Tarot for Self-Care: Three of Swords
The three of swords is a straightforward card. Frighteningly so. Three swords piercing a heart: as clear a representation of pain and suffering as you can think of.
I’m an optimist. I like to look on the bright side, to see the upcoming sunrise in the darkest hours of the night.
But sometimes things just hurt. Sometimes rushing through the pain is disrespectful. We feel pain for a reason. It alerts us to suffering, injustice, and wrongdoing. It has a message and it begs for action. When the pain grows too acute we can’t ignore it. Something must be done.
So what happens when we gloss over the pain compulsively? In our culture, if we grieve we are weak. We are supposed to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and steamroll over the bumps and difficulties. Act as if they never happened. Our suffering, in this line of thinking, is a personal failing.
My response? That's garbage.
We do not exist in isolation. We are families, communities, nations, and humans. We are responsible for each other.
The three of swords has been on my mind this week. Two more black men have been killed by police. Their names are Keith Lamont Scott and Terence Crutcher.
I am angry. I am filled with sorrow. I am fed up. And I am immensely privileged to take a break from this reality.
There are two parallel worlds existing in our country right now. I get to walk through one, feeling seen and protected because of my whiteness. People of color are trapped in another, where injustice is baked into its very structure. For them, there is no guaranteed safety, there is no guaranteed justice, no guaranteed equality.
To turn away from another’s pain is to deny their humanity. To rush to a brighter interpretation is to gloss over another’s reality simply because it is different from your own or makes you uncomfortable.
We can’t do this. We can’t support a world that marginalizes others and erases their experiences. I don’t have a solution. I do know, however, that in order to move forward we have to acknowledge the swords placed in our hearts and the hearts of others, holding space for their grief and accepting responsibility for the world we live in and create.
Tarot for Self-Care: The Empress
Explore Self-Care through Tarot. Every Wednesday I’ll be drawing one card and reflecting on what it tells us about how to take care of ourselves in this busy world. Look forward to tarot spreads, recipes, rituals, and more.
The Empress is an unabashedly sensual card. She sits on a comfortable throne, staring out at us with a relaxed confidence. Surrounded by natural splendor – lush trees, a cascading river, and bountiful grains – she rules fertility and abundance. Her realm is not the above and beyond, it is the here and now. The delights of the physical and the magic all around us.
This card invites us to connect to our senses and ourselves. To revel in the moment and celebrate our connection to the physical world.
This week I certainly needed to embrace the energy of the Empress. I was running around, feeling disconnected from myself, and wrapped up in the constant buzz in my mind. When I saw this card it didn't take long to figure out how to channel more of the Empress.
I’ve always loved making concoctions. When I was young I used to make potions out of whatever I could find in the kitchen, plus green food coloring (because I thought it looked cool, of course). Later, I started making natural body products and even started a business selling them. I still love the process of combining the various ingredients, getting inspired by the smells and textures of herbs and oils.
What better way to channel The Empress’ connection to nature and the realm of the senses?
This week I’m sharing a bath soak recipe I made with the Empress in mind. I used buttermilk powder for its skin softening powers as well as a symbol of the Empress’ connection to motherhood. The oats are taken from the grains depicted on the card and I used hibiscus to represent the red of the pomegranates on her robe. And because it makes your bathwater pink, so how could I resist?
I found the act of making the soak just as enjoyable as the actual soaking - very in-line with the Empress way of thinking. Feel free to substitute herbs to your liking. The only requirement is you smell, touch, and relax throughout the process.
Empress Bath Soak
Materials
Spice Grinder
Small Bowl
Jar
Ingredients
¼ cup buttermilk powder
¼ cup ground oats
¼ cup Epsom salts
4 tbsp pink salt (or any other coarse salt)
2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
5-7 dried hibiscus flowers
10 drops essential oil(s) of your choice
(I used 5 drops sandalwood and 5 drops rose)
Instructions
1. Mix buttermilk powder, ground oats, and Epsom salts in a small bowl.
2. Place pink salt, lavender flowers, and hibiscus flowers in spice grinder. Grind until powdery and uniform in texture.
3. Add to bowl and mix to combine.
4. Add essential oils, stirring to incorporate.
5. Pour into jar and you’re done!
6. To bathe: Add 3-5 tablespoons to bathwater and soak your troubles away.