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

Weekly Forecast: August 8-14

Where do we hold our grief? At the surface, a tender heart beating in plain sight, or hidden away behind layers of our choosing: busyness, identity, stories we tell ourselves and others? This week represents a parting of the curtains, one that reveals a surprising path forwards, but also the heart of our suffering. Whether you’ve been grappling with a known grief or have one that’s bubbling up from your past, this is a time to gain new insight while allowing yourself to be transported to a new and refreshing vantage point.

What’s most interesting about this reading is that it features two of the most visually simple cards in the deck. Both the Eight of Wands and Three of Swords have no human figures in them. Instead, like the Marseilles tarot and playing cards, they feature the symbols of their suit. Eight wands fly in unison towards the ground. Three swords pierce a big red heart. As much as these images are clear (and, in the case of the Three of Swords, upsetting) they also embody a helpful simplicity. This is what we’re dealing with right now. How should we approach it?

I’ve been thinking a lot about healing lately and the assumption in our culture that it’s a linear process, a job of sorts that we have to complete before taking on anything else. Our cards for the week completely scramble this idea. Instead, we have action and growth leading us through healing. Action, in other words, is part of the process. This week, t’s not in our best interest to wait around, languishing, until we’re suddenly “better” or cured of difficult emotions. They may come up, but they may also be surprisingly de-fanged in a context where we welcome them with space and acceptance.

So while grief and pain do factor into this week, growth and motion are happening every way we look. Just look at The Eight of Wands! This card tells us we’re in a time of plans and work coming together with glorious effectiveness. Launch into action, release your arrows, and let the immediacy of getting things done carry you forward. Embrace clarity and decisiveness - this card will touch many areas of our lives and is one worth enjoying. We can trust that any ease, bravery, or conviction comes from lots of planning and practice, so don’t hold yourself back and follow through with both old plans and new. Pivoting, adjusting, and making intuitive decisions (often in the heat of the moment) are all supported by this card.

What if this season of change, coming-together, and refreshing action leads us smack into a puddle of grief? These cards invite us to welcome the experience not as a diversion or mistake, but as a sign that true healing is happening. Growth and healing are holding hands and running side by side, not standing in line next to each other and waiting. Are we pushing up against sharp edges from our past? Bumping into new hardship? This big, obvious heart tells us that we need to go through, not around, our hard feelings. Sure, the skies are blue in the eight of wands, and then grey in the three of swords, but they quickly turn blue again in our final card, the Page of Swords. This character gives us a way and an inspiration for better understanding the root of our suffering. Stepping into this page’s shoes of curiosity, analytic power, and open-mindedness will help part the storm clouds of emotion and give us a sharpened perspective.

Ways that The Eight of Wands could manifest this week:

• Things finally coming together leading to fear of success, overwhelm, feeling unprepared

• Seeing yourself moving on from old grief unexpectedly, wanting to remain tied to it out of a sense of loyalty

• Decisiveness and clarity you struggle to reconcile with your idea of yourself and what your life could be like

An important part of the Three of Swords is that it is the only illustration of rain in the tarot. We see lots of sprouting fields, resplendent gardens, and lush landscapes, but where is the rain to feed all of this growth? It’s here in the Three of Swords, perhaps one of the most unlikely cards to find sustenance and abundance hiding. How can you see your grief, suffering, and other challenging emotions as sources of growth? The water that feeds and fuels what’s growing in your life? The mental acuity of the Page of Swords suggests that we’re more than ready to see with clear eyes and not get swept away by our emotions. It’s possible, we’re ready, and we can walk through the Three of Swords, feeling our feelings, and letting them be transformed into nourishing rain.

this week, embrace:

• Motion & movement

• Following through on plans

• Productivity and checking off to-do list items

• Experiencing your feelings freely and without judgment

• Taking a new perspective when looking at old problems or struggles

This week, avoid:

• Running from difficult emotions

• Self-defeating stories when experiencing said emotions

• Turning back or giving up

• Having to be right/sticking to old stories just to avoid being “wrong”

Get creative:

• Eight of Wands: This is such a kinetic card that I want us to avoid overanalyzing it. So, either just keep it in mind as a token on inspiration that reminds you to trust your energy, stay in the moment, and learn by doing, or make some time to experiment with a practice that brings you to the state of flow embodied in this card. I’m thinking automatic writing, dancing, and improvisation of any kind.

