{"id":38916,"date":"2011-05-22T09:41:51","date_gmt":"2011-05-22T14:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=38916"},"modified":"2011-05-22T09:41:51","modified_gmt":"2011-05-22T14:41:51","slug":"the-weekend-tarot-reading-sunday-may-22-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/reading-tarot\/the-weekend-tarot-reading-sunday-may-22-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"The Weekend Tarot Reading — Sunday, May 22, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free\u00a0tarot spread generator<\/a> using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread.\u00a0This article<\/a> explains how to use the spread. You can\u00a0visit Sarah’s website here<\/a>. –efc<\/em><\/p>\n

By\u00a0Sarah Taylor<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

After a period of austerity, a richer and more involved life beckons. The trick here is to keep things in balance.<\/em><\/p>\n

I often find, when looking at the Queen of Swords, that she strikes a rather solitary figure. Not lonely as much as alone — emphasised by the wind-blasted trees in the background behind her, the clouds seeming to loom and scud in the sky. I can almost feel the bird being taken by the wind currents, even as the Queen herself sits there, wise, implacable. And yet, it is as if she is acknowledging the two figures in the next card — presenting them, almost. “Here they are.” More of that a little later.<\/p>\n

\"Queen<\/a>
Queen of Swords, 4 of Wands, 2 of Pentacles from the Rider-Waite Smith Tarot deck. Click on the image for a larger version.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Queen of Swords is wise, and she is her own person. In a past article<\/a>, I have referred to her resemblance to Queen Elizabeth I, who ruled England with authority, dedication and passion. She sits side-on, her profile strong against the blue sky. The clouds on her red- and yellow-edged cloak seem to be a visual continuation of the clouds surrounding her; a crown of gold butterflies perches on her head. She is of the air — of thoughts and intellect. Her robe is grey like her throne: her head might be in the sky, but she is firmly grounded. And she has broken free of something: has she cut through the red wristbands with her sword, her once-cuffed hands now free to work for her? (It might be interesting to look back at the comments on an article on the Queen<\/a> some months ago to see the discussions on the significance these bands.)<\/p>\n

For as much as the Queen is wise, sober, focused, she is also associated with beauty and flight (rather than flightiness). Butterflies are often a symbol of freedom and beauty revealed. If we are to take our cue from this idea, then perhaps the beauty that is her birthright is unfolding in the scene next to her.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In contrast to the bare, wind-swept landscape of the Queen of Swords, we are now looking into a card that glows warmly with its yellow background. The conifers have been replaced with flowers, vines and fruit. It feels like a lazy, but heady, summer evening. There are other people here: two in the middle-ground, a small group in the distance to the left, and then a walled town in the far background, indicating community. It is as if the two figures have stepped away from the group to beckon to us — the desire to call our attention echoed by that hand-gesture from the Queen.<\/p>\n

In an earlier article on the Four of Wands<\/a>, I wrote of the sense of being an outsider, looking into the scene through the four upright wands, which were acting as a doorway into the picture. Here, I see it very much the same way. There is an invitation to step through — perhaps to step away from a period where the Queen was the ruling authority (and rightly so), and into a time of conviviality, of being among others, of becoming a part of something greater than simply yourself, no matter how adept you were at holding your own counsel.<\/p>\n

The caveat is that there is present in the cards a delicate balancing act. The Two of Pentacles indicates a juggling of physical resources in order to maintain an equilibrium. A juggler, attired in reds and oranges — evocative of lifeblood — dances a jig as he holds both Pentacles lightly but deftly in his hands. The Pentacles and his forearms are wrapped in a green infinity symbol: the eternal dance of polarities, duality in action, the full experience of living. Behind him, on undulating waters, sail two ships, one smaller, one larger; an evolution. The larger one’s sails take on the colours of the juggler himself. Like him, both are navigating the oceans of consciousness, working with the movement of the waters that bear them and carry them forward.<\/p>\n

There is the potential for joy in this conscious act where solitude and self-knowledge open to experiences with others. I think the message here is that they can co-exist, both equally important aspects of living in balance. For now, though, it is time to join the party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free\u00a0tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread.\u00a0This article explains how to use the spread. You can\u00a0visit Sarah’s website here. –efc By\u00a0Sarah Taylor After a period of austerity, a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[183],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38916"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38916\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}