(Flashback) The Truth's in the Cards (Solo)

[Blythe]

67 Winter, Year 509

Blythe was sitting on the grass on a low-rolling hill, a strange woman of a race unknown to her sitting across from her on the grass as well. Both of them were sitting Indian style. Both of them were wearing white dresses that curled around their feet. The woman she was reading had long red hair, that curled at the tips. Her eyes were as green as the grass, and shone with an inner light that many people don't seem to possess. Her skin was rather tan, like sand, or coffee with a lot of milk and sugar mixed in. She had long fingers, with long, straight nails to match, and perfectly white, and straight teeth. Her lips were like red roses, that formed a perfect arch, like an archer's bow.

Blythe tucked her blonde hair behind her ears, her lavender eyes staring at the woman, as the palladini tarot deck she had borrowed from her sister Mist, sat in her lap. She pulled the deck out of the box, and started to shuffle them. "Do you know what question you want to ask of the deck?" Blythe asked the woman.

The woman looked up at her, "question?"

"Yes, what do you want to learn in this reading?" Blythe asked, "it can be anything at all," she continued. The woman pressed a finger to her mouth, as in deep in thought, "will my life be good?" she asked.

Blythe chuckled, "can you be a little more specific? It's easier to interpret more refined questions." The woman nodded. "Will I ever have a baby?" Blythe nodded. "Will you ever have a baby? Now keep that question in mind," Blythe said.

Blythe then chose the Queen of Rods to be the significator. It is used to embody the other woman's presence during the reading. The card has to do with sensuality. One who mirrors the desires of others, and grows to ignite them. A person who sees what she wants and goes after it. Blythe placed that card to the side, and said, "don't forget your question, just keep asking it in your head, keep it in mind."

Blythe shuffled the deck over and over before lying them out on the grass before the woman, the side of the cards without images, facing upward, the image side down on the grass.

Blythe chose to use the two paths spread, which provides insight into a decision posed by the person being read, the possible outcomes, and the forces that draw that person towards two separate outcomes. It seemed most appropriate for this sort of reading.

"Now, I want you to use her left hand, and let yourself be guided to 5 separate cards." The woman held out her left hand. "Just pass them over the cards, and if you feel drawn to one of them, I want you to say so and hand them to me." The woman nodded, and passed her hands back and forth over the rows of cards. She picked a card and handed it to Blythe. Blythe lay it in front of her. Then the woman handed her another, and another, and another, and then the last one. Blythe lay the second card beneath the first, the third a little lower and to the right of the second, the fourth a little higher and to the right of the third, and then the fifth on top of that one. In the end, the cards formed a V.

Then Blythe flipped all the cards the woman had chosen over, and gathered the rest of the unused cards into a pile, before putting them back in the box, putting on the lid, and placing them on her lap. The first card the woman had drawn was the card in the top left corner. It represents the first possible outcome. The card was the upside-down wheel of fortune card. Blythe translated this to the woman, pointing at the card, "the reverse wheel of fortune is your first possible outcome. When like this, it represents bad luck. A chain of events has been broken, some sort of outside influence is making your outcome... well... bad. Things will begin to spiral downwards due to, perhaps fate. Destiny. Your past actions are going to come back to haunt you. This represents misfortune, as well as failure." The woman nodded, looking rather sad, as though tears were about to form in their ducts, and then rain down her face. But she showed restraint, held herself back.

"The top right card represents the second possible outcome," Blythe explained, as she pointed at the card the woman had chosen. It was the temperance card. "The temperance card has to do with both calm and restraint," Blythe began to explain. "It has to do with self-control when it comes to handling things. It deals with the act of using a balance of spiritual and psychic forces in your physical, everyday life."

Blythe pointed to the card just below the upside-down wheel of fortunes. "The middle left card represents the force drawing you towards the first possible outcome. This card is the fool. It is associated with fearlessness, imagination, being open-minded, and a spirit that longs for adventure. You have no cares in the world. You are free from all of that- responsibility, your duties in this life. You do not know where your thoughts and impulses come from, they are buried deeply within you. You don't care if you gain everything, or lose everything you have."

Blythe looked to the queen, a shadow, a filled in outline of an image surrounded in green leaves, and a sky of pure white. She had a golden pentacle, in a pale golden circle, drawn into the center of her head. Just below the crown. Blythe pointed to it, "the middle right card represents the force drawing you towards the second possible outcome. This is the reverse of the queen of pentacles," (essentially, this card is upside-down). "This is earth trying to be water," Blythe paused, looking up at the sky, the clouds that loomed overhead, they were dark, ominous looking, as though it would rain later in the day. "Ice."

"This queen is icy, yet generous when it comes to entertaining. She is driven by an overwhelming need to live a lavish lifestyle, she loves money, costly things, material goods. She also strives to maintain this. She is so obsessed with this... need," Blythe placed great emphasis on this word, "that she cannot enjoy all of the beautiful things, and all the wonderful people around her. This person mirrors the weaknesses of others. She gives birth to both suspicion and mistrust."

Blythe looked to the bottom of the V, the card that truly decided it all. A young boy in a purple coif-like hat, wielding a sword that seemed to weigh far more than he, that seemed far larger than he. It was surprising in a way, that he could actually lift it. Blythe pointed to the card at the bottom of the V. "The bottom card represents the critical factor that determines what will come to pass. Essentially, it determines which path you will choose to walk down." There was a slight nod from the woman. "This card is the page of swords. It is the essence of air behaving as earth, like a steady wind. It signifies an upcoming challenge. One that is unexpected. It should be solved using a clear mind, and swift and just actions. It has to do with one who values sheer logic. It has to do with gathering information, making judgments through careful examination, and vigilance. The use of reason or eloquent speech to penetrate the veil of confusion and cut to the heart of the matter."

