Using the same layout as the last two rounds, I drew the following cards:

My first impression upon seeing Vancouver’s cards was that things were not looking good for them at all.  Death is rarely a fun card to see in any reading, and the Five of Cups shows a hunched-over figure in black with spilled cups in front of him.  This is generally a card of disappointment and broken dreams, and in the company of the Death card, some rough times for the Canucks seem likely.

On the Boston side, the Page of Swords is the only Page which has not appeared in these readings, though in previous readings Pages of other suits have often corresponded to key performances by particular players.  Combined with the Two of Swords, which is traditionally a card about defensiveness and a closed heart, my guess would be that one of Boston’s defencemen will play a critical role in the early games of this series, and that their defence will be solid in general.  I don’t see their power play improving but perhaps they
will allow fewer goals when playing short-handed.

However, all of that does not really speak very strongly of a Boston victory either – after all, as Tampa Bay found out to their detriment in game 7 of their series against the Bruins, it doesn’t matter if your defense is good enough to hold your opponents to a single goal if you are unable to score any against them.  So I was very curious to see what the outcome card of this series would be… and when I turned it over, I knew that it would have a huge impact.

The Four of Cups shows a man sitting beneath a tree, contemplating three cups in front of him, with another cup hovering nearby, held in a ghostly hand.  The man is closer to the Boston side, but he does not seem to be receiving the cup, or even looking near it.  And elementally this card favors Vancouver far more, taking those depressing Water cards and giving them a positive turn.

Here is how I see the series going down.  (I’m going out on quite a limb making this specific a prediction, but I see no reason not to go for it.)  Vancouver will win two of the first three games; I think Boston is likely to win the second game of the series in a goaltenders’ duel.  The Canucks will then lose both games 4 and 5, giving Boston a 3-2 series lead.  This may involve the loss of a critical player for Vancouver, or at least some similarly discouraging circumstances, like a bad call or a poorly-timed penalty.

But just as Vancouver seems defeated, contemplating their three losses instead of their two victories, and just as Boston seems poised to win the cup, with three wins behind them and one remaining… I think Boston will get complacent and let Vancouver tie the series.  And when the deciding game 7 comes to a close on the West Coast, I believe the Canucks will prevail, coming from behind to win the series, and the Stanley Cups, 4-3.

Certainly that sounds like an exciting series to me – let’s see how it happens!

Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Prediction: Boston in 7
Outcome: Boston in 7

This was every bit as close a match as the reading predicted, requiring a seventh game to decide, and that game was won by a single goal.  And like the Ace of Cups showed, the Prince of Wales trophy did indeed get handed to the Bruins, though of course nobody actually touched it.

In terms of specifics, I predicted that goaltending would be a big factor, and indeed it was, though you might not know it from the scores of some of these games: Tampa Bay scored 5 goals in four of the seven games, and Boston was held to a single goal in only game 7.  But considering the number of shots faced by both goalies, their save percentages are still impressive.  Technically Roloson did give up fewer goals than Thomas, but that’s only because Thomas played all seven games while Mike Smith played the equivalent of two full games over the series, allowing only two goals (including a shutout performance in Tampa Bay’s comeback in Game 4; perhaps that’s what the Four of Pentacles was really talking about).

As predicted, Boston’s power play continued to be atrocious, going 3 for 24 on the power play in the series while allowing 3 power play goals in game 6 alone.  While I admit I wasn’t really watching for Tampa Bay’s use of the 1-3-1 formation in most games, I believe the series-winning goal by Boston was a near-textbook example of how to defeat it.  So all things considered, this reading definitely hit the high points of this series fairly accurately.

Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks
Prediction: San Jose in 6
Outcome: Vancouver in 5

This reading, on the other hand, clearly did not predict the eventual outcome, and I can name two reasons why the series probably didn’t unfold as my reading predicted: Henrik and Daniel.

