Lovely readers! It’s another week with another reading, and while these cards aren’t initially the most comforting, I’m struck by their straightforwardness. The Eight of Swords starts things off with a focus on worry. Anxiety, rumination, “analysis paralysis” - all these things converge in a mental tour de force. It’s not fun! And like a lot of tarot, mileage will vary. So some of us could be reading this, thinking, “Aha, yes, why that is me right now!” while others will experience a much more subtle version, pesky worries flitting around like a mosquito in the bedroom.
However the Eight of Swords manifests for you, this card shows us that this week brings an opportunity to contend with the ways our mind can keep us stuck. The Rider-Waite-Smith version of this card shows a bound and blindfolded figure surrounded by eight swords. They’re standing in a desolate swamp with tiny rivulets of water twining around their feet. So charming! But I’ve been thinking about this card lately and how there’s an odd comfort in a discomfort that you know. This type of pessimism can keep us safe from the unknown; unfortunately, that unknown contains both unknown dangers and unknown joys.
Our reading for February features the King of Swords as the main card. That image, as you might guess, shows a ruler - someone who has mastered the powerful and tricky swords suit that encompasses the mind: how we think, analyze, and conceptualize of our world. They hold just one sword. That’s all they need. I’m seeing this card as a secret addition to our reading in that this month we’re engaged in the process of choosing how to think about our situation. What’s the one sword that could free us from our paralysis?
In a cheeky moment of tarot commentary, the card representing this is the over-the-top, almost baroque Seven of Cups. I’m loving the math of this: engaging with the seven of cups could wash away seven of the swords, leaving one sword (the King’s) behind. Decisiveness is accessible to us if we can be brave and canny enough to dream.
The Seven of Cups shows the immense power of imagination. I’m envisioning a deluge of water sweeping into the drought-stricken swamp of the Eight of Swords. Perhaps this experience is a bit confrontational, that in daring to look at our life through the creative, visionary lens of the cups suit, we’re unleashing a flood. But a little discomfort in the face of apathy can be important. As the water rises, moving on becomes a matter of survival and not just a banal choice. Make room for feelings of intimidation, nervousness, or light panic. This is a week to break out of old patterns and risk living a bigger life.
Because we may have been experiencing a bit of spiritual and creative dehydration. Engaging with the Seven of Cups can look like getting lost in reverie, concocting outlandish and exciting plans for the future, engaging with art and beauty, experimenting creatively, daydreaming. Treat these tasks as necessities this week. Make room for them in your schedule. Prioritize hydration! Notice how you feel when you make expression, joy, and meaning regular parts of your day.
Our final card, the King of Pentacles, appears as a reminder that our usual narrative around creativity being destabilizing and even foolish is utter garbage. (Hey, it’s a King of Swords month, I’m not about to mince words!) I’m seeing this card as a reminder that, even though life may feel a bit more chaotic and confrontational than usual, we’re still taking care of business. Try to look at your material life as a rousing success this week. One of the easiest places to hide is behind the excuse of scarcity and practicality. What if, instead, we saw our capability to support ourselves as inarguable, unimpeachable, and just fine.
This week, embrace:
Directing gentleness & discernment towards your worries
Patience with your Eight of Swords tactics
Aiming for something bigger
Creativity, dreaming, beauty
Trust in your ability to care for yourself
This week, avoid:
Buying fear-based narratives wholesale
Limiting thinking
“Safety” > Satisfaction
Cutting yourself down
Well now... if this didn't hit the nail on the head. Amazing how things stay the same, deep rooted, UNTIL we make a conscious decision to change how our mind "sees" our current position, and/or perhaps a new direction using a different set of eyes? Hmmm...