A full spread.
YOU DREW TEN CARDS:
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Environment
Queen of Cups
Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.
Queen: Encouraging. Getting things done in a calm, understated way. Using persuasion rather than force.
Beautiful, fair, dreamy — as one who sees visions in a cup. Divinatory Meanings: Good, fair woman; honest, devoted woman, who will do service to the Querent; loving intelligence, and hence the gift of vision; success, happiness, pleasure; also wisdom, virtue. Reversed: The accounts vary; good woman; otherwise, distinguished woman but not one to be trusted; perverse woman; vice, dishonour, depravity.
You are protected by love, warmth, and caring. Good time to pursue the creative arts — poetry, music, literature. Open yourself up to new visions, new possibilities. Follow the prompting of your heart. Reversed: Emotions out of control, leading to self-deception, false hopes. Confusion reigns. Caught between the worlds of reality and illusion without knowing which way to turn. Be careful not to fall victim to deception by someone you think shares your best interests.
A queen sits on her throne contemplating an ornate, closed cup, signifying that what it contains of dreams and desires is not to be told abroad. Her throne is surrounded by the waters of the subconscious and is decorated with ondines (water nymphs). Divinatory Meaning: This is a woman with light brown hair and hazel eyes. She is the beloved, the good wife and mother. She has the gift of vision, is poetic and imaginative. She dreams, but also acts out her dreams. Love, happy marriage, vision. Reversed: May be a good woman in some ways but is sometimes perverse. May indicate dishonesty, immorality.
A just, loving and creative woman.
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Obstacles
Three 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.
Three: Having a plan. Formulating a strategy to accomplish a goal.
A sculptor at his work in a monastery. Divinatory Meanings: Metier, trade, skilled labour; usually, however, regarded as a card of nobility, aristocracy, renown, glory. Reversed: Mediocrity in work and otherwise, puerility, pettiness, weakness.
You can apply your knowledge, skills, abilities to great advantage. A time of positive, measurable achievement that will win you reward, notice. Others will be happy to assist you and also will respond to your lead. Reversed: Less than satisfactory efforts produce poor results. Disappointment. No gain. Not a good time to enlist others in your project or undertaking. There’s a lot you need to learn. You’re missing what you need to finish task.
A sculptor is shown working in a monastery. This card should be compared with the Eight of Pentacles, where the worker was an apprentice. Here he has received his reward and is a mature artist. Divinatory Meaning: Skill and mastery in trade, art and labor. Sometimes means nobility, aristocracy, renown and glory. Card of construction, material increase. Reversed: Mediocrity in workmanship, commonplace ideals, pettiness, weakness.
Business success will come soon.
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Below
Page of Wands
Staves: Creating. Creative energy. Think of building a house with wooden planks.
Knave: Learning. Curiosity. Becoming interested.
A young man stands in the act of proclamation. He is unknown but faithful, and his tidings are strange. Divinatory Meanings: Dark young man, faithful, a lover, an envoy, a postman. Beside a man, he will bear favourable testimony concerning him. A dangerous rival, if followed by the Page of Cups. Has the chief qualities of his suit. Reversed: Anecdotes, announcements, evil news. Also indecision and the instability which accompanies it.
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Behind
Page of Swords
Swords: Defending. Self-defense and setting boundaries. Think of drawing a line in the sand with a sword point.
Knave: Learning. Curiosity. Becoming interested.
A lithe, active figure holds a sword upright in both hands, while in the act of swift walking. Divinatory Meanings: Authority, overseeing, secret service, vigilance, spying, examination, and the qualities thereto belonging. Reversed: More evil side of these qualities; what is unforeseen, unprepared state; sickness is also intimated.
This card signifies a somewhat halfhearted approach to solving the problems facing you. Not taking things seriously enough or having a full understanding of the problem and what it means to you. Reversed: Unexpected problems lurk in the distance.
A lithe young figure — either young man or maiden — holds a sword in both hands while walking over rugged land. Wild clouds are gathered about him. He looks around as if expecting an enemy. Divinatory Meaning: An active, dark-haired, brown-eyed boy or girl. Betokens vigilance, scrutiny, spying for either good or evil. Reversed: Unprepared state; unforeseen events; may possibly mean illness; imposter likely to be defeated.
A clever, even mischievous young man. Be ever watchful.
Young inexperienced energy. Hesitant, unsure, non-initiative.
