Weekly Forecast: July 11-17

Would you believe I’m excited about a reading that starts out like this? And yet… things are coming together despite being difficult. This week we can lay down our swords, rest, and start to see the fruits of our labor and the wisdom of our grief.

Starting off with the Ten of Swords may not look easy, yet I’m heartened to see this card here. Tens are endings - what difficulties, heartaches, or challenging stories are reaching their conclusion for you right now? Your ending may not feel like an ending at first. In fact, it might feel overwhelming, a deluge of feelings. The Ten of Swords can represent moments when our emotions catch up with us. No matter how much spin we put on things (we’re fine! Life is fine!) eventually our evasions can’t hold up to our fears, tenderness, and exhaustion. Falling face-first onto a beach may not seem like the ideal outcome, but take some time to hear the waves and feel the wet sand on your cheek. Is it really so bad to just be with yourself?

If you find yourself laid low or simply overwhelmed at the beginning of the week allow plenty of space just to experience things - your life, yourself - simply as they are. The beautiful story in our reading is that the faceplant of the Ten of Swords leads us to the peaceful safety of The Four of Swords. Can you lead yourself to a calmer space of rest? Or, better yet, let those around you guide the way?

This week carries a massive opportunity for healing and relief. Allow simplicity to guide you. An overload of swords weighs us down in spectacular fashion (I’d argue that the Ten of Swords is the most brutal-looking card in the deck) - where can you let go of memories, ideas, convictions, plans, and all other denizens of your mind that hamper your growth? While we’re in a process of shedding this week, something new is emerging, but it won’t be found in forceful thinking, arguing, or aggressive searching. Instead, the Four of Swords asks us to consider the slippery, poetic impressions that intrigue us. Make time for rest so that you can dream, listen to your body, and be open to ideas or observations that feel elusive and mysterious.

While we’ll be in our heads for some of the week, it’s time well spent. Have you been running fast, staving off feelings through action and productivity? Perhaps feeling like rest and consideration is indulgent or cowardly? Maybe these thoughts are some of the pesky, cutting swords sticking in your back. The Four of Swords is a gloriously healthy manifestation of the mental energy of its group; allow yourself to treat rest and discernment (particularly the kind that involves waiting) as essential parts of your process rather than distractions.

We leave the land of mental processing and emotional healing towards the end of the week and visit the final card in our monthly forecast. This is a tarot emphasis on the power of these swords cards. Resting and taking time to tend to our hurt while jettisoning any toxic beliefs is in the service of the larger story at work.

Remember that our card for the month is The Chariot - if you’ve been feeling sluggish, unmotivated, and disconnected from your mission and willpower, pay special attention to the messages coming through in your experience of these hurtful swords. You may have some unfinished business to deal with that, once tended to, will allow you to move forward with newfound purpose.

On the other side is the Seven of Pentacles a card of both fulfillment and dissatisfaction. Make room for this uncomfortable combination! Dare I say embrace it? Because if we accept that we are happy with what we have and we want, celebrating our success and growing to new places will feel a lot easier.

I’d also like to point out that the Seven of Pentacles is a hearty reminder to check-in on our everyday and material life after doing so much soul-searching. See how your life is still chugging along? See all the things you’ve built, the projects and routines you’ve cultivated? Spending time here is a wonderful antidote to the heady world of swords. Tend to your garden and see what futures you can imagine now that you’ve put down some swords and have your feet on the ground.

This week, embrace:

• Feeling those feelings! Especially the difficult ones

• Accepting vulernability

• Re-centering around intuition

• Examining your routines

• Small actions with tangible results

This week, avoid:

• Rushing through big feelings

• Ignoring wounds

• Catastrophizing

• Reinventing the wheel

• Self-criticism

Get creative:

• Ten of Swords: Part of this card can touch on self-inflicted wounds, and I think it’d be helpful to direct some compassion here this week. The Ten of Swords doesn’t have to be ten huge swords pushed into our backs - it can be more of a death by 1,000 cuts, tiny sniping comments we level at ourselves constantly. Think of one or two cutting remarks you direct at yourself frequently and come up with a replacement statement - something loving, supportive, and constructive. Practice substituting this kind remark for the cruel one when you notice yourself becoming judgmental.

• Four of Swords: Because swords can be so harsh, I think this week is a good time to really soften the edges in our lives. So, a very simple suggestion: buy yourself some flowers. Put them in your bedroom and enjoy the soothing cheer they bring. (Who knows, maybe they’ll help usher in some of the elusive insights shown in this card?)

