The 7's ~ to tend, to steal, to defend, to decide

The 7s ~ 
To tend, to steal, to defend, to decide 

Pentacles ~ It’s all about taking care of what you have. Its about learning to hang on to what’s yours and the idea of making things grow.

Ownership, care taker, safe-guard, nurturing, frugality, obsession, hoarding, caution.

7/Pentacles ~ This card is all about taking care of what you have. This most often refers to money and material matters, but with the tarot, as we know, this can encompass so many other things. Sometimes this card comes up when someone needs to take action or make an important often time-sensitive decision and they’re dawdling, either caught in a moment of self-doubt and hesitation, or frozen with dread and fear.

The character on this card often tends to over-analyze. He’s hesitant to make any changes that might mess up the quo pro, even if those changes would be positive. (Isn’t it best to keep our garden as it is, without digging anything up, without planting anything new, without changing the scenery or the topography?… he surmises, leaning placidly on his hoe.)

“Act now! Hurry! Stop just standing there!”… the 7/pentacles often shouts in vain.

Reversed:

Something imminent is on the horizon, which is going to shake up your world, rattle your coin purse, or empty your wallet. Your frozen objectivity about it all, your reluctance to make a decision, or act upon it, is not going to change this fact. Instead of feeling powerless and allowing yourself to be swept along on this wave, put your feet firmly down – you can feel the bottom, it’s there – stand up and stand up for yourself. Take control of your life.

My Personal Connection:

All through my life I have vacillated between calm complacency or worried stress regarding money and finances. And for the majority of my adulthood, accompanied by this unnerving vacillation, I was married. I have realized in retrospection that the two times in my adulthood when I have been single, briefly in my 20s and now in my 60s, were the two times in my life I have been the most solid and stable financially. Not wealthy, mind you, but stable, comfortable, able to take care of things and then some… All By Myself.

My relationship with the seven of pentacles has been as unpredictable, difficult, and acidic as the relationships in my marriages, which never felt financially stable, no matter what the conditions, because I had absolutely No Control of the money or how it was spent.

The financial circumstances of my partners at the time did not alleviate the stress and worry, whether we were in a feast or famine mode. One husband’s late father’s estate was worth several million dollars, and my husband earned almost $100,000 a year all on his own by renting out his own prime farm ground. What did we live on at this time? The small amount of money he made working at a local retail shop (for health insurance reasons, he told me). That’s it. No money that was ever made on his farm property in Iowa touched our household in Nebraska; what it did do is knock my daughter out of financial assistance when she applied to college.

The other husband, as he himself admitted, “couldn’t keep a dime in his pocket”. The famine side of things was enormously stressful and worrying while we were together, the worst in my life, and fortunately this weird relationship and period of time was very short-lived. I kept thinking there has to be a balanced center here somewhere.

But now, at this time in life, at this age and stage, I’m fine. I’m free. And in this freedom I’ve made peace with the seven of pentacles. If you are having issues with this card, know that there is a way through it to a solid and acceptable solution.

Swords ~ It’s all about the thief and the very real prospect of losing something we value. It’s about being naive or vulnerable enough to find ourselves in the position of “victim”.

Thief/theft, stealth, scruples, gigolo, vulnerability, con-artist, carelessness, advantage, deception, paranoia

7/Swords ~ It’s all about stealth and deception, this card. I’m sitting here trying to think of a positive connection, but I’m at a loss. This card takes, takes, takes from you, just as some people you run across in life. And I always say to my tarot clients, so much so that it sounds clique to me, “Sometimes what’s stolen isn’t just material things, but intangible necessities like joy, self-confidence, trust, and love.”

The more life you live, and the more run-ins with this card you have, the more difficult it will be to remain optimistic, the harder it will be to trust people. You’ll find it difficult, if not impossible, to fall into friendships or love with wide-eyed breathless open anticipation. Caution will sit on your shoulder, shrouded in black, all morose and scowling, whispering doubts in your ear.

