By Sarah Taylor
The Five of Disks. Worry. “Worry” being the only word in English on the card. And the illustration is unambiguous: a male figure, standing alone in a barren landscape, carrying the weight of five spheres, stone trajectories travelling at speed towards him.
He is a Hercules-like figure, shouldering the burden of a physical reality by himself. It feels so all-encompassing that even the Sun has been obscured, its source apparent behind the upper-most disk.
What little evidence of life — a tree to his left — has been torn from the ground, its roots exposed, its trunk and branches bare. There is a sense of ‘rootlessness’; a lack of feeling connected to anything but the five disks resting on what seems to be his hands. Which feels significant: they look heavy, and his upper back is rounded, but he holds them in a way that would be impossible in physical reality. He is managing the burden, but it also takes up all of his resources, and they hold him in place. It is a delicate and demanding balancing-act.
And the Knight of Cups is wholly focused on him. The Knight’s role feels similar to that of the Prince of Cups last week, who closed his eyes and contemplated the Five of Cups — another Five — meditatively, his presence opening the way for something new. This week, the Prince has grown into the King, his eyes now open and light-filled, a red rose superimposed on his left cheek.
There is a feeling of bringing a higher consciousness to the Five of Disks — of transmuting “worry” into a state of being in relationship through devotion. The Knight, although the only figure on his card, is defined through relatedness, the words on the card indicative of this:
“ability to give,” “devotion to a loved person,” “to reach higher emotional levels,” “SPIRITUAL RELATIONS,” [caps artist’s own] “family of one’s choice”.
The Knight in his fullest aspect is the individuated human expression of his suit — Cups associated with the heart, and what rises from the depth of the unconscious through our feelings. He embodies a ‘heart-opening’. Around him are stars; above him are nebulae, water. He is clothed with gold. The alchemical gold that we create when we are undertaking the Great Work — that of excavating the Self and discovering that what we are at heart is … heart.
But the rose isn’t without its thorns, and the figure in the Five of Disks is feeling the thornier side of what it means to live.
When we bring the light of conscious focus onto what feels to be an experience that holds us in place, takes our strength, asks for sacrifice — we create the means to shift our circumstances, whether outer or inner. The card implied but not present by the Five of Disks is the next card in the suit: the Six. “Success.” It is what sits in potential as a possible resolution of the Five. Bringing the heart (Knight of Cups) to what might feel overwhelming is a point of change.
And on to the final card: The Hierophant. It is the fifth card in the tarot’s major arcana, which are the cards that describe our archetypal experience, where we feel inextricably linked with something larger than ourselves, and with everything and everyone around us.
The figure of the Hierophant is both human and divine: his is a penetrating, knowing gaze to which my eyes are magnetically drawn, and yet the upper part of his head is a pillar of light. That he corresponds to the astrological sign of Taurus also brings him very much into the earthly realm. He is the divine’s emissary on Earth — the marriage of spirit and matter. Sometimes The Hierophant refers directly to the act of marriage.
Here, he describes an initiation, taking the Five of Disks, which is wholly trapped in the world of the physical, and — with the focus of the Knight of Cups — moving the initiate into a world of ‘higher learning’. How that learning reveals itself, how it moves us, is very much our own journey. At the centre, however, is the part of us that knows, that feels connected, that connects with others. It is our heart that leads the way.
Astrology/Elemental correspondences: Five of Disks (Mercury in Taurus), Knight of Cups (the fiery aspect of water), The Hierophant (Taurus)
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 explains how to use the spread.
“At the centre, however, is the part of us that knows, that feels connected, that connects with others. It is our heart that leads the way.”
Summed up so beautifully, Sarah, thank you.
Sarah, the last few lines:
How that learning reveals itself, how it moves us, is very much our own journey. At the center, however, is the part of us that knows that feels connected, that connects with others. It is our heart that leads the way.
That is the money lines for me. You gave me a way to perceive this inner dissonance in a way that helps me cope. This journey is uniquely mine and I have gotten this far learning to trust my inner guidance and resist the judgment and forceful advice of the others in my life. That has served me and allowed my self-expression to reveal itself – but for the last few months this rollercoaster ride has gotten deeper and darker. I have moments of bright awakeness in which I see clearly my direction with nothing but optimistic expectancy. Then it’s back to reality which seems to be really trying to strangle me. My direction is from that internal guide who I have determined to follow to the end. And I don’t want that to be the “bitter” end. My choices are fewer and fewer and now I feel trapped in my choice wondering if I am sane…. Your advice feels exactly like my journey and I am now feeling confidence to keep looking for the unfoldment hopefully, even though today nothing seems too clear. Another possibility just evaporated – but I am moving along anyway wondering what will show up as I press on.
Thanks for your deep insight.
Yes – thank you Sarah. These last weeks have been pretty trying . and I’ve been feeling exhausted and unwell for a while now. But your words speak to a very deep place in me and help me through it.
Sarah, this is all beginning finally to actually “make some sense”. Not your readings, which always make sense and are amazing, but your continued teaching feels like it is getting through to some place in me that has long wanted for an opening. Thank you.