Janet Boyer

F is for Far Cry by Rush

Rush. Need I say more?

Brought to you by the A-Z Blogging Challenge!

 -- Janet Boyer, Amazon Hall of Fame/Vine Reviewer, author of Back in Time Tarot,Tarot in Reverse (Schiffer 2012) and the Snowland Tarot (Schiffer 2013). Featured in Tales of the Revolution: True Stories of People Who Are Poking the Box and Making a Difference (A Domino Project eBook edited by Seth Godin)

B is for Bert (from Mary Poppins)

Today is dedicated to the letter "B", brought to you by the Blogging from A-Z Challenge!

Chim chim-in-ey, chim chim-in-ey
Chim chim cher-oo!
I does what I likes and I likes what I do

Mary Poppins is one of my favorite movies.

I love the chimney sweep character, Bert, played by the talented Dick Van Dyke (awful fake Cockney accent aside).

Bert has some of the best lines in this clever movie! I especially love the quote above which Bert sings in the pavement artist scene. 

I ponder phrases like these because they contain powerful wisdom.  I does what I likes, and I likes what I do.

In fact, there are many profound lines and lyrics throughout Mary Poppins.

Is it because the movie is geared towards kids (based on the children's book series by P. L. Travers)...and there's something unguarded and open about childlikeness? Which means, a much cleaner, clearer channel for Spirit to come through?

Much like the Fool archetype, childlikeness offers a blank slate absent of preconceived notions, reticence or hyper-self-consciousness.

I does what I likes, and I likes what I do.

I want to do what I like. I also want to like what I do. 

Do you?

 -- Janet Boyer, Amazon Hall of Fame/Vine Reviewer, author of Back in Time Tarot,Tarot in Reverse (Schiffer 2012) and the Snowland Tarot (Schiffer 2013). Featured in Tales of the Revolution: True Stories of People Who Are Poking the Box and Making a Difference (A Domino Project eBook edited by Seth Godin)

Is Jonathan Antoine the next Pavarotti?

Totally teared up after watching this. Amazing.

 -- Janet Boyer, Amazon Hall of Fame/Vine Reviewer, author of Back in Time Tarot,Tarot in Reverse (Schiffer 2012) and the Snowland Tarot (Schiffer 2013). Featured in Tales of the Revolution: True Stories of People Who Are Poking the Box and Making a Difference (A Domino Project eBook edited by Seth Godin)

Tarot in Reverse News!

It's hard to believe that there's less than 10 weeks to go before the release of  Tarot in Reverse! I'm am getting so excited about my full-color, glossy-paged beauty, published by Schiffer Books on April 28, 2012.

Well, I have a few tidbits of news to share with you all! 

Tarot in Reverse just got a fabulous thumbs-up in the form of a review by Amanda Donnelly over at the 78 Whispers in My Ear blog. You can read the review at this link.

Happy dance!

The second bit of news is that I'm taking full advantage of the super addicting image-sharing site Pinterest, deciding to create a special board consisting of all the pop culture references in Tarot in Reverse! 

This means that you'll be able to view, at a glance, every pop culture reference in Tarot in Reverse in the form of an image or video. In fact, some cards will have more than one image or video.

For example, the 9 of Swords includes mentions of the Crawling video by Linkin Park, an image of Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" and The Scream by Edvard Munch. Below is a screenshot of a few of the pins I have up so far (all the Court Cards and 10s, with some of the 9s):

 

Feel free to spy on me working on this Pinterest board right here, where I'll be adding photos and videos of every pop culture mention in Tarot in Reverse...until I get all the way up to the Aces! You can even talk to me right there on the TIR board, image by image. What fun!

If you're as excited as I am about my upcoming book, you can pre-order it from Amazon.com, BN.com, Book Depository or your favorite bookseller (ISBN-13: 9780764341014). 

Don't forget, you can experiment reading reversed Tarot card with me on the Tarot in Reverse Facebook page at this link. Come on over to "like" and play!

