Weekly Forecast: September 2-8

What does mastery look like?

In tarot we often assume that it's embodied, at least in the everyday realm, by a King or Queen. After all, these archetypes are rulers. They're in charge, at the to of their game.

Being in that place, however, can be complex - fraught with pressure, perfectionism, and responsibility. This week, we're being asked to step away from these assumptions of power and play around in the middle ground.

The operative question is: What if what we're doing is perfect simply because it's what we're doing right now?

And, to dive a bit deeper, what if we're showing our mastery by rising to each challenge with a fresh mind, a sense of humor, and the humble ego of a beginner? Like, for example, the Page of Pentacles.

If we've been feeling the pressure of performance and perfectionism, it's time to step aside and see how that stance has been hobbling our work, creativity, and unique perspective. What I love most about these cards is how the youthful and new Two of Wands and Page of Pentacles are preceded by the next-level mature Temperance. Maturity and mastery may not be as stodgy and pressure-filled as we imagine. What we're doing right now is actually advanced, brave, and refreshingly open-minded.

So, it's a time to give ourselves all the patience and credit for proceeding imperfectly, without the utter certainty we might think we need. It's also, to be blunt, a time to chill out. Temperance shows us how balance in the different areas in our life is essential to our success and well-being.

What opportunities can we find in learning, planning, navigating new opportunities, and simply continuing along our current path? There's room for relaxation, play, innovation, and whatever else we may be craving to bring balance and freedom into our lives

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Weekly Forecast: August 12-18

Invest in yourself by walking away from drama.

Good morning, forecasters. This week's group of cards is giving us a refreshing message that can be hard to follow in real life: What if the most thorny-seeming conflict isn't ours to engage with? And what if we can walk away, unscathed, towards our bigger future as planned?

The Five of Swords shows the challenge that springs from its realm of communication, thoughts, and the mind. When words are used to hurt or manipulate things can get painful, fast. I think it's fascinating that tarot chooses the most damaging symbol for the least tangible meanings. As anyone who's ever heard the rhyme "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me," and thought, "Hmm.. I'm not so sure of that!" this card has a lot to say.

The rest of the swords cards can be similarly dark. Without action, change, feeling, or grounding, too many thoughts can often leave us stuck or injured. Here, the issue takes on a more social dimension where things compound quickly. This card may show up in a tricky group dynamic, manipulative person, or overall drama. Wherever it is, you're likely already aware of its power.

Speaking of power, the swords can also be huge attention hogs. Visually, they're the most dramatic so we assume that their meaning is as well. What I love most about this reading is that the other cards challenge this idea thoroughly.

Is there a part of your life that seems to be taking up a lot of mental space? Is it eclipsing other tasks, pleasures, and connections with its messiness? And, most importantly, are you tempted to lavish it with extra attention? As if you just dug deeper you could figure out the root of all the chaos?

Well, this is a week to step away from all that, and I just love how The Fool is the card that's inspiring us.

Here, we get a taste of The Fool's cheekiness, because even though this archetype is a signifier of innocence and new beginnings, he's also been around the block enough to know when to cut his losses and leave. There's obviously been some preparation with his knapsack: he's chosen to take only what he needs (and none of the baggage from other people's drama.)

What this card also says is that we can let the light of our own journey lead us away from tangles of other people's inner (and outer) conflict. Doing this is an act of love, both for ourselves and the other. The Fool allows himself to follow what's good, trusting both in his ability to lead and his ability to navigate whatever comes his way. The trick is to pack light, be light on your feet, and prioritize your instincts.

Since the Five of Swords is in the past, it seems to be somewhat of a known quantity. Perhaps something very familiar and alluring. An old puzzle to solve, an old story of conflict, doubt, or limitation. Yet there's a new story that's eclipsing it this week, so expect some blow-back while remaining true to your new and solid path. On the other side of The Fool's journey? It's the Queen of Pentacles, indicating that we're prioritizing an open and stable life for ourselves, one where we can care and honor our needs and, perhaps, extend a loving (and conditional) invitation to any past drama-creators on the other side.

