The Wand/Fire Hand

Chiromancy, Numerology, Tarot

Hand shapes correspond to the four elements, Fire, Air, Water and Earth, and thus also correspond directly to the four Tarot suits, the Wand/Fire Hand, the Sword/Air Hand, the Cup/Water Hand and the Pentacle/Earth Hand.

The Wand/Fire Hand has a long (rectangular rather than square) palm, longer than the fingers; the fingers too may be quite long, but never as long as the long palm (if they were equally long, it would be a Cup/Water Hand).

The Wand/Fire Hand indicates a fiery, charismatic nature, and a natural leader and/or showman, though not necessarily an extrovert: many performers in the world of music and theatre and film have the Wand/Fire Hand but “off-stage” can be quite introverted.

Here are a few examples of Fire Hands that I found on a quick Search:

Boris Johnson, too, seems to have Fire Hands:

As, by the look of it here, does Donald Trump:

I was going to draw attention to what these people have in common, then realised that one very obvious thing was they were all men! So here are a couple of famous women who both seem to have Wand/Fire Hands:

At this point it occurred to me, as a numerologist, to do a quick check on their names (with the Chaldean system I always use) and these were the results:

Bill Gates – 7
George W Bush – 2
Michael Jackson – 8
Boris Johnson – 3
Donald Trump – 3
Angela Merkel – 3
Monica Bellucci – 2

The three 3s are interesting, aren’t they, given that all three also share Fire Hands? Returning to the Tarot, which would their card be, the Three of Wands or  the Knight of Wands (12 = 3)?

They are all 12s:
Boris Johnson – 48 = 12 = 3
Donald Trump – 48 = 12 = 3
Angela Merkel – 39 = 12 = 3
and it seems to me their card would be the Knight of Wands ( a 12), for unlike Greta Garbo and Will Smith, for instance (who are both 30 = 3, and therefore 3s but not 12s) Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Angela Merkel are all, in their own idiosyncratic ways, born crusaders.

More to come on Threes, and of course on Wands, in future posts! (More on Threes now HERE)

More on Twos and Elevens

Numerology

As we saw from the examples given in my earlier post on Twos and Elevens – examples like:

George Washington – 65 = 11 = 2
Harold Wilson – 47 = 11= 2
Pablo Picasso – 47 = 11 = 2

the celebrity Twos were all Elevens, then Twos.

This is true of virtually all Twos derived from names. It is possible to find a few names that seem to be Twos directly derived not from the Number Eleven but from the Number 20; however, if you take the number of each name separately (which is how it in fact should be done) you see that again the Number Two derives from the Number Eleven.

Willy Kray: 20 = 2 (but Willy: 14 = 5; Kray: 6; and 5 + 6 = 11 = 2)
Jim Kelly: 20 = 2 (but Jim: 6; Kelly: 14 = 5; and 6 + 5 = 11 = 2)
Jill Stark: 20 = 2 (but Jill: 8; Stark: 12 = 3; and 8 + 3 = 11 = 2)
Jay Smith: 20 = 2 (but Jay: 3; Smith: 17 = 8; and 3 + 8 = 11 = 2)
Jack Bailey: 20 = 2 (but Jack: 7; Bailey: 13 = 4; and 7 + 4 = 11 = 2)
Mariana Day: 20 = 2 (but Mariana: 14 = 5; Day: 6; and 5 + 6 = 11 = 2)

Whether you number each name separately or all together the final result is always the same, but the path followed will often be different.

Now it is just possible for a name to be a Two without being an Eleven:

Jaqui Bear: 20 = 2 (Or Jaqui: 10 = 1; Bear 10 = 1; 1 + 1 = 2)
Mick Grail: 20 = 2 (Or Mick: 10 = 1; Grail 10 = 1; 1 + 1 = 2)

Perhaps it is possible to say that poor Jaqui and Mick, unlike all the others, can never be Elevens (will always sweep the stage rather than perform upon it); but it is also quite certain that the vast majority of Eleven=Twos will also be, in effect, sweepers, and never the inspired creators and leaders that true Elevens have it within themselves potentially to be.

On Taking the Significator Seriously

Reading and Readings

The Tarot and other similar methods of divination are based on the assumption that there is no such thing as random coincidence (at least where the mind is involved), that what may appear to be a random selection, a coincidence, is in fact what Jung termed synchronicity.

Now I go along with this. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be a Tarot reader.

Nevertheless, in every reading I do there is one point where I go to the card rather than let the card come to me. That is the selection of the Significator, the card that represents the querent (the person for whom the reading is being done).

