path is best suited for you. I don’t see as much adversity in this card, but I do feel speed- like it’s coming at you fast, so be ready!
Tarot Violet.te: This one took me time to unpack and I’m still not sure I’ve managed all of it. The wheeled figure holds the world in her arms- her hair and shoulders show us symbols of the universe- neither good nor bad necessarily. On either side we have the steeds pushing the figure- one dressed as a horse or donkey (stubborn, maybe) the other a crab or a lobster (the unknown? the darker side of the coin?). Both are looking at you but you can’t see their eyes- a sort of caution maybe against moving too fast, or not looking where you’re going. Inside the box we have a pendulum suspended in rain clouds. This seems to say- pull through! Keep going! Push onwards. In terms of reading, I read this whole deck a bit more esoterically, because some of the imagery is so complex and intense. I see this card as less friendly than the Modern Love card- much more IT’S COMING AT YOU BE READY GO DO IT. It feels a bit like you need to open yourself up and decide why you really came here and where you’re coming from.
Everyday Enchantment Tarot: Love this deck, hate the size of the cards, but I knew it would have some cool alternative imagery for us. Confidence and taking a leap, believing in yourself, and doing what you want to do feels like it radiates from this card. The skater kid is sliding through the city, as he pleases, nothing can slow him down! The pigeons in his way are no match for him, and we can see a sense of getting away from conformity with the figures in the back, dressed in suits on their way to work. I get this same ‘nonconformity’ from the Modern Love with the little dog and big dog, and the lady wearing a beautiful blue dress in sharp contrast to the golden orange trees around her. We have dandelions at the fore of this card, weeds we would normally see as a nuisance or something that we would want rid of- the bee and the ladybug showing how these ‘roadblocks’ can also be useful, and the dandelion fluff in the breeze makes me think of making a wish. I read this card as having a similar positivity to the Modern Love, and a similar ‘set your own path, go your own way’ feeling. I feel a bit of the speed from the Tarot Violet.te, too.
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
-Madame Starbeam
Day 15: The Fertility: What new ideas or projects want to grow in you?
Cards: 5 of pentacles, Strength Rx, and Queen of Cups: A project where I put my concerns for being the leader or the boss aside, and lead instead with my emotions in service of others.
I’m trying to improve being a bit more succinct in the way I combine meanings and cards together. Sometimes it feels really easy (like this reading) and sometimes it seems almost impossible. Always good to keep trying! Even when it doesn’t seem to stick.
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
-Madame Starbeam
Day 12: Liberation from Limitations: What fears or doubts are holding you back from being fully yourself?
Cards: The Magician Rx: I’m afraid that I can’t manifest what I want to manifest- that I’m stuck and that I’ve got nothing but bad stuff coming my way from this point onwards. I need to trust in my abilities to get stuff accomplished and be able to bring good stuff in.
4 of Pentacles: I’m afraid of spending too much, not making enough, and generally being poor at money (hey late stage capitalism and poor impulse control heeyyyyyyy).
9 of cups:…I’m afraid of getting wasted and making a fool out of myself – hahaha or I’m actually afraid of getting what I want and what I’ve worked so hard for… because then what happens next? What am I supposed to do, once I’ve got it all?
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
-Madame Starbeam
Day 4 – Ecstasy – What makes your heart beat faster and your soul light up?
The Magician Rx: Creating things, even when they don’t work out and even when I feel like the energy is blocked and it just doesn’t work. I like making stuff, even when it looks terrible or doesn’t work. I like trying to think of ways to solve problems and make things look interesting. My newest dresser is a good example of beginner mod podge gone completely wrong. 🙂
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
-Madame Starbeam
The Dance – How can I free myself and express my inner passions?
The Tower Rx: Just let it all go- let the foundations of what used to bolster me that were weak in the first place, crumble. Not a bad card here, one that is instead telling you that sometimes faulty foundations need to crumble in order for you to build something anew.
