Weekly Forecast: October 3-9
I’ve been thinking about the inherent melancholy of fall a lot lately. Maybe because yearning and pining are some of my favorite activities; there’s something so delicious about the tension between wanting something and not having it, witnessing change and being aware you can’t stop it, the push and pull of loss, growth, and change.
This week the tender, mysterious side of growth is coming into astounding focus. It’s a week where we’re being asked to step outside of the usual daily movement of our lives and consider the bigger picture. In fact, we may find ourselves pulled there against our will. The Hanged Man is a card that speaks to moments when we are, as the card illustrates, hamstrung in some capacity. Sometimes it’s of our own choosing, but usually it comes with a heavy emphasis on circumstance. Where do you feel stymied, stuck, and like you’re being forced to wait? Fortunately, The Hanged Man tells us that this is actually quite the blessing, and even carries within it the seeds for a spiritual breakthrough, but that doesn’t lessen the difficulty of finding yourself in this card’s position.
An attitude adjustment, however, is surprisingly powerful. Think now about how you can make the situation of waiting, indecision, or sacrifice enjoyable. If you have the time, why not savor it?
This reminds me of an inside joke I share with my sister about how, when we were bored as kids, our mom would spout off a litany of potential activities that we absolutely did not want to do. “You could… go for a walk, do a puzzle, write a letter…” We’d roll our eyes dramatically, incensed and annoyed, as if doing something so lame would be worse than being bored itself. To this day, we’ll start listing these activities at each other when we find ourselves languishing or without a plan.
What’s funniest about this, to me, is that it suggests an inner mechanism for embracing boredom. It may not be elegant - I certainly rebel against it in utterly ridiculous ways - but I think it’s there for a reason. Important information, whether it’s from our subconscious or a higher source, needs space in which it can reveal itself. Silence, too. As well as a certain state of receptivity. Can we only receive certain information when we’re bored, blank, and, therefore, open to something surprising and new? Maybe so.
Make room for this type of inner sassiness this week as well as space for nothingness. What does boredom have to teach you? Where are you feeling restless? And how can you push beyond this resistance and gift yourself space of blankness, emptiness, and absence?
We may find ourselves feeling more dreamy in general - looking to imagined futures, playing with ideas that feel blurry and hard to pin down, and these will be fruitful to explore. The Hanged Man is about a slippery type of initiation, one that has us feeling both out of control and confused. It’s not glamorous. It’s not exciting. And, often, we’re the only ones able to discern the important message being offered.
The Eight of Cups hones in on the specific nature of our revelations, with its solitary figure making a moonlit journey into a mountain pass, leaving a whole row of upturned cups behind. This week is asking us to embrace a subtle form of bravery and walk away from conventional paths. It’s likely that there’s a part of your life that’s requiring you to take a risk, to go off on your own just because you know it’s the right thing to do.
Look at the bright red shoes and cape on the main character in this card. The color of passion, red shows us being driven by something visceral and essential. And we’re walking away from something that’s “good enough,” all the cups in perfect order, standing up. But one is missing, and we can’t really be certain that they’re all full to begin with.
Consider where you’re feeling an absence, emptiness, or sense of potential. If it feels tender and raw, pay even more attention. The Eight of Cups is about risk, and true to its group, touches on themes of emotion, spirituality, intuition, and deeper meaning. The journey is starting from a sense of restless (but almost coy and enigmatic) discomfort in The Hanged Man, requiring us to take the first steps in the Eight of Cups… and then breaking through to the powerful satisfaction of The Empress.
In many ways, our reading is showing a bridge between two Major Arcana cards. This is wonderful because a) sometimes The Hanged Man can point out very long-term scenarios. Not the case here! (Phew) and b) it gives us a very helpful, actionable path forwards via the Eight of Cups. So, to be very simple: allow the passion revealed in a moment of boredom to inspire your first steps towards a sense of abundant fulfillment.
The Empress is a card that’s all about embodied pleasure. This can be romantic as well as personal - how we inhabit our bodies, celebrate the abundance of the natural world around us, and care for what’s important. With a combination of luck and effort, we’re emerging into this space at the end of the week. Find ways to give thanks for the beauty in your life, amplify, it and share it with others. The boredom isn’t lasting long, breakthroughs are on the horizon, and the afterglow will be spectacular.
This week. embrace:
Waiting
Leaving space for emptiness, boredom, not-knowing
Taking a step back to rest and let things percolate
Moving towards a brave new future
Prioritizing passion, emotional fulfillment, deeper meaning
Embodying, celebrating, and sharing beauty and abundance
This week, avoid:
Over-analyzing what you want
Filling your time mindlessly
Challenging energy or input from other people
Get creative:
The Hanged Man: The word I keep hearing when I look at this card is “percolation,” and I’d like to use that metaphor to connect this card to the Eight of Cups: the red in the hanged man’s legs needs to percolate into the cape and shoes of the eight of cups. To bring this down to earth - how can you use time and stillness to transform the energy of something you’ve been experiencing recently into something you can use? The first step is awareness: meditate or journal about something you’re already doing that brings you a feeling of contentment and satisfaction that’s otherwise missing in your life. Once identified, imagine how you could expand its presence.
The Eight of Cups: I’m feeling a need to edit here; that we have to peek into our wall of cups and see what’s been happening after all this time. Maybe some have evaporated entirely while others have grown stagnant. What’s no longer filling you up? How can you give yourself permission to walk away from it? Be ready to see some surprising, even uncomfortable things. I also feel like a ritualized libation (wow, is that phrase satisfying to type) is in order - craft yourself a beverage that feels new, exciting, and somehow symbolic of what you want to invite into your life. Fill your cup with it daily, envisioning its energy both sustaining you and diffusing itself into every corner of your experience.
The Empress: If you’ve been looking for an invitation to get decadent, this is it! But I’m also feeling drawn to the environmental aspect of this card as well; find a time to tend to your space, whether it’s putting your garden to bed for the season, repotting your houseplants, or picking up at the local park. Perhaps follow this activity with a sweet treat, honoring both the responsibility we have to enjoy and care for the sources of pleasure in our lives.