Your Weekly Reading for April 26 through May 2:
What is the theme of this upcoming week?
This week: Are you going to only see the pain, or are you going to see the beauty that will help you through the pain?
The Six of Cups:
Two children lay in the grass together under a calm sky where dawn has not yet broke. Over head, a kite flies on the breeze, representing dreams waiting for freedom. Below, the water glints like crystals. Both of them are smiling, filled with the wonder that holds true for the very innocent or young at heart. Six golden cups surround them, bursting with life and light and color. Neither one of them appear to have a care in the world. Cups are the cards of feelings, emotions, and intuition. They are also more often than not considered the love or relationship cards in the Tarot deck. The Six of Cups in the upright position reminds us that true fulfillment comes from within us, and must come from within every moment that we choose to be happy. Seasons change. People come and go. However, our lives continue on, and whether those lives are a heaven or a hell is entirely up to us. Happiness is living in the present, and while being present, realizing the beauty and wonder that surrounds you. It is often that the choices we make and the roads we choose to travel take us away from this very simple, yet vital, truth. No matter where you are going, or how hard the road seems at the moment, there is always something beautiful to take in and marvel at. It is honestly finding the beauty in these small, seemingly insignificant moments that gives us the fortitude to carry ourselves through the darkness. They are like precious little lights that illuminate the darkest nights.
The Nine of Swords:
A woman sits alone in her grief on what appears to be a rocky floor of a dark chamber. She is dressed in white nightclothes, for purity, and raises a hand to her face in desolation. Behind her, sheer white curtains billow open with the breeze, exposing the full moon (confusion) and a night sky full of stars. An owl, also white, a symbol of truth, higher wisdom, and strategy, comes rushing in as if to aid her. Nine swords are suspended above her, blocking any escape out of the window. The only thing she appears to be aware of is the unnatural height of her own sorrow; she is not looking at the swords, the owl, the lantern, or the moon outside. All of her attention is drawn inward. Swords are the cards of thoughts, words, and actions. Nines are the cards of fruition, or the ending phase of the cycle of the wheel. The Nine of Swords is a card of anxiety. You are coming to the end of an action-based era; perhaps a job or something else you were once driven by. Rather than letting it run its course, you are bemoaning it. This is problematic, as you are holding on tightly to something that is already ending. There is perhaps a little drama and theatrics in this last mourning for what is going away from you. What you do not see, because you are busy looking at the ending that is inevitable, is the purity of support and love you have around you.
These cards together weave a tale of needing to surrender. Surrender what is leaving you, or making you feel run through, because what is done is done, and you are not alone nor will you perish in your sadness over what has come to pass. At the same time that you are navigating this loss, you will also experience moments of sheer blissful beauty, and if you can put aside your hurt feelings, these moments will not only pour balm over your wounds, but will nourish your soul on a deep emotional level and trigger whatever healing you need to get you through this ending phase in your life. As always, the choice is yours – to dwell on the swords, or dwell on the bounty of the cups.
What will be known to you:
The Lovers:
Gilded light fires up the background of this card. A golden arrow points downward, upon the center of energy being shared by two angels. This duality together embodies the traits of the masculine and feminine, and from them life springs forth. Foliage climbs up the backdrop. White flowers in the shape of stars spring from her hair. A tree of life is beginning between them, with more flowers - red for life - sprouting in the ground around it. A shiny red apple lays before it (temptations?). With all of this going on in the picture, The Lovers are not focused on anything but each other. Their gazing into each other's eyes gives off an air of passion, and maybe a little amusement. White light wraps around them like a cloak. The Lovers is a Major Arcana card, and therefore deals with parts of our life we carry with us throughout the whole of it. I interpret the Lovers card to be about connection. It is also thought of as a card of Union. In this case, it speaks of the uniting, or balance, of the two opposing forces above. If you are open to your own personal truth and the power in it, you can find balance this week between the grief over what is leaving (or the anxiety that it is leaving you) and the hope of the Six of Cups, which is the hope of the innocent, steeped in wonder and not concerned with the would-haves, could-haves, or should-haves. You will see within the unfolding days how you have opportunity to balance out the light and the dark, and find a middle ground that keeps you grounded and stable. Know when you start to sway in one direction or the other too far out that there is a balance of middle ground: One that knows that endings are not always bad for us, and that beauty is everywhere if we look for it.
