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
A period of struggle to bring something to life has cast you into the shadows so that you might undergo some soul-searching; a rebirth beckons to you.
The fact that this week’s reading contains two major arcana cards (the cards that delineate the soul’s evolution as we move through life) means that something significant is at work here. My sense here is that it is primarily an inner process rather than an outer one — although it might be reflected in your outer life, especially where The Empress comes into play.
The Seven of Pentacles speaks of a moment of coming face-to-face with the realisation that your efforts to bring something to fruition in the material world have not been as successful as you had hoped. What comes to mind for me here is the parable of the man who sows his seeds upon the rocky ground. At first, the seeds burst into life and start growing quickly; but the flourishing is short-lived because there is nowhere for them to take root. They are cut off from a source of sustenance and quickly wither. And so there is a period of contemplation — perhaps a period of mourning — as you step back and regroup. This is your communion with The Moon.
The Moon is very much an ‘inner-focussed’ card. It speaks of a time where things are cast into shadow, familiar paths and landmarks unclear. It is a time when, as with walking in the moonlight, your pace necessarily needs to slow in order that you adapt to your surroundings. It is also a time where you need to learn how to discern the voice of your intuition from the fear-mongering that your mind can indulge in when the world darkens.
The Moon can conjure up thoughts and feelings that are unsettling: both the crustacean and the baying dogs, one with its teeth bared, symbolise this experience. But what you are really dealing with here is the uncovering of the part of yourself that is the repository of instinctual, perhaps primeval, thoughts and feelings. And all the while the Moon itself dominates the scene — calm, meditative, a gently protective and nourishing influence, its beams becoming golden drops that rain down on the land beneath.
The introspective light of The Moon can help you to face those facets of yourself that are more easily ignored and reasoned away in the broad light of day. The Moon is time away to attend to your inner life when what you had worked so hard to develop and grow was not as productive as you had first hoped. The Moon is an invitation to excavate the rocky ground so that it is able to bear fruit, so that the seeds that you sow in your life not only find root, but thrive.
And so we come to The Empress — in one respect almost the antithesis of the Seven of Pentacles. Here, the natural world is fecund, fed as it is by the ground it grows in, by the water — representing emotions — that flows unfettered in the background, and by The Empress herself, who is the embodiment of balance: masculine and feminine (the scepter and the symbol enclosed by a heart), the cycles of life and death, the earth and the stars.
The pomegranates on The Empress’s robe are a visual reminder of the myth of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and her daughter Persephone, who was abducted by Hades, and then released from her capture in the underworld on condition that she returned there for four months every year. When she surfaces every year, the world, barren in her absence, springs back to life.
I feel that this myth is echoed in these three cards, and that a time of barrenness and of plumbing the depths of the soul are a necessary part of your emotional, psychological and spiritual development. The pentacles in the Seven of Pentacles — standing alone as they are on the card, unsupported by the vine or the parched environment — are integrated into the yellow globe and the path through the darkened landscape of The Moon, and finally come in to their own in The Empress — as the head of the sceptre, as the circle in the symbol that supports The Empress herself, as the yellow spilling into the wheat and the sky.
Now there is the invitation to a sense of belonging, of being grounded, nurtured and in the flow of life, and, consequently, of deeper meaning.
thanks all! yes, i had a good birthday, including my lover and i happening to get invited into a private friendly blind after-hours wine tasting after hours at the restaurant where we were lingering after dinner. nothing like finding out you’ve just been graced with a taste of a $700+/bottle of 1981 first-growth bordeaux to make a birthday special!
😉
oh, and the “loud and moany” nightcap was icing on the cake.
Let’s just Pray Jupiter makes it to the party!
If he doesn’t go down in a ball of flames or an alchemical explosion–
and with Uranus throwing lighted matches over his shoulder…
crikey mate!!!!