To be fair, there’s clearly more to it than just that, but I don’t think their combined 17 points in this series hurt Vancouver at all.  In my defense, I did state that the series would probably be all-or-nothing for Vancouver, and that their chances would be a lot better if their top-scoring forwards could start producing, but based on the reading I didn’t see that happening, at least not to the extent that we saw.  Even with the benefit of hindsight I don’t see anything that clearly suggests Vancouver’s dominance of this series.

Only one of these games went to overtime, meaning that San Jose didn’t really get to prove themselves in that area as they had in their previous series.  The one game that did see overtime, Game 5, ended with Bieksa’s goal on a strange bounce that literally nobody but him saw coming.  In the rest of the series they often trailed or couldn’t maintain a tie game when they needed to, and that cost them their shot at the Stanley Cup.

So with these two done, I am currently 9 for 14 in terms of accurate outcome predictions in these playoffs… not as good as I’d been hoping, honestly, but I am certainly learning a lot about what works and what doesn’t.  (If you don’t count the four readings without a series outcome card that I did when first figuring out the best way to do these, I am 8 for 10.)  Pentacles have almost always hinted at goaltending, and I’m beginning to see hints of what the other suits refer to as well.

Predictions aside, I’m quite pleased that Vancouver made it to the final, and will gladly cheer them on regardless of the outcome of my final prediction reading, which I will do before the first game on Wednesday.  Go Canucks!

Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Well, it’s a good thing that I’m not relying on elemental dignities for this pair of readings, since they would be of no help here.  Both teams have a Major Arcanum of the Air element along with a Pentacle, which is Earth.  Neither team is weaker or stronger in this sense, and neither does the series outcome card, the Ace of Cups, visibly favor one side or the other, at least elementally speaking.

Throughout the playoffs, Pentacles have spoken mainly of goaltending, and it’s no surprise that this series contains the top two remaining goaltenders, Vezina trophy finalist Tim Thomas and the skilled veteran Dwayne Roloson.  I think the advantage here is to Roloson; the image on the Four is of a man desperately holding on to every pentacle in sight, while the man on the Seven is looking almost sadly at a pile of pentacles in front of him.

What do the two Major Arcana have to say here?  The Lovers is normally about choices, and assuming that it is slightly weakened by the adjacent Earth card, the implication is a poor or impaired choice.  Air speaks to me of strategy, and Tampa Bay has been playing a 1-3-1 “trap” formation that has served them well, but I can’t help but wonder if this choice will hurt them now.  Justice (also slightly ill-dignified) says to me that Boston’s power play will still be one of their weak spots; they are currently last of all four remaining teams in terms of both power play scoring and penalty killing.

So it all comes down to the middle card, showing the series outcome.  The Ace of Cups portrays a cup being presented by a hand emerging from a cloud, indicative of a trophy being presented to a recipient.  And who is being offered this Cup?  Unfortunately for my hopes of a Tampa Bay appearance in the final, Boston seems to be getting the nod.  Such a tight pairing otherwise, to me, says Boston in seven games.  I think when Tampa Bay wins it will be by a wider margin, but the one-goal games will ultimately swing in Boston’s favor.

Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks

I think every card in this reading except the outcome card has appeared in one of my previous readings, so hopefully I’ll be able to use that information to get an idea of how this series will go.  Starting over on the San Jose side, both The Emperor and the Five of Pentacles appeared as series outcome cards, the latter for San Jose’s series against Los Angeles (which they won) and the former in Vancouver’s series against the Predators (which Vancouver won).  The Emperor is still looking over at Vancouver, which I don’t think bodes well for San Jose, at least in the first couple of games.

As for the Five of Pentacles, in the first round I guessed that it foretold some kind of injury, which never materialized.  I don’t think this stands for anything goaltender-related either, due to the imagery.  I have one more guess, though – the meaning of this card implies a satisfactory end to a difficult journey, and San Jose is 5-0 in overtime these playoffs.  I think if they can manage to keep Vancouver tied through regulation time, they will outlast them in overtime.

