Coffee & Tarot #9 – Ready For This?!

As I contemplated writing another Coffee & Tarot post, I did what I normally do…I sat down at my altar and got really quiet. I tried to clear my mind of any preconceived ideas and prepare myself to just flow with it, which ironically plays very well with the spread I ended up with. 

There are many ways to do a spread and though I have a few books on the topic, a lot of the time I just wing it. For yesterday evening’s spread, that is exactly what I did, I made it up. I decided I wanted to use two decks: One as my main deck (The Wandering Star Tarot) and another deck for a bonus card (Wild Mystic Oracle Card Deck). 

The Spread:

From the Wandering Star deck I pulled: 

The Queen of Wands,

Ten of Pentacles,

The Hermit,

And the Six of Swords. 

On the bottom of the deck: Judgment 

From my bonus deck, Wild Mystic, I pulled “Intention”, the Jellyfish 

And here’s where you quizzically ask me, “Umm, sooooooooo, what am I looking at….?!?!!!?” 

Right, totally. I get that. At first glance it seems as if the cards are all over the place and not connected to each other at all. But then I sat there looking at them and just like fitting together puzzle pieces, suddenly there was a big picture that presented itself to me.  I bet if you sat and stared at it, you’d also come up with your own big picture (and if you do, I totally want to hear it! So please share!). Until then, I’ll share with you what all the puzzle pieces came together and said to me…. 

The story that unfolded for me is about setting intentions, tuning in, and going with the flow. 

All of us, we’ve all wanted something in life. As young kids, as teens, as barely adults, as adults, and even now… wherever this lands in your life, my guess is that you want something. Sometimes what we’re wanting is small and simple and other times it’s a big and complex dream. Some wants are tangible and others not so much. For example, I want a new sofa, one that is comfortable to cuddle up on and watch movies. This is tangible. I also would like to make my home feel more like my home. This is a feeling, which isn’t something I can cuddle into… at least not in a physical sense. When we have these desires, often it motivates us to set an intention for pursuit.  

The Jelly Fish card is a card about intention and psychological sensitivity. It’s also a card about working with the current (of life). If you’re working WITH something, you’re not controlling it, but rather attuning to it and using it to your advantage if/when possible. The author of this card counsels to set intentions, yet also trust in the path that the Universe has set before you. 

Sometimes what we want, if presented to use immediately, is something that we’re not ready for. We like the idea of something…. But are we prepared for it? 

When I looked at my spread, it occurred to me that it was almost as if it were divided into two parts:

 “If you want this”

Then…

 “You need to do this”.  

It’s as if the left side of the spread is the end results, the goal achieved, the HOORAH accomplishment. 

To start off, on the top of the left side is the Queen of Wands…. Look at her! She sits with confidence, looking straight ahead, and she’s so focused she has that 3rd eye going for her. Queen of Wands got it going on. Then, below the Queen of Wands, the 10 of Pentacles. In the traditional deck you see a couple that has it all: the house, the dogs, the kids, and an inheritance. In this deck, you can still tell that this couple is pretty satisfied with their life. They’ve got that content and happy glow about them. 

But what about those two other cards, directly opposite of them?  It’s like seeing their backstories. These cards tell you what they needed to go through in order to get to where they are. 

This is a great time to point out that card on the top right. As a habit, more often than not, after I pull my cards, I take a look at the card on the bottom of the deck. I view this card as the overall theme of a reading. That top right card is this overall theme card, the Judgement card. In tarot, the Judgment card comes right before the completion of the Major Arcana. As I mentioned in my previous post, the Major Arcana represents the Hero’s Journey. The Judgment card is the place in the journey where the hero/heroine, says, “Heeeeyeah! WoooHOOOO! Look at where I was! Look at what I learned! Look where I landed! WOOT WOOT!! This is how I got to be MEEEEeeeEEE” And then, after all this introspection, they complete their journey with The World card. BooYAH! 

The Judgement card is about seeing things as they really are: Whether a situation, a person, or yourself. It’s also about seeing and accepting the reality of where any of those thing’s land. This spread had all of the elements of life: Water (the Jellyfish), Fire (wands), Air (swords), and Earth (pentacles). So, it’s all aspects of life that are being addressed. The Judgment card really ties in nicely with the two cards on the “You need to do this…” side of the spread: The Hermit and the Six of Swords.

Seeing things as they are and not how we want them to be takes introspection and honesty. Both of these cards on the right side of the spread have a quality of introspection. Really getting away from outside influence and doing deep inner work, which includes seeing things as they are, and working on healing/growth.

The Hermit Card is usually portrayed as an older person. This is a person who has been there and done that. Many times. They are usually seen with a lantern that is lighting their way through the dark… darkness being uncertain terrain. The Hermit is about self-reflection and soul searching. It’s through this solitude that one really gets to know who they are. The Six of Swords has such a similar meaning, it’s almost as if they are fraternal twins. The Six of Swords is seen to also be traveling on a lone journey. When writing about the Six of Swords card, the author of the Wandering Star deck said something I really loved. She said that after going through something big, sometimes getting away is about being able to “recover, discover, and move on…” I love this because life is about leveling up. My son and oldest daughter love video games, so it’s been my observation (and a nod to them), that I use that phrase as a metaphor for life. But really, isn’t it a perfect metaphor? Isn’t that what we’re all doing, leveling up? Taking our experiences and applying what we’ve learned and integrating all of our life lessons, and then moving forward? I mean, if a person isn’t doing this…. Well for one, they’d really suck at certain video games. 

Now, whiplash turn of topic…. Sort of. What about if we’re feeling like the Universe is denying a want. We want something so badly, but it’s just not happening. Maybe we want to be happily coupled up or maybe we want a business dream to come to fruition. This spread, in my opinion, encourages us to ask ourselves, “Am I ready for this?!” And through introspection and being honest with ourselves, we might see that we still have some leveling up to do. 

The Jellyfish goes with the flow, even with climate change affecting the oceans, it adjusted to its new reality and continues to live. This spread is a reminder that sometimes in life, we need to trust in the process and go with the flow and where it takes us and accept the reality of our situations. That doesn’t mean we can’t dream big; it just means that we may have some steps to go through in preparation for attaining the big dream. Or…. and this is a hard one, maybe this particular dream isn’t for us. Can we trust that the Universe has our back through all of this? Some people say, “Let go. Let God.” Of course, in place of “God”, you can substitute what works for you, as I do. No matter what word you put in there, it’s about trusting and letting go. And as I write this, the Serenity Prayer comes to mind. It’s a great conclusion to this post. When setting intentions, tuning in, and going with the flow…. A wonderful prayer to reflect on is this: