Oracle Outlook: Tarot Reading for September 19-25, 2016

It’s a new week (which has Mercury going direct and an equinox), and that means it’s time for a new Oracle Outlook!

For this week’s reading, I’m turning to the Tarot for assistance (keeping with the rotation, it’s Tarot’s turn to be on deck), specifically the Robin Wood Tarot (created by Robin Wood and published by Llewellyn).

As I do every week for these general readings, I’m taking 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, I pulled three cards for this reading: 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.

Cards for the Week

For the beginning of the week, we have Judgement.

Judgement, being a Major Arcana card, carries weight in the reading this week, as the Majors are cards that speak of our spiritual and psychological influences, and how those factors impact us and play out through our situations and circumstances.

Judgement is encouraging us to do a life review, and to see what we’ve learned from past experiences.

It’s like going to school, in the sense of having to take a test or exam to see how much you’ve retained (learned) from all that material you’ve taken in all semester.

The Judgement card is test time.

But life’s tests are different than the tests in school.

In school, most of the time you get only one attempt at the test; either you pass, or, as they say these days, you have an epic fail.

Here’s how Life’s tests differ: You see, we get the same test again and again until we pass it. The class and the instructor (our circumstances) may be different, but trust me, the test is the same.

I have first-hand, real-world experience with this meaning of the card. I had taken my comprehensive exam for my Master of Arts in Psychology degree, as was waiting to be notified as to whether I passed or failed (that’s all I would be told).

While waiting, I did a reading asking Tarot if I had passed the exam. Judgement was the final card in the reading—and shortly afterward, I was notified by phone with the news I had passed (Judgement is also about news, messages, and announcements).

The woman on the card is naked, which symbolizes being true to oneself and standing in one’s authenticity. Being naked says, “I have nothing to hide–what you see is what you get.”

Authenticity is moving toward self-mastery. The Phoenix rising behind the woman represents our ability to “rise from the ashes” stronger and more powerful than before—or ever, in some cases. In the words of spiritual teacher Gary Zukav, this is “authentic power.”

Keeping with the school analogy (because it’s working so well), this is a form of graduation, as Judgement can mean adopting a new lease on life.

This could be the week you reach a milestone in your development.

For the middle of the week, we have the 5 of Cups.

With the 5 of Cups, its message is to let go of the people, things, and conditions that are no longer a part of your life as it is. You may be feeling disappointment connected to holding on to once was.

The hooded figure on the card stands before three spilled cups on the ground, focusing on this loss. This scene can symbolize the disappointment we feel (Cups being the suit of feelings and emotions) when people, things, and circumstances go out of our lives. There are some things we are not meant to have indefinitely, as much as we may want otherwise.

As we take inventory of our lives suggested by Judgement, the 5 of Cups wants us to feel the sense of loss that naturally comes with change (the number 5 is associated with change), which can be just like grief and mourning in some cases–but we are also urged not to stay and wallow in that state.

That can become experiences of regret, remorse, and possibly even guilt, which serve no purpose when we choose to remain in them rather than letting them be the life lessons they were intended (Judgement).

The two remaining cups symbolize what our cloaked friend still has remaining in life, if only there would be a shift in focus to see that all is not lost.

So, this week, during the evaluation of your life, allow the feelings of discomfort to come up when they do. Sit with them, be with them. But don’t wallow. Feel them, acknowledge them, and let them drift along. They will.

For the end of the week, we have the King of Wands.

This is the card of the spiritual leader, the business leader, the politician, and the entrepreneur. No matter the position or title, the King of Wands brings passion and devotion to his (or her) work.

This card asks us to consider the idea that we are powerful, creative, spiritual beings. As spiritual beings having a human experience, this card urges us to take what we have learned from life (Judgement, and the King is about maturity) and use that as fuel (passion) for our creative self-expression (the suit of Wands being about our public and private image and identity).

The King of Wands is a reminder that we’re not “becoming someone.” Rather, we’re allowing the masterpiece that’s within each of us to be revealed–when we choose to get out of our own way.

The suit of Wands is about intention and action. So, this week, I invite you to consider how you might step more fully into your own power–and take the step.

And that will bring our reading to a close. Thanks for joining me for this week’s Oracle Outlook, and I look forward to sharing this space with you for the next one.

Have a Tarot-tastic week,

 

 

 

The weekly reading is of a general nature. If you’re interested in having your own personalized Tarot reading, please visit my Tarot Consultations page for all the details.