Weekly Forecast: January 30 - February 5

What do you do when you’re looking for a feeling? The Four of Cups sees us starting the week with a nagging sensation that something’s missing. We’re yearning for something in the realm of the cups suit - love, connection, spirituality, or intuition - but we're not sure how to articulate it just yet. In situations like these, challenging feelings can be important guides; pay attention to where you’re yearning, pining, lonesome, or bored. What happens when you just sit with these experiences, much like the figure in the Four of Cups?

Depending on your situation and personality, this can range from a tolerable experience to something torturous. But the Four of Cups gives us the opportunity to really feel through our present moment so that we can embrace the opportunity that’s just right for us when it arises. Rushing through, in contrast, can lead us to add more to our lives mindlessly, causing us to miss out on important realizations about who we really are.

So, as the week begins, make plenty of room for reflection, both as a mindfulness practice you engage with continually (inviting yourself, for example, to just observe your feelings and let them flow through you instead of rushing to judgment) and in the form of designated chunks of time: an evening meditation, a solitary walk, or time with your journal. It’ll also be important to ground yourself in what is working in your life so that you’re aware of how anything new will either add or detract from it. What is supporting you, giving your life meaning and a sense of emotional fulfillment? What might these things have to say about who you are and your ability to craft a life for yourself?

An intriguing part of this reading is that, buried in what seems like an emotional or relational problem, there is a crucial insight into our practical, everyday lives. The King of Pentacles comes into the reading midweek, suggesting that our emotional yearning may be masking some actionable changes we’ve been mulling over for quite some time. Is it more comfortable to feel emotionally dissatisfied than tapped into the power and responsibility of shaping your life?

I don’t say this to be judgmental; it seems as if there are important insights in both cards, and maybe the confusion is part of the process. Yet the power of the King of Pentacles emerging at the center of our reading points to some sort of blockage in our energy. Re-casting ourselves as the protagonist in our lives and then acting from this place of power will help move things forward in unexpected ways, both emotionally and practically.

Stepping into our personal authority and ability to make change will be both refreshing and a little overwhelming; on the other side of this card is the fast-moving Eight of Wands. So if we feel bored as the week starts, we may be looking back at that experience wistfully as things really get going around the weekend. Yet The King of Pentacles is holding down the fort for us throughout; we get to make our own choices, and what’s more grounding than that?

Potential surprise/reframe:

I’m really drawn to the King of Pentacles in this reading. The Four of Cups is all about waiting - feeling things out, digesting our emotions, and practicing receptivity in the hopes that we’ll be better able to accept an important gift when it arrives. In contrast, this week’s King is “the King of making a life for oneself.” How can making/shaping/adding to our lives in a prosaic, pentacles-y way remove some pressure from our experience of the Four of Cups?

If we’re feeling stuck in the world of emotion, it will be helpful to double-down on what we can do in the physical and everyday. Make changes, plan out your finances, see where you can streamline your routines and even enjoy your life a little more. Doing so may help clear any blocked channels that are keeping us small and dissatisfied in other areas.

This week, embrace:

• Sitting with your feelings

• Focusing on emotional balance

• Taking responsibility for your daily life, career, or physical health

• Acting when things feel aligned and are gaining momentum

This week, avoid:

• Seeking affirmation or attention to compensate or fill a void

• Hiding from your true feelings

• Downplaying your skills

• Stopping yourself from committing to action out of fear

Weekly Forecast: September 26 - October 2

Okay, friends. We have an unusually straightforward reading this week: Embracing our ability to make choices around our resources is leading to growth and action. Not so hard, huh? Reading done? Not quite yet…

Before we get into the details, I’d like to say that, reading beyond the cards, this is a time to enjoy how the power of natural focus frees up space in other areas of our life. We’re touching on themes of pentacles - daily life, material possessions, the physical and tangible - and doing so is bringing us immense clarity. That also means that we can take the pressure off of other aspects that may have been clamoring for our attention in the past, trusting that they’ll work themselves out as time goes by.