On the Vancouver side, the Eight of Wands previously appeared for Washington (who were swept in that series) and the Eight of Swords appeared for Detroit (who swept that series).  The contrast here speaks of an all-or-nothing atmosphere for Vancouver.  I think they’ll come out of the gate very strong, just as they did against Chicago, but they might fizzle out after a few games, especially if they are close games that allow San Jose to exert its previously-discussed overtime strength.  Their big guns have had some trouble scoring in the past two series; if they can manage to unleash the Sedins they will do far better.

Sadly, I don’t think it will be enough.  The imagery of the Two of Cups in the middle of this series is very telling.  Two people face each other and each holds a cup, but the man on the right is reaching out his hand to grab the woman’s cup out of her hands, and she’s doing nothing to stop him.  This series looks like it’s Vancouver’s to lose, and San Jose will come from behind to take it unexpectedly – I’m going to say 6 games.

It’s looking like my hopes for a Vancouver-Tampa final are looking slim based on these readings, though perhaps this works out for the best.  After all, if I’m right, then my prediction came to pass, but if I’m wrong, then one of my favored teams makes the final.  That’s an acceptable outcome either way.  Let’s see what happens!

Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Prediction: Tampa Bay in 6
Outcome: Tampa Bay in 4

Many aspects of this reading did come to pass, though not necessarily in the precise way I had anticipated.  For example, though the Lightning did win the series at home after doing well on the road, I assumed that Washington would have won at least one of the first four games, necessitating six games to end the series.  As it turned out, the combination of solid goaltending (indicated by the Ace of Pentacles) and aggressive scoring proved too much for the Caps to handle.  Despite leading for a while in two of the games, Washington never scored first and was never able to press their advantage once they had it.  Alex Ovechkin played well, especially in game 3, but the rest of the team couldn’t keep up.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins
Prediction: Philadelphia in 6
Outcome: Boston in 4

Definitely got this one wrong – Boston utterly dominated this series, winning most of the games by multiple goals.  Philadelphia just never showed up.  So what went wrong here?  (Aside from the revolving-door Flyers goaltending, that is?)  Well, in this reading I was relying more on elemental cues than card meanings or visual indications, and apparently those didn’t do that great a job of predicting the outcome.  In retrospect, Pentacles cards have stood for good goaltending throughout these experimental readings, and Boston’s Nine here should have been more strongly considered.  Temperance and the Moon are elementally opposed but symbolically similar, and that apparently takes priority too.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Nashville Predators
Prediction: Vancouver in 7
Outcome: Vancouver in 6

I didn’t have many specific predictions to make about this series, since I spent most of my analysis just trying to determine who would win it.  That prediction turned out to be correct, in the end – the visual cues here were clearly more important than elemental dignities, which came out more in favor of Nashville.  The number of games was 6, not 7, but the way these two teams were playing it could easily have gone another game.  I am still unsure what the court cards on the Nashville side were saying about the outcome of the series; their role in the San Jose – Detroit reading below is far clearer.

San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings
Prediction: San Jose in 7
Outcome: San Jose in 7

Overall I think this is the most interesting and accurate of the four readings I did, though some of its details are obvious only in retrospect.  The Sharks started out strong and perhaps began celebrating too soon (Four of Wands), and they needed more hard work than they thought it would to win (Strength).  On the other side, Detroit started out weaker (King of Cups) but came on very strong in the second half of the series (Knight of Wands).  The finish would have been heartbreaking to one team regardless of the winner, either because a three-game lead was given up or a three-game lead was almost but not quite overcome.  In the end San Jose did take it in 7 as predicted.  Did the somewhat careless Hudler-Cleary collision remove a key Detroit player, who might have otherwise changed the outcome, from the hard-fought second half of this game?  We’ll never know for sure.

Well, so much for the second round.  I haven’t decided whether to do a third-round set because I’m quite biased in my desire for certain outcomes in the conference finals – I want a Vancouver/Tampa Bay final.  If I think I can set that bias aside temporarily then I will try these readings sometime before the first series starts on Saturday afternoon.

