Hekate and Mercury: The Conspirators

On April 18th, during a reading with the fabulous Tarot of Vampyres by Ian Daniels, I had the realization that Hekate and Mercury not only talk with one another but that they actually have a relationship that is highly complementary. Do I believe that the gods spend all of their time wrapped up in the affairs of individual mortals? No. Do I believe that they talk about us with one another and co-plan certain aspects of our lives? Yes! Any one who works with more than one god intuitively knows this. I, on the other hand, am quite late to this realization!

I know that Hekate and Mercury have a good relationship regardless of my involvement, but it never occurred to me that they coordinate their efforts in my life specifically. From my personal gnosis about how they work with me, Hekate keeps track of the grand scheme of things and my life’s trajectory while Mercury seems to enjoy being the executor, the guy who makes things happen, who sorts out the details. Given his involvement in the minutia of everyday life in general, this makes a lot of sense. I can see the god who deals with public transportation, email, the internet, telephone lines, business, politics, and the economy being involved in making sure that I encounter who I am supposed to encounter, when I am supposed to encounter them, so that certain spiritual and mundane processes in my life happen in ways that likely feedback into their larger goals. This reminds me of a previous post where I highlighted that Mercury tends to be Mr. Telephone Man. He has been present at pretty much every major deity connection I have made!

This most recent connection with Dionysos is no different. Hekate attended me during Dionysos’ initial overtures and entry. Mercury stayed out of sight until the 18th of April when the deal between all of us was pretty much sealed, a deal for which I am still trying to get someone to reveal the exact terms, conditions, and fine print! I guess that’s called being in a relationship. This is after all a social contract at its most basic level, though it involves gods and a mortal.

P.S. I still feel a little crazy sometimes talking about relationships with gods. It just feels so presumptuous. I am working on my issues with it. I promise. I just have to remind myself that the gods are our Elder Kin and they really are invested. I am just hoping I can meet their expectations, which seem very high given the amount of time they spend Working with (on?) me. Gasp! (no, seriously…GASP!!)

The Tarot of Vampyres: Janet Boyer’s Review

Here is yet another fantastic review (by Janet Boyer) of Ian Daniels’ The Tarot of Vampyres. Boyer’s take on the deck echoes my own, so I present it here to show you that I am not crazy, just in love with this deck!

 

The Chariot, The Magician, Seven of Scepters, and The Priestess

The Tarot of Vampyres: Initial Thoughts

A friend of mine recently purchased The Tarot of Vampyres for me as a belated Yule gift (thanks, girl!). When I first requested the gift, I knew that I would like the deck, having previewed the cards and the accompanying book – entitled Phantasmagoria – at Amazon.com, but, I was not expecting to love it!

I have been in love with vampires since I was a young girl but I typically do not mix my fantasy and my spirituality. Personally, I do not see the value in owning a Lord of the Rings Oracle or performing bibliomancy using H.P. Lovecraft books, etc. I have nothing against people who engage in such practices but it does not hold much water for my own spiritual path. Well…it didn’t until now; The Tarot of the Vampyres has changed my mind and my rule. I think it has so profoundly changed my mind because Vampyres is not an intellectually or spiritually pansy-ass deck for cheap pay-per-thrills. No, in fact it is a deck that you can take as seriously as any other quality tarot deck with solid symbolism, meaningful card descriptions, thoughtful imagery, and intradeck consistency. Many decks that tap fantasy themes cannot make similar claims about their construction. When it comes to blending fantasy and spirituality, I guess it ultimately would not work (no matter how well done) if the fantasy world being tapped did not resonate with you. Vampires are meaningful for me because I have spent a lot of time thinking about who, what, and why they are, what they mean to me and to people in general through their appearance in cinema and literature, and what they might signify about the human consciousness and spiritual condition. I realize now that vampires “do it for me” one some level because I have thought about them in depth. If others can claim the same of Lovecraft then who am I to deny them their bliss.

Ian Daniels, the deck illustrator and author of the accompanying book has taken the time to create a focused deck that is not only interested in darkness, fears, and shadows but also in hope, joy, love, and wisdom. The deck is balanced and it has cards and images that speak to various important aspects of human life. One thing I will say is that the deck emphasizes the inner mindscape. If you want concrete advice about your finances, that may be harder for a less experienced reader to glean from the cards, but you just may ferret out what intra- and extra-psychic forces are instigating your financial troubles or successes.  It may not tell you who your next lover will be, but it just may help you determine what aspects of your own psyche he or she will stimulate (for better or worse).

Overall, I am very pleased with this deck and I cannot wait to do additional work with it in the coming months. Kudos to Ian Daniels for a great deck!