Reversed:

If you’ve brought this card up in reference to doubt about an individual or a situation, never fear, this card reversed is making a positive point. Carry on, with whatever it is, whomever it is, and move forward. Flick Caution, that irritating little bastard, off your shoulder with a flip of the wrist.

My Personal Connection:

This card represents everyone who has ever stolen anything from me… the pink cheeked fuzzy lipped boy my sophomore year of high school – he stole the valiant idealism with which I viewed men. The snaky-eyed chattering woman who befriended me in my 40s – she stole my trust in other women and my sense of comfort in friendships. Some of the men I’ve been married to attempted to steal my self-confidence, a healthy self-ego, dreams, goals, joy, and laughter.

The seven of swords erupts with the dark realization that the immaterial ethereal things stolen from us are by far more devastating and destructive than any material object could ever be. Material objects are easily replaceable; but those things we can neither feel, touch, or see may be lost forever.

A pox upon the seven of swords, beware of his presence, cull him from your existence.

Wands ~ It’s all about knowing when you need to stand your ground and defend yourself, your position, your opinion, your loved ones, your home, or your reputation.

Defense, altercation, arguments, courage, will power, strength, paranoia, combativeness

7/Wands ~ Stand your ground; draw the line; be on guard; hold your own… these are all phrases that come up for me with this card. And the appearance on this card in the traditional Rider/Waite gives us these messages, that poor figure using his wand in both hands as a weapon to hold off the torch bearing angry hoards. But this is just the surface, we barely see the picture; and we actually don’t even see the most important part of the picture… the angry hoards. We only see their wands.

Who are they? Why are they angry? Why must we be on the defensive with them? What will they do to us? What power do they hold over us? How can we regain dominion over them? How can we disarm them? Are they real, or are they only alive in our imagination?

When you’re able to answer any or all of these questions, you will have the full story for this card. If you don’t know the answers, or are unwilling to try and find them, you will forever be frozen in this battle stance.

Reversed:

Sometimes this means that someone has power over us, or that we’ve foolishly, and sometimes unwittingly, handed it over. Sometimes this means that we’re about to lose our footing, our advantage, and we’re going to slip, falling into defeat. And sometimes this means that we’ve over-reacted, that we’ve been too dramatic and feisty and hot-headed for too long and it’s time to knock it off.

Personal Connection:

Think of how much of your life has been spent being “Battle Ready”. And in retrospect, how many battles did you really have to fight, and how much time did you waste in this stance? It’s not our fault, not always, and not totally. It’s the world around us and its harshness, its brutality, its energy of hostility. This sounds so dark and pessimistic, I know, but the seven of wands carries this energy. It’s also a card of futile unnecessary fear. A wise lady once told me, a teacher she was at college, “99% of what you worry about will never transpire”. It’s true.

Be still all you merciless silly fears. Be gone all negative destructive energy. I banish the scary shadows on the walls of my life. I kick the nightmares and doubts from the dark recesses of my mind.

I raise my wand, not in a defensive mode, prepared to strike, but as a salute to the victory I now taste through all the challenges of this earthly life in this incarnation.

Cups ~ It’s all about reaching that point in your life that awaits a decision. It’s about living life fully, making sure you keep all your options open.

Decisions, options, choices, indecision, hesitance, mania, scattered energy

7/Cups ~ We may have wanted to have a variety of choices in our life; we may have wanted to reach a point where we could make the decisions and feel in control and heady with personal power; we may have reached a point where the world was knocking on our door, and all we had to do was choose our pot of gold, follow our chosen rainbow, and reap the rewards. But it’s almost never that easy (except maybe for a few golden magical individuals who seem to possess the key of fortune). For most of us, decisions come up and it turns out to be quite a quandary, often leaving us confused, perplexed, bewildered, and unsure.

