Weekly Forecast: September 12-18

There are times in life when the clouds begin to part and the murkiness of a transition, conflict, or challenge subsides. This week is one of those times, as The Lovers brings its energizing zest to a new chapter of our lives. The clouds, however, will be dissipating at different rates for each of us. Be sure to reach for any moments of beauty and inspiration while accepting your current place on the journey; Major Arcana cards represent impactful moments and entire chapters of our lives. There is so much time for this card to reach its full expression, and this is just the beginning.

The Lovers is about choice and agency, but unlike The Chariot it deals with divine forces instead of personal willpower. Look to the world around you for inspiration and beauty, small invitations for next steps that feel authentic to you and your soul. Lofty language, grand concepts, big stories - all of these will help encourage the energy of this card, so if you’re not feeling it naturally, be sure to take matters into your own hands in ways that feel delightful to you alone.

Actively engaging with The Lovers will be important as difficult and very earthly matters come into focus mid-week. The Five of Pentacles is a challenging card. There may be issues with money, health, or, more broadly, the basic functioning of our everyday lives. Things feel like a struggle, and we’ll need all our energy to stay our path or simply get through the day.

Having The Lovers at our back, however, is just the energy we need to weather moments of difficulty. We may be tempted to use whatever challenge is active as a litmus test for the big plans, dreams, and choices we’re holding close to our hearts. To which I say: just don’t! Momentary hardship doesn’t have to be a referendum on our identity, life decisions, or desires. In fact, The Lovers is asking us to use our lofty ideals and grand imaginings for support during stressful times. Wanting something and not having it yet, or wanting to do something and having some difficulties, is par for the course. And, as this reading suggests, the discomfort is temporary.

The Page of Wands concludes our reading, telling us that while we may feel hunched over and struggling through a headwind in the middle of the week, by the end we’ll be upright and in possession of a new idea to guide us forward. How can temporary setbacks and material limitations actually inspire us to innovate? This card is nudging us to lean into difficulty and treat it as a wise teacher. It’s also an affirming emissary for The Lovers’; we’ll need the practical passion of this page to bring our loft Lovers’ ideals into fruition this week and beyond.

This week, embrace:

• Embracing a choice, change, or new chapter

• Enacting your values, honoring shifts in identity

• Romance, myth, utopian visions

• Muscling through daily difficulty

• New ideas and sparks of inspiration

This week, avoid:

• Shrinking from your personal agency or vision

• Treating temporary setbacks as defeats

• Large expenditures, retail therapy, financial irresponsibility

• Backing away from your dreams

Get creative:

• The Lovers: I think this card is asking for a grand gesture this week. And while it appears to be outwardly about romance, it’s more about a devotion to a higher calling. So, take some time to feel out (NOT think/analyze) a grand vision that makes you feel alive, energized, and inspired. Search for a piece of art - a poem, image, or song - that brings you closest to how you feel when you think about this calling/future/vision and revisit it throughout the week.

• The Five of Pentacles: I’m feeling drawn to the rags in this image and think it would be a powerful act to spend some time mending, washing, or restoring an item of clothing you wear frequently. Perhaps even break out the shoe cleaning supplies that lurk in the dark corners of your laundry room (am I the only one?). As you clean, stitch, or shine, focus on how you can always bring your care to what you have when you feel lacking, and in doing so, restore and revivify yourself.

• Page of Wands: The pages are such rascals; they don’t care how goofy or awkward they look when trying something new. In fact, they may not even be aware of their lack of mastery. Like the truly young, they think their passion equals expertise. I think a healthy dose of this cockiness may actually be helpful for us this week, especially when it comes to shaking off the weight of the Five of Pentacles. So, when you find yourself transfixed with a new idea or plan (I’m thinking on the low-end of the “difficulty/responsibility” spectrum) just do it. Have fun, take a small risk, and leave your self-judgment at the door.

Weekly Forecast: May 23-29

I love this reading. It’s jarring, effusive, then serene. There’s a sense of multiplication as we travel from the hardship of the Five of Pentacles and into the bounty of the Ten. It leaves us in a pensive place; we recede into the background for a spell, consulting with ourselves in the deliberative Two of Swords.

If you’ve been dragging your feet, feeling exhausted or “in it,” this week has a helpful message for you: No matter the difficulty, there’s treasure to be found in your everyday life. Soon, these cards tell us, that treasure is multiplying into something splendid.