I divide the sixteen court cards, well shuffled, into two roughly equal piles, face down, choose one pile, divide that in two, choose one of them, divide that in two, choose one of those, and so on until there are only two cards left, one in each pile. The one of them that is chosen will be the Significator.

The question, obviously, is: how do you actively distinguish between the two piles (go to the card) rather than simply make a “random choice” and depend on synchronicity (letting the card come to you)?

There are two ways. If the querent is a believer, you can simply let him/her select the pile (face down, of course) each time. This works very well.

However, many querents are manifestly sceptical about the whole thing, and the negative vibrations have a negative effect on the selection system.  With them, and also obviously with a querent who is not present at the reading (a situation that is now quite normal, with many of us doing readings online or by email) it is necessary for the reader to make the selection. I do this by dowsing for it with a pendulum.

This can be done either by letting the pendulum point at one of the piles of cards, or by holding the pendulum over each pile and eliciting a Yes or a No response. In the latter case, the pendulum should always be held over both piles, one after the other, to confirm the response, though I have been doing this for years and have never known two No’s or two Yes’s.

Again you come down finally to two cards, then one.

The reason I am writing this post is that I did this the other day for a querent who had contacted me by email, and came up with the Knight of Wands.

It didn’t fit at all, so I ignored it.

You should never do that.

The question had come from a woman in Norway and was about a relationship. It was couched in 3rd Person terms, but this is quite usual: “Should this girl pursue this relationship with …?” You know the kind of thing. Only one name – the name I bore in mind when dowsing for the Significator – and no indication whatsoever that the querent was anyone other than the girl in question.

When I sent my reading I received a reply thanking me for my time and effort (it was a free reading) but pointing out that she was the mother of the girl in question …

Suddenly the Significator – the Knight of Wands – made perfect sense. It was her setting out to protect her daughter.

Yes, we should always select the Significator with the utmost care, whatever method we use, and we should always take it very seriously indeed.

Tarot and the Taurus Moon

Astrology, Major Arcana, Moon Signs, Numerology, Reincarnation, Tarot, The Past

Taurus is a Fixed Earth Sign, its number is 5, it is associated with the planet Venus, and its opposite Sign is Scorpio: wherever it is a factor in the horoscope it will always involve steadiness and an appreciation of physical sensations. 

People born when the Moon was in Taurus all suffer from harrowing feelings of insecurity, they are all extremely sensual, possessive, and doggedly tenacious. They react slowly to any experience, and feel secure in predictable situations.

The three key words here are: Insecurity, Sensuality, Stubbornness. 

People born under this Moon Sign worry about the future and have a tendency (stemming no doubt from past life experiences) to attribute too much importance to house and job, money and status: the material as opposed to the spiritual. Though they are occasionally extravagant (they are by nature aquisitive), they are predictably good at managing money.

They also tend to feel insecure in their personal relationships, with a great need for stability and constancy and unwavering affection in their love life, demanding and giving loyalty and trust – though that does not necessarily mean they will always be one hundred percent faithful themselves as they secretly satisfy their sexual needs. But then they tend to separate love and sex in their minds, perhaps because of that innate feeling of insecurity. They love and live with the person they feel safe with.

They prefer a life-style which, if not outright luxurious, at least reflects their love of beauty. They have impeccable taste and will, so far as possible, surround themselves with beautiful things. They love beautiful clothes, adornments and perfumes (on themselves or on their partner) and they enjoy cordon bleu cuisine. This love of, and need of, beauty extends to the world around them and their way of attaining inner contentment is through spending time in natural surroundings – sea coasts, forests, hills – wherever there are trees and flowers and beautiful scenery.

They are slow to anger, it is true, but they are even slower to forgive and forget – all part of the famous stubbornness and resistance to change that you also find in those born when the Sun was in Taurus, along with a tendency to blame everyone else when they find themselves stuck in a rut. Actually, they find it so hard to forgive and forget that grudges and resentment are even carried over from other lives – along with chips on the shoulder!

People born when the Moon is in Taurus are not usually ambitious in a conventional sense but their need to prove themselves does sometimes shoot them into the spotlight. They are sometimes healers, or psychic – given to meaningful dreams or premonitions, or good with Tarot cards or whatever. In fact, they all have this talent but tend to repress it because anything that smacks of the occult makes them nervous. Which is a pity: if you are reading this then you were quite likely born when the Moon was in Taurus, so ask yourself if this is true of you, because in their past lives Taurus Moons will at various times have been just that: the shaman, the psychic, the sorcerer, the witch, the wizard. They “know” without knowing how they know, and dismiss this knowing as “gut feelings”, animal instinct, but it is in fact part of their ability to access their Superconscious, their Higher Self, and also to channel (healing) energy down to Earth. Mostly now though, in this life, they are too worried about their material security to allow this fundamental part of themselves to come to the fore – which is what they should be doing. But I’ll come back to that.

