Choose your card Tarot reading: Pause the video. Focus on your question or guidance for the day(s) ahead. Restart the video to see the reveal and get your reading below.
Sometimes when there is a strong general, public energy the two cards in the interactive reading are closely related. Sometimes when the general energy is quieter, more personalized energies can step forward. In these quieter times, the two cards can seem almost opposite, like today.
When dichotomies and contradictions like this turn up in reading, especially in one of the larger card layouts, it can get pretty confusing. Over the years, I’ve learned that the best thing to do when this happens is to shift focus. Instead of looking for granular detail, look for the bigger picture. Look for the biggest gestalt picture that you can and then try to connect the seemingly opposite dots within the big picture. When you think of it as using a wide angle Camara lens instead of a zoom lens. When you look at the big picture, often your opposite-seeming cards are really just different parts of a larger whole.
Different, sometimes conflicted cards within the same Tarot reading are like the parable of the blind men describing an elephant. One touches the trunk and says elephants are a lot like snakes. Another touches the leg and says that elephants are just like tree trunks. Yet another blind man touches the elephant’s side as says elephants are just like a big wall. Individually they are each wrong, but in the big picture, they are all right.
Of course, that only really applies to multiple card readings. In a one card daily meditation like we are doing here, all you have to do is follow your instincts to the card that is right for you today. The other card might still apply, even though it seems very different from the other. Follow your intuition to the one that is asking for your attention the most today. The other card might apply to you too, but in the background or on another day.
But for now:
The Fool: Alan Watts famously wrote “You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.” New beginnings can happen at any moment. Take all of the happy memories and life lessons you want moving forward, but take care not to bring old emotional baggage into a new beginning.
Two of Swords: This is a liminal time, a portal between worlds and experiences in a way. It is like those seemingly impossible stacks of Zen rocks. There is a pause, a truce between forces, a delicate balance that is easily disrupted. All is connected. This fleeting moments of balance are delicate but powerful times that can tip the balance of things in any direction. Use your influence and the power of cause and effect wisely.
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Well, this is interesting.
I’ve been doing these weekly readings for what, a couple of months now? I’d hoped this would happen, but this is the first time that a previous “growing energy” has moved through to be a “fading energy” card. That process alone is giving the Four of Swords special attention. It may be “fading” but honestly it feels more like “getting ready to maybe fade” The Four of Swords is still very much a prominent energy today, even if it isn’t the ONLY energy today by any means.
I’ll claim it. It’s a mood.
The Four of Swords is a big energy for me right now. It was a long week at the day job and I’m glad for the holiday today. More on that later, probably on Sage’s Other Words. I’m feeling my introverted, INTP aesthetic, cyberpunk, goth-ish side for some reason. Maybe pure rebellion to all of the sunny, hot weather we’ve had lately. I dunno.
Wherever the Four of Swords is falling into your personal energy arc – growing, strongly present, fading away, or maybe not there at all – it feels like it is asking for our attention just by virtue of showing up two weeks in a row from two different decks. This week I used the public domain Waite Smith, last week I used the Alleyman’s Tarot. The four of swords look almost opposite in the two decks, but both bark up the same tree: mind, intellect, thinking, introspection, all of the rest and abide with your thoughts and feelings sort of thing. Last week the card was asking us to engage with deep thoughts, to contemplate, to contemplate contemplation if you want to get really meta about it.
This week it is more of a think things through before you act kind of vibe. The word “ABIDE” is coming to mind here. Think the thoughts and feel the feels for a little bit before jumping into action.
The two of swords typically means indecision, being of two minds about something. I’ve always resonated with another, less known, interpretation from Diane Morgan’s excellent Tarot book Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao. No mystery why that is my favorite Tarot read ever, since it lands square in the middle of my personal wheelhouse, that liminal, Venn diagram overlap between western witchy Tarot and exoteric Taoism (meaning I follow the spiritual philosophy, not the religion)
Her interpretation is one of spiritual connection to the cosmos. The interconnectedness of everything. Oneness. Or as she put it “mystical unity” found in life. Think of the universality of the energy and the connection to the spirit and energy we talk about in Tarot. I think that is where the Two of Swords is pointing today. That connection to everything, that sense of cosmos, is a very internal, subjective, contemplative thing. If the two of swords in “mystic unity” mode is the current energy, it makes sense that the Four of Swords still seems strong because the two energies are closely related and it makes sense that the two cards would work in tandem to pull our attention to our internal world.
