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Hi Folks,

I have been working on the novel on my computer, but as so few people are leaving comments I am not sure how many people are reading the blog and if you are really interested in me continuing with it.

Therefore, I thought I would wait and ask for your opinion. If you would like me to continue please leave a note below. If enough people respond positively I will of course begin posting again.

Knight of Swords : Into the fray

NOTE: If you are new to this blog and want to read the novel from the beginning click here

A little light listening for you whilst you read the article.

Tuesday 20th January

We spent the night in another hotel and this morning the same routine – out of bed, onto the horse, eat and talk while we travelled. Eating was proving to be a little difficult because everything tasted like metal due to the overpowering stench of his armour.

Throughout the morning I was treated to Sir Galahad's critique of my situation once again. He couldn't seem to resist telling me where I had gone wrong in his opinion and how the situation should have been dealt with and what I should do once we reached Swordonia. He really was the most unfeeling oaf I had come across in a long, long time.

What tickled me was that he saw himself as the hero who had come to rescue me (never mind the fact that I didn't want to be rescued) and saw it as his duty to set me straight and deliver me to where he reasoned my problems could be solved and I could find a way home.

As we neared Swordonia we could hear the sounds of what sounded like a battle. We broke into a gallop and soon came across several men on horseback fighting. Sir Galahad unceremoniously lifted me down onto the ground, dropped a pack down beside me and told me that Swordonia was half an hour that way. Without a by your leave he galloped off towards the battle.

Well, I was obviously out of his mind now that he had found another cause. It struck me that Sir Galahad would only ever be happy when he had a something to fight for, someone to rescue or a campaign to lead.

I sighed and turned toward Swordonia, feeling battered and bruised from the journey on the horse and properly scalded by the critical words of Sir Galahad. Sir Galahad indeed!

Please feel free to leave suggestions for an Elvis song to accompany each section (card) in the comments section below.
To read the traditional tarot articles which accompany this novel please visit
Traditional Tarot Articles

To learn tarot for yourself please visit the
Worldwide Mediums and Psychics Online Tarot Courses

Knight of Swords : It's Illogical

NOTE: If you are new to this blog and want to read the novel from the beginning click here

A little light listening for you whilst you read the article.

Sir Galahad (I still found that name to be rather OTT) informed me that it would take a few days to get to Swordonia and that while we travelled we could discuss my problem and how to solve it so that I could get back home. After a couple of hours travel (the same journey had taken half an hour in a car) we stopped at a hotel for the night and he told me to be ready to leave at dawn the following day.

Monday 19th January

The following morning I was woken by the clanking of his armour way before he knocked on my door. You have no idea how loud that armour is when walking on wooden floors. It sounded like an elephant was walking up to the door. What a wake up call.

He informed me that we would be eating breakfast while we travelled and that we must 'move with all haste' to Swordonia. When I complained and told him that I usually started the day with a pot of tea I was informed that he had provided bottles of water for the journey and that all my needs had been taken care of. When we got outside he just lifted me up and plonked me on the horse and then mounted up behind me. He handed me a bacon cob and a bottle of water and we set out. Have you ever tried to eat whilst riding a horse and with the stink of armour in your nostrils? Not pleasant I can tell you.

As soon as we had finished eating he broke into a gallop. Within half an hour I felt like every bone in my body had turned to jelly and my back had been rubbed raw by his armour. I had to scream to him to stop.

“Do you always travel at full tilt?”

“My lady, 'tis the only way. To walk or canter would be to waste time.”

“Well, you're killing me, so can we please slow down?”

“Methinks my lady is becoming emotional and emotions just get in the way of solving thy problems. But no matter, we can discuss thy problems and thy quest whilst we travel.”

Overly emotional. He's killing me and he's telling me I'm overly emotional. If I didn't think it would hurt my hand on his helmet more than it would hurt him I'd give him a bloody good slap.

He told me that Madge had informed him of what had transpired with my family and how I had booked a holiday to get away from it all and then ended up in Tarocchi.