• Three of Swords: I should have been more explicit up top: I love this card. Maybe it’s because one of my number one hobbies as a teen was listening to Elliott Smith and crying, but I think it’s also because there’s something beautiful about being in a place where you have to express your emotions and can truly experience both the bitter and the sweet simultaneously. So, for this week, I highly encourage you to dig up some old tried and true crying jams and let the tears flow. Or, if that’s too raw (which I completely understand), go back and remember what was happening when those songs cut right through to the center of you. There’s a facet of this card that deals with old/ancestral/primary wounds - do some exploring here and see what wisdom they might have to share with your present self.

• Page of Swords: Is this card the nerdiest in all of tarot? I think so… Gift yourself some time this week to get curious and research something interesting. It may be tied to the topics brought up in the Three of Swords and Eight of Wands, too. Is there some new source of information or knowledge that can help you cut through issues that once felt intractable? Remember, though, you’re the one wielding the sword and choosing which ones to pick up in the first place. If anything doesn’t feel right, leave it where it is and move on. Ideas that are meant to shape our story should give us new life and inspiring clarity.

Weekly Forecast: June 6-12

We have something very interesting here, friends: the first card from the first monthly forecast is also our first card for the weekly forecast. It’s Page of Swords time! And I think this is telling us that a lot of the main themes we’ll be mulling over this month are present right now at the beginning of the week.

I’m glad to have this page pop up. After recording the monthly reading I spent the next few days collecting insights and ideas about this intrepid card. I was worried I’d neglected to go into some of its more actionable, down-to-earth facets, but here we are with plenty of time and space to explore. Not to mention the reading definitely thinks we have more to learn from this page as well.

When I look at this card I think of questions and the dust they can kick up. What happens when we look at the world around us with the wide eyes of inexperience? When we ask from a genuine place of not knowing and a desire for understanding?

This Page seems to be looking in the direction the wind is blowing. Have they breathed a whole weather system into being just by asking? Questions start with clarity of intention and invite knowledge. The process of thinking for ourselves, however, means that we have to sift through the information that comes our way. When this page finally turns to the right, they’ll face into the clouds. We’ll be experiencing a similar situation this week. We want knowledge, but we must be prepared to navigate some fog, squint and seek and trust as we move towards greater understanding. It’s not simple or clear-cut. We’re going someplace different, we’re learning something new.

The central focus, and the focus of our questions perhaps, is reciprocity and justice. We’re not in the lofty “justice-as-an-archetype” territory of the Justice card itself, however. We’re in the embodied, complicated everyday world of the pentacles. The Six of Pentacles is a card about balance. How do the scales come back into balance after a disruption? What do we do with our time and resources to give and receive help? How do we structure our time to make sure that we are stewards of healthy relationships, both between human beings and nature itself, even the spiritual and material world. Typing this all out makes me glad we have the chutzpah of the Page of Swords in our corner this week. We want to know a lot. We’re asking hard questions. And, I think, these questions are coming (and going to) a really good place.

The pentacles are about there here and now. This is an opportune time to reassess our efforts to foster relational balance and align our actions with justice. Ask yourself what really matters to you - what change can you make? Who is helping you, and who can you help? I’m thinking of this idea of balance held in all the sixes in tarot: a 3 on each side with us in the center. How can we leverage our resources and communities, the ties that keep us held up in life, and extend them to the other side of the scale - those who can benefit from our help.

There’s an opportunity this week to effect some real change. Mind you, it’s in the pentacles - this is about doing something. Anything. Grand statements, epic commitments, complex plans? Not hanging out in this card. If you can think of a small action, do it. Or ask your nearest and dearest what they think you could contribute (or even, what you could all contribute as a collective). Since the Page of Swords is our overarching card for June, these questions won’t be answered right now, nor will the actions we take be reaching a big conclusion. I like this. We may be having a “breadcrumb situation” where each small step leads to another.

And what better card to have leading us along our exploration of the Six of Pentacles than the Knight of Wands? We’re in a position to find a great deal of energy, motivation, and enthusiasm in our search for right relationship, justice, and responsibility. Can this, dare I say, be fun? At the very least, the Knight of Wands shows us all fired up, and like fire, the light we cast through our actions this week will spread their light to all corners of our lives. Be open to new connections, surprising developments and gains. Don’t stray too far, however, as this card can lead to burnout and overzealous behavior. We are, after all, working on balance and reciprocity. Small steps with great enthusiasm will do just as much, if not more than, grandiose gestures and quick-moving plans that stretch us too thin.