But in typical squirrel rave, strip your gears, 90 degree Tron-turn fashion, life switches from strongly internal to strongly external. We drop the airy, mental, esoteric swords cards right into the action side of swords and the earth element physical realm pentacles. Swords can also be associated with action (like the knight, for example) so the swords are also acting as a bridge from internal focus to real-world focus.
Even though they are nearly opposites, we begin and end with fours. I’ll let you figure out the numerology of that if numerology resonates with you. My instinct is to give a shoutout to all the April birthdays out there. A diamond ring and a sparkly, rainbow-y crystal suncatcher sort of crystal window decoration comes to mind here.
With the Four of Pentacles I get “eco-warrior” “ruthless conservation” but not on a political level…it feels very personal level. I connect it with looming potential drought. Save water. Water is life. Mind your budget and your resources. Instead of hunkering down to survive a harsh winter it feels like being disciplined in order to survive a harsh summer. Dune, both the book and movie, and the discipline of the Freman people need to survive in the desert comes to mind here. If you haven’t read the books, they are classic science fiction. I totally recommend them for a satisfying pool or beach read this summer.
But that’s the vibe on the horizon as it stands now. Mind your budget, conserve water and energy. Hopefully this is a good sign that the collective is gearing up for Plastic Free July both the Australian non-profit AND the just plain concept of reducing your single use plastics. I have it on good authority, that the blog How to Holistic will be talking more about that sort of thing in the near future.
Long story short: contemplate, connect, do
Thanks so much for reading! Next up, more oracle dice on Wednesday if all goes to plan.
See you at the next sip!
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A Tarot reading for the week ahead, depending on your point of view
Most of us have seen Star Wars. If you haven’t, stop what you are doing, put this post down and go watch. Then go read Joseph Campbell’s book The Power of Myth and you’ll understand why Star Wars is a classic, epic movie that shouldn’t be missed even if you aren’t typically a science fiction fan.
Point of view comes into play with Tarot readings too.
I’m happiest when I take the most gestalt, holistic point of view that I can muster, Tarot readings included.
Was feeling the Alleyman’s Tarot Deck this morning (used in the video with Publishing Goblin‘s permission) We’ve talked before about reversals, which is when a card turns over upside down relative to the person doing the reading. The Alleyman’s deck tends to feel a little wild and woolly and slippery and a little chaotic and prone to reversals – which makes it perfect for capturing the cacophony of big picture humanity and that collective big picture energy we read in these weekly posts.
Today, all three cards are reversed.
You could take that to mean we are heading into a gnarly catawampus upside down kind of week (which is entirely possible.)
Or you could take it as a reminder that if we walk around to the other side of the table and look at this from a different point of view, then everything is right side up, just as we want it to be.
I’ve said it dozens of times, but it is worth repeating when ALL of the cards are reversed. In a private reading, I’ll follow intuition about any given card’s reversal. It might just be happenstance, the by-product of slippery cards and lots of shuffling. Or it might be a real clue about something that is blocked, turbulent, challenging, stagnant or otherwise complicated.
My hunch today is that it really doesn’t matter. It is like a double negative that gets you right back where you started. The reverse of fading energy is growing energy and vice versa.
I get the mental image of a seesaw. The yin yang symbol strongly comes to mind. Balance whatever turns up this week with its opposite. The yin yang symbol, the taijitu, is actually intended to be dynamic. The balance is in constant motion, like we’ve talked about so many times before with the Two of Pentacles (you can use the search in the right hand side of the page or scroll down on mobile to browse the 2 of pentacles archives)
My hunch is that the real carry away message for this weeks reading is to be adaptive. Be light on your feet and in the moment, willing to change and balance a situation. In order to do that, we need to remember there are 360 degrees in a circle around these cards and many points of view to any given situation.
So chalk one up for Old Ben.