Thanks so much for your continued support of my work!

 -- Janet Boyer, Amazon Hall of Fame/Vine Reviewer, author of Back in Time Tarot,Tarot in Reverse (Schiffer 2012) and the Snowland Tarot (Schiffer 2013). Featured in Tales of the Revolution: True Stories of People Who Are Poking the Box and Making a Difference (A Domino Project eBook edited by Seth Godin

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Way too adorable video of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Happy New Year, everyone!

-- Janet Boyer, Amazon Top/Vine Reviewer, author of Back in Time Tarot, Tarot in Reverse (Schiffer 2012) and the Snowland Tarot (Schiffer 2013). Featured in Tales of the Revolution: True Stories of People Who Are Poking the Box and Making a Difference (A Domino Project eBook edited by Seth Godin)

Lady Gaga's New Album Only 99¢ Today Only

 
Just found out that today's Amazon Gold Box deal is Lady Gaga's brand new album, Born This Way, in it's entirety on mp3...for only 99 cents!

According to the Amazon Gold Box page for today:

Today only, get Born This Way, the entire brand-new 14-song MP3 album by Lady Gaga, for just $0.99. Play your music on the web or on Android with Amazon Cloud Drive and Amazon Cloud Player. For a limited time, buy any album, including this one, and get 20 GB of Cloud Drive storage for free.

I just bought it and also hooked up all 14 songs to my Amazon Cloud Player. What a deal!

-- Janet Boyer, author of Back in Time Tarot, Tarot in Reverse (Schiffer 2012) and the Snowland Tarot (Schiffer 2013). Featured in Tales of the Revolution: True Stories of People Who Are Poking the Box and Making a Difference (A Domino Project eBook edited by Seth Godin)

Rush and Tarot

Canadian trio RUSH have been thrilling fans for over 30 years with their unique blend of prog-rock and cerebral lyrics.

In a year's time, drummer and lyricist Neil Peart suffered dual tragedies: in 1997, his only daughter, Selena, died in a car wreck on her way to begin college; a year later, his inconsolable wife, Jackie, died of cancer.

Many RUSH fans wondered if Neil would ever go back to making music--and if RUSH would continue.

Fortunately, Neil returned in 2002--penning both a memoir detailing his healing journey and the lyrics to the CD Vapor Trails.  In his memoir Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road, Neil relates his 14-month, 55,000 mile trip on a motorcycle in search for a reason to live. Interestingly, Neil describes an accurate Tarot card reading he received in California, even using Tarot himself while reading Tarot for Dummies--with equally good results.

The liner notes to the Vapor Trails CD features thirteen Tarot card images--one card to each song:

• One Little Victory - Knight of Wands
• Ceiling Unlimited - The Star
• Ghost Rider - Wheel of Fortune
• Peaceable Kingdom - The Tower
• The Stars Look Down - The Chariot
• How It Is - The Hanged Man
• Vapor Trail - 6 of Swords
• Secret Touch - The Hermit
• Earthshine - The Lovers
• Sweet Miracle - Ace of Cups
• Nocturne - The Moon
• Freeze (Part IV of Fear) - 8 of Swords
• Out of the Cradle - The Fool

Peaceable Kingdom is especially replete with Tarot imagery, as you can see with these lyrics:

Justice against the hanged man

Knight of Wands against the hour
Swords against the kingdom
Time against the tower

All this time we're shuffling and laying out all our cards
While a billion other dealers are slipping past our guards
All this time we're hoping and praying we all might learn
While a billion other teachers are teaching them how to burn

Dream of a peaceable kingdom
Dream of a time without war
The ones we wish would hear us
Have heard it all before

A wave toward the clearing sky
A wave toward the clearing sky

The Hermit against the Lovers
Or the Devil against the Fool
Swords against the kingdom
The Wheel against the rules

I found it odd that the liner notes attribute all "art direction, paintings, and portraits" to Hugh Syme (the artist who has done all of the RUSH album covers except one)--especially since Pamela Colman Smith's initials are still imbedded in the images! (Don't tell Stuart...)

