A full spread.
YOU DREW TEN CARDS:
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Environment
Ace of Wands
Staves: Creating. Creative energy. Think of building a house with wooden planks.
Ace: There’s a first time for everything. Beginnings. A seed that will grow.
A hand issuing from a cloud grasps a stout Wand or Club. Divinatory Meanings: Creation, invention, enterprise, the powers which result in these; principle, beginning, source; birth, family, origin; the beginning of enterprises; according to another account, money, fortune, inheritance. Reversed: Fall, decadence, ruin, perdition, to perish; also — not unclouded joy.
New beginnings. The birth of an idea that leads to action. The start of an enterprise or new challenges. You are filled with a sense of optimism, eagerness, enthusiasm, excitement, and boundless energy. You can sense the potential. You are looking forward to what’s ahead. Reversed: Difficulty in getting something started. False hopes. Misdirected energy. You are lacking motivation, ambition, or drive to face the challenges. You don’t want to attempt anything new.
A hand comes out from a cloud holding a flowering wand. In the distance is a mountain peak surmounted by a castle. Divinatory Meaning: The beginning of an enterprise, creation or invention. A birth, the starting of a family or of a fortune, possibly an inheritance. Reversed: The new enterprise may not materialize. Clouded joy, false starts.
Fresh starts bring spiritual awakening.
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Obstacles
Ten of Wands
Staves: Creating. Creative energy. Think of building a house with wooden planks.
Ten: Enough already. You’ve attained your goals, but find them unsatisfying. Time to begin something new.
A man oppressed by the weight of the ten staves which he is carrying. Divinatory Meanings: A card of many significances, and some of the readings cannot be harmonised. I set aside that which connects it with honour and good faith. It is oppression simply, but it is also fortune, gain, any kind of success of these things. It is also a card of false-seeming, disguise, perfidy. The place which the figure is approaching may suffer from the rods that he carries. Success is stultified if the Nine of Swords follows, and if it is a question of a law-suit, there will be certain loss. Reversed: Contrarieties, difficulties, intrigues, and their analogies.
You are carrying a heavy load — more than you can handle, more than you really want. Things weigh you down. You must share responsibility with others before continuing. Get rid of what you no longer need.
Reversed: Someone has made you responsible for their problems, or led you astray. You are near collapse.
Having completed its cycle, the Wand divides into two, opening up to make a place for a white axis. In the following stage the next element will be the Ace of Swords. It can symbolize an angelic vision of sexuality; energy no longer circulates inside or outside but crystallizes like an androgynous diamond and becomes pure spirit. The individual is no longer in the sexual or creative domain and has passed on to other interests: for example, an artist who has become a teacher, a person who has discovered a vocation as a healer. The negative aspects include bitterness, the uprooting of reality, a lack of faith in life, the painful surrender of power through a loss of energy, or a failure.
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Above
Eight of Cups
Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.
Eight: The efficiency expert. Through use of discipline and structure, you reach peak efficiency.
A man of dejected aspect is deserting the cups of his felicity, enterprise, undertaking or previous concern. Divinatory Meanings: The card speaks for itself on the surface, but other readings are entirely antithetical — giving joy, mildness, timidity, honour, modesty. Reversed: Great joy, happiness, feasting.
The time has come to seek higher meaning and purpose from life. Also time to say goodbye to friendships and relationships you’ve outgrown. You may also want to follow the path of The Hermit and look inward for answers. Reversed: Putting emotional pleasures ahead of spiritual needs. Hanging on to what no longer serves you or suits your needs. Not making an effort to grow or expand. Also, could mean that it is better for you to stay, not move on.
A man with a staff walks away from the cups of his previous happiness. Streams, mountains and rocks lie before him. The moon turns an inscrutable face on him. Divinatory Meaning: The rejection and decline of an undertaking; abandoning the present situation; the matter may be of slight consequence for good or evil. May indicate disappointment in love. The subject may desire to leave material success for something higher. Reversed: Joy, feasting, merriment. The spiritual aspect is abandoned for the material.
Disappointment, search for new roads less traveled.
Perfection manifested by fullness, all love. Harmony, balance, profound union with divine love.
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Below
Seven of Pentacles
Coins: Obtaining. Providing for yourself. Establishing a comfort zone. Taking risks with resources. Think of the thoughts and feelings you experience when you buy a lottery ticket.
Seven: Going deeper. You become aware of deeper levels of meaning and hidden motivations. You’re no longer satisfied with superficial answers.
