Three of Cups

September 9, 2019September 8, 2019 J.Leave a comment

Man, who couldn’t do with some good news right about now?

This week marks all kinds of awesome things — I’m nearly finished with another painting, my partner is starting a new job, he and I are starting a(n honestly pretty ambitious) new creative project, I’ve got my own projects, I have some new ideas to blog, and we’re scoping out some new digs soon. It’s good stuff. I still wish my health didn’t impact things quite so much, but you know what? I’ll take it. If “if” were a fifth, I’d be drunk, and eating a lot of lentils and using a desk pedaler ain’t that bad.

I didn’t draw a card for myself last week. To be honest, I didn’t really feel like I needed to. Things have been okay. I have a lot going on, but nothing that I’m particularly worried about or feel I need more insight into. With his new job coming up, though, I wanted to see what’s around me. The situation is, of course, far more stressful for him than it is for me… but I still want to know what kind of energy he’s going to be bringing home!

I drew the Three of Cups. Yay!

It’s a card of celebration, fellowship, and coming together. Traditionally, it depicts three women dancing together, cups held aloft. In The Crow Tarot, it’s a really beautiful, colorful image of three crows drinking from fallen golden goblets. (Which I am honestly kind of kicking myself for not having photographed when I had better lighting to do it in!) There’s fruit. Everything’s verdant and flowering. Basically it is party time, regardless of species.

The Three of Cups is a card of recognition and celebration for your achievements. The soil is the power of creativity, the fruit is its culmination. Cups is the suit of emotion, and most decks feature figures either happily drinking it in, or about to. It points to fulfillment, happiness, and a time to enjoy your success.

I’m excited to see what it’s pointing to!

A Free, Simple Card Reading for You

September 3, 2019September 2, 2019 J.Leave a comment

This week, I wanted to start trying something different. I picked up three of my divination decks, and decided to put together a small reading for anyone reading this post right now. It’s simple: just pick a stack of cards, scroll to the one you chose, and see what they have in store!

Not everyone agrees with doing “general” tarot readings, but I find that they can be very helpful — synchronicity is a thing. If you’re drawn to pick a card today, tomorrow, or any time in the future, there’s likely a reason why. So, even if a free tarot reading is a general one sent to nobody in particular, it can still hold a lot of insight.

So, shall we? Pick a stack of cards. From left to right, they are marked by a moonstone, an amethyst, and a rose quartz.

Now, when you’re ready, scroll down to the cards you chose. Each stack comprises a tarot card from the Deviant Moon tarot deck, an animal spirit card from The Wild Unknown deck, and a plant card from The Illustrated Herbiary deck.

Moonstone

Here, we have The Empress, Hummingbird, and Plantain.

The Empress is the embodiment of a loving, nurturing spirit, surrounded by abundance. She is regarded as a very feminine figure and, in some contexts, can even signify marriage or childbirth. You are in a period of growth right now, and are surrounded by the energy of abundance. If that is difficult to recognize against the background noise of your life, take some time to connect to the world with your senses — go into nature, bring a picnic of your favorite foods, and give yourself the gift of time to experience the earth beneath you, the fragrance on the breeze, and the taste of good food. Remind yourself of all that you have to be grateful for, and help cultivate the feelings of contentment and prosperity in your life.

Hummingbirds have really fun energy, I love them. With Hummingbird, there is a feeling of enthusiasm, creativity, and positivity — though this can turn into overbearing pushiness if this energy is out of balance. Since Hummingbird represents an open, curious, and creative mind, one way to bring this energy into balance is to learn something new.

Plantain’s advice is to rewild. This simple herb, often treated as a weed when it pops up in lawns, is a versatile and abundant source of medicine. Mash the leaves and place them on a bruise or bee sting. This is what Plantain asks you to do: connect with simplicity and the open-hearted, childlike side of your authentic self.

Overall, the advice here is to connect with nature and feelings of gratitude, simplicity, and the fresh curiosity you had as a child. Take time to enjoy the simple pleasures in your life, you are surrounded by them and much more prosperous than you might feel right now.