OOCJust a note, I refer to several sites and my own deck for this information. I have put everything in my own words, EXCEPT the last sentence of this post, which I copied directly from a site.

[Blythe]

"What this means," Blythe began, taking a moment to look up from the cards and back up at the woman she was reading, "is that you have two paths. Two choices, and one factor that will sway you in either of two directions."

Blythe looked up at the woman she was reading again, and lifted her hand, "on one hand, you may follow a path that leads to bad luck." Blythe gulped, the reading starting to hit close to home, so to speak, she took a moment to breath, to quiet her rushing heart. To force the tears that she were convinced were forming in her ducts to disappear. "This may mean that you lose your baby after birth, that you can't get pregnant, something is wrong with the baby once it's born." Blythe paused.

"It could mean that your baby is born, but it doesn't turn out the way you wanted or expected- s/he and yourself, don't have a good relationship, you seem distant and far away from each other, even though you are linked by blood. Whatever happens, this path will be painful, seen as a sort of failure, most likely by yourself, AND others." The woman started to grow sad, a single tear spilling down her cheek, Blythe wished she had brought something to give her so she could wash her face. Instead, she simply paused, asking, "you ok?" the woman nodded. "Continue," she said.

Blythe nodded, and turned back to the interpretation of the cards that had been drawn. "Now the force that will guide you to that particular outcome..." Blythes voice trailed off. The fool, what a peculiar card she thought, as she looked up at the woman, feeling as though she should pick her next few words carefully, knowing that what she said may be considered insulting.

"The reasons why you may end up with that particular fate is because you want to do something else with your life. You don't want to settle down; don't want to take the time to nurture your child and watch it grow." Well that didn't seem nice, Blythe thought to herself, before trying a different route, "perhaps it's because you didn't realize how much work a baby is, how much work a child is, how much time you have to dedicate to it, and it frustrates you. You want to have more time to spend out and about, doing all of the things you enjoy doing."

"Maybe..." Blythe's voice trailed off as she looked into the distance, more dark clouds were rolling in. The woman across from her cleared her throat, and Blythe began again, "it all seems like an impulse... maybe a mistake..." Blythe's voice trailed off again, into the distance, the wind that now whirled and whistled by.

Blythe looked up again, lowering her left hand a little, and raising the right in its place. "On the other hand, you have another possible path. Option two. Perhaps you'll have a baby, and be a good mother. Everything will be as smooth sailing as can be during the birth, and for most of the childhood. It may also have to with you having a baby, but not right away... like you have to try a few times before you become pregnant. Like you'll have a baby, but not necessarily as soon as you want to. Perhaps the child will also present with some sort of challenges, during and after birth, but you will be able to meet these challenges, and overcome them over time."

Blythe paused again. She looked at what the woman had drawn- reverse queen of pentacles. How strange. How did this, of all the cards in the arcanas, fit into the equation? she wondered. Taking in a deep breath, willing herself to come up with something, anything. It seemed like this card contradicted everything, and she didn't know exactly what to say, or to do. "Perhaps you have a child... because you want to entertain..." Blythe's voice trailed off.

"You have this child to keep up appearances.. to fit in. You feel like an outsider, but you don't want to be one. You hope that this child can bring you greater social standing..." That was it, all Blythe could extract from this card. Just, for whatever reason, she couldn't make it fit.

"Now, what decides which path you choose- a mysterious, and perhaps slightly ominous, upcoming, and unexpected challenge. Perhaps, you will have trouble conceiving, or something should go wrong in the pregnancy, or in the timeline, like when you want to have the child, or even, who with. Perhaps your partner will be sent away, or injured, or get angry with you, or desire to lie next to someone else, perhaps he doesn't want a child..."

Blythe paused, probably not the best choice of words, she thought, "however, the use of logic, and a clear and open mind, should be able to help you overcome this challenge, and to make a decision."

The woman nodded, "thank you," she said, as she began to get up. "You're welcome," Blythe said, as the woman suddenly plopped back down, as though she had stumbled on the way up.

"There is wisdom in your words," the woman said cryptically. Blythe eyed her, one brow raised in an arch, "how do you mean?" Blythe asked of the woman, hoping she'd indulge Blythe with an answer, which would hopefully satisfy her curiosity.

"Just that I have struggled with getting pregnant before," the woman replied as she got up again, before Blythe could ask her anything else, stop her, something. The woman quickly walked away, disappearing behind a row of trees.

It started to drizzle and Blythe looked up at the sky, letting it fall on her face for a moment before she looked back down, and quickly picked up her sister's cards, put them away, and headed home.

[Blythe]

((OOC: Sorry I forgot this before Alice, this is the site: http://www.facade.com/tarot/ This isn't the precise address, since I ran through the steps of a reading... and I of course, had to clear my history... but at least this way I gives credit where it's due))

[Alice]

Blythe

Experience: 5 Fortune Telling
Lores: Using Tarot, The Two Paths Spread, The Reverse Wheel of Fortune Card, The Temperance Card, The Fool Card, The Reverse Queen of Pentacles Card, The Page of Swords Card, The Queen of Rods Card, Interpreting Two Paths, Speaking Wisely

Comments

That was a nice read, and I enjoyed learning about the woman’s fate and watching Blythe trying to make sense of the cards. I also love how you worked the theoretical information into a story. Once again, your writing style is very lively and beautiful, especially with those short and precise sentences, and I always enjoy reading your threads and following Blythe’s experiences.