My thoughts are still contradictory. I hesitate before the duality of concepts. I do not know how to cut, to give the blow that will separate subjective from objective. I am not a party to anything: I am still incapable of taking part, of committing myself.
The intellect of the Page still needs to be honed and shaped. Does he know how to use his weapon, or should he put it back in its flesh-colored sheath? This figure, who possesses the foundations of intelligence, lacks self-confidence. Like all the Pages, his position demands both caution and perseverance. The negative aspects of this card would be lies, self-depreciation, intellectual confusion, verbosity, halting and poorly organized thought, and verbal aggression.
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Ahead
Temperance
A proper balance of character traits leads to psychological health. Being temperate; tempering our behavior. Moderation. Rising above limitation through flexibility.
Economy, moderation, frugality, management, accommodation. Reversed: Things connected with churches, religions, sects, the priesthood; also disunion, unfortunate combinations, competing interests.
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You
Knight 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.
Knight: Focusing. Single-mindedness. Determination.
He rides a slow, enduring, heavy horse, to which his own aspect corresponds. Divinatory Meanings: Utility, serviceableness, interest, responsibility, rectitude. Reversed: Inertia, idleness, repose of that kind, stagnation; also placidity, discouragement, carelessness.
Hard work produces desired results. Stay on the path, don’t deviate. Outline your goals ahead of time, then make a plan for achieving them. Don’t leave things up to chance. Choose tasks in keeping with your abilities. Reversed: Impatience will lead to failure. Be careful not to go in too many directions at the same time. Not applying yourself as you should. Don’t narrow your pursuits so that you exclude opportunities as they arise.
A knight rides a heavily caparisoned horse through a freshly plowed field. He balances the pentacle symbol carefully, as if he were displaying it but not really looking at it. Divinatory Meaning: A black-haired, black-eyed young man, materialistic, methodical. Card betokens utility, serviceableness, patience, laborious toil, responsibility. May represent the coming or going of a matter. Reversed: Inertia, idleness, stagnation. A young man of careless habit.
A trustworthy friend.
“Matter has been spiritualized. It has become fertile and is the mother of eternal life. We have vanquished death. I am ready to undergo endless changes knowing that within my profound essence, there is an immutable core. This is what will give origin to the new riches of the Earth that will take on concrete form in the Wand. I am already carrying in my right hand the beginning of a new cycle of activity, a creative wand.”
Wand in hand and astride a receptive blue mount, this knight is advancing through a countryside lit by a star in the form of a pentacle. He represents the act of going beyond matter into creativity, a culmination that opens new horizons. He is also someone wealthy enough to create something new or a new purpose beyond material considerations. In the strict sense, the Knight of Pentacles can represent a journey or a move; in this instance a quest connected to the body, creativity and one’s place in the world.
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Others
The Star
The first step in a search for truth. A hint of a larger truth which has yet to be perceived in full. Reconciling opposites by dissolving their individual identities.
Loss, theft, privation, abandonment; another reading says — hope and bright prospects. Reversed: Arrogance, haughtiness, impotence.
The Star is a card of calm and peacefulness. Hope and joy. Comforts and pleasure. Things feel good. There is order in nature once again. We can rest and reflect and turn our gaze to the heavens. The Star will guide us to our destination when we are ready to begin journeying again. The Star will illuminate the path for us. It will also protect us under the night sky.
The Star is another card of personal reflection, meditation, and contemplation. It’s a reminder to turn our gaze inward and be guided by an inner light; to trust ourselves and our intuitions. We’ve come so far, learned so much, at last we are becoming enlightened.
The card also tells us to be at peace with ourselves, be true to ourselves, and bring love into our lives. The card encourages us to feel good about ourselves.
On a spiritual level, The Star is our link to the higher plane. It tells us to open our minds and let the light shine in. To grow in spirit, awareness, and knowledge and to apply all we learn in pursuit of even higher knowledge.
Reversed: Eyes closed to future possibilities. Gaze focused downward instead of up to the heavens. Feelings of insecurity and disquiet. Need to latch onto your dreams again.
An eight-pointed star signifying radiant cosmic energy and surrounded by seven smaller stars, radiates solar energy on the young girl kneeling on the land, her right foot upon the water. She pours the Waters of Life impartially from two ewers into the pool of universal consciousness and onto the earth — which represents matter. The bird is the soul resting in the tree of life.