Amethyst

Here is The Star, Firefly, and Vervain.

The Star is a very hopeful card. It is the promise of a new day that comes after a period of strife. It’s the feeling of new possibilities after experiencing untold hardships. It is hope, wishes, dreams, and a desire to connect with the energy of spirituality and inspiration. Be assured that you’re moving into a fresh period of your life, full of possibilities for growth and happiness.

Oh man, Firefly! Firefly is a burst of inspiration — bright and radiant, but brief. It is the energy of the creative breakthrough, but, when out of balance, it can feel like the creative burnout that turns into a block. Firefly’s advice is, “Creator, create!” Bring its energy into balance by stretching your creative muscles and making something.

Vervain is one of the most sacred herbs of many European magical traditions. It is the herb of between-places, harvested at dawn and dusk, and it encourages you to explore the liminal. Let magic into your life by opening yourself to the possibilities around you. After all, it is in the in-between places where possibilities overlap and we are presented with nearly infinite outcomes. If you had every door open to you, what weight would you be willing to drop in order to pass through?

Overall, the advice here is to embrace the new possibilities open to you. You seem to have come out of a difficult period, and you’re entering a new one that is giving you the chance to experience an incredible burst of inspiration, creativity, and growth. Are you willing to take it, or is the fear of what you have gone through going to hold you back?

Rose Quartz

Here is The Chariot, Cobra, and Rose.

The Chariot is strength. It is girding your loins for battle. It is determination, action, and decisiveness in the face of a challenge. It tells you that now is the time to make a choice and take a stand. If you’re afraid that you lack the strength to do so, don’t worry — with focus and determination, you have what you need to be successful. Assert yourself, and don’t back down on matters that are important to you.

Cobra is a spiritual guardian. They are not ostentatious, they do not command the attention of a room, but they are patient, watchful, wise, and strong. When out of balance, this strength can turn into egotism. Balance cobra energy by remaining humble — give yourself the opportunity to learn something new from someone else, and recognize that there is still much that life has to teach you.

Rose is an herb of duality. It is the soft, silken petals and the blood-drawing thorns, the nourishing rose hips and the choking seeds. As such, it reminds you to embrace duality within yourself. You can be beautiful and fierce, soft and strong. Look at the things within yourself that you perceive as flaws, and recognize that they do not define you — you can still have a whole, open heart that is worthy of love.

Overall, it looks like you are in a period that demands a lot of strength from you. The Chariot assures you that you can succeed, if you are willing to stand up and assert yourself. Cobra tells you to remain humble — you have strength, but should not let your assertiveness turn into an ego-shield of narcissism. Rose says to embrace the contradictions within you. You can be assertive and soft. You can be successful and humble. You can push yourself to succeed without losing the tender, gentle aspects of you.

I had a lot of fun putting this together. To be honest, I was very surprised at how well the cards interrelated with each other. I’d like to do this again (maybe next week?) and I hope you’ll join me.

divination · life

The Six of Swords

August 26, 2019August 25, 2019 J.Leave a comment

Fffffffuuuuh… It’s swords again. Not even a court card, either.

I mean, I don’t have anything against swords, but I haven’t had a lot of positive experiences with them lately, either. At least this one isn’t so bad.

They (though I’m not exactly sure who “they” are) say that you change every seven to ten years. Depending on who you ask, this comes from either a physical place, or a metaphysical one. Some hold that our body cells are effectively replaced every seven or so years — not all at once, mind, but every seven years you can be reasonably confident that you no longer contain the same cells you did on that day seven years ago. Some hold that our luck or our spiritual growth move in seven-year cycles.

All of this is to say that this is a Six of Swords kind of week.

The Six of Swords doesn’t really look like a happy card — if anything, it’s bittersweet. Three people, presumably a family, load up a bunch of swords in their rowboat and shove off. Their backs are to the viewer, indicating that they are leaving, not arriving. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the two seated figures almost appear huddled. It is abundantly clear that this is not a pleasure trip.

