This spread came across my Tumblr feed the other day, and since my life
is a hot garbage fire, I thought I'd try it out. What follows is the result. This time I'll be putting my interpretation in
italics beneath each card.
Yep. My life's a mess.
Cards 1, 2, & 3 answer the question: What's on fire?
These three cards will be read together at the end of this section.
 |
| Card 1. The Magician |
The Magician
Using knowledge, resources, and will to create change in the world.
 |
| Card 2. Ace of Swords |
Ace of Swords
An opportunity for a new way of thinking.
 |
| Card 3. Strength |
Strength
Calm control and healing that brings strength.
Okay, so these cards speak of my general state. The Magician is about turning learned knowledge into useful action, it speaks of my quest to use my education to make some sort of living. I'm a trained librarian, but I cannot find a full time job in a library. When you tie The Magician with the Ace of Swords it shows my forays into the non-library world, and considering the nature of the layout/question, you can guess how successful I've been with that. (Not at all.) Which leads, of course, to Strength which signifies my state of mind and my relatively recent inability to keep my keep my balance in the face of crushing debt and the fear of future poverty. Right now I am neither emotionally nor economically stable, and though I am highly educated in an actual profession, I can't seem to find a way to translate that education into marketable skills, which, of course, jacks up my stress levels which makes it harder for me to find ways to market myself which stresses me out more which, which, which . . .
Card 4 answers the question: Is it really that bad?
 |
| Card 4. The Tower |
The Tower
An unexpected event that will change everything.
Hmm, is it really that bad? Yes, yes it is.
I know that this gives The Tower's meaning (from the book) as an unexpected event, but that's a gentle interpretation. Generally, The Tower is considered a card of traumatic change, it's unexpected yes, but it's also painful. It's the crumbling destruction of everything, which can instigate new growth, but that doesn't negate the trauma. At. All.
Card 5 answers the question: Who/what piled up the garbage?
 |
| Card 5. The World |
The World
Successful completion.
My initial reaction to seeing this card was hysterical laughing. Of course, that's reading it literally as the world. The reality is more complex than that. The cards are more metaphorical.
So The World typically represents the completion, triumph, rewards, etc. etc., right? I look at this and I look at what I have completed, and what is relevant to the rest of the reading. I can also look back to see where I feel like my life started falling apart. Here's where the danger of bias comes to the fore: Did my life start falling apart when I received my Master's degree? My Master's certainly hasn't helped me any, and I've really been feeling like it's hindering. Is this telling me that I'm right? It's my own doing. I piled the garbage that buried me. It could be something else. I could read this card reversed, in which case this card speaks to my fear of change and lack of vision, both of which I suffer from. I don't generally read my cards reversed, and this particular deck doesn't recommend itself to those meanings, but I think in this case the reversed reading fits better.
Card 6 answers the question: Who/what set it ablaze?
 |
| Card 6. Nine of Wands |
Nine of Wands
Preparing to meet the next challenge.
Have you heard of provisional living? It's where you say, "I'll do this when . . ." instead of actually doing the thing, or even doing the things you need to do to do the thing you want. Like spending all of your time planning the perfect vacation but never actually going anywhere. You live for a future that may never happen. Provisional living is dysfunctional. It's the dysfunctional side to planning and preparation. That's what this card in this reading represents. This, again, ties into fear. That fear of stepping out into the unknown. The fear of doing anything but what I have been doing, which, by the way, isn't working, but trying something else just doesn't seem safe or sane. So I bog myself down in rationalizations and keep hoping for something that if it was going to happen would have by now.
Card 7 answers the question: How can I forgive and move on?
 |
| Card 7. Page of Wands |
Page of Wands
Someone who is willing to try something new based on will, inspiration, and passion.
And this answers it all, doesn't it? Try something new. Maybe what I've been putting off. A difficult road, one with no guarantee of ease or comfort or success, but it may be the only option left to me.
So, that's it. That's my reading. What do you think?
