Your Week in Tarot: January 18-24, 2016

Welcome to this week’s card reading!

Before I get into the reading, I want to take a moment and thank you for reading the posts and for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me about things discussed within the readings. A lot of viewers and readers have been contacting me personally with e-mails sharing the details of their experiences throughout the week. The notes you send my way continue to encourage me, and I appreciate the support of the work.

The deck assisting me this week is the Fairy Tarot Cards by Doreen Virtue, Radleigh Valentine, and Howard David Johnson. As always, with these weekly general readings, I take the deck in hand, shuffling the cards, and asking this question: “What do we need to know about the possibilities for the week ahead?”

This week’s video reveals the cards for our reading:

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

After shuffling the deck and pulling the three cards for this reading, I turn the remainder of the deck over to look at the card at the bottom, which I consider the foundation for the week.

The card is Ego.

When Ego appears, it’s asking us to acknowledge our shadow aspects, or, as Kelly Clarkson once sang, our “dark side,” because, as the song goes, “everybody’s got a dark side.”

This card illustrates those times when we allow fear to rule our lives. When we allow our lives to be dictated by our fears—both real and imagined—we’re also giving our personal power away to those fears.

We do all sorts of things to run away from (avoid) the things that scare us, and some of those escapisms can become addictive (Ego can be a card associated with all types of addictions)–and something else we become a slave to.

When Ego appears, it’s urging us to turn and face the things we fear, and stop allowing situations and people to frighten, intimidate, and upset us.

We all must, from time to time, walk through a dark time, a dark night of the soul. Ego asks us, “Is this the time for you to face—and overcome—your fear? Are you going to choose to deal with challenging situations head-on, and stand up to the challenging people in your life (which is really standing up for yourself)—or are you going to continue to avoid things and hide out?”

Ego is also about looking at the ways we trip ourselves up, the ways in which we limit and restrict ourselves, the ways we hold ourselves back. A lot of those ways are the result of unconscious conditioning and programming, a lot of behaviors and habits because we simply don’t know any better. As the late Dr. Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, you do better.” This week, we may be faced with the opportunities for us to know better, and as a result of that knowing, doing better.

Moving now to the three cards I pulled: the first for the beginning of the week; the second for the middle of the week; and the last to round out the rest of the week.

For the beginning of the week, we have The Hermit.

When The Hermit appears on your path, the message is to take some time out for yourself. This is a card of withdrawal, being alone, finding some quiet time or engaging in solitary activities.

If you’re a person who meditates, this week would be ideal for that. If you’re an active dreamer (meaning that you recall and record your sleep dreams), consider pulling out one of your most recent dreams and work with it.

The Hermit is about being self-aware, and gaining wisdom from your life experiences. If you’re finding yourself in the middle of a challenging situation (The Hermit calls this “a dark night of the soul,” like I mentioned with Ego), take a step back and ask yourself, “What is the possible lesson in this situation for me? What is it teaching me–about me?”

If you’re sometimes prone to “preaching” to people in an effort to get them to change (perhaps an egoic belief that you have the power and control to change another person, which Ego would say is a false belief or error thinking), The Hermit is asking you to consider a different approach. This card is about leading by example (The Hermit holds a lantern), showing others the way–without words.

Gandhi was quoted to say “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” (The Hermit, in this case, can reflect Wisdom Teachers and Ascended Masters.) When people see the positive changes you have made in your own life, which I call “demonstration,” it will attract people who will want to know what you have been doing. That will be your “hook” to then tell them, because they are interested.

The Hermit tells people what she has done, and offers that they can do the same–if they want (she would then add, “No pressure,” because she knows there is a lesson involved whether they choose to follow her example or not).

The Hermit is in direct contrast to Ego in the sense that we may be moving from a place of being unenlightened and “in the dark” (Ego) to becoming enlightened by shining a light on an issue or situation we were once unconscious about.

For the middle of the week, we have 6 of Winter.

This card, for me, can be a need for objectivity, and the number 6, in Tarot numerology, is a number of choices.

6 of Winter can mean that we’re in a transitional phase. 6 of Winter can indicate that we’re sailing into more calm waters (the fairy in the boat), that things are moving from having been difficult to becoming tranquil.