Still, that aside it’s not all bad. Interpretations vary, but all of them have one element in common: letting go and moving on. As unhappy as these people might look right now, they’re headed away from the source of their unhappiness and moving toward something better.

Trouble is, they don’t look happy to be leaving.

The Six of Swords is about cutting your losses. It’s letting go of something you might want to keep holding onto, but which is ultimately not actually helping you. Whether it’s a situation, an idea, a feeling, or a habit, it needs to be dropped for growth and progress to take place.

In some interpretations, the Six of Swords stands for healing. I can understand why — these people are leaving a bad situation. Things are looking up, but they can’t see that yet because they are still in the midst of the pain of leaving.

When I was younger, I was fortunate to learn something in the midst of a very frustrating job search. I was underemployed, in a bad relationship, annoyed at my lack of progress, and fed up with the dearth of opportunities in front of me. A set of circumstances — far too long to delve into here — taught me that every chance I was denied was a sign that something better was close by. When I didn’t get the job I was hoping for, it was because the opportunity I stumbled upon a week later was waiting for me. When my relationship finally ended its interminable death throes, it was because there was an incredible set of experiences that I never would’ve gotten to have if it hadn’t.

I wanted to know more, though. The Six of Swords isn’t a bad card to pull, though it’s a bit thorny. But what am I supposed to be leaving?

I pulled Justice.

I have to admit, I’ve been holding on to a very particular idea of fairness. They say the best revenge is living well, but it can be very difficult to enjoy if your enemies don’t know you are, you know? People often talk about a very westernized idea of karma. Rather than the sum of one’s actions deciding their fate in a future life, it’s regarded as a kind of manifestation of “the golden rule.” You do unto others, and life does unto you. If only things were so simple!

I get what the cards mean, though. In this cycle of life, I have to let go of the last nagging part of me that wants things to be fair. Life isn’t fair. I left my enemies behind so they wouldn’t have a negative impact on my life anymore, but, but continuing to live in hope of justice and some kind of fairness, I’m still allowing them to affect me. It’s only when I can rid myself of their influence entirely that I’ll really be free.

We’ll see where this week goes.

divination · life

Man, the Ten of Swords does not screw around.

August 19, 2019August 19, 2019 J.2 Comments

Betrayal, sure.

I had a feeling my body was going to be what betrayed me, because that’s generally how it goes. The only thing I enjoyed less than being correct about this was waking up so dizzy I couldn’t see, and spending several hours hunched over a trash can feeling simultaneously certain I was going to die and terrified I was not. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension carries a risk of stroke, which freaked me out for a bit, but most of my face was working okay so I figured that wasn’t it. Why’d this happen? No idea — I just woke up like that.

It was frustrating. It was disheartening. It was pretty much exactly what I’d been warned about.

(Enough about that, though, because it’s gross and I want to stop thinking about it.)

I did get a lot of reassurance afterward, though. I drew cards related to healing, cleansing, and optimism. I even saw a tiny hummingbird pause and hover right outside my window, which I thought was pretty impressive considering I live in a walk-up with no outdoor space to speak of. As long as I’ve lived in this area, I’ve never seen a hummingbird here before — if I hadn’t looked at the right moment, I would’ve missed him entirely!

Anyway, this week’s one-card reading felt a little more familiar. I admit, it was supremely weird to pull the Ten of Swords last week. I usually get such good news relating to what I’m up to or things I’m working on, to have my primary deck suddenly go all “DANGER, WILL ROBINSON” at me was extra unsettling. I get a lot of cups and wands. When I do draw something from the suit of swords, it’s usually a court card.

All of this is to say that I drew the Knight of Wands and I’m feeling a lot better.

Wands12 — Knight of Wands from the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, artwork by Pamela Coleman Smith.

The Knight of Wands is a person (or, in this case, bird) of action, like all of the Knights. This card represents the pursuit of an idea, and the drive and energy needed to bring a vision to fruition. By that same token, it also represents looking before you leap. Unlike the Knight of Pentacles, the Knight of Wands is not patient and definitely not into conservative courses of action.

