Reinforced by: The Devil, Three of Swords, Five of Swords, Five of Cups
Opposed by: The Sun, Nine of Wands, Three of Cups, Three of Pentacles
Six of Pentacles—It’s All Happening
After the famine of the Five of Pentacles we’re determined to not let that shit happen again. We research fertilizer, seed strains, irrigation methods, all the other stuff that farmers and gardeners do. We plant our seeds lovingly and intentionally and commit to caring for them. And, holy shit, they all sprout up in beautiful little buds of possibility. We’re not rich, but who cares? We’re so in love with what we started, so dazzled by these miraculous little manifestations that money now takes its rightful place as energy and nothing more. Financial generosity lives in the modest means of the Six of Pentacles. While this card is grounded in the material and physical world, spiritual and psychic shifts are common here. Everyone longs to believe the work they do matters, and in the Six of Pentacles our heart and our work meet in the same place. We can love the challenges and setbacks as much as the victories and success because it’s all ours. This is the card of the entrepreneur, the girl boss, the makers and the believers in magic every damn day.
Reinforced by: The Magician, The Chariot, Four of Wands, Nine of Cups
Opposed by: Seven of Wands, Eight of Swords, Four of Pentacles, Five of Pentacles
Seven of Pentacles—Boring Responsible Grown-Up Shit
Now that you are not whittling your bank account down to zero every pay period, you are one step closer to being a grown-up. You’re a little older, a little wiser and have a little more to lose. Maybe it’s time to get an accountant for your taxes rather than winging it online and hoping for the best. Phrases like managing your portfolio, savings account, investing in property and retirement planning come to mind. Needless to say, this is not the sexiest card in the deck. Delaying instant gratification for long-term rewards is a sentence that I can’t even finish writing without feeling bored. It curbs the carefree spontaneity of The Fool and challenges the decadent pampering of The Empress, but it’s still an important form of self-care. The abundance pipe dream of the Ace—this is how you make it happen. The cool, romantic recklessness of our youth doesn’t make sense anymore, at least not all the time. But you know what else is cool? Planning a vacation a few months in advance, going out to a fancy dinner or booking a last minute plane ticket if you need to without having to check your account balance.
Reinforced by: The Emperor, Justice, Two of Pentacles, Son of Pentacles
Opposed by: The Fool, The Empress, Seven of Cups, Five of Pentacles
Eight of Pentacles—I Made This (and I Don’t Hate It)
The epiphany of the Eight of Pentacles could occur at work, focusing on a task and realizing you actually know what the fuck you’re doing. Or after work, when you hit the gym and wonder when you became a person who hits the gym. Wait, when did you start cooking healthy meals? Holy shit, your home actually smells great, and the bathroom is clean, and it’s full of beautiful things. Dude, you have the best dog in the world. Wow, you really love your friends. Hey, you’re so excited about that camping trip next weekend. And suddenly, you look around to find you love the life you created. Enjoy this, my love. It took years to build and it is yours. No silver spoons, no favors, no shortcuts. The Eight of Pentacles is the card of craftsmanship, of hard-work-turned-expertise, and while it can apply to a specific skill or trade, we are also the makers of our own life. In this card you discover that you’ve managed to build a life that is perfect, nothing is missing, you are overwhelmed by the beauty you are standing in the middle of. Damn, Gina.