• Seven of Pentacles: Before we can refine, change, and finesse we have to know what we’re working with. Spend some time this week appreciating the cycles, routines, and rituals you have in your daily life or a specific project (Pentacles, after all, often refer to our professional/work lives). After some observation and reflection, take some time at the end of the week to write down the seven things that make you feel satisfied and grounded in this area. This is the foundation that you’re building on.

Weekly Forecast: July 4-10

Well, my friends, it looks like this is a week for breakthroughs. In good old fashioned tarot-style, we have to wade through some interesting and potentially frustrating waters first. Yet despite the presence of two sevens - cards characterized by their slippery, teasing nature - this is a comparatively low-pressure week. If we introduce a sense of lighthearted play into the tasks at hand we may be surprised at how quickly things move.

Have you been worrying about how much work you’re going to have to do to make a change? Fretting (dare I say, stressing) about how long of a way you have to go? Although you may not feel graceful or poised, this week holds some important and impish lessons around dreaming, planning, and manifesting.

Let’s start with the two sevens we have this week. Two! I think this pair is asking us to embrace the theme of a spiritual challenge. However you choose to define spirituality, this is a week where imbalance, restlessness, an unrelenting desire to seek out answers is bringing us to an important crossroads. The answers we’re seeking are new, personal, and only we can wade through the swirling mists of our subconscious to tease out their meaning. If we do, however, the meaning will be sustaining and powerful.

I’m interested in the dynamic between these two sevens. The Seven of Swords is a naughty character who shows up in moments where we want to avoid responsibility, take the easy way out, or break some rules. It’s also a swords card and this is what’s really coming through here - that perhaps the self-deception is in arguing ourselves out of what we really want. What if the shortcut we’re trying to take is the one that circumvents dreaming, yearning, and reaching beyond what we know? The figure in the card is running in one direction while looking over their shoulder: Where in your life do you feel split? Where do you notice your automatic response moving you away from your greatest wishes and desires?

Since the arc of our reading takes us towards the delightful Ace of Wands, it seems as if the impulse of the Seven of Swords needs some correcting. We shouldn’t be running away from an opportunity so invigorating and lovely, right? Self-deception, particularly in the vein of the swords cards - arguing yourself out of your desires, collecting information about how what you want isn’t feasible, realistic, etc. - may be appearing with strength and vigor as we start the week.

And yet the Seven of Cups is right here. This card is asking us to trust that we won’t be overwhelmed by our visions for the future, or that exploring options won’t shoot us into the farthest reaches of space, untethered from everyday life. In fact, this is a wonderful time to take stock of your fears around wishing and dreaming. What stories and arguments (the swords being carried in our first card) do you use to convince yourself that imagining a better future is bad, dangerous, or foolish?

This would be a wonderful week to dive into your interests, daydream, and turn over ideas in your mind without worrying about logistics. Doing so may massage a greater vision into clarity, but it’s important to step away from expectations and look at the world (and yourself) through the eyes of wonder. You’ll notice that the figure here is a black silhouette; it may be helpful to take a break from who you think you are and just spend some time playing and experimenting with new identities, ideas, and roles. The Seven of Swords easily gets stuck in their own head. In the Seven of Cups we see the pleasure and freedom of stepping outside oneself.

What’s happening while we tease out the tricky world of the sevens? A new option is working its way towards us. I’ve been thinking about the aces a lot lately. Not only are they alluring and exciting (some people refer to them as “the wish cards” in tarot) but they represent moments when we must step back from trying to make things happen and practice waiting, being receptive, and working on ourselves. That’s what we’re seeing here in our two sevens: how can we work on our fear of what we want, drop our swords - the ideas of how we should be, what we should do, and how we should go about getting it, and wait for the next step to reveal itself.

The Ace of Wands is definitively a next step. If aces are gifts from the outside world revealing themselves to us, and wands are action… you see where I’m going. So if you’re feeling antsy with all this dreaming and self-reflection, fear not. A promising and potent idea for what should happen next is on the horizon. Try not to rush or get lost in the seductive grips of control and open up to what has yet to appear.

And how will we know the Ace of Wands when it appears? It’ll resonate on an instinctive level (do check with your body to see if your creature-self is on board), feel exciting, promising, and new, and be just the first step. The trick of the aces, beyond noticing them when they arrive, is to simply accept their invitation and see where it leads, one thing at a time.