This card comes at a pretty good time — my S.O. and I finished a book not too long ago, and are now working on what needs to be done to turn it into something other people can (and might actually want to) read. It’s taken a lot of planning and strategizing already, so I definitely don’t feel like we’re acting on impulse here. Rather, the Knight of Wands seems to represent the desire and ability to actually act on the plans we’ve been sitting on for so long!

… I’m not gonna lie, though, I’m just happy it wasn’t the Ten of Swords again.

divination · life

When the News is (Mostly) Bad

August 12, 2019August 11, 2019 J.Leave a comment

So, I did my usual one-card draw, like I do pretty much every week.

My health hasn’t been great lately, which probably isn’t much surprise — stress tends to complicate things, and we have a lot going on. None of it is necessarily bad, to be honest. It’s just A Lot.

So, with that in mind, I inquired about my health. I’ve been trying some new things, hoping for a little relief. What could I look forward to this week?

I drew the Ten of Swords.

Swords10 — Image from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, artwork by Pamela Coleman Smith.

The Ten of Swords is generally regarded as crappy. How could it not be? In more or less every deck I’ve used, it features a depiction of a figure lying face down, back pierced with ten blades. It speaks of betrayal, which I can certainly identify with — not all betrayals come at the hands of other people. For example, I spend a lot of time feeling betrayed by my own organs, pollen, barometric pressure, gravity, temperatures, and bread.

In short, it’s…
I mean, it’s not a great omen.

No card is universally bad, however, and the Ten of Swords is no exception. Does it kind of suck? Of course it does. It’s also a Ten, though, which marks the culmination of the progression depicted by the pip cards — whatever betrayal and suffering it describes is coming to an end. Are things going to get worse before they get better? Probably. But at least the sucky bit’s going to be over soon.

Not exactly reassured by this, I wanted to know how I could avoid the worst of it. I already feel poorly, how can I keep things from getting worse before they get better? I’m hoping to keep things on an upward trajectory, so a setback would be really discouraging. (Mostly because setbacks generally involve getting needles in my spine.)

I drew The Star.

The Star is particularly interesting here. It speaks of hope and optimism, which I can understand… Dwelling on how crappy I feel right now is only going to add to the stress that’s making things more difficult in the first place. That makes plenty of sense. The really intriguing thing about The Star is its position in the major arcana: it follows The Tower.

The Tower is the card of destruction and turmoil. It’s the utter demolition of old things that makes room for the new. It’s a period of tremendous upheaval, and The Star is the renewed hope, stability, and understanding that follows it. In short, things could be a lot worse. I’m nearing the end of a difficult energy cycle, and working to maintain my sense of hope is what’s going to carry me through it. Things could definitely be better, but this gives me some encouragement that there’s still something I can do. (And something I should be doing anyway, let’s be real.)

So, with these things in mind, I wanted to know when. When could I actually expect to begin to see improvement in my situation?

I drew the Knight of Cups. While court cards often indicate a blockage, or something that needs addressing before you can see improvement, Knight cards generally indicate some kind of forward motion. Great! Progress! I didn’t get a definite time this time, but still!

… I still wanted to know when though. At times like this, phrasing can be important. “When?” is generic — it can be any point in time. It could be after you recognize something the card is trying to tell you, you meet the person the card describes, or you learn a lesson the card is trying to give. Asking when, and nothing more, will not always yield an exact date. I should’ve known better… So, I asked how long from now I could expect to feel some improvement.

I drew the King of Wands. Have you ever experienced the decided feeling that your cards are great at telling you things you already know, but don’t really want to acknowledge that you already know?
I get that a lot.
In this case, the King of Wands in my deck is a confirmation that success will come with focused effort. I can’t look at my healing as a passive thing that’s going to happen to me, or something that will come with metaphysical work alone. It’s difficult to do the things I know I need to do in order to feel even marginally better, but there is no alternative. Even if I’m not experiencing any great benefits from a new treatment, gratitude journaling leaves me frustrated, rigidly scheduled polyphasic sleep is inconvenient, and I leave meditation just as frustrated as I was when I began, I have to stick with them and maintain a sense of optimism. In terms of timing, Wands indicate weeks or summer (though some consider them days or spring — experimenting with your deck can help you narrow down which is more accurate for you).

