Tarot Blog Hop Lammas- What’s In A Name

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This Tarot Blog Hop we were challenged to look at the power of names and what they

This month’s hop is in many ways following on the idea of timing posed in our last hop at the Solstice. The Wheel of the Year now places us at Lughnasadh or Lammas as it also known. The idea of names got me to thinking about the power that names hold and also the confusion that they hold as well. For this hop, I am asking participants to explore this idea; as always I have presented a few talking points/suggestions but also left it open for the writers muses to take them on whatever journey has come to mind as well.

I chose the third option: ” Challenge yourself: Discuss, show and tell us what life would be like through the cards, if you changed your name.” This was perfect as I am in the process of legally changing my name.

I was named after my paternal grandmother and it was a derivative of my material grandmother so there was no disagreement from my mother. I did not know my biological father as I grew up as my parents separated when I was 2 years old. I was told I was named after my grandmother just not which one.

I was the only one of my name in any of my classes as I grew up until I was in junior high school. There were songs that included my first name which was ok until high school and a rap song had a song that the main subject of the song was not a great person. It could have been worse of course but “Lay Down Sally,” “Long Tall Sally,” and others were not as bad as “OH Sally That Girl” which still gets to me.

When I met my biological father as an adult I found out I was named for her specifically, but his family called me “SallyRose” due to the fact that the picture they had of me in their home was of me with a rose from when I was very young. I really liked that and started to call myself SallyRose. I would go by it with friends some family. With my previous job, we have so many co-workers whose names sounded similar, I had the office call me SallyRose to make it easier to get my attention. I decided that it was time to make this my legal name.

I thought I needed to create a process to take the steps to make this happen. When I discussed this with my partner, he said it was a good idea to pull cards to create my personal action plan, but to do it with intent.  I consider that to be a technique I learned from James Wanless which is Face Up Tarot. You pull cards by looking at each card in the deck and find the ones that go with your steps to achieve your goal.  That is what I have done and will share below.

 I chose the following 9 cards to encourage me along the way of this journey of legally changing my name.

  1. The Lovers- This is my birth card and represents the process of accepting and thanking my parents for naming me after my grandmothers. Acknowledging their choices is something I want to do as it is what I am moving away from by taking the next steps.
  2. The Hermit- I took the time to meditate and focus on how I will feel with this change of name and in a way identity. It was kind of a small shake up of “I am really doing this,” moment. It was about putting on the mantel of who my spirit was calling me to be.
  3. 8 of Cups- The scary part was acknowledging leaving behind the emotional connection to my family in a way. I am leaving behind a gift I was given but I need to leave behind the emotional baggage that is no longer working for me and grown more into my own true self.
  4. Justice- Getting the paperwork lined up is harder than you think. I have reached out to a friend who is a paralegal to get things started. She said it is not as hard as I feared but it is still a process that has steps that need to be followed.
  5. Strength- Doing the work is hard. People around me wanted to know why I was doing this. Repeatedly explaining myself is exhausting. I need the endurance of the Strength card to carry me through.
  6. Death- Letting my old name go is what I needed to do. It felt like letting my past die and creating a rebirth for myself. It was scary and exciting in the same moment.
  7. Temperance- This name change is about finding my personal balance. Making my external self match my internal spirit is the goal now.
  8. 4 of Wands- Once this process is complete there will be a celebration with my family of heart as well as blood. I am looking forward to that.
  9. 3 of Cups- Finally this is the card that represents my spiritual guides also celebrating my achievement of doing this change to be my authentic self.

I do think this process can be undertaken by others especially in these days where name changes to match folks authentic selves is becoming more common. I would suggest others look at their names and make sure it matches who they believe they want to be known to others as because we are living our lives not the people who named us. If you feel you want and need to be known by another name, I encourage you to do that. Find your steps and go for it.

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5 thoughts on “Tarot Blog Hop Lammas- What’s In A Name”

  1. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing your journey through the Tarot. I find it so fascinating how the Tarot reflects our lives and teaches the different stages we go through and what skills we way need to master and guide us. 🙂

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