I find it interesting that I chose to use a Marseille deck this morning, because this Fool is different from the Rider-Waite-Smith version. Most notably, the desperate-looking cat glomming itself onto the Fool's leg. While you're on your way out, choosing not to give this conflict more air time by pulling on each broken thread to try and get a picture of the whole, there will be plenty of invitations to do so from the people involved.

Keep walking and the cat will calm down. Maybe it will go back to the tangled confusion of the Five of Swords or maybe it'll start to travel with you, calm and glad for the perspective of distance. Either way, we're all graced with the presence of mind and spirit to chart a new and far better path for ourselves.

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Weekly Forecast: July 15-21

What does it mean to give ourselves the space we need to heal?

We often think of isolation or solitude when it comes to nursing our emotional wounds. Indeed, this approach can be helpful. In seeking to retreat from the confusion of the outside world we can better see what needs care and attention.

But isolation and stagnation can quickly spring from this approach when it's taken too far, which is why we have Temperance in the center of our reading. This week, it seems, we're processing some painful experiences through the Three of Swords. Instead of retreating, however, we're being invited to usher in the freeing energy of the Four of Wands.

Sometimes the Three of Swords can bring up feelings of fear: What if we're walking towards needless pain and suffering? I've found, however, that this card usually refers to past wounds being awakened through present experiences. A hand brushing against a bruised area.

With Temperance at the center we have a particularly empowering stance. How can we use our adult wisdom to channel the initial discomfort of the Three of Swords into something else?

There's a fascinating interplay here - difficulty inspiring motion. It's not the tired idea of having to suffer for art, or struggle equaling value. Rather, we're being asked to take our challenges and old wounds and move with them, seeing if they have anything else to say.

Which brings us to the Four of Wands. In tarot, these cards speak to structure, but the Four of Wands has a very iconoclastic take on the concept. It is, you might say, minimal: What is the minimal amount of guidance and stability we need to flourish?

In the Four of Wands we see creativity, joyful expression, experimentation, and community. How can we balance and blend this with the energies of the Three of Swords?

Some things that come to mind: Breaking out of our exclusively solitary mode of healing, bringing insouciant energy to old limiting ideas, making art from past traumas, going to the gym after a good crying session.. I think you get the point.

With Temperance in the center we're in an excellent position to play with all of these techniques and then some. Choosing to peer into the intersection of creativity and struggle will be quite rewarding. And it might uncover a far more uplifting facet to our already familiar struggles.

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Weekly Forecast: June 17-23

This weekly forecast is asking us to embrace the spirit of newness. It's a refreshing change of energies, a shift from the traditional mindset of The Hierophant to the creative action of The Magician.

While it's important to gather information, study, research, and look to existing options, that energy can quickly become stultifying. Where do we, in all our unique glory, fit in? 

Plus, we can always learn more.  At what point, however, does this become a placeholder for the actual steps we need to follow if we want to be out in the world, making our dreams come true?

There's a sense of safety that comes from planning and tradition. These paths and places are known quantities. There are rules, examples, pre-ordained paths to follow. 

Our cards right now are giving us a little push out the door right now. We're ready to start practicing things in the big old world on our own. Embracing this shift in energy will be quite fun and energizing. The Magician sings when he's creating in the moment. With all of the tools of tarot laid on his table, he knows that he has all the pieces he needs to make something truly great. 

So, if anything, this is a time to learn by doing, to break free from any blueprints that don't quite feel right, and to bring our plans into conversation with the larger world. We can learn by doing and put our skills, talents, and interests front and center. 

What do we need to further our own vision right now? What are we itching to start, experiment with, or make happen? Anything that falls outside of this realm - especially the lovely distractions - can take a break out of the spotlight for now. This is a time to put ourselves in the center and get to working some magic. It's all leading to a new found sense of clarity in the Ace of Swords, so let's enjoy the ride and see what we're capable of. 

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Weekly Forecast: April 15-21

As I write this a remarkably beautiful day is beginning in Durham. The rain and storms have cleared out the fog of humidity, making the air crisp and breezy, full of life. A similar change in weather is happening in this reading, unfolding in our emotional lives instead of the physical world around us. 