If not, Go Canucks!

Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

On the Washington side, once again I get the impression of a skilled young player making an impact, and for whatever reason the stance and expression of the Page of Cups makes me think of Alex Ovechkin.  Combined with the Eight of Wands I would say that Washington will use speed to its advantage, pressing hard to score early.  However, these two cards oppose each other, and though the outcome card favors the Page, it further weakens the Eight.  Neither of Tampa Bay’s cards are so affected.  Pentacles have stood for solid goaltending in the first round and this card is no exception; look for Roloson to make key saves.  In the last series, the Moon card appeared for Tampa Bay and they did well in their away games; I think this trend will continue.  Tampa Bay will win at least one of their first two games in Washington and will do better on the road.  A Tampa Bay victory in game 6 will be sure to please the home town crowd.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins

Once again my first impression is a victory for the Flyers; both The Fool and the Knight of Swords are very strong Air cards that strengthen each other.  The image is of a powerful rush, of daring offense that more often than not achieves its aims.  Rattled by a long series with Buffalo that was perhaps a bit too close for comfort, expect the gloves to come off against Boston.  Boston’s Nine of Pentacles, a moderate Earth card that often represents comfort and confidence, is gravely weakened by the strong Air cards on Philadelphia’s
side.  I’m not exactly sure what to make of Boston’s other card, Temperance, but the visual similarity to the Moon, the series outcome card, is striking.  Both feature a pool with a winding road that heads towards mountains into the distance, but while Temperance appears in daylight, The Moon is at night, and these two  cards are also elementally opposite.  Philadelphia wins it on the road, so most likely in 6 games.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Nashville Predators

This is a tough one to call.  Starting over on the Nashville side, the combination of the two Kings is quite interesting; their suit elements oppose each other, but all of the Kings have some Fire in them, so there is not as much of a weakening as one might expect.  There is also a strong kinship between the King of Wands and the series outcome card, the Emperor.  On the Vancouver side, the Seven implies a struggle against adversity while the Nine of Cups, normally a positive card of wishes fulfilled, is weakened by the Fire cards to either side.  So on this alone I’d go with Nashville… but I wonder.  The King of Wands is looking to his left, as is the King of Cups, and so is the Emperor.  The man on the Seven of Wands looks to the right.  The visual center of this reading is the Nine of Cups, sitting confidently and staring straight ahead.  I’m going to go out on a bit of a limb and say Vancouver in 7 after giving up an early lead to Nashville.

San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings

There is both a symbolic and elemental synergy between San Jose’s cards, the Four of Wands and Strength.  The former is a card of celebration (though with the implication of more work to come), while Strength speaks of perseverance and overcoming adversity not through overwhelming force but concerted effort.  The King of Cups appears again for Detroit, this time paired with the Knight of Wands, which is a slightly different match
than the King of Wands from the previous reading.  I can’t help but see a conflict here between experience and youth, defense and aggression.  Not a strong one, but I can’t ignore it either.  The outcome card does not really favor either team – the Three of Swords, a picture of loss and disappointment, does not seem like a great outcome at all, frankly.  And with which side does this poor outcome have the greatest affinity?  With Detroit’s Knight of Wands.  A reckless move might cost them the series; I’m saying San Jose in 7.

And there we are.  Regardless of how this all shakes out, I am really interested to see what works as the best predictor – card meanings (as in the Tampa Bay reading), elemental dignity (as in Boston’s reading), visual cues (like the eyes in Vancouver’s reading) or some combination thereof.  Check back in a couple of weeks and see the results!

I’m going to do these in the order that the series finished, rather than the order listed in the last post.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Phoenix Coyotes
Prediction: Phoenix in 7
Outcome: Detroit in 4

The prediction for a late-series Phoenix victory clearly didn’t come to fruition here, with Detroit sweeping the Coyotes in four games. It’s strange that both of the cards that I would associate with defeat appeared on the Detroit side, while both of those that I would associate with victory went to Phoenix. Still, this is the only prediction of the eight that was wildly incorrect.

Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers
Prediction: Washington in 6-7
Outcome: Washington in 5

This series took less time than I had predicted, but the Capitals were indeed the winners. Admittedly I did not know much about the Washington team prior to the playoffs, but I was quite impressed by goaltender Michal Neuvirth, going 4-1 and posting impressing save percentages and GAA in his first NHL season; does that count as a large impact by a young player? If so, tally that for the Tarot as well.

Anaheim Ducks vs. Nashville Predators
Prediction: Nashville in 6
Outcome: Nashville in 6

This reading delivered the outcome exactly correctly, though my interpretation did go astray in the details. Nashville did not drop the first two games, but ended up trading wins back and forth until Game 6, when they finally broke the trend and won the series 4-2.

San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings
Prediction: San Jose in 6-7
Outcome: San Jose in 6

Here again, my interpretation was able to discern the winner, though I don’t know if this series ended up being any more brutal than some others. While three of the six games did take overtime to settle, and only one of the matches was won by the home team, there were no particularly bad injuries or multiple-OT games. Perhaps once some more of the aggregate statistics become available I’ll figure out what went on here.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Buffalo Sabres
Prediction: Philadelphia in 6
Outcome: Philadelphia in 7

This certainly appeared to be a far more clear-cut match in the reading; a Philadelphia victory was perhaps the most unambiguous of all eight series outcomes. However, Buffalo led the series twice and resisted a strong Flyers rally in Game 5 to push them to the brink of elimination. I had called a dirty hit from a Buffalo player, but if anything the dirty hit was delivered to Buffalo, by Richards to Connolly in Game 6. Still, in the end Philly decisively put the series away in Game 7.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Prediction: Chicago in 5 or 7
Outcome: Vancouver in 7

As a Canadian I was excited by an early Vancouver series lead, but the reading said Chicago, so I have to admit I was somewhat pleased when the Blackhawks rallied to tie the series and force a deciding game. In the end, Chicago pushed Vancouver to the very limit, and the Canucks needed overtime in Game 7 to win it. In many ways this series came down to a coin toss, and Tarot is never good at coin tosses. If Chicago had taken advantage of a bad turnover instead of creating one, this series might have ended in their favor.

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
Prediction: Montreal in 7
Outcome: Boston in 7

If I had to choose a prediction I was least confident in, it would have been this one, since it appeared to show strong points for each team without a clear way to decide between them. Quite appropriate for a series that went back and forth and was tightly contested. My gut went for Montreal but Boston took it in the end. Goaltending was definitely a story throughout, with both Price and Thomas keeping their respective teams alive. Again, this one came right down to the wire, and could have gone either way.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Prediction: Tampa Bay in 5 or 7
Outcome: Tampa Bay in 7

Unsurprisingly, my Sidney Crosby prediction came to pass, but so did my prediction about the number of road wins; in 5 of the 7 games the away team was the victor, with each team winning only once at home. This one too came down to a very tight seventh game, but no overtime was required – Tampa Bay took the game and the series on the road, buoyed by their number one line of Lecavalier, St. Louis and Gagne who combined for 21 points over the course of the series.

One of my goals was to determine what number and configuration of cards made for the best prediction, and based on this set of readings, having an “outcome card” made a huge difference. Of the four readings with an outcome card, all four predicted the series winner, but only one of the four readings without an outcome card got the winner right. So that will definitely inform my future attempts. Elemental dignities may also play a greater role than I had first anticipated, so I’ll have to keep that in mind too.

I will be making a series of predictions for the second round, to follow in a separate post sometime before the Vancouver – Nashville game tonight. Stay tuned!

These spots all offer different views, but share some common characteristics.  They all have bare rock next to water (sometimes completely surrounded by it) and are all open to the sun and wind.  When I first found them I was purposefully looking for spots containing all of the four elements – water, earth, fire, air – and for better or worse, these criteria have now shaped my perspective on what is required for such a spot to be memorable or interesting.

