Queen of Pentacles Reversed: Biddy Card of the Week

For me, this week, this card is very much about taking some much needed time to REST, and do a minimum amount of work. Not just resting, but healing BY resting, and by just allowing myself to BE, as opposed to working to “fix” myself.

2016 and 2017 were very difficult years for me, and I couldn’t figure out why the wounds are still very much present. But I think it may be because my attitude has been “okay, I’ll hurry up and feel this pain and move on.” Last week l decided to just accept it and walk with it and SIT with it.

And I guess I made the right call because 2 days in, for the first time since 2016, I started feeling like giving a fuck about my appearance. : )

So for the moment, I am doing whatever I want each day unless I really have an obligation to meet or task to complete. The income I’ve put in place supports it, and I”m taking it, just as if I was recovering from a major physical injury. I wish I’d known to do this sooner, but I”m stubborn and it takes a year or two for me to figure out that all my fighting isn’t getting me anywhere lol!

All information taken from Biddy Tarot website:

Reversed Keywords:

Financial independence, self-care, work-home conflict.

MEANINGS:

When the Queen of Pentacles is upright, you are focused on nurturing and providing for others; when reversed, you are turning that caring energy to yourself. You are creating financial independence, perhaps working for yourself, starting your own business or supporting your lifestyle with your income. You may still be in a partnership or family, but you are keen to ensure that you can sustain your own lifestyle, now and in the future, by yourself. You may have a separate savings account or a long-term investment plan to ensure that you can take care of yourself if need be.

The Queen of Pentacles reversed also suggests that you are nurturing yourself on a personal level. You may be preparing nutritious meals, going on retreat alone, and generally paying more attention to yourself and your needs. You are tending to yourself, knowing that to care for others, you need to first care for yourself. Trust that work and family can survive without you for a short period of time while you focus on you.

*Image processed by CodeCarvings Piczard*

At times, the reversed Queen of Pentacles can reveal that your work and home life are out of balance and you are putting too much of your attention in one area to the detriment of the other. On the one hand, you may be very consumed by your job, spending long hours at the office, travelling for business or bringing your work home. On the other hand, your home and family life may be taking over, and you are unable to give your attention to your work. This might work on a temporary basis, but the ultimate goal is to integrate your work and home lives so that they are (mostly) in balance. You may also find a release by returning to a favourite nature spot and allowing yourself to take in this fresh, natural energy.

Similarly, an inverted Queen of Pentacles can point to an inner conflict when it comes to balancing work and personal priorities. Despite trying to make it work, you may consistently feel that you’re not giving enough of your attention to either your work or home life. Sometimes, you just cannot do everything, and you will need to make some choices about where your priorities truly lie. You may also need to make new agreements with your partner or your boss so that you do not feel over-committed to one area. Seeking out additional home help, such as a cleaner, nanny or housekeeper, may also help you feel more at ease.

March 18, 2019 4

Horses in the Tarot (Rider Waite)

Inspired by the Knight of Wands exploration, I went through the entire Rider Waite deck and pulled out the cards featuring horses that are in addition to the four Knights.

I found three. Interestingly, all the horses have riders and all the pairs are traveling in the same direction, to the right (and future?). Two are Major Arcana, one is Minor. The Minor Arcana card was of the Wands suit. ALL the horses are WHITE. There is an object in the shape of an orb and in similar placement in all three cards: the sun in the Sun card, the laurel wreath in the Six of Wands, and … what is apparently the White Rose of the House of York, in the Death card.

Also interesting, is the fact that these three could easily symbolize the three major phases of our biological life span: Childhood, Adulthood, and Older Age.

Lined up numerically, they would be:

Since the originators of the Tarot cards didn’t do anything by accident, this is interesting to explore as well. The numbers are 6, 13, and 19. If looked at still as the three major phases of biological lifespans, the Sun would be in the Older Age and Endings placement. If we think about it, our infancy and childhood really is the beginning of our biological decay – our spirits are eternal but the bodies we incarnate into are not, and they begin dying the minute the leave the womb.

I suppose Death could be feasible in the Adulthood placement too, as it is possible it is meant to remind us that our entire lives are illusions of life, and that as adults, we are in full blown Death phase? Could be.

