I seldom use The Forty Servants deck for readings, but this morning I did, while enjoying the morning sun and pleasant air outside my new home. The reading was surprisingly rich and spoke directly to my current transition of settling into life in a new location.
West / Earth “How can I establish a meaningful livelihood?”
THE IDEA
I already have the seed of my future; my main idea for employment is viable and must be pursued urgently.
Earth is about tangible action and results. The Idea is a call to implementation. This matches my question about work. This card encourages me to trust my idea and take practical steps to achieve it.
I have to start calling the right businesses and ask my friend for her contacts in that industry.
North / Fire “How can I kindle inspiration and passion?”
THE MESSENGER
There are messages that I am failing to see or hear. Fire brings enthusiasm and divine spark. This card suggests that sources of inspiration aren’t lacking; I just need to pay attention. Something wants to ignite my passion and connect me to others.(In one of the vivid dreams I've had recently, a very dark-skinned black woman in a yellow sun dress came to our door and said to me saucily, “We need to get you a bed-- and a job!!”)
East / Air “How can I cultivate communication, relationships, and growth?”
THE LOVERS
Relationships are at the heart of a person's intellectual and emotional life.
This card tells me to make meaningful choices. It encourages me to choose connection, not isolation. The Lovers also suggests I maintain integrity in how I speak and whom I partner with.
South / Water “How can I nourish my emotional and spiritual life?”
THE FATHER
Seek someone who can provide good counsel, wisdom, and insight--someone who can prepare me to deal appropriately with hardship. Water purifies and clarifies. The Father brings boundaries, strength, experience, and wise guidance.
Center “What hidden needs or overlooked aspects require attention?”
THE DEPLETED
I am still carrying weight from the past that drains my energy. This card means rest, release, and renewal. While the other four cards point toward growth and forward motion, this one cautions that I must first make space for that growth. The Idea can’t bloom and The Lovers can’t unite if I am exhausted or mentally scattered.
Summary and Reflection: It will be possible to step into the kind of life I came here to create, if I stay grounded and attend to reality diligently. The Idea and The Lovers speak of a bold beginning and aligned relationships. The Messenger and The Father suggest that help is available if I listen closely and accept it. The Depleted card serves as a gentle warning that I can’t build a new life with old habits. I must rest and release.
Monday, May 12, 2025
Reading at Daybreak: A Grounded Path Forward
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
What Do We Bless When We Whisper?
Until the other night, though, I hadn’t thought much about the line we say quietly just after Shema: “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for all time.” What exactly are we blessing? Are we blessing Israel, the “kingdom of priests” that we’re commanded to become? Are we God’s kingdom? Or are we joining the angels in their eternal praise of God, HaMakom? (And what is כבוד? In Hebrew, the word is often translated as “glorious” but also suggests weight, substance, or significance...)
I was taught that we whisper these words because they are the words angels chant endlessly around the throne of God—and because the words break the flow between words of Torah, Shema (Deut 6:4) and V’ahavta (Deut 6:5-9). But I’ve begun to wonder: what does it mean to bless the name of God’s kingdom? Is this an act of humility, as if to say, we don’t speak with the voices of angels? Or are we quietly blessing... ourselves?
I've written to the Chabad rabbi in San Marcos and, if he doesn't think I've missed the point entirely, I hope to have some insights that I can share.
Friday, May 2, 2025
Egipcios Kier Card 41 Dissension and the Ace of Cups
My goal is to write about each of the Egipcios Kier cards that Nelise Carbonare Vieira associates with the suit of Cups. I’m beginning with the card she links to the Ace of Cups: card 41, Dissension.
The title of card 41 seems at odds with the glowing abundance that I usually associate with the Ace of Cups. The central image, however, seems more positive than the title.Here are my upright keywords for the Ace of Cups:
- Upright: Gift of emotions, compassion, creativity, joy, emotional renewal, overflowing feelings
- Reversed: Repressed emotions, distrusting your intuition
The central image on card 41 shows four individuals who may be praying, singing, or performing. While there’s a superficial resemblance to the Rider-Waite-Smith Five of Wands, these figures don’t seem to be in conflict; three are standing, one is kneeling, and all raise their arms expressively. The cartouche contains these symbols:
- The lower section shows a jar or urn turned upside down
- The upper section includes a vulture, a glyph with eight branches, an inverted flame inside a green square, and the Hebrew letter Alef (א)
- On the title line are the symbol for Mercury, a double L, and the number 5 (which may refer to Tiferet or to Gevurah on the Tree of Life)
Kaplan’s meanings for card 41 are:
- Upright: unsatisfied desires, struggle, endeavors, violent strife, obstacles, dissension, failed negotiations
- Reversed: trickery, contradictions, complexity, involvement, caution against indecision
Vieira sees this card as the beginning of the emotional and creative journey of the Cups, a moment when inner restlessness pushes us toward self-expression. To find our place in the world, we must step forward, express our talents, and reveal both our value and our values. We’re learning to craft roles that reflect our true selves, even as we struggle with the fear of stepping out of anonymity.
Many of us were discouraged from speaking freely in childhood, taught to suppress our feelings and ideas. We learned to hide our abilities to avoid rejection or criticism. But now, we’re beginning to recognize our gifts and feel ready to stop holding back. We want to trust our voices and be seen.
This card speaks to the courage it takes to confront self-doubt, to challenge a sense of inferiority, and to stop letting others’ disapproval define us. Though we may judge our own efforts harshly, we might be surprised, when we finally share them, to be met with appreciation and encouragement.
In focusing on Vieira’s interpretation, I have strayed from the card’s title, Dissension, and Kaplan’s keywords. However, I can discern a subtle alignment between Vieira's ideas and the title of the card. Inner restlessness is a kind of dissension, a clash between our hidden potential and the silence we’ve accepted. That tension can mark the beginning of transformation. It’s this discomfort that prompts us to create, to speak, to assert who we really are. Repressed emotions begin to rise. Dissension, in this case, may start within, but it doesn’t necessarily end in external conflict.
In conclusion, this card suggests a new beginning, as all Aces do, but a beginning not born of peace and harmony—as the Ace of Cups might suggest—but of friction. It is a call to break with submission and passivity, to challenge the roles we’ve accepted, and to step forward with our true gifts and convictions. Dissension, in this context, isn’t just conflict; it is the courage to disrupt the silence.
Perhaps this card suggests that healing begins with a rupture; the heart must break open before it can flow outward. To express what lives within us calls for courage, surrender, and faith. Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk taught, “The only whole heart is a broken one.” Dissension within may mark not chaos, but the stirring of the soul, a holy disturbance that creates space for revelation and for the emergence of our hidden gifts.
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Tarot Thunderdome: Now Accepting PayPal and Miracles


En una esquina: Señora Fátima, reina de los amarres y limpias,
con más velas que un altar en Semana Santa.
En la otra: Hannah Berg, profetisa bilingüe (Inglés y Pig Latin),
tarotista certificada por el universo, y leyenda local del desierto.
🔮 ¿Quién revelará tu destino con más estilo?
🔮 ¿Quién te dará visión espiritual y cambio para el café?
🔥 Fátima dice: ¡Paga cuando veas resultados!
💸 Hannah dice: שלמו רק כשתתחילו לראות ניסים
(¡Paga solo cuando veas milagros!)
📣 ¡Elige a tu vidente!
📣 ¡Comparte con tus amistades!
📣 ¡Y que empiecen los juegos místicos! 🧿🔔
אין לי שום רצון להתחרות בכישורים של סניורה פאטימה. היא עוד תוריד לי כאפה