Weekly Forecast: January 23-29
A mental storm is subsiding at the beginning of this week, dear readers, though not without some turbulence. We initially find ourselves in the position of the Page of Swords - eager, looking for answers, and kicking up a whole mess of confusion in the process.
You might remember that we ended our last week’s reading with the Four of Swords, a card that denotes a growing awareness arising from a period of rest and reflection. So, in other words, something extremely helpful and even exciting has just come into focus and our first response is to grab it like the shining sword in this card, wave it around, and start thinking even more! Nevermind that our central struggle over the past few weeks has been a result of thinking too much.
It will be important to have the same amount of compassion and kindness we direct towards children available for our tender selves this week; the pages of the youths of tarot, and like this group we’ll be moving forward with some ungainly awkwardness, especially in our thinking. Where have you been eagerly, even aggressively, searching for answers lately? And how helpful has this actually been?
Swords are an intellectual group - they want to understand the events in life in an organized, often linear way. It’s likely that we’ve been approaching some facet of our experience similarly, looking to have a cut-and-dry answer and, like the pages themselves, finding the process a little messy. But perhaps, as this reading suggests, our current situation doesn’t actually need and explanation, it needs an experience; the type of movement that can only happen in our lived, physical lives instead of in the confines of our mind.
The Three of Pentacles shows us being guided to this new focus and, unlike the solitary Page of Swords, we have company. Pay attention to the relationships in your life across the board - where are you being invited to collaborate, share your experience, and build something new? Find your people, reach out and let yourself be surprised by the abundance of inspiration and movement that comes from doing so. This is a beautifully potent time for stepping out of the abstract and conceptual and into the real, embodied, and interpersonal realms of everyday life. We’ll have to try our best to shrug off the burdens of the swords mindset as we make the transition, so be alert to nagging messages of perfectionism. Does a part of you prefer to wait in the wings planning, strategizing, even criticizing potential future actions? These voices are best gently pushed aside this week as we prioritize interactions, collaborations, relationships, and working on things in real time.
What makes this week’s reading particularly promising is a visit from The Empress, our final card, that suggests the stumbling we undergo via the Page of Swords and the collaborations we embark on through the Three of Pentacles are part of a much bigger story. If our thoughts (and, more importantly, tendency to run forward with them without discernment) have been keeping us small, how might our actions and relationships be constructing a new reality at the same time? The Empress tells us that our daily lives - the things we do, the projects and people we commit to - are growing to eclipse the limiting messages of the Page of Swords. Of course, this will also feature some tension. Be kind to yourself as you’re growing and your life grows along with you.
In contrast to The Emperor, The Empress embodies a version of power that’s centered around openness, presence, sensuality, and the cycles of nature. This is not a card that builds tall walls to keep danger out and then puts on a full suit of armor to defend them (though, to be fair, this approach has its time and place). Look to what makes you feel comfortable in life and consider how showing up as yourself and granting yourself the environment to thrive gives you a deeply rooted sense of identity - an inner authority that can’t be taken from you. Investing in these comforts is far from frivolous - what might happen if we relax into our lives, let them nourish us, and act from this position of security?
Potential surprise/reframe:
This is one of those readings I could go on and on about. There’s a beautiful invitation happening in The Empress that each of us will have to accept (or not) in order to explore fully. But I would like to say that this week is a fruitful opportunity to interrogate assumptions and ideas around what you deserve, especially if it’s connected to pleasure. Just look at the splendid muumuu in this card! This person is reclining on luxurious blankets and pillows (I bet they’re velvet) - how can you do the same?
This may instigate some conflict with the Page of Swords, but they’re no match for the gravitas of The Empress. Be alert for self-limiting thoughts, especially related to what you “should” have/be/enjoy/experience, that fall apart as soon as you interrogate them. The silliness of the Page of Swords will be helpful here, and may tie back to ideas we inherited from our childhood that don’t have a place in our adult lives.
Because the true power of The Empress comes from their ability to feel and experience life - it’s sensual pleasures, the reality of being a body moving through a physical world, and all the joy and possibility that comes from it. Cutting off our awareness or even punishing ourselves by limiting our access to creature comforts, moments of beauty, and physical connection of all types does not serve our growth as individuals or as responsible members of the collective.
This week, embrace:
Tender, even humorous awareness of our attempts to explain away our desires, self, or situation
Collaboration with others
Reaching out to our community
Reciprocity
Embracing our responsibility to care for ourselves
Power in enjoying/participating in life
This week, avoid:
Overanalyzing
Negative self-talk
Perfectionism
Rigid stances towards life - making more rules when you just want to relax