Our relationships, creative pursuits, intellectual lives… all of these can get some breathing room; better yet, we can go to them when we need pure enjoyment. Take this moment to gift yourself a clean slate, wipe away any stale thoughts or worries, and reassert your presence at the center of your life.

Speaking of assertiveness, we have the most convivially assertive cards in the deck leading our reading for the week. The King of Pentacles is the kind of character who charms their guests with ribald jokes, plies them with delicious food and good company, to the point that, when they leave, most are unaware of the plots and plans they’ve agreed to. Power by seduction? In a sense; but this week it’s not manipulative or canny. We’re able to touch on our abundance and share it with others in a way that invites them along the journey with us.

Accept your natural charms and generosity this week, reach out to others, and don’t be afraid of forge new alliances and hatch new plans via mutual celebration. This is truly a card of abundance, and it’s interesting that it’s coming after the Autumnal Equinox for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Many things are coming into fruition, many fruits are ready to harvest. What has been ripening in your life that you can now pluck and taste?

It’s important to note that much of this success, while it seems effortless and exciting, is the result of our hard work and stamina. The King of Pentacles finds success in making things appear frictionless, but let’s step behind the curtain and give ourselves some praise and respect for the diligence and follow-through we’ve mustered - the process from planning the crop, to planting it, tending it through the growing season, and now harvesting it. We did it all, working with the environments around us, of course, and it would be a shame to deny ourselves the affirmation of recognition.

And I just have to note that this a week when, if things have been feeling challenging and out of sorts, the varying puzzle pieces that have been confounding us come together. With some help and luck, yes, but also because the time is just right. (Come to think of it, The Seven of Pentacles does channel that moment when, after staring at the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, you suddenly find that one missing corner piece you swore you’d lost.)

Revisit any ideas or plans that have stymied you recently, perhaps even ones you abandoned years ago. You may be surprised to find an easy solution in this present moment. Or that you can suddenly see what you were unable to before. The King of Pentacles is instructing us to accept our accomplishments, integrate them with our understanding of ourselves, and use that confidence boost to address a pivotal change in the Seven of Pentacles.

What’s the deal with this tunic-clad person leaning nonchalantly on their hoe? Are they lazy? Bored? Simply taking a break? Or, perhaps, do they just need to gaze lovingly and longingly at their garden?

Take time this week to daydream and get lost in reverie. It’s actually an essential part of our work process. If something feels like it’s missing, give it time to emerge. As you’ve likely guessed, The Eight of Wands shows us that breakthrough is imminent, and that when it comes, things start to move quickly. Take temporary lulls in action as an opportunity to gather your wits, take a breath, and get a good look at what you’ve built for yourself - the next steps are coming quickly.

Get a carful of seasonal gourds and the largest pumpkins you can hoist; throw a party with your closest friends; host a meetup for your area of expertise; orchestrate a grand gesture of generosity. All the ways you can embody the King of Pentacles are setting up the breakthrough of the Eight of Wands. They’re also giving us both an outlet for our joy and a chance to recuperate before things start moving once again.

This week, embrace:

• Generosity

• Community uplifts and events

• Leading with “soft power”

• Self-appreciation

• Taking a step back to gaze lovingly at your squash garden/recent accomplishments

• Diving into action when the path finally feels clear

This week, avoid:

• False modesty

• Distraction from the task at hand

• Stinginess

• Rushing into the final phase without rest and/or a quick moment of deliberation

• Trying to turn back after something’s launched

Get Creative:

• King of Pentacles: Let yourself really feel this card. While Kings tend to be an outward-facing bunch, there’s something to be said about how we have to know our own power in order to wield it. So, this week, do something to recognize and embody the power you’ve been building to shape your material world for the better. Plan a kingly celebration just for yourself (why am I picturing a medieval banquet/me eating a whole rotisserie chicken with my hands? … this may be my King of Pentacles moment ;), wear some finery for the day and feel resplendent, or hold court with the people who can share their perceptions of your recent accomplishments with love and goodwill.

