Weekly Forecast: August 18-25
Well, my friends, it looks like the Five of Swords isn't done with us yet! This card also began the forecast for last week, warning us of conflict luring us away from our very important personal paths.
In that reading there was a more cosmic theme: How have interpersonal struggles held us back overall? In those cards there was a need to identify the larger forces at play and to look at our lives now as a new beginning, highlighted by the The Fool.
Well, now things are coming waaay back down to earth. We're being asked to really practice these concepts in real life, showing the Five of Swords that we're committed to growing our own ambitions instead of mediating others' conflicts.
When we have a continuing theme like this it's actually quite powerful. The Five of Swords isn't showing up twice to say that we haven't succeeded in dealing with its thorny energy. Rather, it's saying that we need to deepen our skill and make circumventing or, blissfully, ignoring drama a normal behavior.
I love the visual of the Eight of Pentacles here, busy on their phone and totally unperturbed by the angry figure in the Five of Swords, yelling on top of a pile of heads. What an inspiring image to use when focusing on your work. That mess in the Five of Swords? It's not ours to clean up. Plus, we have important work to do.
The Eight of Pentacles is an invigoratingly practical card. It reminds us to value the work we find absorbing and to let our focus bring us clarity. Taking each task as it comes, especially on work that's meant to sustain our own lives, can bring us forward in an immensely satisfying way. It also tells us that we have something important going on here. We've been doing good work and it's accumulating. Now its not the time to get distracted or abandon it.
And what's this figure riding in from the right? The Page of Swords is a welcome addition to our cards, telling us that a mental break from whatever form the Five of Swords is taking in our lives will bring us renewed clarity and energy. Sometimes not knowing what to do about a certain situation simply means that the right answer (or time) hasn't arrived yet. With the Page of Swords we can be sure that it's on the horizon and that space, deliberation, and focus on our work is what will usher it in.
