We’re just over half way through February and I’m starting to see a pattern emerge in my daily draws. So far a third of my draws have been made up of three cards, Death, the Three of Swords and The Hierophant. To be exact it has gone Death, the Three of Swords, Death, The Hierophant, the Three of Swords and The Hierophant. Whenever instances like this take place I take note, for they usually have a strong meaning behind them.
Death – Shadowscapes Tarot
Since the last time I posted a few things have changed in my life. February the 3rds daily draw of Death was definitely fitting. I was going through a transition in the workplace, from acting manager of a store that was potentially closing down, to manager of a store which was now staying open. I had to make a decision as to whether this was where I wanted to be and allow all the past thoughts and fears to wash away. In a way, like the Phoenix on the card, who is death, rebirth and life encapsulated in one image, I was going through a rebirth. I needed to cleanse myself of the negative thoughts and feelings towards my job during that unstable period, so as to begin afresh under this new ownership.
Three of Swords – Shadowscapes Tarot
Then came the Three of Swords on Feburary 7. Whenever this card comes to me I have a whole body reaction to it, it’s one of the only cards that does that to me. I think that subconsciously there is still a lingering link to my most recent heartbreak. I am so much better now than I was 6 or so months ago, but to be completely truthful I am not fully healed. The Swords have been removed, but the scars are definitely still there. I am still afraid of opening my heart back up. When this card first came to me I wasn’t 100% sure whether it was to do with that past situation or to do with my present. For recently a new person has entered my life, a person whom I really enjoy spending time with and who makes me feel happy inside. It wasn’t until the next day when I drew the Two of Swords, the card of conflict between heart and mind, that I began to think of the Three’s potential meaning. To be honest with myself previous to this draw I felt like I was split in two, half of me really wanted to pursue this budding relationship, to throw myself in completely, but the other half, the logical half, kept bringing up the fact that I had been planning on leaving the country in August (if not for good then for a long period of time). I was and have since been stuck in this conflict between what I’m feeling and what I’m thinking. And I fear that heartbreak may ensue, I’m just not sure whose heart it is that the Swan represents.
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 Hermit is 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 🙂
So as it turns out The Hanged Man’s message (seen in my last post) was much harder to take in than I expected! As those of you who have been reading my blog since it’s birth would know, 2015 has been a tumultuous year for me. But while there has been a lot of pain this year, it has also been a year of self-discovery and a deep questioning of what it actually IS that drives me! While this was spurred on by a negative emotional event, which to be honest has pretty much bled into most of my year, it has in turn helped me develop more positive and helpful ways of looking at pain and ‘negative’ emotions. But like most things, this is a stage of development that is going to require a lot of effort, and a lot of time! And during this stage there are of course going to be ups and downs, which I understand, but the fact that I have little control over this is starting to get to me! A month or so ago I was finally starting to feel like I was on the right track, and beginning to open myself up to the world again! To let my vulnerability see the light of day and venture out of the cage of safety I had created for myself since May’s events. But I never imagined it would be this difficult! It’s such an odd experience to feel like you aren’t the person you used to be, I find myself questioning every little thing I do, which is incredibly draining, and I no longer feel comfortable when in new or unfamiliar situations. I’ve tried to put myself out there lately, to meet new people, and get out of my comfort zone, but in these situations I find myself questioning every little thing I’m saying and wondering if the person sitting opposite me is even interested. And I am trying my best to listen to The Hanged Man and his message of letting go, I really am, but I think I’m scared that if I let go of the semblance of control I feel I have, I will be completely lost. And that thought frightens me! So after spending some time with The Hanged Man, I decided that it was time to pull another card of the day to see if the Shadowscapes had anything to help me through this process, and up came the Six of Swords.
The Six of Swords represents a state of despondency, those times when you feel like you are only just keeping your head out of the water, your not incredibly sad, but your not happy either. It’s a dull, listless feeling. But it’s not all bad, it shows that there is a way out! Quite often this card represents the beginning of a new phase after a time of upheaval, a journey away from a stage of unhappiness to a better place. It can represent a change in your frame of mind, or an actual physical journey away from a negative situation. And on top of that, there is help on this journey, you don’t have to do it alone!
