Weekly Forecast: February 21-27

Feeling towards deeper meaning and understanding

How do you feel when big questions show up in your life? The kind that demand walking towards the unknown, that have you questioning what really matters? This week we have the magnetic pull of The Hierophant telling us that such a time has come. We’re going to need to change, to switch up our way of orienting ourselves. We’re looking for deeper meaning. 

Our past few readings have featured the Page of Swords and the Ace of Swords, both illustrating how we’ve been questioning our approaches and the world around us. In swordsy times we tend to prioritize mental work: thinking, analyzing, and reasoning. We’ve been  using the swords to bushwhack through the tangles of our lives - the society, systems, and structures we’ve been born into. What needs to change? What is stale and no longer true for us? 

These were baby steps and some of them felt awkward. The pages are all coltish with long limbs that don’t quite know how to walk yet, and aces are pure ideals, untarnished by exposure to reality. If your actions have seemed somewhat graceless and your ideas too abstract or idealistic in the past few weeks, you may be relieved to hear that it’s time to put down our swords and take up a refreshing cup of passion, romance, and poetry. 

The Knight of Cups not only shows a shift in outlook, but an important leveling-up. We’ve graduated to knighthood! In what ways can you see your maturity growing, particularly in your relationships? The Knight of Cups is a dashing and passionate card, one that respects the messages of the heart. Overall, this is also a wonderful week to take this card as an inspiration and lavish love freely in your circles. How can you inject some touches of effusive praise, tender support, and whimsical adventure? 

The zest of this knight, however, is not all frivolous flourishes and decadent touches. See how The Page of Swords turns to the left, into the past, while the King of Cups is facing towards the right, the future, and The Hierophant card? Our time spent inhabiting this view of life - as a place of wonder, opportunities for connection, and pleasures that are meant to be sought out and savored - is leading us from a rugged wilderness and into the hallowed halls of The Hierophant.

A knight loves a challenge, and this week we’re up for negotiating sticky questions, particularly those that involve power and who gets to decide the ultimate meaning of a situation. If you’ve been ceding this role to others, now is the time to step into your power as the arbiter of what truly matters to you. Some beliefs, ideas, and plans may need re-sanctifying as well. Have you been lost in the weeds, taking on outside opinions, or underplaying the preciousness of a culture plan? Take a moment to shake all that off and see how just outlining it has given you meaning and direction. 

The Hierophant is a serious card, and this week we may be surprised to see that things we don’t normally see as serious - the Knight of Cups’ love of beauty, creative expression, and unfettered enthusiasm - have led us to seriously resonant realizations. Perhaps this is a time when pleasure is connecting us to the divine; listen to the messages of the body, trust who you relax around, and which sources of wisdom feed your soul as well as your mind. 

As you may have guessed, The Hierophant points to teachers as important sources of guidance. See which teachers, paths of study, and institutions fuel your inner Knight of Cups. What fills you with a sense of purpose, a quest, a path towards connection? I’m definitely not feeling moderation, here - dream big and ask deep questions. This is not a time for half-hearted or overly utilitarian solutions.

Consider as well where you act as a teacher and mentor to others. While this week shows us in a good position to find or attract the teachers we’re craving, it also invites us to consider the space we take up and how it may be inspiring other, regardless of whether we have an official position or not. Casting a light behind us so that others may follow our path can also illuminate our future in unexpected ways. 

This week, embrace:

• Reflecting on the ideas, decisions, and ways of communicating that have been successful for you recently

• Taking time for simple, sensual pleasures

• Sharing your love with others openly and enthusiastically

• Being passionate about your interests

• Treating yourself, your life path, and goals with respect

• Mentoring, teaching, and helping others

• Asking big, cosmic, and spiritual questions

This week, avoid:

• Getting lost in mundane details

• Scoffing at your ideas preemptively

• Hiding behind intellectual rationalizations

• Power dynamics that feel uncomfortable, unbalanced, or potentially unethical

Get creative:

• The Page of Swords: I’m focusing on the transition from page to knight in this week’s reading. With this in mind, look to the past to see which efforts have yielded results. Perhaps there is a quest you have completed, making you an expert in some way. How can you “knight yourself” and hold up your accomplishments as something worthy of pride? (If anyone gets super-literal with this and conducts an actual knighting ceremony, please let me know ;)

• The Knight of Cups: Go on a pleasure quest! Yes, I realize this sounds like a creepy cruise, but I think you know what I’m getting at. Spend an afternoon (or entire day, if you can spare it) letting yourself roam with the intention of finding beauty, pleasure, and enjoyment. I like to start at a coffee shop or restaurant where I can get a pastry, sit down with my journal, and write poetry or loves notes until I feel a genuine desire to venture somewhere else fun. Listen to beautiful music, browse a shop, go on a nature walk - whatever you do, do so with the intention of soaking up the sensory and spiritual delights of whatever you encounter. And don’t be surprised if something magical and unexpected happens.

• The Hierophant: This card is all about blessing and sanctifying. Where do you feel connected to a higher purpose or power? This week, choose between an actual space - your alar, reading nook, a special spot in nature - or something more metaphysical like a sacred/inspiring text or your meditation practice. Go to that space and simply spend time there, feeling the support you gain in doing so and making some gesture to reciprocate: clean your altar, meditate or pray on the topic of gratitude, or whatever feels right to you. Bring this sense of calm and connectedness into your everyday life.