A full spread.
YOU DREW TEN CARDS:
-
Environment
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.
-
Obstacles
The Hermit
Solitude. A search for spirituality. Turning away from institutionalized wisdom. A search for virtue. The passage of time. Patience.
Prudence; also and especially treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption. Reversed: Concealment, disguise, policy, fear, unreasoned caution.
The Hermit is alone on a snowy mountain peak far above the weary climbers below, for whom he lights the way. His lantern is a six-pointed star, suggesting “Where I am, there you also may be.” He is Absolute Wisdom, the goal of existence, while the Fool typifies the same Absolute before manifestation. Consequently Tarot #0 is a youth looking upward in the morning light, while Tarot #9 is a bearded ancient looking down at night. Every practice in occult training aims at the union of personal consciousness with the Cosmic Will which is the cause of all manifestations. Divinatory Meaning: Silent council, wisdom from above, prudence. A meeting with one who will guide the seeker on the path to material or spiritual goals. Attainment. Possible journey. Reversed: Immaturity, foolish vices, refusal to grow old, the perpetual Peter Pan.
The figure in the card is shown to be moving away from spiritual concerns. A reevaluation, inner growth and personal development are called for here. There may be a person you should turn to for consultation about your future. Reversed Meaning: Guard against foolishness and stubbornness. Do not rush forward blindly. Stop to think about your actions and be open to wise advice.
I have arrived at the end of my path, there where the unthinkable presents itself like an abyss. Faced by this nothingness, I can no longer move forward. All I can do is retreat, while contemplating the road I have already traveled. With every step I take backward, I form a reality before me.
-
Above
Nine of Swords
Swords: Defending. Self-defense and setting boundaries. Think of drawing a line in the sand with a sword point.
Nine: You deserve it. You receive rewards due to your own efforts.
One seated on her couch in lamentation, with he swords over her. Divinatory Meanings: Death, failure, miscarriage, delay, deception, disappointment, despair. Reversed: Imprisonment, suspicion, doubt reasonable fear, shame.
-
Below
Eight 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.
Eight: The efficiency expert. Through the use of discipline and structure, you reach peak efficiency.
An artist in stone at work. Divinatory Meanings: Work, employment, commission, craftsmanship, skill in craft and business. Reversed: Voided ambition, vanity, cupidity, exaction, usury.
-
Behind
The Emperor
Stability, power, protection; a great person; aid, reason, conviction. Reversed: Benevolence, compassion, credit; also confusion to enemies, obstruction, immaturity.
Material power and authority. Safety and security. A reminder that even the mighty will fall. The necessity for earthly power to work in tandem with spiritual values. The fate of one’s kingdom, whether it be a nation, an office, or a home, depends on the spiritual state of its ruler.
-
Ahead
Seven of Wands
Staves: Creating. Creative energy. Think of building a house with wooden planks.
Seven: Going deeper. You become aware of deeper levels of meaning and hidden motivations. You’re no longer satisfied with superficial answers.
A young man on a craggy eminence, brandishing a staff; six other staves are raised towards him from below. Divinatory Meanings: It is a card of valour, for, on the surface, six are attacking one, who has, however, the vantage position. On the intellectual plane, it signifies discussion, wordy strife; in business– negotiations, war of trade, barter, competition. It is further a card of success, for the combatant is on the top and his enemies may be unable to reach him. Reversed: Perplexity, embarrassments, anxiety.
You are facing adversity and challenge — and still holding your ground. You must draw on your inner strength and personal faith to deal with this latest challenge. Something is coming to a head. An unexpected confrontation looms on the horizon, yet you are not afraid. Reversed: Not willing to confront your problems. Would prefer to turn and run. Feeling a sense of anxiety. Uncomfortable about what’s ahead. Disturbed by choices facing you. Lacking willpower.
A young man on a rocky hill grasps a flowering wand. Six others rise up against him. In Queen Elizabeth I’s time, men fought in this manner. Divinatory Meaning: Man holding his own against adversaries. Strife, stiff competition in business, war or trade; success against opposition; courage in the face of difficulties. Reversed: Perplexity, embarrassment, anxiety. This card is also a caution against indecision.
Today’s problems lead to future.
-
You
The Devil
An unexpected, last-minute challenge or temptation. Unbridled passion. Gross sensuality. Greed. Materialism. Unreason.
Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality; that which is predestined but not for this reason evil. Reversed: Evil fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.
-
Others
Six of Swords
Swords: Defending. Self-defense and setting boundaries. Think of drawing a line in the sand with a sword point.
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 ferryman carrying passengers in his punt to the further shore. Divinatory Meanings: Journey by water, route, way, envoy, commissionary, expedient. Reversed: Declaration, confession, publicity; one account says that it is a proposal of love.
You are able to navigate through your problems. And even though your difficulties still face you, you are learning how to deal with them, how to live your life in their presence. You are trying to look at things with a more open mind by putting distance between yourself and the past. Reversed: You don’t feel like you are making any progress. You are trying to paddle against the current. You aren’t able to look at your problems afresh or put them behind you.
A ferryman carries passengers in his boat to the opposite shore. The waters are smooth; the swords do not seem to weigh the boat down. Divinatory Meaning: Passage away from difficulties; journey by water; success after anxiety; sending someone to represent you in an undertaking. Reversed: Unfavorable issue of an affair. No immediate way out of present difficulties. A stalemate.
Difficulties surmounted, a trip may bring good news.
The first step into pure joy is an intellectual experience. Poetry finds its source in the Six of Swords.
-
Illusions
Two of Cups
Cups: Interacting. Emotions and relationships of all kinds. Dealing with people. Think of two people toasting each other with wine glasses.
Two: It takes two. A dialogue. Weighing and comparing different possibilities.
A youth and maiden are pledging one another, and above their cups rises the caduceus of Hermes, between the great wings of which there appears a lion’s head. It is a variant of a sign which is found in some old examples of this card. Some curious meanings are attached to it, but they do not concern us in this place.
-
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.”