Let’s look at each card. But this time I’ll let you decide the point of view. You decide which side of the table you are on. The center card is the dominant, current energy either way you look at it. But you can decide if it is blocked or not, reversed or not, complicated or not.
Fading energy reversed / growing energy upright: Two of Swords
In the classic Pamela Smith artwork and the many decks based on that, the two of swords reverses. This card, made by Sean S. LeBlanc, looks and means the same thing either way. It fits right in with the gestalt thinking and adaptive balancing that the reading as whole is giving us. The classic meaning is being “of two minds” about something. Swords are associated with mind, intellect, and action. It is hard to act when we don’t know what to do and the mind is locked into a “six of one, half dozen of the other” stalemate. The image on this card is a guillotine. Right side up or up side down, fading energy or growing energy, the message of this card is cut to the chase. Get to the point of points. Strip away all of the fluff and nonsense and distractions and get to the real heart of the matter. THEN you can decide, act and find balance as needed.
Central Energy, reversed or upright: The Sun
Sunrises are beautiful.
But so are sunsets.
The sun card is about warmth, beauty, positivity and happiness. I am reminded of that quote of unknown origin (although often credited to Abraham Lincoln) that “Most folks are as happy as they make up their mind to be.”
Although the card is overwhelmingly positive, the reversal component reminds us not to go overboard in either direction of our chosen happiness.
Forced happiness doesn’t count. Walking around in a sparkly cloud of self indulgent toxic positivity doesn’t help anything. Forget happy. Take off those rose colored glasses, see things as they are and find a way to be content in the here and now. That’s the happy that lasts.
As much as I love a healthy dose of cynicism and good old GenX style sarcasm, the Sun card flows in both directions. Sometimes you have to take off those jade colored glasses and allow a little unprovoked unreasonable joy into your life.
Growing energy in reverse/ fading energy: Four of Swords
Alleyman deck creator, Seven Dane Asmund, reads this card as “the many angles of our self doubt” … again perfect for the point of view theme of today’s reading.
I ‘hear’ “how do you heal?” Basically the feel is to do something restorative for yourself especially where self confidence is concerned. That area may have taken some dings lately and you might need some repairs. I see the mental image of that social media picture of a little kid who stuck colorful stickers all over themselves (and the puppy next to them) The phrase “bandaids for the soul” springs to mind too.
Also the word “normative” comes to mind, but not in the sense of imposing norms of behavior. It feels more like adaptogenic herbs or essential oils – something that brings a thing back into normal range from either direction. Jojoba oil is an example from aromatherapy. It can moisturize excessively dry skin while helping oily skin to produce less oil.
In short this card encourages you to take care of yourself with meaningful little things as you hit the inevitable little bumps in the road this week.
Again the word “adaptogenic” comes to mind.
I see labradorite, which is a classic stone for easing transitions through life stages and adapting to change.
If you’ll allow me a little rando fangirling, my friend Amanda (Universal Crystal Love on Etsy) makes beautiful wire wrap jewelry and has a particularly good eye for labradorite. The pictures can’t do it justice.
It’s just me, my cards and my chromebook, so delivery times vary, especially nights, weekends and holidays here in the eastern US. They may be slow at times, but my readings are authentic and secure and real and just for you.
See you at the next sip for another oracle dice Learn With Me.
For “Sunday Turnover” we turn the reading process around a little. Instead of picking the card that is right for you, as with the YouChoose interactive readings, this time I choose that card and you choose the meaning that most resonates with you.
Today’s card: Two of Swords
Classically it symbolizes a logical indecision, being “of two minds about something. I personally like Diane Morgan’s interpretation of “mystical unity.” The two, while it is related to balance, it also hints at dichotomy. Many cards, like the eight of swords or the seven of cups sometimes suggest using intuition and following your heart when logic and reason fail. The same is true here, especially on cards that follow Pamela Smith’s depiction of a blindfolded figure. The blindfold suggest a reliance on internal insight, intuition, the mysterious or divine. Either way, the two of swords suggests a need for decision, a way to decide, and an element of trust.
Key ideas for the Two of Swords :
Indecision, of two minds
Reliance on intuition and the mysterious
Mystical unity, connection to the esoteric as much as the physical
Discord between heart and mind
Time to decide – at a standstill because of indecision
Conflicting ideas
Proper use of power (Ted Andrews)
As with the images on the cards, the trick in Tarot’s benefit is to apply it, not just memorize it.