As it turns out, these spots are very useful for meditation, at least of the kind that I have been practicing of late.  The rock provides an excellent seat, and is often sloped towards the water, which I find makes for more comfortable sitting positions than a flat surface.  The water and wind help drown out a bit of the noise from the nearby highway, and recently I’ve found the presence of sunlight to be very helpful for meditation (or at least for the relaxation I do beforehand).

The trip to these spots is usually anything but routine, since this area of the park does not have any kind of maintained trails, simply rough paths that are cleared away and beaten down through repeated use.  Even on the main path leading in from the side of the highway, the ground quickly becomes rough and irregular, with large rocks and furrows and occasional muddy stretches.  You always have to pay a little bit more attention
than usual when walking on these trails, especially the further in you go.  Sometimes, and especially if you  leave the trail for a few moments, you literally cannot think more than a few steps ahead.

We often praise those who think further ahead, anticipating problems and making plans to seize opportunities long before they arise, but if we constantly live in the future then we are not focusing on our present.  And sometimes, thinking further ahead than one needs to can become a liability.  In my own experience, when I think about the scope of the project I’m working on, all of the experiments that have to be performed and calculations to be done and papers to be written, I often freeze up at the enormity of it, and find myself unable to proceed.  There is so much to do, that I don’t know what to do, and I end up doing nothing at all.   Taking my eyes off the horizon and directing them at my feet, and therefore taking things one step at a time, only worrying about the next step when I have to make it, keeps me going when I would otherwise falter.

Drifting off into daydreams when walking down a city sidewalk is one thing.  But when I am trying to cross a dubious-looking bridge made of fallen birch trees, so that I can get to the small island in the middle of Witherod Lake, I cannot afford distraction or fantasy.  If I am not as fully here and now as I can be, I am going to end up in the lake.  Unfortunately, the immediacy of that risky crossing is harder to bring into a more mundane situation, or at least it seems that way.

Walking through the forest, and occasionally stopping to meditate or just rest for a few moments, also brought to mind some of my recent musings on stillness.  When walking on loose rock or through scrub it’s hard to hear anything except the sound of your own motion, and you might be forgiven for thinking you’re the only moving thing for miles around.  It’s only when you stop and stay still for a while that you can hear the birds in the trees nearby, or a chipmunk foraging for food.  Likewise I think it’s important to make time for trips like the one I took yesterday, whether physically or in the mind.  If we can learn to still the motion of our own thoughts, who knows what hidden inspiration is waiting to be noticed?

The story which prompted this post is something I saw in this past Saturday’s newspaper, about a church in downtown Halifax that was vandalized with graffiti reading “God is dead”. (For now, the story can be found here.) Rather than have it removed, the minister at the church added to it: “Not so fast… Happy Easter!” And while many people may complain about further defacement of church property, I think this is the perfect Christian response, and exactly the kind of thing that Jesus would have a good laugh about.

Think about the story where Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees, who ask whether it is lawful to pay taxes imposed by the Romans. Whatever he answered, they thought, he would lose: if he said that it was lawful he would anger the Jews who had to pay the tax, but saying that the tax did not have to be paid would probably get him arrested by the Romans. He could have gotten angry and refused to answer the question, or said that they would be punished for asking it, as many church leaders seem to say when they are questioned these days. But of course, Jesus turned the question back on them, telling them to give to Caesar what belongs to him (including coins bearing his image) and to give to God what belongs to Him.

Likewise, instead of looking at this as some kind of blow or insult, the minister of this church decided to use it as a lesson. Rather than getting angry at the vandal and condemning them to hell, or trying to get people at city hall to crack down on vandalism, or any of a dozen other possible responses, they rolled with the punch and used it to spread what they thought was an important message. Rather than respond to the very inflammatory “God is dead” with silence, or a red-faced denial, or a screed about atheism, their answer was a nod and a wink; “If you say so!”

