Weekly Forecast: June 10-16

What do we really want?

Sometimes this answer to this question can seem mysterious and elusive. Life gets busy and convention and responsibility take over. It's a cycle that repeats itself over and over. We can't feel secure until we know the contours of our lives, yet we also crave the promise of the unknown and need creative license to reshape our lives when we hear a new future calling.

This week's reading shows us at the beginning of a new cycle of exploration. It's no surprise after weeks of heady and inspiring readings. Something's building to a crescendo and now we're here with The World leading the way.

Already we can see that a central theme of our new desire for change is about expansion and ease. If we're been carrying around baggage about scarcity, stifling duty, or the toxic romance of unnecessary or perpetual struggle, now is the time to shake it free vigorously.

When The World shows up it's a sign that there's big and beautiful work to do. And that it's the kind of work that flows with the ease of authenticity and brave desire. It is, in other words, time to get to doing what we'd really love to be doing. To go after what we truly want.

Sometimes a huge obstacle to this next step is the false idea that we have to choose one or the other: freedom or stability, creativity or safety, passion or tradition, acceptance or individuality.

I could go on and on.

But we don't have to cosmic and personal cards like The World and The Lovers here for no reason. Together, these cards almost slap us in the face with a much-needed wakeup call: Choosing our biggest, most beautiful future opens us up to the world itself.

The only "having it all" is being all of our true selves. Doing that lifts up our relationships, communities, and work. It's not irresponsible to prioritize our spiritual and creative growth and wellbeing. It only amplifies and feeds our energy and reach.

So, if we're feeling a bit shy about what we want, maybe making excuses - not allowing ourselves to even think about it - or have gotten so far that we've rationalized away our internal messaging, now is the time to stop all that.

It can be so simple, which is why the Ace of Wands is our final card. Both the beginning of a new cycle and the spark of limitless potential, the Ace of Wands shows us that the next step forward is doing what feels good. In our case, what feels good in a cosmic, toe-curling, personal level.

It can start small, taking the next steps, starting the new thing, or simply getting back in touch with our sense of what's right for us. Our task right now is to stoke and feed the fire, building small actions on top of each other until we have a raging and impressive bonfire of wands.

This is a time of few wrong choices if we can make them in service of our wild, lush, and unique growth. Don't be surprised if it reflects back on itself, building warmth quicker than we can even imagine.

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Weekly Forecast: June 3-9

This week's forecast shows a lovely and welcome breakthrough. Whenever we see The World we can be sure that the clouds are parting and welcome, joyous perspective is on the way. 

Our experience of The World is deeply connected to the suit of cups, a truly beautiful combination. 

It's a time to let our relationships propel us towards new horizons. What is it about another person - romantic partner, friend, or new acquaintance - that allows us to dream bigger?

Coming into contact with others shows us how the world can be different. We can observe new habits, outlooks, beliefs, personality traits, and often what we're most enamored with is something we'd like to cultivate within ourselves.

This is a week to reach out and revel in the connections that spring forth naturally. The Two of Cups is a very genuine card. We're drawn to those who make us feel good. It's as simple as that.

(Or, to be a bit snarky, we're healthily drawn to people that feel good! Other attractions do not apply in this reading ;)

How do we know this? Well, in addition to the Two of Cups' positive meaning, this card is paving way for The World in our reading. That is, spending time with people who lift us up and inspire us will quite literally broaden our horizons.

Stay alert for new and exciting opportunities, collaborations, and unexpected growth.

When we have cups and The World in a reading, it's a sure sign that our intuition and instincts are humming along with beautiful efficiency. Crippling doubt, over-planning, and needless anxiety can all be cordially dis-invited from this party! There's a strong current of joy and expansion that's more than capable of sweeping us away from these stagnant old places.

Fascinatingly, the focus on community and relationship in the Two of Cups is awakening an inner sense of direction. Collective connection is leading to personal realizations. 

In looking to others, we're uncovering a part of our own path that's eager and ready for exploring. Cue the Knight of Cups.

Again, a fun theme here is a lack of practicality and foresight. We're playing with the powerful energy of The World, so we don't need to worry about shirking our duties or causing trouble for ourselves. We can handle this and it's high time for some creative adventure.

Look to the Knight of Cups for clues as to what you want to explore. Though, in all likelihood, you won't need to do much searching. The Knights are a determined and energetic bunch. You probably have an idea about what you'd like to bring into your life right now, so don't hesitate.

