Sometimes focus can bring about mysterious changes. This week, we have a surprising conjunction of experiences that will dredge up some anxieties while also propelling us forward. It’s a time to embrace a panoply of emotions and ambitions knowing that they can all coexist without intervention. So let’s roll up our sleeves and dive into the fray!
The Page of Pentacles shows us beginning the week with a new or newly obvious-to-us interest. Pay attention to what’s intriguing to you, effortlessly capturing your attention, and inspiring your actions. This is a period of growth that’s marked by openness and experimentation; the pages are the youths of tarot and don’t traffic in the perfectionism and intense goal-setting that can characterize adulthood. What’s more, the pentacles deal with actual life. This is not a time to analyze or plot out each step of your plan meticulously. Instead, dive into what’s capturing your interest. Do the work and get lost in the process. Let the rest unfurl in its own time.
The brilliant yellow of the pentacle in our Page’s hand matches the sky behind it, as if its glow is spreading to encompass the atmosphere itself. Similarly, this week our focus and excitement will radiate outwards with surprising results. Don’t hold back when it comes to sharing your enthusiasm, waxing poetic about your latest obsession, or looking for kindred spirits with whom to collaborate.
You’ll also notice that the brilliant yellow is glowing charmingly next to a… shadowy dungeon? Swords display room? Yes, there’s some darkness on the agenda for the week, but it’s actually quite refined and, dare I say, potentially constructive. In tarot, the nines are read as the full expression of the suit. The tens - the final numbered pip card in each suit of the Minor Arcana - are actually excess or overkill, and nowhere is this more evident than in the swords suit. In that card, we see ten swords sticking out of a the back of an unfortunate person lying facedown on a beach. So, yes, in a way we should be glad to be hanging out in the nine - sad, but cozy in bed, covered up in a quilt, and with our nine swords safely hung on the wall and not in our backs.
I’m thinking now of our reading from last week where The Devil sat confrontationally in the center of our spread; now, we have a similarly dark card, but its intensity has downgraded. The Nine of Swords shows us reaching the end of a period of grieving and a slow, hopefully sustainable, exist from The Devil’s lair. This is progress, even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment.
What does this all mean for us? To put it plainly (and how I’ll be framing this for myself) is that this week is giving us a wonderfully safe space to process our feelings. Some of this may even be springing from all the excitement and growth happening in the Page of Pentacles. New plans and interests can signal a shift away from old ways of being, and the Nine of Swords shows a moment of reckoning with what has hurt us in the past or has been hurtful to leave behind for whatever reason.
The end of the week brings a hearty gust from the winds of change. The Wheel of Fortune spins once again, setting our lives in a new direction. This could occur in a single area - a localized change - or be more drastic and all-encompassing. The cheeky wisdom of the Wheel of Fortune is that we never know what’s going to happen, and I can’t help but feel that this energy is a wonderful compliment to the Page of Pentacles’ zest and ambition.
Let yourself feel things deeply while exploring new avenues this week, knowing that a shakeup is on the way. If change is what we’re looking for and an opportunity to let go of past hurts, this spin of the wheel could give us just that. Spend some time planning on how to position yourself so that you can make the most of the spinning without getting dizzy: double-down on your self-care practices; feed yourself well; encourage a hearty sense of humor; draw you cherished companions close. Let’s see where we end up when the wheel stops and, until then, enjoy the ride.
Potential surprise:
I’m struck by how the Wheel of Fortune looks like the circular pentacle in the Page of Pentacles, just enlarged and taking up the entire card. What we’re exploring in the Page of Pentacles may have unforeseen repercussions. A project or idea that takes on a life of its own? Work meeting fate? Don’t hold yourself back this week, especially when it comes to questions of abundance, achievement, and making change in your life. A little lightheartedness and trust that things can work out (or even work out spectacularly) can go a long way.
I’m also sensing that this may be tied to the theme of last week’s reading. Note what old chains you identified over the past seven days and see if you can make space for the possibility that you’ll be blasting them into oblivion this week with a little help from fate, chance, or whatever you’d like to call it. It could be delightful.
This week, embrace:
Your focus, interests, passions, and the daily work that keeps you engaged
Authentic ambition, entrepreneurial anything, new projects, experimenting with new strategies
Recognizing, experiencing, and accepting your feelings as they come
Support from your community, both for your Page of Pentacles schemes and your Nine of Swords struggles
Flexibility, humor, seeing change as an opportunity
This week, avoid:
Seeing difficult emotions as roadblocks or signs of failure
Repressing your emotions
Hiding from opportunity
Self-isolation, perfectionism