Ease, Abundance, and Determination

Hello dear readers, we’ve made it to October! I woke up this morning feeling utterly enthused. Now that it’s unequivocally fall and my pumpkin collection doesn’t look pathological, I can truly breathe a sigh of relief. Oh, and did I mention we’ve had a tarot breakthrough?

The past two months have been a long journey through the challenging and tender Five of Pentacles. Thankfully, we weren’t visited with the same central card three times in a row. We’re onto a new image! And it’s the slow, deliberate, and grounded Eight of Pentacles. It’s a relief, but also… not so exciting? Which is why I am delighted by this week’s reading.

The whole array is just resplendent and gorgeous. Strength, the Nine of Pentacles, and The Chariot? All lit up by saturated, lemon-yellow backgrounds. It’s juicy, bright, and attention-getting.

I bring up the Eight of Pentacles because, while it’s a lovely card and a very helpful energy to have guiding our month, a part of me was disappointed by its potential for austere vibes. Combined with our challenge card being the usually lucky Ace of Pentacles, things were teetering on the edge of seriousness. Are we really supposed to be ignoring all Ace of Pentacles moments and focusing on the task at hand? Where’s the fun?

Well, this week starts off October with a reminder that we should be centering our Eight of Pentacles efforts around fun, plenty, and abundance. The Nine of Pentacles sits in the middle of our reading like a bright and charismatic sun. October, it seems, should be initiated with a bang: festivity, self-expression, and some healthy decadence.

If you’re afraid of your ability to inhabit this space, you’re not alone. Many of us have concerns around seeming boastful, over-the-top, or wasteful. Not to mention the classic fear of a disapproving deity watching with a furrowed brow before unleashing a lightening bolt to smite us down for our hubris. You know, typing that out, it sounds almost Five of Pentacles-esque… And that card is resoultely in the past. Struggle is not, this reading highlights, morally superior to abundance and enjoyment. Nor is it keeping us safe from anything other than our own pleasure and success.

No, in all seriousness, this is a moment to wrestle, Strength-style, with our instinct to hide from our bounty, inner-light, and charisma. Any gestures we make this week to uplift ourselves, celebrate our wins, and shine brightly will serve as offerings to the big future we’re pioneering (hello there, Chariot card).

This Nine of Pentacles energy is exciting and important. It’s about joy, generosity, and savoring the richness of life. Really using our senses to inhabit every moment. Finding pleasure in the buffet of wonders each day offers us. But, if we want to be purely practical it’s also:

Be alert for some resistance. This could be the sole meaning of Strength in this reading - that we’re holding some guilt or resistance around letting ourselves be seen being happy, enjoying life, and succeeding (or even, gasp, doing nice things for ourselves) - but I also have a feeling that we’re entering into the week with a hefty dose of pre-existing inner-turmoil. Make room to respect the big questions you’re struggling with. They’re perennial, not easily solved, and worthy of your consideration. Once you’ve done this, however, be sure to set them down and step into the comfortable robes of the Nine of Pentacles for some self-nourishing relaxation.

Do you see the falcon perched on this person’s hand? It’s a lovely reminder that, lest we think any enjoyment we seek out will quickly devolve into pure hedonism, we’ve actually developed a healthy relationship with our wild selves. That falcon is hooded and tamed; buying yourself a nice sweater isn’t going to set off a spending orgy like it may have in the past. We can do and have nice things responsibly. And that is truly something worth celebrating.

A facet of this reading I truly love is the continuity between the cards. They all share the same background as if they’re inhabiting the same landscape. There’s not a lot of conflict here, in other words (aside from the natural and muscular process of figuring things out via the Strength card). Our experiences are seguing into each other naturally, and what’s on the other side of our struggle to embrace and celebrate our success? It’s a definitive goal for the future: The Chariot.

Look at this determined card. I’m seeing its presence here as a reminder that rest, introspection (the messy kind, this week, as seen in Strength), and celebration are essential parts of our process. Soon, we’ll be stepping out on a new adventure. We should take this moment to gather ourselves before relaunching.

Speaking of which, we also might need to rest, celebrate, and grapple with some perennial questions or issues in order to get the clarity we need to move forward. If you’ve been sitting on a plan of action for some time, the opportunity to launch will likely present itself by the end of the week. Don’t wait for perfection, but do wait to feel energized, refreshed, and eager to get going.

I’m focusing on the Nine of Pentacles here because it’s an accessible bridge between these two powerful Major Arcana cards. Enacting it, in other words, will help massage out the central themes you’re experiencing in Strength and The Chariot.

Be alert for surprising insights in places you wouldn’t expect. A vision of your future self as you try on some new clothes, a new person at a gathering who seems to be living a life you could enjoy, a releasing of a stale goal when you see how satisfied you are with what you have.

And one final note about The Chariot: this card is not about perfection. It has an enduring confidence in its ability to face any challenge head-on. In fact, it almost craves challenge, seeing it as a moment to sharpen skills and test limits. If life has been feeling boring, this is a facet of The Chariot. Let your itchiness guide you out of your comfort zone, trust that whatever you launch can and will evolve as you go. Let yourself adventure when you feel the time is right.