“My lady, it doth seem to me that thy actions were illogical. Thy achieved nothing by running away from the fight. The logical thing to do as head of thy family would have been to take over the arrangements and stop the arguments.”

“But it doesn't work like that. You have to take into account the feelings of everyone involved.”

“My lady, feelings are irrelevant. To solve any problem thy must put aside all feelings and discuss the problem in a logical manner. It is the only way.”

“I disagree, feelings are very important and if they are not taken into consideration it can cause all sorts of problems within the family.”

We argued back and forth for the best part of an hour but he was not going to be convinced that everyone's feelings had to be accounted for. The only thing that mattered to him was the logic of the situation.

He informed me that the reason we were going to Swordonia was that he felt the solution to my problem was to be with people who used their heads rather than their hearts to solve problems. He didn't seem to care whether I wanted to go there or not.

“You weren't Mr. Spock in a previous life were you?”

“My lady?”

“Star ship enterprise.”

“My lady?”

“Never mind. It was just my little joke.”

You know in all my imaginings about knights in shining armour coming to my rescue it never once occurred to me that they would be anything life the oaf I was travelling with. In my imagination knights had always been romantic, courteous, willing to do anything to ensure a ladies comfort, goes down on one knee to declare undying love. I'm absolutely positive that's everyone else's idea of a knight in shining armour, isn't it? When you think of Sir Galahad do you imagine for one second that he would be a rude, inconsiderate, unfeeling facsimile of Mr. Spock. I think not.

The story continues with Knight of Swords: Into the fray

Please feel free to leave suggestions for an Elvis song to accompany each section (card) in the comments section below.
To read the traditional tarot articles which accompany this novel please visit
Traditional Tarot Articles

To learn tarot for yourself please visit the
Worldwide Mediums and Psychics Online Tarot Courses

The Knight of Swords: Knight in Shining Armour

NOTE: If you are new to this blog and want to read the novel from the beginning click here

A little light listening for you whilst you read the article.

Gaia had left me to think over what she had said and after a while I started walking back along the path to Pentacle Village. As I walked along I could here the clip-clop of a horse coming toward me. I looked up and nearly fell over where I stood. Coming towards me on the most enormous horse I had ever seen was a fully armoured knight. His armour gleamed so much it was almost as blinding as Gaia's light.

As he came up to me he reined in his horse and dismounted. He walked towards me and then knelt on one knee at which point I nearly collapsed in hysterical laughter. Honestly, you have never seen anything so awkward as knight in full armour trying to get down on one knee. And he squeaked!

“My lady, allow me to introduce myself. I am Sir Galahad”

Oh now come on!

“Pardon!”

“The lady Madge hath informed me of thy plight and I hastened to find thee so that I might offer thee my assistance.”

By now I had tears streaming down my face trying so hard not to laugh.

“Oh, my lady, please driest thou tears. Fret not, for I promise thee I will aid thee in thy quest.”

“I'm not crying, I'm ... Are you for real?”

“Real, my lady?”

“You're not on your way to some fête or something are you? Fancy dress ball?”

“No my lady, the winter fête isn't for some weeks yet”

“You're for real? Your a real knight? And your name is Galahad?”

“Why yes my lady, I am a knight of Swordonia. My father is the King of that realm.”

I should have known. I've seen stranger things in Tarocchi. Why not a full blown knight in shining armour?

“I understand thou comest from a far land my lady. Doest thou not have knights in that land?”

“Does opening the door for you and then only on a first date count?”

“My lady? Excuse me for being so forward my lady, but doest thou always wear such manly clothes?”

Manly! Bloody cheek! How rude can you get. Oh boy, I can see there were going to be some problems here. 21st century woman meets knight in shining armour. He's expecting a woman to be all frilly and swoon all over the place and I'm used to fighting my own battles and putting up my own shelves. This is going to be fun.

“This is the way women dress where I come from.”

