It’s Winter Solstice in my neck of the woods, and the day brought to mind a reading I did a few months back with Sibilla.
For those eagle-eyed readers keeping track, I’d been sharing some readings I did with Sibilla over the summer, which was an actual request made by a few of you.
One of the more popular posts of the bunch was the one in which I asked Sibilla about jury duty.
And then I went quiet with posting about Sibilla—did I “ghost” the system?
Not at all.
What actually happened is that Sibilla pushed the “pause” button.
Let me explain.
I had made the commitment to work with Sibilla throughout the month of August (2019). When the month came to a close, I decided I would ask Sibilla about continuing with her beyond August.
Sibilla Says…
On September 3rd (2019), with cards in hand, I asked Sibilla, “What do I need to know about continuing to work with you?”
These were the cards she presented to me, in a Line of 5: Soldier, Death, Sick Person, Widower, and Sorrow.
I looked at the line and immediately saw that every card was from the suit of Spades. Every. Single. Card.
I sat back. I paused. The suit of Spades is the suit of hardship in Sibilla, and here I was looking at an entire row of them.
It would have been very easy to pick the cards up and deal a new line. But that would have robbed me of what this line had to say, the point it wanted to make. It was getting my attention, in pure, over-the-top, dramatic Sibilla style.
And here’s a point I want to make for those who might read my exploits because they read their own cards, and it would be this: Know your system.
The ones I consult (Tarot, Lenormand, Kipper, Sibilla, Gypsy Witch, Gypsy cards, and traditional playing cards) all have challenging cards built into them, with the intention to reflect all aspects of life experience.
And they will turn up at some point in your reading practice.
So know (or remember) that going in, and consider how you’ll deal with them when they show their faces.
If you’re the faint-of-heart type, and think you’ll get into a panic at an appearance of a negative card—never mind a line of them—you might want to opt for a system that speaks more softly, more gently (like oracle cards or angel cards).
But I digress.
Let’s get back to this line, and my sharing how I worked through it.
The focus card is Sick Person, which for me can suggest a rest period, a time out, a break, a time to recover.
In my mind, I saw those scenes in shows and movies where one romantic partner tells the other, “I think we need a break.”
I then looked at the figure on Sick Person, noticing the person facing left—toward Death.
Death talks about endings and completions, which was appropriate: I was at the end of my working with Sibilla for the month of August.
Death was marking the end of a cycle.
Death + Sick Person was saying, “The end of a cycle that leads to a time out, break, or rest period.”
Widower mirrors Death, and, at this point, I was becoming rather impressed with how Sibilla was playing this analogy out. Widower talks about a period of grieving and mourning, of going on alone after a transition (Death).
And then I realized one of Widower’s other meanings (for me): It can represent an older man, and therefore also maturity.
Here, Death + Widower was Sibilla’s way of telling me that I’d become a bit more experienced (mature) by the end of my month with her.
If I had just picked up the cards upon my initial reaction, I would have missed that particular slant on the pair.
Soldier opens the line up, and the obvious message here was that of an “uphill battle” with Sibilla, that I had to discipline myself to work with her diligently for the entire month.
Sibilla acknowledged that I “soldiered on” until the end of the month (Soldier moving toward Death).
And just as I noted the obvious with Soldier, I did the same with Sorrow.
The obvious message is in the visual of the card: Receiving shocking, surprising, or upsetting news.
And here Sibilla was telling me that she wanted “a break”—how else would I react if not with shock or surprise?
And then she surprised me (Sorrow) with this tidbit: She pointed out that the suit of Spades is associated with the season of winter, which got me thinking about the possibility of picking things back up with her during that time.
And here we are now: Winter Solstice, the first day of the season.
Wait… There’s More!
And it gets better… Sibilla was showing me a scenario that would play into our “break” that I can see now, with hindsight being 20/20.
For the past couple weeks, I’ve been very sick (Sick Person) and it’s been a slow recovery process.
It’s been an “uphill battle” getting to the end of this period (Soldier – Death), as I’m “fighting” (Soldier) some lingering effects (match stick on Death) of being sick (Sick Person).
I had to isolate myself, more than usual (Widower), as I spent a lot of time in bed (Sick Person).
I had to cancel things (Death = termination), and send my regrets (Sorrow) because it couldn’t be helped. That included calling out from work, as well as putting readings for clients on hold simply because I didn’t have the energy.
The duration of this experience really surprised me (Sorrow), as I’m not normally this sick for this long.
If I had picked up these cards initially, I wouldn’t be able to see Sibilla’s predictive quality three months later.
You might be wondering why I’m sharing this with you. Besides the story itself (and the point I wanted to make about challenging cards showing up in your reads—and that it even happens to me), why else…?
Because someone recently asked me about my work with Sibilla.
Could that be a sign that the “thaw” has begun?
life of HIMM 