Self-Care & Necessary Endings

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Nothing like the Ten of Swords to make you feel energized and inspired for the week ahead, right? Sure, this uniquely stabby card is taking up a lot of space at the center of our reading, but let’s just take a look at the two cards flaking it: the nurturing, capable Queen of Pentacles and ebullient, social Three of Cups. What’s going on here? Why all the contrast?

If you’ve been around here a while, you’ve likely noticed that each reading has a unique flavor. There are cards that form a harmonious community, cards that show a distinct, linear narrative, and cards that show different areas of our life coming into relationship (or conflict) with each other. Our reading for the week is the third type, as we find our swords-driven experience of life reaching a painful culmination. At first glance, it’s as if the Queen of Pentacles and Three of Cups are supporting characters, representing ways through which we can find comfort and relief in hard times. This may be true, and I’m also feeling something a little different, a little more subversive. What if our acts of self-care and our supportive communities are leading to and enabling a painful realization? And, more importantly, what if this is an absolutely wonderful development?

Okay, I’m not trying to sugarcoat the Ten of Swords. This is a difficult card to go through. It shows us at a breaking point, a moment of overkill when ideas and words - the mental scaffolding that’s supported some of our life - collapse and crush us. Thankfully, this experience is brief; all tens represent an end that contains the seed of a new beginning (10 = 1(The Magician) combined with 0(The Fool)). How might seeing suffering as the birthplace change alter your perception of difficulty, despair, and disappointment?

Speaking practically, this is a time to make room for bittersweet endings by parenting yourself with the love and focus of the Queen of Pentacles. See the citrine yellow illuminating the sky behind her throne? It’s the same as the light of the slowly-breaking dawn in the Ten of Swords. Take time at the beginning of the week to lavish your attention to the infrastructure that supports you in difficult times because you’re going to need it later. This is accessible, actionable stuff: Pentacles touch on the physical. Are you taking care of your body with love? Eating well, enjoying movement, seeking out and giving touch? This Queen also challenges us to elevate these acts - usually devalued by our society - and view them as gestures of power, knowledge, and strength. Taking care of ourselves and our lives shows a deep well of respect and, often, determination to thrive in an often unsupportive world.

As I look at these cards more, I sense that this breaking point may be tied to us stepping into our role as the Queen of Pentacles. Embracing our role as the leader of our lives, as all court cards ask us to do, can be threatening to others. Especially when we’ve accumulated caretaking roles a la the pentacles suit. Since the Ten of Swords is the final of its group, it’s likely that we’ve been fighting to set boundaries and reclaim our energy in this area. In this case, the definitive ending of the Ten of Swords is a huge victory, even though it may not feel like one in the moment. Some things are meant to end - relationships, ideas, projects, and plans - and can only transform if we let go of our ideas about their future.

I’d also like to mention that the Ten of Swords can reflect a time when words fail you and thoughts feel murky and charged with emotion. There is, quite simply, a lot to digest and it’s going beyond our capability to reason or articulate. Just letting the swords lie where they are, even if it’s uncomfortable (err, how could it be comfortable when they’re sticking out of your back??) is the best course of action.

The Three of Cups shows a welcome change towards the end of the week. Who has been cheering you on, perhaps on a parallel journey reclaiming their power and directing their caretaking and nurturance inwards? Our communities come into joyful focus for us here, ready to support and affirm us after the difficulty of the Ten of Swords. Celebrate your endurance and increased ability to weather endings, criticism, or dissolving relationships and plans; you’re in wonderful company and walking towards a brighter future together.

There is a distinct possibility that the collapse shown in the Ten of Swords isn’t ours. In other words, our growth into new areas of self-determination and abundance, both personally and socially, may result in someone fighting back dramatically. A conflict, a protest - any communication of dependence and entitlement to our time, nurturance, and support could reflect this card.

If this is the case, boundaries will be key! And, in a sense, the news is welcome: we don’t have to deal with this anymore, at least in the ways we have been. Spending time caring for ourselves in the Queen of Pentacles and with people who truly uplift and celebrate us via the Three of Cups will be enriching, beautiful, and our own path forward.

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