Six of Swords – Rider Waite Smith Tarot
Here in the RWS image we see a cloaked figure and a child, huddled together, being ferried off to an island in the distance. The figure is cloaked, which to me represents loss and sadness, that all too familiar feeling that occurs when you are leaving something behind in your past! Another important image that solidifies this is that the water to the right of the boat is rough and choppy, whereas the water to the left, towards the island and hence the direction they are going, is smooth and calm. This shows that the woman and the child are moving away from turmoil and conflict towards a calm and tranquil future. And this I think is the key to this card. Although we may be sad by our loss or predicament, as we move away from the past and its turmoil there is a sense of moving into a brighter future.
And then there is the ferryman, representative of the help that we may find along the way, and also importantly the 6 upright swords in the boat, representative of the importance of a logical frame of mind in these situations. Another way I like to look a these Swords is in the fact that they are not sinking the boat, nor weighing it down! In this respect it is important to realise that on this journey we may carry our past with us, but it will not weigh us down or sink us! Also I feel that the fact that they are coming with the woman and child on this journey shows that they represent something that the two figures have been dealing with for a long time, something that may no longer be painful but that stays with us throughout our life.
Fear, Worry, Anxiety, Regret, these forces have such an affect on us as human beings, and if left unchecked they can be so strong as to completely overpower us. I have definitely fallen victim to this during my life, most recently during the aftermath of my breakup, where I was constantly going over and over all the things I could have done wrong, all the things I could have changed. This got so bad that I could hardly escape from my thoughts! See this is the thing about these ‘feelings’, they are all well and good as pure emotion, some may even save us from a dangerous situation, but as soon as we feed them with our thoughts, they have the power to completely take hold off us. This fact is epitomised within my Daily Draw today, the Nine of Swords.
Nine of Swords – Radiant Rider Waite Smith Tarot
These forces are the keystones to the Nine of Swords. Traditionally we see a figure, lying awake in bed, head in hands, with nine swords hanging above them in the dark. This is such a powerful image, for who hasn’t sat awake in bed at 3am, filled with worries and anxieties that just won’t leave us alone. Nighttime is when our griefs and fears have the most strength as we no longer have the distractions of the day to get us by. We sit there worrying, brooding over an issue, making everything seem worse than it is, despairing over all that we could have done differently. This card represents the deepest sorrow and mental anguish that the suit of Swords represents. Unlike the Queen who has been able to turn this sorrow into wisdom, or the Three which shows pain which seems to come from something outward but with a suggestion of acceptance and cleansing, the Nine shows the moment of agony overpowering us, the pain that we generate within ourselves!! The Swords which usually represent thought, communication and action have turned into weapons against us rather than tools of progress. The fact that the swords hang directly above the figure, and not through their back like the Ten, shows that quite often this pain is not something that’s happening directly to us, but as a result of someone we love. This is further evident in the pattern on the blanket. Here we see roses, the symbol of passion, interspersed between all of the Zodiac signs. This to me represents someone who can’t help but take on the pain of others.
Now as I said in my post about the Queen of Cups, I find the Queens to be highly intriguing characters, matured to such an extent that they don’t need to present their wisdom and knowledge outwardly, but instead use it to help and develop others, and like an iceberg, most of their power lies beneath the surface. Today I drew the Queen of Swords, which is one of if not my favourite card that Stephanie has reinterpreted in the Shadowscapes Tarot. It is a gorgeous piece of art that I can stare at for hours. And for those of you who have never seen it, I shall now lay it before your eyes for your viewing pleasure 😛
Queen of Swords – Shadowscapes Tarot
The Queen of Swords is someone who has seen it all. She has been through so much in her life, both good and bad, and hence has the well rounded wisdom that comes from experience. She has a strength gained from being knocked down and getting back up again, from looking at both the good and the bad in her life and learning to accept the wisdom gained from each. Above everything else in life she respects honesty! She is upfront with everyone even if it may come across as harsh because she always strives to live a truthful life. She has no interest whatsoever in lies and deceit, but don’t take this lightly, for she is not one to be fooled. This is because she has one of the most astute minds going, quick to take in a situation and can see straight to the heart of any matter. Because of this she is quite a forthright character, direct and open in all her dealings, and has quite the witty sense of humour.