The Maiden is eternal youth and beauty. She is Mother Nature and is identified with the Empress and the High Priestess, as well as with the woman in Key #8 who tames the lion. The card represents the Waters of Life flowing freely and perpetually renewing creation.
Divinatory Meaning: Hope, courage, inspiration. No destruction is final. Unselfish aid will be given. Good health. Spiritual love. Reversed: Stubbornness, pessimism, doubt.
A card of good fortune and hope, regeneration and recovery after a long period of adversity. Like the promise of each new dawn, another and better day is upon us. You can now find enlightenment in the future and belief once again in your dreams. Reversed: Warns against becoming blinded by the light. Take care since all that glitters is not gold.
To act in the world, to find your place.
The Star represents a stage in which an individual finds his or her rightful place to act in the world ina way that will embellish and nourish it from the spot the individual has made his or her own. It sometimes prompts us to not decide between apparently irreconcilable options but to conciliate the two. This card is traditionally seen as a sign of luck, prosperity, fertility. It symbolizes generous action. It is also associated with divine love, hope, and truth (which emerges from the well completely naked). It represents a creative realization that presumes its author has found his rightful place.
The Star’s conscious and generous relationship with Nature points the way to ecology, shamanism, and all the beliefs that take the planet as a living being into account. If The Star is spilling her jars into the past or into emptiness, we will need to ask why she is wasting her energy this way and what unresolved knot is indicated.
“In the infinite multiplicity of beings and things, I have found my place — in the world and in myself, for it is the same thing. I no longer need to keep looking, I no longer hold any image of myself; I am in my rightful place. Here and everywhere I am attached by my own choice.”
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Illusions
King of Cups
Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.
King: Controlling. Using force and authority to impose one’s will.
He holds a short sceptre in his left hand and a great cup in his right; his throne is set upon the sea; on one side a ship is riding and on the other a dolphin is leaping. The implicit is that the sign of the Cup naturally refers to water, which appears in all the court cards. Divinatory Meanings: Fair man, man of business, law or divinity; responsible, disposed to oblige the Querent; also equity, art and science, including those who profess science, law and art; creative intelligence. Reversed: Dishonest, double-dealing man; roguery, exaction, injustice, vice, scandal.
A king is shown with a sceptre in his left hand and a large cup in his right. His throne rests upon the sea; a ship is seen at one side and a dolphin rises at the other. (Note that water, the symbol for the subconscious, appears in many of the Court cards.) Divinatory Meaning: This represents a man with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He is a man of business, law, or divinity. He may be a bachelor. Friendly, of creative intelligence in the arts and sciences. He is disposed in favor of the subject of the reading. Kindness, liberality, generosity. Reversed: Man of violent, artistic temperament; could be dishonest, double-dealing. Can indicate considerable loss, scandal, injustice.
An intelligent, prosperous, sophisticated man.
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To Come
Two of Wands
Staves: Creating. Creative energy. Think of building a house with wooden planks.
Two: It takes two. A dialogue. Weighing and comparing different possibilities.
A tall man looks from a battlemented roof over sea and shore; he holds a globe in his right hand and a staff in his left rests on the battlement; another is fixed in a ring. The Rose and Cross and Lily should be noticed on the left side. Divinatory Meanings: Between the alternative readings there is no marriage possible; on the one hand, riches, fortune, magnificence; on the other, physical suffering, disease, chagrin, sadness, mortification. The design gives one suggestion; here is a lord overlooking his dominion and alternately contemplating a globe; it looks like the malady, the mortification, the sadness of Alexander amidst the grandeur of this world’s wealth. Reversed: Surprise, wonder, enchantment, emotion, trouble, fear.
You have a grasp of what you are capable of accomplishing and know what needs to be done. You know your investments will pay off if you follow the plan you’ve laid out. You sense success, feel proud, and are looking forward to the outcome. You are moving in the right direction. Reversed: Going in the wrong direction. Not paying proper attention to details. Receiving mixed signals. Tasks seem overwhelming, can’t get a grip on what you must do. Not in touch with your energies.
A man of properties looks out from his battlements over the sea; he holds a globe in his right hand and a staff in his left. Another staff is fixed in a ring. Roses and lilies are crossed on the left side of the card. Divinatory Meaning: Lord of the manor. Riches, fortune, magnificence, dominion. Interest in scientific methods. Reversed: Physical suffering, sadness, domination by others.
Rewards are well-earned.