If only we had more Christians who were willing to profess their faith in such an authentic and enlightening way! Instead we seem to mostly get evolution deniers and abortion clinic bombers and gay funeral protestors, or at best, people who put up the billboard I see on my drive home: “Judgement Day is May 21st! The Bible Guarantees it! Cry Mightily Unto God!” I think the true Christian perspective is reflected far better by that humble, spray-painted scrawl.

Recently I’ve been working on a piece that I intend to give to my grandfather, depicting the Avro Lancaster, one of the aircraft he worked on as an engine mechanic with 405 Squadron in World War II.  The pattern, which I got from BM Designs, a company in the UK, can be viewed here.  Having started around Christmas and chipped away at it since then, I got plenty of time on our latest trip to the Dominican to push forward, and last weekend I finished it.  Here’s a few pictures of the completed work.

There are minor some changes between the pattern and my finished version: the squadron letters and serial number are different.  The pattern is of the Lancaster belonging to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, one of only two remaining in service, but which has no personal significance to my grandfather.  So I modified the pattern to use the letters and serial number of G-George, one of the bombers in 405 Squadron that he worked on and actually got to fly in.  (There were actually six different bombers with these letters throughout the war; I picked the serial number of the one that survived until the end.)

Not sure what my next project will be; I’m thinking of teaching myself reversible cross-stitch so I can try a design that looks the same on both sides of the fabric, but we’ll have to see if I can figure that out and find an appropriate pattern.

It occurred to me that I haven’t done anything really odd with Tarot in a while, and with the NHL playoffs about to begin I wondered whether I might be able to offer some predictions concerning the first round, based on a small Tarot reading for each series.  I’ve never tried using the Tarot for this kind of thing, and it may turn out that, like lottery numbers and other such things, the Tarot simply cannot predict sporting outcomes. But I’ll never know unless I try.  In any event this strikes me as a fun little exercise, to maybe illustrate some of the principles I use for extracting information from cards, and who knows, I might actually get some of these right!  For the sake of science and variety I’m going to try a few different spreads (or numbers / arrangements of cards) to see what works well and what doesn’t.

Eastern Conference

Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers

For this pairing I simply drew a single card to represent each team, presuming that this would give enough information to predict an outcome.  For the Capitals I drew the Page of Pentacles and the Rangers got the Seven of Cups.  Neither directly opposes the other, but the Seven strikes me as a wishy-washy card; the man shown on the card doesn’t really know what he wants.  I don’t know if the Rangers have a clear game plan going into this series, and may end up trying a number of different lineups or strategies to see what works against Washington, who will more likely pick a tactic and stick to it.  A single young player might have a larger impact than expected.  In the end I think New York will get a couple of wins (indeed, given the number I would not put it past them to go seven games, to everyone’s surprise) but the Capitals will win it eventually.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Buffalo Sabres

This time I’m doing a single card for each team plus a “series outcome” card in the middle.  For the Flyers I drew the Six of Wands, and the Sabres got The Devil.  The series outcome was the King of Wands.  Hard to be more clearly a Flyers victory than this – the King faces the Six of the same suit – though some interesting possibilities are also present.  The Six is often linked to victory, but at a cost, and though the Devil is usually associated with materialism and the chains of ignorance, deception or malicious behaviour is not out of the question.  I’m calling a dirty hit from Buffalo on one of the Flyers’ key players, which will be a major setback going forward, but not enough to keep Philly from taking the series in six.