A young man, leaning on his staff, looks intently at seven pentacles attached to a clump of greenery on his right; one would say that these were his treasures and that his heart was there. Divinatory Meanings: These are exceedingly contradictory; in the main, it is a card of money, business, barter; but one reading gives altercation, quarrel; and another innocence, ingenuity, purgation. Reversed: Anxiety about money.
You have a lot to show for your efforts, but you are not sure if your achievements are what you want. Weighing your options about the future. Also, taking a moment to reflect on your gains. Reversed: Difficult choices facing you about finances. In doubt about which way to turn. Afraid wrong choices could lead to loss or debts. Be careful not to make rash decisions. You want to abandon project, undertaking.
A strong young farmer leans on his hoe as he watches his crops growing. Is he indolent or just contemplative? Divinatory Meaning: Pause during the development of an enterprise. Possibly a stalemate with more energy needed before it can proceed. Growth or material possessions without effort. Reversed: Cause for anxiety over money. Little gain after much work. Unprofitable speculations.
Career advances ahead; use caution.
Spiritualization of matter and materialization of spirit have been achieved. Ideas move into action in the world and produce money.
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Behind
Eight of Swords
Swords: Defending. Self-defense and setting boundaries. Think of drawing a line in the sand with a sword point.
Eight: The efficiency expert. Through use of discipline and structure, you reach peak efficiency.
A woman, bound and hoodwinked, with the swords of the card about her. Divinatory Meaning: Bad news, violent chagrin, crisis, censure, power in trammels, conflict, calumny; also sickness. Reversed: Disquiet, difficulty, opposition, accident, treachery; what is unforeseen; fatality.
You’ve boxed yourself in and not allowed yourself any options. You are holding yourself back — and for no good reason. You need to cast off the blindfolds and cut yourself loose. Reversed: You’ve removed the veil from your eyes and can see, think, and act without restriction. You can put your fears behind you and start moving forward again. You feel a great sense of release and relief.
A bound woman standing in a watery waste is surrounded by swords. She is blindfolded. Behind her on a high crag stands a castle. Divinatory Meaning: The seeker does not know which way to move in a situation. Bondage, crises, waste of energy in trivial detail, censure. Reversed: Freedom, relaxation from fear. New beginnings now possible.
Difficulties will end with patience.
The Eight of Swords represents the Buddhist ideal of emptiness. The intellect achieves perfection: emptiness. This card indicates that the mind has ceased to identify with its concepts. It is a powerful concentration, a trance state or deep meditation in which the duality of opposites dissolves in celebration of the present. The solution to problems becomes obvious, beyond the powers of reasoning. In this state of nonthought, all revelations are possible. If we want to read this card negatively, we see it as intellectual blocks; all illnesses affecting cognition, from coma to amnesia or aphasia; the fear of emptiness; or stupor.
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Ahead
Queen of Pentacles
Coins: Obtaining. Providing for yourself. Establishing a comfort zone. Taking risks with resources. Think of the thoughts and feelings you experience when you buy a lottery ticket.
Queen: Encouraging. Getting things done in a calm, understated way. Using persuasion rather than force.
The face suggests that of a dark woman, whose qualities might be summed up in the idea of greatness of soul; she has also the serious cast of intelligence; she contemplates her symbol and may see worlds therein. Divinatory Meanings: Opulence, generosity, magnificence, security, liberty. Reversed: Evil, suspicion, suspense, fear, mistrust.
Time to enjoy what you’ve earned. Rest secure in the knowledge that your wealth, material comforts will continue to flower as long as you stay at it and apply your creative powers to tasks at hand. Reversed: Not taking care of business or acting responsibly where your financial affairs are concerned. Depending on others to help you. This kind of behavior can cost you security and independence.
A queen sits on her throne, which is covered with symbols of fruitfulness — cupids, goats, ripe fruit. A rabbit is in the foreground and a bower of roses is above her. She contemplates a pentacle which she holds in her lap. Divinatory Meaning: A woman with black hair and black eyes. She is intelligent and thoughtful, a creator on the physical plane. She uses her talents well. Generosity, opulence, security, freedom from material lack. Reversed: Duties neglected, dependence on others. Suspicion, fear of failure and lack. Mistrust of those close to the seeker.
A wealthy, generous woman.
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You
Five of Cups
Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.
Five: Challenging yourself. A monkey wrench. Things don’t go as expected and you’re challenged to grow. Or you may be deliberately challenging yourself.
A dark, cloaked figure, looking sideways at three prone cups; two others stand upright behind him; a bridge is in the background, leading to a small keep or holding. Divinatory Meanings: It is a card of loss, but something remains over; three have been taken, but two are left; it is a card of inheritance, patrimony, transmission, but not corresponding to expectations; with some it is a card of marriage, but not without bitterness or frustration. Reversed: News, alliances, affinity, consanguinity, ancestry, return, false projects.
