Taurus I - Late Notes - Decan Walking - ♉︎
Notes from a Decan Walker 🚶🏽🚶🏽🚶🏽
Hi Substack 👋🏼
Belated Beltane Blessings 🔥
Well… here’s a rarity… first time on here I’ve posted three articles in a week… Don’t worry, I promise it won’t happen often! 🤣
This post is later than intended… life, y’know? Also, after the Aries drive from IV·The Emperor to post, post, post… moving to V·The Hierophant has encouraged me to take a good look at my posts so far, trim them (lots of duplication over previous posts 🧐) and improve their focus. So, welcome to the new, shorter, and (hopefully!) improved Notes from a Decan Walker. Enjoy 😊
What is the purpose of these posts?
Having a publishing deadline keeps me honest, I know myself well enough to realise that walking 36 decans over 12 months, without stopping for a coffee after the second one, and never quite making it back onto the road, would be impossible without accountability 😆. I also want to learn. I want to commit to being more sensitive to the year’s natural changes, beyond, “Nice out, today, isn’t it?” 😊 Most importantly, I am determined to learn some fundamental astrology, rune-casting, and nurture intimate relationships with both the Runic Tarot, and the Steampunk Tarot. So... welcome to my journey, I hope you enjoy walking with me, and find something that resonates for you in what follows...
Let’s Tarot…
My Personal Card for Taurus I
General impressions of the last ten days…
I am unusually prone to anger at the moment. I’ve had to defend my position quite forcefully on three separate occasions; with an idiot driver, a misleading banker, and a gatekeeper at our local eco-waste disposal site. I won the exchange with the driver, lost the one with the gatekeeper (who doesn’t? 😡) and the banker… still unresolved… All much more Aries, than Taurus, I’m afraid 🤔
Even in my dreams, I am expressing anger and frustration. In one dream, I found myself losing it with a smug businesswoman, who insisted on making a phone call to check the ownership of my cold, wet, distressed cat who I had just rescued following her escape from our car… I just wanted The Smudge to be warm, safe, and dry… and she was stopping me doing that!
Where is this 7·W energy coming from? I often feel it, but very rarely express it these days. I know I am stressed and at a low ebb... I definitely need a break 😞
Omens/Synchronicities/Dreams…
‘The Eye of the Storm…’
This expression lived with me throughout this decan. I first heard it from a Seeker who was looking for guidance around how to escape from this position… Later, it resurfaced whilst I was working on Where Would We Be Without Fate, pinging for 4·S, and X·The Wheel…
This perfectly reflected my Taurus I, and my response was very much 7·W.
Money (that old 5 of Pentacles feeling):
I am in an extended spell of trying to resolve issues around the payment of my small (but very welcome!) Spanish pension. My UK State pension has been consistently paid, and joyfully straightforward to set up… but, there are outstanding confusions around amounts I’m entitled to in each country.
The Spanish INSS also insist that a Spanish pension is paid into a Spanish Bank Account, so I had to open another one (long story 😟). During Taurus I, the new bank decided to institute a non-negotiable monthly charge for their services, despite written agreement that they wouldn’t. Now I need to close the account…
Nothing earth-splitting here, just a grinding slog to get anything resolved… sliding on the thin ice on crutches, y’know what I mean?
In other news… On the eve of Taurus II, my UK Pension landed just in time to cover a set of half-yearly household taxes, neatly introducing the incoming 6·P energy of Taurus II. Palpable relief here 😅 Synchronicity!
On the outside:
I am currently dreaming… a lot… and vivid dreams they are, too! 😵💫
Several of these dreams featured my old profession as a corporate role-player/trainer, in which I am either under-briefed, under-prepared, or under-dressed. I never get to the part in my dreams where I actually do the role-play, I’m always on the outside of it somehow... 🤔
This decan included lots of dreams… art festivals in a hotel, podcast recording (whose broadcast never happens in the dream) and music. I played guitar until a couple of years ago, and it’s resurfacing now in my dreams. One, in particular, featured my attendance at a Rolling Stones gig, prior to auditioning for them (Gimme Shelter era Stones… for the dream journal entry follow this footnote1 ).
There are two synchronicities here, my wife highlighted one around music; in my dreams, and later in my waking hours, where a recent chance encounter with some old friends raised the topic again… 🎸 … The common theme throughout this is… I never get to step up on stage, I always wake up first!
The Question for this decan:
Anticipating this decan in my last post on Aries III, I felt that the key question to address during Taurus I was:
How can I better support those important to me?