The card showing in a reading validates any feelings of indecision that brought you to the reading. It can spur you to mental action in letting you know that it is time to decide, not to put it off. If logic doesn’t provide answers right now, look to intuition and vice versa
Swords symbolize the element of air. They can denote action. Historically they are sometimes associated with negative things because swords were at one time the primary weapon of war. It would be like trying to find spiritual guidance from a card with a machine gun on it.
Today, the energy is lying with the air, mentality and intellect side of the card. A classic meaning for the card is being of two minds about something. Logic and reason are – or at least should be – our first go-to for making major life decisions. Sometimes, however, intellect fails.
Emotion seldom makes the best decision. But neither does cold hard logic and intellect when it is used in isolation, with no emotion or compassion at all.
The figure on the card is blindfolded. That signals the indecision that is part of the card’s meaning, while it also hints that following emotion or intuition might seem like a blind leap of irrational faith to the outside observer. Only the person with their hands on the swords, the person who knows both their logical rationale.
The figure on the card is also seated in front of water, the classic symbol for emotions, wisdom and intuition that we so often see on cards from the suit of cups. That’s not surprising, because people are more than one thing. People are complex. Ideas and experiences have a great deal of overlap as do the card’s symbolism and meanings. Water – emotion and heart – has the person’s back so to speak.
When logic is blinded, heart and compassion supports. When you can’t see the answer, resting in a place of compassion is enough.
Try this if you can. I’m guessing that professional readers do this all the time. I do. If you are a Tarot fan, a comparative study of card meanings is a satisfying deep dive.
In the two of swords is today’s case in point. Every reference gives a range of meanings or keywords. As always, use your intuition. I like to take the top level meaning that stands out to instinct and most captures my attention whenever I do one of these comparisons.
Diane Morgan in Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao is one of my favorites with “mystical unity.” Ellen Dugan, in the Witches Tarot points out conflict or incongruities between heart and mind. Ted Andrews, in Animal Wise Tarot, points out the balancing of heart and mind for “right use of power.” In the same vein as this proper use of power, Thom Pham includes impartiality in his Heart of Stars Tarot. In my mind this connects to all the other interpretations in that it hints at disengaging both heart and mind and bringing impartiality to difficult decisions where indecision otherwise reigns.
Although they all have different points of view, artistic styles, themes and philosophical backgrounds, none of the interpretations conflict or are wide outliers. They all fall on a spectrum of meaning and energy. Tarot cards are far more than one meaning. That’s why intuition is important in readings, coequal with memorizing card meanings. Each card has an entire sliding scale spectrum of meanings, connotations and emotions. Memorization isn’t enough. If you think of the card in terms of visual light, then learning Tarot is like learning all the colors of 78 rainbows. Mental effort isn’t enough.
The Two of Swords is the perfect card for today. It shows us the unity along a spectrum that multiple tarot readers can have. They may dial into one color or another, but we all dial into the same spectrum of energy and beauty.
The card reminds us of mind and heart, intellect and intuition, balanced in mystical unity to give us wise, impartial decisions and lead us to the right use of power.
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Of the different meanings for the Two of Swords, “of two minds” comes to mind. A lot of times when we think of that, it means that two options are equal, and there is no obvious, logical, good way to decide between the two. There is six of one and half dozen of the other as they saying goes.
So what do you do when you are of two minds and both options are equal: equally bad that is? What do you do when you don’t know what to do at all? What do you do when you are of two minds and neither one of them knows what to do?
It’s ok not to know. It’s ok for some things to be unknowable. And it’s ok to try and find out. If you don’t know, ask. If you don’t know, learn. If you don’t know, welcome to the universe. It is like that sometimes. We haven’t figured it all out, and that’s OK too.
“I’d rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”
Striking a balance requires that decisions be made.
It amazes me that humans have figured out how to teach robots to maintain physical balance. It is a surprisingly complex thing that the human brain does effortlessly, easily. Test the theory: stand on one foot. You don’t have to lift one foot very high off of the floor, but there you stand, on half the support ( more or less, I dunno, I’m not an engineer) that you had a moment ago.