This week, embrace:

• Gently questioning self-limiting beliefs and actions

• Feeling uncomfortable with change

• Daydreaming, envisioning exciting futures

• Experimenting with new/unexplored facets of your identity

• Activities that take you out of your (ego) self

• A promising new path or next step

This week, Avoid:

• Giving up because of a lack of clarity

• Using fear as an excuse to avoid change

• Getting caught up in details

• Retreating from your social life

Get Creative:

• The Seven of Swords: This card, aside from having a very engaging “main character,” is also soaked in tarot’s color of creativity: yellow. There’s two ways to engage with this energy. 1) See if you can channel your angst around change, growth, and restlessness into art. Circumvent the swords’ penchant for analysis and do something quick, impressionistic, and from the heart. 2) Devote a day, preferably early in the week, to wear yellow. See how it feels to embody the positive aspect of this card instead of the burdensome swords (aka thinking). If you have yellow shoes, I especially recommend wearing them. The red shoes and hat represent being driven by impulse and passion - what happens when you’re driven by life-sustaining creativity instead?

• The Seven of Cups: Make a date with yourself to do some daydreaming. To expand on the ruling element of cups (water) I suggest doing this in the bath. Sink into the water and allow yourself to dream about the lives you could live, starting now. In situations where we’re taking big leaps, I think that rituals are especially important to nudge us out of the everyday and into something more soft and supportive. Mindfully select scents or oils for your bath, listen to some relaxing music, maybe even meditate before stepping in. The key is to be open, receptive, and ready to dream freely. Don’t focus on logistics or our pesky friend “reality.” See what happens and what dreams stick in your mind long after the tub has drained.

• Ace of Wands: This is more practical than reflective. I think that this card has an aura of social possibility this week. Go out during the weekend with the intention of being open and receptive to any messages, connections, or opportunities that may come your way.

Weekly Forecast: June 26-July 3

This is a reading of deep emotion. A struggle is ending, or perhaps it seems like it’ll never end - where do we seek refuge when the outside world appears hostile and unbearable? How can we mark an ending for ourselves and gain perspective?

The Ten of Wands is all about bearing burdens, yet as a Minor Arcana card it speaks to the realm of the everyday. And we all know how many burdens can be found there. Where then, can we go? The High Priestess has the answers.

Many “tarot people” love this card, and I’m one of them. It symbolizes arcane wisdom, great mysteries, liminal spaces, and the inscrutable rhythms of nature and magic… just the entire vibe of the occult corner of the bookstore or a moonlit view on a solitary walk at night.

The High Priestess, however, does not deal in easy answers. This is not a time for easy answers. Nor, in fact, is it a time for frenetic action. The Ten of Wands is telling us we’re done with running to and fro; we’ve actually been doing this for quite a while (how else did we get all these wands?). We’re tired. And there’s great wisdom to be found in our dreams.

This is a reading where one card is inviting us in - the sun in our reading’s solar system. Take some time this week to gaze into the eyes of The High Priestess. Consider what difficult opposites you find yourself standing between. What big questions confront you when you step away from the busy world of the wands and journey inwards? What really matters?

I’m not talking about strictly solitary journeys here, but I do think that this reading is nudging us to consult ourselves first before starting down new paths. The self I’m talking about is the higher self, too, and not the ego. The High Priestess, despite her allure and charisma, is a difficult card. Don’t be surprised if things feel challenging and if answers don’t come easily. This is simply a reflection of the complexity and importance of what’s coursing through our lives right now. Most importantly, this card is about holding difficulty gently so that we can understand it, then letting it flow through us. We don’t need to grasp and grip like the Ten of Wands - we’re all keepers of a great mystery and this is a week to remember it and tap into something greater.

Ask yourself what greater stories and larger trends, whether they’re in history or your own life, can give you strength and perspective. The High Priestess exists in the nuanced shadows of life; she sits with power between the two pillars of opposites. This is her place of wisdom and this is her home. How can we find ourselves at home amidst challenge, polarization, and the seductive pull of easy but incomplete answers?

So, yes, there’s some confrontation in this card, along with the need to turn inwards. Yet taking the time to do so will open up avenues for stunning moments of connection and expression. The High Priestess sits on the land but peek behind her and you’ll glimpse a calm sea gently lapping at the shore. In tarot, water symbolizes emotion, intuition, and spirit. So what do we have as our final card? The ultimate expression of water itself - The Ace of Cups.

It’s as if the curtain behind The High Priestess has fallen away to reveal a great gift. The time we spend with this card (and consulting with our higher selves) will usher in a scene of nourishing connection and expression. If you’re worrying that taking time to gather your wits, consult your dreams and intuition, and retreat from the grind of the Ten of Wands is selfish and indulgent, just look to this card for reassurance.