(bow to the late Steve Irwin, an Inspiration)
It’s true, Taurus party for a year. Jupiter is a little late to the party, half the stellium has already moved on. But he’s in it for the long haul.
http://planetwatcher.com/#1307195760
Thanks Jere, good to have you here too. And hey Charles, what’s that you say, a Taurus party for A WHOLE YEAR?? My goodness me, it cannot come soon enough…
I like the ‘twist’ Sarah – although on second thoughts, I’m probably twisted enough… aaah the Voice of Experience…we must be growing up… 😉
Happy birthday Amanda! “Loud and Moany” sounds like the thing to aim for…but first I have to get through Wry and Bitter… 😉
Happy Birthday dear Amanda! I hope you are having a super day and kicking back somewhere fun; knocking back a few rounds of, say…..”Sexy Bull Girl Kissed by Venus/Merc.” perhaps? 😉
You know, now that I reread what I wrote, I did bobble one point. It’s not that the 7P can’t see the harvest inherent in the young vines, it’s ALL he can see. That is why he is “unfulfilled success” and “failure,” he sees the final harvest he wants so much, and reality isn’t matching it.
Anyway, I’ll re-jack this thread with my own birthday coming up in 9 days, right at the point when all the planets start hitting Taurus. It’s a Taurus Party! And it’s all year long with Jupiter in Taurus for 12 months! And this is my 4th annual 42nd birthday. Note: 4 years ago when I started this tradition, I was nowhere close to 42.
Happy Birthday, Amanda!
“Sex on a towel on a beach in the tropics” perhaps?
This thread is so totally hijacked 😀
indranibe —
well, i hope you have a birthday friday that inverts the theme of your cocktail! my birthday is today (my 37th) — i think if i have a cocktail it’ll be something more like “sex on the beach,” but minus the sand… and preferably indoors. still a bit chilly here.
maybe a “loud and moany?”
😉
Thank you, all! Again, so much food for thought – I love the interplay of the parallels and differences, and where our paths diverge, I get to learn something new.
Indrani – yeah, my 40th too this year. I think I’ll join you in that cocktail. Wry and bitter … perhaps with a twist? 🙂
— S
..Sounds like a rejuvenative tonic 😉
Not that I wouldn’t recommend this any day of the year but, celebrate, and enjoy yourself! It’s good to have you on this planet.
🙂 ,
Jere
Oh hey Jere, it’s my birthday on Friday – I’m turning 40. Decided to name a cocktail in my honour: wry and bitter…whaddaya think? 😉 (Sorry Sarah – back to tarot…)
That’s such an interesting take Jere, especially with regard to naming the cards. I guess you can’t deal with frustration or failure until you admit or accept those things have occurred – it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but acceptance leads to the end of “grief” and the renewal of strength. I learned a lot today. That’s good. Thanks all.
Very nice reads’ on this spread, everyone. I had a few paragraphs written out this morning on the pull but deleted it because it wasn’t feeling right. Now I’ll paraphrase a portion of it here, in regards to the 7P.
I view this card as ‘the harvest’, due to it’s mature position in sequence. The Failure, or Frustration attached to it I believe is an age old body-intuit that speaks of the coming of the winter, and the worry associated with not having enough to last ’til spring. The continued growth has stalled for a season. Now is the time to reap what one has sown, and a good dose of proper mentality is warranted: the harvest will last the dry spell with intelligent allocation of the sustenance gathered. I think the titles Failure and Frustration are in place to surface those innate fears in order to teach the lesson that the mental-body structure must find a centeredness and overcome through ‘positive action’ (which it finds reconciliation with in the 8P: Prudence, or Craftsmanship).
Like I said, brilliant takes on the cards, all.
Jere
You know, indianribe, as soon as I clicked on the next web page after writing that, I thought to myself, oh hell, I blew it. I saw a beautiful pic of a much better metaphor for earth surrounding water: a deep well in a forested glade. So then I thought perhaps I gave The Moon too little emphasis. It represents a deep, inexhaustible well of our collective unconscious, that we can draw from to replenish our Selves. But my description of a reservoir was probably close enough. Ha.
