The Mover and Shaker

My boyfriend and I spent yesterday with Kate. We turned up at hers around midday, had some coffee, and then popped to the local shops with her and her daughter. We then sat in a pub garden, chatting and playing games with little Isis. We wasn't sure how the day was going to develop, but after eating some food that Kate had prepared, her mother came to babysit for the evening and we popped to her local pub. The village where she lives is much more laid back than the town where I am and it was nice to sit outside and bask in it's quiet and quaint personality. Rather than spend money on more rounds, we went back to hers with another friend of ours, and sat up to the early hours in the kitchen, listening to music and chatting with her mother. It was another of those nights that I like; simple, but effective.

I thought I'd pull the vampyres out again this afternoon. I often lay here, looking up at the deck's accompanying book on the shelf, thinking about how I'd like to give it another shot for reading. When my friend first mailed me some scans of the four princes from it, I fell in love with them, but after receiving the set, the warmth of my initial connection soon began to turn cold. My main issue in this pack is the amount of blood. I know that blood kind of goes with the territory, but here, it feels gratuitous and seems to be splashed about all over the place. Many of the vampyres appear sexualised, which also puts me off a bit, and over all, the use of an acidic green in a lot of cards makes me feel uncomfortable when I look through them. There are some really beautiful cards in the Tarot of the Vampyres, but there are also a handful that I find difficult to get my head around. Maybe I should pull them from the deck and get to know them, rather than hope that they'll never show up. Sounds like a plan.

Aside from the fangs, drops of blood and those devilish red eyes, I don't find this magician too difficult to gel with. I love his tattoos and flowing blonde locks. For this draw, that's red paint he's mixing up in the bowl. Despite a slow start to today (I spent a couple of hours laying on the sofa cuddling up with a neighbourhood cat), I have printed and ironed my first sample for prospective school projects. I drew up a design a day ago of a man's face and surrounded it with roses and a banner. I want to show the kids different printing techniques and this is the first. I plan to use Image Maker for another, and fabric pens and paint to customise a pair of plain shoes as well. That is what this card is all about. The Magician knows that if I want to impress my agents and get some work, then I need to connect to my creativity and make it happen.

My boyfriend is a bear with a sore head this afternoon. His headache was fueled by yesterday's white wine, so he has been up to little today. It is so sunny out at the moment, but a few hours ago, it was grey and pouring with rain. Whatever the weather, we have no plans and I want to keep it that way too, since we have a barbecue to go to tomorrow and I need to press on with the decorating of the shoes this evening. The closing date for application is Tuesday, I think, so even though I have not had a reply to the mail I sent a few days ago, I think I will put my proposal forward all the same and see what happens. That's me, behaving like The Magician, and being the mover and shaker of my own future. With this card comes responsibility and it echoes what the wolf of decisions was saying on Thursday.




Illustration from The Vampyre Tarot by Ian Daniels