What you will not see; but is nonetheless there:
The Nine of Wands:
A man in fairly plain clothes stands just outside a castle chamber with what appears to be a dagger in one hand, and a wand in the other while eight more wands lay upright in the ground behind him. Foliage grows up the wand he is holding, and the ground appears to carry the green of summer. A growing moon is barely visible in the upper right corner of the card, perhaps showing fullness of completion. While he is dressed plainly, his neck is adorned with leather, shells, and beads. He appears to be as much of the earth as the wands and the foliage. He appears contemplative, and almost at rest if you notice his shoulders are relaxed and even his hand that holds the dagger does not grip it with any urgency. Wands are the cards of energy, motivation, and passions. This card appears to be sending the message that whatever you have been building in your life is nearing completion; to remain steadfast, but do not stress yourself, as everything you have been putting your energy into is growing ripe and nearing its harvest. You are dedicated to this work, and are not in it for the moment (or your wand would have never taken root as it has in the picture). Each day brings you more progress.
This is interesting, considering last week you were called to make a decision to move towards your passion. If you answered the call, you will make steady progress towards it this week, but you will not see this progress because of the dualistic nature of pain vs. hope. You will be so entrenched in this swinging of the pendulum that it will probably feel as if you are going nowhere, and are quite stuck in something you have no control over. However, the seed is planted and sprouting and it will grow for you. So, while you may not have time to dwell much on your passions during the unfolding days, that does not mean it has left you or gone stagnant. Trust that it is growing and your earlier persistence towards it will pay off in the long run. This just isn’t yet the week of harvest.
Advice to navigate the coming days and their energies:
The Five of Cups (reversed):
This card depicts a man broken, naked, holding himself in what appears to be a sitting fetal position. He sits on a stone, oblivious to everything that is going on around him. The cups before him are upturned and empty, sitting in calm waters. Two cups are suspended on either side of him, representing the right and left - emotion and intellect; also empty. The sky is dark, but calm, and covered in stars. He can see none of these things, as he is completely immersed in what is going on within himself. Cups are the cards of emotions, feelings, and creativity. They are also known as the love cards in the Minor Arcana. Being Minor Arcana, they relate to day-to-day issues. You have the ability to either see the three empty cups at the bottom, and to mourn the emotional loss of them, or you have the ability to look up from your place of grief and see the two above you. This again ties in to the balance of the theme of the week. Where are your emotions? Are you dwelling on what you don’t have, or are you celebrating what is light in your world? Life is never a stark version of one or the other, but a balance of all things combined. The choice is clearly yours in how you will deal with things emotionally this week. This card being reversed hints that you have a better chance of looking up rather than down… But it is all what you choose to dwell upon that will depend on how you navigate the events that will unfold.
The Emperor:
The Emperor stands in what appears to be tower overlooking a kingdom. Behind him, the sky is red and hazy, with jagged peaks. He carries a staff with the head of the ram, which also adorns his tower, which is symbolic of Mars, and of leadership. The carvings in the tower depict Gods of older times. An eagle stands vigilant to his right, a sign of freedom and strength. To his left, the sphere of rulers, symbolic of his responsibilities and power. His robes are purple, red, and black - all power colors, for royalty, flesh, spirituality, and strength. His golden crown holds the colors of root, solar plexus, heart, and throat chakras, of which a person would need to be open and functional to be an effective leader. He gazes at you, knowing his power, but not lofty with it.
The Emperor came to us last week to remind us that we are the own authors of our life, and he has come back to drive the message home. Life is always what you make of it and no matter what you believe you always carry the tools inside of you to create the life you want for yourself. Last week was all about having the courage to follow what lights a fire within you. This week is all about finding the strength within to balance out the negatives with the positives to keep moving forward. Sometimes, we have a habit of making a first step, and when that step does not reap an immediate reward, we call ourselves cursed and shove our dreams aside as wasted energy. A real Emperor would not begin a quest, and then change his mind and ride home at the first sign of defeat. In fact, all of the stories of truly great Emperors speak of tenacity and persistence… and the Nine of Wands – the part which we will not see – is the card of persistence.
So, ride forward, and keep looking up. See where you can find the balance this week between that which fills you with anxiety, and that which fills you with wonder. Don’t curse the new direction you have chosen to take just because you have not yet arrived at the sunset. The progress is there. You just cannot see the forest for the trees at the moment. Don’t give up, and don’t succumb to depression over what is leaving or what seems threatening. Trust that all is unfolding for your greatest good.
…And have a good week.
-R-