In this week following the celebration of our culture’s major holidays, and anticipation of the new year, the first card drawn is the Six of Pentacles, representing charity.
Impacting that Six of Pentacles we encounter The Fool.
Taken together these two cards represent ‘the heart of the matter.’ They inform us that this spread is all about the charity shown by the Six of Pentacles, but The Fool reminds us to make considerations beyond large, institutional charities. It is referring to small individual acts of kindness. Charitable acts done in the moment, or on a whim when a need is seen.
All four suits, and the major arcana are represented in the spread, reminding us that charity is not all about money. Money yes, but also love, tenderness, and caring. We can give our energy and effort where it is needed, our sincere advice and knowledge where it could help. The potential for charity is truly broad when we look at where it might truly be needed.
Card three, The Empress stands in the position of our conscious thoughts and symbolizes for us that great generative abundance that comes from a life well lived. Again, that could be material abundance, but it could also be emotional or intellectual abundance. Our lives can be filled with love or satisfaction, no matter our financial status. We know this, just as we know that the charity we give will not harm us, rather it will come back to us in kind.
Our fourth card, the Ten of Cups shows that we understand the need to give of ourselves to help others not only consciously, but unconsciously as well. We know at a very deep level that ultimately we have much, and that we do well by giving some of what we have to others. We realize that through giving, we are expressing love.
All of these cards together, the Ten of Cups, The Fool, The Six of Pentacles, and The Empress represent thought at the present moment in time. They symbolize the fact that we have fully internalized and realized the need to give to others emotionally and materially, and that in turn we will receive.
Card five, the Four of Pentacles symbolizes greed. The opposite of what our spread is about today. It stands in the position of what has just passed away, that which is just behind our ‘heart of the matter,’ which is charity. It is reminding us that we may have forgotten these thoughts of charity for a little while, but they have returned to us now. Perhaps inspired by the holidays just past?
Our sixth card, the Nine of Cups stands in place of the near term, what will come within the next week or two. It symbolizes abundance, specifically emotional abundance.
These cards together, the Four of Pentacles, The Fool, The Six of Pentacles, and the Nine of Cups symbolize Past, Present, and Future. We may have been holding a little too tightly to what we have in the past, but presently our thoughts are on opening ourselves and giving of ourselves to others. Doing so will bring abundance of love and joy into our lives, for when we give love, we receive it in turn, when we give charity we lose nothing, rather we gain much.
This completes the ‘cross’ half of our Celtic Cross spread, and it represents generative energies. Passive energies that will bloom for us and bring forth growth if and when we bring active forces to bear upon them.
This half of the spread also reflects the four cardinal directions. The Nine of Cups stands in the East, the Four of Pentacles in the West, The Empress in the South, and the Ten of Cups in the North. Thus illustrating that if we stop holding so tightly to what we have, and travel towards the East as called to do by The Empress in the South, we will discover greater abundance in our reality.
Card seven, the Seven of Swords symbolizes how we are seeing ourselves as the present moment. Much as the Four of Pentacles symbolized greed in the recent past, so too does the Seven of Swords illustrate that same feeling of taking or holding tightly, of getting away with something. It shows us that we have been conscious about holding things too tightly, and that we aren’t happy with those feelings.
Card eight, The Hierophant, however illustrates how those around us see us. Whatever we may be feeling about ourselves, those who love and admire us hold us in high esteem. They believe us to be good and worth emulating.
Taken as a pair, the Seven of Swords and The Hierophant remind us that we are always hardest on ourselves. That we reserve the very harshest criticism for our own internal recriminations and dialog. They are telling us that charity is not only for others, we should be charitable to ourselves as well. Remember the good that we do, not focus solely on things that we need to improve. None are perfect, and we can’t expect perfection from ourselves any more than we can expect it from others.
Card nine, the Ace of Wands, is a card of advice. In the context of this spread it reminds us that charity can’t just be an automatic donation that comes out of our paycheck every week, our a regular charge from our favorite charity on our credit card. We need to actively look for ways to brighten someone’s day. Does our spouse need a kind word? Should we call an old friend whom we haven’t seen in a while? Send a card to someone we know isn’t feeling well? Offer a more generous than usual tip, just because?
In the tenth position, the Queen of Swords stands as our longer term result. We see throughout the spread a change in thinking. From miserly thought to generous thought, and we see how if we take this lesson to heart and integrate it into our lives, we will find our own abundance. The Queen of Swords shows us that this can become a dominant way of thinking in our lives, and as our thoughts create our character, and our reality, she shows that by embracing charity, in its myriad of forms, we will improve our individual character and come to experience a better reality for ourselves and those around us.
Taken together, this second half of the spread, the Seven of Swords, The Hierophant, the Ace of Wands, and the Queen of Swords represent active energies that we can bring to bear in order to fulfil our higher and more charitable thoughts. That the energy of action, when combined with our sedentary thoughts can, and if pursued will, bring positive change to our world.
-CMB
This week I will be speaking at the Tenino Masonic Lodge about the Tarot and Freemasonry. If you can join me there, I think that you will really enjoy what is promised to be a splendid evening. Details are here.
Curious about the cards used to illustrate this post? Details are here.
Finally, if you want to know where to buy some sweet Tarot decks, I’ve got some recommendations for you here.
Thank you for reading!
I will admit i know next to nothing about tarot cards and their use. I have family members who own them and at least one who applies their use in their lives.
Here is a question being asked with no judgement intended...
Is there a place within the Ancient Craft for tarot cards, why and how? Thank you.
thank you. Jje