The suit, however, gives us some further direction. The Knight of Cups is the ultimate romantic of tarot. So, above all, this is a time to bring the dizzying, intoxicating, and poetic energy of romance into our lives. 

Not necessarily the romance of sexuality (though, if that's on the table, do enjoy yourself!), but an overarching romance: love for the world, its many futures, the sensuality of everyday life, the fun of living life as an adventure, seeing the mythic in the mundane. 

All of these cards harmonize so beautifully that there won't be much tension in these pursuits. Give yourself all the permission to treat your life like the most engaging fantasy novel and follow what flows naturally. It's leading us towards some lovely growth and we're in good company as we travel along.

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Weekly Forecast: May 27-June 2

We have a clear and beautiful reading for our week ahead, though I'm sure many of us are feeling apprehensive with the Three of Swords as our final card. 

A wise tarot reader practice is to always start with the most difficult card. Our attention is there already, and skirting around it only builds tension. Not to mention we're unlikely to pay attention to what comes before when we wait for the dreaded shoe to drop.

So I'll start with the Three of Swords first, though in this case the sadness it represents isn't dropping in a harsh or dramatic fashion. We have some cushioning here, most notably in all the hard work we've done to show up for ourselves. It's our job this week to muster all our care, curiosity, and protective force on our own behalf when difficult emotions arise. 

It's an ideal situation: giving ourselves the respite we need when things get hard. And what wisdom can we gain when we let our upsetting Three of Swords moments get solace from our brilliance and nurturing?

Now, onto this bold card. Many can guess what it means, but this enigmatic and punchy illustration has a lot of nuance. So, for those of you reading who aren't in the grips of an emotional crisis, fear not. Like the clouds pouring rain in the background, the feelings represented in the Three of Swords have all the varying intensity of weather. It rains, it pours, and sometimes it just sprinkles. 

There's also an interesting facet of this card in that sometimes the smallest slight or misfortune can awaken huge recesses of doubt, grief, or confusion. One sword can feel like three piercing your heart and the storm seems endless. Seeing these moments for what they are can curtail a sense of panic and fear. Sometimes we need to let it all out, and a small moment gives us that opportunity. 

Whether we're dealing with a minor emotional storm, a moment of upset, or a deeper struggle, we have incredibly good company  this week. The Queen of Pentacles is holding down the center of this reading and, like her, we're being encouraged to hold space for ourselves and all our emotions with the dedication and dignity of a true ruler.

As a Queen in tarot, she's not interested in ruling over. I think of these characters as stewards - noble caretakers familiar with and respectful of all aspects of their terrain. So what happens when things get stormy? What does it mean to be the protector, expert, and loving steward of our emotional self? We draw in our resources, care for ourselves with all our patience and love, and know that it will pass.

It's a wonderful match for the restless, analytical energy of the Swords. This Queen instructs us to ground ourselves in daily life, making room for our "negative" or challenging emotions within these stable structures. We must stick by our routines, continue our meditation practices, make ourselves healthy and nourishing meals, even if we don't feel good or up to the task. We can also give ourselves space, gathering our resources around us to gain strength. We do these things for a reason and, like this Queen, part of us knows that the saving grace is in the little things.

Speaking of which, this reading isn't all about sticking steadfastly to routine in the face of spiky emotions. What's a Queen without a crown or a flowing set of robes? Similarly, we might want to try to interject some splendor and majesty into these daily rituals. Feather our nest, care for our bodies in a decadent way. Doing these things can show us how much we value ourselves, a self-coronation of sorts, and doing this when we feel down is especially moving and powerful. 

Because we're not flailing in the wind here. The Four of Wands that started this reading off shows us getting back to the basics. No the basic ideas of the swords or the basic physical needs of the pentacles, but the basic actions of the wands. Sometimes uncovering what's essential to us - what we must do to fulfill ourselves - kicks up some existential panic. Cue the Three of Swords. Yet in this case we're prepared, loving, and ready to step in and give ourselves what we need. 

This week is a time to do as the Queen of Pentacles would do: Be a steward to your tough emotions, create as cozy and supportive a home for your feelings as you can, and get back to the basics of what you truly need to feel alive and your true self. 

