Weekly Forecast: November 25 - December 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Weekly Forecast: November 18-24

We have some seismic activity this week, dear friends. The Tower is back again, this time to shake us out of an uncomfortable urge to control and regulate our lives. Yet, like any tower experience, it’s not subtle, gentle, or entirely wanted, if you catch my drift. We may find ourselves scrambling to hold on to any sense of stability and narrative, and that’s okay.  I’m not sure it’s possible to have a calm, collected, and 100% dignified experience with The Tower; that’s what makes it so powerful. 

When this card comes up it’s usually an invitation to look at what we thought was strong, unassailable, and utterly true. Though we often take these forces for granted, there’s usually some sort of slow march towards the big moments when they come tumbling down. Like water slowly eating away at rock, we’ve been eroding our trust, belief, or connection to The Towers in our life. 

Where have we felt off lately? What big forces have been dictating our lives that no longer hold their seduction or strength? See if you can see the buildup to this moment: I have a feeling that doing so will be a huge part of our healing.

I feel tender looking at these cards because the destructive intensity of The Tower is followed by the limitless potential of The Fountain. And, guess what? Limitless potential is very intense in its own way! We can see the seduction and safety of The Tower with more compassion in this reading. Staying in crisis can often keep us safe from the pitfalls of the unknown. If we’re in damage control, we’re not taking any new risks, and who’s going to argue with us when we’re trying to salvage a situation?

Now I’m not saying that we’re all going to be embroiled in epic cataclysm this week! (Wouldn’t that be terrifying?) Tarot shows up in our lives on a spectrum, and I have a feeling that this iteration of The Tower is more mental. What, in other words, has been distracting our energy from the potential that’s presenting itself to us right now? The Fountain suggests not only a wealth of opportunity, but a deep connection with our innate desire to participate in the world as our full selves. That is, operating at our full potential and partaking in the wonder of the universe. Sure, it’s cosmic, but it’s absolutely available to us in the moment.

Pay attention to any self-limiting thoughts, particularly the ones that put you in the place of The Tower. I’m feeling this as more of a desire to fix, control, or even save something that’s falling apart. In this reading, the falling apart may be entirely necessary for the full scope of The Fountain to reveal itself. It may also not be yours to contend with at all; tending to others’ catastrophes will prevent their essential reckoning and distract you from your growth. 

Now all of this is big, epic, and lofty, yet on the other side we come down to earth with the Ace of Pentacles. Could there be a more sweet and affirming card than this? I don’t think so. Stepping into the possibility of The Fountain is quickly resulting in a tangible sense of stability, perhaps even a welcome and alluring opportunity. It’s as if a hand is reaching out from the other side to guide us across the rift. I love how the exciting and terrifying imagery of the cosmos in The Fountain shifts into the welcome greenery of the Ace of Coins. We belong on the ground, in our real lives, and there’s so much we can grow there. 

While shuffling for this reading, a fourth card jumped out: The Eight of Swords. This is a very helpful and straightforward addition to the reading. It’s telling us that getting caught in our thoughts - overanalyzing, rationalizing, and intellectualizing - is only keeping us stuck. Instead, we have the practical and zestful Ace of Pentacles to inspire us. What makes us feel at one with ourselves? What makes us feel connected to life - our bodies, sensory pleasures, homes, and nature. Doing simple things to foster this link will bring us forward and ground us at the same time, no analyzing required. 

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Reading Tarot when You're a Skeptic

When I first started reading tarot I took a great deal of pride in being a skeptic. At the time this was more of a defense mechanism than healthy trait: I wanted to protect myself from being wrong, as if my beliefs might make me vulnerable to criticism.

Of course, this is partly true. Any belief can be subjected to questions. And, in fact, any belief should be questioned in my opinion. However, there seems to be a stark and unhelpful division between intuition and rationality, one that often prevents otherwise sensitive and intuitively gifted people from exploring this side of themselves.

I’d like to tackle this issue head-on because I think it’s long overdue. Now, a note: some people don’t have this issue at all! This post is for those who feel somehow excluded from the spiritual community or spiritual/intuitive practices because they’re not 100% certain what they believe and what’s real. To them I say, welcome!

In all my years reading tarot, I’ve never experienced 100% certainty. In fact, in my entire life I’ve never experienced 100% certainty. You don’t need to have a working theory or understanding of how tarot (or intuition or spirituality) works to work with it.

