New Year Tarot reading
Jan. 1st, 2016 12:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I'm using a new spread I found via
cupcake_goth on Tumblr; you can see it here.
Card 1: What do I leave behind in the New Year? The King of Cups: The King of Cups in my old elemental system represents someone who is predominantly concerned with issues of rationality, intellectualism, abstract though, logic, etc., but approaches these issues from an angle of emotion or intuition. As a positive trait, he brings an element of humanity to abstract issues; as a negative trait, he intellectualizes and rationalizes his emotions instead of seeing them for what they are. I don't know whether this card refers to leaving one or another of these approaches behind myself -- hell, perhaps it would be good for me to chill out a bit with the academic-theory-ficitation of every little damn thing that happens -- or whether it refers to a person I should stop allowing to take up my time and energy. I thought I had left most of these people behind, but perhaps I need to find a way to cut them out of my brain as well as my life.
My little book calls this card "Wise Counsel," and in its upright position it represents Compassion. I hope I'm not really expected to leave either of those behind this year, as I think both are good things to have on one's life! As a situation card, it predicts that "a man of culture and intelligence will listen to you and offer sound advice," and that "a mature, emotionally stable man will offer you sympathetic understanding." Perhaps this card is telling me to rely less on validation and advice from others and to go do my own thing more this year?
Card 2: What do I open up to in the New Year? The Tower: This one worries me; the Tower is one of the cards I feel I do know on sight. It pretty well sums up last year, in my opinion. It's usually a bad card; even when it's not entirely bad, it represents major upheaval. In its upright position, my book describes it as "A bolt from the blue. Collapse of a structure." Apparently, it often heralds "swift, shocking, and dramatic change," and that "the usual structures of your life begin to crumble, and you must deal with the collapse of an old way of life." The purpose of all this upheaval is to get rid of the "structures imprisoning you" in order to "achieve enlightenment." I suppose in this part of the spread, the card is saying I need to be open to making big life changes in order to prioritize what I really want to prioritize instead of cluttering my life up with things that are less valuable to myself. I do have a tendency to clutter my life up with a lot of stuff, admittedly. Too many goals and concerns and hobbies and timewasters. Maybe I should get off Facebook.
Card 3: Key Opportunity of the New Year: The Queen of Pentacles: This is interesting to me because the Queen of Pentacles is my significance card; the card that represents myself. I'm hoping this means that this year I have more opporunity to become more truly myself, since sometimes I do feel I wander away from that. The Queen of Pentacles focuses largely on emotional issues but approaches them from a very pragmatic, concrete direction. I really could stand to do more of that; I feel like I've been a bit of a flake this year and not as good about making sure I do what I actually need to do in order to get where I want to be (see: prev. post, it's been a terrible year for writing). So perhaps my key opportunity is to buckle down and retake concrete control over what I'm doing to make myself happier.
My little book calls the Queen of Pentacles the "Practical Manager," and in her upright position she represents "A sensible approach." Her key words include things like "Organization," "Prosperity," "Responsibility," "Steady employment" (I could use some of that!), and "Taking care of one's physical and emotional needs." She signals that "A sensible, practical approach brings steady progress." Especially in conjunction with the last cards, I think this is a pretty good one: If I can keep my shit together and approach things the way I'm supposed to be good at approaching things, I hope I can weather whatever "drastic changes" are coming my way and perhaps even make the changes myself because they're smart changes to make, rather than having shit just happen to me. That would be pretty great.
Card 4: Key Challenge of the New Year: The Devil. In his upright position, the Devil represents "Bondage. Self-imposed limitations." Thus far, I am getting a sense from this spread that the only thing holding me back in the new year will be me. The Devil represents such concepts as "The power of negative thinking," "Heavy commitments," "Confronting your personal demons," "Excessive attachment to material goods" and "Inhibitions. Fears. Hang-ups." As a situation card, he warns that I could end up "feeling trapped in an oppressive situation that may be of your own making" and advises me to "Take a good look at reality. How are you enslaved in your life? . . . Are you acting out of greed and fear of material loss?" I think this ties in well with the last two cards, where I'm going to have to use my practicality and what sensibleness I possess to make some "drastic" life changes and clear out the things that are getting in the way of making me happy. This is gonna take some self-discipline. Aiee.
Card 5: Hidden Concern: The King of Pentacles. I've got a lot of pentacles going on in this spread. In the elemental system, the King of Pentacles is concerned with abstract and intellectual issues, coming at them from a material perspective. Like Karl Marx. DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM. I also do a lot of this type of thinking; my dad was an economics major and I am a big nerd. I'm not sure if the concern is that I will spend a lot of time brooding over this sort of subject or if the hidden concern is an actual issue of dialectical materialism, like what will happen to all my life plans if Donald Trump becomes President and completely FUBARs the country. Possibly this card is telling me to either get more involved in politics or give less brainspace to them. My current habit of paying a lot of attention but not doing much is probably not the healthiest.