Over the last week or so I have been feeling a return of the sadness and loneliness that shrouded me during the middle months of this year. It’s been hard because I haven’t been keeping to myself, I’ve been seeing friends whenever I can, and filling my other days spending time with family, work, gym, and tarot. So it has been frustrating to feel these energies come back into my life. I thought that I was finally moving on. This morning when I woke up I felt an immense sadness permeate through my body, and when I grabbed my deck for my daily card draw I asked ‘what do I need to learn today to help me through these energies?’. And what came up, why the Seven of Swords. I sat there staring at the card like, what the hell!! Traditionally the Seven of Swords represents things such as theft, deception, betrayal, a preference for a ‘lone-wolf’ style of living, shirking responsibility or running away from a situation, and various other things among those themes. So why was it coming to me today?
Seven of Swords – Shadowscapes Tarot
Before getting into the possible reason, I think I might just talk about the Shadowscapes’ depiction of the Seven of Swords. Here we see an impish looking creature staring down at a sword he has stolen from the Swan Guardian. Although the Seven can suggest a tangible material theft, as we see in the card what is stolen is in the form of a Sword, so it may also be intangible. A thought, perception, confidence or freedom. He is smiling, gleeful with the thought that he has gotten away with his deception without reprimand. Unbeknownst to him however, the Swan is watching him with one eye over her shoulder. I see this as representative of the fact that more often than not what we may think we have gotten away with often comes back to bite us.
I like to think of myself as the type of person that will do anything to fight for what they believe in. And while doing so I strive to follow a code of ethics with a basis of do good and good will be dealt back to you. As time passes however, and with a little bit of help from today’s card of the day, the Five of Swords, I am starting to realise that everyone’s perception of right and wrong is different. What might be seen as the right thing to do for one person could be construed as wrong by someone else. And this makes me think of the interplay in other fields of life. In the case of this card, one person’s victory, and all the glory and honour that comes with it, is another person’s defeat, mired with dissatifaction, pain and sometimes utter devastation.
Traditionally the Five of Swords represents a victory tinged with defeat. Self-Interest, discord, dishonour, betrayal. The classic image is that of one man in the forefront staring at his conquered enemies, who are skulking off in the background, in possession of five swords. To me this clearly shows a victor and the defeated. However the sky is cloudy, which symbolises that it isn’t a clean cut victory, all is not well despite the fact that the battle seems to have concluded.
Five of Swords – Shadowscapes Tarot
In the Shadowscapes card however I struggle to see this represented. This is probably one of the few cards in the deck that I dont see a clear cut representation of the traditional meanings. Now of course these meanings can be inferred if you know what the card traditionally represents but I don’t think it is clearly evident through its image. The feeling that most overwhelms me when I look at this card is Isolation! Often when we fight for what we think is right there is a chance that we will hurt those around us and as a result isolate ourselves from them. Once the conflict is over you may try to rectify the situation but those who were hurt in the line of fire may be less inclined to heal the severed relationship. So to me one of the biggest things this depiction shows is that it is very important to establish whether your view or opinion is important enough to put your relationships in the firing line. For wherever there is victory, there is defeat.
So first I must apologise for being a bit lax in my posting. The reason is twofold. Firstly, my last two draws have been repeats of recent draws and I was unsure as to what they were trying to tell me so instead of posting I decided to ponder 🤔. They were quite opposite cards too, on Friday I drew the King of Swords and yesterday it was the Ace of Cups. My second reason is that I awoke Friday morning feeling incredibly drained and by the end of the day a cold had throughly worked its way in ðŸ˜. But today I am feeling a little bit better, despite having worked 10 hours yesterday, so I am back and ready to write.
When I first flipped over today’s card I thought the Shadowscapes was teasing me. The Sun. The complete opposite of what I’m feeling. I’m weighed down, congested and feeling really low on energy and what shows up The Sun. Not only that but it is a beautiful 33 degrees Celsius outside, the sun is shinning, the birds are singing, and I’m stuck inside with an 8 hour shift. Cruel Shadowscapes, very cruel!!
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.
It seems that the tarot is definitely trying to send me a message this week with three swords cards in a row. Yesterday I drew the Three of Swords and today what card decided to show its face, why the Eight of Swords of course. So my swan-soul has gone from being stabbed through the heart, abandoned and lonely, then found its way free to simply become caught in the ‘bramble crone’s’ grip, a precarious situation indeed…
Eight of Swords – Shadowscapes Tarot
Restriction, Confusion, Powerlessness. These are all the feelings represented by the Eight of Swords. It upsets me to see this card today. I thought I had come to a small revelation yesterday with the Three, but if I follow the thread of thought that these daily cards are messages for me then maybe there is more for me to learn.
the fox and the otter 