• Seven of Pentacles: This card has the most magic in it for us this week. It’s mysterious, vague, and just the type of tarot invitation for further exploration I love. Do some open-hearted meditation on the image in this card, specifically the boisterously abundant vine the main character is beholding. Close your eyes, settle into yourself, and see how your imagination/intuition/higher-self/subconscious images the recent bounty that’s come into your life. Pay special attention to things that are surprising and not at all what you thought you’d planted when you started this garden.

• Eight of Wands: While this card is delightful - think the exhilarating rush of a carnival ride - it can also be overwhelming, especially after all the earthy, feet-on-the-ground energy of these pentacles. Simply build in some room in your expectations of the week for change, new energy (people, tasks, projects), and movement, knowing that it’s just the type of shake-up you need to move to the next phase of this chapter.

Weekly Forecast: March 14-20

King of Pentacles / Five of Pentacles / Ten of Wands

Contending with feelings of inadequacy

When I look at the cards we’ve drawn for the week the word that comes to mind is worthiness. This appears in two ways: 1) How we’re feeling worthy of what we have or engaging with the idea of worthiness personally, and 2) determining which struggles are worthy of our time and energy.

We start things off with the King of Pentacles, a card that shows someone content and proud of the bounty in their lives. Yet afterwards we have two incredibly on-the-nose struggle cards. The wind is in our faces this week in two areas - our material resources (Five of Pentacles) and energetic resources (Ten of Wands). So there’s some incongruities in the picture. Why do we have an archetype of abundance and confidence framing a reading about struggle, challenge, and scarcity?

I like it when tarot gives us a riddle to solve. How often do we feel like life is more of a confounding puzzle than linear story? Obscurity is a big theme for us in the coming days as we have a lot to wrestle with in our everyday lives. Don’t expect to experience huge breakthroughs or epiphanies; the wisdom we’re receiving this week is hard-fought and very earthy, just like the element of the pentacles suit. There’s treasure just below our noses, however, and it’s a time to appreciate the intensity of our efforts, finding beauty in the act of moving forward even when things aren’t infused with ease and lightheartedness.

The pentacles suit encompasses the theme of work, and this week we’ll be dealing with questions regarding how we earn our livelihood and provide for ourselves. The big contrast here is between the King of Pentacles and the Five of Pentacles, and I’m feeling that these cards are asking us for a radical reframe: How might we see kingly traits of perseverance, expertise, and leadership in how we experience challenges this week? Whether we’ve been feeling less than, indadequate, or simply strapped for resources for quite some time, or new developments land us struggling through the snow like the figures in this card, The King of Pentacles is telling us that we have more than enough strength to push through. I’m also wondering if some external figures may be stirring up envy or insecurity. Who are we seeing as “having it all” or “a resounding success” this week? How might we look for these traits within ourselves instead? It’ll be worth investing some time in the beginning of the week for reflection, planning, self-esteem boosting, and preparation before the challenges of the Five comes into focus mid-week.

We’ve been dealing with some stickiness around self-worth and work for a while in our forecasts. The Ten of Wands makes a return, suggesting that some of our feelings of burnout from the Five of Pentacles may be self-inflicted. Have we been burning the candle at both ends, engaging in so many activities that our mental health and ability to see our struggles in context has suffered? This is where another facet of The King of Pentacles comes into play. This character features one of the most complex robes in the tarot deck (and believe me, I’ve studied/coveted them all), embellished with juicy grapes. Clearly, this person knows how to have a good time and is not about an austere, minimalist ethic, sartorial or otherwise.

