Weekly Forecast: October 10-16

Hoo boy, friends! This is a week to buckle in and get focused. While the energies here may not seem compatible at first glance, there’s a path for us to engage with these cards that will result in a satisfying conclusion. It won’t be easy, however, and it will take some serious finessing and mindfulness. I think we’re up to it.

We begin things with The Hermit, a card that shows us feeling a strong pull to retreat inwards to ask ourselves big questions and wanting the space to do so. Take long walks by yourself, indulge in asking expansive and philosophical questions (my favorite? “But what is time?”), and feel for the strength of your inner wisdom, even if it takes some time to emerge.

… and yet the big card on the scene? It’s the forward-facing, assertive Emperor. We have some important business to attend to this week and we’re being direct to face it head-on, even if we’re feeling like slinking off into the shadows and chasing elusive insights 24/7 instead.

This may seem intensely cheesy, but what is tarot but a place to lay it all bare? I just got the image of The Hermit doing an epic reveal, throwing off their cloak to reveal The Emperor underneath. Do our inner, white-bearded grandpas contain such multitudes? I think so. And is an Emperor-like strength hiding under our humility, isolation, and even avoidance?

These first days of the week would be a good time to reexamine the soul-searching you’ve been doing lately. Have you found some answers after all this time? They may not be immediately evident, but I have a feeling that if we do some digging through all of our recent experiences (and experiments) that we’ll find some true gems. Resist the temptation to overcomplicate or shrink away from a “good enough” answer. The Hermit likes to get overly cerebral or mystical, preferring to keep things in the safety of the abstract rather than engage with the real world. Yet The Emperor taking center stage is telling us that we’ll be asked to do this and more. Why not use the insights we’ve been tracking with The Hermit to help us?

None of this is to say that The Emperor is bringing negative energy into our reading. Rather, this card is telling us that we’re really going to need to show up for our lives this week. Harness this card’s assertive, pioneering force. It’s likely that we’ll need to chart some new territory, communicate our needs and ideas firmly, and/or uphold our boundaries with vigor.

I’m also struck by how The Hermit is turning away from this scene, and sending that there may be some need for us to reconcile our “shrinking violet selves” with our outward-facing personas, the part of us that gets things done. Can you find a way to carry your Hermit-self within you, safe within the protection of The Emperor, and perhaps acting as a trusted advisor and confidant?

Take the time to get on the same page with yourself, in other words, and don’t feel like you have to abandon one facet of yourself in pursuit of another. At the same time, a word of caution: this would be a week to be wary of who you share things with. Are there some relationships that could use some recalibration? The Emperor can help with that! Trust your instincts and sculpt the containers that honor your needs for safety and respect.

So what’s all this intensity bringing us? Thankfully, the Nine of Wands shows us emerging on the other side. Sure, we’re a little battle-tested and tired, but all our wands have been planted upright. We can absolutely get a lot accomplished this week, but it’s going to take our all. Be sure to rest and survey your success when you reach the other side.

This week, embrace:

• Asserting yourself

• Completing projects

• Strong boundaries

• Reassessing relationships, noticing where your emotional energy is going

• Consulting your inner wisdom

• Looking to the recent past for insights to the present situation

• Chilling out when the job is finally done

This week, avoid:

• Shutting down or rejecting your philosophical, seeker self

• Not taking your opinions, ideas, and desires seriously

• Oversharing to those who can’t receive or respect you

• Half-assing things

Get creative:

• The Hermit: See if you can give yourself a retreat of sorts at the beginning of the week. Use the time to a) rest and b) explore how your recent questions have shed light on something important. The Hermit usually speaks to values, ethics, and guiding principles that illuminate our path forward (think the star glowing in the lamp). What is guiding you (and I mean the big You - your higher self, spirit, however you choose to conceptualize it) forward at this chapter in your life?

• The Emperor: I don’t know about you, but this card is striking me as extra epic this week, and in need of some simple, actionable ways to channel its energy. So, rapid-fire Emperor ideas: 1) Find a power outfit, a uniform of sorts - armor-like. Wear it whenever you need to galvanize your energy/in the middle of the week. 2) Work out. I know, I know. It’s not elegant, but really - I feel like we need to pump ourselves up with this card. 3) Write down your two goals for the week. Hold yourself to them.