This week, embrace:

• Questions, questions, questions

• New perspectives

• Flexibility

• Giving and receiving support

• Following the energy - going with what moves naturally and with ease

This week, avoid:

• Overanalysis

• Dogmatic thinking

• Dissociative behaviors

• Seeking control

Get creative:

• Page of Swords: Bring this card’s energy into everyday conversation. Ask more questions! Be sure these are rooted in your natural curiosity; no snore-inducing small-talk, or blandly safe topics. Treat each person you speak with as someone who holds an important secret to your personal growth and larger understanding of the world. How does this change your experience?

• Six of Pentacles: I’m seeing this card as a link in the human tapestry. Who and what are you connected to right now? Take a piece of paper and divide it into two columns. In the first column write out the people, resources, and experiences that have allowed you to flourish in life. In the second column, expand on how each item on the left could be extended towards others. You may be already doing some of these things - great! How does this list inspire you?

• Knight of Wands: I think this card is best experienced in the body. Find some way you can feel the wind in your face and enjoy the exhilaration of movement. Take a card ride with the windows down, preferably blasting a favorite song. Swing as high as you can, seven-year-old style. Spin in a field of grass until you topple over. That’s it. Just feel the energy of this brave and joyful card.

Weekly Forecast: February 21-27

Feeling towards deeper meaning and understanding

How do you feel when big questions show up in your life? The kind that demand walking towards the unknown, that have you questioning what really matters? This week we have the magnetic pull of The Hierophant telling us that such a time has come. We’re going to need to change, to switch up our way of orienting ourselves. We’re looking for deeper meaning. 

Our past few readings have featured the Page of Swords and the Ace of Swords, both illustrating how we’ve been questioning our approaches and the world around us. In swordsy times we tend to prioritize mental work: thinking, analyzing, and reasoning. We’ve been  using the swords to bushwhack through the tangles of our lives - the society, systems, and structures we’ve been born into. What needs to change? What is stale and no longer true for us? 

These were baby steps and some of them felt awkward. The pages are all coltish with long limbs that don’t quite know how to walk yet, and aces are pure ideals, untarnished by exposure to reality. If your actions have seemed somewhat graceless and your ideas too abstract or idealistic in the past few weeks, you may be relieved to hear that it’s time to put down our swords and take up a refreshing cup of passion, romance, and poetry. 

The Knight of Cups not only shows a shift in outlook, but an important leveling-up. We’ve graduated to knighthood! In what ways can you see your maturity growing, particularly in your relationships? The Knight of Cups is a dashing and passionate card, one that respects the messages of the heart. Overall, this is also a wonderful week to take this card as an inspiration and lavish love freely in your circles. How can you inject some touches of effusive praise, tender support, and whimsical adventure? 

The zest of this knight, however, is not all frivolous flourishes and decadent touches. See how The Page of Swords turns to the left, into the past, while the King of Cups is facing towards the right, the future, and The Hierophant card? Our time spent inhabiting this view of life - as a place of wonder, opportunities for connection, and pleasures that are meant to be sought out and savored - is leading us from a rugged wilderness and into the hallowed halls of The Hierophant.

A knight loves a challenge, and this week we’re up for negotiating sticky questions, particularly those that involve power and who gets to decide the ultimate meaning of a situation. If you’ve been ceding this role to others, now is the time to step into your power as the arbiter of what truly matters to you. Some beliefs, ideas, and plans may need re-sanctifying as well. Have you been lost in the weeds, taking on outside opinions, or underplaying the preciousness of a culture plan? Take a moment to shake all that off and see how just outlining it has given you meaning and direction. 

The Hierophant is a serious card, and this week we may be surprised to see that things we don’t normally see as serious - the Knight of Cups’ love of beauty, creative expression, and unfettered enthusiasm - have led us to seriously resonant realizations. Perhaps this is a time when pleasure is connecting us to the divine; listen to the messages of the body, trust who you relax around, and which sources of wisdom feed your soul as well as your mind. 

As you may have guessed, The Hierophant points to teachers as important sources of guidance. See which teachers, paths of study, and institutions fuel your inner Knight of Cups. What fills you with a sense of purpose, a quest, a path towards connection? I’m definitely not feeling moderation, here - dream big and ask deep questions. This is not a time for half-hearted or overly utilitarian solutions.

