Being the person I am, not only did I pull a card every day during 2016, but I also recorded my draws and made a set of graphs to compare all my cards (I know, I’m a geek 🤓). It was interesting to note, and also quite affirming, that my year was incredibly heavy in Pentacles. Now thinking logically, if we were to completely remove any magic from the Tarot then over the year there should be a rather even amount of each Minor suit drawn and a higher majority of Majors drawn simply because the suits are equal in number and there are more Major’s in the deck! Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe this, as I believe that each card comes to you for a reason and hence the draws are not going to be evenly spread between the suits, but I just wanted to put it out there for those of you who still feel a bit skeptical about the Tarot’s power. Now as I said before, my year was heavy on Pentacles, between 25-38 more Pentacles than the other three Minor suits, and only 15 less Pentacles than Majors!
Crazy right!! No, not really, because looking back at 2016, most of my time and energy was spent at work, and thinking about my life with regards to my job and my future. Now don’t get me wrong, my year wasn’t only the drudgery of day to day working life! I met my partner Phillip ❤️, which changed my world completely, we went on lots of adventures together 😊, and he brought love back into my life 😊. I also got back into acting and performed in a full time play while also working full time! So 2016 was a blessed year as well, but with regards to my daily draws, the fact that my working life had changed, and was now impacting my work/life balance was clearly evident! And what card, more than any other card in the deck, came up most often you ask? Was it The Empress you say? Oh you cheeky bugger, no my Tarot Stalker from way back when only came up 4 times out of a possible 365!!! So who was it then? Why it was the Knight of Pentacles of all cards. The Tarot’s famous workhorse.
So first and foremost, on Monday I recieved the news that my store will in fact continue to trade with the new ownership. The Fool’s message of trust and faith in the universe came through for me. As soon as I received the news I was of course elated and felt a great weight fall from my shoulders, but with further thought I’ve begun to question whether I actually do feel happy and rewarded or whether I feel like I am simply plodding along, like the lovely SJ brought up in my Seven of Pentacles post. I feel like this may require a reading in the future but at this moment in time I’ve decided to create a free flow reading from the 6 daily draw cards I have drawn so far this week. I’ve never done anything like this, so bare with me, as it is a learning process more than anything else :).
Self Constructed Daily Draw Reading – Shadowscapes TarotPage of Swords
Starting with Monday’s card, the Page of Swords, we see a young girl allowing herself to be lifted and carried away so as to have some time to think clearly. The Page of Swords can represent a messenger bringing us challenges, and often it is these challenges that stimulate personal growth. To me this is representative of receiving the news that we would continue to trade. In the Shadowscapes representation the Page cradles a Cygnet in her lap which I see as representative of how this dilemma or quandary may affect the smaller things in our life. Another aspect of this representation I like is the use of black and white, symbolic of her ability to look at the balance of black and white around her without condemnation. I need this right now, for truly neither side is positive or negative, but rather holding both posibilities within themselves.
The Hermit
Linking this to both Tuesday’s card The Hermit, and Thursday’s card The Hanged Man, I am feeling a strong pull towards the need to spend some real time thinking about what I want out of this life! My job is not overly stimulating, and a lot of the time I feel mentally weakened purely from a lack of said stimulation! The Hermitis all about being alone and discovering truths about yourself. And coming after the Page it suggests a need to remove myself even further from distractions, for as we see on the card he has climbed even higher than the Page, above the flight of the birds themselves.
Queen of Cups
The fact however that these two cards fall either side of the Queen of Cups makes me feel that this personal development will both lead to and out of a connection to my true well of emotion and what it is I really want. I have always been drawn to the Queen of Cups, seeing her as the person I wish to become. I am deeply emotional, but can often allow these emotions to overpower me unlike the Queen of Cups who has full control over the waves of emotion!
The Hanged Man
So maybe this is saying that as a result of this introspection I will find a deeper connection to my wellspring which will in turn lead to The Hanged Man’sacceptance and willing surrender. For what does The Hanged Man represent but an end to the constant struggles we impose upon ourselves. He urges us to let go of our control, and what we think we need, to in turn reverse our view of our situation and hopefully come out with the realisation of where we then have to go.