I’d also like to point out that The Ace of Cups is telling us something important: emotion and feeling are the key to this moment. Find how The High Priestess expresses herself through you and you’ll begin to feel something moving and important. Let this through; see where the feeling takes you.

This week, embrace:

• Patience

• Inner Power

• Intuitive messages (have I mentioned dreams enough??)

• Standing your ground

• Inspiring and sustaining connection

• Romance and friendship

• New connections

This week, avoid:

• Burnout

• Avoidance through busywork, over communicating, or self-punishment

• Mistaking ego (of yourself or others) for wisdom

• Emotional repression

Get creative:

• Ten of Wands: I’m really feeling the burdens shown in this card this week, and I think this card is asking us to put our sticks down and shake it out. Spend some time caring for your body, period. But to really energize this card, treat yourself to a frenetic, joyful dance party. One song. Fast and exciting. Move like a wild creature. Drop those stick to the ground and shake the life back into your limbs.

• The High Priestess: I’m intrigued by the energy of The High Priestess in this reading. There’s usually a card that holds a teasing invitation: you don’t know all that I have to say just yet. This is the one for me this week. I invite you to meditate on the mystery you hold within yourself. Just five minutes will do, though more can be illuminating. Breathe deeply, sit with yourself, and maybe envision yourself walking towards The High Priestess, sitting between her pillars at the shore. Ask her/yourself: “What do I need to know right now? What latent power am I holding that needs to be brought into the world?”

• Ace of Cups: This card is so beautiful I almost don’t want to give any suggestions for it. Part of the glory of the aces is that they appear of their own accord. So, this week, let’s practice accepting beauty, connection, and tenderness. When someone reaches out with an offer to help, build relationships, or anything cups-y, reach back. This extends to the beauty of everyday life as well; nothing is too small to transform us. And, with all this practice, we’ll be primed to accept our big ace moment however it arrives.

Weekly Forecast: June 20-26

How do you react when a rainbow finally appears? Maybe you’ve been secretly praying for one, nervous and expectant. Or perhaps you’ve been hoarding rainwater, thinking you can collect enough to create your own downpour and invite one in. But we all know that’s not how rainbows work. They arrive on their own accord, a colorful expression of nature and change. The right conditions need to be present, and if we are too, we can rise up and take the sight in.

This week sees a big desire become real. The rainbow is happening. What will we do?

There’s a restrictive side to the Four of Cups that’s coming through in our reading. Where in life do your wishes come with a dose of fear? Sometimes we cling to our smallness, dreaming big and bold dreams, but secretly secure in not realizing them.

Yet this week a powerful wish-fulfilling card is taking center stage: the Ten of Cups is showing us that our dream is quite close. We could, in fact, get up and run to meet it. But is something holding us back?

We have the beginning of the week to really consider this. Our first impulse may be to think through the issue, but we’d be wise to follow the true nature of the cups and get in touch with our feelings. Looking at the Four of Cups I’m imagining a deep reservoir of water beneath the three cups on the ground. Are we in fact sitting on enduring wisdom while pretending we need to scrounge and scrape for inspiration? We can learn a lot about our desires this week along with any fears we have about our wishes coming true.

Take a look at the Ten of Cups. What do you see in this card? What does it make you feel? You’d be surprised at how upsetting this card can be to people. It can look flashy, garish - especially if you’re used to thinking that living your dream openly is dangerous, inviting trouble.

Fortunately, we have the Two of Swords on the other side, tempering our strong emotions. This wise card invites us to take baby steps. We don’t have to embrace an entirely new life wholesale, rush into good fortune, or change radically. There’s time to step into the rainbow-lit world of the Ten of Cups for a bit, then take a break and mull things over. Or, even better, just let yourself be so that its wonder can sink in.

Oftentimes we think that beauty, pleasure, and connection are fleeting, limited resources. The Ten of Cups, however, tells a different story. In its pure form, it depicts the eternal wellspring of connection. We can frolic together, yes, but we can also grieve together, struggle together, and yearn together. When done out of a place of authentic relationship, all of these endeavors become generative and, in their own way, gorgeous and transformative.

See where you can find yourself sharing in joy, connection, and bounty. Make room for whatever this brings up, and grand yourself the solitude or space to let the doses sink in. I have a feeling that this week holds an important revelation: an experience that points you towards the greater source of fulfillment that’s always there, no matter what happens.

