She talks to wolves...

I am fond of decks of cards: there's something powerful, to me, about a trim stack of stiff paper pieces bearing images, whether those images be spades and diamonds, illustrations drawn by Pamela Colman Smith, depictions of fairy tales, etc. Cards are things of chance and story, community and danger. Since I was a child, I have been especially drawn to cards of divination. Here's the thing, though: I don't believe that divinatory cards reveal the future. I believe that these cards have the power to reveal ourselves.

Many people find it difficult to quiet their minds and just listen to the wisdom they usually possess beneath all the bullshit our everyday monkey minds throw at us. I know I've definitely been guilty of this: making personal decisions dramatic and confusing rather than trusting the decision I've already made but didn't want to face. I've asked the Tarot about my future because I was afraid, when all I needed to do was look at my past and my present to know what I should be doing.

And that's exactly what the Tarot and other decks helped me do: look inside, not to the future. The conjunction of cards, a random symbolic image: these things can have the same effect on our minds as an intuitively grasped Zen koan, shocking us into a new sense of understanding.

Several years ago, I encountered M.C.A. Hogarth's Balance Cards. Amazingly, this woman had developed her own deck of cards that perfectly meshed with my personal concepts of these things. From her website:
Well, the Balance Cards are certainly My Kind of Thing. However, they're not a deck of cards I can possess; rather, all of haikujaguar 's cards in the one deck of Balance Cards that exists are blank. When she reads, she pulls the labeled card and lets an image form in her mind for each person. The resulting readings can be startling and are always thought-provoking. And, if you desire to commission your card, she will paint you your specific ideological card.

As you can deduce, this method of reading can be exhausting. Yet haikujaguar  offers a monthly One Card Draw, where anyone can request one card for free through her Livejournal. You can even customize the question you want answered. While this monthly draw is usually sponsored by several people from the community, there is still an intense amount of generosity that goes into these One Card Draws. I am truly impressed and humbled each time haikujaguar  holds one.

I have benefited from her readings on several occasions. I have even commissioned a couple of cards, one of which is pictured with this entry. Both cards have proven very inspirational to me, helping me to hear myself when I needed it the most.

If you're interested in divination or just need a little help quieting your monkey mind, give M.C.A. Hogarth's Balance Cards a try. You can commission a private reading for a nominal fee or simply participate in the One Card Draw she's hosting tomorrow.

I'll see you there.

haikujaguar has thrown open the gates for all to ask for a one card draw. If you're interested in divination, you should check out her Balance Cards. They are quite insightful.

Be mindful, there's only a two-hour window in which to take advantage of this opportunity! She'll be closed for draws by 7:15 PM EST.