One of the Vapor Trails tour shirts features a large image of the "face in the Moon" (found on the Rider-Waite-Smith Moon card) encircled by T-A-R-O-T (Wheel of Fortune card) . Fortunately, I snagged a red one a few years back--and it's a good thing I did, because I can't locate these T-shirts anywhere on the web right now.

I don't believe I've ever heard Tarot references in RUSH's other CD's (I have 15 of their CDs and 3 DVD compilations), but I will say one thing: every time I listen to their music, Tarot cards dance in my head! I've been known to spend hours writing in my Tarot journal while listening to their music, specifically correlating lyrics/songs to the cards.

What Tarot cards do you "hear" in Rush lyrics? Has Rush inspired or informed your Tarot practice? Have you gotten into Tarot because of Neil's experience? I'd love to hear about it!

-- Janet Boyer, author of Back in Time Tarot 

10/10/10 and the 10s of Tarot

Having just realized that it was 10/10/10 (smacks head), I thought it would be neat to examine the 10s of Tarot: Trump 10, Wheel of Fortune, and the four Minor Arcana tens (10 of Wands, 10 of Swords, 10 of Cups and 10 of Pentacles).

When I see the 10s in Tarot, I think of a spiral, with the 10 being the next step upward to another cycle. All of the single digits (1-9) have been completed and we’re now up to the first double digit. Because 10 reduces to 1 in numerology (1 + 0 = 1), the 10s also have something in common with the Aces (1s): new beginnings.

Let’s begin with the Minor Arcana cards.

In the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, the 10s reside in the bottom sphere (sephirah) known as Malchut (pronounced malKOOT). This sphere, known as Kingdom or Manifestation, is the “heaviest” sphere because it’s the lowest on the Tree—the “down and dirty” realm of earthly life. The Aces reside at the tippy-top of the Tree in the sphere of Kether; straight from the Divine in seed form, the Aces are handed to us from the Universe to do what we will with them (or not).

Without getting too deep into the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, there are “worlds” that govern four areas on the Tree. Sephiroth 1, 2 and 3 are within Aziluth, the realm of “first causes” and pure light. It’s considered masculine and associated with the element of FIRE.

The next world is Briah, which contains Sephiroth 4, 5 and 6. This is the realm of intellect and ideals, so it’s associated with the other masculine element, AIR.

The third world is Yetzirah, a realm of formation. Sephiroth 7, 8 and 9 are found in this world, which is associated with the feminine element of WATER.

The last world, and the lowest on the Qabalistic Tree of Life, is Assiah. Only one sphere lives here: Malchut. This is the material world of the feminine element EARTH.

The majority of Tarot enthusiasts ascribe the Minor Arcana suits thusly: Wands=Fire, Swords=Air, Cups=Water and Pentacles=Earth. So, intellectually, you could transpose that association onto the Tree of Life where Atziluth is “like Wands”, Briah is “like Swords”, Yetzirah is “like Cups” and Assiah is “like Pentacles”.

Also, the number of each sephirah on the Tree of Life correspond to the Minor Arcana cards of the same number. Thus, Kether contains the Aces, Chokmah the 2s, Binah the 3s, Chesed the 4s, Geburah the 5s, Tiphereth the 6s, Netzach the 7s, Hod the 8s, Yesod the 9s and lastly—the topic of this post—the 10s will reside in the sephirah of Malchut.

Wands/Fire are fastest (like light), followed by Swords/Air. Things start become weighed down in the world of form (Cups/Water) and are at the heaviest as it enters the material world we live in—you know, the world of money, body, health, possessions, flora, fauna…pretty much everything you experience with your five senses. This last world of Assiah, with sephirah 10, Malchut, and all the Minor Arcana 10s, are heavy dude. Very heavy.