When this happens, and you might feel sorry for yourself or wonder how you got in this predicament, left to make some monumental decision that might change the course of your life, remember this… there are a gazillion people out there who don’t have a choice. Be grateful that you do.

Reversed:

Sometimes this card shows up when someone is frozen with the inability to make a decision, and so often this card shows up when the decision is time sensitive. This card is often telling us, in the most colorful way, using one of my grandmother’s favorite quotes: “Shit or get off the pot.”

My Personal Connection:

My life has always been impacted by my own decisions and choices, sometimes for the good, and often for the worst. How different everything in my life might be right now based on different decisions and choices that I could’ve taken. The thing is, in spite of difficult spots now and then, I wouldn’t change anything. If I were to change the tiniest most miniscule detail, I might be missing a child that’s part of my life. I might not have written a book. I might be on a completely different spiritual path. I might not be living in the unique and oddly skewered old house we’re so fond of. I might not be working where I am, connecting with a group of people important to me.

If I were to change any of these seven cups, the decisions I’ve made over the years, I might not be me. Make your life choices and decisions and don’t look back. Live your life with no regrets… Embrace the seven of cups and give it a good solid kiss right on the lips.

The Tarot Parlour

Life Readings

Relationship Readings

Source:

The contents of this post were taken from my book:
The Ultimate Tarot Guide: for Your Personal Tarot Journey

The Three's ~ To Work, To Suffer, To Compromise, To Celebrate

The 3s ~ perseverance 

To work, to suffer, to compromise, to celebrate 

Pentacles ~ Embracing a healthy work ethic while centering our lives around goals and accomplishments.

Employment, work, expertise, cooperation, practice, growth, interaction, concentration, single-mindedness

3/Pentacles ~

This card is connected to our work, our employment, our career. But it goes so much deeper. The three of pentacles is connected to our identity. We spend an enormous amount of our time working to earn our livelihood, and what we spend all of this time doing integrates itself into who we are. It doesn’t matter if you’ve spent years studying to practice a highly specific and specialized job, or you flip burgers at McDonald’s… What you do is part of who you are. It can touch all other aspects of your life in a multitude of ways.

Never dismiss this card as simple and straightforward, always look beneath the surface, into the hows and whys.

Reversed:

Something is not “working” in your life. Examine all areas of your life because cogs and wheels have ground to a halt, usually along with purpose and motivation.

My Personal Connection:

This card connects with me, as it might with so many of you, who have known since very early in life what it is you’re suppose to do, exactly what your job should be. But, like me, I’m betting that there are a lot you who took a life time trying to figure out exactly how you were going to do this life’s work, this mysterious calling. With me, it was writing. I began sending out short stories and essays to magazines when I was a teenager, and suffered the humiliation and puzzlement over having them returned, often with a form letter of rejection, but once from a national woman's magazine of the day, a heartfelt letter from an editor encouraging me to continue writing and to give it some time and plenty of work. I still think of this unknown person every once in a while.

I didn’t publish my first book until I was in my 50s. Up until then, in my 30s the only thing published was a handful of fictional stories to literary magazines for a small token of payment. I still have the very first $5.00 check I received from one of these magazines. I kept it. It was visible validation that this can be done!

I have finally found peace with the three of pentacles, though I tend to keep a wary eye on it.

Swords ~ Embracing sorrow and grief at their base level with the purpose of growth and renewal.

Sorrow, broken heart, sadness, depression, infidelity, underhandedness, affair, heart problems

3/Swords ~

This card wreaks of sorrow, all the heartbreak that can be experienced in a single lifetime. It cries, it wails, it pulsates with pain. It often represents the human condition at its most vulnerable. The three of swords is such a dramatic gripping card, you can almost feel a palpable pain in your chest when you look upon it.

The three of swords severs with the thrust of those three swords. It severs relationships, and it severs hope. It lays us before the world with open raw emotions, our most intimate tender parts exposed.

