A plan in mind, a place to start,
a forging of both head and heart
A broadened scope, a place to bloom
The heart will blossom, given room
Decisive acts, a sharpened wit
No time to waste on petty shit.

~~~~~

Today’s deck is the Silhouettes Tarot by Masa Kuzuki and it is gorgeous. The cards have cute animals, beautiful colours, interesting juxtapositions between familiar tales and new imagery. It’s not the easiest deck to read with if one is unfamiliar with what is considered traditional meanings but it’s a joy to spend time with. Honestly, a lot of the time I’m pretty open to new stories if that’s what the deck wants to talk about. It’s easy to fall into a trap of, I know what this card is supposed to mean, regardless of what the artist has shown here, and if that’s the case, if that’s the preference, why not just read with the same deck all the time so that the story never changes. I enjoy a challenge as much as I enjoy the cozy familiar of knowing what the heck I’m talking about. Humans are walking dichotomies at the best of times. So how appropriate a deck which shows shadow nature while keeping it light?

The two of wands is a card that shows up for me a lot. Because I’m the queen of “that’s a great idea and I will implement that into every facet of my existence as part of my daily routine which I will never sway from for at least 3 days.” And then I do. The thing about wanting to do stuff is that it only works with no plan sometimes. And sometimes isn’t as often as you think. Even people who improvise music (I’m talking out my ass right now because I’m not all that good at such things and have fierce delicious envy of those who do) have some place that they start, and from there, is it intuition? Is it setting the stage and letting the muse take over? Whatever it is, there’s a notion of starting from somewhere. That’s the two of wands. You’ve got this thing in your hand, cool. What are you going to do with it?

The nine of cups is a card of heck yeah look at my cool stuff, stuff being emotional maturity. In this card, she’s got all her cups on her hat and they’re balanced, she’s not spilling a drop. Because her heart has been centered, so she not a spilly messy ‘splosion of misunderstandings and projections. It’s easy to project one’s feelings onto a scenario if there’s any sort of insecurity about whether you belong there or not. And the nine of cups isn’t about controlling one’s emotions, no no. It’s more about arriving at a place where you’ve made peace with them. Where you make space for them. Because they’re valid. The gamut of human emotions is a lot of sometimes full, sometimes half full, cups to carry around. Best to make sure that you have room for it all in a heart expansive enough to contain it.

The Queen of swords is super intimidating. You’d think that she would be the meanest of the queens. No creative spark like wands, no nurturing heart like cups, no squooshy mothering hugs like pentacles, but it’s not the case. It’s more that she doesn’t want you to waste your time on half-truths and willful blindness, on giving your power away to those who a)aren’t worthy of it and b) won’t use it in your best interest. Who is best equipped to use the power, the skills, the gifts, the whatever on your behalf? You are. The thing about swords is that they can be stabby and hurt, and sometimes you might prefer sqooshy half-truths which gentle the blunt edges of the world. But truth hurts and anyone who has been stabbed will probably tell you that it’s best not to be stabbed ever. This is where the metaphor about the band-aid is going to show up. Sometimes doing it quick helps the most. She knows it’s going to hurt, because she’s been there. She’s been hurt. Still standing in her truth, still a queen. You can handle whatever it is she’s got to say, because she wouldn’t waste her time on someone who couldn’t.

I love you.