This could happen in one of two ways:

1. A healing breakthrough - finding a new frame through which to view your recent struggles that catapults you into a phase of action and enjoyment.

2. A big change, addition, or opportunity.

This is all happening in the realm of the pentacles, a place where what we do, touch, and tend to comes into focus. And, even if you’re not familiar with tarot, the Five of Pentacles does a good job of broadcasting what happens when these areas get pinched in the grips of difficulty. It’s a classic “bad times” tarot card, and I like how it doesn’t mince words (or, rather, images) when illustrating what it feels like to struggle - walking into the wind, limping along, out in the cold.

When I draw cards like this I like to take a moment of recognition. Where have you felt exhausted, overburdened, and unfortunate? How can you extend compassion to yourself and your struggles? This is, interestingly, also the only card with snow in it. Some part of our pentacles experience (work, domestic life, finances) has been experiencing winter - a period of dormancy, energy conservation, and endurance. If you’ve been scraping by, not doing as much as you’d like or simply feeling limited, cut yourself some slack. It’s likely this has been due to necessity - the environment just isn’t in your favor - and the smart thing is, in fact, to rest and wait or keep things simple. Just getting by or even doing nothing can sometimes be the best and smartest decision.

If the Five of Pentacles is winter, our next card, The Ten of Pentacles, is the golden days of high summer. This is quite the jump! Something is bursting forth in the middle of the week, making me think that our slog through this blizzard of troubles is well worth the effort. Fives are the midpoint in each suit and all deal with the theme of challenge. Entering into the Ten of Pentacles shows that we’ve faced a stiff challenge, continued despite adversity, and are emerging into a vastly different landscape.

There may be some overwhelm at this shift, like squinting into the bright sunlight after emerging from darkness. It’ll be helpful to plan for some adjustment while not shying away from the bounty. The Ten of Pentacles is a busy card (can’t you tell??) and represents the riches of a life fully lived. Expect support and growth in your community, family, and partnerships. Look to connections between yourself, nature, and your ancestors. This is a complex and gorgeous tapestry. What’s coming together for you? How has enduring struggles helped heighten your appreciation of what really matters? Colors may look brighter, tastes sweeter, sounds clear and resonant. This is a time to appreciate what we have and revel in caring for it. Also, I might add, letting ourselves take up space and embrace our messy humanity as a participant of this wild scene.

This arc gives us a lot to think about, and towards the end of the week we’re mulling over what we’ve learned and how things have changed. The Two of Swords shows us taking some mental space to gain clarity and insight. I’d urge you, however, not to retreat too far from the warmth and bustle of the Ten of Pentacles. Like all tens, this card shows an important culmination. Don’t sneak away from your own graduation party in order to analyze or create a mental story. The story that is still unfolding requires our full participation.

Using what’s happening in our world of pentacles to make decisions, however, is well worth our time. Just be sure to pay attention to any impulses to pump the breaks, seek safety in over-deliberation, or intellectualize something wild, beautiful, and full of potential. Drawing trusted others into your decisions and internal debates can help mitigate the Two of Swords’ tendency to isolate.

Either way, it’s clear that this week is bringing about a pivotal change. Let yourself take in the riches you have (and expand your understanding of this concept) and use your new situation as a foundation for growth.

This week, embrace:

• Endurance

• Re-framing struggles

• Community

• Sharing pleasures

• Celebration

• Intuitive messages

This week, avoid:

• Despair

• Fatalistic thinking

• Self-isolation

• Intellectualization

Get creative:

• Five of Pentacles: An often-neglected side of the pentacles is that it’s the suit associated with the physical body. Take some time this week to do something physical that gets you out of your mind and into your body. It may even be satisfying to do something especially challenging, showing yourself that not only can you get through hard things, but that they make you stronger.

• Ten of Pentacles: We talked about how this card intersects with daily life, but didn’t draw on its powerful spiritual side. I see this card as the ancestral tarot card. Take some time to find out how your ancestors navigated hardship, ideally through conversations with family members (this card is also all about real-life community and interpersonal interactions). Do a small ritual to honor the struggles your ancestors have endured - I’m a huge fan of lighting a candle - while meditating on how you have been doing the same in your unique life experience. For those with tense family relationships, you may want to widen this frame and find a historical figure you identify with, within your cultural tradition or not.

• Two of Swords: Let’s focus on the more positive side of this card here. The Two of Swords is, in its healthiest incarnation, all about balancing intuition with intellect. This week, see how you can practice tapping into your intuition, starting with the prompt: What makes me feel good right now? (Think: however the Ten of Pentacles is showing up in your life. What’s so great here? How does it feel in your body?)

