Falling into Brightness

Hello lovely readers. Thank you for your patience with this forecast - the back-to-school frenzy got a hold of me and, after some good old fashioned life chaos, I finally have time to sit down and read for us all.

How has the end of August been treating you? I’m feeling a deep, creaturely pull to prepare, like a squirrel scurrying around to collect and bury nuts before winter comes. Of course, we still have lots of time. It’s back to blazing ninety-degree days here in Durham, but nonetheless I’m experiencing a mysterious inspiration to cleanse, prepare, and get right for what’s next.

It’s why I’m particularly excited to see what the cards have in store for us this week. As I’m writing this, my tarot deck - freshly shuffled - is sitting to my right. I haven’t even put the cards down on the table yet, and while I was shuffling them I kept seeing The Fool pop up, its citrine yellow background flashing as I cut the cards and bent them back. A little mystery for our week and, who knows, maybe we’ll draw our card of the month in our array for the days ahead.

Let’s see what we have on the table.

Okay, so while we don’t have The Fool, we do have another Major Arcana card leading our week, The Hanged Man. Like The Fool, this card is humble in its wisdom and a little idiosyncratic. Is dangling from one foot really something we want to emulate? Just as The Fool, with their title that evokes silliness and folly, The Hanged Man is deceptively profound. If the overall goal this month is to step with holy trust into a new cycle of our becoming, this week we’re being asked to let go and simply see what happens. Maybe in stepping back and taking a new perspective we can usher in what we truly need, not just what we know we want.

So, cosmic trust falls are clearly in order. Where are you being brave, humble, and open? How can you lean into that space more, letting go of your ego, expectations, and any pressures you’ve accumulated? The Hanged Man can sometimes be difficult to work with since our culture is obsessed with productivity and output. Yet its upside-down stance suggests that if we step back - give ourselves time to rest, wait before making big changes, embrace listening and observation - we might discover that we’ve been doing more than we think. How can you look at your life with a sense of wonder; is there something magical hidden in how you’ve been moving through life that you’ve been unable too see until now?

I’m bringing up productivity and work because or second card, the Six of Wands, shows us moving into a breakthrough in the wands’ world of action and creativity. So this would be a wonderful time to go against the grain and see how working less (also known as being mindful and balanced about how you spend your time) and prioritizing receptivity over output might usher in success.

Because The Hanged Man is a Major Arcana card, our reading is suggesting that some of these feelings around work have been percolating for some time. Trust your intuition when it comes to how you spend your time, what it is that motivates you, and what really matters this week. While our cards are harmonious and “positive” (no cautionary tales here!) there can be a tendency to downplay ease and success, especially when we’re not outwardly striving. In other words, don’t turn down new opportunities or recognition simply because your work hasn’t felt burdensome. Not breaking a sweat doesn’t mean you’re lazy, it means you’ve been training and have built up your strength.

Letting ourselves be celebrated via the Six of Wands in the middle of the week paves a path to the festive Four of Wands. I love this! It’s as if in being lifted up we’re gifted a view of what we really want and, most importantly, how to go about making it happen. The wands speak to action - how we implement our plans and move through the world - so don’t be shy when it comes to making decisions in service of what you want. More specifically, in what you want and need to make your life feel as free, enjoyable, and rich with community as the party shown in the Four of Wands.