This is a week of joy, surprised, and integration. Dream big, and don’t be afraid to embrace the rainbow when it appears.

This week, embrace:

• Taking it easy

• Being gentle with your fears

• Romance

• Connection

• Living your best life

• Respecting your dreams

This week, avoid:

• Overplanning

• Reclusiveness

• Shutting down emotionally

Get creative:

• Four of Cups: This card has been stalking us for most of 2022. This week, I’m feeling like its seriousness could use a shake-up. Try meditating on abundance, oversized dreams, outlandishly positive scenarios. Let yourself go wild, simply holding the images in your mind with gentleness.

• Ten of Cups: This card is begging us to get outside. Find a way to be in nature with people you love (or just like… for now).

• Two of Swords: I didn’t realize that there is a vast wellspring of water in this reading when I was riffing on the Four of Cups. It’s here in the Two of Swords! Which makes me think that we’re going to uncover a special source of enjoyment and acceptance this week. Preferably during the weekend, take some time to journal about where you noticed a sense of belonging, satisfaction, and peace. You now have a new source of insight and nourishment in your awareness. Congratulations!

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: May 30-June 5

Look at the forward-facing theme of this reading! Each character (and we have three - one for each card) is facing towards the right, the direction of the future, open and aware of what’s to come. Well, as aware as we can be of the mysteries of life before they reveal themselves.

This is a time to be open to and respectful of the synchronization that happens between our self and the deeper currents of life. Death is a card of natural transitions, a slow fade through artful gradations of shadow. What transformation do you feel you’ve been undergoing recently? Lean into the weirdness, for while Death is natural it’s still a journey into the unknown, and I mean that on many levels. When we truly don’t know, everything feels strange - ourselves and the world around us. Because we have two court cards on either side of Death we know this reading is about the self. What parts of you feel authentic and foreign? What are you turning towards, shifting into? We don’t have any answers yet - the picture has yet to come into focus - but we do have the curiosity and motivation to ride into the fog willingly.

Let’s rewind, shall we? The Page of Wands leads the charge into the week. It’s a time to follow our instincts, welcoming the sparks of interest popping in the fires of our lives. What I love about pages is their lack of linear thinking. This is a card that shows us how following a circuitous route, letting our eyes rove and our legs move with joyful freedom, can bring us to interesting places. What is making your spine tingle, the hair on your arms prick up? We’ll be getting clues about the larger direction in our life throughout the week; be careful, however, not to let your focus be on making change happen. Trust in the powerful current winding its way through your waters will be helpful. Struggling will only exhaust you.

Time to talk about Death. Those deep currents I’m talking about? Death territory. The name of this card is a conversation-stopper, but turn back and look at the Page of Wands. Would we skip towards Death if it was so annihilating and terrible? A part of ourselves, and a joyful and authentic one, to boot, is yearning for change and aware that an important season has arrived. In tarot, Death is not a fall into oblivion. It’s only number 13 out of 22. A step on the journey of life itself, but a big one that’s to be sure. What do you know must change, and how willing are you to embrace the change you’re not aware of just yet?

Part of Death involves taking responsibility: responsibility for your life path, for making the changes that serve your highest self, and for modeling the care and values you hold dear. This requires letting things go. What have you grown out of? Like a snake about to shed its skin you may need to rub against some challenges to loosen and release your old self. Doing the work is worth it and, helpfully, the larger process is happening of its own accord. With the Page of Wands leading the charge, we’re in a powerful position to accelerate our transformation and even enjoy the ride. So let whatever’s falling away, fall away, and be sure to fill your days with activities and pursuits that you quite simply enjoy. The little things are bolstering and supporting a great big thing this week.

If all the mystery and metaphor is frustrating for you, I do have some good news, as the deep transformation underway ushers in some helpful clarity. The Queen of Swords represents a parting of clouds, the grey skies becoming blue after a storm. Whatever conclusions or certainties enter into your life at the end of the week will be deeply important to you. It may take some bravery to stand by (and act) by them, but taking up your sword to advocate for yourself will be satisfying and empowering. This is a time to trust that your words will flow with ease when they’re connected to your truth. Communicating, networking, and advocating are all pursuits that fall under this card.

I will add that Death is a big card; the changes that happen this week aren’t isolated to this week alone, and have likely been the works for a month at least. And, importantly, they’ll continue to unfold over the next month or so. Know that any Queen of Swords ideas and epiphanies are only part of this bigger story, not conclusive answers to pressing life questions. Tread gently, deliberately, and with the Page of Wands’ sense of adventure and fun.