Weekly Forecast: March 14-20

King of Pentacles / Five of Pentacles / Ten of Wands

Contending with feelings of inadequacy

When I look at the cards we’ve drawn for the week the word that comes to mind is worthiness. This appears in two ways: 1) How we’re feeling worthy of what we have or engaging with the idea of worthiness personally, and 2) determining which struggles are worthy of our time and energy.

We start things off with the King of Pentacles, a card that shows someone content and proud of the bounty in their lives. Yet afterwards we have two incredibly on-the-nose struggle cards. The wind is in our faces this week in two areas - our material resources (Five of Pentacles) and energetic resources (Ten of Wands). So there’s some incongruities in the picture. Why do we have an archetype of abundance and confidence framing a reading about struggle, challenge, and scarcity?

I like it when tarot gives us a riddle to solve. How often do we feel like life is more of a confounding puzzle than linear story? Obscurity is a big theme for us in the coming days as we have a lot to wrestle with in our everyday lives. Don’t expect to experience huge breakthroughs or epiphanies; the wisdom we’re receiving this week is hard-fought and very earthy, just like the element of the pentacles suit. There’s treasure just below our noses, however, and it’s a time to appreciate the intensity of our efforts, finding beauty in the act of moving forward even when things aren’t infused with ease and lightheartedness.

The pentacles suit encompasses the theme of work, and this week we’ll be dealing with questions regarding how we earn our livelihood and provide for ourselves. The big contrast here is between the King of Pentacles and the Five of Pentacles, and I’m feeling that these cards are asking us for a radical reframe: How might we see kingly traits of perseverance, expertise, and leadership in how we experience challenges this week? Whether we’ve been feeling less than, indadequate, or simply strapped for resources for quite some time, or new developments land us struggling through the snow like the figures in this card, The King of Pentacles is telling us that we have more than enough strength to push through. I’m also wondering if some external figures may be stirring up envy or insecurity. Who are we seeing as “having it all” or “a resounding success” this week? How might we look for these traits within ourselves instead? It’ll be worth investing some time in the beginning of the week for reflection, planning, self-esteem boosting, and preparation before the challenges of the Five comes into focus mid-week.

We’ve been dealing with some stickiness around self-worth and work for a while in our forecasts. The Ten of Wands makes a return, suggesting that some of our feelings of burnout from the Five of Pentacles may be self-inflicted. Have we been burning the candle at both ends, engaging in so many activities that our mental health and ability to see our struggles in context has suffered? This is where another facet of The King of Pentacles comes into play. This character features one of the most complex robes in the tarot deck (and believe me, I’ve studied/coveted them all), embellished with juicy grapes. Clearly, this person knows how to have a good time and is not about an austere, minimalist ethic, sartorial or otherwise.

This week we may be tempted to shrink ourselves, feeling more at home in stories where we’re suffering and put-upon than those where we’re leaders, taking up space, and owning our circumstances and skills. Resiting the temptation to treat ourselves with harshness is key: stepping away from the burden of the Ten of Wands and tending to our daily lives, finances, and careers with kindness will result in us stepping into the role of the King of Pentacles. How can our decisions relating to money and work lift us up? What if we saw ourselves as worthy and benevolent leaders? I also see something more fun in this card: the power of celebration, revelry, and generosity to uplift the spirit. Some fun may be in order - how can you incorporate it into your week?

Kings are also public-facing cards, and I’m feeling a call to reach out to the world, sharing what we can. Acts of generosity, charity, and support can help shift our focus from what we don’t have (The Five of Pentacles) to what we can offer. Doing so wisely and in proportion follows the wisdom of The King, too - the goal here is to be both responsible and in service to ones role as caretaker for one’s own life as well as the larger community. Collapsing into the mentality of The Five of Pentacles or spending and/or giving your way into actual poverty is not helping anyone.

Towards the end of the week we emerge from the sticky challenges of the pentacles and into the Ten of Wands. I’m seeing this as a moment when the skies clear and we can really let go of some burdens. This would be a prime moment to look at what’s been exhausting you with honesty, then letting it go for good. There’s nothing more motivating than discovering something new you’re excited about. As you brush away the debris that’s accumulated during this period of action what sprouts can you find peeking above the soil? Dream, get excited, and, most importantly, look at how far you’ve come. The Five of Pentacles hints at some criticism or disappointment around your life as it is, yet the King shows us the reality: what we have is quite beautiful, even if it’s not what we expected or what we think is expected of us. How can we reframe, love, and appreciate the reality of our lives and the reality of how much work and consideration we’ve put into creating and tending it? The scene beyond the wall of wands in the Ten is a lovely little village. With a blue sky, cloudless, and green trees lining the streets, we have a place of beauty and serenity waiting for us. Let’s get cozy and actually enjoy it.

