Carnal desires and passions will flare up in August. Irrationality will rage. Temperaments are wild. But, no matter what, we will feel dissatisfied. In this Topsy-turvy month nothing is as it seems. Let’s start with the cards, and my personal experience of arriving at the crossroads that is this August.

My regular Muses deck disappeared. They seem to have abandoned me. So I couldn’t do a reading and frustration started to overtake me. Then I thought I’ll go along with what’s available to me. At that point The Marziano deck came to the rescue. It saved me and I love learning from it in unexpected ways. And this might be the greatest lesson we can take away with us as we look at the cards and think of August: when you experience something has been taken away from you, perhaps something else is already manifesting to take its place. Accept it. Appreciate its value. It’s there for a reason.

The Marziano/Michelino is not a standard tarot deck. It is a Rennaissance creation reinterpreting Graeco-Roman religion and Egyptian knowledge westernised for fifteenth century Italian aristocracy. So a piece of social history and early European craftsmanship. It’s roots are in a philosophical game of cards using allegory to deliver real life messages. As frivolous or as profound a divinatory process as the players themselves involved in the ritual. The deck has 16 trumps of Deities, 2 court cards, and 4 suits consisting of Doves, Turtledoves, Eagles and Phoenixes.

We shouldn’t be surprised that the Phoenix which is heavily used in Christianity as a symbol of regeneration and in other religions as a spirit animal of the Sun power and cleansing energy sprung from its’ all consuming fire first thing in our reading. The Phoenix totem brings a message of hope and renewal through letting go of things that do not serve us anymore. A breakthrough is imminent. Our present condition should not limit us. The 7 of Phoenix, is a card of growth and achievement but it is a bitter card. We have not quite got there. Or what we’ve got is not quite what we wished for. There is despondency and a sense of looking down on what we are left with. It doesn’t seem fair. Or it’s not enough.

In fact the 5 of Doves is a further confirmation of our sense of loss and disappointment. We are practically cloaked in misery at this point. Whether real or imaginary, we are not acknowledging all the positives we are surrounded with at this height of summer. The rich fruits of our labour that have started arriving. They are extraordinary and looking down on them will not be doing anyone justice. All cards this month belong to the feminine suits of Doves and Phoenixes. Even Cupid is part of the Doves series which is thought to represent the Pentacles in a traditional tarot deck. The desirous suits representing passions and emotions dominate everything.

And as such there is generosity and abundance, money, beauty, success, but with the underlying reminder that we are going to have to let go of the dead fruit. We can’t take them with us for the rest of the year. The 5 of Doves here are telling us that we are indeed having a hard time. It’s a time of transition however that should lead to a more fulfilling future. The solution to our troubles whether emotional of material has manifested though it is not visible to us yet.

Of course, how could it be otherwise if we are going to finish the month hit by Cupid’s arrows? Cupid is random, heartless, and is playing games. But he is fun when he strikes, and no one will escape him! No good trying. Even Jupiter himself couldn’t avoid being hit by his arrows. Be sure, he will bring meaning to everything we do. It could be actual love, or love of a project, new idea, new conditions, new places. It’s all good, and it’s all there for the taking.

Flavia