I’m also suspicious of anyone who boasts of such knowledge. One of the most beautiful things about tarot and intuition is that it invites us to explore and be a part of the mystery. We also don’t need to explain everything to benefit from it.

One of my favorite facets of being a professional tarot reader is seeing how the people who are the most wary of tarot as a practice are actually quite gifted at it. Tarot works best with questions. It’s all about finding patterns, interrogating our beliefs and stances, and looking for new paths forward. It’s meant to open up possibilities, not reduce our lives to a single prophecy or answer. When we engage tarot or our intuition with questions, we probe further into our own wisdom and a larger perspective.

While I’ve been reading tarot for almost twenty years, I’ve found that my practice has not only strengthened my intuition, but my intellect as well. I’m no closer to a unified theory of “how” tarot works or what intuition is. Rather, I’ve learned how to ask better questions. My skepticism has become balanced with the possibility of the unknown. I’ve experienced firsthand that growing this side of myself, letting in intuitive hits or interpretations that I can’t explain, has increased my ability to show up in my life, sharpened my judgment, and made me a more humble (and effective) person.

I like to tell clients that any tarot reading is just one source of information. We rarely make decisions going on one thing alone. When we do a reading or consult our intuition more generally, we’re just getting one voice in a chorus of input. There’s research, advice from friends and professionals, good old fashioned pros & cons, the list goes on and on. Just because we’re consulting our intuition doesn’t mean we’re throwing out everything else, and we shouldn’t. You’re not handing in your “rational human being” card when you read tarot, you’re just letting in an integral part of our identity as humans: intuition.

So, back to the title of this post: Developing your Intuition when You’re a Skeptic. Now, I consider myself a healthy skeptic. I ask questions to probe deeper, not to cover my butt. And I’m also a deeply intuitive, spiritual person who’s a tarot reader. All these facets of my identity combine to make me, at my best, humble, aware, connected, and questioning.

How do I suggest people on the fence at best or hostile at worst (though, if you’re reading this post, I think you’re safely beyond that point… welcome to the fold ;) work with tarot? It’s time for a list:

1. Use tarot with your current belief system - You don’t need to be a card/crystal-carrying member of the uber-woo community. I’m not and I’m a professional tarot reader! Bring yourself as you are to the cards. If you don’t believe in angels or spirit guides, cool. You might want to treat tarot as a tool to access your subconscious. There’s no set system tied to the cards. You get to choose how you work with them.

2. Embrace your curiosity - I think tarot is such a beloved tool because it invites us to step outside of our well-worn thought patterns. Have fun with what comes up and allow yourself to play with your interpretations, connections, and ideas. Detaching from the outcome and remembering that your reading is your reading helps. You don’t have to share with anyone unless you’re ready to and feel excited about it.

3. Experiment with your tarot interpretations and/or intuitive hits - Tarot is a long-winded and poetic tool. It’s not designed to give us clear-cut answers and easy-to-interpret messages (if that’s what you’re into, you may want to try lenormand or oracle decks instead). There’s truly no right or wrong way to read the cards, and 10 pro tarot readers would give you 10 different interpretations of the same cards. So, with that in mind, let yourself run free with your readings. Try interpretations on for size and see how they unfold in real life. You’re not betting on horses - the stakes are low. Even more, you’ll get actual validation for your insights. Even ones that are off the mark help direct you towards your intuition.

4. Let yourself be wrong - You’re learning after all. (Spoiler alert: you’ll always be learning with tarot! That’s why I love it and have yet to get bored). As I said above, the stakes are low. So long as you aren’t making grand proclamations, quitting your job, or betting your house, you don’t have much to loose. Whenever something’s off, see if you can pinpoint how you felt when making the connection and use the knowledge in the future.

I hope this has been helpful for anyone conflicted or on the fence about tarot and intuition in general. Let me know your experience, ideas, and questions in the comments below. I’m curious to hear from you all and continue this discussion!

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: November 4-10

What do you want to do?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Weekly Forecast: October 28 - November 3

It's hard to feel satisfied this week. We have the antsy energy of the Seven of Pentacles starting us off: What is making us feel restless, as if we have unfinished business?

Looking for the bee in our bonnet is a worthy endeavor. The Seven of Pentacles shows a crucial point in our journey. Once we've created something noteworthy, it's important to sit with it and see what might need editing. The central point of reference here is our own experience. How do we really feel about what we've accomplished? Does it work for us or are we working for it?