• The Nine of Wands: Having this card at the end of the week makes me want to tell everyone to just relax and take a bath. So, I’m going to do that. It’s likely that we’ll be tired and needing some mental space to come down from all the action. Want a bath with a magic twist? Add nine sprigs of rosemary - your wands - to the water, breathe deeply, think about all the good work you’ve done. (Also, if you don’t have a robust rosemary bush, I’ve had good luck finding affordable rosemary at Chinese and Korean supermarkets. We’re talking whole handfuls, not the piddly packets for $5 you find at Whole Foods!)

Weekly Forecast: May 2-8

This is a week of great possibilities - a time of green lights, fresh starts, and smooth sailing. Like many moments of change and reinvention, however, it’s the challenges that have come before that give us the most guidance.

Yes, we have the Nine of Wands in our array once more, pointing us to our struggles. The sore muscles we’re nursing are also a sign of our increased strength, as much as it may seem otherwise. This is a time to appreciate how present we’ve been in our lives, moving forward even when we’ve felt lost and tired. When things fall together, what seemed all-consuming will fall away quickly; let’s just not forget how hard we’ve worked for the ease that’s coming.

Where does your life feel like a dense thicket of branches? Is there a place that’s been wild and tangled, resistant to navigation or change? See where this energy is active and, after taking a deep breath, imagine all of it changing.

This week we have a powerful moment of transformation. What has felt sticky becomes unstuck. We’re able to move again, make headway, and plunge back into the situation refreshed and motivated.

I love the image these cards give us: a divine figure floating above a forest of wands. The World is back, showing a version of ourselves that’s able to transcend the busy, energetic, and energetically taxing world of wands we’ve been traveling through. Like a dolphin leaping above the waves, glistening in the warm sun before diving back below, we’re given a moment to rise above challenging or complex situations, gaining perspective and insight, before returning to busy life.

We’ve been in a particularly wands-y past few months, so I’m wondering why I switched from wood metaphors to water just there. Perhaps, like The World card shows, we’re in need of some harmony. Whatever we’ve been overdosing on in life lately, it’s worth seeking out what’s missing. Too much hustle and bustle? Add some languorous moments of calm. Too much straightforward wheeling-and-dealing? Make space for poetry and romance. Whether it’s water, air, or earth, know we definitely have enough fire to go around.

Major Arcana cards have a powerful impact, and show us the active themes of a moment. Like a planet, they exert their own gravitational pull. While we can certainly work with them, we don’t need to do anything to bring their energies into our lives. Luckily for us, we’re dealing with The World this week. It’s presence always invites us to take a larger perspective, to situate our present moment in the bigger story.

The Nine of Wands has been a frequent visitor in our readings. We’re tired! We get it! And this week starts off feeling like a continuation of the last. Yet this is a different type of exhaustion - instead of being at a point of burnout, we’re at a point of simply needing to edit. After the visit of The World mid-week, where we gain some important rest and insight, we reach the uncluttered shores of the Three of Wands. Here, the clutter is lessened, begging the question: What doesn’t fit? We’ll need a break to determine this, which is where The World comes in. Be alert for opportunities to get out of your usual routine, experiment, and simply feel free. I think this will be completely removed from whatever the wands are representing for you, too. If possible, make time now to do something refreshing that puts you in the center.

So, beyond the refresher represented by The World, we’re due to consider what we can pare down in our lives at the moment. Creative projects, complex situations, routines and workflows may be where this feeling of overload manifests. In the Nine of Wands we can see exhaustion, but the wands are upright; we’ve worked hard and accomplished much. But we’re also itching for some mobility, a chance to move beyond. To get from the Nine to the Three of Wands we must identify what is truly working or worthwhile and jettison the rest. It’s not as if these extra wands were a waste of time, however. They’ve given us useful experience and knowledge. But now is a time to travel light, bring what matters most.

While this reading is tightly woven in that it’s themes are clear and in direct conversation with each other, it’s also quite mysterious and expansive. I can’t help but feel a tingle of anticipation whenever The World comes up, and as I alluded to earlier, this card can signify moments of reinvention and growth. I think here, however, it’s more of an uncovering. If we’re doing all this editing in our mundane, wands-centric lives, what does having some new space reveal about ourselves? Have we been hiding behind busyness, or is part of our true nature unfurling majestically after slowly growing behind the scenes? There’s a huge potential this week for glorious self-expression, blissful freedom, and coming into our own. If it feels easy and also big and even a little threatening to our ideas of what’s possible - good.