Reinforced by: The Star, Judgment, Ten of Cups, Nine of Pentacles
Opposed by: The Hierophant, The Tower, Five of Swords, Seven of Cups
Nine of Pentacles—Cozy as Fuck
You worked your ass off for a long time to build this beautiful life, and in the Nine of Pentacles you are being called to let it work for you. Accomplishment, independence and nourishment are characteristic of this hard-earned card, but you no longer feel the need to flaunt it the way you once did. You are standing on the other side of charging after goals or having something to prove. The Nine of Pentacles’ contentment is closely connected to a feeling of home, and celebrating this card is not a lavish affair. It is putting on your coziest pair of sweatpants and curling up by the fire on a cold winter night. People who live in the Nine of Pentacles infuse a tangible presence into the space they inhabit. When I go back to Brooklyn, I stay with my two dear friends Autumn and Chris, their rescued canary PipSqueak and Labradoodle Crackerjack. Everything in their apartment, down to the plants, is happy. Their home tells the story of a life well lived. An entire wall is lined, floor to ceiling, with books they’ve actually read. A large wooden hand whittled by Autumn’s father sits in a corner. A worn brown leather armchair they found at a flea market rests next to an exquisite Restoration Hardware couch, finished with a coffee table they bought on the street for $25 and painted themselves. Every surface, every corner, houses trinkets accumulated from twenty years of travelling the world together. Every object feels like an heirloom and a treasure because it is theirs. I’ve spent hours poring through Autumn’s nail polish collection, the sterling silver rings Chris used to wear, boxes of old photos and listened to the stories behind each one. Their space possesses the unique ability to fold time in on itself, and suddenly the sun is rising and the birds are chirping and a whole night was spent in laughter. It is never easy to leave. They are undeniably successful people who live in an objectively beautiful apartment, but their success translates beyond the material and the beauty of their home beyond the aesthetic. There are other, almost alchemical ingredients required to imbue a space with magic that money alone could never accomplish. No interior designer can curate that shit. It is a direct reflection of who they are.
Reinforced by: The Empress, The World, Ace of Cups, Nine of Cups, Ten of Cups
Opposed by: The Chariot, Seven of Wands, Son of Swords, Four of Cups
Ten of Pentacles—Started at the Bottom, Now We Here
You graduate college and go on a backpacking trip with two friends through Southeast Asia. Your mind is blown. You volunteer at an elephant sanctuary where you cut hundreds of pounds worth of fruit with a machete and swim in rivers with baby elephants. You ride motorbikes through the mountains. You bathe in waterfalls. You eat food that both delights and horrifies you. You never stay in a hostel that costs more then $3 a night. You travel by slow boats and sixteen-hour bus rides. You haggle with street merchants within an inch of your life. You’re broke. You don’t have a job lined up. You’re moving to New York, one of the most expensive cities in the world, wondering how many girls you can fit into a one-bedroom apartment. A couple of decades pass. You return to Southeast Asia. Considering the flight is twenty-six hours long, you opt for first class so you can sleep on the plane. You go back to the elephant sanctuary, haggle a little less aggressively at the markets and even try your hand at the motorbiking again. You fly from place to place to have more time in each city. You stay at hotels, understated in their elegance, outfitted with acclaimed restaurants and spas. As you’re falling asleep one night between some deliciously soft and clean sheets, you remember a terrifying, ant-infested room you and your friends stayed in all those years ago, somewhere between Thailand and Laos, quaking with laughter as you unfolded your silk cocoon travel sheets to protect your bodies from whatever disgusting thing was certainly on the beds you would sleep in that night. It all hits you. You’ve amassed a level of material wealth that allows you to travel in the most comfortable, effortless way possible. The whole trip, in all of its extravagance, didn’t make a dent in your bank account. Twenty-one-year-old you would bow down to present-day you. I hope you honor her. I hope you look wait staff in the eye when you order and say thank-you when they bring you your food. I hope you are kind to taxi drivers. I hope you are generous with your abundance. I hope you believe these vastly different experiences in t
he exact same place are equal in value. I hope you don’t forget her.
Reinforced by: The Chariot, The Devil, Seven of Pentacles, Ten of Cups
Opposed by: The High Priestess, Ace of Pentacles, Five of Pentacles, Six of Pentacles
THE COURT CARDS
The Court Cards took me the longest to understand. In fact I’m pretty sure I gave readings for months without really knowing what they were. Pro tip: Don’t do that. The difficulty with these few cards is that they most commonly represent other people. But sometimes, they can reflect an aspect of ourselves—in the past, present or future versions. When we are reading for someone, especially a stranger, we don’t know all or any of the people in their life. Discerning who the fuck these people are is overwhelming and downright impossible if you are relying solely on your own intellectual prowess or powers of memorization to figure it out.
