Mind/Body/Spirit

A little while ago, I decided to do a spread that I had only a very vague understanding of, the Mind/Body/Spread. I basically pulled one card for each aspect of my life and went from there. 

Since I didn't want to overwhelm myself with too broad of a topic, I decided to focus in on one aspect of my life right now, which is that I am currently in my last few weeks of grad school. However, given the results, and the thinking that I've been doing over the past week or so, I've started to interpret the cards as pertains to my life as a whole, which I think is appropriate. Even though I initially wanted to focus just on school, I think the cards really had a strong message for me and want me to consider it in light of my life as a whole right now. The fact is that I am at a crossroads at the moment, a huge time of transition, so ending school really does define my life in general at the moment.

For Mind, I pulled the Sun. For Body, I pulled the Hierophant, and for Spirit I pulled Judgment. Oh my gosh, right off the bat, three majors, and I know that this deck heard me loud and clear and has some real shit to communicate to me right now. (Spoiler alert: I've been meditating on this spread for weeks, and I have a feeling I will continue to do so for some time.) Here are some of my initial thoughts.

In my Deck Interview, I found that the deck's most important aspect was represented by the Knight of Staves. I interpreted this to mean that the deck "is not afraid to make things exciting and even a bit dangerous at times. This deck is not going to hold back. It's all about diving in head first, joining the fray, in pursuit of finding the truth, in pursuit of a noble goal. This deck won't pull its punches. But its motivation is always going to be to seek the truth. This deck will be honest and passionate and will expect me to be honest with myself and to put in the passion and the creativity to get the most out of it." I think that, in light of this, what this spread is asking me is to be completely honest with myself and to take this seriously. There is an urgency and potency to this reading which I think is the deck telling me to pay attention because this is important. This matters. This is bigger than just school. This is bigger than the next month or two. Since I am ending school, and hopefully getting a new job and moving soon, a lot of things are about to change in my life, hopefully for the better. The ways in which I meet these changes will set the stage for the years to come. Now is the time to make changes in my life which will set me on the path of having a better relationship with myself. The Knight of Wands is bearing an urgent, truthful message. 

So far I have had a tricky time getting into the messages of the Sun and Judgment, and I've mainly been focused on the Hierophant. I had a negative reaction to/resistance to the Heirophant initially, sort of like I did with the Emperor, but stronger. I think that this means that this is the sort of energy I actively NEED in my life. Sort of like how they say that your least favorite yoga pose is the one you need the most/when you are uncomfortable in the pose is when the real pose begins. I need to actively face and embrace things that make me uncomfortable and challenge me. Only in this way will I grow.
Now, I have A LOT of other thoughts and feelings about the Hierophant being the "Body" card. For some reason it's difficult for me to put into them all into words, but I'm going to try in list format:

1. The Hierophant urges us to look deeper - look at the bigger picture, the deeper meaning. I think this means that I need to look more closely at how I relate to my body, to my image. I have a tendency to write off trying to be pretty as shallow or unimportant. But is "body" really about looks? Is it really about weight? No, I need to look at things more holistically. Body is about my health, my strength, and how I feel in and relate to my body. I think that the Hierophant is asking me to make that connection between my body and my mind, between my body and my spirit. Because it is a huge part of me. 
2. There's something about tradition here - I'm trying to chase down ideas in this vein.
3. There's something here to do with the fact that the other two majors I got are far more advanced in the Fool's journey - I think this indicates that I am neglecting this part of myself and it's an area where I need to put in more work. I need to find balance, I need to focus on this more.
4. I have previously thought of my relationship with my body only in regards to the way that society views women's bodies and also in terms of my own feelings of fat hatred and shame regarding my body. I am always focused on looks. But there's a lot to unpack here
1. Looks can be important, and it's okay to be interested in the way you look and in cultivating your own look and image - this is something I should take pride in and allow this to be an expression of my self and my creativity
2. Body isn't just about looks this is about my health. It's about getting enough sleep. It's about stretching. It's about being strong. And I think I will see the ways in which taking care of my body affects my mind and self very deeply. And not only accepting and taking care of my body, but getting to a point of enjoying it.
3. I need to completely overhaul the way I think about exercise and diet - the way I think that I should interact with and think about my body. This requires a huge sea change. 

At this point I don't think it's an overstatement to say that tarot has changed my life. For the better. This is precisely the tool I needed to communicate with myself, to open up truths within myself and to be honest with myself. I'm going to keep unpacking the aspects of this reading for months to come, I think, and I will post updates as my thoughts become more organized.

A Deck Interview with the Tarot Mucha

As always, this delightful Deck Interview spread comes from Beth at Little Red Tarot! Enjoy the stream of consciousness analysis... and sentence fragments.... AND the shitty iPhone photos. =D

Questions:

1. Tell me about yourself: what is your most important characteristic? Knight of Staves (Wands)

The Knight of Wands is passionate, active, reckless, and driven. This deck is not afraid to make things exciting and even a bit dangerous at times. This deck is not going to hold back. It's all about diving in head first, joining the fray, in pursuit of finding the truth, in pursuit of a noble goal. This deck won't pull its punches. But its motivation is always going to be to seek the truth. This deck will be honest and passionate and will expect me to be honest with myself and to put in the passion and the creativity to get the most out of it.

2. What are your strengths as a deck? King of Cups

The King of Cups is joyful and exuberant. He is compassionate and open-hearted. He brings harmony, love, and acceptance. He urges us to set out on a spiritual path, promising support in the form of solid emotional and spiritual guiding energies. This deck will have strong feelings about things. This deck will be very much concerned with the emotional and spiritual aspects of what it is telling me, perhaps it will not be very literal or concerned with practical aspects. It is worth pointing out that there are NO pentacles showing up anywhere in this Deck Interview Spread, which could support that theory.