This week, embrace:

• Financial planning, budgeting, getting your “money ducks” in a row

• Celebrating your successes

• Donating, volunteering, acting in service to others

• A minimalist schedule whenever possible

This week, avoid

• Big expenditures

• Negative self-talk, especially around money, resources, work

• Saying yes too quickly

• Shame-spirals and perfectionism

Get creative

• King of Pentacles: Since we’ve covered a lot of practical ways to engage with this card above, I’d like to get more personal here: How do you feel you embody the King of Pentacles? Are there parts of this card you struggle with? Do some serious reflection, ideally journaling about what this archetype means to you. Be honest - this is not about solving or even doing anything. Simple awareness can help massage tricky concepts into our identity.

• Five of Pentacles: A lovely part of this card is the glowing pentacles in the window above the figures struggling through the snow below. Many tarot scholars see this window as the same one seen in the Four of Swords - a church-like interior with a resting figure. This week we can engage with spirituality (however you choose to define that slippery term) as a way to soften and heal from feelings of inadequacy and shame. Take time to meditate whenever you find yourself feeling like the figures in this card (or, ideally, feel yourself approaching this state) - take deep breaths and remember the sacred space you carry with you always.

• The Ten of Wands: I’m feeling like we’re being asked to focus on what’s beyond the wall of wands this week. When you notice yourself feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, take a deep breath and look around you. Notice the beauty in your environment and how the world itself isn’t collapsing around you. What if everything was fine just as it is?

Weekly Forecast: January 17-23

Eight of Wands / Five of Pentacles / Page of Swords

Satisfying progress, wintry struggles, and renewed determination

After a week of hard work brought to us by the Ten of Wands, we enter into a brief period of ease and progress. The Eight of Wands is one of the most direct and unadorned in the deck- there’s not a person in sight, just an impressive array of wands in mid-flight. With each arranged just so, the scene looks effortless, and it’s easy to forget that this coordinated volley of arrows must have taken skill, planning, and practice to pull off. Has the toil that we dedicated ourselves to last week finally resulted in clarity, action, and maybe even success? Look to where you’re feeling satisfaction and traction if you’re unsure, and keep in mind that after a long slog, success can sometimes seem suspicious. The Eight of Wands, however, asks us to enjoy the ease we’re experiencing and see what we can do when we’re not burdened with planning, strategizing, and questioning. In other words, sometimes things work out, and we’d be foolish not to enjoy it.

I know you’re holding the more upsetting imagery of the Five of Pentacles in your head, ready for the part of the reading where I go “but then all your good fortune wanes…” However, I want to stay with this card for just a moment longer. It’s easy to over-prioritize the more “negative” cards in a reading, perhaps guided by the superstition that we’ll stave off misfortune through worry. Yet what we pay attention to and craft our stories around is what flourishes. And, personally, I think the story that the Eight of Wands tells is far more compelling and complicated than the Five of Pentacles.

The Eight of Wands may represent a brief moment in time (how long can these sticks stay in the air, after all?) but it also shows an important achievement. Each of the eights features some aspect of work, whether it’s practical, emotional, intellectual, or in this case, creative. These are cards where our focus and experience are met with energy and magic. What has been working for us lately? Where do we feel the exhilaration of progress? Where have we surprised ourselves with our daring, resourcefulness, and innovation? By seeing what’s working we can begin to integrate important tools, strategies, and approaches. With the fiery wands in play, we can be sure that there’s some surprising energy and heat behind it all; be careful not to overlook or underestimate the power of what sets you ablaze. Just because something comes easily doesn’t mean that it was easy to get there, nor that it’s easy for everyone else. This week we’re poised to get important insight into our unique abilities and what we have to offer to the world.

