Today’s Tarot: A Journey Begins

Pro tip from my side of the table: When a message from a minor arcana card mirrors the basic meaning of a major arcana card, it serves to modify the intensity or impact. It can serve as a “major arcana light” sort of meaning.

In this way, the two of wands connects to the major arcana Fool card by suggesting a beginning. No only does it differ in intensity, but in quality too. The beginning or new-thing in question here isn’t the giddy thrill of a totally new project, or new path as is the flavor of the Fool’d kind of new beginning. This is a new beginning within an older, over-arcing journey or project. It doesn’t have the quality of cycles or phases that you might see with a moon card, it is more like a course adjustment, or adaptive change that has the luxury of time. Planning is a strong component of the two of wands as well. Think of it as a new phase, a change in plans, heavy on the plan part.

It connects with the Devil card reading from yesterday, but in energy, not artwork. Remember that storm on the horizen image that has been coming through lately? It’s back. Energy shifts and flows, day by day. The point in time today is slightly different from yesterday, even though that was a short 24 hours ago. On the whole, general energies are turbulent and fast moving these days, even though things may be stagnant or stuck on the individual level. It’s the difference between a general blog reading and individual custom reading. These posts are free, but apply to the group mindset. some days they are like throwing cooked spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks (metaphorically speaking – don’t waste food. Love, mom) A custom, individual reading is like a plate of your favorite dinner made exactly to your taste with your favorite seasonings. Shameless plug aside…back to the devil card yesterday.

Today that storm on the horizon energy has backed off a tiny bit, and seems more horizon-ish again. We are at a point where we can navigate again. Detour, might be a better word. It is still possible to get where we want to go, but we might need to detour around the worst of a storm, like a plane or ship might. That leads right in to the two of wands with planning, a new turn, a new direction, adaptation and newness within an older journey. Like real life hurricane warnings, at least we can try to prepare, with the spiritual equivalent of boarding up windows (define and honor healthy boundaries between self and others, personal emotions and general energies) and gathering supplies (self-care, disengaging from social media or draining relationships, etc.)

Introspection and a spiritual turn are parts of both day’s message, in energy if not in art work. Wands are associated with the element of fire, inner passions, relationship with self.

The Two of Wands has another connection to the major arcana. A globe is a common art element for the card across many decks. Connect that to the World card of the major arcana. That hints at success in the end if the plan/adaptation/new direction is enacted. It also hints that plans and actions need a gestalt, big picture, global aspect to help steer things toward that success.

Not every beginning is giddy and pure. Some beginnings are held within any given journey, project or plan. Sometimes, as now, we begin a new direction and a new plan within the old one.

Sugar Devil

public domain

You can’t sugar coat this.

It’s just one of those gnarly sh*tshow kind of years. All politics aside for the moment, there has been a lot of funky mojo energy out there. We’ve talked about it through the past several months and made friends with the word “zeitgeist” along the way. It started with multiple, multiple clients who never thought of themselves as intuition sensitive or empaths. Time and again readings were saying that the anxieties they were feeling were actually a resonant response to the outer energy environment. The advice was to to reinforce their boundaries, to do something protective. The 2020 funk started ringing those assorted psychic and empathic bells as early as January and February. Then came the avalanche of pentacle cards telling us to hunker down, get our proverbial ducks in a row, and pay attention to the physical realm nuts and bolts of things. For those of us lucky enough to be able to work from home, paying attention to the physical realm while staying home day after day after day wasn’t exactly helpful advice – at least not on the surface. Dig a little deeper, and we were being called to wring enjoyment out of the simple things, to recapture the things that delight us, and remember that little things really do mean a lot. That, in turn, inspired the “Kitten Whiskers” off topic series of “my favorite things” posts this summer (more of those to come, btw)

The energies have shifted recently. The boundary challenging, empathic bell ringing quality has abated. The focus-on-the-physical, avoid life altering decisions if possible, enjoy-the-little-things-while-you-can energy has become the spiritual retreat many of us expected at the beginning. Ready or not, we were thrown into a cocoon by worldwide crisis. Now, we are facing a new crisis. This time it is internal. NOW is the time for that spiritual introspection and evolution. NOW is the time to decide our path forward. We were chucked involuntarily into a cocoon. Now we are being forced to decide how, and in what form we will emerge.

No matter what the external lockdown orders may or may not be, the time has come for that spiritual retreat. Just because you are permitted to go out doesn’t mean have to do it. When we do emerge, are we going to bring the same hate and prejudices out with us that we took in with us from the before time? Are we going to face what we’ve avoided both out there in the world and within ourselves?

That is where the Devil card comes in. It isn’t a prediction of doom. I still get that mental image of a storm front on the horizon. Actually, that distant hurricane image is honestly starting to look like a tornado of sand and glass at our doorstep ready to grind everything flat if certain people and forces prevail. But that isn’t today’s Devil card.

In this case, the Devil card is reminding us that some people have come out of the cocoon a good deal worse for the wear. This is our reminder that the sh*t is still storming and there are dark forces out there. It really isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. We are leaving the cocoon and entering the crucible.

One of the greatest things about the Devil card is the reminder that it serves. Yeah, things may suck, they may continue to suck for a time to come, but we can nevertheless do SOME thing to make the world a better place in spite of the general suckishness. Volunteer. Protest (with a mask, outdoors, standing apart) donate, vote a straight blue ticket come November. Be at peace for a moment. Even just one little moment. Even at that, you have added a moment of peaceful energy to a world that really needs it right now.