I think this is the strongest Cups/water energy we’ve seen since I started these weekly readings. The top and the tail of the pips in one spread, perfectly balanced by the scales of Adjustment in the centre. Full circle, we hit the high of the Ten and start again with the bursting, inrushing energy of the Ace. Round and round we go. Feelings, sensory input, intuition: all these are heightened.
When I look at Adjustment I always remember the sword that she’s holding reflects that on the Ace of Swords card in this deck, so it seems that new ideas and insights are in the mixture too. It’s quite a heady combination, don’t you think? Hold on tight these next few days!
Cards from Joyce and Pamela Eakins’ Tarot of the Spirit
Hmm. Interesting times when a couple of majors show up, especially when one of them visited not all that long ago.
Sometimes to anchor my thoughts for a reading I like to revisit the words of the creator(s) of the deck I’m using; it’s an interesting exercise to see what stands out from those. The accompanying booklet with the Tarot of the Spirit talks, with respect to the Five of Fire (aka Wands), about “relinquishing that which is obsolete.” Sometimes we need to let go of ideas, preconceptions, or limits in order to progress towards the things we want.
The Wheel of Fortune appeared a couple of weeks ago: the fact that it’s back tells me that everything is moving in mysterious ways at the moment. Fate, if you want to call it that, is making things happen. We should remain alert to synchronicities and try to keep our balance if things feel like they’re spinning a little too fast.
It struck me today that Eakins says of the Hierophant we should “become both student and teacher; seek both student and teacher.” We forget sometimes that although we may feel inexperienced or nervous as we navigate unfamiliar territory (and which of us hasn’t done that this year?), we may in fact be guiding or teaching others in ways we haven’t recognised. For me this ties the threads of this reading into one message: trust the process. Surrender to it. There is so much yet to be learned.
A change of deck this week, because this one nudged me as I went to reach for one of the others. I love the striking colour of this deck.
It’s a pretty spicy week we’ve got coming, by the looks of it. The Seven and Six of Wands: standing firm with the success you’ve achieved. That power pose in the seven! Wands are fire, inspiration, creativity, passion. Keep those things that light you up at the forefront of your mind this week. Hold your ground.
Why? Because the Ace of Pentacles is here to begin to earth that lightning, to shape and solidify it into reality. It’s a start, of course, but what a start: an inrush of new energy, shiver of anticipation, the thrill of potential. We like that, don’t we?
Sometimes it takes a while of just sitting with a reading to get a clear feeling for what it’s trying to say. Not so this week, which feels pretty direct and to the point. Two out of three from the Major Arcana points to some definite universal themes going on – broad currents for us to navigate.
This appearance of the Wheel suggests to me that we should be on the lookout for the unexpected in the next seven days. Prepare yourself for whatever surprises or freak weather might pop up as it turns, and be sure to have your best coping mechanisms at the ready if the wheel spins fast enough to make you dizzy.
How? Connect with your inner Knight of Coins. Protect your health and wealth however is best for you. Dare I say, even – be a little sensible? Keep an eye on the finances, eat well, get enough sleep. Slow and steady. If things still feel rough – Strength is what will get you through. You’ve survived all the challenges life has thrown at you up to this point. You’re riding a green lion, for goodness’ sake. You are an absolute badass. Hold your head high this week because you deserve to.
Oh! I wasn’t expecting that, for some reason. I’m not sure if it reflects well on me that positive, happy cards immediately seem surprising or suspicious, but then this is the Thoth tarot and one never quite knows with uncle Aleister… Still, here we are.
It’s a week for the emotional, intuitive realm, then. The 9 of Cups is sometimes known as the ‘wish card’ – it signifies our cup running over. There is a sense of contentment and emotional balance. We can and should, for the moment, count our blessings.
The Knight (aka King) of Cups is a wise, compassionate man, though he may tend towards the dreamy side. He’s a lover, not a fighter, and sometimes shows up when we’re in a phase of spiritual development. As far as this reading goes, I’ll be honest and say he’s being a little coy; I’m not sure if he’s here to point us towards a Knight of Cups in our own lives this week, or to ask us to work on our own Knight of Cups energy. Sometimes we don’t have all the answers (mutters something about the Water suit, fluidity and tides)… we just need to watch and wait with our intuitive senses to the fore.
Meanwhile, the Six of Disks (aka Pentacles or Coins) is another harmonious, balanced card reinforcing the message that we may count our blessings this week, in the material sphere as well as the emotional. The things we are working on are progressing well; we can hope for prosperity, maybe even share our good fortune with others if we’re in a position to do so. It might seem unusual to see such friendly cards crop up in a year like this one, but it feels nice, doesn’t it?
Cards from Joyce & Pamela Eakins’ Tarot of the Spirit
Three major arcana in one weekly reading, and a full moon tonight. That’s an eyebrow-raiser; a sign of larger currents working strongly over the next seven days.
It seems to me that the theme here is to do with choices and decision making regarding how we face each other in the world. Consider The Lovers, numbered 6 and aligned astrologically with Gemini. Two people, whether twins or lovers, who are closely connected but remain separate, autonomous beings. Where do you & I end and ‘we’ begin? How do we navigate our relationships with those we are close to in order to preserve both our communal ties and our individual sense of who we are?
The Emperor’s role is relevant because he of all people treads a fine line between the individual and the collective. The crown rests on his head alone because it is his role to lead, to take decisions, to be in charge: but his continuing rulership absolutely depends on his doing so with the support of his people. If he neglects their needs in favour of his own desires, is immovable or rules rashly, it will come back to bite him.
