Lenormand & Tarot Tag-Team, Part 2: Tarot’s Turn

In the previous post, I shared the first part of this week’s Lenormand & Tarot tag-team reading. That first part offered possibilities for the week from the perspective of the Lenormand. Now that the foundation has been laid, it’s Tarot’s turn to offer us further insights for this week.

The video below reveals the cards in the reading:

If you prefer to read the post, here it is:

If you read that last post, then you’ll recall our cards for the week (from the New York Lenormand by Robert Place) are Rider, Clover, and Scythe.

The Tarot card inserts of those cards are 9 of Cups, 6 of Pentacles, and Page of Pentacles.

Since I read Clover as the focus in the Lenormand part of the reading, I will stick with that approach here, which would then make 6 of Pentacles as the focus card.

The theme of the 6 of Pentacles card is giving and receiving.

The 6 of Pentacles tells us that in our relationships (the 6 is a reflection of The Lovers, and can indicate relationships) we will, at times, be a giver, and at other times, be on the receiving end of someone else’s giving.

Both roles are important, in the grand scheme of things—there can be no receiving without giving, and no giving without receiving. The 6, being an even number, suggests balance.

This is a caution to us about playing the role of always being the person who gives, and has difficulty receiving from others; it also cautions us to not just be the “takers,” meaning the people who are only willing to take what others give them, yet they are either incapable or unwilling to give of themselves.

The scales the merchant holds in the image of the card also indicate balance (like the number 6); in addition to balance, the scales are a symbol of the law. The law here can be man’s law, but it also indicates Universal Laws, like the Law of Cause & Effect and the Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction basically states that “what we place our focus and attention on is what we get more of.”

Looking at the image on the card again, we see that one person is receiving coins (being given the resources to make “change” in his life), while the other stands by, waiting for his turn. One could possibly say that the person getting the money is experiencing flow and abundance, while the other is experiencing lack and scarcity. The scene could also suggest that sometimes our needs are met immediately, and other times, we may have to wait a bit longer.

The person receiving the money supports the idea with the Law that talks about “like attracting like,” which means that a vibration attracts another vibration it is on the same frequency with. This person then sees the manifestation of abundance thinking.

The other person, in comparison, could be waiting and wondering if there will be enough money for him. Haven’t you ever had that thought, the thought about whether there will be enough to go around? This person then sees the manifestation of scarcity thinking.

We can learn from the merchant as well. He is in the position of giving out the money, deciding who gets what, and how much. One person may get more, the other may get less.
One deciding factor may be the appearances of the people on their knees. Have we ever made a decision about who we will either give or not give to based on an appearance?

Going bigger and grander, the merchant illustrates the Source, holding all the resources in the Universe (all the Good that Life has to offer), saying that the Universe is an abundant place (if we choose to think It is), and that there is more than enough for everyone—it really boils down to a matter of distribution.

The principle here is that when we choose to be giving, we will receive. When we choose to withhold (which is usually rooted in some form of fear), we can set ourselves up to experience lack in the future.

Something that can influence things is our ability to be grateful; expressing gratitude, when we are in the flow, will allow us to experience more to be grateful for.

If we are stuck in scarcity thinking, one thing we can start doing is expressing gratitude for what we currently have.

No matter what position we take on the card, each one gives us some perspective about our lives.

Coming back down to earth (the element of the suit of Pentacles), when the 6 of Pentacles is being offered to you, spend some time giving of yourself to others. See what the people around you might be needing and how you can meet those needs. Give to yourself as well. This is a card of service.

This might be a good week to make donations, give gifts, give to charitable organizations, and consider volunteering. You might be the one to receive a gift or a bonus. A loan might even be repaid.

There’s a saying that fits this card perfectly: “Give unto others, and it shall be given unto you.”

To the left of the 6 of Pentacles, once again, we have the 9 of Cups (it was in the same position last week). As I said then, traditionally, the 9 of Cups is known as the “wish card.” Tradition has held that if you have a wish, and this card appears in your reading, it means that your wish will come true.

Along with “wish fulfillment,” the 9 of Cups can represent being happy, satisfied, content, and “fulfilled” with life.

An emotionally satisfying life takes time and effort to both create and maintain, though. The 9 of Cups focuses on the end result, as the 9 is a number of attainment.

Being a card of both abundance and celebration, the 9 of Cups asks us to celebrate the abundance we have in our lives, and one of those ways is by sharing what we have with others (the card comes before the 6 of Pentacles in the line).

On the other side of the 6 of Pentacles, we have the Page of Pentacles. Pentacles, being the dominant suit this week, asks us to consider what we value in life, what we find worthwhile.

Pages in Tarot suggest a new stage, a learning stage of development. I see this Page as learning the value and worth of things in his physical world, but also about the value and worth he has—his self-worth and self-value.

Keeping with the learning aspect of the Page, this is a person who is a student or scholar; if not actually enrolled in college or university, this is the person who is considered a “student of life,” someone who is a life-long learner. This would fit with Book, the Lenormand card that represents education, teaching, learning, and a course of study as the possible opportunity in the first part of this week’s reading.

Pages in Tarot, for me, can represent news and messages, much in the way Rider does in the Lenormand (and in the first part of this reading too). When a Page appears, I pull a card from the deck, asking for further insight as to the possible nature of the news or message.

I did so in the video, and the card pulled was The Lovers, which was discussed due to its connection to the 6 of Pentacles. In terms of the opportunity presented by Clover, The Lovers would suggest that a choice may have to be made regarding it.

For the (single) individual, the person will have to decide what he or she thinks (the man on the card) and how he or she feels (the woman on the card) about the opportunity to make the best decision regarding it.

For people in significant relationships (The Lovers is a card of partnerships), both parties will have to come to a mutual decision.

This card is Gemini, and Mercury is the ruling planet of Gemini. You may recall that Mercury is retrograde right now, so it is also important that the partners communicate clearly their thoughts and feelings about the matter.

To round out this reading, we can take the numbers on the cards to arrive at the essence, which will be the Major Arcana card bearing the same number. As with the Lenormand part, we have 9 + 6 + 11, which once again adds to 26. Since there are 22 cards in the Major Arcana, we take 2 + 6, which gives us a total of 8.

The 8th card in the Major Arcana is Strength.

When Strength appears, we are being encouraged to consider our self-esteem and self-confidence. Strength urges us to be bold and stand in our personal power.

As we see in the image of the card, our maiden touches the lion beside her. She has tamed the beast, which is a demonstration of how we, at times, need to curb our own natural, instinctual tendencies.

In order to do this, our maiden is indeed using strength, but not the brute force typically associated with physical strength; instead, she is using the gentle—yet extremely powerful—ability to love unconditionally.

In most (if not all) spiritual teachings (the infinity symbol above our maiden’s head represents our connection to the Infinite), unconditional love is said to be the most powerful force there is. And, just as those teachings encourage us to love others unconditionally, we must also love ourselves in the same manner—especially in those moments when we let our wild and untamed side come and roar its head.

There may be experiences where our self-control will be tested. We are being encouraged to identify our problematic habits and unhealthy tendencies (Strength is also a health card) and to weigh their overall impact on our lives.

It will be in those moments that we will choose to be confident in our power to be strong and capable—and show ourselves that we are up to the test.

And with that, Tarot finishes its turn, wrapping up another weekly reading! And I get to close with the same sentiment I did last week: I wish (9 of Cups) for you a Tarot-tastic week!