The essence of a suit is embodied in their four Court Cards, and paints a picture of what these characteristics look like in action in varying degrees of maturity and evolution. Through these cards we see what happens when pure emotionality meets mature masculinity, or the convergence of fire with the young feminine. We’ve already addressed the topic of gender, but it will help to remember that it does not necessarily correspond to genitals in any part of the tarot, including the Court Cards.
Knowing the traits of each Court Card and making personal connections to them helps to humanize these intimidating sixteen cards. While you make space for magic and learn to trust your intuition, you can always just ask. I’ve never had a client throw their arms in the air and demand a refund when I describe the qualities of the Father of Pentacles and ask if it sounds like their dad. Over time, you’ll find yourself asking less.
The Court Cards are named differently depending on what deck you work with. Page, Knight, King and Queen are common, sometimes Page and Knight are swapped out for Princess and Prince, sometimes Priest and Priestess replace King and Queen, sometimes the baby is thrown out with the bathwater and we end up with The Fairy Bride, or The Master of Earth. Since we’re not living in a feudal system or in Candyland or in my BDSM fantasy, I’ve found that the most immediate way to connect with the Courts is to consider them as a family unit.
Daughters—New situations, ventures or creative outlets. The naïve version of a suit’s energy. Youngest of the court cards and possesses a youthful quality—either literally or being green in an aspect of life. Earth element. Connected to The Fool, the Ace cards and the Two cards.
Sons—Outward action in the world, the Sons are in a constant state of movement. Moderately experienced but still in development—in the adolescent/young adult phase—and can be brash or immature. Air element. Connected to The Chariot, the Two through Five cards.
Mothers—The characteristics of the suit internalized. Matured conception of self and others due to experience. Tied to nurturing and caring for others. Adulthood. Water element. Connected to The Empress, Strength, the Six through Nine cards.
Fathers—The long-term effects of living in a suit’s energy. Can be either wise or stuck in their ways. Stabilization, success and control—they are the providers. The masculine expression of a suit in its full maturation. Fire element. Connected to The Emperor, The Hierophant, the Nine and Ten cards.
WANDS FAM
Sagittarius / Leo / Aries
It is safe to say there is never a dull moment in the Wands household—which may be a fabulous SoHo loft or an old-firehouse-turned-apartment that tastefully preserved some of the old fixtures, including the pole, on a cobblestone street in South Brooklyn. A dinner at their home may consist of impassioned arguments, loud laughter, broken glass, multiple bottles of wine, a new inspiration and last until midnight. They are fierce in all that they do. Intelligent, charismatic and hot-headed, being in their presence may feel like the fodder of reality TV. Maybe the parents have a don’t-ask, don’t-tell arrangement. Maybe they put the kids to bed early and have some friends over and do cocaine while the kids sneak out through their bedroom windows to cause their own trouble. They know how to turn up and have a good time, but extreme highs and lows are both the blessing and curse of this family. The stabilizing force is the ferocity with which they love. They show us the manifestations of being ruled by fire, for better or worse.
Daughter of Wands—The Spitfire
The youngest court card of the youngest suit, the Daughter of Wands is the birth of fire. Eager to show you what she’s made of and brimming with genuine enthusiasm, what she lacks in experience she will make up for with a combination of grit, intuition and stubbornness. She’s a hands-on learner and quick to say yes to new adventures. Patience and prudence seem like a waste of time to this action-oriented archetype, and she will burn herself out multiple times before considering hitting the brakes. Because her energy is boundless, she is generous with it and will learn boundaries as a result of giving too much away or being taken advantage of. Crossing her is inadvisable. She will not back down from a battle and will fight dirty if she feels the situation calls for it, with betrayal topping the list of indefensible transgressions. She gives herself completely to what she loves and expects the same in return. She has a hard time comprehending that not everyone operates the way she does, but the self-centeredness is a product of youth, not narcissism.
