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
The Moon
A perception of larger truth, more than the glimpse we saw in the Star but still obscured. Mystery. Unease. Hidden motivations. A wild, untamed, Dianic energy.
Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, error. Reversed: Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.
The Moon glows, but it does not illuminate the earth below. It is not a guide like The Star and it does not warm or brighten. The light The Moon casts isn’t even its own — it’s a reflection of The Sun. The reality we know by day is now cloaked in an illusion. When The Moon is high in the night, we enter the dreamworld. And in this netherworld, things are not as they always seem. The familiar shapes of the daytime hours take on different meanings. We must be on guard. Even the Moon doesn’t reveal all of itself to us. It grows from a little sliver to a full moon — another reminder that not everything has been revealed to us.
The Moon card warns us of the unknown, yet at the same time beckons us. It’s that fear of the unknown that attracts. We don’t know where the journey will lead and yet we’re willing to take the risks, to venture out into the darkness. The Moon tugs on us, just as it pulls the tides. Reversed: Not a time to venture out. Stay with the path you know best. Lacking in faith and in nerve. Going through a phase. In the dark about things.
A dog and a wolf are seen baying at the moon. The pool in the foreground is the same as that shown in Keys #14 and #17. It is the great deep of mind stuff out of which emerges physical manifestation. The shellfish symbolizes the early stages of conscious unfoldment. The wolf is nature’s untamed creation, while the dog is a product of adaptation to life with man. The path ascends ever upward between the towers. The upward progress of man is here symbolized; the moon signifies the reflected light of subconsciousness; the falling drops of dew (Yods) represent the descent of the life-force from above into material existence. Divinatory Meaning: Imagination, intuition, dreams. May mean bad luck to one you love. Unforeseen perils, deception, secret foes. Reversed: Storms will be weathered, peace gained at a cost. Imagination will be harnessed by practical considerations.
For a prudent person, this can be an unfortunate card. The moon is an irrational supernatural force in the universe. Sometimes intuition can be your best friend. Believe in yours and listen to it closely. Your irrational side can overcome many obstacles, yet it must be used carefully since it can lead to a dangerous fantasy world. Reversed: Forewarns against letting your life become too stagnant and cold. Don’t become old before your time.
Receptive Female Power
The moon is one of humanity’s oldest symbols; it represents the maternal feminine archetype par excellence, the Cosmic Mother. Its essential quality is receptivity: the satellite body of the moon reflects the light of the sun. The moon is also the world of dreams, the imaginal realm, and the subconscious, traditionally associated with night. The Moon symbolizes the mysteries of the soul, the secret process of gestation, everything that is hidden. The moon is connected with biorhythms, water, tides, menstrual cycles, and the transition from life to death. Its infinite receptive potential is its greatest treasure.
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Above
Queen of Swords
Swords: Defending. Self-defense and setting boundaries. Think of drawing a line in the sand with a sword point.
Queen: Encouraging. Getting things done in a calm, understated way. Using persuasion rather than force.
Her right hand raises the weapon vertically and the hilt rests on an arm of her royal chair; the left hand is extended, the arm raised; her countenance is severe, chastened, and suggests familiarity with sorrow. Divinatory Meanings: Widowhood, female sadness and embarrassment, absence, sterility, mourning, privation, separation. Reversed: Malice, bigotry, artifice, prudery, deceit.
Learn to rely on your mind; hone your intellectual abilities. Learn to see both sides of an issue, analyze carefully, free from emotions before deciding which action to take. Reversed: Don’t look at things from a narrow perspective. Don’t shut yourself off from the truth by closing your ears to other points of view.
A queen seated on a throne looks out over a cloud-filled landscape. Her right hand raises a sword whose hilt rests on the arm of her throne. She looks sorrowful and grave. (Note the storm clouds in all the Court cards of the Swords.) Divinatory Meaning: A dark-haired, brown-eyed woman, subtle, keen and quick-witted. May signify widowhood, sterility, privation, separation, acquaintance with sadness. The sword of spirit penetrating matter and informing it. Reversed: A woman of artifice, prudery. May betoken narrow-mindedness, intolerance, bigotry.