“How interesting. I would like to visit thy land my lady. Perhaps when we have completed thy quest I could escort thee home?”

Mmmm, taking him home would be very interesting indeed – he would show the men in Birmingham a thing or two I bet. Getting a parking permit his horse might be a bit of a problem though – not to mention it's droppings!

He turned and mounted his horse then moved over next to me. He told me that we had no time to lose if I were to complete my 'quest' and literally hoiked me up in front of him on the horse. When I tried to argue with him he told me that he had considered my plight and determined that the best way was for him to take me to Swordonia where he I would be able to complete my quest and get home. It didn't matter how much I argued he was determined that he knew best and that I would come to see his way of thinking. It seemed he was going to be my knight in shining armour whether I liked it or not. And to make it worse his armour stank to high heaven!

The story continues with Knight of Swords: It's Illogical

Please feel free to leave suggestions for an Elvis song to accompany each section (card) in the comments section below.

To read the traditional tarot articles which accompany this novel please visit
Traditional Tarot Articles

To learn tarot for yourself please visit the
Worldwide Mediums and Psychics Online Tarot Courses

The World: Love is spiritual goal

NOTE: If you are new to this blog and want to read the novel from the beginning click here

A little light listening for you whilst you read the article.

After walking for about ten minutes something suddenly occurred to me.

“Hold on a sec, what has this got to do with achieving goals which is what I thought you were all about?”

“Finally thinking are we? Yes, I am all about letting people know when they have achieved something in the psychical world. But our lives are not just about the physical are they. Just as important is our spiritual life – remember that we are a spiritual being contained in a psychical body and even when that physical body is finished with our spirit lives on. So, some would say that our spiritual life is even more important.”

“I still don't get it.”

“Being spiritual isn't some airy fairy concept where we send our minds off into who knows where to learn the 'truths' of the world or to communicate with incarnate spirits. It's about the way we live our lives on this earth, about how we treat people, how we care for them, what we do for them.”

“And what's that got to do with achieving goals?”

“Wouldn't you like to be the best person you can be. Wouldn't you like to help as many people as you can? Wouldn't you like to help other people be the best they can be? Aren't they worthwhile goals?”

“Yes, but I don't think people consciously aim for those goals do they. It's not something people set out to do like setting up a business or taking flying lessons.”

“Nevertheless, people do achieve those goals. And in a multitude of ways. Let's take love as an example.”

Did you hear me groan on the inside? Right now love is not a subject that I want to hear about.

“Do you remember when you were a child how your grandma used to bake cakes for you when you were upset? Do you remember how she used to make you feel better? To you she was just giving you cakes to cheer you up but in reality she was giving of herself to make your world a better place.”

Those cakes were delicious and I can still taste them and remember the smells that came out of her kitchen. Funny, I never considered that as spiritually giving. Memories came flooding back of another cook in my life who made my world so incredibly wonderful just with a simple plate of food.

“And lets not forget romantic love.”

Another inward groan.

“When we fall in love we are opening our hearts to the other person. We are letting them inside our world. We fall over ourselves to do things for them. And that person who feels so loved reflects that love out to the world and the people around them.”

“Erm, I don't see how falling in love is a spiritual achievement.”

“Can't you? I know you're grieving now but do you remember how it felt when you were in love and part of another persons world. How you opened your heart and mind to him. How you went out of each others way to make each others worlds better?”

“Well, yes – it was wonderful. But it's all gone now. He's gone.”

“Does that make it any the less special? Any the less spiritual? For the time you were together and in love you were opening your hearts to each other, teaching each other about your individual inner lives. So isn't falling in love a wonderfully spiritual goal.”

Ok, now my head was spinning and while I could understand what she was saying with my heart putting it into words that I could say to someone else I simply couldn't imagine. Physical goals and spiritual goals seemed so far removed from each other it was difficult to believe that Gaia could represent both of them.