Unhappy endings, broken relationships. Time to pick up the pieces and start building again. See what you can learn from your losses. Turn your back on the past and look to the future. What’s gone is gone. Hold on to what you have, no matter how little it is. Reversed: Although a loss has been suffered, there’s no reason to feel hopeless about the future. Things will start looking up again. An old friend may hold the key.
A mysterious figure in a dark cloak looks at three fallen cups, while two others stand upright behind him. In the background, a bridge leads to a small castle. Divinatory Meaning: Vain regret, loss, but with something left over. Inheritance, patrimony, but not up to one’s expectations. Can mean marriage, but may carry with it bitterness and frustration. Rejection of pleasure. Reversed: Hopeful expectations, a new alliance, return of an old friend.
Love gone astray, loss, need for reassessment.
The Five represents a temptation, an aspiration, a bridge, a transition toward a new world, but one that keeps part of its activity based in the old world.
We turn our hearts toward God, yet without scorning human affections.
Here the central cup decorated by glorious flowers marks the emergence of new feelings that can even go as far as fanaticism. It is the discovery of faith, a euphoria that carries us toward a higher being or someone we view as such. It is also the first time the heart opens to a solution that may be good for humanity. The negative aspects can be blind trust in any guide, an emotional imbalance, as well as lack of faith, disappointment, and bitterness.
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Others
The Emperor
Stability, power, protection; a great person; aid, reason, conviction. Reversed: Benevolence, compassion, credit; also confusion to enemies, obstruction, immaturity.
Material power and authority. Safety and security. A reminder that even the mighty will fall. The necessity for earthly power to work in tandem with spiritual values. The fate of one’s kingdom, whether it be a nation, an office, or a home, depends on the spiritual state of its ruler.
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Illusions
Two of Swords
Swords: Defending. Self-defense and setting boundaries. Think of drawing a line in the sand with a sword point.
Two: It takes two. A dialogue. Weighing and comparing different possibilities.
A hoodwinked figure balances two swords upon her shoulders. Divinatory Meanings: Conformity and the equipoise which it suggests, courage, friendship, concord in a state of arms, affection, intimacy. Reversed: Imposture, falsehood, duplicity, disloyalty.
You can’t decide. Instead, you close your eyes to what faces you. You step back from the situation, taking time to get your emotions in check, to ponder things in silence. You can’t remain aloof forever; soon you will have to decide. Reversed: Although a decision has been made, and action has been taken, it is too early to tell if it was the right thing to do. Only time will tell. Either way, things are beginning to move.
A blindfolded woman balances two swords upon her shoulders. She sits on a bench with her back to the sea. The crescent moon looks down upon her. Divinatory Meaning: Balanced forces, stalemate, indecision, impotence, a temporary truce in family quarrels. Reversed: Release, movement of affairs, sometimes in the wrong direction. Caution against dealings with rogues.
Gold circumstances rising out of adversity.
The intellect remains passive, waiting for an action.
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To Come
Five of Pentacles
Coins: Obtaining. Providing for yourself. Establishing a comfort zone. Taking risks with resources. Think of the thoughts and feelings you experience when you buy a lottery ticket.
Five: Challenging yourself. A monkey wrench. Things don’t go as expected and you’re challenged to grow. Or you may be deliberately challenging yourself.
Two mendicants in a snowstorm pass a lighted casement. Divinatory Meanings: It foretells material trouble above all, whether in the form illustrated – that is, destitution – or otherwise. For some cartomancists, it is a card of love and lovers – wife, husband, friend, mistress; also concordance, affinities. These alternatives cannot be harmonised. Reversed: Disorder, chaos, ruin, discord, profligacy.
A destitute couple pass under a lighted window. The unfortunates in outer darkness have not yet realized the inner light. Note that the Fives of each suit are negative cards. Divinatory Meaning: Material trouble, loneliness, destitution, spiritual impoverishment. Could mean unemployment, loss of home. Dark night of the soul. Reversed: Money regained, new employment, good companionship, new interest in business or spiritual matters.
The Pentacles deal with money, finance, business, prosperity and security.
Five of Pentacles: Ruin, financial collapse.
In the heart of stability a new interest is opening connected to a spiritual, planetary, or cosmic dimension. The negative dimension can be a reversal of fortune, a bad doctor, a descent into drugs or alcohol, a venal financial advisor, a swindler, an unscrupulous industrialist, a stock exchange crash, or nervous depression.