In my book the King of Pentacles is the "Worldly Success" card, and in his upright position he represents "Security-minded. Sound financial advice." I'm not sure how this is a concern, unless being "security-minded" is going to get in the way of other things, or perhaps I run the risk of not being sufficiently sound financially when I make my drastic life changes (again: aiee). This card is much easier to interpret when it's not placed as a warning. The King advises that "A practical, conscientious approach brings success," which is fairly in line with the Queen of the same suit.
Card 6: Deep Wisdom/Advice: The Star. The Star in her upright position represents "Hope." She is a very positive card, and represents things like "Inspiration. Luck," "Faith in the future," "Relief. Renewal. Happiness," and "Emotional and spiritual riches." The Star recommends relying on "intuition, inner wisdom, and guidance," which is an interesting contrast to all the Pentacles cards that seem to be stressing pragmatism. The Star also portends that "This is a good time to exert yourself because you can achieve your ideals" and she is often "urging the querent to develop a special talent." Perhaps this ties in with the making big life changes to get out of my own way.
Card 7: Key Themes of the New Year: The Knight of Pentacles. (Lemme guess, this is gonna be the card of Getting Off Your Arse and Out Of Your Own Way.) In the element system, the Knight of Pentacles is actually the root of Earth, being someone concerned with practical matters who approaches them practically, which I always thought was sort of boring, but as this is a theme and not a person I think it's saying that the key theme of this year is going to be Earth things: concrete, logistical issues and actions taken. The card in this system doubles as an Ace of Pentacles, which stands for "Firm Financial Foundations" and in its upright position can represent "A windfall. A helping hand," and seems to be largely about fiscal improvement.
In my little book, the Knight of Pentacles is the "Slow, Steady Progress" card and in his upright position represents "Tangible Progress." I'm not entirely sure how this squares with the Tower card, but perhaps I will make slow, manageable, tangible progress towards big drastic changes. I'm very glad that the entire rest of this card seems to be tempering the general earthquakiness of the Tower card, although perhaps that gladness is the opposite of being "open" to the Tower. Anyway, the Knight represents "an important event related to material concerns" and "Careful planning pays off," among other things like "Diligence. Dependability. Patience. Perseverance." As a situation card, he portends that I might be "on the verge of a new or unexpected source of prosperity" and that "Your diligence, hard work pays off."
Well, you heard the cards. This has gotta be the year that I stop making excuses and letting shit happen to me and kick me around, and to get back on top of my life with careful thought and discipline. Overall, I think this is hopeful. Wish me luck!
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Card 1: What do I leave behind in the New Year? The King of Cups: The King of Cups in my old elemental system represents someone who is predominantly concerned with issues of rationality, intellectualism, abstract though, logic, etc., but approaches these issues from an angle of emotion or intuition. As a positive trait, he brings an element of humanity to abstract issues; as a negative trait, he intellectualizes and rationalizes his emotions instead of seeing them for what they are. I don't know whether this card refers to leaving one or another of these approaches behind myself -- hell, perhaps it would be good for me to chill out a bit with the academic-theory-ficitation of every little damn thing that happens -- or whether it refers to a person I should stop allowing to take up my time and energy. I thought I had left most of these people behind, but perhaps I need to find a way to cut them out of my brain as well as my life.
My little book calls this card "Wise Counsel," and in its upright position it represents Compassion. I hope I'm not really expected to leave either of those behind this year, as I think both are good things to have on one's life! As a situation card, it predicts that "a man of culture and intelligence will listen to you and offer sound advice," and that "a mature, emotionally stable man will offer you sympathetic understanding." Perhaps this card is telling me to rely less on validation and advice from others and to go do my own thing more this year?
Card 2: What do I open up to in the New Year? The Tower: This one worries me; the Tower is one of the cards I feel I do know on sight. It pretty well sums up last year, in my opinion. It's usually a bad card; even when it's not entirely bad, it represents major upheaval. In its upright position, my book describes it as "A bolt from the blue. Collapse of a structure." Apparently, it often heralds "swift, shocking, and dramatic change," and that "the usual structures of your life begin to crumble, and you must deal with the collapse of an old way of life." The purpose of all this upheaval is to get rid of the "structures imprisoning you" in order to "achieve enlightenment." I suppose in this part of the spread, the card is saying I need to be open to making big life changes in order to prioritize what I really want to prioritize instead of cluttering my life up with things that are less valuable to myself. I do have a tendency to clutter my life up with a lot of stuff, admittedly. Too many goals and concerns and hobbies and timewasters. Maybe I should get off Facebook.
Card 3: Key Opportunity of the New Year: The Queen of Pentacles: This is interesting to me because the Queen of Pentacles is my significance card; the card that represents myself. I'm hoping this means that this year I have more opporunity to become more truly myself, since sometimes I do feel I wander away from that. The Queen of Pentacles focuses largely on emotional issues but approaches them from a very pragmatic, concrete direction. I really could stand to do more of that; I feel like I've been a bit of a flake this year and not as good about making sure I do what I actually need to do in order to get where I want to be (see: prev. post, it's been a terrible year for writing). So perhaps my key opportunity is to buckle down and retake concrete control over what I'm doing to make myself happier.
