Weekly Forecast: August 7-14
This week we're staring into the limitlessness of possibility with both a sense of adventure and uneasiness. Three powerful cards in this reading indicate that we're at a critical juncture - the end of a cycle moving into a great, big unknown.
Leaving the wholeness of the Wheel of Fortune for the perfect half moon is a beautiful metaphor for the risks we take when we move in a new direction. Half of our future is illuminated by what we wish to accomplish - our goals, visions, and hopes - and the other half is obscured and undecided. Who knows what will happen or how it will unfold? The only way to find out is by taking the first steps forward. And to keep on walking.
No journey is as well suited for the Fool. Despite, or maybe because of his innocence, the Fool is able to face up to the darker corners of the future. With his optimism, mindfulness, and focus, the Fool knows that he brings light with him at each step. It's enough to keep going. It even makes things more exciting.
Like the Fool we're being asked to look at both the frightening & unknown aspects of the future as well as its brilliant possibility. Is the fact that we don't know what happens the spice that makes our lives that much more interesting? Are we repelled by being uncertain or do we find it alluring?
My hunch is that it's a little bit of both. Fortunately, the Fool is comfortable with ambivalence, and we'll be wise to follow suit this week. We may be tempted to look for prefection. We want unbridled optimism! Limitless energy! Robust self-confidence! Just a quick glance at the Wheel of Fortune and we can see why. Its beautiful depiction of cycles and chance is rooted in the splendors of the natural world. We've been basking in all that vibrance and expecting that, when we finally roll the dice, things will unfold in the same way.
Putting change into motion, however, is an entirely different experince. When the Wheel of Fortune stops spinning it's up to us to set off on the adventure. The Fool is telling us proceed with a clear vision and, most importantly, a sense of fun.
Being stodgy and burdened by expectations (from ourselves and others) won't bring about the change we're seeking. Instead we must consider what it is we'd like to take with us on our journey. In the card we see the fool with a light pack sling over his shoulder. Despite his carefree stride, he doesn't look like an amateur. Clearly, this is a character who has seen things on his travels. Instead of burdening himself with tools and memories, however, he's chosen to only take the ultimate essentials.
We're being asked to do the same this week. What do we want to carry with us? What serves us well? What are our essentials? Anything else will only burden us and keep us from our goals.
And what's more, we can see that the Fool doesn't travel alone. He carries a flower in his right hand and a scruffy dog trots along by his feet. Beauty and the companionship of intution both have an importnat place in his journey, and they do in ours as well. At this exciting moment we're being asked to remember what we need to keep close to ourselves so that we can move into a new period of unfolding.