Consider as well where you act as a teacher and mentor to others. While this week shows us in a good position to find or attract the teachers we’re craving, it also invites us to consider the space we take up and how it may be inspiring other, regardless of whether we have an official position or not. Casting a light behind us so that others may follow our path can also illuminate our future in unexpected ways. 

This week, embrace:

• Reflecting on the ideas, decisions, and ways of communicating that have been successful for you recently

• Taking time for simple, sensual pleasures

• Sharing your love with others openly and enthusiastically

• Being passionate about your interests

• Treating yourself, your life path, and goals with respect

• Mentoring, teaching, and helping others

• Asking big, cosmic, and spiritual questions

This week, avoid:

• Getting lost in mundane details

• Scoffing at your ideas preemptively

• Hiding behind intellectual rationalizations

• Power dynamics that feel uncomfortable, unbalanced, or potentially unethical

Get creative:

• The Page of Swords: I’m focusing on the transition from page to knight in this week’s reading. With this in mind, look to the past to see which efforts have yielded results. Perhaps there is a quest you have completed, making you an expert in some way. How can you “knight yourself” and hold up your accomplishments as something worthy of pride? (If anyone gets super-literal with this and conducts an actual knighting ceremony, please let me know ;)

• The Knight of Cups: Go on a pleasure quest! Yes, I realize this sounds like a creepy cruise, but I think you know what I’m getting at. Spend an afternoon (or entire day, if you can spare it) letting yourself roam with the intention of finding beauty, pleasure, and enjoyment. I like to start at a coffee shop or restaurant where I can get a pastry, sit down with my journal, and write poetry or loves notes until I feel a genuine desire to venture somewhere else fun. Listen to beautiful music, browse a shop, go on a nature walk - whatever you do, do so with the intention of soaking up the sensory and spiritual delights of whatever you encounter. And don’t be surprised if something magical and unexpected happens.

• The Hierophant: This card is all about blessing and sanctifying. Where do you feel connected to a higher purpose or power? This week, choose between an actual space - your alar, reading nook, a special spot in nature - or something more metaphysical like a sacred/inspiring text or your meditation practice. Go to that space and simply spend time there, feeling the support you gain in doing so and making some gesture to reciprocate: clean your altar, meditate or pray on the topic of gratitude, or whatever feels right to you. Bring this sense of calm and connectedness into your everyday life.

Weekly Forecast: January 17-23

Eight of Wands / Five of Pentacles / Page of Swords

Satisfying progress, wintry struggles, and renewed determination

After a week of hard work brought to us by the Ten of Wands, we enter into a brief period of ease and progress. The Eight of Wands is one of the most direct and unadorned in the deck- there’s not a person in sight, just an impressive array of wands in mid-flight. With each arranged just so, the scene looks effortless, and it’s easy to forget that this coordinated volley of arrows must have taken skill, planning, and practice to pull off. Has the toil that we dedicated ourselves to last week finally resulted in clarity, action, and maybe even success? Look to where you’re feeling satisfaction and traction if you’re unsure, and keep in mind that after a long slog, success can sometimes seem suspicious. The Eight of Wands, however, asks us to enjoy the ease we’re experiencing and see what we can do when we’re not burdened with planning, strategizing, and questioning. In other words, sometimes things work out, and we’d be foolish not to enjoy it.

I know you’re holding the more upsetting imagery of the Five of Pentacles in your head, ready for the part of the reading where I go “but then all your good fortune wanes…” However, I want to stay with this card for just a moment longer. It’s easy to over-prioritize the more “negative” cards in a reading, perhaps guided by the superstition that we’ll stave off misfortune through worry. Yet what we pay attention to and craft our stories around is what flourishes. And, personally, I think the story that the Eight of Wands tells is far more compelling and complicated than the Five of Pentacles.

The Eight of Wands may represent a brief moment in time (how long can these sticks stay in the air, after all?) but it also shows an important achievement. Each of the eights features some aspect of work, whether it’s practical, emotional, intellectual, or in this case, creative. These are cards where our focus and experience are met with energy and magic. What has been working for us lately? Where do we feel the exhilaration of progress? Where have we surprised ourselves with our daring, resourcefulness, and innovation? By seeing what’s working we can begin to integrate important tools, strategies, and approaches. With the fiery wands in play, we can be sure that there’s some surprising energy and heat behind it all; be careful not to overlook or underestimate the power of what sets you ablaze. Just because something comes easily doesn’t mean that it was easy to get there, nor that it’s easy for everyone else. This week we’re poised to get important insight into our unique abilities and what we have to offer to the world.