This week we may be tempted to shrink ourselves, feeling more at home in stories where we’re suffering and put-upon than those where we’re leaders, taking up space, and owning our circumstances and skills. Resiting the temptation to treat ourselves with harshness is key: stepping away from the burden of the Ten of Wands and tending to our daily lives, finances, and careers with kindness will result in us stepping into the role of the King of Pentacles. How can our decisions relating to money and work lift us up? What if we saw ourselves as worthy and benevolent leaders? I also see something more fun in this card: the power of celebration, revelry, and generosity to uplift the spirit. Some fun may be in order - how can you incorporate it into your week?

Kings are also public-facing cards, and I’m feeling a call to reach out to the world, sharing what we can. Acts of generosity, charity, and support can help shift our focus from what we don’t have (The Five of Pentacles) to what we can offer. Doing so wisely and in proportion follows the wisdom of The King, too - the goal here is to be both responsible and in service to ones role as caretaker for one’s own life as well as the larger community. Collapsing into the mentality of The Five of Pentacles or spending and/or giving your way into actual poverty is not helping anyone.

Towards the end of the week we emerge from the sticky challenges of the pentacles and into the Ten of Wands. I’m seeing this as a moment when the skies clear and we can really let go of some burdens. This would be a prime moment to look at what’s been exhausting you with honesty, then letting it go for good. There’s nothing more motivating than discovering something new you’re excited about. As you brush away the debris that’s accumulated during this period of action what sprouts can you find peeking above the soil? Dream, get excited, and, most importantly, look at how far you’ve come. The Five of Pentacles hints at some criticism or disappointment around your life as it is, yet the King shows us the reality: what we have is quite beautiful, even if it’s not what we expected or what we think is expected of us. How can we reframe, love, and appreciate the reality of our lives and the reality of how much work and consideration we’ve put into creating and tending it? The scene beyond the wall of wands in the Ten is a lovely little village. With a blue sky, cloudless, and green trees lining the streets, we have a place of beauty and serenity waiting for us. Let’s get cozy and actually enjoy it.

This week, embrace:

• Financial planning, budgeting, getting your “money ducks” in a row

• Celebrating your successes

• Donating, volunteering, acting in service to others

• A minimalist schedule whenever possible

This week, avoid

• Big expenditures

• Negative self-talk, especially around money, resources, work

• Saying yes too quickly

• Shame-spirals and perfectionism

Get creative

• King of Pentacles: Since we’ve covered a lot of practical ways to engage with this card above, I’d like to get more personal here: How do you feel you embody the King of Pentacles? Are there parts of this card you struggle with? Do some serious reflection, ideally journaling about what this archetype means to you. Be honest - this is not about solving or even doing anything. Simple awareness can help massage tricky concepts into our identity.

• Five of Pentacles: A lovely part of this card is the glowing pentacles in the window above the figures struggling through the snow below. Many tarot scholars see this window as the same one seen in the Four of Swords - a church-like interior with a resting figure. This week we can engage with spirituality (however you choose to define that slippery term) as a way to soften and heal from feelings of inadequacy and shame. Take time to meditate whenever you find yourself feeling like the figures in this card (or, ideally, feel yourself approaching this state) - take deep breaths and remember the sacred space you carry with you always.

• The Ten of Wands: I’m feeling like we’re being asked to focus on what’s beyond the wall of wands this week. When you notice yourself feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, take a deep breath and look around you. Notice the beauty in your environment and how the world itself isn’t collapsing around you. What if everything was fine just as it is?

Weekly Forecast: November 25 - December 1

This week we’re in a tender spot, feeling our way through the beginning stages of something new. What seems like a stark contrast - the joviality of the King of Pentacles and the sensitivity of the Queen of Cups - is made even more so by our desire to think our way out of it. The Two of Swords shows deliberation, isolation, and emotional unrest. Might there be another way? Or, more pointedly, might there be something we’re missing?

I have a feeling that these cards are only representing a surface level. Both court cards and the Two of Swords involve highlighting a facet of our experience while setting aside or, at the worst, devaluing others. This is a good opportunity to check for balance in our lives. Are we extending outwards too much, stretching away from our central perspective? Or are we getting drawn inwards, preoccupied with worries or anxiety?

