New week, new king! I’m writing this on a Sunday and so I’m technically still under the thrall of last week’s reading. There, we saw the King of Wands closing our spread. This archetype’s decisiveness and proactivity has been inspiring and challenging me to get things done, to take initiative when I could easily wait, debate, or pass the responsibility elsewhere.
That we have the King of Cups starting off our reading for this week strikes me as important. If we were to stretch out all our weekly forecasts into a line - a parade of tarot! - these two would be next to each other, a formidable pair. It’s worth taking a moment, then, to see how we’ve been learning from and embodying our former king, the King of Wands. Where have you stepped into your power, kept current with the energies and demands of life, and chosen to act? How has this impacted your experience of life? What confidence have you found here?
This week we’re shifting our focus from action, practicality, and daily life (wands and pentacles) towards emotion, connection, and beauty (cups). Landing on the throne of the King of Cups tells us that we’re ready for this shift. More than that, we’re empowered to direct our experience in this realm with the full force of our agency and willpower.
To connect the two kings again, I’m wondering if something about our experience taking care of business last week - making choices, doing life the way we want to, keeping up with what comes our way - has granted us the courage to do the same in our emotional and spiritual life. We can use our newfound confidence to slingshot our goals here: ask for what you want, put your feelings out there, navigate complex dynamics, advocate for our emotional needs, explore new facets of our spirituality and intuition.
As one of the masters of their suit, the kings speak to power and intentionality, which is why I’m feeling some goal setting might be in order here. Take a moment to see where you’d like to direct your King of Cups powers. What relationships do you want to deepen? Questions do you want to explore? Messages you want to share? Kings are outward-facing, so there’s a social component here, an audience that’s waiting to hear from you. Some bravery and equanimity is required; luckily, the King of Cups has an ocean’s worth of both.
The Ten of Wands appears in the middle of our reading, telling us that some project or plan we initiated or re-launched last week is winding down. This is a huge accomplishment, though at first it might feel exhausting or even like a loss. The trick to navigating this card is knowing when to put down your sticks. Practically speaking, this is a week to pare down commitments and be protective of your energy stores. Some of these wands don’t need carrying! And we may be able to put it all down and be done sooner than we think - burnout doesn’t equal success, especially not now.
Our final card may have some clues as to why we’re tempted to keep going and run ourselves ragged, because on the other side of those sticks is… a tree? A meadow? Some boring ass cups? Admittedly, it’s much more engaging (and easier to talk about) when you’re busy and grappling with a whole bouquet of wands. Action keeps us from our thoughts and feelings, and this week we may be tempted to use a full schedule to keep us from our inner life. Yet even though the Four of Cups captures the flat expanse of boredom, it also shows its magic and potential. Towards the end of the week we may be surprised that our efforts under the King of Cups’ guidance haven’t yielded definitive answers. This is a time to embrace slowness, deliberation, and waiting for the right moment.
But, speaking of the right moment, the Four of Cups also shows a welcome change in our recent readings: input from something else. Look to the left of the seated figure and you’ll see a hand emerging from a cloud, grasping a cup. It’s the only “mini-Ace” in the deck, a moment depicting some cosmic gift coming from outside ourselves. Whatever you’re deliberating at the end of the week, there’s an important offering making its way to you via chance, luck, or happenstance. This could be in the form of an insight out of the blue, a piece of news or opportunity, a message from someone else. In all cases, however, there’s nothing we can do to make it happen. We just have to sit back, survey what is, and remain open to what’s coming our way. Relinquishing control and leaning into the beautiful fact that we can give, strive, seek, and receive.
Potential surprise:
The Four of Cups, as you can guess from my musings above, holds a hearty dose of mystery. And while I said there’s nothing we can do to make the fourth cup appear from the cloud, there certainly are ways we can be more receptive and poised to see and accept it when it appears. This includes doing all sorts of things shown in this card: sitting, sitting some more, sitting while thinking about your cups, sitting while thinking about how annoyed you are by your cups, sitting and wishing you had something else to do a la the Ten of Wands, but then realizing that, no, busyness is overrated and you should just continue sitting instead. All of this is to say, rest up whenever you can, trust when things don’t feel quite right, and limit your striving, at least just for this week.
I’m also getting the feeling that we might have to wait through some discomfort and even tempting offers in order to get what we really need. And I say need here on a deep “soul level,” not some extrinsic wish-fulfillment riches and jewels stuff. Cups are all about the ineffable, so it’ll be important to trust when things just don’t feel right, even if they look great. A little discernment and some more waiting has the potential to reward us with a resounding (and surprising) yes.
This week, embrace:
Advocating for yourself and others
Prioritizing your emotional and spiritual needs and those of your communities
Trusting your feelings and your ability to navigate complex dynamics
Walking away from task(s) when they’re done
Streamlining your workflow and obligations
Daydreaming, rest, and boredom!
This week, avoid:
Getting swept into other people’s strong emotions
Passing responsibility onto other people
The siren song of absolute thinking, judgment, and the pressure to decide
Burnout, hiding behind busyness
Rushing decisions
Turning away good things because they’re unfamiliar, new, or unexpected