Happy New Year – I sincerely hope it will be a better one for us all.
This first draw of 2021 is one of those readings where I feel like the deck is doing a gimlet stare at me… shuffles in seat and coughs nervously… OK then, shall we go on?
In the week many people return to some form of work after the Christmas holiday, I may have smiled wryly at the little nod to 9-5 from these cards. Perhaps they could best be summed up as a reminder to watch our work/life balance.
Robert Place’s take on the 5 of Staffs (aka Wands) in this deck is quite particular and concerns the flow of creative energy, while the two Nines relate respectively to health, prosperity & wellbeing (Coins aka Pentacles) and – again, according to Place – ‘experience, confidence, perspective’ (Vessels aka Cups). The 9 of Cups in general is often referred to as the ‘wish card’ and can deal with our heart’s desire, so it’s interesting to link that with Place’s interpretation and think about how our confidence can increase when we are able to get the things we dearly want.
So, we’re looking at a suggestion that this week we consider how to marry our deeply-held wishes and creative urges with our health, wellbeing and security. If you’re returning to work, look after yourself, and if you’re considering changes professionally and personally at the moment, think carefully about how you can achieve fulfilment through the things you do.
Cards from Pamela & Joyce Eakins’ Tarot of the Spirit
I know what you’re thinking…
But just give it a moment. I think that’s always wise when the Tower shows up, because it’s too easy to panic, but do we really need to?
During this year of all years, we’ve been reminded that life is full of Tower moments. What we’re seeing here, I think, is an invitation to think about the last twelve months in light of all that’s happened. The Four of Fire (aka Wands) gives us a natural pause, a sense that the year as a phase of our development is complete, but naturally it is by no means the end of our progress.
What comes next is a chance to choose to make the break from any old structures and ways of thinking or being that no longer serve us – bearing in mind that, with the Tower, if we don’t do this voluntarily, life will find a way of making it happen whether we are ready or not!
And our wise companion the High Priestess appears once more to remind us that whatever is to come, however unsettling change may feel, we hold the answers within us. We just have to listen for them.
I think that’s a good reminder on which to end the year, don’t you?
This reading feels like a reflection of where we’re at here in England just now, after the sudden change of rules around the Christmas holiday period. It’s hit a lot of people quite hard, I know, and upended a lot of hopes and plans.
I’m not going to make light of that, because heaven knows it’s been a hard year, but it would be remiss of me not to pick up on the Fool’s presence at the centre here. I think in spite of the expectations and the disappointments that surround it, the Fool asks if we can find a sense of possibility in the circumstances before us. Can we make the best of where we find ourselves, and step forward with even a tiny bit of hope?
I hope, this week, that you can. I wish you all a happy, healthy, peaceful break x
In spite of the very best efforts of this ludicrous year, I haven’t cried for months. Can’t remember the last time. But there it was, unbidden and uncontrollable, the hot prickle of something trying to make its way out – and as sometimes happens, that something turns out in part to be words.
So, can we talk about coping?
This year has been, let’s not be delicate about it, an absolute bitch for a lot of people. For me personally, three-quarters of my regular work (close contact complementary therapies) was wiped out overnight. I don’t know if I’ll ever return to the hospice role that I loved dearly and was incredibly lucky to have at all. People I knew and saw regularly through my other, voluntary, hospice role have died. People I was deeply fond of, who were part of the fabric of what used to be my routine. Friends have been ill with Covid, some with long-lasting effects. Others have suffered their own losses. Both my husband and I have experienced wild oscillations in our mental health. We’ve lost former colleagues, our last remaining next-door neighbour and three extended family members – which has also meant seeing relatives lose both their parents in the space of a year. That’s a t-shirt I earned a long time ago, but watching it happen to other people can still push a sharp nail into those tender spots.
Everyone’s dealing with their own stuff, of course. None of what I’ve just told you is particularly unique. Earlier in the year, it was easier to see it all as a temporary thing and to meet it with something resembling optimism. I took writing courses, enjoyed creating and met some fantastic people in the process. Knowing it wouldn’t last forever, I wanted to use the unexpected time out in ways that felt worthwhile. I still do, but now we are further into what is clearly a long haul. The dark half of the year with its thin, meagrely rationed sunlight, is upon us as I write this only a couple of days before the Winter Solstice.
And what I am currently doing is nothing. Which would be absolutely fine, if it were not for other people.
I have known for a long time that doing nothing (or very very little, to be exact – thankfully we’re nowhere near approaching the Abandonment Of All Self Care / Not Leaving The House stage) is a coping mechanism for me. When things become overwhelming, when the rug is pulled from under you in such an entirely unforeseeable way as this year has done, when the future is no longer anything like what you thought it would be, when you are grieving for people and for the absence of everything you thought your life was, what I need to do is to stop. To allow myself to put aside responsibilities and to just live a day at a time.
Here’s the thing: I shouldn’t be, but I’m ashamed of that. Embarrassed. For lots of reasons. Look around you. The Covid circus continues, round and round it goes, because stopping is Not Allowed. Many people have no choice, of course, and although things are a little tight for us right now, being able to simply wait things out is a privilege and don’t I know it. So many people cope by throwing themselves into things, by making themselves busy, I know that too. There are a host of shoulds taunting me, all the ways my guilt tells me I ought to be filling my blank days up with productive things, because what are we if we aren’t productive and how will anyone else recognise our worth if not by the things we have done and the hours we have filled? Laziness. Selfishness. Aimlessness. I’m afraid of people thinking those things of me. It shouldn’t matter what they think, of course, but it does.