A sharp, clever, highly qualified woman who demands respect will offer advice.
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Below
The Empress
An idealized feminine spirit. One’s home, nation, or land. Nurturing. Protection.
Fruitfulness, action, initiative, length of days; the unknown, clandestine; also difficulty, doubt, ignorance. Reversed: Light, truth, the unravelling of involved matters, public rejoicings; according to another reading, vacillation.
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Behind
Six of Wands
Staves: Creating. Creative energy. Think of building a house with wooden planks.
Six: Keeping it going.You’ve established a pattern or rhythm which allows things to run smoothly. Things are going well and you’re in a position to be generous with others or even to give up some of your goals for others’ benefit.
A laurelled horseman bears staff adorned with laurel crown; footmen with staves are at his side. Divinatory Meanings: The card has been so designed that it can cover several significations; on the surface, it is a victor triumphing, but it is also great news, such as might be carried in state by the King’s courier; it is expectation crowned with its own desire, the crown of hope, and so forth. Reversed: Apprehension, fear, as of a victorious enemy at the gate, treachery, disloyalty, as of gates being opened to the enemy, etc.
Once again, through hard work, intelligence, and a clear understanding of the objectives, you achieve your goals. You have the drive, ambition, and desire — and a belief in your abilities — that lead to success. But even though you’ve earned your place, you’ll have to work to keep it or someone might take it from you. Victory cannot last forever. Reversed: Victory eludes you. Not strong enough for the challenge. Letting others beat you. Keep trying, you may be successful yet. Need to develop faith in yourself and a desire to win.
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Ahead
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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You
The Lovers
Love and attraction as forces which overpower rationality and social mores. Romantic triangles and complications. Sensual motives underlying seemingly virtous actions. Choice. Choosing goodness over sensual satisfaction. A marriage or committed relationship. Creating a formal mechanism by which two energies can be combined.
Attraction, love, beauty, trials overcome. Reversed: Failure, foolish designs.
On its simplest level, The Lovers represents the act of union between the male and female spirits. Man and woman together are a potent creative force.
On another level, the card speaks to the next stage of a development — the point at which we move forward to begin building for the future with another.
A third meaning relates the male and female sides to a personality that exists within each of us — men and women alike. The male side represents the intellect, which is linked to the outer world, through conscious thought and reason, whereas the female is our connection to our unconscious self.
The card also acknowledges the emergence of sexuality within each of us — a change in our physical bodies and emotional and intellectual framework that both separates man from woman and at the same time creates the dynamic tension that draws us together. Similar tensions exist within ourselves as we try to live in both the external and unconscious worlds simultaneously.
Divinatory meaning: Choice between diverse allurements; the struggle between sacred and profane love. Attraction, beauty, harmony of the inner and outer life. The power of choice means responsibility. Reversed: Parental interference, danger of marriage breaking up, quarrels over children. The possibility of wrong choice.
This is the card of your emotional life with its ups and downs; it suggests conflicts of the flesh as opposed to those of the spirit. It also points to a good relationship or marriage and flows over into the making of positive decisions in your life. Reversed: A wrong choice will be made. Sexual infidelity may rear its ugly head, and you may be in for sexual difficulties as well.
Union, Emotional Life
“I am the sun of the Arcanum, the white sun: almost invisible but casting my light upon all the figures. I am this star: the joy of existing and the joy that the Other exists. I live in ecstasy. Everything fills me with happiness: nature, the entire universe, the existence of the Other in all its forms — the Other who is none other than me.”