Either way, we’re certainly functioning well, all things considered. These court cards aren’t here for nothing! We can take their capability and use it to support us, too. How have we built a lush life for ourselves? What resources are behind us? The King of Pentacles shows these skills operating at their best. 

Yet there’s some unease here, as we can see with the Two of Swords. Perhaps we feel like we must choose between the bright, charismatic capability of the King of Pentacles and the emotive, wise introspection of the Queen of Cups?

(I have to admit, this is sounding more and more like the tension of spending the holidays with family! For those heading into that realm, feel free to see the cards in this light.)

Sometimes it’s most helpful to follow the lead of a card, to healthily engage with its energy. Allowing ourselves time, solitude, and the ability to think things over will help usher us through the inaction of the Two of Swords. There’s something important for us to learn here, so let’s start asking the questions and leave room to receive the answers.

And, if we’re missing the emotional wisdom of the Queen of Cups, we can engage with our intuition. The Two of Swords depicts a rippling ocean behind the blindfolded figure. Our intuition is telling us something and, most importantly, is right behind us. There may be some important insight in our restlessness, and we’ll only find out if we take off our blindfolds and turn around to examine it. 

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Weekly Forecast: November 4-10

What do you want to do?

This week shows us really showing up in awareness of our wants and desires. They're not superficial or fleeting. We have a huge reservoir of willpower, determination, and discernment rising from within us. Our task is to translate this energy into action.

We come in with the stormy energy of the Knight of Swords. This is a card that's seeking certainty, that loves the feeling of being right. Yet underneath is a deep fear of being wrong, as if we must have 100% certainty to be valid. As if we could somehow reach a conclusion that would hold in a court of law - a flawless, beautiful argument.

The blend of smarts and insecurity can be volatile, but this week we're onto something. The hunches and restless questioning of the Knight of Swords are leading us to the stability of the King of Pentacles. Our roving minds are looking for the words to describe a facet of our lived truth. What is happening right now? What is the ground that I'm standing on? Why does it matter?

Once we find that solid ground, however, we have to stop our questioning.

This is all bringing us to the beautiful self-awareness of The Sun, and I like the reversed quality to these cards. The epiphany isn't coming first. We're not entering into the week under bright light. Instead, there's edginess, questions, and an instinct for motion, change, and new ways of understanding.

All the Knights in tarot are on horseback. Some sit placidly, surveying the land, while others, like the Knight of Swords, are in mid-charge, looking to prove themselves. At times this energy can be harmful for us: We don't want to charge headlong into a ditch or danger. Yet the Knight of Swords is bringing us towards the King of Pentacles. Our drive is an instinct to make ourselves more solid in our lives. It's something trustworthy, even if we can't articulate it completely.

When we come to rest in the King of Pentacles we can see things as they are. Look for interpretations of your situation that make you feel at home in your body, no matter how that feels. It could feel "bad" - a sadness that hasn't been honored or held up - but it's yours and part of your experience. The King of Pentacles gains his power from accepting and working with his life as it is on the ground. He's always the king because of his reality, not in spite of it.

On the other end of the spectrum, things could be better than we think. Sometimes the Knight of Swords, when left to his own devices, turns his analytic fury towards his sense of selves, leveling brutal criticism and dissatisfaction every which way. What if our actual reality is something to be proud of? What if it isn't the time to ask so many complicated questions; that the reality is in fact quite lush and sustaining?

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Weekly Forecast: July 29 - August 4

Ah, dear friends, this week's forecast is very specific and clear: It's an important time to think about how we try to mask our feelings through decadence. Whether it's spending, sex, affection, food, or any other sensual activity, we're running the risk of overindulging in these areas to cover up some bittersweet endings active in our life.