“Whether its a subject we love that we want to pass on in order to help other people or a person we love – parents, family friends – doesn't really matter. It's the love we feel that enables us to help other people and that should be our ultimate spiritual goal in life.”

“And that's where you come in to this equation. Stop denying the spiritual goals you have already reached in helping other people, in opening your heart and letting others see the real you.”

The story continues with The Knight of Swords: Knight in Shining Armour

Please feel free to leave suggestions for an Elvis song to accompany each section (card) in the comments section below.

To read the traditional tarot articles which accompany this novel please visit
Traditional Tarot Articles

To learn tarot for yourself please visit the
Worldwide Mediums and Psychics Online Tarot Courses

The World: Spiritual Goals

NOTE: If you are new to this blog and want to read the novel from the beginning click here

A little light listening for you whilst you read the article.

Sunday, 18th January

This morning I went for a walk to clear my head. After all the celebrating last night my head felt like it was full of cotton wool. I found a little river just outside the village and sat down beside it. I've always found being near water to be incredibly soothing.

“Hello there.”

I looked up to find Gaia walking towards me. That light she emanates sure didn't do anything for my headache.

“Feeling grouchy are we?”

She turned off the light (don't ask me how - I'm just the observer here you know) and laughed at me.

“Is that better?”

I managed a smile and she sat down beside me.

“It is a little much isn't it. But I do love the dramatics of it. It sure does make everyone sit up and take notice when I come into their lives.”

“Not half as much as the being nearly naked all the time.” I snapped.

A cup suddenly appeared in her hand and she bent down to dip it into the river. She handed it to me and told me to drink it as it would make my head feel better if I rehydrated myself. And I just know she was laughing at me even though all she did was smile.

“I know this isn't the best timing in the world but we do need to talk you know.”

“We do? What about? Have I reached the goal I needed to in being here in Tarocchi?”

“Not yet, no. But you know I don't just bring messages of physical accomplishments – I also bring messages about spiritual achievements and I think it's time you acknowledged yours.”

“!!!!!!!”

“Don't look at me like that. You are fully aware of what you have achieved over the years and yet you always downplay them as if they are of no importance whatsoever.”

“I don't think in the grand scheme of things that my accomplishments are that important.”

“Oh, stuff and nonsense woman! You know as well as I do that each and every single persons spiritual accomplishments are very important. Every single spiritual lesson we learn has an effect on those around us and that has a butterfly effect on the rest of the world. Now don't tell me your not aware of that!”

“Well, yes, but I don't think I really have that much effect on people.”

“Oh my, we really are in denial aren't we. You really do need a wake up call, don't you.”

This was getting just a little confrontational for my liking and I certainly didn't like being called out on what was going on in my own head.

“Let's start with something you can easily understand, shall we? You spent years learning tarot and had many teachers. In turn you decided to teach tarot. You decided to pass on what you have learnt. You decided to help other people to learn tarot. And no doubt in turn others will decide to teach tarot.”

“Yes, but that's hardly spiritual is it?”

“But of course it is. Do you remember the lessons both spiritual and physical that you learnt about your life and others just by studying the cards?”

“Well, yes of course I do – I'm still learning them.”

“And don't you think that those people you teach learn similar spiritual lessons from their study of the cards. And that they in turn pass on what they have learnt.”

“I suppose so.”

“There's no suppose about it. Even if you only taught one person the lessons inherent in one card, that would have a butterfly effect as they too would pass on their knowledge. You may not be aware of it, but the effect is definitely there. And for every single person who learns even the simplest lesson and helps their fellow man the world is a better place.”

“I guess.”

“The same applies through every walk in life. No matter what a person does if they help others and pass on what they have learnt the world becomes a better more spiritual place. Even if they don't pass on what they have learnt, that person becomes a better human being.”

“Come on I think you need to take a walk and clear your head more.”

She dragged me to my feet and just about stopped me toppling into the river. She laughed again and told me to cheer up or else. There is nothing so irritating as a cheerful person who is intent on dragging you out of a mood when you want to wallow in it.

