Embracing the Rest Phase

This is an interesting group of cards, dear readers, with lots of familiar faces and recurring themes. We have a return visit from the Knight of Pentacles who appeared the week before last. The suit of wands is at it again, this time represented by the plucky page. And in the center? The restful Four of Swords, echoing our card for July, the Ace of Swords.

It’s a welcome shift after all the bright and intense aces that have been showing up all month. Last week, we began with the Ace of Pentacles, and this week we’re ushered in with the Knight of Pentacles. We’ve caught the pentacle, my friends! Whatever leaps you took last week, whether they were brave and bold or simply the herculean task of getting through the everyday while holding onto the vision of something new, congratulate yourself. You’ve reached out and received the invitation. Can you see it?

Personally, I’m not so sure. The pentacles can sometimes be tricky and stubborn, so deeply rooted in the everyday that they’re hard to distinguish. Is that a dirt-covered gold coin or just a clump of dirt? It wouldn’t be surprising if it took a while to discern what's going on. Give yourself time while also trusting in the deep magic of the element of earth: hidden growth. Just because we can’t see something emerging doesn’t mean it’s not there. For some of us, the growth may be busy pushing up from beneath the soil; for others, it has already popped through to the surface, impressive and obvious.

This week we’re tending to our emerging aces with the solid, deliberate Knight of Pentacles. Don’t downplay the importance of taking care of your daily life this week. Putting in the effort, especially towards repetitive tasks, is massively important right now. Thankfully, in a time when we really need to get things done, the knight of getting things done arrives on the scene. Phew. We’re going to have to muster our focus as the week starts, but we’re in a good position. This figure inspires us to take things as they come, keeping our feet on the ground and our eyes on the prize.

Speaking of, what's one thing you’ve honed in on this month? What’s really important to you at the moment? It might not be hugely glamorous but it is impishly promising. The sort of glimmer that suggests something delightful is afoot, but it’s wild and untamed - not the type of growth we can predict, and definitely the kind that will surprise us, take us somewhere new. While you work at keeping things going, be sure to leave room for this energy to stretch out. The Knight of Pentacles is heavily armored and I like this about them. They know it’s important to gird your loins, saddle up, and be prepared for intensity. But we also have to put our armor down after pushing and striving, otherwise we’ll get exhausted. Cue the Four of Swords.

Oh, how I love this card. Sure, it’s a bit funereal. Is this person lounging in a crypt? Are they made of stone? This is an image that asks us to think of time differently, to lay down our ambition and desire for immediate answers and make room for something else. After an initial period of having to tend to our daily lives, we’re ushered into a space where calm and reflection are more possible. If it’s not happening on its own, be sure to direct some of your Knight of Pentacles practicality towards prioritizing the distance and quiet you need to collect your thoughts. We have a lot to digest and this is important work.

Work is clearly front and center this week and last week as well. We’ve been doing a lot (a lot!) of toiling, dear readers. It’s hard to stop - both out of fear that our previous efforts will go to waste and simply because we’ve become used to it. It’ll be worth it to try out best to fight for and accept time for reflection this week, as the Four of Swords is inviting in a piece of information we’ve been seeking for quite some time.

Take a look at this image. We see three swords hanging on the wall. It’s likely that the figure below is well aware of them. They make up a part of their immediate environment. Yet lying below their resting place we can see the fourth sword. It’s oriented horizontally, mirroring the pose of the card’s main character, and even bearing the same color. I can’t help but think of the card representing July itself - the Ace of Swords. Might we be ushering in a breakthrough by letting go, lying back, and seeing what rises up from below?

We talk a lot about swords being tied to the mind. Usually, this is in terms of rationality, logic, and linear thinking. But there are other facets of our mental process, namely the information that bubbles up from our subconscious. In the middle of the week, we’re being asked to invite this powerful source of knowledge into our understanding of the present moment. It may take some time; the subconscious doesn’t speak in the same way as the conscious mind and can’t be addressed head-on. See if you can reframe rest, repose, and retreat as useful tools for contacting this wise and often overlooked part of yourself.

Our sojourn to the Four of Swords is a brief one. At the end of the week the Page of Wands shows up like a charming guide, inviting us somewhere new and alluring. Pay attention to what catches your eye at the end of the week. The Knight of Pentacles and all of these aces has brought a meaningful and at times heavy energy. It looks like some fun is in order. Follow it as the week comes to a close. It may help clarify some of the insights coming into focus via the Four of Swords while providing a welcome release from all the working, growing, and thinking we’ve been diligently pursuing.

Okay, I want to talk about these two court cards. I’ve been thinking about this group as a reflection of persona and identity - the roles, attributes, and sometimes masks we take up to interact with the social world. This is a useful, necessary thing to do, but can also leave us scrambled and disconnected from our base, that part of ourselves that just is - doesn’t have to try to be, prove itself, or justify anything.

Pay attention this week to the ways you feel like you should act, especially with regards to responsibility, work, and ambition. This is the Knight of Pentacles arriving on the scene. Then look for how you interact with desire, curiosity, and newness aka our dear friend the Page of Wands. One may come easier than the other and one or both may have considerable baggage to contend with. Be aware of how you are not just relegated to one way of being. Not everything is a test or a referendum on your worth/success/value.

You might be sensing a conflict between the two cards here, yet the Four of Swords has a mediating effect in our reading, bridging the two. I’m wondering if this may be a time for integration and an opportunity to appreciate how our responsible, diligent side paves the road that our debonair, pleasure-seeking self can then skip down joyfully. Each can feed the other. Just make sure you’re acting from your true self rather than a prescribed version you’ve inherited.