A full spread.
YOU DREW TEN CARDS:
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Environment
Seven of Swords
Swords: Defending. Self-defense and setting boundaries. Think of drawing a line in the sand with a sword point.
Seven: Going deeper. You become aware of deeper levels of meaning and hidden motivations. You’re no longer satisfied with superficial answers.
A man in the act of carrying away five swords rapidly; the two others of the card remain stuck in the ground. A camp close at hand. Divinatory Meanings: Design, attempt, wish, hope, confidence; also quarrelling, a plan that may fail, annoyance. Reversed: Good advice, counsel, instruction, slander, babbling.
Your attempts to deal with your problems are feeble, incomplete, and not well-planned. In the process, you are hurting yourself. Trying to solve things alone may not be a wise decision. It may be more than you can handle by yourself. Reversed: It’s a good time to seek advice from someone else, to learn what you need to know, to do a little listening, seek constructive criticism. Good results may follow.
A man is shown escaping with five swords, with two still remaining stuck in the ground. A nearby military camp is depicted. Divinatory Meaning: Unstable effort, partial success. Uncertainty; a plan that may fail. The seeker finds someone trying to make away with that which is not his. Reversed: Good advice, counsel, instruction.
Difficulties abound; be brave and conscientious.
An active meditation turned to the needs of the world. The pacified mind can put its potential and spirituality into service of the Other.
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Obstacles
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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Above
Nine of Cups
Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.
Nine: You deserve it. You receive rewards due to your own efforts.
The goodly personage is feasting to his heart’s content, and abundant refreshment of wine is on the arched counter behind him. Divinatory Meanings: Concord, contentment, physical bien-etre; also victory, success, advantage; satisfaction for the Querent or person for whom the consultation is made. Reversed: Truth, loyalty, liberty; but the readings vary and include mistakes, imperfections, etc.
There’s a place in our lives for material satisfaction, as well as spiritual happiness. Life should be enjoyed for its earthly pleasures, too. We should take steps to ensure our physical as well as mental well-being. Reversed: What at first seemed like happiness leaves you feeling empty and unfulfilled. Spending too much time enjoying the sensual pleasures at the expense of spiritual growth and development. Living life in the shadow of false values.
For the first time in the series, leaves are turning down as if wilting. It is the end of flowering, the autumn of the heart; a period of mourning is required so that a new dimension of love can appear. This is a stage of wisdom where we accept the end of an emotional cycle and let go of what has already been lived. This sacrifice presumes a profound love of humanity present in each being, a detachment, a denial, produced by conscious love. Negative aspects are all states of emotional crisis, nostalgia, unwanted solitude, fear of lack, and despair.
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Below
Three of Wands
Staves: Creating. Creative energy. Think of building a house with wooden planks.
Three: Having a plan. Formulating a strategy to accomplish a goal.
A calm, stately figure, with his back turned, looking from a cliff’s edge at ships passing over the sea. Three staves are planted in the ground and he leans slightly on one of them. Divinatory Meanings: He symbolises established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce, discovery; those are his ships, bearing his merchandise, which are sailing over the sea. Reversed: The end of troubles, suspension or cessation of adversity, toil and disappointment.
You are reaping success from your efforts. Like the ships on the card, the results are starting to come in. Now that you’ve proven what you can do on your own, it is time to form partnerships and alliances with others so you can seek their advice and work together as a team. Reversed: Achievements may not last. Your alliances are not proving to be productive. Goals seem elusive. Control is slipping away. Best to take time to reassess and regroup. Be wary of advice from others.
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Behind
King 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.
King: Controlling. Using force and authority to impose one’s will.
The figure calls for no special description; the face is rather dark, suggesting also courage, but somewhat lethargic in tendency. The bull’s head should be noted as a recurrent symbol on his throne. The sign of this suit is represented throughout as engraved or blazoned with the pentagram, typifying the correspondence of the four elements in human nature and that by which they may be governed. Divinatory Meanings: Valour, realizing intelligence, business and normal intellectual aptitude, sometimes mathematical gifts and attainments of this kind; success in these paths. Reversed: Vice, weakness, ugliness, perversity, corruption, peril.
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Ahead
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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You
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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Others
Page 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.
Knave: Learning. Curiosity. Becoming interested.
A youthful figure, looking intently at the pentacle which hovers over his raised hands. Divinatory Meanings: Application, study scholarship, reflection; another reading says news, messages and the bringer thereof; also rule, management. Reversed: Prodigality, dissipation, liberality, luxury; unfavourable news.
Approach new projects with a schoolboy’s wonder and enthusiasm. Study hard, apply what you learn and you’ll reap positive rewards. Seek out solid, well-researched information before making any moves.
Reversed: Not using your intelligence to guide you. Your actions bespeak of ignorance, closed-mindedness. Should listen to the advice of others, learn from their experience. Don’t allow your nonconformity to lead to difficulties, losses.
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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
Two 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.
Two: It takes two. A dialogue. Weighing and comparing different possibilities.
A young man in the act of dancing has a pentacle in either hand, and they are joined by that endless cord which is like the number 8 reversed. Divinatory Meanings: On the one hand it is represented as a card of gaiety, recreation and its connexions, which is the subject of the design; but it is read also as news and messages in writing, as obstacles, agitation, trouble, embroilment. Reversed: Enforced gaiety, simulated enjoyment, literal sense, handwriting, composition, letters of exchange.