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

 
This is the only series I have somewhat of a personal stake in, being a Habs fan if anything, and I’m going to draw two cards for each team.  For Boston I drew the Five of Wands and the Ten of Pentacles, while the Habs got the Three and Six of Cups.  The Five of Wands definitely speaks of a dirtier style of play, and given the history between these teams, I expect Boston to be very agressive from the start.  For whatever reason, the Ten of Pentacles to me says “solid goaltending” as well.  That said, Montreal’s cards do harmonize well, and speak of a somewhat more unified team emphasizing good passing and control.  This is a tough one to call, but I gotta go with my gut, and the cups.  I think it will go the full seven games, and though Boston will fight to the end, Montreal will be moving on.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

    
For this last matchup in the East I’m drawing five cards; two per team with a fifth “outcome” card as above.  I was wondering where all the Major Arcana had gotten to, and here they are in force: The Hanged Man and the Hermit for Pittsburgh, and The Moon and The Star for Tampa Bay.  Clearly this will be an interesting series to watch.  Everyone’s been wondering about Sidney Crosby, and to me the Hanged Man says he’s not returning for this series, still taking time off after the concussion.  And he may be taking more time than he expects, because frankly, the Star on the Tampa Bay side is a far more encouraging card for them; look for some big performances from their marquee players.  I’m not exactly sure what The Hermit and The Moon have to say here, though one thing that links them is travel and searching.  Perhaps both teams will do better away than at home?  In any event, the outcome card is the Ten of Wands, which elementally does not favor either team, but does face towards Tampa Bay.  So I’m going to say that the Lightning will take it on the road, either in five games or seven.

Western Conference

For these pairings I’ll generally be doing the same number of cards as their Eastern Conference equivalents with one exception at the end.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks

I hate to say it, being a Canadian as I am, but I’m sensing the possibility for an upset by Chicago here.  While the Knight of Pentacles that I drew for Vancouver is a solid card, emphasizing their strong goaltending and overall record, the Blackhawks drew the Five of Swords, which elementally counters the Knight and presents an image of a man defeating a rival.  Chicago is going to come out hot and I don’t know if the Canucks are really ready for them.  Note the background on the Five, too – mountains and ocean.  I think Chicago is going to take this one while playing in Vancouver, much to the dismay of Canuck fans.  Likely seven games but the number here hints that a five-game series would not be impossible.

San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings

   
This is looking to be a tough and brutal matchup for both sides.  The Nine of Swords drawn for the Sharks has generally negative connotations, often representing anxiety and stress.  While The Fool, the card for LA, has a brighter and sunnier image, this is not a card of success or completion in any form; they may get off to a good start and fizzle out.  Both cards are badly weakened by the Five of Pentacles as the outcome card, since it is Earth and both of the team cards are of the Air element.  I also don’t like the look of that fellow using crutches on the San Jose side; a bad injury may be forthcoming there.  In the end I think the Five of Pentacles does more harm to the Fool than the Nine, and San Jose will likely take the series, but expect them to be weakened going forward.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Phoenix Coyotes

 
Detroit’s cards initially look quite discouraging; the Eight and Six of Swords don’t have much to redeem them in this context, with the Eight’s typical meaning of feeling helpless or trapped, and the Six depicting what looks like a sad trip home.  On the other side of the reading, the Three of Wands and Three of Cups look far more optimistic for the Coyotes.  But I wonder… at least both the Detroit cards reinforce and strengthen each other while the Cups and Wands elements are opposing.  Phoenix looks poised to take an early lead to the series, but I think that Detroit will actually struggle back to tie it, with the seventh game deciding it.  As to the winner, I do wish there was an outcome card here, but with these, I’ll guess Phoenix in seven.

Anaheim Ducks vs. Nashville Predators

   
As before, I tried drawing two cards per team plus an outcome, but unlike all of the previous readings which at least gave me some kind of clear message, I was getting nothing from these.  So I scaled back and just did a single card for each team, drawing The Hermit for Anaheim and Death for Nashville.  I had a hunch that there was more here than meets the eye, so I did choose to put down an outcome card for this one, and that was the Ace of Cups.  I’m going with Nashville in six, and here’s why.  The Ace of Cups strongly influences the Death card, bringing out its positive connotations of a transformative ending.  Though Nashville may fall behind early, maybe even dropping the first two games, I think they will come back to win it, leaving Anaheim (as the Hermit) wondering what went wrong.

So there you have it – Tarot-based predictions for all eight series in the first round.  Let’s check back in a couple of weeks to see how the Tarot did!