BTW, I like your idea of Perspective, but I am probably thinking of it differently than you. As an artist, I studied perspective drawing, it’s one of my specialties. The unique thing about perspective in art that was revolutionary was that you can look at the drawing and calculate a point that represents the position of the eye that views that scene. By looking at the painting, your eyes are taking that position. In the most literal sense, perspective means “point of view.” But I think you are saying that the 7P is telling us to take a different perspective. That is also part of the art of perspective drawing, the artist made a choice of one specific POV to draw from, it implies that there are other POVs.
Oh, and we could probably rename the 7P: “Perspective”.
(Imagine thoughtful face here – no emoticon for that)
Bravo Charles! So eloquently put. You put in language what I was unable to. That’s exactly how I feel about this week’s spread.
Cheers, and thanks.
Hmm.. I see these cards a bit differently than you do, Sarah. With the Major Arcana, I view those as big external forces that we have little control over. The Minor Arcana are our personal matters, things we can personally deal with and change.
The Golden Dawn name for the 7P is “Success Unfulfilled,” Crowley called it “Failure,” but I don’t see it that way. Perhaps that success is not YET fulfilled. I view the 7P as “a watched pot never boils.” The gardener stares listlessly at his immature vines, wishing the harvest was already here. He has planted the seeds, and is tending the garden properly, but he is putting the results ahead of the process. No matter how hard he wishes, he cannot accelerate the process, the harvest will come in its own time. I’ve previously talked about The Moon being a route to the collective unconscious, and The Empress as fertility and the embodiment of fruitful physical manifestation.
Elementally, we have two Earth cards surrounding Water. The Empress is a bit different as she is a “Planetary Card,” while she is attributed to Earth elementally, she represents Venus. And oddly enough, The Moon is not a Planetary Card, it just represents Water elementally. But let’s avoid those subtleties for now. We’ve got Water between two Earth cards, a pool of water surrounded by land, like a reservoir or lake. Earth and Water are friendly but passive, they draw on each others’ qualities to define themselves, like a shoreline.
On the opposite ends of the spread, we have cards dealing with manifestation. The 7P is focused on the result, putting the ends before the means. The Empress is the end result of what the 7P is seeking. As a symbol of Venus, she represents effortless prosperity. Wherever she looks, she sees the bounty of nature. But the 7P cannot see the bountiful harvest inherent in the immature vines.
The central position of The Moon affects both cards. Our subconscious can drive our sense of scarcity (7P) or abundance (Empress). But notice again, the difference between Major and Minor Arcana. Our sense of scarcity, our NEED for that harvest, is something we can deal with on a personal level, by accessing our subconscious desires. But the bountiful sense of abundance is a natural state, it surrounds us even if we see scarcity on a personal level. We need to reconnect with the universal unconscious, to deal with our irrational fears, and get into touch with the richness of the world that surrounds us. Perhaps all we need to do is close our eyes and smell the rich aroma of the damp, fertile earth beneath our feet.
Hi Sarah!
Interesting reading today. I have an alternative view of the 7 of pentacles. Everytime I see that card, it reminds me of a classic case of someone who “can’t see the wood for the trees”. That’s one meaning I derive from it. The second one is about working “harder” v working “smarter”. The 3rd thing it reminds me of is the problem of someone who creates their own “crisis” by not understanding, or valuing what they have. For me this card is about the “problem” of abundance – as if the man suffers from an “embarrassment of riches”. Or perhaps he’s just tired, and needs to down tools to pick the fruit. Either way, the message is, “take a chill pill, dude – it’s actually a lot better than you think it is!”
And yes, as per the moon’s message: “when on unfamiliar ground, tread lightly and go slowly…”
Gosh! What a week… 😉
This is a blessed reading. For me and those I love, the synchronocities abound. I could not be more grateful for a reading on which to contemplate and sow hope.
Thank you.