And the Six of Wands in the Childhood placement. When a child is born, it is generally celebrated and heralded with joy and adulation. That is true. So even though the figure in this card is an adult, the adulation he receives could be said to be reminiscent of the birth of a new baby. So I guess that could make sense.

Horses generally symbolize Freedom, so freedom is a theme that will be found somewhere, somehow in each of these cards, as well as in the cards of the Knights:

Www.pure-spirit.com says that “Although the horse was present in many different cultures, they represent the same concepts of freedom and power. In some cultures, white horses stand for the balance of wisdom and power. In others, like Christianity, the white horse is a symbol of death. The horse is a universal symbol of freedom without restraint, because riding a horse made people feel they could free themselves from their own bindings. Also linked with riding horses, they are symbols of travel, movement, and desire.”

All seven of these cards do indeed do mark a transition from one sate of being into another. The Six of Wands takes a person from obscurity to acclaim. Death, from one plane of existence to another; the Sun, from darkness to light. And the Knights are all about movement and change within their respective elements and suits.

And finally, its interesting that there are seven of these cards. Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, by Rachel Pollack separates the Major Arcana into sets of seven with each set representing a phase of enlightenment while on earth.

Could this set of seven cards as a whole also be representative of something important in the experience of a soul?

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Knight of Swords traditional meanings

Knight of Pentacles traditional meanings

Knight of Cups traditional meanings

Knight of Wands traditional meanings

The Sun traditional meanings

Death traditional meanings

Six of Wands traditional meanings

December 23, 2018 4

Conflicted: the Knight of Wands

This card may surprise you, because its not a card traditionally associated with feelings of conflict. That being said, its a card I have come to personally associate with those things. I think I first interpreted it this way for a client’s reading, but then later realized it applies to me with regard to certain things in my psyche as well.

It’s because of the conflict between the horse and its rider, the Knight. The horse is more than ready to go; the Knight not so much. The Knight is reining the horse in. The horse is fighting it.

In my personal life, this applies to my journey through healing and learning to work around and work with, PTSD from various sources. And even to normal grief work. I tend to want things to be accomplished faster than they sometimes can. And when I push myself too hard or too fast, it backlashes on me and I end up struggling unnecessarily. I am learning to maintain a better balance in that.

Some interesting imagery in the Rider Waite version of this card, which is the deck and the card I am basing this interpretation on, is the desert sand the Knight is traveling. Perhaps the horse is eager to get where he is going because the land is so barren here. Maybe he wants to get to where things can be planted, and grow, rather than just be moved through. But what the horse maybe doesn’t realize, is that all that barren brownness is also soothing to the eye and thus to the mind as well. Because there’s nothing to be done there but just keep moving, and appreciating the moment … there’s no additional stress to be endured. It’s just a relaxing walk or journey. Or can be, if permitted. Maybe they need to REST more than they need to DO.

Perhaps this is just an area of land that happens to be part of the journey to where the Knight and horse want to go, and it just has to be tolerated in order to get there. And there’s no use fighting it.

There’s also the point that, in a desert, where water can be far and few between, it’s probably a better idea to pace oneself rather than gallop full out and then fall down exhausted with nothing left and still far from water and rest. It is possible the Knight knows this and the horse needs to just trust him. Or at least trust his higher knowledge.

The Knight is carrying his wand with new growth in it. He’s got what he needs for when he gets where he is going. And the Orion pyramids are behind him, watching over his journey. Maybe he doesn’t need to rush so much. Maybe Time is exactly what is needed, and the desert affords and gifts that to them.

When I pull this card in answer to what’s going on with my Depression, Anxiety, or PTSD, it’s usually a call to slow down and stop pushing myself too hard or fast. And to not fall into the trap of thinking I have to take all action RIGHT NOW. To remember that it’s okay to let things unfold in their own time. To remember that I’m safer than I feel I am.

That there will be plenty of time later, to be here:

And later, here:

And finally, here:

(I find it interesting that two of these knights are facing left, (the past? Left brain?) … and two are facing to the right. The two hell bent on running are the ones facing the left and the two controlled, measured ones are the ones facing the right.

But that’s for another whole blog post.)

Thoughts welcome from you readers out there! And what does the Knight of Wands mean the most, to YOU?

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