Daily Draw - Four of Swords, The Empress, The Devil

I gotta be frank with y'all, The Obstacle card, Four of Swords, doesn't really look like all that much of an obstacle to me.  You have Hecate lying there with her man, looking pretty peaceful, if not overly passionate (and no, that's not the problem *grin*).

I think this card refers to the general lack of motivation I feel today.  It's overcast, and springtime in the Rockies means it's either bitter cold or searing hot, none of that gentle spring rain most of you seem to enjoy.  Today it's cold, and I would very much like to curl up in bed with someone else's book and read the day away.  I would very much like to take that break.  But this would not be a good day for that.  I have a project I am working on, and duties call.

It's very easy for me to get confused about productive downtime and just plain procrastination, because for a writer, daydreaming IS part of the work, sometimes, and to write well, and to read tarot well, I need quiet times of contemplation and connecting to Source.  The difficulty comes when I do not differentiate well, when I am dishonest with myself and I let my meditation time turn into nap time, or watching trashy reality tv time.  I have to be aware of that today.

The Way Through the Obstacle, The Empress.  Just as I suspected - it's time for me to let creativity flow, not time to rest.

The Empress is associated with Venus, goddess of love and beauty, fertile and nubile.  Today is a good day for me to focus on the birthing process of the creative project I am working on.  I am reluctant to turn to my writing this morning because what I wrote yesterday made me cry, big fat wet tears, not pretty sedate ones, but the kind that wrack your body and leave you snuffling and weak, headachey and thoroughly wrung out.  I don't want to do that again today, but birth IS painful.  Worth it, but painful.

This Empress is advising me to armor myself in beautiful things, beautiful thoughts, and to go ahead and get on with it.  If it warms up enough I will take my writing outside and sit in the grass, feel the sun upon my face, smell the breeze as it wafts against my skin.

The Devil as The Outcome makes me chuckle.  This is a great example of how "difficult" cards aren't always, and how every single card has a range of meaning, light and dark, and why having specific intentions about the position of each card in a reading works for me.  If I was just doing a free form reading, no positions, I could very easily fall into the trap of thinking this card holds doom and gloom for me, that no matter what I do today I am not going to be able to escape the shadow of the Devil.

But, since this card is the Outcome of following the good advice, I can be assured that I can look for its' light meaning.  The advice card, The Empress, and The Devil, are both sensual cards, excessive cards, of pleasure and enjoyment.  Once I have completed my tasks for the day, I can join my honey for dinner and a glass of wine, and maybe we can cut loose a little, and really enjoy the fruits of our labors.  A couple hours of Devil energy is good for the soul.  It's when we let our desires rule us, instead of ruling them, we get into trouble.

As an alternate, somewhat evil reading, these cards made me think of a relationship going down the tubes, and getting pregnant accidentally-on-purpose, resulting in a whole host of other problems, not really addressing the main one.  This is not the case for me, but I like to illustrate how cards can be read differently at different times.  The Man and I are solid, and our baby is nine years old.  If we had the resources we would probably have five more kids, but our hands are quite full with what we have, thank you, and while I am completely crazy about my children I am also looking forward to the far off day when I am free to travel and make love and live my life on my own schedule alone.  And He feels that even more strongly than I do, haha!





Update:  I was able to maintain concentration through the time I needed to, and make some progress on important projects.  Then we went to dinner, where all of our senses were thoroughly indulged - crisp white wine, creamy tomato caprese, ravioli filled with cheese, fried potatoes, tiramisu.  It was a good reward for a good day's work.


These cards are from The Kingdom Within Tarot by Juno Lucina and Shannon Thornfeather for Schiffer Books.