divination

What’s the Most Aligned Action I Can Start Taking Today?

~ meghwithglasses ~ Leave a comment

This is what I asked my tarot deck this morning. I’ve been pulling a card everyday of this year and it’s been a wonderful process for self reflection. Sometimes I ask a question. Sometimes I just shuffle and see what jumps out. It’s a busy week with my energy going in several directions and this question felt appropriate. The Two of Pentacles and Five of Wands jumped out for me. Two for the price of one! Maybe this is a good sign. Maybe I’m just having trouble aligning my actions.

The Two of Pentacles is about finding balance. Having a lot of balls in the air, as the kids say. (Just kidding. I’m pretty sure the kids aren’t saying that.) It’s a cycle that keeps going. We finish one task, there will be another. We leave work, we have to devote time to our homes, our families, our friends, our dogs (or cats or guinea pigs). Our juggler looks like they’ve got this. They’re in motion or very nearly balancing on one foot, but they’re still juggling these pentacles with masterful skill and concentration. They’ve found a rhythm and a flow with everything they’ve got going on, even though the sea behind them is rough. There are always big and small things, but if we seek balance, we’ve got this.

The Five of Wands is about disagreement, arguments, people fighting to be right. It often is not as serious a thing as the people fighting make it seem. But like most disagreements, the people involved want to say their piece and make sure their voices are heard. (They also want to be right and to win.) We can choose to participate or not.

So, what do these two cards together have to say about aligned action? Certainly balance is a big part of this. Trying to avoid unnecessary conflict or upset and taking responsibility that all voices are heard, respected, and listened to. It can mean taking a role as a mediator or peace keeper in the event that a disagreement breaks out. Perhaps even reevaluating where energy is being spent in life? Are some of these activities causing more unnecessary conflict than they’re worth? Are we doing just to do?

Personally, there’s something for me about balancing my internal notions of what’s right. Inner balance matters too and I’ve been through a period of disruption in the past year that has me thinking through what I might have thought was “correct” or “proper”. Something that I would not have thought was a “right” choice has turned into the most beautiful thing. Balancing this beautiful thing with my day to day responsibilities and traditionally held beliefs (thanks, Grandma) can at times feel like a bit of internal conflict. And that’s ok. It’s ok to challenge our long held beliefs, especially if they’ve been handed down to us and no longer serve us. Challenge can feel like conflict, disagreement, a need to be “right”.

Unlike the juggler in the Two of Pentacles, taking aligned action for me means keeping both feet on the ground. Better for balance and stability. But I’m keeping all of these pentacles in the air masterfully.

When the Tower is a Blessing

~ meghwithglasses ~ Leave a comment

I first became interested in tarot almost thirty years ago. I was a pub wench at a Renaissance Faire. It was a special time.

I bought a deck. I started to read the book. I got really good at the first three cards of the Major Arcana (The Fool, The Magician, and The High Priestess, in case you were wondering) and then I gave up. Life was busy and complicated and I didn’t have a lot of spare mental energy to devote to divination.

Flash forward to 2019…I decided it was time to return to tarot. I got one deck and then another and another (SO many decks!) and then started to work with them. I switch up the decks demanding on my mood. Some of them are easier to read with than others. It’s a helpful tool for greater self awareness and understanding. Often it’s a tool for me to gain clarity about a situation or to see things from a new perspective.

Now I feel more comfortable reading for other people and recently did a New Year reading for a friend. The first card was her blessing from the past year. I pulled The Tower. (See photo above.)

I am a believer that there are no “bad” cards in tarot. I don’t believe that tarot predicts the future. We all have free will and the power of choice in any moment. That said, The Tower is pretty clear about the energy it holds and the message it brings.

It’s all crashing down on you. This interruption, destruction, not at all pleasant thing has happened and it was beyond your control. There is very little, if anything, left and it seems like everything you knew to be true no longer is.

Where’s the blessing in that?

When there’s nothing left, there’s nothing to hold us back. There’s nothing to hold on to. We’re released from patterns of behavior, a job that doesn’t serve us, a relationship that really wasn’t working. When there’s nothing left, we get to choose what we build, what we invite in. We get a fresh start, a clean slate, a blank page, or any other appropriate cliche you can throw at this. We get to move forward with the power of choosing what we really want.