In some depictions of this card, the ferryman is seen transporting either one or two people in his boat to the other side (the calm waters). Here, we only have the boatman himself. So, like The Hermit, it may be a journey or experience we have to go through alone.

The 6 is the path of responsibility, so with this particular image, we might have to consider the idea (Winter being the suit of thoughts) that we’re being asked to make responsible choices (6) for ourselves during this transitional phase. Especially if we typically have assumed the responsibility (6) for helping others out of tight jams, we might have to make the decision that allows people to assume responsibility for their own affairs and that their actions—or inactions—have some consequence.

I look to see if there is any repeating symbolism throughout the cards and 6 of Winter, like The Hermit, has the repeated symbolism of a central figure holding a lantern, repeating the message of shedding light on a situation this week.

6 of Winter, in that regard, can suggest seeing “the light at the end of the tunnel.”

For the end of the week, we have Princess of Winter.

Princesses, for me, can represent a learning stage of development. This particular Princess embraces a new idea or concept. It may be that, by the end of the week, new information may be gained, keeping with The Hermit being wisdom gained from experience, and the repeated symbolism of light being shed. This card can reflect asking, “Why,” so we could get the “why” of a certain experience or situation.

Sometimes, when this Princess appears, it can suggest that the information might be difficult to hear. It reminds me of the moment, in the film “A Few Good Men,” when Jack Nicholson’s character, when pressed for the truth of a situation in a courtroom, exclaims, “You can’t handle the truth!”

So, be sure, that if you’re seeking the truth of a situation or experience, that you’re really ready to handle the answers you might receive.

And, with that, Princesses can be message bearers, so I draw another card, asking, “What additional news or messages does this Princess have for us?”

The card I drew, as the answer, is 9 of Summer.

When this card appears in a reading, it is asking you to consider the things you hope and wish for.

9 of Summer 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, which is symbolized by the woman being attended to by her “fairy godmother,” as well as the card stating, “Wishes come true!”

So, along with “wish fulfillment,” 9 of Summer can represent being happy, satisfied, content, and “fulfilled” with life.

This card, in that light, can represent parties and celebrations, as it looks like the woman on the card is getting dressed up for a night on the town (somewhat reminiscent of Cinderella going to the ball). If you’re attending any parties, celebrations, or even a gala, be sure not to have too much fun: coupled with Ego, this card can suggest the possibility of excessive partying and being too self-indulgent.

To round out this reading, I’ll take the numbers on all the cards, reducing them to a number between 1-22, seeing what Major Arcana card will be the Lesson card for the week.

Adding 9 + 6 + 11, we have a total of 26. Because the total is over 22, the digits will be added together, giving us a final total of 8.

The 8th Major Arcana card is Justice.

As a Lesson card, Justice suggests that we might be faced (the fairies on the card facing a sword in the air before them) with needing to make an important decision on a matter.

Justice can sometimes suggest legal matters, but if that is not the case, I always see this card as adopting a similar approach to decision-making as if you were in a courtroom.

In court, the judge rules based on the facts and evidence presented to him or her, and weighs his or her verdict on the side that presented the most compelling argument for ruling in their favor. The same would hold for a jury. They listen to both sides of the issue, deliberate, and come back with a decision.

This might be the approach we’re being asked to adopt. Justice is a card that suggests being impartial and neutral. We need to look at all possible sides and angles of the situation, and take those things into account. We may need to look at the pros and cons of the issue. We may need to ask for more information, or re-examine some evidence that we were presented with before.

Justice asks us to be rational, logical, and analytical in this process of decision-making. We’re being asked to “do the right thing,” to do what’s in the best and highest good for everyone involved (you know, that expression, “and justice for all”).

We started with Ego, and finishing with Justice. When Justice follows Ego in a reading, it can suggest vindication for some type of wrongdoing, or moving from a place of doing the “wrong” thing to now doing the “right” thing. The may be a shift in one’s ethics and morals (for the better), or being faced with the opportunity to stand up for your convictions, for what’s right.

The card does say, “You will win in the end.” And on that note, we’ll adjourn this week’s reading.

Thanks for joining me, and I’m wishing you a Tarot-tastic week!

 

 

 

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