The emotional, mental and spiritual balance that Tarot deals with is no less intricate. Temperance and the number two cards of the four minor suits all speak to different aspects of balance. The Two of Swords is classically associated with indecision, or being of two minds about something. Sometimes that is exactly the energy I get from it in a reading. Other times it is something different, something more. Diane Morgan interprets the card as “mystical unity.” This in a deeply essential way defines balance. A lever isn’t a lever without the fulcrum. Balance isn’t balance without the center spot where the opposites connect, around which balance does its adaptive dance.
For there to be balance, decisions must be made.
Swords are associated with air and intellect. Swords are associated with action. Think and choose.
Choose your balance point. What calls to you today? The balance of magic and mundane? Spiritual versus intellectual? Intellectual versus emotional? Choose where you want to be, and then make choices about what needs changed or shifted to achieve the balance-point that you want. OR change your balance point to suit the conditions that exists. Or some combination thereof.
In the earlier example, you had to choose which foot to stand on. Then you had to choose how high to lift the other one off the floor. You chose when to put it down. Your body automatically made an untold number of tiny muscle adjustments to make it all happen.
Choose, act and find balance. That balance, that being in harmony with the state of being that you happen to find yourself in is indeed a mystical unity where the mundane unites with the divine.
Clear your mind just for a moment. No one is asking you to stop thinking about things, or worrying about whatever – you can get back to that in a minute. But for now, just for a few seconds, set all of that aside. Take a deep breath, watch the first few seconds of the video and pick a card, left, center or right. Pause the video if you need more time, then restart to see the reveal. No need to over-think it. Just pick whatever card seems like the right one for you after that deep breath. Here we go.
Left: Six of Wands. A wreath is one of the most common symbols on this card, at least in RWS based decks. That circle shape reminds me of oneness, wholeness, a certain universality to everything. The six of wands is a harbinger of a peaceful time following some sort of conflict or challenge. Peace and war are, by definition, mutually exclusive. The reasons behind them are not necessarily so. What is the reason? Why? Why do you seek peace? Why do you act against your enemy? Love can, in some circumstances be the impetus for both. This reminds me of a favorite quote, attributed to G.K. Chesterson “A true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” When hate is in front of you, a warriors stance is an act of love. Remember that the next time you see protesters chanting ‘no justice, no peace’ It isn’t a threat. It is prerequisite. Wands have to do with the inner world. The six of wands and the world today leave us with much to ponder.
Center: Two of Cups. All of the cards this week hint at looking for unity. This is the obvious one. This is THE card for everyone on the lookout for that special someone, symbolizing unity of purpose, a long term stable relationship. If you are in one…rejoice. Appreciate them, thank them. Now is a good time to pamper and treat them. The cozy intimate feeling that will come with the kindness will be nice for both of you. Love is love. Celebrate it anytime. No need to wait for anniversaries or February ‘hallmark holidays.
If you are still looking and hoping, think of biggest of big pictures. Look at the growing moon. You and your special someone are under this same big sky. When you connect to the universe, you connect with your soulmate, too, because they are an intimate and inseparable part of the greater whole just as you are.
Right: Two of Swords. Like the Six of Wands, the Two of Swords has a fairly consistent interpretation across various decks. In this case the interpretation by Diane Morgan, author of one of my all time favorite Tarot books “Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao” jumps to mind because it is both atypical and in keeping with the thread of unity that touches the other cards. In fact, she describes it as “mystical unity.” Most resources view the card as symbolizing indecision, or choosing between equal “six of one, half dozen of the other” options. Ellen Dugan puts it as choosing between heart and mind, emotions and logic. “Convergence” comes to mind here. If you find the overlap, or if you find the common background and greater unity behind the apparent duality, the need for deciding goes away. If you feel stuck between two equal choices, look for “both” or “all of the above” options. Failing that, why are you holding on to either one? Maybe the answer is ‘neither one.’
Finding the underpinning is important for everyone this week it seems. Looking to the bigger unifying view celebrates our human bonds, clarifies our choices, and asks us which way we face when we take a warriors stance.
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