So, does that feel lofty enough? Because, yes, we’re coming back to the ground and into the slog and difficulty of the Five of Pentacles. While this is not the gentle landing we hoped for, it is, I think, a necessary reality check. In the middle of the week we’ll be contending with some constraints that snap us out of the reverie of the Eight of Wands and its fast-moving progress. Money, time, and the conditions of our life aren’t cooperating, and this may have us yearning to return to the drawing board. But the fire of the wands needs to meet the solidity of the earth to actually grow - think planting the budding wands in soil so that they become vigorous and resilient saplings. Sure, the Five of Pentacles isn’t the spot we’d choose, but like all fives it represents a challenge that could end up being formative if we persevere.

This card shows us wrestling with our ideas around money, means, and what’s enough. Fun stuff, but an important proving ground nonetheless. See if you can face restraint and suffering as a place for learning and editing. We may not have all the resources we’d like to run full speed ahead, but all is not lost. I’m especially drawn to the weather in this card; trees need sun and warmth to grow, but here we have the only winter scene in the tarot. Could our difficult situation simply be a sign that now is not the time? Trees also need water to grow, and it’s here but simply frozen into snow, suggesting that the hardship is temporary. How can we outlast obstacles, use time to our advantage, and recommit ourselves to our path even when it’s difficult?

The Page of Swords appears at the end of the week, urging us to start looking at things from a new perspective. Last week our reading concluded with the Ace of Swords and I’m loving the image of us taking up that shiny sword - a new idea, guiding principle, or worldview - and starting to wield it in our lives. It may be awkward at first, but we’re motivated, and it’s sparkling allure is moving us towards clarity. What might we have to learn about our relationship to money, stability, and “having enough” this week? Are there any beliefs we’re now equipped to cut away, making our own meaning in their place? I see a full circle moment here - after experiencing both success and challenge this week, which do we choose as the story that defines us? This page inspires us to take up our own cause even if we’re unsure how things may work out and trust that we can discern the right path to take, one step at a time. It may not be what we expect, and this week it may be a slog, but it’s also ours to take, and spring is coming. What will start to flourish when the snow melts if we can just hang on a little longer?

this week, embrace

• The exhilaration of getting things done

• Enjoying being in a state of “flow”

• Complex projects that utilize your skills

• Movement, creativity, and whatever is feeling energizing

• Practicing discernment during moments of stress or despair

• Seeing inherited ideas about resources, finances, and success with clear and critical eyes

This week, avoid

• Unnecessary spending and other financial risk-taking

• Rash decision-making, especially when out of fear

• Letting setbacks or external shortcomings define you

get creative

• The Eight of Wands: Think of something you’re really, really good at. How do you feel when you’re engaged in this activity? Look for these feelings in other areas of your life - how can you cultivate this state more mindfully? If this exercise brings up anxiety or shame, welcome it with gentle acceptance and explore these feelings whenever you feel comfortable.

• The Five of Pentacles: This is a card that’s best faced head-on, so I’m going to give an extremely unsexy suggestion here: look at your budget! While it may be stressful, there’s something ultimately relieving about it. After all, the numbers don’t lie. So whatever form your budgeting takes, from nonexistent to bespoke excel spreadsheet, take the pulse of your financial situation and work on cutting back unnecessary expenditures and adding to your savings. Think of it as plodding through the snow in the card - the going might be slow, but you’re still going somewhere. And before long, you may have the resources to actualize the vision shown in the Eight of Wands.

• Page of Swords: The Pages are the cheeky youths of the tarot. When you sense yourself sliding into stress or despair, use your wit to reframe the situation. Can you retell this tale of woe as a satire? A comedy of errors? A rollicking misadventure? Humor can cut through malaise and return you to a place of empowerment and authenticity.

Weekly Forecast: November 11-17

What if you're already doing wonderfully?

I'm writing this forecast in the early morning, still bleary-eyed in my mismatched pajamas. I'm feeling the pressure of Monday morning acutely: What do I need to do today, exactly? What bill is due today? How am I going to squeeze in all of this?

When I turned over our first card, I have to admit I was almost startled. The World? Really?

