Well we’re really feeling the season change and I find myself outdoors more and more. For those interested, this post shows some photographs I took in the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park, and this post introduces my friend Isa, who will be working on her very own version of the tarot card images.
This week I’m using The Mythic Tarot, and as usual I've drawn three cards for you this week and I invite you to pick 1, 2, or all 3 cards, in any order you like. Whatever feels right for you.
Eight is the first cubic number (2x2x2). As such it represents the entry into three dimensions, where affairs stand a good chance of getting complex and out of hand. The eights in tarot often carry warnings about not levelling with ones karma, or getting stuck in a loop rather than achieving balance.
And in the case of the cups, we are confronted with those difficulties as experienced on an emotional level. It can be extremely liberating to walk away from emotional upheavals which do not serve you, and toward new horizons. Of course it’s not easy to always have the strength and determination to do so. But we should try to keep moving towards better things. Calm acceptance of ones feelings will illuminate the way ahead better than any rash emotional responses.
The nines are rooted in the Hermit. But the nine of pentacles doesn’t show someone who retreats to a barren place. Instead he retreats to his beautiful sanctuary, his very own slice of paradise.
And why not? He’s earned it. It’s all his. This card doesn’t signify that he is filthy rich, but he’s comfortable, stable, healthy, secure. There is just enough. And he’s happy with that. Does this sound like you? If so, the independent little world you have built for yourself is worthy of respect. Just don’t hide yourself away there all the time. There’s a whole world out there, and we are social creatures after all. But you can meet that world safe in the knowledge that you can go back to your sanctuary anytime you need to, on your terms.
Twos are all about balance, but also speak of duality and dichotomy. They show ways in which opposing forces can be reconciled, integrated, and made to work synergistically.
This card gives us a clear warning about times where our attempts to be a neutral peacekeeper, or to not take sides in an attempt to please (or appease) everybody, can backfire. If you are stuck in the middle of a conflict, realise that despite your best intentions, you may be being used by the warring parties as the fulcrum, and not necessarily as the balancing force. Keep your own peace instead. It’s a perfectly acceptable decision to remove yourself for a while from people or situations that are affecting you negatively.