Page of Wands
Following on from this personal reversal we find Friday’s draw, the Page of Wands. I see the Page of Wands as someone who has just discovered/rediscovered their sense of Self, what fuels their Passion, or something Inspiring. The place in the spread to me suggests the re-discovering aspect of this Page, but it could also mean that out of The Hanged Man I may discover something new. She urges us to be Creative, Enthusiastic, Confident and Courageous, all things which I wish to be more prominent and know I am, but are just currently lying dormant.
Six of Pentacles
Then finally we have today’s card, the Six of Pentacles, the card of flowing material energy. This was the hardest card for me to interpret in this constructed spread. I don’t know who I feel more connected to, the Plant receiving the energy or the Piper releasing it. I feel like I put so much of my energy into this job and all I receive back is a monetary reward. My soul receives very little nourishment! But if we look at the card more closely we see that the balance between the two is more delicate than otherwise assumed. For while the Piper releases his energy in the form of the flow of Pentacles feeding the Plant, the Plant is in turn adding buttress to the wall on which he sits. I see this as symbolic of the cycle of dependency between those who have and those who don’t and that by helping out someone less fortunate we may in fact allow them the opportunity to do so for someone else in the future. An interconnected cycle of energy :). But how does this link to my situation? If I look at it as flowing on from the previous 5 cards then maybe it is telling me that through this journey I will receive knowledge of where I wish to be and then with that self knowledge I will in turn be able to feed back into the universe and help others who wish to grow and expand as well.
I think it is clear from this that I need some time alone to think over where I am and where I want to be, and that hopefully by doing so I will get back in touch with my true inner self and discover what it is that makes me happy and feeds my soul! I really enjoyed trying to find a thread through these daily draws, and might even do them more often. I hope you also enjoyed this experiment 🙂
Late last night I received an email from HR with regards to the takeover of the company I work for. As you know, the last month or so has been quite stressful as a result of this takeover and the potential of my store no longer being in business. In the email it said that all transferring employees would recieve a new contract by email on Monday the 25th and that any staff not transferring to the new entity due to a closure would be told personally on Monday. Freaking frightening right?! So now the state of limbo has been intensified over the first full weekend off I’ve had in a long time. Not fair I say! But I guess at least now I know the date on which I find out my fate. Anyways, as I was shuffling my cards this morning obviously this was playing on my mind, and when I turned over the card for today I was both shocked and pleasantly surprised, for it was the Seven of Pentacles.
To me the Seven of Pentacles represents a time where we are appraising the results of our efforts. It’s a time-out card where, after a rush of activity, we have time to sit back and assess the fruits of our labours, quite often also suggesting a reward coming our way! So assessment is a key to this card. When we are busy, working hard towards a goal, we can sometimes get so caught up that we actually forget why and what we are working towards. The Seven may appear when it is required for us to stop and ask “am I still on track?” “Is this what I really want?” In this the Seven also represents being at a crossroads, for it is so very easy to continue with our routines, even if they are not overly fulfilling. The Seven may appear when it is time to consider a direction change, it may be asking us to start questioning our choices and ponder the alternatives.
Seven of Pentacles – Radiant Rider Waite Tarot
To the left we see the RWS representation of the Seven of Pentacles. Here we see a young man resting on his hoe, appraising the results of his harvest. His work has resulted in lush greenery and the Pentacles are blossoming :). He has put in the effort required and is about to recieve reward for his hard work. He stands back, appraising his efforts and admiring his handiwork. That satisfying feeling that comes with success. But if you look closely, that look of appraisal could be construed as a realisation that what he worked so hard for is in fact not what he wanted. If this is the case then the Seven suggests a direction change, presenting the fact that you are never committed to a certain path and change is always possible.