Reversed:

Climb up out of your sorrow. Failure to do so will result in the burial of all future plans, hopes, dreams, and possibilities. Turn around… turn around now, before it’s too late.

Resign yourself to the fact that there may be something you have to cut out of your life, something that may at first appear to be pivotal to your existence and your happiness.

My Personal Connection:

Anyone who has ever lived has experienced sorrow at some point, whether this is in the guise of broken relationships, the death of loved ones, both human and animal; or the death of dreams, fantasies, and other impossible and sometimes intangible things in our life.

One of the main lessons I’ve received from this card is that you have to pick yourself back up, lick your wounds, and continue moving forward. To do anything else would be unthinkable.

Wands ~ Embracing the gift of successful negotiations and arbitration.

Compatibility, third-party, arbitration, patience, understanding, business, contracts, agreements, polyamory, open relationships

3/Wands ~

The patience of a saint is the energy that exudes from this card, a perennial sense of waiting, of accepting, of compromising, of arbitrating. This card takes you through the trials and tribulations of life with quiet grace and dignity. There will be no outbursts, no storms, no drama, and no ultimatums. Final outcomes will be reached with an uncanny emotionless anti-climactic ending.

“All good things come to those who wait.” Sometimes quiet persistence and patience will speed us along to positive and desired outcomes. There’s so many lessons to be learned here. Study the surrounding situations and characters with a discerning eye and a quiet tongue.

Reversed:

There’s a fox in the chicken coop. Be careful who you trust. While sitting at the table of negotiation, take a peek underneath to see who’s holding hands.

My Personal Connection:

The figure on this card seems to have an endless amount of patience and endurance. Not all of us are so well endowed. My life is an endless period of impatient episodes of waiting for something… waiting for Santa to deliver my first green two-wheeled bike. I knew it was coming months ahead of time, which was rather torturous, and if the adults around me had seriously reflected on their decision to let me know so far ahead of time, they may have changed their minds. I was 6 years old, and almost every day for weeks and weeks before Christmas, I would get dressed and run all around the outskirts of the huge old Victorian farmhouse to see if this bike might have been left early, honestly thinking I would find it leaning against a corner of the house in the yard.

Waiting, always waiting… waiting to start school, waiting to finish school; waiting to start dating; waiting for an engagement ring; waiting to get married; waiting to get divorced; waiting for a baby to be born; waiting for a job to start; waiting for a book to be done; waiting for someone’s birthday; waiting for an anniversary; waiting for winter to be through, waiting for spring to start; waiting for Friday; waiting for magick to happen.

Always waiting. For me this is the epitome of this tarot card, and I can hear it breathe a deep tired sigh.

Cups ~ Embracing joy and celebration with a light heart and pure conscience.

Milestone, wedding, anniversary, birth, celebration, frivolity, party, revelry, drunkenness, hedonism

3/Cups ~

Joviality and camaraderie are hailed with the three of cups, but it’s more than just a rousing party. The most important aspect of this card is the What, the Who, and the Why. It’s the reason for this celebration, this gathering, that’s important. It may herald a pivotal milestone in someone’s life. The appearance of the three of cups may be the needed encouragement someone has to have in order to work out a relationship, or keep working towards an important goal.

Life is laced with potholes, and detours, and the possibility of failure breathing down our neck, but this card thumbs its nose at all of them, whispering in our ear… You can – You Can – YOU CAN!

Reversed:

The party is over. The pub has closed. The last glass has been washed. The music has stopped, the crowd has dispersed, and silence has descended. Sometimes we have difficulty coming back down to earth from the emotional high of celebrations. Sometimes everyday mundane life pales in comparison to these milestone moments and the exalted experience of profound success and happiness.

Embrace the normal mundane everyday life between the peaks. There’s so much to learn and experience in the valleys.