I was mindful of this question throughout this decan, and got a standout opportunity to approach it mindfully when my wife had dental treatment. She is a very anxious dental patient (with good reason that I won’t go into here). I was very happy to be able to accompany her, and help her recovery over a few days.
Happy Stuff (Magician-ing it up! and indulging my Hierophant-ical student 😁):
In the early days of Taurus I I hit upon the idea of asking Tarot, Where Would We Be Without Fate, and researching, writing and publishing this post made me really happy, I loved it! 💜
Whilst doom-surfing er… researching (yes, that’s it! 😅) on FB I came across the excellent Rain at Dusk Co. who is making beautiful Tarot/Norse postings at the moment. She was generously offering a free rune reading to first comers; and, happily, I was one of them. A brilliant reading came back! Check her out, OK! 👍🏼
A new gateway, to me, to Chinese home-cooking opened up in the YT Channel The Woks of Life and my Taurus I grinned from ear-to-ear 😁 It’s fabulous!!! 🍜
Our wet-room boiler problem was resolved by our local magician, Ken 👍🏼
My Hierophant of the decan was the brilliant Erica at The Experimental Intuitive who began her online Intuitive Tarot meet ups. This was a brilliant opportunity to meet new international Tarot enthusiasts, as well as discovering another synchronicity… one of the group members is also from Spain, and I know her! 😃
Through the portals of learning, V·The Hierophant also guided me towards a new resource to help me develop my mediumship skills… I loved this YT post, You are not blocked! and the magic question it proposes we ask Spirit, “What am I missing here?” before trusting the immediate response that comes to mind.
Then there was this remarkable moment… a few months ago, I had a platform reading from a medium I like and respect. My father came through, and these were the notes my wife took, “… thirst for knowledge… dog with a bone… you are the same… settle on one thing - perfect it…" Yep, that was Dad alright! 😆
Last week, though, my interest in I-Ching sparked (yep, another thing!!! 🙀) and I came across this wonderful Benebell Wen quote during a Night Light Astrology interview podcast…
… and validation landed 😃
My Learnings during Taurus I
Arythmancy
1 + 73/1 + 5 = 7
VII·The Chariot - The Lord of the Triumph of Light - 🜄 brings these three cards into focus. Certainly, the companions in the 5·P are displaying the will to continue on, whilst the warmth and succour offered by V·The Hierophant’s church (is it the one in the background of the 5·P’s? 🧐) will heal them.
The elemental energies here are predominantly Earth (5·P, V, & VII) whilst I·The Magician corresponds to Air. My intuition tells me that these cards emphasise the Earthly manifestation of material safety and comfort. The Airy, Mercurial, I·The Magician energy feels very much like the last breath of departing Aries…
Colours
My awareness has been drawn mostly to browns during this decan. It has often been the only featured colour in my dreams. Preparing my Card of the Month for May post, I felt very drawn to the greens of spring, and chose the Robin Wood Tarot for the reading. Greens and browns replaced the blacks, whites, and yellows during my Aries decans… something is gently stirring, I think… 🤔
As a three-card reading
From infinite power
To the institutional gateway -
Icy slippery footing
Last time I wrote…
The standout image for me in this spread is, unsurprisingly, 5·Pentacles - The Lord of Material Trouble… wow! I thought we’d left winter behind! As I sit with it, recalling the joy and excitement of 4·Wands, I’m reminded that everything changes… except here what has changed is in the material world, because companionship and support are still strong.
1·The Magician - The Magus of Power corresponding to Mercury ☿, the ruler of this decan tells us that we have the power to quickly change our circumstances if we apply ourselves, if we would only turn and face him. But our journey takes us to…
… institutional help from 5·The Hierophant - the Magus of the Eternal Gods corresponding to Taurus ♉️ and shelter in their nearby house of Spirit. Spiritual support can help us to develop our power and capability when we introduce understanding, and how to access it… beginning our journey through Taurus 🐂…
As I’ve lived with this spread, I’ve graduated increasingly towards the view that these cards represent walking away from freedom and direct access to Spirit (I·The Magician) to the safety of an institutional edifice with a gatekeeper (V·The Hierophant)… 🧐
The companions in the 5·P are undertaking an icy, cold journey full of troubles in search of a better life, begging the question… what went wrong in position 1?
Was the channelling of power too daunting?
Was it that experience that ruined them, sending them out into the cold snow in the tattered remains of their clothing?