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Weekly Forecast: May 20-26

Can ambition and peace coexist? We certainly don't get many stories that reflect this situation. Usually, ambition appears as a single-minded crusade of sorts, a headlong and determined walk towards greatness. Sure, there may be some pitfalls along the way, but only ones that bolster the larger arc of growth. No matter how much slogging the hero endures, they end up on top, all the richer. 

It's also a pretty exhausting narrative. Struggle equals success. We'll sleep when we're dead. Sure sounds healthy, doesn't it?

This week's reading might, at first glance, seem like the same old story. The peace of The Star is giving away to the ambition of The Chariot. In other words, the time for rest is over, and no we have to grab the reins and get going. 

But who's this in the center? A minor arcana card, and a mysterious one at that: The Seven of Pentacles.

This is where the plot thickens. This card can often represent re-evaluation and dissatisfaction; that phase in a journey when we're not sure what we've done or if anything is working or worth it. A classic mini crisis of faith. 

I see this card as an endearing human interjection. This week we'll be wrestling with our old stories of success. What can we have? How can it look?

In this card, we see ourselves hemming and hawing after making quite a bit of headway. Suddenly, the old ideas come back: we can't enjoy rest and success at the same time, right? It can't feel good and be good, that would just be too easy or, worse yet, a sign we're not working hard enough.

I love how the doubt and stalling of the Seven of Pentacles is sandwiched by two magnetic Major Arcana cards, as if these concerns are  happening on a much less important plane. If we're to rise to their level, we have to accept that we can write our own stories and decide what our own definition of success looks like.

This is where The Chariot has more to say. After all, what card combines opposites in a more powerful way? You'll notice the two sphinxes in the foreground, illustrated in alternating patterns of black and white. Bringing seeming opposites together is what drives the chariot itself forward. In this way, we're being presented an opportunity to mesh together the care and consideration of The Star with the vision and adventure of The Chariot.

To bring this all back down to earth, these cards are encouraging us to remain dedicated to all the practices, big and small, that give us a sense of peace, healing, and greater meaning. The Star's approach is not one for us to abandon right now, rather it's something to bring with us on whatever journey towards success we're embarking on. It's just up to us to remember how much we can shape and choose its path. 

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Weekly Forecast: May 13-19

We have a nice and uplifting forecast for the week ahead. It's not a time for intensity, hand-wringing, or choice fatigue, though if those are present in our lives (as they often are) we have these cards encouraging us to skip in another direction. And what direction might that be? One that points towards a passionate engagement with ourselves.

The Lovers is a card few people would turn down. The name, the imagery - it's all delightful and carries a romantic overtone that's often missing in everyday life. But who says that has to be the case? As a major arcana card, The Lovers also asks us to elevate our understanding our our situation. Is something boring, quotidian, or frustrating really all it seems?

Even more excitingly, this powerhouse card is followed by the Ace of Swords and the Queen of Cups. I've often written how The Lovers, in addition to romance, deals with the theme of choice. Here, we have two cards that often get stuck at opposite ends of a spectrum: The intellectual breakthrough of the Ace of Pentacles and the intuitive expertise of the Queen of Cups. This week, however, our real choice is between engaging in old routines that uphold this false dichotomy and reaching for something wilder, bigger, and yet-unexplored.

In other words, it's time to go for it. Now, whatever that 'it' is will vary for each of us, but common themes will be that it seems somehow too radical, too much, and too romantic. We might find ourselves thinking that the seed of a new idea - The Ace of Pentacles - can't coexist with a peaceful and emotionally integrated self. Or that being practical necessitates sacrificing our more soft, spiritual side. 

The Lovers says, with loving candor, that that's all utter ridiculousness. If we don't choose our higher path, one that says all parts of us belong together and that we can fashion something authentic out of our unique selves, how can we say with any certainty what's possible? 

This card also tends to appear during pivotal moments of expansion - times when we break from the pack to do our own thing. At first this can seem foolish and risky, but, as major arcana cards emphasize, we only need to answer to ourselves. In other words, when making big moves like this it's key to prioritize our own opinions, desires, and instincts. 

In this case, we have both the exhilarating newness of an idea and the mature self-possession of the Queen of Cups. What magic can we create with this combination? Something truly singular and toe-curling, that's to be sure. So take the next step, trust yourself, and dare to move ever so slowly (or quickly) into the wild future you'd like to build. 

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Weekly Forecast: May 6-12

Well, my friends, it looks like this reading is quite gory, visually speaking! 

