The Importance of Appreciation and Exploration

Sometimes I flip over the cards and a simple sentence appears in my mind. This week is one of these time and the sentence goes like this:

Take in the beauty of what you have, be strong in your emotional sovereignty, and let yourself go on some small and delightful adventures.

Not bad for a holiday week!

But let’s zoom in a little bit. We begin the week with the introspective yet brawny Seven of Pentacles. All the sevens in tarot have a tricky, spiritual bent to them; it’s the strange interlude in the fairytale when you’re lost in the woods and things aren’t quite what they seem. Here, that energy is combined with the earthy practicality of the pentacles suit. We may find some hidden treasures in the chaos of our everyday life. See if you can look at your routines, work, close connections, even home itself with curiosity and patience. Yes, things don’t move quickly with this card, but the insight we can gleam is as powerful as it is tricky to pin down.

The sevens are also a moment when the scale tips out of balance and into something new. It’s not obvious at first. Do you feel restless, confused about some aspect of the future, or a little blah? That’s part of the process! Just acknowledging this can help calm some of the itchiness of the moment. Rather than charging ahead with no plans, this card instructs us to be still and look at what’s around us. What have we been working on? What’s growing successfully in the gardens of our lives? This is a time for observation and infusing the mundane with magic. How can you look at the repetitive work you’ve been doing with some wonder?

I’d like to take a moment to stress that, while this card signifies a sense of needing to take a next step, now is not the time for action. Both of our remaining cards are about exploring other facets of our lives; this is not a moment to push ahead of pentacles matters: money, career, physical health, and foundational routines. In fact, leaning into the King of Cups and Page of Wands may help take some of the pressure off of our fixation on the pentacles, allowing us to observe and learn instead of charging ahead foolhardily.

Our central card, the King of Cups, is carrying a great deal of weight in our reading. A patron saint of boundaries and emotional intelligence, they offer us a lift up above the fray - of other people’s emotions, inner turmoil, and general instability. Whatever you do to give yourself a sense of peace and equanimity, do it a lot this week, but also be aware that you’re naturally blessed during this time with more patience and poise than usual. Above all, trust in your perceptions of emotional and spiritual concerns and model the path you’d like to see others take.

Things get much more fun with our final card, the Page of Wands. This jaunty character is leading us into some new and lighthearted territory. Casual adventures, spontaneous explorations, and lighthearted humor are perfect ways to keep our inner spark going as we try to suss out the trickier tangles of the Seven of Pentacles and the emotional challenges of the King of Cups. Feeding our inner child and letting ourselves pursue pleasure and adventure will add balance and enjoyment to the week; plus, doing so may ignite some new fires within that could light the way towards interesting and aligned futures.

I also can’t help but mention that we have one card from each suit except for the swords. Phew! I, personally, would love an invitation to turn off my overactive mind for a hot second, and here it is. This week is a great time to drop the analysis and ticker tape of commentary on what’s right or wrong, good or bad, or simply wondering whether something worth thinking about. The Page of Wands asks us to follow our passions, messengers from a deeper part of ourselves that don’t use words or concepts and to detach from a sense of urgency. Trust your body and its signals and do what feels good in small doses.

We can think through it all next week.