Happy Readings! 💛💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
-Madame Starbeam
One card that freaks most people out in a reading, no matter which way you read it, it usually spells disaster. Reversed or upright, it’s usually seen as a pretty negative card and most of the time, the imagery is pretty dark. Traditionally, there is a tower that is on fire, struck by lightning and people are falling out of the tower to their death. It’s a dark one.
Consider for a moment though that everyone has moments of destruction. It’s something that everyone can relate to. It’s also something that we all need to learn how to cope with, and rebuild from in some aspect of life. Some ‘tower moments’ are ones that stay with us forever- some we can empathize with, but maybe never truly know the pain of. Others maybe we can slowly pick away at over time, or maybe it’s something that we need help working through.
Each deck has its own way of expressing this card- and the imagery varies from deck to deck. Check out a selection of mine here:
Creatures Tarot: Interestingly there are two options for the tower for this deck (I only have the one major set though 🙂 ) There is a similar sense of loss and a sort of turning your back on destruction, as often when a tree breaks or dies, it is left to rot, kind of forgotten. With the other half of the tree still standing, I feel like this card holds a bit more hope and I would read it as losing what is dead, or what doesn’t serve you any more.
The Hidden Light Tarot: A sailboat in a lightning storm spells disaster, but it seems as if it hasn’t hit yet- there is a feeling that destruction is imminent, but you have some time to collect yourself and prepare for it to hit. The fire hasn’t started yet- it’s coming though.
Tarot Ultra Violet.te: The roots here seem to demonstrate that the problem or the destruction may run deep. The mouths in the background could show that people may be speaking poorly of you behind your back, or that others’ opinions may be the thing that brings you down (This deck is awesome, by an awesome Montreal-based Canadian creator- incredibly open, LGBTQIA+ positive and inclusive. I want to do a whole deck run through with it in a later post. I love it).
Cosma Visions: This is a companion card, called The Shore- it has more of a starting-from-the-bottom vibe- almost as if the tower moment has hit so…now what do you do? Watch out, more dangers may rain down on you, but you can work to find your own footing. This reads a bit more positive to me. The fire is over.
Transient Light Tarot: The tower is on an island here- and the stairway is circular, almost as if it never ends. There’s a much stronger feeling of isolation here for me- you feel completely alone and it’s like your spiralling into darkness in the wake of the stuff that has happened. Similar feelings of being alone and left to fend for yourself, but perhaps less fire, less ultimate destruction.
All amazing decks- what does your Tower card look like? Tell me in the comments! Convince me to buy YET ANOTHER DECK. haha
Happy Readings 💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
So I’ve been MIA because…
I just bought a house!
I’ve been spending most of my mental energy designing and pretending to buy furniture for the place hahaha! I’m currently covered in paint, and desperately trying to catch up and finish April’s challenge on a semi-complete note.
Instead of doing all the days I’ve missed, I’ve selected the prompts I like the most for this last post before May. I hope you enjoy them 🙂
Day 24: What empowering thoughts can I focus on today to motivate myself?
Card: The Tower (yikes): Sometimes things come crashing down and that’s part of life. Sometimes things that were strong, break. Without a break, there can be no new growth, no rebuilding. Sometimes there must be pain to learn, to grow and to get rid of what doesn’t truly serve you. Remember, this too, shall pass.
Day 27: What part of myself or my journey am I being called to have more faith in, and what actions can I take to boost my confidence in this area?
Card: Four of Cups: Sometimes I get stuck between decisions and I become lost in endless back and forth- which is the right step to take, what should I do, what colour should I paint the kitchen and I dwell so much it immobilizes me. I need to believe in my choices a bit more, trust the process a bit more, and have faith that action will provide a forward movement, if nothing else 🙂 .
Day 28: What accomplishment can I celebrate (card 1) and how can I honour this today (card 2)?
Card 1: Knight of Swords (jumper): Taking action, going for it, jumping in with all of the feet I possess, despite the fear of not knowing how it might turn out. I should be proud of the recent risks I’ve taken 🙂 I am!
Card 2: Page of Swords (jumper, and not sure if it was reversed): Enjoy making plans, don’t get stuck into the minutia of every little thing involved in the carrying out of the plan- just embrace the enthusiasm. Don’t let anyone else’s opinions or ideas push that happiness away.