So, does that feel lofty enough? Because, yes, we’re coming back to the ground and into the slog and difficulty of the Five of Pentacles. While this is not the gentle landing we hoped for, it is, I think, a necessary reality check. In the middle of the week we’ll be contending with some constraints that snap us out of the reverie of the Eight of Wands and its fast-moving progress. Money, time, and the conditions of our life aren’t cooperating, and this may have us yearning to return to the drawing board. But the fire of the wands needs to meet the solidity of the earth to actually grow - think planting the budding wands in soil so that they become vigorous and resilient saplings. Sure, the Five of Pentacles isn’t the spot we’d choose, but like all fives it represents a challenge that could end up being formative if we persevere.

This card shows us wrestling with our ideas around money, means, and what’s enough. Fun stuff, but an important proving ground nonetheless. See if you can face restraint and suffering as a place for learning and editing. We may not have all the resources we’d like to run full speed ahead, but all is not lost. I’m especially drawn to the weather in this card; trees need sun and warmth to grow, but here we have the only winter scene in the tarot. Could our difficult situation simply be a sign that now is not the time? Trees also need water to grow, and it’s here but simply frozen into snow, suggesting that the hardship is temporary. How can we outlast obstacles, use time to our advantage, and recommit ourselves to our path even when it’s difficult?

The Page of Swords appears at the end of the week, urging us to start looking at things from a new perspective. Last week our reading concluded with the Ace of Swords and I’m loving the image of us taking up that shiny sword - a new idea, guiding principle, or worldview - and starting to wield it in our lives. It may be awkward at first, but we’re motivated, and it’s sparkling allure is moving us towards clarity. What might we have to learn about our relationship to money, stability, and “having enough” this week? Are there any beliefs we’re now equipped to cut away, making our own meaning in their place? I see a full circle moment here - after experiencing both success and challenge this week, which do we choose as the story that defines us? This page inspires us to take up our own cause even if we’re unsure how things may work out and trust that we can discern the right path to take, one step at a time. It may not be what we expect, and this week it may be a slog, but it’s also ours to take, and spring is coming. What will start to flourish when the snow melts if we can just hang on a little longer?

this week, embrace

• The exhilaration of getting things done

• Enjoying being in a state of “flow”

• Complex projects that utilize your skills

• Movement, creativity, and whatever is feeling energizing

• Practicing discernment during moments of stress or despair

• Seeing inherited ideas about resources, finances, and success with clear and critical eyes

This week, avoid

• Unnecessary spending and other financial risk-taking

• Rash decision-making, especially when out of fear

• Letting setbacks or external shortcomings define you

get creative

• The Eight of Wands: Think of something you’re really, really good at. How do you feel when you’re engaged in this activity? Look for these feelings in other areas of your life - how can you cultivate this state more mindfully? If this exercise brings up anxiety or shame, welcome it with gentle acceptance and explore these feelings whenever you feel comfortable.

• The Five of Pentacles: This is a card that’s best faced head-on, so I’m going to give an extremely unsexy suggestion here: look at your budget! While it may be stressful, there’s something ultimately relieving about it. After all, the numbers don’t lie. So whatever form your budgeting takes, from nonexistent to bespoke excel spreadsheet, take the pulse of your financial situation and work on cutting back unnecessary expenditures and adding to your savings. Think of it as plodding through the snow in the card - the going might be slow, but you’re still going somewhere. And before long, you may have the resources to actualize the vision shown in the Eight of Wands.

• Page of Swords: The Pages are the cheeky youths of the tarot. When you sense yourself sliding into stress or despair, use your wit to reframe the situation. Can you retell this tale of woe as a satire? A comedy of errors? A rollicking misadventure? Humor can cut through malaise and return you to a place of empowerment and authenticity.

Weekly Forecast: April 22-28

This week, my friends, is all about rethinking our relationship to change. It's a topic that's long overdue for editing and fresh energy, as these cards show so clearly. Just look at the polarized options springing forth from The Wheel of Fortune! The next few days give us the calming opportunity to bring some space and shading into a formerly black-and-white corner of our world.

As anyone who's dabbled with tarot knows, the cards have a cheeky sense of mischief. Not wanting to address a topic? All of a sudden pointed clarity is staring you in the face. Looking for a specific answer? The cards act coy. 

In my opinion, there's no card that embodies this vague, teasing energy more than The Wheel of Fortune. It's initial impression is usually confusing. Just what on earth is going on with these mythical creatures congregating around a circle heavy with odd symbols? They're just hanging out in the clouds? 

This is a card focused on the energy and inevitability of change. And, perhaps not so surprisingly, it's overwhelming and unknown qualities. Hence, the indecipherable wildness of imagery. 