Artist Ricardo Cavolo's illustration of the Nine of Pentacles is, to be frank, pretty gross. Why choose an open wound to illustrate a card traditionally associated with abundance and plenty? 

It's a lot to meditate on, particularly when the grisly theme continues with a blindfolded King of Swords committing seppuku. You know, just some light Monday messages to contemplate...

Yet this reading, despite its visceral nature, came across loud and clear: While oftentimes our old wounds are the wellspring of our unique gifts, there's a huge difference between honoring this connection and obsessing over it to the point of self-limitation and injury.

This is a time to let the reality of our lives ground us and lead us forward and to put aside the destructive urges of our minds. We've been hurt in the past, yes, but our future is unfolding now and not all of our actions spring from the hardship we've endured.

The King of Swords, the utmost monarch of the suit, is adept at using thought to create clarity. But sometimes we can only get so much clarity out of life. If we stay in the realm of the swords too long, we prioritize analytic remove over actual day-to-day involvement. What comes of this? Isolation, stagnation, and self-doubt. 

Over thinking distances us from the movement and rhythm of life, a dance that leads us towards the answers we're seeking. It's not a view we can achieve from the top-down, safe in the hypothetical or the tempting certainty of the past. We have to get our hands dirty and accept that seeking fulfillment leaves no room for invulnerability. We're all living and breathing creatures and we can't go through life completely unscathed. 

In this sense, this nasty Nine of Pentacles in reassuring. If we're feeling tender and bruised, it's not because we're failing. Rather, we're showing up and seeing ourselves - all the contours of our experience, even the painful ones. And that is a high achievement, indeed.

What to do from here? The Star tells us we have to love ourselves even more, and make room for a life of plenty that also feels exposed, tenuous, or too much at times. Nothing needs to change for us to be here with ourselves.

The King of Swords represents our urge to over-analyze ourselves at any moment of conflict, struggle, or indecision. Instead of seeing these times as a natural facet of life, the King reacts to them as threats to stability. Thus, the wide-open plenty of the Nine of Pentacles becomes an invitation to turn our swords on ourselves. 

Are we feeling raw, excited, eager, a bit nervous about what we're moving towards? The King of Swords wants the answers now, and to him this is a scary threat to stability. Cue the self-doubt and criticism. Instead of accepting tenderness, this King is using it as an opening to harm the self: If we can't do it perfectly and with perfect knowledge, we shouldn't even try at all.

The Star is here to tell us that this is completely unnecessary and over the top and this reading gives us a wonderful alternate course. It's not a time to take our thoughts of worry and doubt with absolute seriousness. What if we could tell ourselves that we're doing our best and it's working out well?

Having a lot of feelings means that we're opening up to feeling life itself. We're already doing a wonderful job and now is a time to stay grounded in the beauty of our everyday lives, letting its rhythms and routines move us forward, instead of abandoning our path because it's not what we envisioned. 

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Weekly Forecast: April 22-28

This week, my friends, is all about rethinking our relationship to change. It's a topic that's long overdue for editing and fresh energy, as these cards show so clearly. Just look at the polarized options springing forth from The Wheel of Fortune! The next few days give us the calming opportunity to bring some space and shading into a formerly black-and-white corner of our world.

As anyone who's dabbled with tarot knows, the cards have a cheeky sense of mischief. Not wanting to address a topic? All of a sudden pointed clarity is staring you in the face. Looking for a specific answer? The cards act coy. 

In my opinion, there's no card that embodies this vague, teasing energy more than The Wheel of Fortune. It's initial impression is usually confusing. Just what on earth is going on with these mythical creatures congregating around a circle heavy with odd symbols? They're just hanging out in the clouds? 

This is a card focused on the energy and inevitability of change. And, perhaps not so surprisingly, it's overwhelming and unknown qualities. Hence, the indecipherable wildness of imagery. 

When we see the Wheel of Fortune we know that change is on the horizon. However, that's all  we can decipher. There's no specificity, clear-cut answers, or details. The Wheel is spinning, but we don't know where it'll land just yet or what our new world will look like.

 This week we're confronting and working through our initial reactions to a personal Wheel of Fortune situation: The newness and lack of clarity is overwhelming and, in our attempt to grasp some comforting certainty, we're reverting to old patterns.