3. What are you limitations as a deck? Five of Swords

Tension, conflict, and disagreement. The cards may not always play nice with one another. Maybe the deck will seem like sometimes it doesn't know what it is trying to say. The cards may fight one another. It's my job to find the compromise. And, looking ahead to the Ace of Cups and back to the King of Cups, it means I need to follow my intuition and inner guidance to find the harmony among the cards. It won't work to try to force them into submission with logic and spreadsheets (at least not only those things). 

4. What are you here to teach me? Eight of Swords

I have more control and power and agency in my life than I realize. Maybe it's telling me to be grateful for what I have in my life, and realize that I have everything I need. If I believe in myself, I can easily cast off the bonds that are holding me back and give myself more freedom. I don't deserve to feel shitty, basically. Nothing will ever come from giving up or giving in to depression. If I am honest with myself and willing to tap into my intuition, creativity, and passion, I can better my circumstances and come to a heightened place of confidence and contentment. 

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? Ace of Cups

Have an open heart, don't hold back, trust your instincts, your intuition. Come with a full heart and be emotionally invested, be willing to be vulnerable. 

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? The Hanged Man

Astounding realizations, enlightenment and understanding. For me, I think this means understanding myself. But also, attaining a higher level of spiritual fulfillment and satisfaction. I will be able to gain a completely new perspective on life, one that leads to greater happiness. 

Further Thoughts

I'm interested by the fact that not only did I get two Cups cards, but I got the Ace and the King, representing one completed cycle. I think it goes to the idea that the supportive, intuitive, and emotional energies of the King as the strength of the deck, and the Ace as the way in which I can best work with the deck, will be what help me with the more challenging aspects like the Knight of Staves and all that Swords energy. I also think of the fact that there are cycles within cycles, and also that when we reach the completion of the journey, we begin anew. I think it means that I will always find something new to learn in this deck.

Two Court (The King and the Knight) cards gives this deck a lot of potency and power. Those swords are troublesome for me. Maybe this indicates I've been putting too much stock in rationality/logic and need to embrace my intuition and creativity. I love the Hanged Man because that is exactly what I am seeking: a deeper understanding of my spiritual and emotional self. I think another aspect is saying that this deck will give me back what I put in. It's asking me to put in cups energy, and it will help me grow in that area. Similarly, I'm being called to tap into strong passionate energies and be willing to be uncertain and take risks sometimes by the action of the Knight of Staves. I really relate to the idea that the Knight of Staves is single-minded and even possibly reckless and ruthless in his pursuit of his goal, but in addition to this he is 100% loyal and honest. I think this deck will ask me to face difficult truths and will require me to be completely honest with myself in order to get the most out of the relationship.

First Tarot Spread

As soon as I got my cards I took some time simply to look through each one in order and I sat down with my trusty spreadsheet to record some key words and ideas about each card, especially the minor suits with which I am not very familiar. I used the LWB that came with the deck and I found it quite useful!

First Tarot Spread

After writing down some meanings, looking through the cards, and shuffling the deck around for a while, I decided to pull a really simple spread to see how it went. I decided to keep it really simple, since I don't have a great lock on what a lot of the cards mean, so I did a two card spread.

I'm grappling with how I'm doing so far on this journey and so the spread was:
1. What am I doing well so far?
2. What can I improve upon?

The first card was The World. I had to look up in the LWB what this card meant. It said that it represents the four elements, a completed cycle, and rebirth. It means one cycle coming to an end and another beginning. Step forward courageously into your new life. So, I'm doing a good job at being fearless and committing to this journey with the tarot. I'm also thinking about how I'm ending the cycle of a really bad winter and heading into a really positive and motivated spring, and also how I'm completing the cycle of my grad school years and I'm doing a good job at being ready to move forward into my career. So, in terms of my tarot journey, I think it means I'm doing a good job of letting go of my uncertainty and my previous aversion to my spiritual and intuitive side and I'm embracing my intuition and spirituality and being fearless and having an open heart.

The second card was the 2 of wands. And immediately I could sense exactly what this meant. I'm struggling with my confidence and my belief in my own ability and powers. The two of wands represents being confident in one's abilities and plans and powers and authority, and feeling ready to take on whatever challenge is coming. I think I need to let go of self-doubt.

The Fool's Journey & Tarot

On my journey through the tarot, I started out as the Fool, as I mentioned here. I really felt this past weekend like I was the Magician. I was gathering all of my tools and implements around me, I felt called to create an altar with a representation of each of the four elements, and I got ready to make my ideas a reality. As I go forward, does this mean I am going to encounter the High Priestess? I feel like I am already getting a glimpse of her, as I struggle to retain all of the information about the cards and find a sense of ease and intuition and connection with the cards. I think that she is there, enticing me closer, but at the same time she isn't going to make it easy on me.

Moving Forward

Going forward, I plan on doing a Deck Interview (care of Little Red Tarot). I don't feel quite confident enough yet to do so, and I'd like to be able to set aside a chunk of time for this. Maybe Friday night. In any event you can most likely expect a post on that within a week or so. The other night I played around with some readings for myself and my boyfriend, just to start getting a feel for things. I don't want to doubt myself too much or hold back, I feel like the best way to learn is by doing. 

Another thing I'd like to do is draw a daily card for myself and examine what it can tell me about my day. I can't promise I'll always post every day about these drawings, but I think it'll be a fun way for me to incorporate tarot into my daily life, increase my comfort level with interpreting the cards, and help me learn the meanings one card at a time.