While you may see a fall coming or feel the desire to protect her from harm, don’t try to tell her what to do. She will not live life on someone else’s terms. She’s not going to learn from your mistakes. She’s going to make her own. Tons of them, in fact; but she is resilient and does not take failure personally. She is quick to fall in and out of love, quick to pick up new skills, quick to pursue new interests, quick to book plane tickets, quick to make decisions and quick to change her mind. Whether you find her whirlwind presence contagious or exhausting or both, you cannot deny that she is unapologetically herself in all that she does and puts other people at ease with her realness. She will say the outrageous thing everyone else is thinking, and while her brazen nature will not endear her to everyone, the people who love her are fierce and uncompromising in their affection. She probably has tattoos. She may horrify your parents.
Son of Wands—The Fuckboy
The appeal of the Son of Wands is undeniable. He’s the hottest guy at the bar, can hold an intelligent conversation, has a great job and makes you laugh. With a knack for the grand gesture and knowing just what to say, he is easily addictive. A perfect rebound hookup, drinking buddy or friend always ready with a story about a daring adventure or some crazy girl, keep him at arms length, if you can. Maybe you laugh and roll your eyes at his stories, but you don’t want to end up the subject of one. How is it that every girl he’s involved with is somehow crazy? Does he find them at their prime crazy, or does he make them crazy somewhere along the way? Has he ever stopped to consider that the common denominator of all this craziness is him?
Unfortunately, this guy utilizes his considerable charms and intuition to be an asshole. Possessing a chameleon-like quality to blend into his environment, he adjusts his behavior accordingly. He is not showing you himself, he is anticipating what you want and reflecting it back to you. From the first exchange, you’ve been played, and it’s all uphill from there. Romantic involvement with him is a death wish. He’s not looking for anything serious, and being with him is trying to hold smoke. You never feel safe around him because you don’t know his motivations and will likely spend hours waiting for a text back. He wears a mask so exceptionally lifelike that you don’t realize it’s on until you try to get closer to him and are met with walls on walls on walls. You can dig, wait, try to chip away at it, convinced there is more to find, but you won’t get there. He will hurt you in order to preserve his façade. Pop culture and media only further the allure of this guy. The devil-may-care bad boy who needs a girl who challenges him, who’s not like other girls, to turn him into a good guy. What is this bullshit? What’s wrong with “other girls”? I like other girls. This narrative sucks.
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br /> The struggle of the Son of Wands is that he doesn’t know who he is, and that is a lonely place to be. He is ruled by a fear that vulnerability, being honest about his uncertainty or allowing true intimacy, would bring rejection. His gifts are powerful but unfocused, and he needs to find an intention to concentrate his fire or risk burning the people around him, and alienating himself, with his impulses. Until he reconciles his inauthenticity and commits to his identity he is condemned to perma-fuckboy-ness.
Mother of Wands—The Real Housewife
The characteristics of this card fall somewhere between Daenerys Targaryen and Kris Jenner. In a Who Wore It Best contest, the Mother of Wands takes this round for making the suit of Wands look good. She’s internalized her fire and seems to radiate with it. Her soft control over her impulses puts her in full possession of her creativity, passion and strength without tapering or suppressing them. Her role as a matriarch only emphasizes her sensual presence, and she combats the notion that one must choose between sexuality and motherhood. This is a simple concept but a revolutionary act, and the Mother of Wands is useful medicine to anyone struggling to balance their sexuality alongside other feminine expressions and responsibilities.
There are so many outlets for sexuality, with sex being only one of them. When we shut the whole thing down because we don’t know how to reconcile one of its functions, we starve ourselves of essential nutrients. There is a luminous quality to the things we infuse with sexuality—it is our life-force, the basis of all creative impulse, and this is where the Mother of Wands is masterful. She walks the intuitive, nuanced line of letting this energy flow freely and in its natural form without sexualizing its recipients. This is made evident in her self-care, the generosity of her love, the beauty of her home, the freedom of her creativity, the confidence in her voice, the fluidity of her body and the intimacy within her family. The most amazing fact about the Mother of Wands to me is that she has balanced these parts of herself—heart and pelvis, love and sexuality—with perfect integrity.
WTF Is Tarot Page 13