Last night I found out some potentially bad news about my place of employment’s financial position. I won’t go into too many details, but they have taken some action to hopefully prevent them from having to close down completely. When I was informed I was obviously stressed, worried about whether I would loose my job and further down the line whether I will even receive my annual leave entitlements if the business went south. I have been saving up my annual leave for when I go away next year, like a locked savings account, thinking that was the smartest way to go! I bet you if I had drawn a card at that moment of realisation I would have drawn The Tower. I literally felt like things were about to fall apart. Then this morning when I woke up I was still thinking about the situation while drawing my daily card, hoping for something helpful to assuage my fears! And what did I draw, why the Ten of Pentacles.
Ten of Pentacles – Shadowscapes Tarot
Being quite cynical I laughed when I saw this, thinking that the Tarot was mocking me. How is the potential of loosing your job, your financial stability and possibly even a large sum of money you were relying on, a Ten of Pentacles moment? For those of you new to the Ten, I wrote about it here, so I won’t go into too much detail in this post, but basically it is the one card in the deck that represents the ultimate in worldly and financial success. It’s about enjoying the affluence you have worked hard to achieve and feeling secure in your place. This is the complete opposite to what I’m feeling!
I have to admit that I’ve never really had much of a connection with today’s card, even when I drew it this morning I thought, hmm this is going to make for a hard post to write. I don’t know if I really have an answer for why this is, all I know is that it is one of the few cards where nothing really jumped out at me on first glance. So I think to help me learn a little more about the card I’m going to look into both the RWS version and the Shadowscapes card I actually drew :). What card could be causing this problem you ask? Funnily enough it is from the suit of Pentacles (I know right, shocking 😛 :P), not a card that often causes difficulties in interpretation, but definitely one I can’t quite grasp yet, the Ten of Pentacles.
Ten of Pentacles – Radiant Rider Waite Tarot
Traditionally the Ten of Pentacles shows an elderly man bedecked in an affluent looking robe, looking out upon his children and grandchildren. He is comfortable in his retirement, living off the fruits of his labour, knowing that he has accomplished everything he has wanted to and that now he can provide joy and security for those he cares for. It is a card of enjoying affluence, feeling financially secure and seeing your ventures flourish. It is about searching for permanence in the world, creating a secure foundation off of which your can flourish and live happily. This links to a conservative way of life whereby you follow convention, trusting in your methods. For when you become successful in a material sense, why would you wish to rock the boat by shaking things up? I think this aspect of the card is one of the reasons why I’ve never connected too well to it. I’ve never really been one for following the established patterns of living, and if I was to become financially successful I would want it to come from a personal and imaginative source.
Like the Ten of Cups, this card shows a scene of ease and contentment, although it is one based more upon the material comforts of life rather than an emotional/spiritual contentment. What we must remember however, as we are shown through the progression of the suit of Pentacles, is that monetary wealth and prosperity can be gained and lost suddenly, dependant on your circumstances and life choices. Because of this fact I feel that the Ten focusses more on reaching this stage in your life, where you are financially stable, and then using it to start new ventures, and to share your wealth with others.
Every time I question why I haven’t drawn many cards of a particular suit they seem to pop up just to spite me :P. Last time it was the Cups, and now it’s Pentacles. Yesterday I drew the Four and today the Three of Pentacles decided to say hello. And this after a month long drought of Pentacles in my daily draws. I wonder if this is going to be a common occurrence during November :). I’d really like to get in touch with my Earth energies, which I have to admit are probably the most weak elemental connection for me, so if this is the case come at me Pentacles :).
I see the Three of Pentacles as a message that a goal is manifesting. Traditionally it stands for Teamwork, Competance, and Planning, and the Threes themselves represent an externalisation of their respective suit, the first manifestation of its qualities. If we further link this to The Empress, which is card number Three in the Major Arcana, and her ruling planet Venus, also represented by Three, we can deduce that the manifestation of what we desire may be helped along by incorporating the assistance of others, by bringing into relationship elements that may be disparate, but create a solid result. And then there is the more obvious linkage to the Holy Trinity, or the Wiccan Rule of Three. The concept of three distinct energies coming together and working as one. And to keep going with the Three symbolism today is the Third of November :P. It was obviously meant to be :P.