When we see the Wheel of Fortune we know that change is on the horizon. However, that's all  we can decipher. There's no specificity, clear-cut answers, or details. The Wheel is spinning, but we don't know where it'll land just yet or what our new world will look like.

 This week we're confronting and working through our initial reactions to a personal Wheel of Fortune situation: The newness and lack of clarity is overwhelming and, in our attempt to grasp some comforting certainty, we're reverting to old patterns.

Which brings us to the Five of Pentacles and the Ten of Cups. I can't help but chuckle a little when I look at these cards. Talk about polarized thinking! It seems as if we're approaching the upcoming change with a very black-and-white mindset. Either our Wheel of Fortune will spin and deposit us in the bucolic emotional utopia of the Ten of Cups or we'll end up in rags, struggling to survive.

In this sense, these cards urge us to take a breath and center ourselves before getting spun out into either manic idealism or fatalistic negativity. One of the wonderful things about change is that nobody knows how it'll unfold. Not us and certainly not some judgmental stranger ready to blame us for the outcome.

And so these cards are, with a healthy dose of classic tarot humor, pointing us back to ourselves and the present moment. What can we do to focus on our experience right now? To make room for change to unfold? And, most importantly, to care for ourselves? 

The trick to the Wheel of Fortune is that is reminds us how change is a constant part of life. We're always navigating it, in one way or the other. We have practice. We have ourselves.
It always keeps spinning, but if we stay anchored in what we do know - aware of our desires, skills, talents, and sticky spots - we can always land on our feet and, better yet, work with the motion to grow. 

Until then, all we can do is enjoy the ride, and know that the stakes are low so long as we continue to value and care for ourselves. 

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Exploring the Minor Arcana: The Fives

In this series we'll be diving into the world of the Minor Arcana. Each segment will group the cards by number where we can engage in their themes and differences. For all the posts in the installment, click here.

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Just looking at these fives gives us a sense of the tension they hold. Scenes of loss and struggle jump out immediately - there's not much subtlety to these scenarios and we can easily infer their meanings with just one glance. The fives are indeed all about conflict; the moments when we're first put to the test and are forced to struggle with what's before us.

Interestingly, these cards also mark a middle place. As the halfway point of the numbered cards in the Minor Arcana they show us how challenge is unavoidable and perhaps even necessary to propel us onto the next stage of our journey. With this being said there's a lot of trial and error happening in the fives. Our first attempts aren't always the best or most graceful. In fact, as we can see clearly here, they're often heavy-handed and foolish. Yet we can't learn without making our mistakes, and nowhere is the sense of actively grappling with a challenge more present than in these cards.

Explore In-Depth Minor Arcana Meanings

The  Five of Wands shows an almost endearing scene of chaos. Five people struggle with five wands. It's unclear what they're trying to accomplish. Are they attempting to create a structure together or is each person simply trying to stand their wand upright? This card illustrates the confusion that comes with mindless action and ambition, especially when it's motivated by self-interest. Instead of communicating or collaborating, the figures in this card are flailing. 

For the Five of Swords represens situations where someone has gotten carried away with their ego. Using their words and actions to further their own needs with disregard for others has left a wake of hurt feelings and confusion in their wake. This card can be seen as a Pyrrhic victory. Though the person in the foreground may not realize it yet, their actions, although they may seem justified or even celebratory in the moment, have hurt and alienated them more than helped their cause. 

The Five of Cups is a deep card that almost invites us to come to a full stop. A loss has been suffered and is being felt acutely in the present moment. We see a grieving figure in a dark cloak looking downcast at three spilled cups. The emotion from this loss is consuming and unavoidable. Feeling through it, however, will ultimately clear the way to a new path forward, and two full cups wait to help them along on their journey. 

Finally, the Five of Pentacles brings us to the realm of material suffering. Here two beggars walk through the snow outside what appears to be a church. Without shelter or adequate clothing they're forced to focus on the immediate moment, pushing through the storm motivated only by their connection to each other and hope for something more. This card deals with issues of financial insecurity, fear of suffering, and lack of stability. 

While not a sunny bunch of cards, the fives invite us to look at our challenges as turning points. These are moments where we must prove our mettle and earn our wisdom. Though not simple to do, the lessons that come from these cards add meaning and weight to our accomplishments and life itself. What are your thoughts on the fives? Share in the comments below!

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Weekly Forecast: November 20-26

Out of the wonder and into the frying pan.

