#practice tarot

Status: CLOSED

interpretation

justice: urges you to return to balance, making sure that your giving and receiving sides aren’t leaning one direction more than the other. What areas of your life are you allowing to take over, and what areas are you stifling? This could show up as spending way too much time working and not enough time growing your hobbies, or spending too much time entertaining ideas that have a false sense of importance. Notice the things tipping your internal scale off balance. Be like the cat in this photo, if something is sending you into a panic and making one scale outweigh the other, release it, let yourself come back into balance. If something is stressful enough to disrupt your ability to come into zen with yourself, don’t try and force it to fit. All it’s gonna do is weigh you down.

- important imagery: notice the cat wearing a robe and slippers, looking totally zen. When things are fair in life and you’re in balance, relaxation should be a natural state of being. Who cares if it’s not formal enough attire for a courtroom? This cat is too concerned with their own well being to care. They feel no shame that they chose to show up comfy today. The way they present themself, the image that they uphold, and their ability to follow the rules do no impact the strength of their sword. They are still the same honorable judge, fit for the job they have chosen, even when they ignore a few rules for their own comfort.

the fool reversed: urges against naivety, don’t blindly follow the directions of others just because you believe you should. You may feel forced to rush into things, like you just have to go go go to stay afloat, but really you’d benefit from a little bit of caution right now. Slow down, look up, you may be headed straight for a cliff and not even realize it. What false senses of pressure are causing you to forge ahead blindly. Is it a deadline, an authority figure, your own pursuit towards perfection? Often these things show up trying to convince us we MUST act in this moment. You HAVE to get that grade, that job, that recognition, when really it’s all an illusion meant to make you move so fast you miss what’s right in front of you.

- important imagery: notice the cat approaching the cliff with eyes closed, blissfully unaware of what’s coming up. Notice also the dog behind barking, trying to warn them. This cat only brought a knapsack to this long journey, and now they won’t even watch where they’re going. Unprepared and unaware? Surely a recipe for disaster. They committed to this journey without considering what would happen if they run out of resources along the way, are they really going to allow themselves to be led off the edge, or be driven to use the very last bit of sustenance they have left?

ace of cups reversed: warns that you’ve been giving too much from your cup without filling it. You’re tapped dry. People keep asking for more from you and you keep giving. Every time you think it’s the last drop somehow, some way, you find a way to squeeze out more. You can’t keep going on like this, there will be a time you run out and crash and burn. There is nothing wrong with putting a few responsibilities to the side to recharge your battery. You may tell yourself it’s just one more day, one more thing to get through and then i’ll rest. But that day is never going to come. The fool reversed energy keeping you forging ahead blindly is not going to let up. It thrives on the will of the human spirit, the stubbornness of it. It knows that if it makes the deadline for rest appear that much closer, you may delay stopping for a break that much longer. Take it now, and take it without guilt. The next time someone asks you for something, pause and ask yourself if you want to. If the answer is no, then don’t do it, plain and simple.

important imagery: notice the tired bird and the lack of enthusiasm for the overflowing cup before it. Despite all these resources it refuses to take a break and bathe in it itself, instead letting it pour out on to the floor for everyone else to enjoy. How long is it going to keep letting this happen? Until there’s not a single drop left? It needs to bathe in some of its own life force before allowing anyone else to have another sip. Additionally, an anonymous cat holds the cup, they are the one getting the credit for the spring flowing from it. Who is taking advantage of this bird’s kindness, who expects it not to ask for anything in return because they know it’s okay letting others have their reward? Who thinks they own this birds life force, who has the power to paint the illusion the bird is in control, but also the power to rip the cup away at any moment?

the hierophant reversed: encourages you to reevaluate your idols, the things you dedicate yourself to and that give reason for all your hard work. Are you only in this go go go mode because you’re scared what life would be like without direction? What would happen if you wandered through the day without tasks to complete or people to please? Some may say they’d feel aimless, but maybe that’s the point. Our worth in this life is not determined by your ability to submit to an authority better than anyone else. The goals you’re working toward and the insitutions your serve may be very important to you, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but you don’t have to go about them in the same way everyone else does. Your supervisors evaluation of your performance does not mean you’re bad, it means they were unable to see the value in it. In reality those above you making the rules also have no idea what’s going on. You’re putting yourself under impossible pressure. Rules keep us organized but they also restrict us. And when you try and manifest and spark that creative spirit inside you it wants to grow, it wants to create in the way that’s authentic to you. Following the rules and staying within the rigid structure of everyone who came before us tampers that creative spirit down and makes it so it can’t function at all. What good would the world be if everyone got straight A’s, if everyone solved the problem the same, or if everyone are subscribed to one “correct” way of thinking?

important imagery: notice the two animals bowed before the cat, both have given it a key, but the keys are identical. Does it really matter that both of them gave the exact same key, what if one wanted to bring a feather or a rock, would it really make a difference? The hierophant cat has an almost derpy expression, it commands authority from the kneeling creatures yet looks like it couldn’t care less at the same time. Not every authority figure knows the way, not every boss knows what they want. Maybe if the creatures brought something the cat didn’t expect, they’d find the rules were never that rigid in the first place.

all together with strength reversed at the back of the deck: you can feel this sensation growing inside you, this restlessness waiting to be released. For too long you’ve been forging ahead checking off your list, doing exactly what’s expected of you and nothing less. You’re running out of steam, in fact you ran out a long time ago, and it’s time for a break before you snap. The wild and creative spirit inside you, what facilitates your drive, is begging to be released from the chains that hold it. This could be a job, relationship/friendship, or other commitment that you feel is worth sacrificing your well being for. If you don’t look up and notice how far this force has driven you to the edge, all that pent up frustration and exhaustion may come to surface in a display or raw energy. If you don’t take your power back from the sources you feel you must concede to, it’s going to steal it back itself. It’s going to force that break on you, stop you in your tracks and make you return to doing things that serve no one but yourself.

important imagery: notice the expression on the cats face, almost a little fearful, wary of what the smirking lion has planned next. The cat may be okay with tampering their spirit in order to do what is asked of them, but the lion is getting hungry. It doesn’t want to wait anymore, and it’s getting ready to pounce on those that have been keeping it trapped, unable to eat and fill itself up.

what this could look like: trying to do work/school but getting sick, feeling too ill to get out of bed, randomly missing an important email or communication, being unable to “act happy” in front of people anymore

answer: Strength

Triumph over adversity, perseverance and the indomitable strength of the spirit. Balance between your soft….. and not so soft sides. Know when to concede and when to step unapologetically into your power.