So, I have a lot of work to do. I’ve re-worked the strict schedule I adhere to, in a way that works better with the treatments I’m undergoing now. (I think most people might find that stifling, but I find it helps a lot with self-care and alleviates my anxiety.) If I can keep doing the work, even through the upheaval I’m experiencing, improvement will come.

divination · life

The Ten of Cups

July 8, 2019July 8, 2019 J.2 Comments

Hello! It’s been a month(ish) since I last posted. I’m sorry about that.

I do have a pretty good reason for dropping off of the face of the earth, though — sort of a combination of managing my health and that thing where you’re not supposed to tell people you’re doing a thing, because you’ll get the same emotional high from talking about it as you would from actually doing it and then end up never actually finishing it.

Anyway, in my time away I finished two paintings and one book, written collaboratively with my awesome and creative S.O. So that’s neat.

He and I have no idea how and if it will ever be published, but, thus far, beta readers have received it well. After getting the first round of feedback, we’ll have to seek out an editor, and then decide how we want to progress.

(It is a very long, drawn out, complicated process, and I am glad he has elected to handle most of it. I got to compile everything, make the initial edits, and format it all into a readable manuscript.)

Even if no publisher wants it and nothing comes of it, it’s certainly a good feeling to look at your writing and be able to say you’ve finished a full-length novel.

So, I wasn’t that surprised when I pulled the Ten of Cups this week.

Cups10 — Ten of Cups from the Rider-Waite tarot, artwork by Pamela Coleman Smith.

The suit of Cups speaks of emotional fulfillment, and Tens are the completion of a cycle. They’re the ultimate culmination, So, it’s probably unsurprising that the Ten of Cups, then, speaks of joy, peace, and happiness. It’s contentment, emotional security, and an abundance of love. Though the artwork varies from deck to deck, it usually depicts a couple joyfully surveying a landscape replete with signs of luck and happiness — a rainbow, flowers, sunshine, rolling hills, a neat little house, you name it. It’s one of the most positive cards in the deck.

Working with my S.O. on what has ultimately been a labor of love for the both of us has been a trip. We started writing collaboratively as a way to roleplay — acting out little scenes between the two of us when distance, money, time, or health didn’t let us go on many adventures. This practice evolved into a setting with deep lore, eons of history, its own cosmology, and a tremendously varied cast of characters. To be honest, last we counted, we’d written enough for several novels and two or three anthologies of short stories, but this is the first we’ve felt confident enough to put through the process of turning it into something actual.

I feel like it’s a bit like having a baby, only nobody had to throw up for months, we still get to sleep afterward, and everyone’s perinea stayed intact. So probably not actually much like having a baby.

Hopefully, when all the hurly-burly’s done, I’ll be able to share it with you, too.

divination · life

All the Aces, I guess?

June 4, 2019June 3, 2019 J.Leave a comment

Hello! I haven’t posted in awhile because I was on some medication that made my brain feel like it was being squeezed out through my ears, but, now that that’s done, I’m back up to my nonsense again.

So, if you’ve been following along my (admittedly pretty navel-gazey) tarot journey, you know I’ve been pulling a lot of cards indicating new beginnings. This is unsurprising, for two reasons:

A lot of tarot cards deal with changes and new beginnings, because of the nature of the medium.
I have all kinds of things I could/should/want to begin, I’m just physically limited from doing a lot of them.

It’s a bit frustrating to be constantly surrounded by this very “Yes! Go! Do the thing!” energy all of the time, but I’ve started finding it more and more reassuring as time goes on. I mean, sure, you’ve gotta strike while the iron is hot and all that, but it’s nice to see that this energy doesn’t really expire — everything is a cycle, cycles start and end all the time, and the only constant is change. If I miss one opportunity, there will be another one.