Now, instead of “worlds”, lets call those realms “homes” (to make it a bit cozier). As you well know, some “homes” are comfier than others are—especially depending on the temperament of the owner and the visitor.

What does this all have to do with the 10s in Tarot, especially when it comes to Rider-Waite-Smith decks?

Well, have you ever wondered why the 10 of Pentacles looks like a happy card, as does the 10 of Cups—but the 10 of Swords and the 10 of Wands look positively dreadful? I mean, they’re all 10s, right?

Seeing those cards through the lens of the four “homes” (worlds) of the Tree of Life gives us a clue as to why.

Wands/Fire is most comfortable in the upper “home” of the Tree of Life, the speed-of-light realm of Atziluth. Zip, zip, zip—WOW, talk about fast! Now, what happens when that fast, bright energy—most comfortable at the top with the Aces, Twos and Threes—suddenly has to slow waaaay down in order to manifest in the material world where the 10s reside?

Why, it’s downright burdensome, that’s what! Just look at that poor guy in the 10 of Wands! And why in the name of God is he carrying those sticks so awkwardly? He is cruising for a major backache—or worse. Instead of staying at the realm of the 9, getting healing for those wounds on his head and putting up a defensive barrier, he goes on out and grabs some more freakin’ Wands! And so, the Wands suit in the sephirah of Malchut, numbered 10, is the MOST uncomfortable in this particular home.

Next, we have the often-feared 10 of Swords. Ouchies!  Someone needs a chiropractor—or a good acupuncturist! (Or maybe even the undertaker? *wince*). But because the Swords are most comfortable higher up in the Tree, up in the sephirah within the “home” of Briah, they, too, get a beating in the material world of Malchut. However, the 10 of Swords is actually not quite as bad as the 10 of Wands, energetically speaking. Swords/Air are fast, too—as fast as the speed of thought and communication. But look closer at the 10 of Swords: there’s a new day dawning! The man with the swords in his back has nowhere to go but up—(spiraling up to the Aces where he, hopefully, gets a new, refreshed perspective…without the mental overkill).

Now, consider the 10 of Cups, often considered one of the most positive and lovely cards in the Tarot. Water/Cups are the third “home” down on the Tree of Life, encompassing the sephiroth within Yetzirah. Ahhh, now we’re talking. Yetzirah, the world of formation and containment, makes for a comfy home for Water/Cups. Thus, this joyful card is often called the “happy family” card (or, as Tarot author Nina Lee Braden calls it, the “Little House on the Prairie” card). The realm of emotions, intimacy and familial connection feels quite comfortable in the 10s, because it’s so close to its home base.

And now we come to the 10 of Pentacles. Money, land, a multi-generational gathering, luxurious clothing, pets, buildings, family crest, lush vegetation, solid foundation, abundance—this card is right at home in Malchut because, after all, this lone sephirah resides in Assiah, the material world of Earth.

And how about that Wheel of Fortune, Trump 10? Talk about a crapshoot! Nothing in life is guaranteed, is it? Up, down, up, down—ever tossed about by the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” (to quote Shakespeare). Now, on the Tree of Life, the 21 Trump cards connect the sephiroth via paths. It just so happens that the Wheel of Fortune lies on path 21, connecting sphere 4 (Chesed) with sphere 7 (Netzach).

Interestingly, 4s are all about earthly stability (numerologically speaking), while the 7s often connote vacillation and DE-stabilization (not to mention spiritual truth, higher wisdom and refined intuition). And here’s a Hebraic “funny”: the Wheel of Fortune connects with the Hebrew letter Kaph, which means palm of the hand. I say “funny” because that ol’ Wheel of Fortune can often feel like a “slap across the head” when it barrels down our way! (Those 7s get a bad rap in the Tarot, but I’ll leave that for another post…)

Chesed in is in the world of Air, while Netzach is in the world of Water. Can you say “storm-tossed-freakin’-sea”?!