This week, embrace:

• Joy

• Exploration

• Self-expression

• The unknown

• Transformation

• Clarity

This week, avoid:

• Rushed decision-making

• Getting swept up in others’ opinions and choices

• Minimizing your desires

Get creative:

• Page of Wands: Make time each day for something purely enjoyable. A delicious cookie with your afternoon tea, dancing to your favorite song before heading out the door, driving a different route to work or any regular destination.

• Death: There’s a mystical side to this card (have you guessed?) Pay attention to your dreams this week, picking up on powerful symbols and events. Just carry them with you, noting their impact and resisting the urge to analyze.

• Queen of Swords: This is a two-part one. First, take some time now to write out some issues, questions, or pressing matters you’d like to articulate. Do it quickly, before your inner-critic adds their two cents. Save this writing and revisit it at the end of the week. What new information and insights can you bring to these questions? Write you answers and see how much more you have to say.

Weekly Forecast: May 23-29

I love this reading. It’s jarring, effusive, then serene. There’s a sense of multiplication as we travel from the hardship of the Five of Pentacles and into the bounty of the Ten. It leaves us in a pensive place; we recede into the background for a spell, consulting with ourselves in the deliberative Two of Swords.

If you’ve been dragging your feet, feeling exhausted or “in it,” this week has a helpful message for you: No matter the difficulty, there’s treasure to be found in your everyday life. Soon, these cards tell us, that treasure is multiplying into something splendid.

This could happen in one of two ways:

1. A healing breakthrough - finding a new frame through which to view your recent struggles that catapults you into a phase of action and enjoyment.

2. A big change, addition, or opportunity.

This is all happening in the realm of the pentacles, a place where what we do, touch, and tend to comes into focus. And, even if you’re not familiar with tarot, the Five of Pentacles does a good job of broadcasting what happens when these areas get pinched in the grips of difficulty. It’s a classic “bad times” tarot card, and I like how it doesn’t mince words (or, rather, images) when illustrating what it feels like to struggle - walking into the wind, limping along, out in the cold.

When I draw cards like this I like to take a moment of recognition. Where have you felt exhausted, overburdened, and unfortunate? How can you extend compassion to yourself and your struggles? This is, interestingly, also the only card with snow in it. Some part of our pentacles experience (work, domestic life, finances) has been experiencing winter - a period of dormancy, energy conservation, and endurance. If you’ve been scraping by, not doing as much as you’d like or simply feeling limited, cut yourself some slack. It’s likely this has been due to necessity - the environment just isn’t in your favor - and the smart thing is, in fact, to rest and wait or keep things simple. Just getting by or even doing nothing can sometimes be the best and smartest decision.

If the Five of Pentacles is winter, our next card, The Ten of Pentacles, is the golden days of high summer. This is quite the jump! Something is bursting forth in the middle of the week, making me think that our slog through this blizzard of troubles is well worth the effort. Fives are the midpoint in each suit and all deal with the theme of challenge. Entering into the Ten of Pentacles shows that we’ve faced a stiff challenge, continued despite adversity, and are emerging into a vastly different landscape.

There may be some overwhelm at this shift, like squinting into the bright sunlight after emerging from darkness. It’ll be helpful to plan for some adjustment while not shying away from the bounty. The Ten of Pentacles is a busy card (can’t you tell??) and represents the riches of a life fully lived. Expect support and growth in your community, family, and partnerships. Look to connections between yourself, nature, and your ancestors. This is a complex and gorgeous tapestry. What’s coming together for you? How has enduring struggles helped heighten your appreciation of what really matters? Colors may look brighter, tastes sweeter, sounds clear and resonant. This is a time to appreciate what we have and revel in caring for it. Also, I might add, letting ourselves take up space and embrace our messy humanity as a participant of this wild scene.

This arc gives us a lot to think about, and towards the end of the week we’re mulling over what we’ve learned and how things have changed. The Two of Swords shows us taking some mental space to gain clarity and insight. I’d urge you, however, not to retreat too far from the warmth and bustle of the Ten of Pentacles. Like all tens, this card shows an important culmination. Don’t sneak away from your own graduation party in order to analyze or create a mental story. The story that is still unfolding requires our full participation.

Using what’s happening in our world of pentacles to make decisions, however, is well worth our time. Just be sure to pay attention to any impulses to pump the breaks, seek safety in over-deliberation, or intellectualize something wild, beautiful, and full of potential. Drawing trusted others into your decisions and internal debates can help mitigate the Two of Swords’ tendency to isolate.