All of this is to say, I did a small tarot reading for myself. It was a three card reading, in contrast to the quick one card draws I usually do each week. I had originally intended to only draw one, but, when I cut the deck, realized that I was unable to choose which pile to draw from. So, three it was.

I drew the Ace of Wands, the Ace of Cups, and the Knight of Pentacles.

If Aces represent opportunities for Starting the Thing, the Knights are the Doing of the Thing — at least, in situations where they don’t indicate the actual Doer of the Thing. The Ace of Wands indicates new opportunities for growth, I usually find Wands relate to my creative life. The Ace of Cups is similar, but for spiritual and emotional matters. Together, these indicate a new chance to reach or meet others and exercise an outpouring of compassion, connection, growth, and creation. Pretty sweet.

The Knight of Pentacles is practicality. Pentacles are earth — they are monetary wealth, but also the hard work needed to achieve it. If Wand energy is the castle in the air, Pentacle energy is what puts a foundation beneath it. The Knight of Pentacles expresses a willingness to do the hard things, stick to a routine, and continue working at something even when it ceases to be fun or exciting. He has methods.

I can see where these cards relate to my own life, but I also feel a little frustration that the message I’m receiving here comes up so often. I want to be able to act on the opportunities presented to me, but physical obstacles hold me back. There has to be another way around them, but I haven’t quite found it yet.

Wish me luck!

divination · life

The Heirophant and the King of Wands

May 6, 2019May 6, 2019 J.Leave a comment

Okay, I’ll admit — sometimes I look for the easy way out.

It’s a habit I’ve slipped into over the course of several years, pushed by the need to find easier ways to do pretty much everything. When you regularly forget you’ve let the stove on (until the smoke alarm reminds you), you find easier ways. When it’s tough to stand in the shower without falling over from vertigo, you find easier ways. Sometimes, finding the easy way isn’t a bad thing. Besides, laziness creates efficiency.

Unfortunately, there’s no substitute for hard work.

I have a lot of goals right now, which I won’t enumerate here so I don’t jinx myself. For most of them, there is no easy way. (Gods know I’ve looked.) One or two I’ve managed to make a lot of headway on the past few days, bolstered by last week’s Knight of Swords.

For this week, I didn’t do my usual one-card reading. Instead, I used one I reserve for times of frustration. I don’t put much stock in mediumship as a rule, but there’s someone I connect with through the Queen of Wands. When I want their advice, or even just an encouraging word or two, I shuffle my deck, seek out the Queen, and look at the cards immediately in front of and behind her. The one in front may be an obstacle; the one behind, the solution. Sometimes the one in front is a situation, and the one behind is the context. Sometimes the one in front is a problem, and the one behind is the outcome. It depends.

Today, she was sitting between The Heirophant and, oh hey, it’s your boy the King of Wands again.

kingwands — Okay, it’s not a *traditional* depiction of the King of Wands, but it’s still my favorite.

The Heirophant is a card that comes up for me fairly often, usually when I need to stop trying to reinvent the wheel. He’s old-school, traditional, pragmatic, and conventional. Here, he’s a reminder that, sometimes, the only way out is through. There is no substitute for doing things the old-fashioned way, and sometimes that means hard work.

The King of Wands is a creative force. He’s a charismatic leader, able to bring ideas to fruition. I went a bit deeper into him in a previous post, but his appearance here is… interesting, to say the least. Before, he was a sign that I achieve what I want as long as I put some energy and focus behind it. Now, he’s here with The Heirophant to call me out.

It’s disheartening, but I know it’s true. I can achieve the things I want, but most of them are going to take an old-fashioned approach — and, in all likelihood, more energy than I have right now. Sometimes there just isn’t a way to make things easier on myself, but, buoyed by the promise of the Ace of Wands and the Knight of Swords, I still have hope.

