Weekly Forecast: March 4-10

Build something beautiful, leave what's gone behind.

Sometimes we don't know we're over something until we've moved past it. It's a bit of emotional jet lag. Life can propel us into whole new timezones and catching up requires some gentle acclimation. 

This week's reading gives us both the magic and splendor of building and choosing grander paths along with the bittersweet realization that we can now see some things that don't work. There's a sense of balance here - between the beauty of what's new and the sadness of moving beyond something we wish could've worked out for the better.

What's more, the joy and satisfaction of the week is upping the contrast. Seeing how good we can have it shows us how insufficient some aspects of our past situation really were. Above all, our challenge is to celebrate the new, keep working towards what we want, and give ourselves plenty of time to process and mourn what we're leaving behind. 

But let's get back to the magic, shall we, because this is the true heart of the reading. We're dealing with the Three of Pentacles, a card of diligence and creativity, and The Lovers, whose romantic and complex meaning serves as the major focus of this week.

We can really pat ourselves on the back right now, even if it seems premature or foolhardy. Whether we can see it clearly or not, the choices we've been making to shape our lives are bringing us towards a very new and somewhat wild change. The Lovers shows us the boldness and vision that's required to make a choice just for us. Listening to our desires, taking them seriously, and then daring to do something about it? It's not small stuff, that's for sure.

Fortunately, we're taking baby steps towards this goal, hence the grounded Three of Pentacles. This shows us that any work we do in real life is paving the way for future openness and opportunity. Which is a nice way to balance the sometimes-intimidating nature of The Lovers. 

So stay your course as you keep at it this week. Trust in the process and know that the grand vision isn't necessarily a specific goal, but a situation where you feel as in love with your life as the passion shown in The Lovers. This can come with a great deal of surprise - we're often shocked by what really gets us going! - and is completely and utterly centered around what we want, societal norms or pre-packaged life trajectories be damned.  

Make room for the sadness, too. When we realize life can be bigger than we thought, the smallness we're leaving behind is especially tender and poignant. Feeling it connects us with our past experiences even more so that we can keep expanding and know the pieces of life that are no longer for us. 

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Weekly Forecast: January 21-27

Can letting go help us move towards what we truly want? 

This certainly isn't part of our cultural narrative of success. Normally we're told to make our own way, to be proactive and shape the world so that it meets our expectations.

This involves a lot of action and doing. As we sweat and strive things begin to change. Not doing anything, at least in this line of thought, is lazy and unproductive.

But we all know what life is a lot shiftier than that and, perhaps as a consequence, a lot more magical.

This week we're being asked to step outside the prescribed rat race and do some important and enlightening observation. This means stepping back from our usual patterns, paring down our list of tasks and goals, and seeing things for as they are.

Despite how it may feel, this is a week we begin with a swirling sea of wonderful possibilities at our fingertips. Without reflection and rest we can't take this in for what it is. What's worse, we may explain over it, mistaking it for something boring and mundane. Without the right framework, even the wild and open expanse of The World can seem stifling.

And this is where The Hanged Man comes in - the enigmatic and sometimes-frustrating figure in tarot whose advice is to step back, relinquish power,  and see what happens in our absence. 

Think of it as taking the passenger seat or becoming the audience to the movie you've been directing. What goes on without you? What forces are really at work? And are you in the right role for the story that's unfolding? 

This card also instructs us to open up to the magic of change and chance. Nothing is static and pretending otherwise can leave us feeling frustrated and blocked. We have some control yes, but so much of our experience is in dialog with the unpredictable nature of life. Stepping back with The Hanged Man is giving us an opportunity to see this magic where before we could only see confusion. 

Having three Major Arcana cards in the forecast is quite an event, and these cards in particular show us at an important moment of change and growth. How may our narratives about ourselves and our life paths need updating? The Hanged Man loves asking these big questions. Embracing this archetype frees up space for new facets of ourselves to emerge. 

Have we been growing into new roles in our personal or professional lives? Exploring new interests and ideas that have surprised us by how deeply resonant they are? 

Both The World and The Hanged Man ask us to take these things seriously (especially if they feel wonderful and exciting) and dare us to expand our ideas about ourselves and the lives we can live. It doesn't do anyone justice if we act as if we're relegated to singing pop songs into our hairbrush when in fact we belong on a big stage, performing for an adoring audience. 

And that's where The Lovers comes in: We're at an important crossroads and it's one that's requiring us to identify our true desires and interests. If we embrace the wise inquisitiveness of The Hanged Man and give ourselves space to observe our lives with curiosity, we can discover a new through-line that's enticing us forwards. It might be so lovely and resonant that it feels outlandish. Who are we to ask for so much?

Helpfully enough, The World also instructs us that, whether we're aware of it or not, this important piece of our experience is very much active in our lives. It simply deserves more attention and support. What's more, we should be looking for something that makes us feel a bit nervous and exposed - The World is a big card, after all, and stepping into it can make us feel vulnerable, even when it's in the service of our progress. We can and should build upon what lights us up. After all, it radiates outwards and makes a much bigger impact than we can ever know.

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Weekly Forecast: November 12-18

This week we're skirting around an issue that means a lot to us and, while we have a larger intuitive understanding of what we're dealing with, our conscious minds need to do some catching up. It's tender territory, in other words, but one we're slowly approaching and very ready for. 

How do we recognize this area of our lives? It's big, expansive and requires us to change our understanding of our capabilities. Look for a feeling of anticipation, the fizz of the alluring unknown, and a healthy bit of trepidation around a change, pursuit, or project.

What's quite beautiful about this group of cards is that we start with the Queen of Cups, one of the most intuitively robust in tarot. This queen knows that her power comes from her connection to herself and she respects her feelings as harbingers of wisdom instead of unwanted distractions or signs of weakness. Rather than "I think therefore I am," this card says, "I feel therefore I am." Her knowledge begins with her personal experience.

In this reading she tells us that deep down we're aware of what we need to be growing into; we've been taking the time to nurture it from a small seed into a sprout that's ready to be planted. The idea might not be in full focus, but the feelings surrounding it most certainly are.

What's interesting here is that we have a court card about intuition instead of a heavy-hitting Major Arcana card like the High Priestess or The Star. This means that we're easing into a new understanding of ourselves, experimenting with a persona like we might try on a new and daring outfit in the hopes that it suits us. 

Judgment, with it's far-from-subtle blaring trumpet, gives us a refreshingly straightforward answer. We're onto something here! The Queen of Cups outfit we're trying on fits us so well that people are cheering when we step out of the dressing room.Tapping into our intuitive selves, whether it's through a new interest, career path, or form of expression, is bringing us a new sense of fulfillment that's radiating outwards and making some very positive splashes in the world around us. 

Of course, this is also a lot to take in, especially if we're coming from the tender seed stage! The Two of Swords sees us retreating into familiar territory to regroup and reassess, almost as if we're trying to moderate the loudness of Judgment's trumpet blast. 

This is all well and good - the Two of Swords features heavy water motifs showing that intuition can still be included with the intellect - but we may want to watch out for retreating too far and using our rationality to reason ourselves out of a necessary change. 

Still, we can move forward at our own pace, giving ourselves plenty of time to acclimate to the large, resounding scope of Judgment's message. We can always consult ourselves as we chart this path, editing as we go. The Queen of Cups, however, tells us to follow our hearts above all and trust in the immense power of our instincts. We're on a very rewarding track and our deepest self knows it. 

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