If you could've seen my face as I turned over each card, you would've gotten quite a hearty laugh. First, the King of Pentacles, made me give a hearty chuckle. "So we're going to be having quite a good time this week!" I thought. Then, the Queen of Pentacles, which seemed to speak to a unique power-couple of enjoyment, as if we're working towards owning our lives in a bright and bold way. Then, the tune changed drastically with the Ten of Swords. There's a lot more under the surface here that deserves our attention instead of pleasure-seeking and fun.

Power couple aside, the two pentacles cards here are giving us options. Are we using our personality and time to mask our suffering, focusing on how others perceive us? Or are we being more focused and mindful, striking a balance between our comfort, strength, and emotional tenderness?

While the King of Pentacles focuses on his role socially - how he's seen by others and his skills for making them feel good, happy, and taken care of - the Queen directs some of these traits inwards. It's an important time to ask ourselves how we're taking care of ourselves. Are we making room for some struggle along with all the joy? Do we see these things as compatible or in conflict?

I see a level of distraction here. Not only is the Ten of Swords a card of discomfort and sadness, it's one of endings. We may be in the last stages of letting something go that's been on its way out for a long time. The King of Pentacles suggests that we've been hiding some of the stickier aspects of this change for others, perhaps because we're afraid it makes us look foolish or vulnerable.

Thankfully, the Queen of Pentacles is holding down the middle of the reading and offering us a middle path. Now is a time for gentleness, understanding, and for using our comforting practices healthily and for our own long-term benefit. That means no overspending, eating, or socializing to mask uncomfortable truths or feelings, and being aware of this pull is the first step. The second? Using it as a sign to turn inwards and ask ourselves what's really going on with all the tenderness of a dear friend.

Even better? Reaching out to one to commiserate and share. We don't always have to be the hosts or givers, and sometimes leaving space to receive is even more powerful in our relationships, allowing them to move to the next level.

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Reclaiming Sensuality with The Pentacles

The Pentacles often get a bad rap. Pigeonholed into matters of finance and career (they are also called coins, after all) these cards quickly become stagnant and stale. Where’s the romance? The passion? The adventure?

Yet the Pentacles have a hidden side, on that’s not always brought to light in tarot books. You might be surprised to hear that, of all the suits, I see the Pentacles as the most erotic of the bunch.

“What?” you might say. “Not the phallic wands or juicy cups?!” (Note: I strongly doubt anyone would peg the analytical swords as lush romantics! Sorry, swords.)

To get into my mindset, it’s important to remember that Pentacles are associated with the element of earth. It governs the everyday, the material… the physical. And how do we engage with the physical world around us? Through our senses, our bodies, and our presence.

This means that the Pentacles govern the feeling of the wind on our faces, a lover running their fingers along our skin, the taste of a delectable fresh peach, and the smell of an intoxicating perfume. Just look at the imagery in these cards. There’s depictions of work and labor, yes, but also characters fully feeling themselves.

Take the King of Pentacles and the Nine, for example:

These cards show figures unabashedly sure of themselves, luxuriating in life. Taken to the extreme, these traits can become wasteful, but at just the right level they acquaint us with our true power, presence, and capacity for pleasure.

Becoming aligned with our physical self aligns us with our connection to the world around us. What does this feel like? What does my body have to say? What feels good to me and what makes the people around us feel good?

How can we be aware and take joy in the riches around us if we’re not aware of the riches in ourselves and our bodies?

I see this group of cards as an invitation to take our pleasure seriously as well as to look for pleasure all around us. It doesn’t have to be through sexual eroticism alone. There’s plenty of sensuality in all aspects of life and, as these cards demonstrate, tapping into it makes life so much more lush, joyful, and satisfying.

Exploring the Minor Arcana: The Kings

In this series we'll be diving into the world of the Minor Arcana. Each segment will group the cards by number where we can engage in their themes and differences. For all the posts in the installment, click here.

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I think I’ve been dragging my feet with this final post on the court cards because I don’t want to be done with my card meaning dictionary! But it’s a new year and the time has come to tackle The Kings once and for all, so let’s get to it.

