A moment to take agency that could threaten a limiting but familiar pattern.
Hello lovely readers and thank you for your patience with this reading. We had a Tower-like (Tower-lite?) moment yesterday that fortunately ended well, but had me away from the writing desk and unable to complete the reading. But here we are! Back with a new group of cards in front of us and most of the week about to unfold.
Last week’s reading really cleaved close to my personal experience and sometimes when that happens I get a little sick of those cards. After a thorough tour (and one featuring the Five of Cups, nonetheless!) I was ready to see what this week had in store. And though I can’t put a finger on it, I do have the sense that this week is one where the themes we were grappling with come into clear focus, albeit with a tricky choice to make.
This is one of those readings that really came out strong, giving a coherent and galvanizing message. We have two Major Arcana cards this week, suggesting that something big is afoot. Yet the two are at odds with each other - the driven focus and ambition of The Chariot versus the limiting hedonism of The Devil.
Let’s start with The Chariot.
We ended last week in the murky and emotional Five of Cups. It was a time to feel some deep feelings and also to commemorate a turning point. We had to leave something behind, tie up loose ends, and choose to seek something better - an alluring new unknown.
Having The Chariot, an invigorating and powerful card, after the slowness and ache of the Five of Cups is such a satisfying affirmation. Pay attention to how your energy has been unlocked after all the processing you did last week, whether it was of old memories, grief, or limiting beliefs and stale dreams. Most of all, trust your clarity! The Chariot is a card of launching into something new. It’s likely that some of the indecision and uncertainty that’s been plaguing a big plan or dream has been washed away by the healing waters of the cups suit. Yes, this is a moment when feeling your feelings really has brought us closer to ourselves. Let yourself feel the awe of a successful trust fall into something our modern culture fears the most: challenging emotions and suffering.
So, yes, back to The Chariot: this is a time to make bold moves, start the thing, and honor your need to go after things in life. These aren’t simply material things, though those may factor into your situation. We’re dealing with a major arcana card, signaling the potential that the decisions we make under the influence of The Chariot will lead us to meaningful places and leaps in our self-development.
Pay attention to:
Plans you can implement that bring you out into the world, in front of an audience, or that further you “worldly ambitions”
Your definition of “worldly ambitions” - what do you want and why? How might it align with your greater purpose? (See section on The Hermit below!)
Opportunities, situations, and people who energize you
What you allow into your consciousness - are there stale narratives that you need to jettison? Simply too much information clouding your view? Be decisive about cutting the things out!
I mention The Hermit above because I’m intuiting an opportunity here. It’s possible that something is drawing you out into the world that’s connected to some of your Hermit’s questions for 2025. See where you’re experiencing newness in your life, especially if it’s challenging you to step out of your comfort zone. See how you can explore it further while trusting yourself to make agile decisions as things arise and also continuing to take care of your emotional and spiritual needs.
Speaking of comfort zones, we’re visited by another major arcana card that, despite its intense imagery and jarring first impression, can actually signify places we feel comfortable in that don’t ultimately encourage our growth. The Devil places pressure on the other side of our reading. Perhaps the promise (and demands) of The Chariot are awakening our most powerful and tricky defense mechanisms. This is absolutely a time to pay attention to ways you limit yourself by staying small. Yes, it’s time for another bulleted list.
Watch out for:
Slippery excuses you make to avoid risk, vulnerability, and even progress
Talk (from yourself and/or others) that minimizes or even prevents your true wishes, talents, or needs - this is a time when self-deprecation can run rampant!
DISTRACTIONS
Although The Devil and The Chariot are two high-powered cards, our third firmly roots our reading in a less intense place. I’m seeing the Ten of Wands as a representation of how, why, and in what form The Devil card will take for us this week. As always, I’m looking at this as helpful information. We want to be aware of the ways we sabotage ourselves! And with two major arcana cards in the picture, it’s looking like we’re in a good position to vanquish this energy effectively.
But into the details. The Ten of Wands is a card of burnout and overload - the wands getting too wands-y. I’m seeing this part of our reading going two ways:
A propensity for overloading our schedules and ourselves - especially by taking on the tasks and burdends of others - leading to a desire for escape that has us tempted to engage in “old faithful” limiting behaviors.
Using work, busyness, and what seems as ambition to distract ourselves from following our true ambition as represented by The Chariot. The Ten of Wands as our expression of Devil energy.
Which one feels more like you? Note this and make plans accordingly. What I love about the idea of tarot as a forecast is that it can help us plan for the future. Know that you like to run around like a chicken with its head cut off whenever your life is opening up so that you burn out and don’t have to pursue the scary and exciting opportunity that’s in front of you? Take time to soothe that part of yourself, reorient around your big goals (touching base with The Hermit and your deep questions for the year might help), and practice bravery.
Or do you like to get so stressed out that you’re “forced” to seek relief in behaviors, people, or habits that keep you stuck? Think staying up late partying the night before the big test and sleeping through your alarm, seeking the company of people who don’t want you to succeed, or occupying yourself in whatever activity or vice numbs you or checks you out (and away from the promise and growth of The Chariot). Take time to pare down your schedule and get acquainted with whichever escape you’re tempted by. What’s your toolkit for combating this temptation?
Where I’m feeling particularly optimistic, however, is in the fact that we’re manifesting our stress in the Ten of Wands. Practically speaking, this is a great time to pare down our schedules and obligations and to do some serious investigation into where we’re spending our energy. But this is also a ten, the end of a sequence. In this way, we’re ready to let go and something has run its course. Let exhaustion and the tinges of burnout point you towards what you need to cut loose so that you can more firmly grasp the reins of The Chariot and chart your path forward.
Embrace:
Hyping yourself up around your big goals
Launching projects, committing to plans, thinking big
Healthy and celebratory ambition
Reorienting yourself around your Hermit’s questions for the year - what’s the why behind your actions?
Paring down your schedule, putting down other people’s burdens
Welcoming when you notice tempting old habits come up - it’s time to do inventory! - but don’t follow through by enacting them!
Seeing yourself and others as complex human beings with multifaceted personalities. This is not a time to be sanctimonious, naive, or morally rigid (perhaps a Devil-response to The Chariot’s promise??)
Avoid:
Abandoning your path and projects wholesale. Just drop a few wands, not all of them!
Seeing challenge, imperfection, and even setbacks as signs you’re on the wrong path. The Chariot is in it for the long haul and all plans change as soon as they become real
Habits, people, beliefs that keep you small, limited, or distracted ESPECIALLY if you’re tempted to engage in them - I have a feeling that we’ll be finessing our Devil-tendencies this week, so these issues may come up in smaller forms or unexpected, seemingly benign places