Or, was this energy simply never more than a temporary flare?
I’m feeling the answer to these questions is… ✅.
The Runic Tarot Card and Rune for Taurus I
What this card added…
The Runic Tarot card shows another nighttime scene in the aftermath of a lost battle. A wounded Viking sits amongst the conflict wreckage, whilst his comrade-in-arms heads out to find help…
This card describes a much greater sense of danger, and no nearby respite, than does the RWS, emphasising service rather than companionship… The stakes in this card feel much higher to me.
What the rune added…
The rune Gebo ᚷ underlines the service his companion is undertaking… the keywords assistance, and partnership, echo the RWS card image, but Gebo adds generosity, too. This will be an arduous journey through hostile territory and maybe showers of arrows, to secure their comrade’s rescue.
So... Did I walk the decan, or did it walk me?
The primary decan energy that I felt was in V·The Hierophant. As I said in my Seven Ages series of posts, learning is my happy place, and during this decan I certainly learned new, fascinating, and helpful things. I walked it.
It walked me in terms of the 5·P 🜃 and my chosen card, the 7·W 🜁. Where the 5·P recommended walking carefully, and working with people, I made several trips to my higher ground to argue with them instead… and it’s not a good look 😔
I·The Magician walked me, too. I journalled this at the start of the decan…
Today it was all about kerbs. I hit two in the car, and stumbled on one when I was walking...
Truly, this baffled me… Hermes moments maybe? I rarely hit kerbs! I asked Google what kerbs symbolise…
“In essence, the kerb as a metaphor highlights a necessary, often rigid line that defines where one area—and its corresponding rules—ends, and another begins”.
I concluded that the message here was about moving into a Fixed sign. Perhaps the message here is about respecting barriers? Reflecting on this, possibly this was hinting at some of the disputes to come over the next several days? In any event, I wish Hermes had been a little less subtle, y’know? If you have any ideas about what this was trying to tell me, please let me know, ‘cos I’m a bit stumped…
So… On balance… ♉︎I stomped me! 😅
If this has made you curious about taking a Decan Walk, I strongly recommend Christa’s The Decan Walk at Practical Astros 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Does anything in the above jump out at you? Let me know in the comments, if so, I always welcome your wisdom and insights 🙏🏼
Love, light, and laughter… always!
tarotbyphil 🕯️
The Rolling Stones audition dream journal entry…
I'm at a Rolling Stones gig. Last week Mick Jagger approached me and asked me to come along to the gig for a tryout. The idea is that I am going to play with them for a few songs in the set. I told him that I couldn't rehearse the songs, because I was away all week. He said that's okay come along anyway. So I'm here and I'm absolutely terrified. In the dream, I'm maybe in my thirties. There is another older guy who is looking after me. The gig is taking place at floor level in a multi-space sort of warehouse. There is a support band in a different part of the building, and the idea is that we are going to step in and do some stuff with them. I have a sense of having very quickly picked up my guitar case from home, but didn't pick up a tuner. I ask this guy if I can borrow his tuner and he kind of looks at me (with that "amateur!" look) and says okay. When I open my guitar case I realise that I have a guitar body only, a cherry-red Gibson-ish, with more controls than an SG. But, it doesn't have a neck! Obviously, this means I won't be able to play with the support band, who are good. I'm actually relieved rather than disappointed because this also means that I won't be able to play with Stones, either! Overall, it seems like there's not much organisation around how/when when we are going to join or not. Then we are watching the Stones playing. Great stuff, with an up-close and intimate crowd. There is a guy who has obviously been around the band for years, and gets up on to the small stage with them. He directs the end of the song, repeating the last line to deliver a slow, impactful finish. Mick Jagger is delighted and thanks him. I am loving watching but waiting very anxiously for an opportunity to tell Mick Jagger that I can't play, thank him very much for the opportunity and say I hope he finds the guitarist he's looking for. The dream ends there with us standing around enjoying the gig. Once again I don't get to perform...
Really enjoyed this
The 5 of Pentacles themes especially came through strongly for me with all the paperwork, banking frustrations, delays, and that general feeling of pushing uphill through practical reality.
I also loved the recurring “Eye of the Storm” thread running through the piece. It gave everything this strange suspended feeling, especially alongside the dreams and the repeated sense of standing just outside the stage lights.
And that “sliding on thin ice on crutches” line… brilliant image. I felt that one 😅x
What incredible reflections, thank you for sharing and I’m so glad you’re on this walk 🤘