Cristini P's Tarot Journal

Feeling stifled and unmotivated, I pulled Biddy Tarot's Energy Shifting Tarot Spread  to see what shakes loose. This spread is read clockwise from the 3 o'clock position. Card 1: Page of Pentacles - Pages generally represent an inexperienced and receptive personality. With the financial nature of pentacles, it can mean a new financial venture. A startup, if you will. Manifesting creative energy into new pursuits, learning new skills, setting the ground work for success. A perfect starting point for the two new hobbies I want to learn and eventually draw income from!  Card 2: King of Swords, Reversed - Kings are normally experienced and active personality types, but notice it's in reverse, which means it's all internal wisdom, power, and authority. It shows my unwavering belief in myself - very encouraging! Alas, it also indicates a lack of clarity about what to do next, and spending too much energy worrying about making the wrong decision. Yep, yep, yep. We've seen ...

Lately, I haven't had any particular questions I want answered and I'm just open to general guidance. I thought about reading this spread upright, but decided against it because reverse cards usually represent internalized energy, and I have an abundance of that these days. I'm glad I left them all in reverse because this result was fantastically accurate. Past: Ace of Pentacles, Reversed - Lost opportunity, lack of planning and foresight. Hesitation about moving forward. Um, YES . We were thinking of selling this house last summer, but there was just too much to do with the house, not enough funds, I was in the middle of a job change, and Pat was working full time in the hot sun. We weren't making any progress, so I pulled the plug. Now I'm kicking myself, what with a global pandemic and economic insecurity happening now. However, this card is also reassuring me not to take action until I'm ready, and to do my due diligence. We got a HELOC, and got some work do...

The intention set here is to bring balance, patience, and moderation into my life. This is not  my forte. But the energy behind Temperance is reassuring me that I can practice patience when things get stressful. I don't need to stir controversy on social media. I don't need to be super opinionated and always get my way. I can stay in the middle of the road, and I can even cooperate.  Major arcana represent forces in your life that you don't have control over. And if I have to surrender to the forces that be, I'm glad it's a force for equilibrium.

Today’s intention card is Two of Rods (Wands) reversed. The way I’m reading it, it’s like an expansion on the idea of Two of Pentacles from the other day. Twos represent choices and decisions. The Two of Wands is telling me my choice is between sticking with what I know or taking a risk. But the Two of Pentacles is reassuring me that I can actually do both. IF I prioritize (pents) and PLAN (wands). So today’s intention is to make a plan if I want to meet my goals. My experience in corporate culture is actually helpful here; I know how to set SMART goals (an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound).  First, I need to do some introspection to evaluate what I really want. Then I have to figure out what's stopping me. Why am I hesitating? What is the root of my fear of success? 

Giving, receiving, sharing. I couldn't really relate to this card as I'm not typically the philanthropic type, and I'm also not on the other end of the balance needing charity. Looking at the Biddy Tarot definition, the author pulls out an application for relationships that is a perfect fit: "...If you are in a relationship, the Six of Pentacles can suggest that one partner is dependent on the other to provide most of the money, love or energy for the relationship to keep going... The relationship is, therefore, unequal; however, both partners have mutually agreed to this arrangement to ensure stability." My husband was already laid off for a couple weeks when the COVID-19 pandemic began. There were no jobs all winter or spring, but he had unemployment, and the CARES Act provided enough supplemental income to keep going as normal as possible. I pulled this card the the last week of hubbin's unemployment benefits, and as of yet, we don't know if he is eligi...

Taking a lesson from other tarot learners and practitioners, I wanted to pull a card of the day to set my intention. What does that mean? According to several Google search result summaries, it is the act of stating what you intend to accomplish through your actions. Mostly I accomplish scrolling through Instagram, daydreaming, chasing the dog away from the front window, drinking coffee - oh - and doing the work I'm being paid for. I don't intend  to be distracted all day, but my actions are distracted so I thought setting intention might help. As I shuffled I visualized my daydream come to life: new house on a chunk of property beyond the burbs; start up a home business that will eventually become more profitable than my day job; have enough to live on in retirement. Then I cut the deck to reveal Two of Pentacles. This tells me I'm successfully juggling multiple priorities... for now. I'm also getting caught up in day-to-day demands but losing sight of the big p...