Yet when I look around I can see it. My beloved dog is napping on the couch, the sun is peeking through the windows behind me, and I've just made one of the strongest coffees in my life. It's beautiful, even though I can see errant crumbs in the sun's rays on my counter top. Even though I have a big old bill to pay and six wildly different tasks to tackle. I'm here and here is touchingly gorgeous.

I've talked about The World a lot in these forecasts. It's the last Major Arcana card, the final stop on The Fool's journey. While tarot has paths and patterns of meanings, our experience of it (much like life itself) doesn't follow a predictable pattern. That is, we can always access The World no matter where we are in life. And, as we've all experienced, sometimes our combination of experiences is wild and strange - The World and Death, for example.

This morning, however, we just have The World as our sole Major Arcana card. It's dancing benevolently, almost teasingly, asking us to look around and see the beauty and accomplishment in our imperfect lives. More specifically, it's asking us to look at our role in all this. There may be many moving parts, some confusion, and a lot of desire to do right, but here we are in the center showing up and truly living life. Let's give ourselves credit, especially if it doesn't line up with our expectations.

Our subsequent two cards make up the kindest tarot reality check. If we look at our life from a place of pride and security, we can take each challenge and task as it comes with no need to get mired in the oppressive details. In fact, my list of tasks and worries fits in perfectly with the Eight of Swords. Here we see a person constrained and bound, frozen still and surrounded by the very tools that could cut them loose.

So what do we do when the pressures hem us in? The Page of Swords burst into the scene with its refreshing simplicity. The answer: one thing at a time. Wielded correctly, our thoughts give us direction. Translating them into action frees us from being stuck. I love how movement is the healing element in this week's forecast. How can we keep a relaxed pace and accomplish small tasks with regularity?

Tarot experts often refer to The World as "the world dancer," and I'm smitten with this idea of dancing through life as the highest form of mastery. It's not rote, predictable, or joyless. Instead, it's vibrant and engaged - an art form instead of a correct answer. Each of us will dance through life differently, but this week we're all ready to keep going and enjoy the magic of our own movements, one thing at a time.

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Weekly Forecast: August 18-25

Well, my friends, it looks like the Five of Swords isn't done with us yet! This card also began the forecast for last week, warning us of conflict luring us away from our very important personal paths.

In that reading there was a more cosmic theme: How have interpersonal struggles held us back overall? In those cards there was a need to identify the larger forces at play and to look at our lives now as a new beginning, highlighted by the The Fool.

Well, now things are coming waaay back down to earth. We're being asked to really practice these concepts in real life, showing the Five of Swords that we're committed to growing our own ambitions instead of mediating others' conflicts.

When we have a continuing theme like this it's actually quite powerful. The Five of Swords isn't showing up twice to say that we haven't succeeded in dealing with its thorny energy. Rather, it's saying that we need to deepen our skill and make circumventing or, blissfully, ignoring drama a normal behavior.

I love the visual of the Eight of Pentacles here, busy on their phone and totally unperturbed by the angry figure in the Five of Swords, yelling on top of a pile of heads. What an inspiring image to use when focusing on your work. That mess in the Five of Swords? It's not ours to clean up. Plus, we have important work to do.

The Eight of Pentacles is an invigoratingly practical card. It reminds us to value the work we find absorbing and to let our focus bring us clarity. Taking each task as it comes, especially on work that's meant to sustain our own lives, can bring us forward in an immensely satisfying way. It also tells us that we have something important going on here. We've been doing good work and it's accumulating. Now its not the time to get distracted or abandon it.

And what's this figure riding in from the right? The Page of Swords is a welcome addition to our cards, telling us that a mental break from whatever form the Five of Swords is taking in our lives will bring us renewed clarity and energy. Sometimes not knowing what to do about a certain situation simply means that the right answer (or time) hasn't arrived yet. With the Page of Swords we can be sure that it's on the horizon and that space, deliberation, and focus on our work is what will usher it in.

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Weekend Send-Off: Post-Eclipse Wildness

Source / Criterion Collection

If there's one thing I've learned about writing these posts it's my inability to realize when it's really, truly Friday. After tidying up from my last client of the day, I found myself dreamily contemplating what to read while folding laundry. Then it hit me - I'm not quite done with my day yet!

Though writing these posts doesn't feel a lot like work. There's something soothing about recapping events and drawing together a list of what's been inspiring and interesting. Even when, in this case, my week was decidedly strange and disjointed.