Actually, I was wrong about nothing being guaranteed in life. There is ONE thing that is guaranteed--the only constant: CHANGE.

So when the Minor Arcana 10s show up in a reading, or that gear-like pit-wheel (think grist mill!) known as the Wheel of Fortune rolls onto your table, take heart. You’re about to spiral up to a higher plane (if you choose) and a higher understanding of this material plane of Malchut.

I'll leave you with a video of The Larger Bowl performed by the best band ever, Rush. Click here for the lyrics.

-- Janet

Card images from the Universal Waite Tarot, published by USGS.

Theory of Everything by Children Collide - Australian Band's Second Album Based on Tarot

"When Arthur Edward Waite wrote The Pictorial Key To The Tarot in 1911, it's doubtful any three-card spread or Celtic Cross could have alerted him to the fact that in a century's time (well, give or take a few months) the divinatory powers of the tarot's major arcana would inspire an Australian band's second album." -- Children Collide (Australian band)

According to their official website, Children Collides’ new album The Theory of Everything has been inspired by “the divine powers of the tarot’s major arcana”  and “theoretical physics that attempts to explain all the fundamental interactions of nature and the universe.”

You can sample tracks from The Theory of Everything here.

You can fan on Children Collide at their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter.

I've listened to a few tracks and the tunes are enjoyably mellow.

-- Janet Boyer

BIT Snapshot Rock Music

If you've read my book Back in Time Tarot, you know what a BIT Snapshot is.

Fun, huh?

For those who don't know what you're missing, you can read an excerpt from the book on my site, including seeing a sample BIT Snapshot in action.

Basically, my BIT (Back in Time) Tarot Method begins with a memory, event, story, movie, news item, scandal, fairytale, biographical profile, book, conversation--basically, anything that you've witnessed or experienced.

It may have happened a decade ago, millenia ago or a second ago. Doesn't matter.

Then, you break down that memory or event into components. You can pare the memory down into just a few aspects, or choose to go deep, long and wide. Totally up to you.

Looking through the Tarot deck of your choice and match up those components with a Tarot card. (I happen to have the entire Universal Waite reproduced in gray-scale in my book so you don't even have to own a deck. Or, if you don't have a deck and want to play along here on my blog, you can use Joan Bunning's fantastic site, which has all of the cards online).

Whatever reason you have for selecting a particular Tarot card is A-OK. You can't get the BIT Tarot Method "wrong". No such thing. Honest. It's a pain-free way to learn the cards because the meanings stem from YOUR memories and YOUR perceptions and YOUR sensory data...for YOUR reasons. Because the Tarot contains archetypal imagery and symbols, I guarantee you that many of your associations will match what "experts" and esoterica have offered as the meaning for a card.

Are we good? Great! Let's go on to one of my favorite topics--rock music!

If you read my book, you know that I did a BIT Tarot Snapshot on 80s music. Well, now I'm going to do a BIT Snapshot for some of my favorite rock songs. (Yes, you can expect this to be a series... *laugh*) I'll link to the songs, video or lyrics online for your enjoyment.

BIT Snapshot Rock Music

Outside by Staind: 5 of Coins - "I'm on the outside, I'm lookin' in..."Just as the couple crouches under the stained glass church window in a snowstorm--literally on the outside--the 5 of Pentacles card often indicates feelings of rejection, of being "cast out" of proper society. This is the domain of the homeless, the streewalkers, the drug addicts--those that many won't waste their time on. Doesn't matter if the vagrant was a war hero or the woman pushing the grocery cart has Masters degree or the junkie has a genius IQ. All that matters is that the are on the "outside"... Similarly, this card can indicates the feelings of being marginalized or excluded--especially if such actions by others involve some type of threat to survival (job, finances, food, housing). 5's are often numbers of upheaval, displacement, disruption, confrontation and uncertainty--and the suit of Pentacles governs the material world, including health, money, possessions, environment and the body.