My Personal Connection:

At the time I’m writing this, I’ve lived for 60 years. I am amazed, looking back, at the number of celebrations and milestones this card represents. The birth of a baby, a graduation, a personal accomplishment, but also other people’s milestones and celebrations that have touched my life profoundly, especially events connected to my children.

In my 20s I may have misunderstood the three of cups, thinking this was the kind of energy that we should be able to maintain most of the time. This idea will send you on a rampaging streak to find, cling to, and ride this wave of ridiculously high energy, and you might feel that you are failing in some way if you’re unable to do so. But the thing is, it’s physically and emotionally impossible to be hysterically ceremoniously on top of the world for extended periods. Even if you were capable of being this deliriously on top the majority of the time, it would then become the mundane and the regular, it would lose it’s special effect. It would lose the magic.

I wish the younger me would have realized this sooner and actually savored the more quiet times, even if they seemed boring, or tedious, or painfully anti-climactic. The lesson of this card is to appreciate the darker days, the shadows, and the periods of quiet introspection. It will make the sunny days more brilliant and memorable.

The Tarot Parlour

Life Readings

Relationship Readings

Source:

The contents of this post were taken from my book:

The Ultimate Tarot Guide: for Your Personal Tarot Journey

The Nines

The nine’s are a contradiction, from anxiety and mental anguish, to resplendent and gracious living; from the golden cup and all that you desire, to preparing for a fight. But within the nine’s you will gain in strength, confidence, and direction. The nine’s let you know that it’s been a long journey, but your destination is in sight.

Nine of Pentacles

This card speaks of comfortable financial circumstances, financial success, a world of plenty, people of means, personal contentment and self-satisfaction.

True to form and tradition, the nine of pentacles most often reeks of positive energy, a serene life or lifestyle, and refinement. This card consistently reveals a person who is comfortable in their own skin and has a handle on their life, as well as most of the elements within it. I know, when this card appears in a reading, that the querent before me possesses a quiet unassuming self-confidence.

When reversed this card has revealed the need for more freedom, someone trapped in a controlling relationship, locked within the proverbial gilded cage. This card has even exposed a controlling personality—the querent him/herself. The nine of pentacles has also trumpeted an occasional warning in a reading, when someone is deliberately being kept in the dark.

Nine of Swords

Anxiety, nightmares, worry and stress…this is the traditional meaning of the nine of swords. When this card comes up in a reading, we can usually determine what areas of your life, or even what specific event or person, may be contributing to the stress and anxiety that are biting at your heels. Surrounding cards are extremely important when the nine of swords rears its ugly head. But a word of caution on this point—the nine of swords is capable of revealing someone’s darkest secret, blackest thoughts, most hideous trauma. When this card appears, use great delicacy and compassion when determining whether to mention anything specific, of if you want to touch upon the exposed subject at all. The majority of the time, I find it’s best to remain silent here. You most likely won’t be telling the querent anything they are not already keenly aware of.

Other meanings for this card may well be:  too much coming at you at once; deliberately sticking your head in the sand, ostrich style, this never makes problems or issues go away, they just ferment and become more troublesome and stinky; health issues, depending on the cards surrounding it; abusive relationships/stalking/cruelty; and paranormal hauntings.

Nine of Wands

Protect your line of defense.  This is most often the meaning of this card, in all it’s solid tradition. When the nine of wands pops up, I know the querent should get all her eggs in a row, check her back, gather some ammunition—generally the figurative kind! —And be prepared to defend herself from an upcoming attack. And it will come, it’s in the cards.

Another traditional meaning for the nine of wands is “The Warrior”. This is the grizzled and battle weary soul who has had to fight the good fight, sometimes way to often, and usually at a disadvantage. This card often tells me when a querent has had a difficult life, and when they are defensive. It has also exposed people who tend to be emotionally distant and cold.

People who’s spirit seems to embrace this card are usually people who have built a wall around themselves. This wall’s original function was to keep people out, but it often turns on the creator to become a self-imposed prison. When this situation shows up in a reading, it’s imperative to begin dismantling this wall.