Either way, it’s clear that this week is bringing about a pivotal change. Let yourself take in the riches you have (and expand your understanding of this concept) and use your new situation as a foundation for growth.

This week, embrace:

• Endurance

• Re-framing struggles

• Community

• Sharing pleasures

• Celebration

• Intuitive messages

This week, avoid:

• Despair

• Fatalistic thinking

• Self-isolation

• Intellectualization

Get creative:

• Five of Pentacles: An often-neglected side of the pentacles is that it’s the suit associated with the physical body. Take some time this week to do something physical that gets you out of your mind and into your body. It may even be satisfying to do something especially challenging, showing yourself that not only can you get through hard things, but that they make you stronger.

• Ten of Pentacles: We talked about how this card intersects with daily life, but didn’t draw on its powerful spiritual side. I see this card as the ancestral tarot card. Take some time to find out how your ancestors navigated hardship, ideally through conversations with family members (this card is also all about real-life community and interpersonal interactions). Do a small ritual to honor the struggles your ancestors have endured - I’m a huge fan of lighting a candle - while meditating on how you have been doing the same in your unique life experience. For those with tense family relationships, you may want to widen this frame and find a historical figure you identify with, within your cultural tradition or not.

• Two of Swords: Let’s focus on the more positive side of this card here. The Two of Swords is, in its healthiest incarnation, all about balancing intuition with intellect. This week, see how you can practice tapping into your intuition, starting with the prompt: What makes me feel good right now? (Think: however the Ten of Pentacles is showing up in your life. What’s so great here? How does it feel in your body?)

Weekly Forecast: May 16-22

The deep pull of change characterizes this week, as the beginnings of a shift start to pull at our lives. Whatever we’ve become accustomed to is reaching its end - how will we face this new reality? Most importantly, how will we continue despite invitations to revert to old ways, stale plans, or unhealthy situations?

This is one of those readings that has both conflict and harmony. We start things out with the wily Seven of Swords, a card of trickery and deceit that can manifest on a wide spectrum, from helpful insouciance and rebelliousness to betrayal and mendacity. Spending some time here will be helpful: where in your life do you feel like corners are being cut, excuses made, or facts bent? Pay attention to whether it’s internal - a mental contortion (usually defense mechanism) that you’re engaging in - or external - something being acted upon you by another. These are serious themes, yet there’s energy here that’s in service of the bigger change taking shape at the end of the week. It’s up to use to recognize and transform it.

You’ll notice that the figure in the Seven of Swords in walking in one direction while looking back over their shoulder. I’m seeing this card being irresistibly pulled towards the vortex of The Wheel of Fortune, a symbol of cosmic change. Regardless of the situation you’re in, there’s something present in it that can either be redirected in support of change or simply reframed. Is there some lesson you need to integrate, a fear you need to face so that you can turn around and walk towards the future? Or is there some chaos being brought into your life that may give you clarity about what you really want (aka not anymore of that particular flavor of wild b.s.?).

Paying attention to restlessness, half-truths, or full-on lies that take you back to old, stale territory. There’s also a strong whiff of avoidance in The Seven of Swords - are you pulling away from inevitable change? Is someone else trying to keep you from expanding and flourishing? Despite the tension, this is a moment of power; the background here is a bright yellow, the color of creativity and energy. Seven is a number of spiritual importance. See where you can integrate difficulty into your narrative of growth and beware of seductive justifications to keep things the way they are or return to stifling situations.

Fortunately, we have an epic card of self-regard and personal power in the center of our reading: The King of Wands. This card is all about wise action - reining in our energy and directing it outwards to blaze a path for our selves. Excuses, unhealthy relationships, self-limiting thoughts, and self-sabotage are quickly burned away by the flames of The King of Wands. Let yourself act assertively, trust your plans, and assume responsibility for your direction and behavior this week. I’m also seeing a possibly surprising uprising of strength at play here. You may be surprised by how quickly and authoritatively you rise to the occasion when faced with pushback, challenges, and competition.

So here we see the more pernicious side of thinking and communication (swords) forced to travel through the clarifying and formidable boundaries and requirements of the ruler of the wands suit. A trial by fire? A clarifying conflagration? There may be some drama or tension here, but it’s giving us a running jump into a new cycle, as The Wheel of Fortune starts to spin at the end of the week.