The Kings are a fascinating group of cards and deal with questions of authority, expertise, and leadership. Like the Queens they are fully in control of their suit and element, having learned to master it after years of study, dedication, and real-life practice.

Yet while the Queens deal with a flexible and personal relationship to their suit, the Kings take their connection outwards, using their expertise in the social world.

Perhaps because of this they can tend towards being inflexible, though at their best they’re even-keeled, confident, and determined,

Let's take a closer look at how this stance is reflected in each suit:

Explore In-Depth Minor Arcana Meanings

The King of Wands is a passionate and noticeable leader. This is the kind of personality that loves to be in the vanguard, pioneering new ideas, sometimes without considering the feelings of others. Motivated by the thrill of doing, achievement, and success, this King values change, innovation, and creativity.

The King of Swords, in contrast, is a much more intellectual leader. They prefer to deal with concepts and principles over actions and value deliberation, knowledge, and planning. Sometimes abstract to a fault, the King of Swords can be thought of as a researcher whose intelligence is undeniable and inspires others.

The King of Cups has the fascinating ability to use healthy detachment to understand even the most complex emotional situations. Concerned with relationships and interpersonal dynamics, this card is deeply feeling, perceptive, and intuitive. A wonderful judge of character, this card speaks to bigger life questions and can inspire with his personal charm and equanimity.

And finally, the King of Pentacles is a jolly yet formidable leader. It’s not hard to see that this king has no problem cultivating abundance. Just look at those grapes twining throughout his card! A figure whose command of resources, money, and riches is unparalleled, the King of Pentacles also knows how to have a good time and values celebrating and using wealth for enjoyment, not just for himself but others as well.

Click on each card for the full meaning and share your take on the Kings below. How does their leadership and power show up in your life and your readings?

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Weekly Forecast: August 6-12

It's always exciting to see a reading featuring a single suit. Why? Because it shows the cards giving us an extremely targeted message, and in this case, it's an extremely practical one as well since we're looking at the earthy group of pentacles.

Not only that, but we're entering onto the scene with the King of Pentacles! Already, we can see that we're in a position to lead and delegate with ease. We're showing up fully with lots of well-earned confidence. This isn't a time to make ourselves small or run away from responsibility. And we won't want to because we have lots of exciting work to do.

This week we're being called on to muster our forces and reign in our spending (financial and energetic) in order to get ready for the launch of a new project. It may be an adjustment, especially since the King of Pentacles loves decadence and pleasures. Moving from this king to the Four of Pentacles is a shift from expansiveness to strategic restraint and consolidation. 

While this isn't a glamorous change at first glance, the King of Pentacles has more than enough chutzpah and persuasiveness to see things differently. We're being given a chance to see thrift and saving as a way to celebrate and cultivate our personal vision. The King of Pentacles may like to partake in the pleasures of their life, but they also know that doing so is only part of the cycle. The other half? The work itself. And it's just as affirming and joyful.

If we enter into the financially conservative position of the Four of Pentacles with the vision of the King we can view our resources as tools to build something new, vibrant, and exciting. In other words, reigning it in is a way of preparing for expanding into new territory. In this way, the Four of Pentacles doesn't have to be miserly, stingy, or dissatisfied.

 Instead of seeing the need to save money as shameful - I dont' have enough right now and I should! - or limiting - I want to buy new clothes and I can't! - we can re-frame it as an empowering, self-directed move. We are the masters of our finances, just like the King of Pentacles. 

Because the motivation behind these choices is a project that has a great deal of potential. The Three of Pentacles is always exciting to see because it shows the immersive, intoxicating, and motivating act of planning. We're ready to start building something new and we're going to need our material resources to make it a reality. The more we hammer out the details, the more we feel aligned and justified in our saving.

Staying connected with our goal will only build our energy and excitement. And in the long run, this expenditure will bring us back towards the celebratory success of the King. Finding satisfaction in work and security in saving will be bringing us a deep sense of meaning. 
 

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