Now I just need to keep my choroid plexus from kicking my ass..

divination · life

Knight of Swords

April 29, 2019 J.2 Comments

Last week came with a lot of downtime, interspersed with bursts of activity. Most of my S.O.’s time was taken up by studying for an important certification exam (he passed!), while mine was eaten up by writing for clients, working on my own projects, and dealing with medicals. I have more tests coming up this week, and, at times, it feels like they’re never-ending. It’s had my energy at a pretty low ebb — it’s hard to rouse myself to do anything beyond the bare necessities when I’m feeling poorly as it is, and upcoming medical stuff hangs over my head like a cartoon anvil.

It’s a bit disappointing after last week’s Ace of Wands. I have so many ideas and places I want to devote my energy to, but not enough to go around. If I try to spread myself thinner, something inevitably suffers for it. It’s a frustrating position to be in, but it can’t last forever… Can it?

So, I drew a card to see what this week has in store for me. More waiting and brainstorming, or will I finally be able to start to see some things through?

I drew the Knight of Swords.

Knight on horseback on a crackled brown background. — Not actually from a tarot deck, but I thought it was pretty cool.

In many (though not all) decks, the Knight of Swords shown riding at a swift pace. His is an energetic, active state. He is ambitious, quick-witted, and driven and, once his mind is made up, few things are able to get in his way.

He is basically the polar opposite to how I’m feeling right now, to be honest.

In The Crow Tarot, the Knight of Swords indicates an energetic start to a new project. Following the Ace of Wands, it’s a really good sign — the Ace of Wands is the seed, and the Knight of Swords is the energy of germination. He shows that there is a lot of potential here, and the strength to see it through. It’s not all roses, however, since he is no more a guarantee of success than the Ace of Wands is. It’s still possible to screw up, even in the face of these two very good omens, by acting without thought.

Really, this comes at a good time for me. I’m feeling low-energy, but knowing that my ideas have potential helps give me some impetus to see them through. By the same token, not having the energy to spare means that I’m more likely to apply it carefully, and avoid wasting it on frivolous pursuits. With the potential of the Ace of Wands and the strength and warnings of the Knight of Swords, I feel like I’m in a pretty good place.

Here’s hoping I’m right.

divination · life

Ace of Wands

April 22, 2019April 22, 2019 J.2 Comments

Few things feel as nice as a new beginning — that’s why I like the Aces so much.

They’re a fresh start, the energy of limitless potential. They’re a blank page, an unlocked door, and a new day. They’re the impetus to take the first step on a journey of a thousand miles.

The Ace of Wands card from the Rider-Waite deck. — From the Rider-Waite deck, illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith.

I didn’t have anything in particular in mind when I drew this week’s card. I’m still working on things from last week, still looking forward to more medical tests. Sometimes, it’s just nice to have the encouragement that I’m going the right way.

It’s hard to interpret aces, sometimes. While they have the energy of all of that possibility, that’s all it is: possibility. Tarot never guarantees anything, aces doubly so. They’re the seed of an idea that needs effort to grow. They’re a promising opportunity, but only an opportunity.

I always seem to draw Wands when I have something creative going on. In this case, it’s the fact that holy crap I am completely sick of figuring out how to display things, I mean damn.

See, pre-stretched canvas is expensive, unwieldy, and difficult to store and ship. Canvas stretchers are cheaper, but still need space to store. Roll canvas is less expensive to buy, and easier to ship and store, but it’s also more difficult to work with and a pain to display. Want to frame it? Good luck — unless it’s smaller than 11×14, you’re probably going to have to figure out how to either stretch or mount it first. Hopefully there’s room to stretch it without losing any of the image! Good luck with mounting, too, because any permanent mount will decrease the piece’s lifespan (and probably its value),

I have a plan, I think, albeit a harebrained one. I’ve no idea if it’ll work. It’ll look really neat if it does, but will also involve ignoring a lot of what I’ve been taught and picking up a few new skills. It’ll be interesting to try, if nothing else, and the Ace of Wands indicate that it might not actually be a bad idea!

The Ace of Wands can also indicate an opportunity for personal growth. I’m hoping it’s pointing to my doctor’s appointments later this week — if I can get that resolved, if I can put those years of pain and frustration behind me, it’ll open up more opportunities than I can even begin to imagine.

Either way, I have a lot to look forward to.