I look at The Fool as the manifestation of all of Spring's hopeful, energetic, and thriving energy. This character has the same daring and tenacity of a plant bursting forth after the winter. Fresh and tender, yes, but also putting so much towards its own growth and doing so without apology. 

We're undergoing similar changes this week, awakening from a period of seeking, confusion, and doubt with an almost shocking sense of clarity. The air has cleared and we've been transformed into something new, though we may not be so sure of the how, why, or what next. 

And, indeed, The Fool is the symbol of newness. The first card in the tarot deck, they show us the power of beginning, and not just for the first time. Our lives have seasons, too, and this card appears to point us to an important fresh start unfolding in this very moment. 

While The Fool is a charming and welcome card in almost any spread, it's also a challenging one to digest, because this card represents risk-taking, vulnerability, and a road ahead full of mistakes.

Here, however, the cards have a beautiful interpretation of the fears that arise when we sense ourselves embarking on a "Fool path." 

I'm struck by the mirroring happening here, as the archetypal power of The Fool, flanked or held back by his adorably awkward animal companion, transitions into the Page of Wands. Both face forward, to the future, yet they have some enlightening differences.

This week, these cards tell us, is a pivotal time to refocus on our own individual journeys. We all walk through life as ourselves and, no matter how hard we try, we must face the inevitability and uniqueness of our own path. Though we might want to hide behind distractions or other people's experiences, doing so ultimately leads to frustration, dissatisfaction, and anxiety. 

Why, in other words, would we want to side-step the transformative new start of The Fool and downgrade into the sometimes charming, but in this case trifling, stance of the Page of Wands?

This Page deals in the fiery realm of action and, as all pages do, represents youthful enthusiasm and inexperience. It seems like we may be tempted to re-frame our current moment, either to ourselves or others, as something inconsequential, silly, and bumbling. Just another experiment on our path, nothing to see here! 

Deep down, however, we know that this is big. That we have something at stake - a closely-held dream, important calling, or inexplicable pull to try something new. Downplaying this importance allows us to feel safer. If we fall on our faces who would laugh? It was only a joke, after all.

This is where the power of The Fool becomes evident for this is a card that sees the sacredness in taking risks, the power of living passionately and seeking to transform. Vulnerability is power, we don't need to have any certainty to begin, and we don't need to explain our journeys. The Fool owns and celebrates their mistakes, risks, and choices. He takes them seriously and dares to stand by his path of growth.

So the pull we feel this week to downplay the changes unfolding within us isn't one to heed. This is a time to practice constantly refocusing on our own experience, focusing on our Fool's journey. That means being mindful of the urges to engage in self-deprecating talk, undervaluing our talents and dreams, and hiding behind new projects we don't feel completely aligned with. 

Because there's an interesting thread here in that following our initial instinct to downgrade to the Page of Wands is leading us to the Eight of Swords, a familiar and well-trodden route of anxiety, collapse, and stalemate. In not taking ourselves seriously we take a detour into a dead end instead of continuing along a wide-open yet-unexplored road. 

Let's choose instead to stay present in our newness and invest in pursuing what makes our hearts beat faster. We're up for the challenge and ready to unfurl. 

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Weekly Forecast: January 28-February 3

We don't need to have money to give.

This week shows us the importance of showing up in small ways for the ones we love. It's easy to think that grand gestures or big gifts means the most. After all, they're certainly the most noticeable. But what is happiness truly made of? And, yes, that is a big question to start off our Monday!

But this week is one of gentleness, slowness, and the power of showing up. 

We begin with the Ten of Cups, a card that's so straightforward with its message it's almost frustrating. We can look at it and think "emotional abundance, hooray!" and then move on to more dramatic pastures. 

Unlike the Ten of Wands or the Ten of Swords, suits that get overbearing when taken to excess,  the Ten of Cups is, quite plainly, delightful. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck this card depicts a family of four cavorting under a rainbow lined with ten cups. Not only are their cups running over, they're levitating in a rainbow!