Nine of Cups

This card is traditionally heralded as ‘the wish card”. Whatever it is the querent desires, he/she will most certainly get. Be sure you watch the surrounding cards carefully for all the details. Don’t hesitate to pull another couple cards to expand the information based on the nine of cups. You may be surprised at how much will be revealed; and once in a while you may have to admonish the querent to “be careful what you wish for”.

Reversed, this card may herald disappointing news, negative results—either figuratively, or from physical tests, or it may tell you that the road to what you want will be uphill all the way. You might want to reconsider. Sometimes the powers that be really are wiser than our own human nature, and what we wish for is not always to our advantage.

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 Life Readings

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The Twos

The two’s involve pairs. These cards can revolve around couples, business, money, mental endeavors, and decisions, as depicted by cups, wands, pentacles, and swords. The two’s can predict compatibility and the need and direction of decisions. The two’s speak of balance—yin yang, black and white, left and right, etc.; they herald partnerships and validate relationships. This suit can also warn us when there are imbalances in our lives that may affect unpredictable areas.

• Two of Pentacles

The figure on this card appears as a juggler, most often than not. In each hand he holds a golden disk, balanced precariously on their edges. As this card tells us, the trick of life, the most important thing, is to keep everything in it balanced out, on an even keel.

Upright this card indicates that we have accomplished this task successfully. In deep concentration, we maintain an even equilibrium in our lives; and in doing so the paths before us will be smooth and easier to traverse. This card reminds us that maintaining balance is much like keeping a house clean, it is an ongoing thing.

When this card is reversed, it is a smack to our consciousness, telling us that something is off kilter, out of whack, with often tumultuous and chaotic consequences. There is an imbalance somewhere in our lives, and this imbalance will be like ripples on a pond, upsetting the smooth surface in all aspects of our existence. The surrounding cards will quickly point out the specific areas that are affected and will offer solutions to the dilemma.

• Two of Swords

Crossed lances, a blindfolded figure…Conflict, inability to compromise, unwillingness to see that which we don’t want to face, not having all the information needed to arrive at a decision. This card tells us that the problem here in lies with us. It speaks to us of internal forces at work, creating within us indecision, stubbornness, blunders, and aloofness. This card tells us to open our eyes, take a clear look. The truth, the answer, the right path, all will be revealed in time.

Reversed, this card assures you that the answers, the solutions, the correct path are right before you, just open your eyes and you will see. This card, in conjunction with those around it, can also be pointing to very specific solutions, people, paths and answers. The reversed two of swords can also indicate that someone is not ready to see the light, make decisions, or decide on a direction.
They need more time.

• Two of Wands

This card speaks of partnerships, pairings, a mutual benefit derived from working together. It can also point to the need for decisions based around issues of business, finance, and other practical mundane matters of life. Within this card, the figure, standing so his back is to us, seems deep in concentration, sort of wrapped up in his own thought process. At the same time, he’s also watching the horizon, facing a direction that allows him to see what’s coming, to avoid unpleasant surprises, to be prepared.

In some decks there are other figures in the distance, often a ship or an animal. This can indicate a second party who will have a direct affect on the decision made, on the partnership, or the business venture. Pay attention to your impressions about these figures.

Reversed, this card often warns us that now may not be the right time to undertake any new projects or in-depth endeavors. You may need more information, maybe something more from the mundane world such as funds, backing, or support. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the enterprise should be abandoned, merely that more time may be needed to work out any glitches.

• Two of Cups

The suit of cups deals with emotions and relationships. This card often announces engagements, weddings, a union of some kind. Depending on the surrounding cards in the reading, this could be any sort of union that is steeped in strong emotions and a variety of relationship connections. Upright, this card reeks of a couple, a partnership, soul mates, a coming together. This often means a physical union, but it can also point out more intangible unions, such as a ‘meeting of the minds’. This is a celebratory card and strikes at the heart, the deep-seated center of love, strong emotions, and ethereal fantasies.