It’s been quite some time since drawing a card from the Pentacles suit in my daily draws, the last time was on the 30th of September. I went through the whole of October without drawing one daily Pentacle! Today however, the drought has ended. The Four of Pentacles came to me today, which is interesting, because I don’t feel much of a connection with the card, and being the first Pentacle drawn in a long time I thought it would have been a different card to end the drought. But, it must have come up for a reason, so here we go, the Four of Pentacles…
Four of Pentacles – Shadowscapes Tarot
The Four of Pentacles is all about Control and a desire to Possess. As you can see in the card above, we have the classical image of a gold-hungry dragon, coiled so very tightly around his hoard of gold. You can picture him lashing out fork tongued hissing, “Mine, my preeecciooous, stay away”, declaring ownership and endeavouring to prevent the Chameleons above from getting near his possessions. He is constantly on guard, worried that at any sign of weakness the Chameleons will swoop in and steal his gold. This is what happens when you become so concerned with your material possessions, so much so that they actually become a cage of limitations instead of something which should bring you pleasure and stability. You may be financially well off, and feel stable both financially and emotionally, but this is only because you are equating emotional security with money. This card portrays one of the biggest pitfalls of prosperity, the temptation and tendency to value money much higher than its true worth.
The Fours in Tarot are symbolic of structure and stability, and in this case this is a false sense of structure and stability that comes from a dependence on material comforts and security. A mindset of procuring as much as you can so as to feel safe and stable. The being in this card has created himself a type of protective layer out of Pentacles that he believes will prevent him from encountering any hardship. However, this is also blocking any form of change from occurring, which can in turn exclude others as the need for personal security takes over, making for a very lonely way of living! I like how Stephanie has made it look as if this way of living is leeching the dragon’s individuality and that his resistance to change is in fact making him indistinguishable from the gold which he holds so dear.
For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile you may be wondering what’s been happening with me and The Alternative Tarot Course! It’s been three or so weeks since I posted my last weekly reading, which means that I have been on week two of the course for way too long!! It’s not that I have been struggling with it per say, it’s more that the procrastination bug has taken hold. That and life has just seemed to run away from me recently. So, having a few hours spare today I decided that it was high time for me to do the Weekly Reading for Chapter Two: Four Suits, Four Elements. This chapter was all about the four suits/elements of Tarot and how they interact with each other. It’s been an interesting chapter for me, as I struggle a bit with open ended exercises, probably the perfectionist in me wanting to get to the right answer :P. But at the same time it’s been great to think further about how the elements interact and what it means when they aren’t present.
So here we go, “The Four Elements Spread” by Beth Maiden. The idea behind this spread is to look at how the four elements influence a situation in your life. There are five positions in this spread, which are as follows:
1: Your situation at this moment (centre)
2: The Earth of your situation (bottom)
3: The Water of your situation (left)
4: The Air of your situation (top)
5: The Fire of your situation (right)
When I sat down to begin this reading I was unsure exactly what I wanted to ask the deck about, do I ask about my emotional state, about where I am in my life right now, or a way to move to a place where I am more stimulated and satisfied, I had so many things to ask that I decided I would let Shadow and my subconscious tell me what I should focus on. So here we go 🙂
Today is my birthday 🎉, and instead of doing a daily card I decided that I would give myself a bigger challenge and in turn learn a little more about myself and the year to come. So I popped over to Little Red Tarot, my go to for all things tarot related and decided that I would do Beth’s New Years Spread, for your birthday is truly the beginning of a personal New Year 😃. And as you can see Cosmo decided he would like to help out 😊
While there are 10 cards in the picture above this is actually a 5 position spread. Beth constructed it with the interactions between cards in mind, how their energies support each other or if they show any tension/conflict.
So for those of you who don’t know, as part of The Alternative Tarot Course you are required to do a weekly reading to assist in your development as a reader. I started the course on Saturday the 19th and last Sunday I did the first week’s reading entitled “The Reader’s Reading”. I had quite a busy weekend but really wanted to fit this reading in and I have to admit it was quite hard to interpret some of the cards so this may be a little shorter than I had hoped but here goes.
the fox and the otter 