That’s not to say that we can’t, or shouldn’t, consider our own needs first. We need to know ourselves extremely well in order to navigate our relationships with others successfully. There are a lot of stresses on those at the best of times, but especially this year! And at the moment, where I am at least, we are being pushed by external circumstances to make some significant choices about how we interact with the world. Back to school! Back to work! Or… not?
The Hanged Man says: you don’t have to decide everything all at once. You don’t have to be immovable, or make rash choices. You can choose to take yourself away from that, and from others, if you want to (in so far as any of our lives allow!). You can watch and wait for new perspectives to reveal themselves. The voices of your people – whoever those might be – are important and you should hear them, but the decisions rest on your shoulders. If you need to contemplate them for longer, do so.
Normally when I do a weekly reading I break down the cards a little and piece them together into a narrative for the coming week.
Today I’m not going to do that. Instead, here’s what I take from this spread. If you’ve been craving connection or needing cooperation recently, that ship is on its way in. There is calm, understanding, hope on the horizon. That’s all the message we need.
This feels like a very broad reading, a toe dipped in to feel the currents that are at work for so many of us at the moment.
Let’s look at each card in turn today before we draw them together. The Eight of Swords is a card of mental stagnation or stuckness. Look at how the placement of the swords bring to mind the shapes in a barred window, and think about the ways we imprison ourselves – even if those bars are only in our minds.
The Princess of Disks (aka Page of Pentacles) is something of an antidote to the airy, head-based swords. She is doubly allied with the earth element. She is grounded, physical, rooted: in fact, her pregnant belly shows that she is the beginning of something new.
The Moon has us straight back in the clouds again, although with the added element of darkness, subtly altering the way we see everything. She speaks of shadows, secrets, the unknown, the lesser-navigated inner paths.
What story does this tell us about our week? It feels to me like laying a marker down for a process of transformation which will extend way beyond these next seven days and into the future.
Think how pertinent the prison window symbolism of the Eight is at a time when many people are still choosing, for safety, to stay at home as much as possible; sometimes the threat is real, even when the bars are not. However, something new in the physical, material realm is coming. The ways we go about our daily business are changing. We are already starting to venture out from behind our physical and mental barriers again. A new kind of life will be born. What we don’t know yet is what that will look like, exactly: all we have are glimpses in slivers of moonlight.
It may be too soon for us to know the full story of how all this will play out, but this reading asks us to pay attention this week to the shape of the future. How might we come to feel safe enough to venture beyond the bars? How long might it take before the new life borne by the Princess arrives? It doesn’t matter that we don’t know all the answers just yet. We don’t have to. What we do need, however, is to start asking ourselves the right questions.
Sorry for the unplanned break last week! I was under the weather with a virus (thankfully, a test confirmed not the virus). Something like normal service is now resumed. Here goes, then…
It’s a reading where you turn over the cards and think ‘oh, it’s going to be one of those weeks, is it?’ Two hefty majors to get our attention. Things are shifting.
Tomorrow is the full moon, shortly before 5pm BST, and here she is over the shoulder of the High Priestess. To me, this speaks of a need to pay particular attention to our intuition, our inner voice, in the next couple of days. The High Priestess is a keeper of secrets. What is being whispered in your ear, if you stop to listen? What can the moonlight illuminate for you?
Judgement is a card I have always found particularly complex, but one of the messages that stands out most strongly for me when I see it is about timing. When the call comes, and only then, magic can occur . You might not be raising the dead this week, but whatever it is that the Priestess wants you to focus on from within may well be ready to find its external expression this week. Judgement says blocks can be removed, life can spring from decay: things are going to happen.
The seven of vessels (aka cups) is our reminder not to get sidetracked as we turn our inner knowledge into external manifestation. There will always be an array of options and choices in front of us, but we can only drink from one cup at a time. The knack is in choosing the vessel that best fits our needs. See the eye on the golden cup, and the eye in the angel’s cloud?
When you close your own eyes, listen carefully to your inner direction. Use that third eye to focus on whatever it is you need to see more clearly this week. When it becomes clear, you’re ready to make things happen.
Ah! It’s a new moon in Cancer today and fittingly this is a more down-to-earth, practical kind of reading than the previous week’s. Disks and cups: doing, nurturing and feeling.
Disks (sometimes coins or pentacles) represent the earth element, the practical and material aspects of life. Many take this to refer to finances, and often this is true, but their remit extends to the wider material sphere; our health, our energy, the physical world around us. There’s a great blog post about the tarot Threes here in which Ginny Clayton talks about them in terms of a stool: you’d have trouble balancing on a two-legged version, but add a third and suddenly you have a strong, stable base to put your weight upon.
This is the place where we begin to crystallise an idea or project, to understand the shape it needs to take and therefore what to do in order to bring it to fruition. Threes bring energy to a situation. This week, start to put shape to the practical things you want to achieve in the new lunar month. Make plans.
The three of cups is also a dynamic card that speaks of social interaction, friendship, care and support. Astrologically it’s associated with Cancer… Did I mention it’s a Cancer new moon today? It’s often thought of as a Good Times card, and who doesn’t want to see that as a feature of their week? So, about those plans – who features in yours?
I don’t always read cards left to right in a three-card reading, and I’m seeing today’s spread as rather like an old-fashioned balancing scale, with the threes perfectly offsetting each other on either side and the Eight of Disks as the central supporting pillar. I think it offers a gentle note of advice, if not exactly caution.
To use another borrowed analogy, because apparently it’s that kind of day: my yoga teacher often says that you don’t try to prise open a flower bud with a screwdriver and expect the result to be a beautiful bloom. Some things require patience and work over time. Don’t let the buzzy energy of the threes tempt you to try and rush results, this week. Trust things to happen when they’re ready.
Louise Norgate 