By Laurel

....and with this chant circling among the ritual participants, punctuated with the snapping of the fire and the low drumbeats, filling your ears as you speak your own private invocation and draw three cards.....

It is a moment when the omen-taker draws into him/herself the energies of the Circle and opens to, in turn, the Nature Spirits, the Ancestors and the Deities, to ask what message would they have for us. At Lughnassah we received:

From the Nature Spirits: The Wheel of Fortune

From the Ancestors: The Tower

From the Shining Ones: The Hanged Man

'Change' cards, all. The Wheel turns: do we adapt and grow with the change in circumstances, finding new opportunities and new avenues of understanding? Or do we fight the change, attempting to keep our old, 'comfortable' ways?

When lightning strikes the Tower do we turn away and hide, cowering at the destruction, or do we see a sudden flash of enlightenment, and a chance to build anew which could not begin until the old was swept away.

And, finally, le Pendu, hanging by one foot, apparently motionless. Even in transition, there is a quiet spot for reflection. We much each look within for the inner reality with which to create the outer reality. Change is in a holding pattern, awaiting a key event but we can put the time to good use....

Use this omen to help you, both as individuals and as Grove participants, to deal with the changes happening in Muin Mound.

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This omen (as well as the one I drew at Midsummer) was taken using only the Major Arcana of a tarot deck. On Lughnassah I used my own Universal deck, which has Time, Karma and Desire cards instead of Temperance, Justice and Strength (the divinatory meanings are very similar, never fear). I originally did this because I know the Majors best but, on reflection, I might continue to do this because, in Grove ritual omens, we wish to bespeak wider issues and spiritual matters, not the everyday. Where on the Quest are we?

As each of you ponder the omen, there are things to consider, especially if your interpretation differs from mine: I do not read reversals, using a range of interpretation with each card which often incorporates what would have been considered the 'reverse.' Which brings me to context: an idea, even a Major one, rarely stands alone without question. The interpretation of a card can be made clearer, muted, or darkened, depending on its location and the surrounding cards. Think back to the original question for a starting point. And finally, consider that my Tarot deck is a multi-cultural construct within the traditional framework of Majors and Minors; not a Rider-Waite, though using similar evocative art on all cards, and not a Thoth, though reflecting this system of meanings.

Let this omen speak to you.