And I’m embarrassed because I don’t want help. I don’t want it because ultimately I don’t need it. I know myself well enough by now to know that if I sit with this for as long as it takes – however long that is, I know it is temporary – somewhere in the back of my brain, unconsciously, I am working things out. Eventually, the clarity and the motivation will return and I will pick things up, inching back towards some kind of structure and meaning. I’m not entirely OK now, but I will be in good time. But I am awkward and stubborn and heaven knows I always have been, so please, please don’t offer me helpful suggestions or well-meaning ideas about making lists or writing things down or things I could be doing, because however much I love you, all I will hear is please deal with things in a way that makes more sense to me. And I can’t do that, I’m really sorry, but I can’t.
I have to do it my way, and my way is bloody-minded and socially unacceptable and honestly, it’s excruciating to say that out loud but there it is. That’s how I cope. Quiet. Nothing. Lots of it. And if I need anything to get me through, it is for people to be OK enough with that to just let me get on with it.
I had to think about this one for a while. Sometimes the message is instant, obvious: sometimes it takes some reading, some musing to bring it into the light.
Partly, if I’m honest, it was a surprise (by no means unwelcome!) to see such a positive set of cards towards the tail end of a year like this one. Here’s the thing, though. After chewing it over I feel this reading is less about the physical and material than it is about the mental. The Sun (nice little appearance as we creep closer to the Solstice) and the Ten of Disks (aka Pentacles or Coins) both speak of hope, of goodness – of enoughness, in fact.
The Knight (aka King) of Wands is the embodiment of fire energy, blazing there next to the Sun. Tonight I picked up Mary Greer’s volume on the court cards to see what jumped out at me about him, and it was this, under ‘advice’: present yourself boldly and courageously. Expect to be obeyed*.
There it is. This week, practice your attitude (with a small a!). What if you bore yourself with confidence, even when you might not be feeling it? What if you believed that you could get what you want? What if you trusted that flame inside you to light your way? What if… it worked?
Have a good week and stay safe x
*Mary K Greer & Tom Little, Understanding the Tarot Court p. 212
We’re back in the realm of the unconscious, the intuitive and the hidden this week, but with the Queen rather than the Princess of Cups. Only she knows the contents of the chalice she sits with: only you know what hidden things, secrets and dark places lie within you. Do you ever spend time there, in those dark places, allowing the moonlight to illuminate what happens there?
I’m not suggesting you go full-on introspection or shadow work this week (although with the rapidly approaching Solstice we might consider that rather apt) – but the Eight of Swords suggests that if there is anything keeping you down or stuck just now, it is within the gift of your own mind to let it go, if you can recognise that it was only your mind that was keeping you there.
So… maybe let in some moonlight this week, and allow for a little self-examination to see where it takes you?
Inevitably at times these readings feel like they’re whispering something to me, as much as they are intended to be a weekly weather check for anyone. After a couple of days of feeling pretty rough, this is one of those readings.
The Lady of Vessels (aka Page/Princess of Cups) as described by Robert Place speaks of intuition and trusting the unconscious, while Temperance is about “health, beauty, balance, timing.” the Seven of Coins (aka Discs/Pentacles) represent the alchemical metals: transformation through stages.
A simple message, then, for this week. Listen to your inner voice regarding your health and wellbeing. Take things a step at a time.
Cards from Pamela & Joyce Eakins’ Tarot of the Spirit
Oh, now this is interesting.
These cards speak clearly of some personal change in the air for many of us this week. The Four of Fire (aka Wands) shows a point of completion, a phase coming to fruition – but this is a staging point, not a definitive ending.
The Seven of Wind (aka Swords) suggests that the way forward from that staging point is yet to become clear. There is confusion – misdirection even – from multiple voices or possible points of view. We should be cautious about who we choose to listen to.
Ultimately, the answer lies with the Hermit: in other words, within us. Retreat from the conflict of opinion and the noise until you find sufficient stillness to hear your own voice telling you what must be done. That’s what you need to hear.
Another strong week with two neighbours from the major arcana visiting – although two we rarely see in these readings.
I think the Queen of Wands at the centre puts us firmly in the driving seat this week. We need to consider our autonomy and independence, to express ourselves with confidence and keep those things that we are most passionate about at the forefront of our minds.
At the side of the bold Queen, the Moon reminds us to bear in mind what is hidden, either from us or within us. Our intuition will serve us well – and with a new moon in Scorpio just turned, we are reminded again of the themes of power and passion. A note for the lunar month, perhaps, not just the week?
If all of that’s starting to feel a little intense, the Star is here to cast a cool, clear light across this reading. If we falter in our confidence or doubt our discernment, the Star offers hope and guidance. It’s going to be OK.
It’s hard not to interpret these cards in the wake of the events in the USA yesterday… so that’s what I’m going to do. I think they prove this week to be a turning point, one that promises a different kind of energy and some much needed change.
And I think that’s more than enough for us to be going on with, don’t you?
Louise Norgate 