Sometimes the transition from ease and freedom to struggle is overwhelming. Despite our lifetime of experience with ups and downs, we're surprised when, at the end of a big accomplishment, we have to enter into the fray once more. The contrast - like walking into a dark room after being outside - blinds us temporarily, making the dark seem darker and more frightening.

This week's reading shows us the challenge of such transitions. The World is our equivalent of a bright sunny day and - good news here  - it's in large part due to our hard work, bravery, and ability to run with what life has handed us. Because of this we can rest assured that our skills are not illusions and our achievement is not a stroke of luck. Rather, it was hard earned and is now a part of ourselves, something we can draw on in the future. Or, perhaps, in this time of difficulty.

The World is also the final card of the Major Arcana and is therefore rich and resplendent with meaning. Feeling fulfilled on a personal level and seeing that reflected in our lives and environments? It's an addictive feeling, one that opens our eyes to wider vistas of possibility. We'd all like to float above it all, dancing with the joy of our wholeness like the figure in The World , but like any stage it can't last forever. 

Instead we have the Five of Pentacles. What a contrast! We actually have replaced the bright blue sky seen in The World with a confusing flurry of snow against darkness. Instead of dancing we're trudging through banks of snow, bedraggled and beat up. Coming down is a hard thing to do, even when it's necessary, and this week we'll be feeling the struggle as we reengage with our everyday.

Yet when we move from brightness to dark our eyes need time to adjust. After a while, the dark doesn't look so ominous or pervasive. We feel less lost as we gain the ability to pick out shadows and flickers of light. There's two things we'll see as we make this somewhat awkward and unwanted adjustment. First, that we are not alone. There's someone else slogging along with us. We can find companionship, support, and comfort in community right now, whether it's in an individual relationships or with a group. Regardless, our shared struggle holds a beautiful potential for connection and coming together. We're all in it together.

And there's something else hiding in the swirling snow. Above the two figures we can see five pentacles framed in what looks like a window. In fact, they seem to be made of stained glass and illuminated from within. Perhaps they're from a building that can offer us shelter. Symbolically, these pentacles and their glowing light represent the comfort and guidance we can find in our belief in a higher power, whatever the shape it may take for each of us. It can give us meaning and direction, reintroducing a ray of the clarity we felt earlier when relishing in embodying  The World. Now we're being asked to trudge towards a new light, deepening our beliefs and strength and proving our dedication. The path isn't always easy, but there's always a something guiding us. It just might not be as bright as we wish. 

So yes, this snowy realm of the Five of Pentacles is confusing and off-putting. Not exactly where we'd like to land after feeling so fulfilled and on top of things. Yet it's a brief interlude, dare I say a necessary lesson, as we move towards our final card, the mysterious and mystical Hanged Man. This card suggests that a large part of our discomfort is stemming from our desire to control things. Perhaps we got addicted to the ease and triumph of The World and when things got sticky - when real life barged in all messy and demanding - it felt like we got demoted from rulers to beggars. Struggling against the situation felt like the natural thing to do; however, The Hanged Man asks us to embrace the messiness. It's simply what we are being asked to integrate next. Most intriguingly, it's also a place where we can find peace and relase. Once our eyes adust to the darkness and we reorient to the light we can ease back into ourselves, secure in our sense of self and trusting we'll know which way to go.

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Weekly Forecast: September 18-24

Well isn't this interesting! This reading is almost identical to last week's. Temperance continues to hold its ground as the middle card, the Queen of Wands has moved to the final position, and the Five of Pentacles has been replaced by the Five of Swords.

Beyond the sychronicity, what does this shuffle mean?

The cards are showing us in their magical way that we're continuing last week's journey in getting to know our personal power. And we've done well. The Queen of Wands has shifted from frist to last position, telling us that we were able to embrace some of her qualities. Now we're being asked to further our understanding of this card and what it means for our self-esteem and ambition.

The new factor? We've shifted our sticky spot from the material concerns of the pentacles to the mental challenges of the swords. Somewhere along the way we got tempted to take some shortcuts, perhaps getting carried away by the authority represented in the Queen of Wands.

It's one thing to be confident, and it's an entirely different thing to think you're right all the time. And oh how tempting and easy it is to fall into this trap!  How many popular images of power involve being omniscient and completely sure of oneself all the time? The Five of Swords depicts moments when we dig in an defend our thoughts and beliefs with no holds barred. We're righteous and fearsome in our convictions. What's more, we think that in defending them we're doing everyone else a favor. 