The Moon Signs and compatibility
Taurus is an Earth Sign and while it would be compatible with another Earth Sign (another Taurus, or a Virgo or Capricorn), Taurus Moons match best with people born when the Moon was in one of the Water Signs – Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces. However, Taurus Moons have a negative effect on people born when the Moon was in one of the Fire Signs (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius); like the effect of the Water Signs, they quite simply put the Fire out!

Health and diet for different Moon Signs
Understanding the peculiarities of your particular Moon Sign can help you decide on what constitutes a good diet for you. Remember, ONE MAN’S MEAT IS ANOTHER MAN’S POISON, and generalisations about what constitutes “healthy food” for everyone are not only unhelpful but downright dangerous.

For those born when the Moon was in Taurus, diet is not usually a problem. They can eat almost anything. However, they do tend to indulge in comfort eating when they feel either the body or the soul lacking something they need – most commonly, affection. However, their concern with bodily fitness and beauty means that this will normally be only a passing phase that they soon snap out of. It also encourages them to buy good quality beauty products.

What to avoid? As far as diet is concerned, nothing in particular stands out. However, Taurus Moons should certainly avoid too much sitting around. A sedentary life-style is not for them.

And so finally we come to:

The Tarot Trump which represents and symbolises this Moon sign:-

First, though, let’s look at the number – 5 – which in numerology indicates the odd, the discordant, or the insecure, and at the same time signifies the attempt to control, to overcome, the odd and discordant, or to make safe and secure; which is what we find in The Pope (the number 5 Trump Card of Taurus Suns) and also here in Trump Card number XIV (14 = 5) Temperance.

The Pope represents the attempt by organised religion, the Church, Orthodoxy, to bring the mystical and the psychic and the magical to heel.

And that is very similar to what Taurus Moons do. In a series of Past Lives they have been seers, sorcerers, witches, or whatever, and have been hounded by the established religion in different epochs and various parts of the world. Then, perhaps in their last life, they were born when the Sun was in Taurus, and joined the establishment in search of  security and stability. Now, in this current life, that fear of their innate psychic abilities is a Moon feature, subconscious, but always there, and it horrifies them to see those psychic abilities emerging once again. But their search for security needs to move beyond the material and the tangible (house, money, status and lip service to the prevalent organised religion) and open up to the spiritual, the eternal soul, the Self that exists beyond physical death.

The angel in Trump Card No. XIV, Temperance, is the angel of safety, one foot in the water one on land while diluting the wine of life, but behind his back, ignored, lies the path that leads to the golden crown – a path where the wine is not watered.

That is what the Taurus Moon is all about.

DOWSING by Shirley Wallis

Book Reviews, Dowsing

To my mind, the best simple, straightforward, introduction to dowsing is still this little book: Shirley Wallis’s Dowsing.

And perhaps its  most attractive feature, at least for the beginner, is its many full-colour illustrations, combined with relatively few words. There is explanatory text, of course, but it is kept brief and clear and to the point , in marked contrast with other introductions such as Tom Graves’ Pendulum Dowsing and Neilsen’s Pendulum Power, both of which do tend to go on and on and on. But I will review them in later posts.

After a brief history of dowsing, some thoughts on how it works, and a comparison of pendulum dowsing and dowsing with a rod, we come to the nitty-gritty with a very good section on “Establishing a Code of Practice”, something all too often overlooked by the enthustiastic beginner.

Then there is getting the feel of the thing, with the best illustration of the Finger Test I have ever seen, a wise caution about using the pendulum over someone’s body – better experiment with plants! – and instructions on using the pendulum for decision-making – Yes/No – and for testing things. Finally, there are introductions to the world of T.C. Lethbridge (I’ll be looking at that myself later), map dowsing and ley-lines.

An excellent little book. And its a hardback, small but solid, so it’s not going to fall apart after a lot of use.

Twos and Elevens

Major Arcana, Numerology, Tarot

The Number Two is the opposite of Number One. They are natural peacemakers, with a flair for compromise, but that tendency may cause them to dither and vacillate and be unreliable and even devious. They are extremely sensitive, and being naturally passive often feel helpless in the hands of Fate, and become depressed.

The Number Two may be an ideal partner or may be too submissive for that and be better as a subordinate. This is not to to say that Twos cannot learn to assert themselves, but whether they do or not will depend on other factors such as their Sun Sign and Moon Sign and which of the four elements figure more largely in their make-up. (This can often be told at a glance by a good hand-reader).

