By Sarah Taylor
This week, we have three minor arcana cards in our reading: the Three of Cups, Two of Wands, and Eight of Swords. The first thing that this tells us is that we are in the realm of the quotidian. This doesn’t mean that the reading can be construed as less important than those that contain major arcana or court cards, like last week’s reading. Rather, it means that the focus is on the practical steps that overlay our psychological, emotional and spiritual development. And this reading is nothing if not practical.
Its message to us? We can either choose to stay trapped, perhaps seeing ourselves as victims of circumstance, or we can free ourselves to dance with life.
The Three of Cups and the Eight of Swords represent two creative choices, the Two of Wands representing the ‘fulcrum’ between each choice, each of the wands in visual association to its adjacent card. The Twos in tarot also denote duality, and duality is experienced through contrast. And here there are two contrasting states: heart, mind; abundance, barrenness; participation, isolation.
Unlike The Hanged Man, where we are ‘strung up’ for a period of time without the option of escape, the Eight of Swords puts the power in the figure’s hands: her bonds are pretty flimsy, and if she moved enough, she would be able to free herself from them, remove her blindfold, and see that the swords are neither being brandished by adversaries, nor are they encircling her completely. Water lies in shallow puddles by her feet; the emotions are not being engaged — there is no connection to heart. Instead, what feel closer are her thoughts, what she believes, where she elects to focus her mind.