But this card begs the question - how did we get here? It's not through the power of conquest or accumulation, but rather the quieter, long-term journey of building relationships. This week we're being asked to think about all the little things that have added up to create this rainbow array. How have we built joy, support, and healing in our ties with others? And, most importantly, how can we celebrate it more?

The Page and Six of Pentacles shows us that we're in a giving mood. We want to make a difference, to reach out and be there for people, but we're trying to approach it in the realm of pentacles: material gestures that we can see and touch. 

There may be a tinge of wistfulness here - why can't we be the King of Pentacles, providing everyone with everything (and having plenty left over, to boot)?

The Pages, while also being exciting harbingers of new directions, also tell us to take baby steps, and I'm fascinated by how this page is turning his back on the Six of Pentacles - a card about material giving - and focusing on the Ten of Cups instead.

So let's follow suit and redirect our attention to the rainbow here. Truly, something miraculous is happening, and this card is inviting us to look closer at what may be so interwoven into our daily lives we hardly notice it. 

What specific joys do we contribute to our relationships? What connections have we worked hard to build? And which are so natural they seem spontaneous? 

This week is all about detaching from the desire to show our support materially and financially and recognizing the way we add "value" simply be being there for the ones we love. Presence is so much more than presents, in other words! And it's a completely renewable resource.

So as you might guess, this reading is gently nudging us to spend quality time under our respective rainbows and to re-frame our current situation as one of an abundance of affection. Reach out to an old friend, host a cozy dinner party, and listen to the ones you love. It means so much more than any gift you can buy.

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Weekly Forecast: November 5-11

Why is it that we often choose to highlight our struggles instead of our happiness? This week's reading challenges our assumption that the most difficult things deserve the most attention. What can happen when we take abundance seriously?

As a young teenager filled with angst, I spent a lot of time listening to Elliott Smith and crying with theatrical intensity. Of course, I was having a hard time navigating the formidable wilderness of high school, but I was also finding comforting stasis in my sadness (just ask my livejournal!) 

I built up a wonderful and well-tended myth around the difficulties in my life and used them as a shield. Of course my life was meaningful and important - just look at how hard I was struggling! But I was also relatively cozy and had a lot of wonderful things occurring at the same time. Rather than give those attention I tended to my angst with the diligence of a master gardener. And, as one would expect, it flourished while the rest of my life stayed the same.

This week we're being asked to lift our heads from the difficult or frustrating and do the more challenging work of nurturing and highlighting our abundant joy and success. Having these cards back to back - the intense Three of Swords with the celebratory Three of Cups - suggests that we've been trained to see one instead of the other. Perhaps we're even choosing to highlight our struggles as a way of protecting ourselves. Is the open happiness of the Three of Cups boastful or ego-driven? Is it leaving us vulnerable to criticism and judgment?

I think of how easy it is to wax poetic about the latest struggle in your life only to come up with a few measly sentences to describe a major accomplishment or beautiful moment. Focusing on the fear - the Three of Swords - limits our expression and growth. So much can happen when we're unabashedly broadcasting our strengths and dreams, one of the most important being that is attracts friends and allies who want to join in on the party. 

And, yes, it can be difficult. There will always be Three of Swords experiences in our lives. Turning our back on the concurrent Three of Cups moments, however, keeps us in a limited place. We can struggle forward with joy, too. It's more complex, sure, but far more meaningful.

Speaking of meaning, The High Priestess is holding down the other end of our reading with patient wisdom. Her presence elevates the magic of the Three of Cups, telling us to direct our attention to what's growing, giving back to us, and bringing us closer to other people. Doing so is awakening an important sense of purpose and uncovering some pretty profound insights. 

The High Priestess chooses to see the world as a place full of mystery and meaning. What's more, she positions herself as an important keeper of knowledge. Her presence here inspires us to turn her curious gaze towards the Three of Cups moments in our lives. They are, in her eyes, full of important and magical connections worthy of study. The Three of Swords has had more than its share of time in the spotlight. Now it's time to discover that the Three of Cups has to tell us about ourselves and the world around us. 

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