And this leads us on to the Number Eleven.  When the Number Two is not simply a Two (as it is in the second and twentieth days of the month, for example, or The High Priestess and Judgement in the Tarot Major Arcana) but is actually an Eleven being reduced to a Two (as it almost always is in the case of names, and in Justice in the Tarot Major Arcana) then it is not simply a Two, the opposite of Number One, but is also potentially a Master Number, the Number Eleven.

Elevens are creative, inspired, intuitive. They inspire others, can be great leaders, but they follow their hearts, not their brains, even to their own destruction.

We have to look for both sets of characteristics when dealing with 11 = 2. I read somewhere that both Elevens and Twos work on stage: Elevens perform on the stage, Twos sweep up afterwards.

George Washington – 65 = 11 = 2
Harold Wilson – 47 = 11= 2

George Clooney – 56 = 11 = 2
Rosemary Clooney – 56 = 11 = 2
Kate Moss – 29 = 11 = 2
Harrison Ford – 47 = 11 = 2
Ian Fleming – 38 = 11 = 2
Dylan Thomas – 38 = 11 = 2
Marilyn Monroe – 47 = 11 = 2
Monica Bellucci – 47 = 11 = 2
David Beckham – 38 = 11 = 2
Victoria Beckham – 47 = 11 = 2
Pablo Picasso – 47 = 11 = 2

 

Ones

Numerology, Tarot

One is the Number of Action. Ones are natural leaders, self-sufficient, ambitious, pioneering, inventive. They may be bossy and/or too much the loner. They can be kind, but are not naturally friendly or sociable. They will always accomplish what they see as the task allotted to them in life.

H. G. Wells – 28 = 10 = 1
Albert Einstein – 46 = 10 = 1

Mohandas Gandhi – 46 = 10 = 1
Che Guevara – 37 = 10 = 1
Laurence Olivier – 55 = 10 = 1
Tim Berners-Lee – 64 = 10 – 1
Rachel Pollack – 46 = 10 = 1
Jane Fonda – 37 = 10 = 1
Julia Roberts – 37 = 10 = 1
Vladimir Putin – 46 = 10 = 1

Paul McCartney – 46 = 10 = 1
Donna Summer – 46 = 10 = 1
Whitney Houston – 64 = 10 = 1

I’ll come back to the fact that all the 1s are also 10s in a later post.

The Numbers That Count

Numerology

For those of you for whom numerology is just a word. let me explain. In numerology, every number (and indeed every word, every notion) is normally reduced to one of the digits 1 – 9.

When it is a number you are dealing with, you simply add the digits together till they reduce to a single digit between 1 and 9. For example, the number 21 reduces to 2 + 1 = 3.

The number 16,273,419 reduces to 33 (1+6+2+7+3+4+1+9=33) and this reduces to 6 (3+3).

So, one more example? 357 = 15 = 6

Which means that to a numerologist, 16,273,419 and 357 amount to the same thing: 6

Coincidentally, the number 6  is in my opinion the most interesting number of all (that is to say of the numbers 1 – 9, the numbers that matter).

Why do I say that?

Well, the number 1 stands on its own, obviously – as do 5 and 7. None of these numbers is divisible by any other number.

Compare that with 2, 4 and 8:  4 = 2 x 2; 8 = 2 x 2 x 2.

Or with 3 and 9: 9 = 3 x 3.

So while (numerologically speaking) we would expect the numbers 1, 5 and 7 each to have distinctive features of their own, we might expect 2, 4 and 8 to have features in common, and likewise 3 and 9.

We in fact have two groups here, the 2 group (2, 4, 8) and the 3 group (3, 9).

Which leaves us with the number 6. And 6 being 2 x 3, we might expect it to exhibit features of both the 2 group and the 3 group. Which it invariably does.

Now that we have seen something of the basis of  numerology, let’s try it with words.

For this we need a system for converting letters to numbers. This is the traditional “Hebrew” (Chaldean) conversion table (which I find works much better than the one known for some strange reason as “Pythagorean”):

Let’s apply this to some names.

Charlotte: 3+5+1+2+3+7+4+4+5=34

Brontë: 2+2+7+5+4+5=25

So, Charlotte Brontë = 34+25 = 59 = 14 = 5

Another 5 is William Shakespeare, another William Blake.

All great writers. But Emily Bronte is 3, Oscar Wilde is 8, William Butler Yeats is 1 and Bernard Shaw is 9, so let’s not generalise too quickly.

We’ll see what all these numbers mean in later posts. But first, a few more examples. starting HERE.