Which brings us to the Five of Pentacles and the Ten of Cups. I can't help but chuckle a little when I look at these cards. Talk about polarized thinking! It seems as if we're approaching the upcoming change with a very black-and-white mindset. Either our Wheel of Fortune will spin and deposit us in the bucolic emotional utopia of the Ten of Cups or we'll end up in rags, struggling to survive.

In this sense, these cards urge us to take a breath and center ourselves before getting spun out into either manic idealism or fatalistic negativity. One of the wonderful things about change is that nobody knows how it'll unfold. Not us and certainly not some judgmental stranger ready to blame us for the outcome.

And so these cards are, with a healthy dose of classic tarot humor, pointing us back to ourselves and the present moment. What can we do to focus on our experience right now? To make room for change to unfold? And, most importantly, to care for ourselves? 

The trick to the Wheel of Fortune is that is reminds us how change is a constant part of life. We're always navigating it, in one way or the other. We have practice. We have ourselves.
It always keeps spinning, but if we stay anchored in what we do know - aware of our desires, skills, talents, and sticky spots - we can always land on our feet and, better yet, work with the motion to grow. 

Until then, all we can do is enjoy the ride, and know that the stakes are low so long as we continue to value and care for ourselves. 

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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: April 8-14

Gentleness leading to inspiration.

What a treat to have a slow and healing tarot spread for the week. It seems as if we've been grappling with some especially big issues as of late and The Star is always a welcome figure in times of overwhelm and stress.

That's not to say that this reading is 100% calm and inner-peace. It builds to an energizing crescendo with the Knight of Wands, a card that inspires us to charge into our future with creative zest. A nice mix if there ever was one.

So what do these cards have to tell us? Rest, re-calibration, and re-connecting to the source are of the utmost importance for us in the coming days. The Star is one of those cards that invites us to refocus on ourselves. 

We may have some baggage around the idea. How often are we told that putting ourselves first is selfish? This accusation gets thrown about so frequently that it actually points towards the radical nature of valuing and centering around our own experiences.

What happens when we choose to pursue a balanced life? When our inner experience dictates our outwards actions? When we value our own rhythms, desires, and needs? 

Doing these things, it turns out, allows us to know ourselves better. And when we know ourselves better, we come face to face with our own power, desires, and motivation. It makes us powerful, and that can threaten the status quo.

If we've been feeling creatively stymied lately and stretched too thin, The Star is pointing us inwards to regain our strength and re-orient ourselves to our inner compass. Don't worry if this isn't resoundingly clear. What if we don't know what our inner compass looks like, let alone where it points?

It turns out that none of us do 100% of the time. Never mind the wildness of modern life and other people, our own inner landscape is constantly shifting and changing. The good news? It's ours to explore and value.

This week we're being encouraged to take space for ourselves, lavish our own feelings, thoughts, and desires with attention, curiosity, and care. A key component of this card is detaching from outcome: plans, productivity, goals, ideas of what is and what isn't. Immersing ourselves in self-care in however that manifests for each of us is inviting in a special kind of knowledge.

See that cute, odd bird perched on the tree behind the central figure in The Star? This delightful creature represents knowledge. While we're focused on connecting to our source, dipping our toes into the healing pool of our intuition while being sure to feed back into it, the breakthrough and information we've been seeking with so much effort is naturally fluttering into focus. 

Let yourself step back from the pressure of seeking and create space in your life. You can give yourself the gift of time and attention, even if it's in small bites, and doing so is actually far more effective in gaining clarity than muscling your way though it all with forceful diligence. 

Paying attention to the little things is reigniting our creative sparks. It starts out as a slow burn with the Two of Wands as we begin to dream about changes, adventures, and new possibilities. Doing our Star work, however, is allowing us to rejuvenate and feel empowered, zesty, and capable. 

Soon enough, what seemed impossible, out of reach, or ill-defined, comes into blaring focus. It's the swashbuckling Knight of Wands entering into the picture! With him comes ambition, energy, and focus, though we'd be wise to make sure that it's all in service of The Star. Otherwise we'll burn out and run straight into the same patterns we were experiencing before.

This week is a time to take a deep breath, center around yourself, and feel encouraged to block out all the rest. Know that doing so is valuing your energy and experience, not being selfish or cruel. When we act from our true sense of self we're able to bring our best into every situation, relationship, and venture. Now that's truly and genuinely inspiring. 

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