Weekly Forecast: August 1-7
Well, judging by the cards above, August is starting out with a bang, not a whimper. A bang that leads to plenty of whimpering? I think so.
As we can see, we’re visited by one of the most arresting images in tarot, The Tower. A humbling experience, this card shows us what happens when a structure we’ve staked our sense of security on crumbles spectacularly. There’s no way around it; this is a challenging and often painful experience. Yet it’s important to note this: whatever is crumbling was meant to fall.
The Queen of Cups is extending her graces throughout the month. Not only is she leading us into the week, she’s the official “card of the month” in August’s forecast. This queen challenges us to remain connected to both our emotional/intutive selves and our practical selves. Rather than seeing these forces as in conflict, The Queen of Cups embraces the complimentary nature of passion and responsibility. Can we use our practical, problem-solving skills to be responsible for our own passions: desire, beauty, and connection?
Having The Queen of Cups leading off both this week and the month as a whole is telling us that the skills we’ve been practicing (and the facets of ourselves that we’re becoming acquainted with) are coming into focus right now. In fact, they’re the key to our growth and, perhaps on some level, survival.
Because, yes, The Tower can sometimes show us moments when we have to deal with something that feels annihilating. And, like everything in tarot, this occurs on a spectrum. Each of our experiences of The Tower this week will vary in intensity. It could be an external event, a shift in our self-perception, or something we’ve depended on crumbling before our eyes.
Take time to devote your loving attention to yourself this week, and reacquaint yourself with all the ways you’ve stepped into prioritizing your emotional and spiritual development. This is a time to re-commit to any self-care and spiritual practices that make you feel whole, centered, and alive. The Queen of Cups isn’t a flashy card at first glance, but she emits a magnetic pull, one of a person who knows themselves deeply and is committed to staying present for all facets of life, including the painful parts.
I wonder, too, if The Tower may represent a backlash to the new and increasingly bold ways we’ve been drawing boundaries to protect our inner space and creative/romantic/spiritual lives. Again, remembering that The Tower needs to crumble will be pivotal. In some cases, we don’t even need to participate in the collapse. If there’s someone around you being harmfully dramatic or reactive, simply stay in the lush and healing world you’ve been cultivating for yourself. Like the Queen of Cups, keep your foot dipped into the waters of your emotional truth, feel the beauty of the world around you, and let it all nourish you no matter how intense the rest of the world may be.
The King of Cups enters the scene and I’m feeling this card as an external presence. Look for someone in your life whose emotional maturity equals yours and whose ways of coping, understanding, and living with The Tower compliments your own. In other words, there’s partnership to be found in this moment of difficulty that may end up being pivotal. Think of allies, supporters, and mentors: who can stand with you and reinforce your experience of reality?
There’s no way around it, this is challenging energy. Yet I can’t think of a better team to face the intensity of The Tower. I’m also reminded of the immense difficulty of witnessing something or someone crumble. Both The Queen and King of Cups embody fluid, strong, and healthy boundaries. If you feel pulled to rescue, compensate, or intervene in someone else’s tower moment, don’t. There’s so much to take in from the seat of power you’ve carved for yourself - rushing into someone else's flames won’t help either of you.
This week, embrace:
Re-committing to your personal practices
Prioritizing beauty, deeper meaning, and spirituality
Emotionally mature supporters and partners
Your choices to lead a life that works for you
Facing uncomfortable truths
Embracing the healing potential of collapse, endings
This week, avoid:
Getting sucked into drama, bids for rescue
Catastrophizing
Reacting immediately instead of reflecting
Savior-complexes
Changing your beliefs, choices to accommodate others
Get creative:
Queen of Cups: It feels like we’ll need a sanctuary this week. I have several ideas: 1) An actual space - make a nook that really goes for it in terms of showcasing your romantic, poetic side. Pillows and string lights? Objects of beauty? Line them up! 2) A ritual you can turn to - think of something that makes you feel connected with your body and emotions. Meditation? A languorous bath? A walk in nature? Hold this in your back pocket and use it when you encounter The Tower. 3) A mental space - if you don’t have one already, think of a place you can travel to in your imagination. Like option 1, it should contain things and exist in an environment that makes you feel both safe and inspired. Unlike option 1, it’s not contained by the pesky rules of reality! Get decadent and travel there when you feel the destructive pull of The Tower.
King of Cups: While we’ll likely have a King of Cups IRL, I think this would be a good opportunity to identify King(s) in other places. Who do you view as an emotional role model? Someone who inspires you with their maturity, poise, and dedication? I think we run a risk of playing it small this week or muting our seeking dreamer selves, so this person or people should be trailblazers, too, people unafraid to live life on their own terms: authors, poets, artists, and more. List or simply visit these people’s work as you go through the week so you can remain connected to your larger self and a world beyond however the tower is manifesting right now.
The Tower: This one in simple: wait. If something is collapsing in your life, just let it fall. The Tower can invite panic and frenzied action. Resist the impulse. Time allows the fire to die down, the clouds to disperse, and the reality on the ground to become real.