The continuity in this reading is deeply encouraging. If we dive into our desire to perfect and shape our lives we can take the quick leap from good enough to wonderfully just right: the Ten of Pentacles.

We are, however, not quite used to feeling satisfied. The Four of Cups is one step away, continuing the overall picky vibes of the Seven of Pentacles. It's as if we can't stay in the diverse splendor of the Ten of Pentacles for too long. Is it too dangerous to enjoy our lives or be proud of our achievements? Are we poking holes in something beautiful, and why?

The Four of Cups is where our emotional experience comes in, and perhaps there's a shade of perfectionism here, like we can't allow ourselves to accept just how far we've come and how resplendent and delightful and messy our lives can look.

I see this card as an instinct to turn away from our lives, perhaps with a twinge of depression. Yet the bounty of the Ten of Pentacles isn't polished to the point of inauthenticity, and maybe it's that facet that makes it so threatening. You can look at this card as a rich and full life. And I mean all of life.

It's the dishes in the kitchen sink you can never get to because you're running around working, seeing friends, and tending to connections; the challenges of close friendships and tight-knit families; the chaos of life itself.

The tens are maximalist cards. Some of them, like the swords and wands, lead to overwhelm and heartache. Others, like the pentacles and cups, show how you can't have too much of a good thing. Love, connection, and a well-lived life flourish in abundance. Yet the intensity can be overwhelming at times, loud and bright and fast-moving. Remaining in the moment, being supported by all the work we're doing and all that we have to show it, is a magical thing to do. It opens doors to so much more.

This week we can resist the old pattern of retreating into critical thinking or narratives of failure and loneliness and stay in our majestic, messy, and fantastic now.

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Weekly Forecast: October 21-27

I love how this week's forecast is giving us a clear choice between mindful, embodied action and a frenzied action that leads to over-extending ourselves. Yes, you read the cards right: Temperance is urging us to find peace in the practice of the Two of Pentacles rather than the wild, unfocused careening of the Five of Wands.

Speaking to the elements at work, this is a week to ground ourselves in the wisdom of earth, staying close to our physical and material needs. Getting caught up in the world of fire and ambition is only leading to conflict and chaos.

Temperance can be a challenging card to work with; sometimes the angelic imagery seems unattainable and even haughty. Yet this week we're being asked to see how our higher self directs us towards healthy actions. What guiding instincts lead us to care for ourselves? How can thinking simply and focusing on actionable steps bring us closer to the divine?

Temperance also straddles these two worlds. You'll notice the angel has one foot dipped into the water and the other stabilized on the earth itself. Care and simple commitment to what we need to do in our everyday lives can be surprisingly transcendent. Let's see what this awareness brings to the surface this week.

The wands here are giving us a word of caution. While it's lovely to think we'll sashay into the embodied path of Temperance & the Two of Pentacles, the Five of Wands alerts us to an internal battle of sorts. Are we pretending or wishing we could just push forward and fill our time with action? Is there something threatening about keeping things simple and in the moment?

The wands are often emblematic of our society's obsession with productivity and accomplishment. Having the conflict-theme five in our reading is straightforward tarot-speak for "just chill out, please."

How might our desire to stay busy and keep striving be hindering us right now? What happens when we slow down and just focus on baby steps? And, most importantly, how does doing this distance us from our higher-self and Temperance nature?

I see this reading as an invitation to open up to the wonder and healing of being in the moment, particularly in our mundane lives. Looking to the jovial dance of the Two of Pentacles we can ask ourselves, "How am I doing something beautiful, transcendent, and joyful when I stay close to my own experience and actual, lived life?"

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Weekly Forecast: October 14-20

Resist the urge to self-isolate.

Sometimes when I sit down to write a forecast I type out the first phrase that comes to mind, just like the one above.

Usually these are a nice jumping-off point, but this week it's right on the money - a tarot reading thesis statement, if you will.

As we begin this week we're worn-down and wounded in some way, yet the solid gentleness of the Queen of Pentacles is urging us to reach out and find soothing care in our relationships via the Six of Cups.

Let's look deeper.

As you may have noticed, I'm a huge fan of artist Mary Evans' Apparition Tarot, featured here. Could I pass up a deck with pastel cherubs dancing on the backs? No! But I also love her interpretations of the cards - they often bring a piercing freshness to their symbolism, taking us on a more modern path to their meanings.

