A full spread.
YOU DREW TEN CARDS:
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Environment
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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Obstacles
Six 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.
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.
One in the guise of a merchant weighs money in a pair of scales and distributes it to the needy and distressed. Divinatory Meanings: Presents, gifts, gratification; another account says attention, vigilance; now is the accepted time, present prosperity, etc. Reversed: Desire, cupidity, envy, jealousy, illusion.
Your hard work pays you dividends. A bonus is coming. Business pursuits prosper. You feel generous, want to share. Feeling satisfied, in harmony. Others around you appreciate what you do for them. Reversed: Not getting your fair share. Someone is holding out on you. Not satisfied with the return on your investment. Possible debts. Not sharing with others, thinking only of yourself.
A merchant weighs money in the scales and distributes it to the needy. He shares his plentiful riches with others, out of the goodness of his heart and a sense of justice. Divinatory Meaning: Philanthropy, charity, gifts. Alms dispensed with justice. Present prosperity shared with others. Reversed: Unfairness in business. Cause for envy, avarice, bad debt.
Help is coming from an outside source.
“I leave in search of everything that surpasses me and is already in me.”
The Six of Pentacles celebrates the beauty of the world and feels as one with it.
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Above
Eight of Wands
Staves: Creating. Creative energy. Think of building a house with wooden planks.
Eight: The efficiency expert. Through the use of discipline and structure, you reach peak efficiency.
The card represents motion through the immovable — a flight of wands through an open country. Divinatory Meanings: Activity in undertakings, the path of such activity, swiftness, as that of an express messenger; great haste, great hope, speed towards an end which promises assured felicity; generally, that which is on the move; also the arrows of love. Reversed: Arrows of jealousy, internal dispute, stingings of conscience, quarrels.
Things are moving fast, bringing you closer to your goal. Results are coming in quickly — and you must keep things in order. Sometimes indicates a journey. Reversed: You can’t handle the pace. Things are stacking up against you. Events may overtake you. Life is passing you by while you stand still.
A flight of wands is shown passing through open country; they seem to be coming to the end of their course. Divinatory Meaning: Haste, hope, movement in affairs. The arrows of love, messages, letters, journey by air. Reversed: Arrows of jealousy, quarrels, domestic disputes.
Confidence brings success.
The perfection in this center is displayed by extreme concentration, things reduced to their essentials, represented by the two cut flowers. Creativity has become extremely focused: this is the perfection of someone who knows how to draw a circle in a single line. In sexuality, we reach sublimation, pure creative energy, orgasm. Power becomes non-violence, the ideal of the martial arts: combat without combat. Authority emanates from the individual and imposes itself without a gesture. In this state of extreme contemplation, effort no longer exists, and we are tireless. If this card should have a negative side, it would be paralysis, the stopping of all movement, an extreme perfectionism bordering on asphyxiation.
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Ahead
Ten 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.
Ten: Enough already. You’ve attained your goals, but find them unsatisfying. Time to begin something new.
A man and woman beneath an archway which gives entrance to a house and domain. Divinatory Meanings: Gain, riches; family matters, archives, extraction, the abode of a family. Reversed: Chance, fatality, loss, robbery, games of hazard; sometimes gift, dowry, pension.
You’ve achieved much of what you want, but you don’t know if it’s enough and you should seek more, or if it is as satisfying as you hoped it would be. At a minimum you are secure, have comfortable home, and sufficient wealth. Reversed: Financial security in jeopardy. Not a good time to invest in new projects, gamble on possible return. You are facing a multitude of financial problems. You feel constrained, unable to do anything to improve your lot.
A patriarch rests at ease in the foreground, surrounded by his family and dogs. An archway emblazoned with his coat of arms opens onto an impressive house. Divinatory Meaning: An established family of material prosperity and lineage. Gain, riches, family matters, inheritance. May refer to money spent on a house or business property. Reversed: Chance of loss of inheritance. Family misfortune or loss of family honor. Robbery, gambling. Caution against getting involved in project that may be a poor risk.
Unexpected wealth from an outside source.
Once prosperity has been obtained, there is a complete spiritual work to be accomplished with the riches we’ve amassed. The way of prosperity has closed. In the material domain, it is time for creativity to enter into action.
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You
The Magician
I – The Magician. Tricking or taking advantage of others, or you are the one being tricked. Thriving outside society’s norms; “beating the system”. Physical or mental dexterity. Travel.
Skill, diplomacy, address; sickness, pain, loss, disaster; self-confidence, will; the Querent, if male. Reversed: Physician, Magus, mental disease, disgrace, disquiet.
The Magician is one of the most practical of the Tarot symbols. He represents the powers we each possess to create meaning and purpose in our lives. With one hand pointed to the heavens, the other pointing downward, The Magician tells us that this creative power resides both within and outside ourselves — but always within reach. The Magician seems to be saying, “Open yourself to the forces surrounding you, the life-giving powers, the powers of creation — draw them to yourself, transform yourself into whatever you wish to be.” Reversed: You are blocking your creative energies. Or you are afraid to experiment, to try new things. Your self-confidence is lacking because you are unsure of yourself. At the same time, the card could be telling you not to be so self-assured, that what worked once may not be right this time.
The Magician has above his head the cosmic lemniscate shaped like a figure 8 on its side, symbol of eternal life. Above his waist is a serpent devouring its own tail — a well-known symbol of eternity. In his right hand is a wand raised toward heaven, while his left hand points to the earth. He is drawing power from above and directing it into manifestation. On the table are the symbols of the four suits of the Minor Arcana, signifying the natural elements of life: air, fire, water and earth. Roses and lilies in the garden about him show the cultivation of desires. He represents the personal will in its union with the Divine, which then has the knowledge and power to bring things into manifestation through conscious self-awareness. Divinatory Meaning: Will, mastery, skill, occult wisdom, power, diplomacy. The ability to take power from above and direct it through desire into manifestation. Reversed: The use of power for destructive ends. Weakness, indecision.
This card is only one step away from the Fool. It relates more to a stage magician or entertainer than a character of high holy magic — more like just another trickster you might meet along the way. This is a fortunate draw because it suggests progress, moving forward in your life towards success. It also tells of a deeper, worldly understanding of your environment. This card suggests that a decision needs to be made with confidence, but that it should be well thought out. Reversed Meaning: Beware of hesitation or unwillingness to confront reality.
Beginning and Choosing
The Magician bears the number one. This figure contains the whole in potential; it is like the original point from which a universe emerges. For The Magician all is possible.
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Others
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.
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Illusions
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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To Come
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.”
