Thank you for joining me again for our monthly tarot card readings. Each month we ask the cards for guidance on how we can properly navigate our choices to bring about the gifts and harmony we hope for in all avenues of life. Before we begin, let’s get a few things straight.
The tarot is there to offer us guidance on where we are at right now. When I begin my readings, I ask for the wisdom needed for the higher good of everyone, in the now. To simply ask what is in store for us in the future degrades our own divine freedom of choice in all matters. We are the drivers of our own destiny. There may be beautiful scenery, tempting exits and car troubles along the journey but it our own choices that dictates our destination. The cards act like a map, showing the possible avenues that could lead us to happiness or despair.
The idea of it being fortune telling stems from those wanting to make a buck off of playing into the fears of their patrons. Although popular assertion for the art of tarot, card reading is not the only avenue for sly foxes. Every gift can be manipulated for personal gain when handled from a dark intention. Let us awake to a new era where tarot is an art of guidance, helping our inner compass to point True North. And with that, Let’s Begin!
I pull 4 cards, each representing a week of the month.
Week One: October kicks off with us feeling a little lost. This could be the pull from Autumn, wanting us to turn inward, settle our busy summer schedules and ground down during this change of seasons. I feel the same thing in Spring. They are both grounding seasons, reminding us that we do not change when everything is going well and we feel great. It is through the pressure we become the diamond and reversed Prince of Cups is telling us, we are not connecting the dots of our emotions to the why’s. The Hanged Man is there, however, showing us that a change in perspective is a helpful tool and when he is reversed, as he is in our pull, he shows a radiating sun behind his head, resembling a crown. I see this as a crown of knowledge and enlightenment. He has seen things a bit differently and he is better for it. Last card for this first week is the Prince of Swords and he is standing up straight, telling us to take that new found perspective out for a test drive! I see him like the college student, everyday being schooled on fundamentals, history and wisdom that shape him, challenge him and turn him into quite the debater as well. He wants to share all this new information with the world, but has he actually put that knew knowledge into practical reality? In that, he is a bit reckless. But that is not your concern this first week of October. I think it is time, if you haven’t done it yet, to get those decorations for Halloween out and change up the place. Switch out that candle for pumpkin spice, begin eating those delicious soups and stews, and add some squash to your diet. It is time for change and through everyday acts we can set an example to our consciousness that the old just isn’t working anymore.
Week Two: The first card for this week is the reversed 6 of Wands. It is commonly referred to as Victory but when it is upside down, I hear the question, “Victory for who?”. How do we define success? If you are not staying true to your own definitions of integrity, truth, sovereignty; then what you really fighting for? The next two cards are more court cards (there are a lot of them this month!). We have the Queen of Swords and the King of Pentacles/Disks, reigning over power of thought and the established wealth of the material world. I just keep hearing, “Put your money where your mouth is”. Again, who are you fighting for? Challenge yourself to see through the veil of mainstream conditioning. A war is wanting to happen and each side is gathering their soldiers but guess what, you don’t have to join the army. A great exercise is the meditation that asks you to envision what people would say at your funeral. Sometimes, I feel it a bit more positive to envision a retirement party rather than a funeral but whatever works for you! What are they saying? What is the best case scenario? Were you successful at business? A family stone? A good friend? It is here we begin to see clearly just where our core values lie so be honest with yourself if you are currently on a path to hearing those words of praise and adoration.
Week Three: It is a good thing we got our values in order last week because in week three, they are tested. The High Priestess is like our personal compass, always pointing True North and when we have a firm hold on that compass, we navigate the turns of life successfully, fulfilled. She is upside down for us in this pull which points to a questioning about that inner wisdom. Luckily, the sixth card of the major arcana, The Lovers, is there to show us the way to salvation. Time to spend our days with family and friends. Those who support you and know the real you, lift you up and hold space for you. As the next card is the Queen of Wands, reversed, we again see that questioning of one’s soul purpose. Why are we here? What are we doing? What have I done? Who am I? I feel the message here is that on either side of our loved ones, we have salvations and we have awakening; congruence and conflict. We may find the solution to our questions with those we identify with or we may be shown the path to our truer self by the reflection of doubt within our crowd. Who are you spending time with? Are they at that retirement party or funeral you envisioned last week? These days are for getting in touch with your inner strength. Get outside and soak up the remaining sunlight before we are fully into Winter. Let the sun remind you of who you are.
Week Four: And now the week of Halloween!! My favorite, but the holiday is not the only reason for hiding behind a mask. The fist card, the Hermit, card 9 in the major arcana, is reiterating that theme of getting in touch with our inner wisdom. Get your mind straight, organize your affairs, and shine light in the darkness. Any cobwebs we can clean out because guess what, the Devil is coming. But he is not a bad card! He is there to ask us why we are making the decisions we are making. Why that costume? Why that facade? Why that choice? Again, who is the victory for? The classic tale of the devil involves selling one’s soul in order to gain a solution to a problem which, we as the audience knows, can be solved through humility and honesty but the character must sell himself in order to save the day, to save face, to protect others. He thinks he is doing the right thing but really his actions are tied up in fear. The following card, the 4 of Swords is supporting that notion. We call it Truce, and it reminds us that a truce does not equal peace. Avoidance does not equal solution. We must tackle our fears head on, with our values in place, take off the mask in order to find our real self which leads to real purpose. These cards add up to 10 (well they add up to 28 which then is 10 by 2+8 but let’s put numerology aside and just go with it) and in the major arcana, that card is the Wheel of Fortune. Navigating the ups and downs of life with an understanding of the divine and our free will to choose within those opportunities. Your perspective is everything and you get to make the rules, make the moves and reap the rewards in your own game of life. Whoever convinced you otherwise?
Our weeks of October begin on Fridays which is ruled by Venus. She is all about our relationships and smack dab in the middle of our pull we have the Lovers, properly placed at the heart of our spread. However, the overall quintessence of the spread is the Hermit. I believe the message here is that we must work on the relationship we have with ourself. That is what a grounding season is all about after all, looking inside to shine light in areas that may be darkened by fear, pain, or trauma and shining love into those areas so we become the person we are worthy of becoming and live the life that we are proud of.