This week I am working with The Garden of Creation, a Gated Spread book by Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin. The Gated Spreads in this book are designed to unlock " the ability to create stories from images – and our own lives."

The First Gate helps develop the plotline of the Story. 

​I walked from the High Priestess gate to the Queen of Wands, to the Six of Cups, To the Page of Wands, to Seven of Swords, to the World to the Tower where the path diverged. I could Either take the path of Death to the Hanged Man or the Path of the Nine of Swords to the Page of Swords.

The Priestess opens the Gate of Wisdom to be disseminated by the Queen of Swords. These intelligent women can be very cold when challenged or very understanding when approached with reason. The Path between them is full of all the possibilities of Universe. The Queen will suffer no fools and quickly cuts away anything that doesn't fit her agenda.

​On the Second leg that The Queen travels to the Six of Cups. A synchronicity with the Aquarius horoscope on November 11, 2020 describes the actions of this path: "Your subconscious may bring up long-forgotten memories. You’re able to experience intense emotions and nostalgia during this time in order to heal old grudges or fears. Even if it seems like they’re coming from out of the blue or you don’t understand why you’re feeling the way you’re feeling, respect your emotions and you will be rewarded with a sense of peace."

​The resolution of the conflicts in that path opens the next gate to the Page of Wands Now that the lessons have been learned and incorporated, the restoration of harmony allows the devotion to the journey to be reignited. Crossing this path requires taking a fresh look at motivations and actions. What exactly am I trying to accomplish and am I doing everything to make it happen?

After some serious contemplation, I am ready to walk the Path to the Seven of Swords. This is the Moon in the 3. decan of Aquarius. The High Priestess covertly points the way to accepting my fate and learning to work within the boundaries created by it. The purpose of the work that I’m doing now is to remove the illusions that I’ve placed in denial of these barriers in order to move forward to the World.

The Path from the Seven to the World is fraught with deception and deceit, but exactly who is the trickster? Which illusions am I allowing to keep me from finding my destiny? I fear some serious shadow work may be in order before I pass through the Wreathed Gateway to the Tower and shatter any preconceived notions and outdated patterns that may exist.

Once the path is clear again, I will have two choices to move forward.

​The First is the Path of Transformation that leads to Acceptance of the circumstances

​The Second Path is one of reflection and analysis that could either bring freedom or force me to accept what I cannot change.

Which choice will I make? . I feel it doesn't really matter. the choices are so similar that in my mind the second path will lead to the first anyway. The choice is how fast do I want to get there.

I am sharing my experience with a gated spread shared by authors Marcus Katz ad Tali Goodwin in Book 6 of their Gated Spread series The Ghost Train: Use Your 

The setting for this journey follows an old-time fun house like the one found in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, UK.

​Tarot to Explore Your Past. The deck I chose for this year's adventure is the Tarot of the Hidden Realms by Barbara Moore and Julia Jeffrey

Day 1
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The Seer of Tarosophy Towers has me riding in the Moon Carriage through the tunnel. The deck I choose for this turn on the Ghost Train is the Tarot of the Hidden Realms. The card shows a woman crawling away from the Moon, away from the illusions cast in its light. In my hemisphere, the direction she travels is North away from the healing energies of the Sun. She is traveling deeper into the darkness of the illusions she wishes to escape.

The seer speaks:

 You are called to recognize illusionary ideals and must learn to follow your instincts

A message came in from the Universe shortly after, in the form of a podcast, regarding the illusions I’ve created for myself:

The question comes from the illusion that we are separate beings with an identity neither of which is true. And there will always be questions until that is realized. The only question is the universe asking what the Fuck am I?

The coincidence, if one can call it that, is not lost on me. The focus of the internal work that I’ve done has been about the illusions that assist my daily being. As each illusion reveals itself, may I be less likely to repeat that illusion in a different setting.

Day 2

I have chosen to work with the energies of the most recently departed. Dwelling on the far past will be of no use because I know very little about those ancestors and cannot assign courts
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I picked the cards for these important women based on Liber 777 by Aleistar Crowley 

​Toshiko My mother was born on Halloween in the First Decan of Scorpio. That corresponds to the King of Cups. Although my mother in no way resembles the image on the card, she was someone who chose to leave the best and follow her heart, eschewing luxury for a simple life. I never really understood her. She was emotionally absent from my life, creating her own path in a world dominated by men. To this day, I don’t know if she succeeded in achieving her dreams.

Shirley Mother in law Queen of Swords. Born on the first day of Libra, she is the Queen of Swords, harsh when she needed to be and nurturing when she wanted to be. I’m the only one of the daughter-in-laws to understand her nature. We were friends and she taught me many things.

Day 3
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​I pull the cards for the Spooky Pipe Organ. These are the cards that play the background music that lives in my mind.

Day 4
I spent the the day contemplating the cards

Once the prep work is completed, manifestation happens quickly unless one puts a damper on the process. This happens when one becomes content with the gathering of intel and knows that forward movement can happen at any time. Complacency sets in because of the early successes feel like victory and moving forward into the unknown is still scary. Too many people get stuck in the illusion of completion when in reality they have only just started to move forward. Once one is able to dispel the illusion, that person’s light will shine for all to see. And that dim spark that seems so far away will grow into a light that shines for all.

​Day 5

Today I work the planchette. The carriage slowly begins to move. The path is a dizzying circle that leads to the King of Cups, the one chosen for my mother. The movement stops and I ask the questions again. I wait patiently. The carriage card suddenly moves straight down picking up the card directly below, the Star. I can image both women looking at each other and shaking their heads at my denseness.
I look again at the Fear cards and I reflect on what I have allowed to hold me back.

Day 6
The final cards are:

6 of pentacles Give and receive to find the abundance you seek
Temperance Discipline and choice create the balance that flows through your life. Resist being controlled by your circumstance by maintaining control of yourself
Empress Abundance comes to whatever you nurture. Choose carefully what it is that you wish to promote because it will grow to fruition. If left unattended, it could die or become invasive.

​Beware of taking your importance too seriously. Fate has a strange way of taking everything away and you will find that you need a new way forward. Use this time to nurture and grow your vision during this transition because your way of life is changing. Have patience while waiting for things to happen. Outcomes cannot always be delivered instantly and may take some time to become reality.

​A partnership of mutual love and trust placed the querent in a position of material happiness. Life was good, yet she felt that there was more to it than she was experiencing.

The life she was leading felt as if every thought, every deed required tapping into Strengths she didn’t know she had. The experiences that she received honed her will, yet she many times she felt that she was fighting a battle to make others hear her words and understand her vision. This waking nightmare challenged her ethics and everything she believed in.

It had become evident that she needed to start fresh, to raise her ideas to the next level and find ways to creatively guide them into a new reality. This was what she was being called to do and it became the motivation for her continuing her work.

.The swirling of awareness came with some regrets, though, as fate brought changes that she didn’t understand. Several beliefs she held didn't fit with the vision she created. These outworn ideals that had held her back were crushed by the transformation, never to return because she started being more selective about who and what she allowed in her life.

To Be Continued...

If you want to learn more about how this spread works, the entire operation can be found at The Tarosophy Tarot Association.