As in most situations, I'm going to squarely place this on the recent celestial happenings. It doesn't help that it's been dramatically soggy here in Durham - when you add rain to the heat and humidity everything feels clouded, including my brain. 

But when I'm in a dreamy, confused state the most normal things seem beautiful and mysterious. Cute mushrooms have sprung up by my driveway, reading seems cozier, and simple pleasures take on new meaning.

So here it is, some magic from the past week as well as the card for the weekend.

Tarot-Related Wonderfulness - Rituals of Escape

My friend emailed me this beautiful piece by Jetti Allen on Medium. Seeing people's experiences with tarot is so horizon-expanding and affirming. I agree with so many of Allen's insights, particularly around the complex and joyous meanings of the cards. They don't give us easy rights or wrongs, just a path towards our own profound and individual understanding. Please, hop over and read the whole thing.

Classic Cheer-Me-Up - Celery Man

There's been some rough patches this week that have had me reaching back to my old faithful, spirit-lifting resources. Aside from gazing with adoration at my beautifully organized spice cabinet, this video from the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is my go-to for true, uncomplicated happiness. I'll never get tired of Paul Rudd and his ridiculous sequences ("Now Tayne I can get into!") I'd also love to know what your favorite goofy/weird videos are, so pleasure share below!

Repeat Tarot Card

The Three of Cups has been all over the place this week, showing us that support and community are readily available. Banding together and toasting to our successes, big and small, is beautiful in its simplicity and sets the stage for growth. 

Listening, Reading, Watching

I rewatched one of my favorite movies, The Red Shoes, for the first time in years. It was even more beautiful than I remembered, especially the epic phatasmagoria of a dance scene in the middle. A reimagining of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, a behind-the-scenes look at showbusiness, and a technicolor feast for the eyes? No wonder why I love it so!

Musically-speaking, I've been revisiting my favorite road trip songs in preparation for my long journey to visit my family on Cape Cod on Monday. On the top of the list? King of the Road by my favorite wild and wacky songwriter, Roger Miller. 

How about you? What has been bringing joy to your life this week? Now without further ado, the card for the weekend.

The Page of Swords

Message: Let curiosity guide you and experiment with new ideas and questions.

Embrace: New perspectives, writing and reading.

Let Go Of: Big-picture thinking, needing to be right.

Guidance: How can we be inspired by all the things we have yet to learn? What can be explore more?

Exploring the Minor Arcana: The Pages

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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Ah, the Pages, what a delightful and enthusiastic group of cards! The Pages represent themes of youth, vitality, fascination, learning, and focus. We can think of these cards as the youngsters of tarot. They see the world with fresh eyes and find inspiration naturally and freely. 

The Pages remind me of the unbridled obsessions we have as children. For me it was dinosaurs. I loved them. I loved everything about them. I wanted dinosaur toys, dinosaur books, and dinosaur pajamas. We can see this organic excitement and focus in the cards. Each page holds the symbol of his suit. They're drawn to the meaning of each symbol. They want to learn the ins-and-outs. They want to experience it all.

In readings, Pages refer to our instinctual interests, our childlike ability to see magic in the world around us, new areas of study and learning, as well as emerging news and information. Let's look at each Page below to get some more insight into this lovely group of cards. Click on each link for the official meaning entry and more details.

Explore In-Depth Minor Arcana Meanings

The  Page of Wands unites the energy of the Pages with the intoxicating power of creativity. This card represents burgeoning creative interests, the development of creative skills, and the desire to learn by doing. 

For the Page of Swords shows growing interests in intellectual pursuits, whether it's becoming a student (or an actual student in your life) or being drawn to research and collect new information. This Page wheels and deals in facts, information, and communication, though they're learning the ropes of each they have a natural aptitude and burning sense of motivation.

The Page of Cups is a sensitve and seeking card. It can denote moments when we feel called to get connected with our intuition, spirituality, and other forms of guidance. This Page is romantic, tender, curious, and gentle. It also ties into new connections, relationships, and emerging feelings.

Finally, the Page of Pentacles ties the eagerness of the Pages to the practical world. This can show up as the beginning of entrupreneurial interests, plans for businesses, professional training, and interest in making changes in our lives. The Page of Pentacles is interested in making a direct impact on their life and working towards stability.

How do the Pages speak to you in your tarot practice? Which do you relate to most? I'd love to hear your takes, so share away in the comment section below! And stay tuned for our next section on the Knights. 

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