Reversed, the two of cups can sting a bit. It may be telling us to step back, slow down, and take a second look. This card can also indicate problems in a marriage or a relationship. Look closely at the surrounding cards for details. It can speak of imbalances in relationships and expose controlling behavior. In some of my readings, the two of cups have also foretold of cancelled engagements and weddings, and it has spoken of divorce.

Tarot Readings with Amythyst Raine

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The Fives

The 5’s in general are cards of conflict, chaos, and disruption. They may seem ominous at first glance, standing on their own; but within a reading their meanings may be softened, expanded, and further explained by the cards around them. The 5’s may be the culmination of past events or the future stormy sky that’s going to descend upon you. In any case, they are situations and conflicts to be worked through, perhaps making you stronger in the end, tempered from facing and solving the crises these cards herald.

• Five of Pentacles

This is the card of poverty and hard times.

The dire effects of this card are shown by the dejected couple slogging through the snow in their tattered clothing and bare feet. And that’s generally what this card points to—financial crisis. The severity and duration of this state of affairs can usually be gleaned by the cards surrounding it. What led up to this predicament may also be revealed in the same way, as well as the solutions needed to solve this crisis.

The hard times the five of coins represents isn’t meant to last forever, almost nothing in life is. This couple is not standing still, hovering in hopelessness or self-pity; they’re putting one foot ahead of the other in dogged determination, to be able to move ahead. And that’s what you must be prepared to do when this card pops up in your readings.

• Five of Swords

This is the card of conflict and battle.

This card smacks of aggression, unfair advantage, insecurity, and petty battles with arrogant victors. It speaks of  “winning the battle but losing the war" at the cost of irreparably damaged relationships, shattered self-esteem, and ruined reputations. The victory, if that’s what you want to call it, is short-lived; and the participants in this debacle will have to live with the results…shattered lives and regret.

In an unusual twist, this card has often appeared in my readings when my querents take too much to heart and feel they have to defend every ideal, underdog, or cause that comes along. These are noble souls; but if they continue on this course, they will wear themselves out. I encourage them to choose their battles wisely and decide what they can let go.

Not surprisingly, this card often warns of an individual who will put their own needs, desires, and goals ahead of everything and everyone. They will attain the desired outcome, but they will leave a slew of bodies in their wake, victims of their selfish ego and emotional vacancy.

• Five of Wands

This is the card of quarrels and bickering.

The five of wands has always reminded me of a group of unruly children. And this is the essence of the five of wands—bickering, nitpicking, childish behavior, chaos, everyone talking at once, “his share his bigger than mine”.

Is there an adult in the house?

This card naturally comes up when there is a problem with a group of people, whether it is siblings, employees, neighbors, or any other group who cannot come to a satisfactory agreement. No one may be physically hurt from these encounters—unless surrounding cards suggest otherwise—but the mutual anguish, anger, frustration and upheaval can have prolonged and lasting effects. This card often tells you that a mediator may be needed, someone who can look at the situation objectively and find common ground between the parties involved.

• Five of Cups

This is the card of mourning, loss, and grief.

Where this card is concerned, it’s pointed out in almost every tarot book I’ve ever read to “look at the bright side, there are two cups still standing”, and while this cheery observation is correct, it skims over the feelings of grief this card inspires and this emotion, which must be faced on its many levels. Yes, you will recover from this period of mourning and loss; your life will go on with some semblance of normalcy at some point. But that is not to say that you will be left without scars from this experience, or that you will not be a changed person from having come through an intense period of grief.

The brightest meanings these two standing cups could bring to a reading may indicate the newfound strength, wisdom, and inner initiation this period of mourning, loss and grief may bring to you.

This card has also revealed episodes of depression, bi-polar disorders, or abuse. Stay alert to these observations.

Tarot Readings with Amythyst Raine

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