Weekly Tarot: July 26th-August 1st

***Note: I created this spread, and I read tarot intuitively meaning that I was not formally taught in any way. These are my thoughts and intuitive reactions to each card in each position, and these interpretations may not resonate with you, personally. This is in no way meant to predict certain events.***

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Card 1: What is changing this week? -- Ten of Wands

The Ten of Wands is associated with the element of fire, as are all Wands cards, and is all about abundance, or even having so much that it is a burden. The Ten of Wands is about carrying a heavy load, even if what you’re carrying is something you really want or enjoy.

 It’s about the usual things we associate with abundance as well as some of the negative aspects that may come with it. This card is a great reminder that everything has good and bad in it, everything can have easy elements and difficult ones.

Duality is normal and natural. This is the primary message of the Ten of Wands: abundance is here, and along with it, there may be a heavy burden to shoulder. 

A secondary message from the Ten of Wands this week is about completing a cycle or journey of some kind. You may feel that you have gotten everything you can out of a situation right now. That might be a job, a relationship, a belief, anything. Whatever it is, the Ten of Wands suggests that it may feel like more of a burden now than it ever has in the past.

In the past, this situation may have felt like it was worth whatever you had to carry to keep it. Now, you may be questioning whether you’re getting more out of it than you’re giving to it. You may feel like you’re ready to be done with something all of a sudden and not really explain why besides feeling like it has run its course.

I think it’s completely natural to come to moments along the way that require us to reflect and check in on the areas of life that are abundant for us. It’s important for us to know where our energy is going and where we have more than enough to give. 

Journal Question: What was once a blessing and now feels like a burden? Do you think it will feel like a blessing again in the future?

Card 2: What is supporting us this week? -- Seven of Wands

Another fiery card, the Seven of Wands is all about protection, perseverance, and standing up for the things we believe in. I have to note, opening the reading with two fire element cards is extremely aligned with the start of Leo season we’re experiencing! On the surface, this also means things might feel a lot more energized and charged now than they have in the past month or so.

This week what supports us is our sense of integrity. We have been working all year to uncover and solidify our values and beliefs, and this week we are shown how strong they have become. Not only have our beliefs become clearer and more aligned, they are strong enough to support us now. 

Not only are our beliefs strong, our ability to protect ourselves and persevere through difficulties and obstacles has grown as well. Mentally, we are rock solid right now. It’s a good time to trust your mental strength and recognize how far you have come in that area. 

This week, we are supported by mental fortitude, and whether we know it consciously or not, every mind is capable of being tough and fighting forward with integrity. We have an extraordinary ability to rise to any occasion, no matter how strenuous and testing it may be.

The idea that you are supported by your own mind and beliefs right now might feel absolutely outrageous. If that’s the case, you may want to take an inventory of all the times you’ve practiced integrity recently. The chances are that you’ll realize you’ve grown mentally more than you realize. If you do this exercise and still feel like you’re coming up short, now is a good time to reflect on what is missing to help you strengthen in this area.

Journal Question: 1) List 10 times you demonstrated integrity in the last week/month.

2) What does mental toughness mean to you? Do you consider yourself to be mentally tough/strong? Why or why not?

Card 3: What is the biggest challenge? -- Eight of Cups (Reversed)

In the upright, the Eight of Cups is usually about emotional disappointment and the act of withdrawing as a result. Upright, the Eight of Cups marks a sad but necessary moment when things hit a breaking point and tricky endings are forced to the surface -- it’s also about abandonment. However, when reversed, the Eight of Cups is about trying one more time. 

This week, I also think the Eight of Cups reversed is about not giving in to the impulse to walk away or check out. The challenge this week is to feel the desire to give up and walk away and stay the course anyway. It’s about accepting that you can not like how things are going and sticking around to help get them back on track anyway. 

I don’t think this is about ignoring the very real temptation to abandon ship as soon as things get tough, though. Instead of ignoring that feeling, the challenge this week is to feel that way, get to the bottom of that feeling and what is causing it, and act differently. With the Ten of Wands questions and realizations coming to light this week, we might want to walk away from all the things that feel heavy right now.

I don’t think that’s the best idea, because the Eight of Cups in reverse is asking us to try things one more time before making a definitive decision about whether it stays in our life or not. To be clear, there are things that don’t merit another chance: abusive relationships, demoralizing jobs, and unhealthy living situations should go as soon as possible. 

The challenge here isn’t with things that are definitely over and ready to be purged, but with the things that are in limbo or suddenly get uncomfortable. With these grey area situations, we are being asked to feel our feelings instead of act on them. We are positioned to feel things out and explore them without making hasty, possibly irreversible decisions. 

If you do choose to make big decisions this week, make sure they have been very well thought (and felt) out. Impulses to end situations shouldn’t be trusted this week. 

Journal Question: What are you tempted to abandon now? List 10 reasons to stay the course.

Card 4: What is the biggest opportunity? -- The Devil 

I know this is one of the scarier cards in the deck, but stick with me here. I think this opportunity is incredible. The Devil card is a symbol of unhealthy relationships, addiction, temptation, feeling trapped, and negative patterns. It’s about the dark parts of ourselves that we shove down and hope never see the light of day. 

The Devil isn’t traditionally a card about opportunities or silver linings, but I really do think there is one here. This week the opportunity is getting up close and personal with these nasty little dark parts of ourselves. It’s certainly not going to be fun, but it will be incredibly transformative. 

When we meet, and more importantly, acknowledge, the darkest parts of ourselves that we try so hard to hide from everyone (even ourselves), we disarm them. Simply acknowledging that we contain light and dark takes a great deal of power out of the dark parts that we are so afraid of. After all, the worst part of our darkness is that we’re afraid of it, and our fear of it is what makes it so nasty and hard to live with. 

When we shove the darkness down further and further, ignoring it and wishing it away, we actually relegate more power to it because our fear of it is what keeps it alive. This week, we have the opportunity to explore the dark parts of ourselves and make peace with it. We may even begin to own it.

When we own all the parts of ourselves, even the parts we’re not proud of, we become stronger and more whole. It makes it much easier to self-actualize and to develop as an individual when we’re not hiding and running away from things that are inherently part of who we are. There is nothing to be ashamed of here -- every single one of us struggles with The Devil within. 

Journal Question: What’s something about you or your past that you’re least proud of? When you’re done writing about it, say aloud: “I am still worthy of peace, love, and light.”

Overall Message -- Justice (Reversed) 

Things will seem really unfair this week: in a lot of ways, we’ll feel like we have everything we want, but we’ll also feel unhappy or disappointed with what we have, and we might even fall victim to self-sabotage. It’s important that we realize this massive emotional imbalance is just that -- emotional imbalance -- and therefore doesn’t merit any big actions to try and rectify. Because this is more of an emotional roller coaster than it is a concrete shift in real circumstances, be confident knowing that you can ride this out and likely feel very differently in a few days' time. In moments like these, it is really helpful to ask yourself questions to get to the bottom of what your emotions are pointing you towards.

If you’re feeling restless, you may ask yourself what you’re putting off or if there’s something you have been wanting to do for a while. If you’re feeling hopeless, you might ask yourself if you feel unworthy of things working out, and why that is. If you’re feeling tense, you might ask yourself if there’s a belief or thought you’re holding on to for dear life. You can ask whatever question feels appropriate, the important thing is that you ask. 

Our emotions are always clues for what is going on inside, and they should be treated as such. Another way of saying this is that there is always some truth in emotions, though they don’t tell us the whole story. 

My calendar is open for personal readings this week and next! To schedule a personal tarot reading with me, go to this page.