The story continues with The World: Love is a Spiritual Goal

Please feel free to leave suggestions for an Elvis song to accompany each section (card) in the comments section below.

To read the traditional tarot articles which accompany this novel please visit
Traditional Tarot Articles

To learn tarot for yourself please visit the
Worldwide Mediums and Psychics Online Tarot Courses

The World: Physical goals achieved

NOTE: If you are new to this blog and want to read the novel from the beginning click here

A little light listening for you whilst you read the article.

Although nothing has really happened, the past couple of days have gone quite quickly. I've helped Madge spring clean the house (rather early for a spring clean I thought) and prepare the garden ready for the spring planting. Today we were sat in the conservatory after breakfast talking about the events since I arrived in Tarocchi. I told her that I thought maybe I had learnt enough about myself and that I should try to get back to my world. So she packed me up a picnic and off I went back to where I had originally met Henry with the hope of getting home. I got completely lost and ended back in Pentacle village again without even having stopped to eat my picnic.

Madge laughed when I arrived back at number three and told me that I obviously have more to learn and I was welcome to stay. Rather than waste the picnic we had it for our lunch whilst Madge showed me endless photographs of Robert and Jane. I have to say I was feeling quite frustrated as I felt I had learnt quite a lot about myself and couldn't imagine what more I needed to know.

After dinner that evening we were all sat in the living room when all of a sudden the room was lit up with the most amazing glowing light. Madge and Henry jumped up to look out of the window and then rushed to the front door. A lady who was barely covered by a single small sheet literally glided in through the door – I swear her feet weren't touching the floor. She gave off a shimmering light that lit up the room as if the sun had come in with her.

“I'm here to see Jane.” she said.

Jane at that point was rushing down the stairs and skid to a stop in front of the lady. The lady handed Jane an envelope which she tore open and for a few minutes just stood staring at the piece of paper she had taken out. All of a sudden she let out a whoop and started jumping up and down. Then she rushed around the room hugging everyone. Finally she flopped down into one of the chairs and just sat grinning at the piece of paper.

“Mom, I've passed, I've passed.”

“Well, lets have a look then dear. How well did you do?”

“See for yourself – four A's and a B.”

Madge took the paper from Jane and looked at it and then passed it to Henry. They both congratulated and hugged her again and then Henry went off to fetch a bottle of wine and some glasses. After we had toasted Jane's success Henry told her that she now had to seriously consider what she was going to do with her life.

“Who was that lady?” I asked.

“Oh, I'm sorry dear, I should have explained. Her name is Gaia and she is known as the World. She lives in Major Village and when she comes to visit you just know that something wonderful has happened.” said Madge beaming.

“Yes, but it's always something you've worked hard for. It's not just out of the blue. In our Jane's case she has studied hard and has passed all her exams. She has reached the goal she set herself years ago and now because she has achieved so much she has the freedom to choose what she is going to do with the rest of her life.”

“I can't believe that I don't need to study any more. I can throw away the books and get on with my life.”

Henry spluttered and then laughed.

“Oh no, young lady – believe me, you NEVER stop studying and learning. We are all students of life and that has a LOT of lessons to hand out to each and everyone of us.”

“Oh Henry, don't get all serious. Let her enjoy this moment.”

“I'm not, I'm laughing at the fact that she thinks she's learnt everything she needs to. Do you remember being young and foolish. Oh, to be young and foolish again.”

“But dad, I'm not foolish.” said Jane stamping her feet in indignation.

At which we all collapsed laughing knowing that she couldn't understand what Henry had meant at such a tender age. And the truth is we were all wishing we could go back to that point in our own lives and do it all again.

The story continues with The World: Spiritual Goals

Please feel free to leave suggestions for an Elvis song to accompany each section (card) in the comments section below.

To read the traditional tarot articles which accompany this novel please visit
Traditional Tarot Articles

To learn tarot for yourself please visit the
Worldwide Mediums and Psychics Online Tarot Courses