Here, instead of the usual face-down figure stabbed ten times in the back, we have an outstretched hand pierced with swords. It's a painful image to behold. The arm reaching forward makes me think of the pain in vulnerability; what happens when we seek connection and aren't seen, heard, or, worse, treated with respect.

Clearly, these feelings and experiences are at work this week, operating in our lives either consciously or subconsciously. Where have we felt rejected, hurt, or misrepresented? What bids for affection have been ignored or turned down by others, willfully or not?

I whispered a quiet "ooh, boy!" when I turned over this card. It's been a while since we've seen it here, and it's always an intense energy to work with; yet, the fact that it's the ten - the last in its sequence - suggests some finality. Our swords have built up and reached their maximum capacity. In seeing them for what they are we begin a new process of healing.

Which, as you may have guessed, is where the Queen of Pentacles comes in. I really think of this card here as powerful self-parenting energy. We're at a point where we can take the reins and choose to give ourselves all the support and soothing and kindness that may not have been gifted to us in the past. This Queen shows the empowering act of choosing to be our own ally. How can we care for ourselves and put our needs at the center as an act of deep love?

The Queen of Pentacles is also a solitary card; sometimes it can be lonely coming to terms with the responsibility of loving ourselves wholly. Moving with these two facets - the weight of assuming power and the joy and tenderness it cultivates - is absolutely an option. In fact, it's the bittersweet hallmark of the Kings and Queens of tarot. They've traveled far to reach this level of mastery. They know that power begins with oneself, the same as satisfaction, clarity, and so much more.

But what happens when the court cards of tarot band together? Does suffering rejection in the past doom us to the pressure of isolated self-care? Prioritizing our needs until we're alone in a corner? Not at all. This reading shows such a lovely path from the pain of hurt - that inhospitable land of swords - to the warmth of acceptance.

Take time this week to find your people, those trusted travelers who have wisdom, support, and insight to offer you. Look for those who deal with their struggles as a way to better know themselves - other kings and queens of the tarot journey.

The imagery here is stunning: The wounds of the Ten of Swords have disappeared in the Six of Cups where a rainbow of hands join together in supportive grace.

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Weekly Forecast: October 7-13

There's a lot of restless, destructive energy at work this week, dear friends. We have the upset of The Tower mixing with the ambition of The Chariot. Throw in the anxious worrying of the Nine of Swords and we have ourselves a fun mix, don't we?

Strangely, I'm into this group of cards. While The Tower is one of the least favored card in tarot, it has a positive spin. Cumbersome structures, whether they're societal of self-imposed, can be hard to escape. In this card, however, they come tumbling down. While this is often terrifying, it's also a massive release of energy. Some tower experiences take longer to recover from than others, however. What's falling down in your life right now?

While the bounce-back period from this card often takes place in the long-term (we are dealing with the Major Arcana, after all) this reading shows us busting out of the rubble with The Chariot. We can look to our life right now to see what's grasp on us is crumbling and, most importantly, releasing us from restrictive situations.

The Chariot has a lot to do with willpower and drive. Are we feeling a pull to go in a new direction, to make decisions that bring us glory, accomplishment, and satisfaction?

There's a tender story here: Our freedom is unlocking a huge store of motivation and capability. Sometimes it's sad to recognize that this has been held back in our past situation. And, what's more, it's scary to move forward, away from the rubble without looking back to fix or mend.

You may be anticipating my segueway into the Nine of Swords here. Indeed, moving away from our Tower experience is inviting in a bunch of anxious thoughts. These may feel stale and tired, however. The Nine of Swords represents a build-up of patterns and ideas. In other words, the crappy and overwhelming feeling is a known-quantity. Still not fun at all, but also not unfamiliar.

In the coming days it will be especially important to leave room for all the aspects of our experience, particularly our emotions. These cards signify big shifts; of course we're going to be kicking up old defense mechanisms and confronting our fear of the unknown.

The Chariot brings with it a huge dose of impatience. A part of us is raring and ready to go and prove ourselves. Yet The Tower releases a whole lot more along with energy and a new path ahead. There's dust that needs to clear, rubble that we need to see so that we can step over it. This is a long-term experience. What we can do in the meantime is make ourselves as comfortable, held, and supported while we process what's taking place. That means both caring for ourselves and reaching out to those who can understand and offer solace.

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