What happens in this situation? While me might feel victorious initially - just look at how eloquently and passionately we stated our opinions! - when the dust settles we realize that we've left a wake of bruised egos and hurt feelings. Our passion came across as bluntness, maybe even rudeness. Our conviction came across as steamrolling. Unsurprisingly, we find ourselves isolated and confused.

This is a key moment in digging deeper into the meaning of the Queen of Wands. Being right isn't enough, and being authoritative isn't enough either. Without wisdom and good judgment our actions can get out of hand and destroy the goodwill we might think we've been cultivating.

The stance of the Five of Swords also hides a layer of fear. While we might think we sound convinced of our opinions, the way we're expressing them tells a different story. Needing to be right shows a discomfort with complexity. Dismissing others' opinions shows insecurity and fear of losing power. 

This is part of the process, though it may seem messy and harsh. We're really in a period of learning and assimilation and we're pretending to have mastered everything already.  This is very, very human.

Temperance shows up once again to tell us to take it slow.  I can't think of a better card to lovingly direct us towards an easier, balanced path. We can't assume we know it all and the fact that we have a long way to go is exciting instead of deflating. Maintaining the stance of the Five of Swords is lonely. Our lesson now is to take a step back, balance our passion with compassion, and see how we can learn to lead with a sense of service and connection instead of commandeering power. 

We end up back at the Queen of Wands with a new undertanding of her authority. The snake depicted in Kim Krans's version of this card is a poignant and helpful image for this moment. We see the Queen stripped down to her most basic way of being, coiled around her precious eggs and single wand, a mass of potential waiting to strike. If she acts and reacts like the Five of Swords, striking out randomly and with wild abandon, not only will she leave a wake of desruction but she'll quickly become exhausted, leaving her potential unguarded. 

This Queen knows that she doesn't need to be constantly demonstrating her power. Her glistening coils and beautiful scales are enough. Anyone looking at her knows her strength and what she's capable of. And they respect her without having to get bitten first. Here we're being asked to rest in our confidence and self-knowledge. We are enough as we are and we must conserve our energy for what really matters. In doing this we open ourselves to a world of possibilities and embody a more positive, humane version of leadership. 

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Weekly Forecast: September 11-17

It's easy to be confident when things are running smoothly, and they most certainly are this week. We find ourselves placed squarely in the realm of the Queen of Wands, the dynamic, charismatic, and forthright ruler of the fiery suite. Alluring and preternaturally capable, her energy has us humming along at the peak of our powers.

I can feel it here in the crispness of the air in the morning - a feeling that instantly energizes me when I wake up. I don't have to struggle to peel myself from under my comforter while rain pours down outside or turn up the air conditioning to fight off the humidity. Similarly, our weather conditions for success are prime. Work flows effortlessly and we have a shine about us that's proving irresistable to others.

To use an autumnal metaphor, let's make hay while the sun's shining. It would be foolish to fight against these gifts. Run with them instead. We'll be able to present ourselves clearly and with passion, set healthy boundaries, and, quite simply, get a lot done. This is also a wonderful chance to notice how it feels to occupy this role. The Queen of Wands can't help but be seen in all her glory. What does it feel like when we're broadcasting our strengths and accomplishments without self-depracation or the protection of excessive modesty? Take note and don't fight it.

Because, as we all know simply be being humans in the world, conditions can change fast. At the end of the week we'll be challenged with a somewhat sticky situation. It's nothing life-changing, more of a mundane trudge that threatens to send our queenly self-perception into a tailspin.

The catch? It doesn't have to. 

Temperance shows up in this reading as a heavenly mediator, bridging the joyful authority of the Queen of Wands with the earthly drudgery of the Five of Pentacles. Balance requires an adjustment period and these opposites will have us reeling a bit with their contrast. Who wants to transition from the Queen to the stark five? Our challenge is to make room for this without leting it dictate our larger story. Just because the conditions change from smooth sailing to choppy waters doesn't mean we ourselves have changed.

Temperance, with her infinite wisdom, asks us to consider how this snag can help us. It's not an easy lesson, but it does show us how easy isn't always our ally. What is a Queen who hasn't earned her reign? What are our skills if they haven't been tested with hardship or challenges?

Temperance also asks us to step outside our ego (and this is a powerful part of the Queen's personality!) and make room for mistakes and struggles. Perfection isn't our friend here and we don't need to disqualify ourselves when we're less than exceptional. 

We can still be a Queen after walking through a bit of mud. In fact, it makes us all the more connected to the world itself in all its complexity. 

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