Today’s card is not a card. It’s a reading. I shared this spread about a week or so ago. I asked folks to let me know if they wanted to be in the drawing. Then I drew a name. Even though she said I could use her full name, I’m going to keep it to T. She can reveal in the comments if she likes.
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Processing The Hard Stuff, a reading for T.
1. What is this stuff really about?
The 7 of Air comes up. This card shows a person studying a map. They are VERY concerned with how to get where they think they should be. The trick here is—if they would put the map down, they would see they are much closer than they thought.
The hard stuff T is going through right now is simply the process of understanding it is where she’s meant to be. No studying of the map could have helped her miss this hard stuff because she has to go through it to see where she is.
That sounds convoluted. I will tell you all a secret. T happens to be a dear friend who just went through a truly hellish year (and a half?) full of loss. I think this card is simply telling her to stop trying to figure out why and just move through it as gracefully as possible.
2. What makes it so hard?
How intriguing! Another seven comes up. This time it’s the 7 of Fire which is a woman at a forge. She is hammering out a piece of steel. This card always makes me think of the Goddess Brighid who was something of a multi-tasker.
This card makes me think T is trying to do too much at once. I think she needs to take it one hard piece at a time. You know that old saw about how you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
3. What am I doing that is making it harder?
In retrospection, I find that I don’t like this question because it seems to blame the querent. I don’t like that, do you? But the card I get is one that makes sense.
It’s the card of listening to old tapes and not getting rid of old emotional responses. It is the 8 of Water in which a woman is swimming away.
The key for T here is that she can’t swim fully away as long as she keeps holding on to those things that are serving her. And that can be her own feelings of how she SHOULD feel compared to how she does feel. Honor your feelings, my darling. Honor them and not what others say you should or shouldn’t be feeling.
4. What can I do to make it easier?
Oh lovely. The Guardian of Fire shows up to remind T that she must feed her own passion but that she can lean on others around her. She has to remember that fires need to be fed or they will go out. So you can see this in two ways.
One, she needs to stop feeding the wrong fire.
Two, she needs to rekindle her own passion for life.
I would ask her what personal light has gone out that she needs to turn back on.
5. How can I best support myself while I process this?
*THUD* The card that turns up here is Death. Knowing what I know of her hellish year I wanted to throw this one back to the bottom of the pile. I resisted–barely.
Change is what this card is about but it is also about Death. Understanding Death and what the loss of a loved one means is something my beautiful T has had far too much of. But I think the support here is from actual support groups for those dealing with the loss of a loved one. T, honey, have you reached out to any grief groups? That’s the first thing I thought when I saw this card.
6. Who can I turn to for support while I’m processing this?
The Four of COins is that person who helps you budget yourself in terms of not just money but how much you give of yourself to others. They are your rock, your foundation and your kick in the a** when you try to do too much. They watch over you like a squirrel guards its nuts. Their primary role right now is to make sure that you take care of yourself while you process all of this hard stuff.
7. What will be the benefits of processing it?
What a joyful answer you get, T. It’s the Ace of Water. This shows a salmon fingerling who has yet to leave the safety of where she hatched. In order to grow, she’s going to have to swim out but it’s so scary. The good news is that you are in the middle of your scary stuff right now. Processing all that has happened (good and bad, darling) has given you the knowledge that you really can survive anything. Good things come to those who swim out into the deep water of their own emotions. Growth, baby, growth.
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Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.
Ace of Water, Gaian Tarot
