Today I drew the 6 of Cups,
Now this cards taken something of a hit among members of this group. Which is not the worst thing, as readers we need to be aware of the shadow side of every card. To give a Q. a truly fair reading however, we need to have as balanced a view as we can of a card. Understand its higher and lower octaves.

Melanie has truly chosen to stress the higher octave in her vision of this card. In the fore ground is a pretty Latina woman, in the back ground are a pair of young girls at play. The girls are obliviously naked, a symbol of pure innocence, much like the Star card, in the Waite deck. The woman in the foreground might be the child in the background at an diagonal to her.

No less than 3 Ravens, and perhaps a 4th partially hidden behind the dark-haired girl, accompany the human figures on the card. One positioned so that at a glance the figure might be thought to have angels wings sprouting from her back. Melanie uses Ravens as symbols of Magic, and a bridge to the unconscious. The card also bridges to the unconscious by the technique of the artist. The foreground is quite substantial, but the image becomes surreal the mono-chrome hill the children play on could also be a starry sky.

Melanie's card is not so much about the reality of childhood, our own, or our children's. It is more about the watercolor memories we retain from childhood. I think I know what I'm talking about here as well as most anyone. My father was an Alcoholic and a Gambler, with the cheery on top that he was when angered a viciously violent man. I spent 2 years in a state school, when my folks broke up, and knew more derelicts by name by the time I was 12 than alot of folks will brush up against in a lifetime. So you might well think my memories of childhood are pretty awful, but thats not the whole truth.

The things I remember best are fishing with my dad off the docks in the spring and summer. Or doing "roadwork" with him in the park when I was just about seven. I remember going to the "Unity" theater in Buffalo on weekends to catch the latest kids flick. The Projected Man, or King Kong, or my all time favorite, "Destroy all Monsters." I now own the DVD, everyone who ever donned a rubber suit and leveled Tokyo shows up in this one. Yes childhood gets better with age. When I remember playing in the snow with a Tonka Grater Truck, I remember the simple joy of simple play, but I dont feel the sting of Buffalo's bitter December cold. I remember my Dad buying me my first pool que shortly after I was sent to the state school. I remember his shock a few months later, when on a visit I beat the pants off him on my aunts pool table. I'ld had lots of time to practice.

I dont mean to short change my mom, its just as a little guy, I dont have the store house of memories a little girl might of the things we did together. She read to us, that was important to her. The Yearling, and Lassie come Home. She did her best to keep house with 3 boys and a girl to keep clean and fed. There was never Too Much food. We didn't go hungry, but we did not get much in the way of snacks or junk.

The thing I remember best about mom, though, was the simple fact of her unconditional love. Oh she could get mad when we ignored our chores, and put a amazing emphasis into a curse. When she said, I'm not putting up with this BULLSHIT, it was enough to stop you cold. Yet she loved us warts and all, and accepted us as individuals. One Toughguy, One Brainbox, The Quite one, and her little girl. She did not pick and chose, or tell us how come you cant be more like ...? She wasn't an ideal Mom, just a damn good one!

I think our childhood grounds the rest of our lives. It determines not only what we believe in, but what we can believe in as adults.

Blessed Be, All BB.

Divination: Enjoyable memories, Happiness from the past, Nostalgia, moving past regrets, Past experience leads to present success in ones relationships.

Reversed:Attachment to the past blocks present success, Opportunities forthcoming.