Rock You Like a Hurricane by The Scorpions: Strength - "My kitty's purring and scratches my skin..." I'll be honest: my first thought for this song was something more explosive or even sensual. Queen of Wands? Sun? Tower? The feline reference made me think of Strength...but that would be too easy. But as I pondered the lyrics, I kept coming back to Strength. There is latent passion in this card; in fact, if the roof ain't kept on it, things can get hairy. Right in the jaws of the lion hairy. I usually see Strength as a "grace under pressure" card. But as I listen to this son (repeatedly), I'm struck that Rock You Like a Hurricane is basically describing raw female sexuality. And the woman holding the lion's jaw in this card illustrates "taming the beast", or, perhaps, channeling that energy in a healthy way. Unfortunately, history tends to paint women as either whores or saints, temptresses or good girls, Lilith or Hestia. But we know there's a much greater spectrum with the strong female than "just" one or the other. That is, a woman who knows her strength but doesn't feel a need to flaunt it. A woman who is strong, but doesn't attempt to dominate or intimidate. A woman comfortable with her sexual energy and able to channel it without selling out her energy or well-being. This is the strength of Strength...

Working Man by Rush: 8 of Pentacles - Here we have a man hammering on that eighth coin. When I see this card, I think of blue collar boys--factory work, "nice cold beer" (as the song goes) and good ol' honest livingg. This card is about putting your nose to the grindstone--git r dun. Sweat, manual labor and routine jobs...this is the domain of the 8 of Pentacles. "I got no time for livin'...Yes, I'm workin' all the time..." This card reminds me of my neighbor, a coal miner, who works a lot...often pulling double shifts. Yet, he seems happy and satisfied, often giving his extra money to his grown kids. He's been on vacation the entire month of August, so he's now in the 9 of Pentacles "enjoy the fruit of your labor" mode.

  Rainbow in the Dark by Dio: The Hermit and The Star -

With the lyrics "When there's lightning, it always bring me down", it may be tempting to associate the song with The Tower, but because I have a special, personal affinity for Rainbow in the Dark, I just can't. In fact, I can't even capture it in a BIT Snapshot with just one card (and like I say in my book, that's just fine). The Hermit is all about solitude, and this song talks about being left on your own. But solitude is weird for some people; they can't take it. They have to always be jabbering on the phone, creating drama, texting, interacting on the web, bothering the neighbors, bugging their grown kids... I'm a quadruple Scorpio so I love solitude (as does my Scorpio husband). If I didn't have my husband and child, I could do without in-person social interaction just fine (which would surprise people who know me or have talked with me. Bubbly me? Oh yeah...) I (now) like my own company. Wasn't always this way, though. I had my own "demons" to wrestle in the past, including low-self esteem and hyper self-criticism.

It's tempting to throw The Devil in here, because he's all about bondage of any sort, especially the self-defeating kind. The Hermit has to find his own way; he must realize that the Light he is looking for has been inside him all the time. Not easy! And The Star? That's the rainbow in the dark part. Who can see a rainbow in the dark? Can a rainbow even be cast in the dark? When we turn our eyes inward, the hope of truly seeing and knowing our inner Light--and being guided by it like a North Star--is priceless. You have that, and The Devil can never trip you in his wiles in the form of peer pressure, societal expectations, media "standards" or groupthink. After all, what's in that Hermit's lamp, anyway? The Star! RIP Ronnie James Dio. [wipes tear]

OK, that's it for this installment of the BIT Tarot Snapshot Show, boys and girls! Stay tuned for another episode soon--same bat time, same bat channel.

If you're hungry for more, go on ahead a buy my book Back in Time Tarot (if you haven't already) to read some more awesome BIT Snapshots to tide you over in the meantime. My book is available in Kindle format (you do have a Kindle 3, right?) or, you can get a personalized, signed copy from my website.

Thanks for reading!

-- Janet

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