YOU DREW TEN CARDS:

1. Environment

   Six of Cups

   Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.

   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.

   Children in an old garden, their cups filled with flowers. Divinatory Meanings: A card of the past and of memories, looking back, as — for example — on childhood; happiness, enjoyment, but coming rather from the past; things that have vanished. Another reading reverses this, giving new relations, new knowledge, new environment, and then the children are disporting in a newly-entered precinct. Reversed: The future, renewal, that which will come to pass presently.

   Memories of good times fill you with happiness. The past is not lost, it can always be remembered. Also, past events can figure favorably in the present. Old friends may serve you well at this stage. Reversed: Can’t allow the past to cloud your emotions. Time to open yourself to the present. Need to find new friends, share new experiences. Leave the past in the past.

   In a village green a boy offers a girl a cup of flowers. The manor house in the background suggests home and happy childhood memories. The other five flower-filled cups suggest beauty and abundance. Divinatory Meaning: A card of the past and memories. Looking back on childhood things that have vanished. It may be the beginning of new relationships, new knowledge, new environment, or a meeting. Reversed: Living in the past, clinging to outworn symbols and associations. Possibility of an inheritance, or a gift from the past.

   The Cups relate to emotional matters of love, sex, marriage, fertility and creativity.

   Lighthearted memories, the past reawakened.

    

    

2. Obstacles

   Three of Swords

   Swords: Defending. Self-defense and setting boundaries. Think of drawing a line in the sand with a sword point.

   Three: Having a plan. Formulating a strategy to accomplish a goal.

   Three swords piercing a heart; cloud and rain behind. Divinatory Meanings: Removal, absence, delay, division, rupture, dispersion, and all that the design signifies naturally. Reversed: Mental alienation, error, loss, distraction, disorder, confusion.

   It was necessary to remove what was causing you pain, trouble, or difficulty. And now you experience new pain. But it will soon pass. The new pain will cause you to sharpen your focus, to see new directions, to put the problems of the past behind you. Reversed: Your pain will remain with you until you acknowledge the reason for the separation or change you had to make. You must put it behind you so you can get on with your life. Also, discord crated by different points of view; can’t seem to find a consensus with others.

   A heart pierced by three swords. Rain and clouds in the background. A depiction of stormy weather. Divinatory Meaning: Sorrow, tears, separation, delay. For a woman, the possible flight of her lover. Reversed: A meeting with one whom the subject has compromised. Disorder, confusion. Care should be taken against possible loss.

   Benefits from obstacles removed.

   The fantastic bursting forth of primary ideas and first opinions. Intellectual enthusiasm and passion for studying and reading. The Three can also point to a lack of follow-through on ideas.

    

    

3. Above

   clubs12

   clubs12.jpg

    

4. 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.

    

    

5. Behind

   Seven of Cups

   Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.

   Seven: Going deeper.You become aware of deeper levels of meaning and hidden motivations. You’re no longer satisfied with superficial answers.

   Strange chalices of vision. Divinatory Meanings: Fairy favours, images of reflection, sentiment, imagination, things seen in the glass of contemplation; some attainment in these degrees but nothing permanent or substantial is suggested. Reversed: Desire, will, determination, project.

   Feelings of indecision swirl around you. Choices must be made, but you’re not giving yourself fully to the task at hand. You’re spending too much time dreaming about the future when you should be acting on those dreams instead. Draw on those inner energies and begin moving from thought to action. Reversed: Indecision is replaced with desire to take action, which will lead to positive outcome, sense of fulfillment. Time to pursue that dream, see where it leads.

   Fantastic visions rise out of the cups — wreaths, jewels, snakes and towers — all resting on clouds. A man garbed in black contemplates the strange prodigies. Divinatory Meaning: The seeker has had too many different ideas and desires, all in the realm of the imagination; great dreams; castles in the air. Some attainment but nothing substantial as yet. His forces have been scattered. Reversed: Good use of determination and will; a project about to be realized.

   Ambition and hope. Think about what you are doing.

   Love enters complete action in the world, colored by humanism and generosity.

    

    

6. Ahead

   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.

    

    

7. You

   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.

    

    

8. Others

   Four of Cups

   Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.

   Four: Making it happen. Your efforts result in concrete manifestation. Initial success.

   A young man is seated under a tree and contemplates three cups set on the grass before him; an arm issuing from a cloud offers him another cup. His expression notwithstanding is one of discontent with his environment. Divinatory Meanings: Weariness, disgust, aversion, imaginary vexations, as if the wine of this world had caused satiety only; another wine, as if a fairy gift, is now offered him, but he sees no consolation therein. This is also a card of blended pleasure. Reversed: Novelty, presage, new instruction, new relations.

   Material pursuits no longer satisfy. Time to reassess, reevaluate, turn inward for answers. Looking for new, more fulfilling, satisfying challenges, pursuits. Answers to your questions are within reach. Reversed: Ready for new challenges, relationships. A sense of excitement is in the air. Feeling revitalized, refreshed, and invigorated. Ready to resume past relationships, renew friendships.

   Seated under a tree, a young man contemplates three cups on the grass before him. Out of a cloud in the sky comes a hand offering him another cup. He is nevertheless discontented. Divinatory Meaning: Discontent with environment, but hesitancy to embark on a new venture. Contemplation, dissatisfaction with material success, re-evaluation of one’s earthly pleasures. Reversed: New instructions, new relationships, novelty.

   Expressive of emotions, but beware of over-indulgence.

    

    

9. 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.

    

    

10. To Come

    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.