The Three of Wands shows a similar feeling of rising excitement, a time when we must step into the unknown and commit to a new endeavor. I’m reminded that we had another three - The Three of Pentacles - concluding our reading last week. That card dealt with themes of planning and collaboration while this week’s three is about movement, creativity, and fiery ambition. Has something you’ve been working on reached a turning point? If you’re feeling at the cusp, the change may arrive at the end of the week. Be sure to open your arms and embrace simplicity, clarity, and the feeling of wind on your face as you finally start moving towards new shores.

This week, embrace:

• Simplicity

• Self-compassion

• Fun for the sake of fun

• Bravery

This week, avoid:

• Loyalty to the status quo

• Pushing through exhaustion

• Complicated > Effective

• Waffling, hemming-and-hawing, shrinking from greatness

Get creative:

• Nine of Wands: Give what no longer works some love. It can be hard to say goodbye to old faithful techniques, ideas, projects, and approaches - I have a feeling this bittersweetness will be present for us this week. So, let’s dive into it. I’m thinking a “in memoriam” slideshow at an awards ceremony: How can we respect and highlight where we’ve been and what we’ve done, while acknowledging we’re going somewhere new? This would be good journaling fodder. Putting things down in writing would be especially powerful. But simple contemplation will do just fine. (And if you make a slideshow, do share ;)

• The World: I’m feeling like this card needs a grand gesture this week. The World is nude, loving life, front and center. And maybe it’s just because it’s hot here, but water keeps coming up for me when I look at this card. Go swimming, take a ritual bath or shower, or spend some time loving your body fully, decadently, and with focus.

• Three of Wands; This is so, so cheesy, but I’m doing it anyways. This is a cinematic card, y’all. What song would be playing in the moment of the biopic of your life where you make a pivotal change? Imagine yourself standing on the cliffside like the figure in the card, about to embark on one of the boats below. The wind is blowing in your hair. You squint your eyes as the setting sun hits them at just the right angle, giving you a determined and formidable glow. I may have said song, but now I’m feeling a whole playlist. Get into it, and play this whenever you need to recenter/rev-up/get going.

Weekly Forecast: April 4-10

Judgment / Nine of Wands / Eight of Swords

Yeesh, we have some hefty energy here, friends! “Welcome to April, let’s get serious,” the cards seem to be saying. We’ve moved from the big-picture expansiveness of The World last week and back into to the come-to-Jesus intensity of Judgment.

I say “back” here because Judgment is the penultimate card of the Major Arcana, the last step before the finale that is The World. So why return to the moment before the triumphant last shot of the epic film that has been our lives for the past several months? I can’t help feeling that there’s some unfinished business here, and that the perspective we were granted last week when things finally gelled together has given us a much-needed insight into our pasts. What, in other words, needs an edit in our final accounting of what we’ve just been through? There’s an important insight here (maybe more than one) and we’d be well served to take it seriously and edit our story before submitting it to our final records.

If going through your recent past with a fine-toothed comb doesn’t sound appealing, I don’t blame you, and The Nine of Wands is here to affirm any feelings of resistance and irritation. (I’m getting big Paul Rudd in Wet Hot American Summer vibes, here.) The Nine of Wands, however, is a massively motivating card. It shows up in moments when hard work is infinitely worthwhile, telling us that no matter how tired or over it we may feel, we still have more left, and so long as that energy is expended in the best interests of our higher self, we’d be foolish to give up now.

The pair of Judgment and The Nine of Wands is also refreshingly bold. We’re not dealing with subtlety this week; we know what to do. And, most importantly, we can see why it would be a bad idea not to do it. Cue The Eight of Swords, giving us a brutal illustration of how easy it is to get tied up in anxiety, fear, and indecision. The swords deal with the mind, and this week the mind is not a hospitable place. We may be dealing with more negative self-talk, self-limiting impulses, and stultifying stories about who we are. Pay extra attention to how you’re treating yourself - audit that inner monologue! - and take respite in the exhausting but tangible realm of things you can actually do aka The Nine of Wands.

Judgment is a card that gives us important messages; allow yourself to hear what’s coming through (especially from the events of last week) and act on them. It may be hard, but it’s work that supports your growth - budding wands instead of a wall of cold, cutting swords.

There’s also an undercurrent of trickery in this reading. The Eight of Swords illustrates the seductiveness of thinking yourself into a corner. Whether your thoughts manifest as rationalizations, self-fulfilling prophecies, or overplanning/perfectionism, be mindful of the ways you might perversely feel safer when you’re stuck. Looking at the illustration for this card we can see the false promise of the situation. While the figure is inarguably in a pickle - bound and blindfolded in a pen of swords - their solution can be found in the cage itself. Shimmy on over to those swords and the binds are cut. Similarly, we’re in a position to call our own bluff and use our minds to burst out of our self-imposed prisons.

