The Weekend Tarot Reading – Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011

Editor’s Note: If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article tells you how to use the spread. You can visit Sarah’s website here. –efc

By Sarah Taylor

This week’s reading is about endings and new beginnings.

Whenever Death appears in a reading, I look at the surrounding cards to explain the quality of that death. Death rarely means physical death. Here, it feels like a death of a part of the self that no longer serves: a death that makes way for a new energy in the way of creativity and connections.

Death, 6 of Wands, 4 of Wands - RWS Tarot deck.
Death, 6 of Wands, 4 of Wands from the Rider-Waite Smith Tarot deck. Click on the image for a larger version.

Although liberating, Death is rarely an easy process to go through. When a part of what we are familiar with is giving way — a habit, a belief, a way of life, a relationship — it may even feel like we are dying. Fears can start to crawl out of the woodwork; anxieties, new and long-forgotten, make an appearance; the world can feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable. These are the states that accompany the shedding of an old skin and the emergence of a new one. The ego identifies with the loss and believes its time is up. What it is experiencing, however, is simply a humbling and the stripping back of defences that were, themselves, the very obstacles to growth.

In the first card, Death rides into the picture, harbinger of change. It might be clad in black armour, but its horse is white, and it carries on its flag a white rose. There is a sense of yin and yang here. That in everything there is balance, and with loss comes renewal. What seems particularly important here is the sense of ceremony. There needs to be a mourning period for what has passed, symbolized by the figure praying beside the prostrate body of a man. The sun rises above his mitre. The observance of loss brings in new light — new life.

It looks like Death is travelling across the card, from left to right. This is the process of time moving forward, and its concomitant change. If that is the case, then the two young figures at the feet of the horse mark the entry of new beginnings as the old is left behind. The child on the left is wearing the same colour blue as the blanket covering the figure on the ground — the transition of the old into the new — while the older girl turns her head over her shoulder towards the ensuing card, as if stretching out to meet it: the 6 of Wands.

The 6 of Wands is associated with triumph, and I feel that the message here is an acknowledgment of what has been endured, and what has been achieved. It is as if the card is saying, “Well done!” The accolades that the rider is receiving have been earned. Wands deal with creativity, so he has triumphed in a creative sense. Something has been born from the ashes of death. The direction in which he rides is the same direction in which the figure of Death is heading; his horse is in a similar pose — although the black heraldry and sparse ground has given way to colour, the animal in the 6 softened by draped, green fabric. The black-and-white flag carried by Death has been replaced by a Wand topped with a laurel wreath, emblem of the victor. The carapace of armour is now a red robe, as if the hardened exoskeleton has been shed leaving a softer covering underneath.

Then, metamorphosis: in the 4 of Wands, it comes together. Or, rather, they come together: two figures standing side-by-side, one wearing the red of the rider in the 6, the other wearing the blue of the prone figure in Death. Not an ending, but a rebirth and an integration. And they are waving, beckoning. All it takes is a step through the opening framed by the Wands to re-enter life, a new phase of creativity and a new sense of connection. It is there, calling to us. Welcome!

6 thoughts on “The Weekend Tarot Reading – Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011”

  1. I absolutely saw that correlation, Amanda – well, from my perspective anyway.

    Thank you, all, for your comments and contributions. And, Indrani, I wanted to let you know how deeply touched I was by your words and your willingness to share them. Respect and boundaries – two great lessons for me too.

    — S

  2. i also saw some synchronicity between this card reading and the daily oracle here on PW, but found myself unable (or perhaps reluctant?) to pinpoint where/how exactly they may relate to my life. or maybe i just need to broaden my interpretation of both (to be less literal). then again, maybe they’re simply not quite “mine” this time around, though the insights are still important to carry…

  3. Deep synchronicities…today in the 13 moon calendar is White Self Existing Dog which makes the guide symbol White World Bridger whose power is death. Dog’s words are love, loyalty and heart. These 3 cards echo the other oracle beautifully. Indeed, since I started following the 13 moon calendar again when the 260 day cycle flipped over on Gregorian’s Xmas day I’ve noticed a higher frequency of synchronicity awareness including the tendency to flow into situations having exactly what I need effortlessly. Or at least with minimum force. Maybe it was the eclipses. Maybe they’re the same phenomenon viewed from different places.

  4. We seem to be flowing together Sarah – you in drawing the cards, and me, in going through the things the cards symbolise. I was thinking exactly this last night – the past year has been a period of incredible growth for me, as in losing the childish attachment to the illusory ideals that cloud ones judgment (ie “If I close my eyes and pretend very hard, everything will be just how it is in fairytales” – all done subconsciously of course!), and the opening of my eyes to reality: my reality, and the realities of the world, neither of which is shiny and sparkling.

    And I did go through an enormous period of mouring and disillusionment – but my exact thoughts last night were that it’s actually good to be “dis-illusioned” – it feels empowering, and that in knowing how things actually stand, I can work out where I stand in relation to them, and thus navigate my way through the complexities of life. If I know what I’ve got to work with, then I can get on with it.

    At the moment, I’m needing to withdraw from the world, and it is exactly as you described – the shedding of the old skin leaves one feeling a bit shaky and vulnerable, but it gets easier. To symbolise the change, I stopped dyeing my hair, letting the greys show.

    I’ve arrived at the conclusion that everything being “OK” has little to do with contentment. Reality provides actual contentment – I feel released – I don’t have to be “perfect”, I don’t have to like certain people, and the greatest relief is that I don’t have to get on with them out of “politeness”. I’ve allowed myself to speak up in my defence. I had a young woman speak to me with utter contempt, and I looked at her and said quietly (because I speak quietly), “I’m not five”, and she went scurrying.

    So it’s change but not change – ie, those elements of my personality related to appeasement are gone (or being killed off), and those elements that relate to my essential self – the need for decency, respectful behaviour, and the refusal to give into insecure, loud, disrespectful people who think they know the “right way” for everyone (except themselves it seems) – these are staying.

    I’ve come to love the grimy world – it’s very earthy. It’s complexities keep me engaged, and living in it is far less lonely than living on the “mountaintop”. I find I’m conserving my energies better too – not every battle needs to be fought by me – I’m picking the ones that are important to me – others have their chosen battles, and things move along.

    So thank you again – your readings and lessons are very timely, and very welcome.

    Kind regards,

    Indrani

  5. Sarah,
    Wow, I’m all choked up…your reading today brought tears to my eyes, to my heart, yet joy with it — oh to be welcomed by Loving Newness as the old – that which did not welcome, did not embrace, did not smile – is left behind….and opportunity for a welcoming creative life beckoning. Gota go, can’t let anyone see me like this…….:-)

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