Turning the Tide

Hello Lovely Readers,

I took a walk on the beach this morning, needing to clear my mind. I’m on my summer vacation, a pilgrimage to the family home in Cape Cod. My parents and several aunts and uncles live out on this tip of the country year round now, and I’ve been coming to this house since I was a child. This is also the reason why the past few forecasts have been on the later side; I can’t help but settle into a slower rhythm when I’m here, lulled by the sound of the waves and the salt-heavy breeze.

It’s cloudy today and I’m in a dreamy mood. The only people on the beach this morning were locals walking their dogs at the low tide and a handful of sleepy tourists up early to rake for clams. By the time I’d walked to the line of kayaks and sailboats a hundred yards or so from the boardwalk, I was completely alone. My active mind grew sleepy and silent as the water lapped at my feet and my eyes scanned the sand for treasures: sea glass, odd shells, and stones with colors amplified by the salt water.

The whole morning felt like a dream, a huge accomplishment seeing as I’d woken up feeling feral and angsty. I left the beach with pocketfuls of rocks and shells to give to friends back home, my brain feeling washed clean by the sound of the water slapping into the massive granite boulders of the jetty. I’d met a vibrant woman walking three massive, tank-shaped dogs - one standing by her stoically while another with a wrinkled dumpling face lolled in the waves. She told me about her desire to move to the cape where her mother lived and find like-minded people; her parents were old hippies (her initials, she told me, were LSD), but she wanted her own circle, thought she’d look for a job at the local cafe. “That’s what I did back home to make friends - got a part-time job at the popular coffee shop.” This conversation felt like a gift after several days stuck in my head. Just being around her energy and enthusiasm buoyed me.

I’m writing all this to say that a similar energy is beginning our reading for the week. I gave an audible sigh of pleasure when I turned over our first card, The Queen of Cups. I know I’m often going off on synchronicities, but this one is quite lovely! The Queen of Cups is the ultimate card of tides. She sits at the edge of the sea, her throne on the sand and her robes blending into the waves lapping at her feet. That this card came up after my meditative morning at the beach is quite special.

As we begin the week, it’ll be worthwhile to pay attention to what treasures have washed onto the shores of our lives. If you were to go on a walk, slowly making your way down your recent musings, adventures, connections, and undertakings, what would you find? Pay special attention to moments or situations that surprised you, times when you opened up and accepted newness or stepped out of your comfort zone, even saw a gift in something that was initially lackluster or disappointing. And, of course, experiences of good fortune, delight, and connection.

The cups are the suit of water and symbolize emotions, intuition, spirituality, and love. The queen sits at the shore and is at home amidst the cycles. This card suggests that we’ve been in a somewhat intense state recently, but that the emotional tides are receding, leaving much more visible than before. Try your hand at beachcombing through your own intertidal zone. What areas of your life have calmed that were once stormy and fraught with emotion? Use this time as an opportunity to look back with the approach of The Queen of Cups: deep love, acceptance, and curiosity.

One things the cups excel at is surprise. Because emotions speak directly - in our bodies, dreams, reactions - before reaching our minds, there’s a lot to be found in these spaces, especially if you’re prone to over-thinking. A light hand is crucial, but even so, this card is a huge encouragement. We’ve been working hard to be kind to ourselves and open up to wisdom around thorny issues. This week we’re finally in a place to feel through things calmly and to start using our findings to make changes in our lives.

Healing, processing our past, and coming to terms with our identity and desire will be central this week. As you may have guessed, however, this visit from The Queen of Cups isn’t about stasis. They’re already a card of change (the tides come in and out every day) and they’re being followed by the intrepid, questing Knight of Cups. After some sifting through the sand, we’re being called to action this week. Be on the lookout for especially resonant, inspiring, and meaningful realizations to guide your next steps. Once found, be sure to actually take them. Knights learn through motion. Ditch the theory and gather experiences, trusting that you’ve learned enough to be true to yourself and navigate the changing waters of this time.

So, have you noticed our final card? Death tells us that a profound transformation is on its way, and if we meet it through gestures of bravery, self-expression, and authentic emotion via the Knight of Cups, not only will we have a far smoother transition, but it will be one that we have, on some level, been wishing for.

Death is no lightweight, however. Newness is inherently frightening because it lies beyond anything we’ve known before. We’re on the cusp of a big change this week, and maybe that’s another thing The Queen of Cups has to teach us; that we’ve been weathering change with flexibility and grace for a while now. While this approaching shift may be intimidating, sad, and tinged with grief, it’s also for us. We’re ready. How can we highlight the sometimes small-seeming successes we’ve been achieving as a way to prepare us for the big shift that’s approaching?

The Knight of Cups, too, has advice for us. That Death requires an offering. We’ll both be leaving something behind and walking towards something new, and I can’t think of a card that’s more adept at seeking out the heart-centered new than the Knight of Cups. Walk towards beauty, take emotional risks, seek to explore your inner and outer worlds. All of these gestures can be offerings to the experience of Death and lead us down its path rather than risk being dragged.

So, surprise surprise, this is existentially fraught! Some tips for dealing with/identifying/integrating Death in real life: