Weekly Forecast: February 11-17

Well, well this is an absolutely fascinating combination of cards! What is it about the focused diligence of the Eight of Coins that's bringing on the creative insight of The Magician and The High Priestess?

How can toiling at our workbench usher in and activate profound inner growth and change?

Oftentimes we pair work with drudgery. We clock in, work, and clock out. Our efforts become the means to an ends. And that end is money. Hardly the stuff of transcendence or inspiration.

Unless you have a job that's creatively activating and inspiring, in which case, congratulations! Yet even there we can become hemmed in by the restrictive definitions of work that abound in our culture. Even being a professional tarot reader, while so personally and spiritually gratifying, involves tax preparation and bookkeeping - tasks that do not ignite my creative spirit, to say the least.

But that's not what we're dealing with here, and for those of us who aren't so lit up by our jobs, this reading is talking about work in a broader sense. What have you been consistently striving towards and devoting your time and effort to? The coins/pentacles refer to the material world, after all. What have you been growing, caring for, and honoring with daily attention and commitment? 

Here, we see that being engaged with something we care about and showing up to make sure it succeeds can propel us into a delightful state of focus. Work doesn't just have to be our jobs, it can be a special sense of honor and obligation towards something we know we need to do. A calling, perhaps, if you're into that language, or simply an action that centers you and makes you feel purposeful and connected to your world. 

Whatever that is for you, this week is a time to lavish that project, role, or act with all the attention and dedication you can muster. It's not going to be a chore in the least bit and you'll know it because it feels good. What's more, this natural motivation is jump-starting a new period of self-discovery. We're stumbling into a rebirth of sorts - something we're already doing is connecting to a deep part of our personality that's ready and raring to go.

The Magician reflects this energy and inspiration. The first stop on the Fool's Journey through the Major Arcana, The Magician is all about seeing yourself as the protagonist of your own adventure. Willfulness, innovation, experimentation, and creativity swirl around this card with so much charisma. Paired with the Eight of Pentacles, it's as if we've been practicing for a new role subconsciously only to realize that the curtain has risen and here we are, already doing it in the great big world.

This is a wonderful type of transition - we already have the skills, we don't need to prepare, and we're already here - that has set off a long-awaited transformation. Going from card number 1 (The Magician) to card number 2 (The High Priestess) only accentuates the power and momentum that's being unleashed. Which is good news, because we don't need to do much here aside from recognizing that we're onto something personally meaningful.

The High Priestess encourages us to take some time after the lightening jolt of The Magician, the period when we look up from our workbenches to see that we've created something glorious that's asking more of us - to do some internal processing. We need to digest the information that's come from recent events so that we can integrate it into our understanding of ourselves. 

Otherwise we'll rush ahead and become burnt out and overwhelmed. And this change is far too important to fizzle out so unceremoniously.

Speaking of ceremonies, this card also asks us to do some work to value and consecrate our knowledge and instincts. Look back on whatever you've been dedicating your time to, that Eight of Pentacles experience, and see how your intuition led you there. Maybe you couldn't see it at the time, but now its the opportunity to identify and celebrate how you followed your inner voice to something important and kept on going even though it was challenging and difficult.

Spending time reflecting and understanding will help elevate our intuition and inner-knowledge to a place of honor. That way we can value, trust, and respect it as we continue to grow into this period of change and self-confidence.

Whatever you're doing to put yourself in the Eight of Pentacles mindset, keep at it and see how it challenges your ideas of who you are and what you're capable of. After all, vision and intuition paired with doing the actual work? It might just be the true recipe for success, and personally meaningful success at that. 

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Weekly Forecast: September 4-10

Problem solving. The phrase can feel clinical sometimes, like we're scientists measuring out the exact quantities needed for an experiment. Get it right and voila! we've solved the problem. I find this phrase neglects many things - the multiple moving parts we need to wrangle in order to find a solution, the practice of "making things happen," and the magic of it all coming together. And what happens after.

We have all this and more coming our way in the next seven days. This week we're at our peak ability to smooth over obstacles, find elegant solutions to tricky situations, and to make the final touches on big projects. We're prime problem-solvers an we're also visionaries. What we accomplish now is sending us down even more promising paths and our challenge will be to shift from a mentality of putting on finishing touches to starting an exciting journey anew.

It's a very invigorating energy to see emerging during this time of year. We're beginning September with sharp minds, honed over months of deliberation, challenge, and experimentation. We're the King of Swords, wielding our minds like the sharp and efficient tool it is. We know and trust that our perceptions, thoughts, and insights are our guiding force, a compass that leads us in the right direction.

So what to do with this hard-won and refreshing clarity? In the middle of the week we'll be using our insights to focus in on the last stretch of work on a project. We have the ability to focus deeply, so let's use it! The eight of coins is the perfect card to direct the powers of the King of Swords into concrete results. It's work, yes, but we can dive into it and find a peaceful flow that will make things proceed quickly and smoothly. 

When we finally look up we'll see that the scenery has changed ever so slightly. New opportunities have sprung up from all our hard work. Change is on the horizon and a sense of effervescent possibility. It'll be a big contrast from our rational, buckle down mode and we'll be asked not to question it too much. Change is always happening and if we spend too much time mulling over the why we might miss the natural next thing.

The two of coins will have us juggling several options. It'll be exciting and dynamic, and we'll need to call on our sense of playful adventure to make the best of it. The stakes aren't high and things are just getting started. Luckily we have the work ethic of the eight of coins and the wherewithal of the King of Swords to guide us forward. 

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