Day 30: What do I need to let go of by the end of Mercury Retrograde (after May 14th)?
Card: The Empress: Ooo not sure of this one- could be conflicts with female figures in my life- could be the concept of what makes someone feminine, could be my internalized gendered concepts and sense of expression in the ways that it limits me (aversion towards specifically gendered elements because of other’s opinions, internalized judgement). I’ll have to wait and see how this one manifests I think.
As in my last post, this selection comes from the Creatures Tarot. It’s an amazing deck. I’m still getting used to it, but I’m really enjoying it so far 🙂
Happy readings! 💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
I’m more on top of my shit today!
Day 18: What practices or rituals can I add to my daily routine to incorporate more self-care?
Card: The World: I can bring in an element of reflection (which is funny because I came to the same realization this morning when I was raking myself over the coals for old crappy things I’ve done), and maybe incorporate some gentle low key travel, or some travel plans for the future. I like that idea 😉
Day 19: What changes can I make to make life easier (card 1) and how will these changes benefit me (card 2):
Cards: The Hierophant Rx (card 1), and 4 of Cups. I can start to follow the beat of my own drum and go against the status quo. I don’t feel like that necessarily makes life easier though… so maybe it’s more that I need to stop taking stock in the kind of concerns and beliefs that those in power in my life seem to have. I can let go of that need for approval. In doing that, I can re-evaluate what’s important to me, where I want my life to go and what I need to do to get there. I feel a bit like I’ve lost my way recently, so maybe this will help.
The deck used is one I’ve had for a while but haven’t used in ages that I love from Lo Scarabeo. It’s called The Tarot of Oppositions and if you’re interested in getting into reading reversals (which some tarot practitioners do not do for lots of different reasons), then I would highly recommend it. It has a beautiful duplication where you can see the reversed (or opposite meaning) in the reflected image- if the card is upright, you see the upright image clearly, but if you pull a reversal, then you can see the reversed image clearly. You can also use this as a way to just balance your concepts of multiple card meanings. I find once it gets into like 5+ in each suit, it can be a little harder to read, but I still really enjoy it for this purpose. The card quality is also pretty good for a mass-market deck, the price point is reasonable, and the artwork is pretty cool. I like most of the decks I’ve bought from Llewellyn (and most of the witchy books they sell, too). They routinely have site-wide sales that are pretty awesome.
Happy Readings! 💛💛
-Madame Starbeam
Day 1: What inner fire am I guided to ignite, nurture, and/or honour this month?
Card: 3 of cups: I should honour my connections to others, help myself grow and develop the relationships I already have, any new ones I’d like to create or build afresh. Maybe also indulging myself- treat yo self kinda vibes!
Day 2: Where do I need to take a bold step forward in my life?
Card: 3 of Pentacles Reversed: Hmmm teamwork- I don’t really work in a team though, so I’m not too sure about this card- Maybe I need to be bold and join a team, or work together with someone on a project of some sorts? It could be that the activities I’m doing at the moment are too boring, and don’t inspire passion, so perhaps I need to develop those? The branches of this tree on the card make me feel like it wants me to step out of my individualized life and make some new connections maybe.
Day 3: Draw a card and use its message to create a daily mantra for the month ahead.
Card: Judgment: lol: I trust myself. I am wise. I know what is best for me.
The deck used today was The Essential Tarot- I wouldn’t really recommend it, to be honest. The images aren’t always helpful- it veers more towards a pip deck (a deck with the minor cards as just the number of the symbol, so the 3 of pentacles you can just see 3 pentacles, etc), and I don’t find it super intuitive to read. It doesn’t feel like there was a tonne of thought put into its creation and some of the images (especially of the court cards and major arcana) don’t really guide you at all, or give you any help. It was available at a discount book outlet so I grabbed it, but I wouldn’t recommend you do the same. The card stock is good but a bit sticky, and it smells strongly of chemicals. It’s growing on me, but I don’t think I’ll use it much.
Happy Readings 💛💛
-Madamestarbeam
Madame Starbeam's Tarot Journey 