Building a Loving Life

We have a reading this week that manages to be both serious and lighthearted. When I first turned over Justice, I had a knee-jerk response of “uh oh.” Not because it’s a negative card, but because it can sometimes represent heavy moments - times when we’re weighing options with big consequences or being asked to consider an issue with many facets.

This all may be true this week, but Justice is forming a lovely chain with our following two cards. Setting the ground work for our projects and relationships this week - bringing our ideals and values into the center of our conversations with ourselves and others - is setting us up for success. Not the flashy, achievement-based success we’re used to talking about. This week, success is about freedom, collaboration, and authentic connections. We’re walking towards the open world of The Lovers.

Tarot continues to fascinate me after all these years because it’s always changing. I can’t tell you how many three card readings I’ve done in my personal practice and professional career. It’s probably in the thousands at this point. But in all that time, I can’t recall this particular combination coming up, with its unique blend of the abstract (Justice) leading into the concrete (Three of Pentacles) and then into Edenic wildness (The Lovers).

(Sure, maybe I saw this trio in eighth grade while inquiring into the state of my intense eye contact-based flirtation with Christian D. in Social Studies class, but that’s certaintly not the same thing!)

All this is to say, I’m delighted by this group of cards and what it has to say about our week ahead. I just finished a writing project on the Major Arcana and had an interesting experience writing about our first card, Justice. In an effort to get a first draft out, I made myself write 1,000 words about each card. Nothing fancy and certainly none of the usual editing I do as I write, say, this forecast. I just let all of my knowledge and experience about each card pour out. It was weird. Sometimes it sounded like a tarot guidebook and others more like a (very bad) spoken word poem. Justice, however, was just… dry.

Now this makes sense to me. Justice is all about establishing order in chaos, leaving the insane-feeling swirl of human life and retreating to abstract concepts in order to gain clairty, direction, a sense of justice. As such, this card can at times be difficult to integrate. Staying in the halls of Justice isn’t an option for us mere mortals, and this week we’re in a unique position to travel there - asking ourselves what matters, what is right, fair, and equitable, and how we can use these values to shape our choices - and then quickly return to our daily lives refocused and ready to effect change.a

Pay attention to which ideas animate you, giving your life a sense of purpose and direction. I think this is tied to our experience this past month, too, when we were working with the Ace of Swords. You’ll notice that Justice also holds a sword. Is there a central principle or idea that has become clear to you, one that brings you forward and into life? Make sure the sword you’re grasping is right for you and truly yours. These are powerful tools that can harm as well as protect.

I’m drawn to the scenery in this reading: the halls of Justice, formidable and lit from behind with vibrant yellow; the more earthly hall of the Three of Pentacles, populated by a group of collaborators, dark with potential; and the wide open expanse of The Lovers, presided over by a resplendent angel. Why am I into this? Because it feels like the perfect gentle yet formidable transition from Justice to The Lovers. Yes, we’re dealing with some intense Major Arcana energy this month, dear readers! But it’s all blending nicely, so while it may feel like we’re working with big themes, we’re truly doing it in a long-lasting and responsible way.

Speaking of which, it may seem a little odd to go from the intellectual, very well-clothed Justice to the glorious nude pair of Lovers. We’re being asked this week to do our deliberating and measuring - figuring out what really matters to us, what our guiding principles are - and then step towards the world in service of them. To take a risk and put ourselves out there. It’s a gesture of commitment, faith, and vulnerability. It’s also quite glorious. Yet as I’ve mentioned time and time again, Major Arcana cards are extra. We need some sort of mitigating factor otherwise we risk getting distracted from our everyday lives. Which is where the Three of Pentacles comes in.

So, to pop our heads out of the clouds for a second, this reading is showing us asking big questions about what really matters at the beginning of the week. If this has felt existentially challenging, I feel you. Yet we’re quickly heading into a period of welcome effectiveness and collaboration with the Three of Pentacles. Identify the people who have a similar sense of justice as you; this need not be so on-the nose, though for some of us it may be. Regardless of the details, this is a lovely time to find support, allies, and co-conspirators around projects that matter to you. Ground your beliefs in meaningful action with others and you’ll be surprised by where it can go.

The spaces we’re building with others, these cards suggest, are more powerful than we may think. Continuing to care for them with our trusted collaborators is moving us towards an experience of The Lovers, an electric card that touches on the power of instinct and desire in our lives. Maybe this is what I was getting at with the transition from Justice to The Lovers and all that clothing coming off in the process. If you’ve felt disconnected from your desire, this week you’ll be working your way back to it. Falling in love with work? Falling in love at work? Who’s to say for sure, but there’s a coming back to the self - joy, expression, and the power of choice - that’s happening as we recommit to our values, connect with others, and continue to work towards the open future we envision.