My little book calls the Queen of Pentacles the "Practical Manager," and in her upright position she represents "A sensible approach." Her key words include things like "Organization," "Prosperity," "Responsibility," "Steady employment" (I could use some of that!), and "Taking care of one's physical and emotional needs." She signals that "A sensible, practical approach brings steady progress." Especially in conjunction with the last cards, I think this is a pretty good one: If I can keep my shit together and approach things the way I'm supposed to be good at approaching things, I hope I can weather whatever "drastic changes" are coming my way and perhaps even make the changes myself because they're smart changes to make, rather than having shit just happen to me. That would be pretty great.
Card 4: Key Challenge of the New Year: The Devil. In his upright position, the Devil represents "Bondage. Self-imposed limitations." Thus far, I am getting a sense from this spread that the only thing holding me back in the new year will be me. The Devil represents such concepts as "The power of negative thinking," "Heavy commitments," "Confronting your personal demons," "Excessive attachment to material goods" and "Inhibitions. Fears. Hang-ups." As a situation card, he warns that I could end up "feeling trapped in an oppressive situation that may be of your own making" and advises me to "Take a good look at reality. How are you enslaved in your life? . . . Are you acting out of greed and fear of material loss?" I think this ties in well with the last two cards, where I'm going to have to use my practicality and what sensibleness I possess to make some "drastic" life changes and clear out the things that are getting in the way of making me happy. This is gonna take some self-discipline. Aiee.
Card 5: Hidden Concern: The King of Pentacles. I've got a lot of pentacles going on in this spread. In the elemental system, the King of Pentacles is concerned with abstract and intellectual issues, coming at them from a material perspective. Like Karl Marx. DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM. I also do a lot of this type of thinking; my dad was an economics major and I am a big nerd. I'm not sure if the concern is that I will spend a lot of time brooding over this sort of subject or if the hidden concern is an actual issue of dialectical materialism, like what will happen to all my life plans if Donald Trump becomes President and completely FUBARs the country. Possibly this card is telling me to either get more involved in politics or give less brainspace to them. My current habit of paying a lot of attention but not doing much is probably not the healthiest.
In my book the King of Pentacles is the "Worldly Success" card, and in his upright position he represents "Security-minded. Sound financial advice." I'm not sure how this is a concern, unless being "security-minded" is going to get in the way of other things, or perhaps I run the risk of not being sufficiently sound financially when I make my drastic life changes (again: aiee). This card is much easier to interpret when it's not placed as a warning. The King advises that "A practical, conscientious approach brings success," which is fairly in line with the Queen of the same suit.
Card 6: Deep Wisdom/Advice: The Star. The Star in her upright position represents "Hope." She is a very positive card, and represents things like "Inspiration. Luck," "Faith in the future," "Relief. Renewal. Happiness," and "Emotional and spiritual riches." The Star recommends relying on "intuition, inner wisdom, and guidance," which is an interesting contrast to all the Pentacles cards that seem to be stressing pragmatism. The Star also portends that "This is a good time to exert yourself because you can achieve your ideals" and she is often "urging the querent to develop a special talent." Perhaps this ties in with the making big life changes to get out of my own way.
Card 7: Key Themes of the New Year: The Knight of Pentacles. (Lemme guess, this is gonna be the card of Getting Off Your Arse and Out Of Your Own Way.) In the element system, the Knight of Pentacles is actually the root of Earth, being someone concerned with practical matters who approaches them practically, which I always thought was sort of boring, but as this is a theme and not a person I think it's saying that the key theme of this year is going to be Earth things: concrete, logistical issues and actions taken. The card in this system doubles as an Ace of Pentacles, which stands for "Firm Financial Foundations" and in its upright position can represent "A windfall. A helping hand," and seems to be largely about fiscal improvement.
In my little book, the Knight of Pentacles is the "Slow, Steady Progress" card and in his upright position represents "Tangible Progress." I'm not entirely sure how this squares with the Tower card, but perhaps I will make slow, manageable, tangible progress towards big drastic changes. I'm very glad that the entire rest of this card seems to be tempering the general earthquakiness of the Tower card, although perhaps that gladness is the opposite of being "open" to the Tower. Anyway, the Knight represents "an important event related to material concerns" and "Careful planning pays off," among other things like "Diligence. Dependability. Patience. Perseverance." As a situation card, he portends that I might be "on the verge of a new or unexpected source of prosperity" and that "Your diligence, hard work pays off."
Well, you heard the cards. This has gotta be the year that I stop making excuses and letting shit happen to me and kick me around, and to get back on top of my life with careful thought and discipline. Overall, I think this is hopeful. Wish me luck!