“I am the awareness that shines like a bright living star in the center of your heart. I renew myself at every moment; at each instant I am being born. At your every heartbeat I am uniting you with the entire universe. It is from me that come the infinite connections joining you to all creation. Ah, the pleasure of living! Ah, the pleasure of becoming one! Ah, the pleasure of doing what I love! Messenger of the permanent impermanence, I am reborn every second. I am like a newborn archer launching arrows at everything his senses can capture.”
“I am not kindness; I am not ambition for well-being or triumph. I am unconditional love. I will teach you how to live in wonder, recognition, and joy.”
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Others
Ten of Cups
Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.
Ten: Enough already. You’ve attained your goals, but find them unsatisfying. Time to begin something new.
Appearance of Cups in a rainbow; it is contemplated in wonder and ecstasy by a man and woman below, evidently husband and wife. His right arm is about her; his left raised upward; she raises her right arm. The two children dancing near them have not observed the prodigy, but are happy after their own manner. There is a home scene beyond.
Divinatory Meanings: Contentment, repose of the entire heart; the perfection of that state; if with several picture-cards, a person who is taking charge of the Querent’s interests; also the town, village or country inhabited by the Querent. Reversed: Repose of the false heart, indignation, violence.
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Illusions
The High Priestess
Secrets, mystery, the future as yet unrevealed; the woman who interests you, or perhaps your own feminine side; silence, tenacity; wisdom, science. Reversed: Passion, moral or physical ardour, conceit, surface knowledge.
The institution of religion, as opposed to the manifestation of it in individuals. Alternatively, a feminine spirit in opposition to patriarchal religious institutions and customs. Writing and written history.
The High Priestess symbolizes the power of unconscious forces in the world — the unseen forces that give the earth its form and purpose; the invisible thread that binds us together. Reversed: You are ignoring your own impulses.
The High Priestess sits with the crescent moon at her feet and on her head a diadem showing the full moon set in two crescent moons. On her breast is a solar cross showing the union of the positive and negative life elements. The scroll in her lap is the Tora (Divine Law); it is only slightly unrolled, for the instruction contained therein is hidden, save for a partial glimpse, from the ordinary human eye. A veil also covers half of the scroll, thus intimating that only one-half of the mystery of being can be comprehended. She sits between the pillars of the positive and negative forces. The black pillar, Boaz, represents the negative life principle; and the white one, Jakin, the positive life principle.
The High Priestess is both eternal and the subconscious mind. She is the balancing power between initiative and resistance — thus she sits between the pillars. The veil between the pillars is decorated with pomegranate (female) and palm (male) symbols, indicating that the subconscious is only potentially reproductive. Only when this veil is penetrated by conscious desire can creativity be actualized. Divinatory Meaning: Hidden influences at work, unrevealed future. Creative forces of the subconscious, the female side of the brain at work for the artist, poet, and mystic. A woman of great intuition, inner illumination. Reversed: Accepting surface knowledge, sensual enjoyment, conceit.
The woman in this card carries with her a deep intuition and special knowledge. She can be creative, with a slightly offbeat view of the world around her. She may possess a deep psychic understanding. This card suggests a female influence in your life, as well as the chance of a problem coming out of the dark and into the light. Reversed Meaning: Beware of becoming overemotional, which could lead you to become irrational and lose control of the situation.
Creative outburst, expression.
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To Come
Page of Cups
Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.
Knave: Learning. Curiosity. Becoming interested.
A fair, pleasing, somewhat effeminate page, of studious and intent aspect, contemplates a fish rising from a cup to look at him. Divinatory Meanings: Fair young man, one impelled to render service and with whom the Querent will be connected; a studious youth; news, message; application, reflection, meditation; also these things directed to business. Reversed: Taste, inclination, attachment, seduction, deception, artifice.
A new idea will break through the surface. It may be delivered by a friend. It’s a good time to apply your creativity, to try new methods, initiate new projects. Could also signal development of psychic ability. Reversed: Acting on impulse could lead to trouble. Need to mature, become more thoughtful. Must learn to accept responsibility for self and actions. Ignoring ideas that may be beneficial.