Easier said than done, of course, and this is definitely a week to be extra kind to ourselves. We have a honking (heh) Major Arcana card (Judgment), always a lot to deal with no matter the overall meaning, and the two suits in the Minor Arcana best suited to poking and bludgeoning. Reading the negative space of this spread, we can see that a little gentleness and beauty (cups) and practical self-care (pentacles) are needed to give us balance and rejuvenation amidst our big endeavors.

So muster your strength, accept any important realizations from the big transitions you’ve been undergoing, and edit your narrative so that it feels the most truthful, resonant, and empowering.

This week, embrace:

• Taking time to ask big questions

• Loud, impactful, and even upsetting messages that feel like the truth

• Persisting!

• Decisiveness

• Awareness and presence in action

• Asserting your needs, desires, and ambitions

This week, avoid:

• Rushing past the hard parts

• Sloppy work

• Instant gratification

• Getting trapped in negative mental spaces

Get creative:

• Judgment: I feel like this card is going to be very specific for each of us this week. The call of Judgment is as subtle as the giant angel trumpeting above the figures in the card; you likely know what the big realization to focus on is in your life. There’s no better way to avoid the mire of anxiety seen in The Eight of Swords than to get ahead of your brain and write things out. Take some time to have a meeting with your higher self and face the message of Judgment head-on. I’d suggest writing out a simple statement, maybe even a word if you can boil your lesson down that far. What has come through to you, loud and clear? Now take some time journaling about how this new information changes your concept of yourself, your life story, and what is possible.

• Nine of Wands: Practice presence with the Nine of Wands. When this card shows up we can be sure that it won’t be an uneventful week, so as you’re running around taking care of whatever needs taking care of, practice noticing how your body feels. Embrace the sensations of scrambling to pick up the living room: the aching in your legs - interesting!; the way you clench your jaw when preoccupied; the feel of the carpet on your knees. Do this in little bursts. See how it brings you home to yourself. Practice being with yourself every step of the way.

• Eight of Swords: Time for a redirect! I like the “scary” cards in tarot because they’re extremely helpful when it comes to identifying moments we’re in a pickle. Chances are, you know exactly how this card feels. So, when you find yourself stuck in a swamp surrounded by swords, do one of two things: either shimmy up to a sword and cut yourself free - how can I mentally reframe this situation? Is my doom-and-gloom outlook entirely justified? what more is there here? - or dip your toes into some intuitive knowledge - what beauty or mystery is here, too? what if I do something completely different than my brain is asking for, like paint for a second or meditate? Relief is just around the corner.

Weekly Forecast: January 14-20

This week's reading asks us to hone in on how we're approaching our life. From the first glance, it's clear that we're driven by a great deal of energy and meaning. How else could we have two knights - the daring, dashing, and impulsive cards of the tarot - at either end of our cards? 

Before we go into the details, these knights tell us that we have no shortage of enthusiasm. We're ready to get hands on, to dive into the adventure of it all. Without the knights we'd remain mired in old patterns, complacent, and afraid to test and expand our personal power. But all Knights have to step down from their horses at some point, or risk burnout and one-sided conviction.

In fact, we've been harnessing knightly energy for quite some time now, but specifically from the standpoint of the Knight of Swords.

What does this mean specifically? Well, for one, we're all fired up and wanting to act on our principles. The intellectual knight in the tarot, the Knight of Swords loves to analyze, identify values, and make them a driving force behind his endeavors. It's a wonderful impulse, but it's also one that's brought us to a place of burnout, as the Nine of Wands illustrates.

What happens when we become so principled that we lose sight of what's important? Too much intellectual analysis can lead to an impersonal view of life. And, as you might guess, makes any difficulty or failure personal. 

We might be feeling a little harsh towards ourselves in the beginning of the week. Why haven't we done more? Why haven't we achieved all the lofty goals we set for ourselves?

There's a precious and endearing side to this knight that's important to recognize here. We want to do well and we have so much passion and ambition. Yet we're also human, with living, breathing bodies that need care and attention. We can't just keep on going on principles and convictions alone; we need food, sleep, and care.

The Nine of Wands illustrates the literal burnout from investing too heavily in the Knight of Swords' approach. In our enthusiasm we forgot our physical limits and the importance of being a part of our own lives. Being plain old tuckered out, however, is giving us a natural pause to reassess and adjust our approach.