Now this is a tricky card. But where The Seven of Swords deals with personal, mental trickiness, The Wheel of Fortune rules the ever-present force of cosmic change. Whatever we’re experiencing now is sure to cycle into something different. The highs turn back down, the lows begin to swing upward. And, like a cyclone, The Wheel of Fortune opens up new paths, suggesting that we’re going to be given the opportunity to make new headways, travel new ground, and effect the change we’re capable of making in a new landscape.

I feel like this has a lot to do with personal power and authority, as The King of Wands is almost standing guard. First he must deal with the trickiness of The Seven of Wands, after which he can turn around, strong and capable, and being doing what he can to work with the energy of The Wheel of Fortune. Beware the desire to shrink, equivocate, or make excuses. This is a time of powerful growth, and it appears as if we’ve been ready for quite some time. and the time is now.

This week, embrace:

• A long, hard look at the reality in front of you

• Personal integrity

• BOUNDARIES

• Trust in your capabilities

• Leadership

this week, avoid:

• Excuses

• Toxic relationships (no matter how familiar)

• Self-deception

get creative:

• Seven of Swords: Notice where you’re walking away from what you really want, just like the figure in this card. What do you have your eyes on? What feels too big, bright, and exciting? Imagine a face-off between this card and The King of Wands (just look at the photo above - they’re really staring each other down!) How can you elevate your internal boss/leader/ruler to rein in the avoidant behavior of the Seven of Swords?

• King of Wands: Write down a list of what you’re good at, the decisions you’ve made that have paid off, and, most importantly, instances when acting with trust in your instincts and experience have led to swift and authentic change. This is your King of Wands resume: bask in its glory.

• Wheel of Fortune: I like seeing this card as a storm sweeping through our lives. Not the catastrophic kind, but rather one that expels stifling humidity with fresh, cool air. Channel this into real life by conducting some spiritual cleansing in your space. Open the windows, burn incense or spritz some essential oils into the air. Imagine letting in the winds of change, visualizing how you’d like them to work their magic in your life.

Weekly Forecast: May 8-15

I have a brief forecast for you all this week since our family has been under the weather this week. But! I figured it would be a fun opportunity to experiment with a short-form weekly forecast. 

I’ve drawn just one card with “What is our area of focus this week?” as a guiding question. To mix thing up, I’ve switched to one of my favorite decks - The Kitty Kahane Tarot. 

Our card? The Lovers.

What’s coming through

Despite it’s saucy title, The Lovers is a card about choice. In the Renaissance context from which tarot sprung, this meant between alluring vice and righteous virtue. I think you can guess which was deemed the “correct” answer. This week, however, I’m feeling drawn to the tender moment between the woman and the snake shown in Kitty Kahane’s illustration. What happens when we choose knowledge rooted in love, even if that means shaking up our worlds? In other words, are there some gardens that we’re meant to be cast out of?

Regardless of whether you hew to my slightly radical take on the Garden of Eden or more traditional interpretations, the moment Eve tastes the fruit is the catalyst for a huge story. This week we’re presented with a world-enlarging choice. It may come through in subtle ways - simply choosing to frame things from a gentle, new perspective - or as a decisive action. What is your story? In many ways we’re choosing a new moment in every moment, with every breath. The Lovers card reminds us of the incredible wonder, power, and responsibility of this. 

What to do

A huge part of The Lovers is the electrifying feeling it brings to everyday life. Think the glow of excitement and anticipation that comes with falling in love, now transpose that onto the world around you. Look for the miraculous in the everyday, practice seeing people as if they’re new and fascinating, a whole world to be discovered. And, since this is a Major Arcana card we’re talking about, see how you can view yourself in grander terms. This is your time, this is your life - how does this viewpoint change the choices you make?

Shadow sides

Like being cast from the Garden of Eden, all choices involve leaving something behind. In the case of The Lovers, however, this choice is in honor of our personal growth. See if you can pay respect to the natural grief of losing or leaving something (a cherished illusion, naive and comforting fantasies, situations or people that don’t support your growth and expansion) while celebrating the strength and vigor it takes to invest in your self-actualization. It’s hard because it has to be. Not shrinking from this also makes the blues brighter, the world pop with the power of awareness. 

Getting playful

If this energy is coming through on a less intense level (and even/especially if it’s underlined and highlighted with the brightest yellow imaginable) there are plenty of ways to engage with it playfully: get ready for the day as if you’re going on an exciting date, schedule an actual exciting date, write down the important truths that push you towards meaningful change, imagine yourself as the hero of a lush and edgy fairytale. 

Thank you all for joining me in this little experiment. Full-on tarot readings will be back next week. And do let me know what you think (or if there’s any other content you’d like to see in future forecasts) in the comments below.