Working Towards Complex & Meaningful Beauty

This is a week of deep focus and presence, lovely readers. Just look at all these pentacles! We have our card of the month, the Eight of Pentacles, starting us off. We’re deep in the process of cultivating something (or things) and this is a time to keep going - leaning into the work required of us, taking one thing at a time, and cultivating a framework of gratitude and appreciation when it comes to all the little tasks required to keep our lives running smoothly.

I’m laughing at myself a little bit because, when I sat down to write this reading I was fresh off a burst of “life admin” and feeling overwhelmed by what lies ahead of me for the week. This reading reflects a similar situation; pentacles deal with the physical world and all the tasks (work included) that we undertake to move through it. We have a lot on the table for the next seven days! The eight plus the ten finalizing our reading totals eighteen. While we clearly have a lot to do, it’s all with the goal of growing a meaningful and satisfying life.

The pentacles are also known as coins, but I also like to see them as seeds and, because this group is associated with the element of earth, I imagine planting them in the soil and tending them devotedly. The Eight of Pentacles is our card for the month of July, so this reading is inviting us to see this moment as a pivotal time for committing to the work that matters to us and, in the process of doing so, learning about what it is we really want and who we really are (or are becoming) as we pursue our goals. What seeds have you been nurturing and how can you continue your role as the gardener and steward of a rich and satisfying life?

So, yes, nothing big or impactful to see here at all! But before we get overwhelmed, we can take refuge in the intense practicality of the pentacles. These cards are all about doing the next thing, staying dedicated to the task at hand, and continuing along our path. No overthinking, deep meaning, or fancy notions required. Notice where you’re finding yourself satisfied, engrossed, and capable and use this as evidence of your growth. The Eight of Pentacles references the card of 2024, Strength (number eight in the Major Arcana sequence); it’s likely that this week is giving us insight into the important work we’re undertaking for the year. What do you now know about your important goals? What have you learned about yourself and your ability to work with your full humanity, overcome obstacles, and direct your willpower? Notice, appreciate, and celebrate these wins.

Our central card, the Four of Cups, shows an intriguing opportunity. There’s an undercurrent of emotional peace this week that could initially show up as boredom or dissatisfaction. Perhaps we’re feeling like our pentacles-heavy daily life isn’t as zesty and intriguing as we’d like, or that we’re missing some element of excitement. This is a red herring, however. Our challenge card for July is the Eight of Cups, and I’m seeing this as a potential pathway to that card’s invitation to self-exile or go off on distracting searches for fulfillment we don’t really need.

Instead, this week is asking us to choose to see our daily life as magical in its own right. The seeds of the pentacles need water in order to grow and we have three upright cups available to us in the Four of Cups. Nourishing our life with the waters of affection, appreciation, and the art of seeing magic in the mundane will help further our goals, both practical and magical.

There’s also a little test happening in the Four of Cups. If we can remain patient, truly taking in the subtle splendor of what we already have - what is filling the three cups we’re aware of - then another cup may emerge unexpectedly. We’ll have to be careful not to create the cup we think we want - conjuring fantasies of people or possibilities that take us away from what’s happening on the ground of our real lives - and instead accept that cups that emerges naturally. Simply sit under the tree and wait. Look for surprise gestures, spots of beauty and inspiration, and flashes of intuition that light up the life you already have rather than lead you away from it.

I’m touched by our final card, the Ten of Pentacles. It shows a life well-lived, busy and complex and complete. In remaining dedicated to our work (compensated and uncompensated) and appreciative of the meaning and love we already have we move towards something vibrant, supportive, and, most importantly, real.