Treating any tiredness or overwhelm with curiosity can help us see our current situation and make lasting choices towards our goals. Indeed, the Nine of Wands is telling us that we've gone as far as we can with the Knight of Swords' orientation. Any further and we'd be in the territory of ultimate exhaustion with the Ten of Wands. You may remember the illustration for this card: a figure pushing a fan of ten wands that obscure his view. Hardly something to work towards!

Fortunately, we're not there yet. We might be a little battered and tired, but we can still see the next steps available to us. And this next step? It's the diligent focus of the Knight of Coins.

This card is immensely encouraging. It's telling us that our general ideas - the information we've collected in our Knight of Swords phase - is helpful and valuable. We just need to bring it down to earth and integrate it into our actions. And that includes how we care for ourselves. 

We can have a life animated by what's important, those big and lofty ideas that the Knight of Swords loves to much, but it has to be channeled through everyday action and done in the service of a healthy and fulfilled life. 

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Weekly Forecast: June 18-24

Well, well. This week holds quite the welcome energy shift. Things have been wandsy for a while now as we've been grappling with the myriad items on our "to do" lists. We've been deep in a period of work that requires us to simply keep at it. You know the phase when the initial inspiration seems far in the past, replaced by many tasks that seem to pull us every which way. Except towards rejuvenating creativity.

We can see this overwhelm in the Nine of Wands. Here, the vitality of the wands has built up into a formidable wall. We can see the trepidation and exhaustion in the main figure's eyes. More work? Really? When did this stop feeling fun?

This is a question worth asking, and one that has a surprising answer. Despite the discomfort that comes from running into obstacles, the setbacks and frustration we've been experiencing is actually a welcome symptom. We're already where we need to be. We're done! It's just time to let our awareness catch up.

We've been struggling to break past this wall of wands because we think the answer is on the other side. We're operating under the assumption that we need to overcome this itchiness. That the answer involves more of the same - more action, more problem-solving, and more control. Look at the other two cards for this week and we can see that, in fact, we're heading in a much different direction.

The angstiness of fire (wands) is being extinguished by some much-needed, soothing water energy, represented here by the Page and Ten of Cups. All our hard work has brought us to new territory. It's understandable that it's going to take some time for all that momentum to die down. Think of the Nine of Wands as the extra distance you run past the finish line because you can't come to an immediate stop. This week our challenge is to see this phase for what it is and not keep running as if our lives depended on it.

To put it another way, we've already finished the work we needed to do. Now we're shifting away from action and into a period of processing and intuition. This week's reading is really honing in on the role of the Nines as the culmination of their group of cards. The Tens, in fact, are overkill. We're feeling exhausted at the Nine of Wands because we've done enough. It's time to put down our active, controlling minds and make room for something new.

The Page of Cups is asking us to treat this new perspective with curiosity. Now is a time for integration and uncovering. What has all our growth and action brought up for us? We can look at it with calm openness like the Page does with the delightful fish peeking out of their cup. Similarly, we're being given an opportunity to find a new and exciting facet of ourselves in the days to come. It's proving to be the missing piece we were trying to make happen in the Nine of Wands.

This is a time to replace our sky-high expectations with a sense of satisfaction. What if we've done enough? What if we are enough? Embracing this mindset and inviting in a sense of possibility to our lives is opening the future up to the splendid panorama of the Ten of Cups. So much is possible if we relax our grip on the future. Like creates like, and now is the time to let enjoyment, self-expression, and love into the picture. When we plan with these values in mind, so much is possible, including a version of life that's much more expansive and wonderful than the claustrophobia shown in the Nine of Wands.

Use this time to tend to the idealistic, caring, and insightful part of yourself. The Page of Cups shows us asking important new questions and deepening our connection with our intuition. This is an excellent moment to plan big - allowing the most utopian, magical visions for the future to emerge. They might not, in fact, be so far out of reach.

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Exploring the Minor Arcana: The Nines

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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We've almost reached the finish line with the pip cards and, similarly, the nines represent the penultimate step of a journey. For some suits like the cups and pentacles, it's smooth sailing to the end. Others, like the swords and the wands, are more of a challenge. A trial of sorts is necessary to make it to a conclusion.

Nines require deeper thinking and wider vistas. It's a stage where we're synthesizing information, contemplating how far we've come, and realizing the extent to which we've changed. As a number, nine is visionary, conscientious, and universal. It's a point where we look beyond ourselves to the larger meaning and reverberations of our actions.

Let's dive into the details for each suit. Click on each for the full card meaning page.

Explore In-Depth Minor Arcana Meanings

The  Nine of Wands shows us how the path of action can leave us bruised and wary. The going has been rough, but not without wisdom and accomplishment. It just doesn't look so rosy quite yet, and this card denotes a resigned restlessness. We know tha we've committed to a journey and we'll see it out, but there's tiredness in our bones and a desire to let go and move on once we've succeeded.

For the Nine of Swords depicts a moment of intense anxiety, sadness, and doubt. We've been overwhelmed by our mind's tendency to think, plan, and fret. We'd like to retreat, but instead of using this space to heal and recover, we dissolve in despair. 

The Nine of Cups is a beautiful illustration of the wealth that comes with emotional fulfillment. The figure in this card sits confidently in front of nine cups fanned out behind him. Contentment, generosity, and warmth spring forth naturally when we're able to take care of our emotional needs, feel our feelings, and maintain supportive and loving connections

Finally, the Nine of Pentacles is a very alluring card. Ensconced in a beautiful garden and lounding next to a grapevine with pentacles at its base, the figure in this card is majestic, content, and secure. This card denotes a period of financial and material stability, one that allows us to invite others into our space and share our wealth. 

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Weekly Forecast, Eclipse Edition: August 21-27

I have to admit I was more than a little excited to find out what the tarot has to say to us during the eclipse. I had a fun fizzle of anticipation running through me as  I was shuffling the cards and turning each one over (slowly, to savor the moment, of course.) 

It's a fascinating time. As the sun gets blocked by the shadow of the moon we're able to peer into the night sky in the middle of the day. I can't think of a better metaphor for a rare moment of insight - those times when an extraordinary occurence lets us step outside our normal boundaries and into something cosmic and grand.

These cards show us how those moments give us a rare opportunity to reframe our lives. There's nothing like the immense scale of nature - the universe! - to awaken us to the immense blessing of being alive and all the opportunities that come with it. I can't think of a better tarot card to sum these feelings up than The Fool. 

Here he is, at the center of our reading. And such a solar card, too! What we're seeing in the brief moments of the eclipse (either in person or remotely through photos, etc.) is refreshing. We're perking up and feeling the urge to shift out of old roles and stale plans. The Fool makes us feel young again, unencumbered by limitations and eager to set off on a new journey. When The Sun shines fully after the eclipse we'll be full of The Fool's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed energy.

I'll be curious to see how this effects each of us individually. It could pop up in any sector of our life as a new plan, adventure, or change. The wands cards on either side, however, tell us that it will involve creativity and action. We'll recognize it through how it feels - like being reborn and able to start anew with innocent and uncynical enthusiasm. That kind of energy is nothing to scoff at, though it might be tempting. Sometimes we want to protect ourselves by appearing jaded, as if we've seen it all before. Brush off that stale thinking! It's limiting and hides our true power.

The two other cards show us we've been tapping into our creative potential lately. It's big and simmering under the surface. We haven't named it yet and really expored its true potential. Like the Page of Wands, we're just getting the hang of things, experimenting and poking around. We're moving out of this phase of learning how to wield our creative power. Now, The Fool is telling us to take the risk and bring our new idea out into the sun.

This all tells us that it's a transformational time, a big opportuntiy we should treat as an adventure instead of a pressure-filled moment to prove ourselves. Furthermore, The Fool asks us to have a sense of humor and think in the "big picture," you might even say the "universal."

Look up at the sky with wonder, see how small we all are. In The Fool's mind this is wonderful, even funny. It means that we are both the heroes in our own stories, off to prove ourselves in this huge world, and also wonderfully inconsequential in the long run. The Fool can feel this way because they are detached from their own ego and we'd do well to follow their lead. 

Coming down from this energetic standpoint later in the week will be slightly jarring. The nine of wands sees us looking around, dazed and confused by all the options. Maybe we've bit off a bit more than we can chew (which is very much like The Fool.) It'll be important for us to remember that we don't have to do it all, especially not right now. We can drop some of our projects and push through to the finish line on the ones that really matter (we're close.) 

Most importantly, we can look back up at the sky and remember how it felt to see something incredible that's always there - the corona of the sun, the stars in the sky. Then we can refresh ourselves with The Fool's sense of openness and adventure and move forward on our heroe's journey through life. 

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