Tag Archives: tarot card meanings

22 August 2019

Mystic Monkey: The Tower

By thefallenmonkey

Wait, whaaat?? I haven’t posted here since January? Egads! Well, let’s just say it feels like I’ve been everywhere, done everything since then, and now my tarot journal is back with a bang.

The Tower. Oh crap.

Sooo…on its surface, let’s just say it: This card is pants-pissing terrifying. A tower struck by lightning, fires raging, smoke billowing, people (and primates) falling in the dark of night. This is one card that seems to come with audio included as I can hear the explosion and screams. Lovely. Looking at the card’s less literal meaning is still scary as hell to me. Why? Because it represents big changes, total upheaval, and nothing scares the ever-living stuffing out of me more than change. I like stability. Calm. Consistency. You could ask, well, who doesn’t, but I’d venture to say that some restless folks out there do like to jump from one thing to the next, always looking to shake things up whereas introverted little hermits like me thrive on routine, feeling safe within what they already know. But the Tower is the big shake-up that comes for all of us at some point or another. And it’s not without good reason. What we might think is stable is not actually sustainable, and our shaky foundation will inevitably crumble and bring the whole flimsy house of cards to the ground. Something’s gotta give, and when it does, it levels everything, bringing us back to square one–but with a chance to rebuild for our better good. So, this card’s not bad. It’s not the villain–our own delusions and dishonesty are. We can kid ourselves that everything is fine and that we can keep going as we are without consequence, but the Tower tells it like it is: Nope. Do-over.

And therein lies the bright side. Change is scary–oh, hell yes–but it’s necessary for our growth, and if something’s not serving us well, it’s gotsta go. So the positive here is twofold: 1) something wrong for us must leave our lives, and, 2) we have a chance to course-correct. Be the third little pig and build our house out of brick this time. And maybe just a two-story would suffice, huh? A ranch? Need we really have such bravado, thinking we need a skyscraper capped with a friggin’ gold crown, for cripes sake? I mean, compensate for something much? As a tremendous wake-up call–be it painful, core-shaking change or an acute revelation that transforms us before our world comes crashing down–the Tower reminds us that it’s with truth and honesty that we can truly reach the skies.

*

Crystal pairing: obsidian for grounding and clearing negativity.

Advertisement

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Major Arcana, Mystic Monkey, Tarot Journal

13 December 2018

Mystic Monkey: The 8 of Swords

By thefallenmonkey

All righty, back to classic Mystic Monkey! In which I return to the original Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck for my one-card draw–just in time to leave town again and probably not post again ’til I’m back! Woo!!

Eck. Sorry. ‘Tis been one of those years with a lot of back-and-forth and disruption, and I’m horrible at maintaining routine during these times. I absolutely could maintain routine, I have the ability to, but I get overwhelmed when pulled in different directions, and my reaction is to just freeze. Press pause until distractions magically disappear and the time is somehow “right.” Which is probably why today’s card pops up for me so often…the Eight of Swords.

While the Swords can be a scary suit, I must say I love this card. It looks negative at a glance–and the situation it calls out is indeed not positive, per se–but it’s really quite empowering. Or maybe that’s what I have to tell myself because, as I said, I get this one a lot. Why? Because I’m constantly stuck in my head. My mind whirs with this thought and that, and it gets to where I’m paralyzed with indecision or fear. But it’s all in my head.

Look at this gal, for instance. She’s blindfolded, bound up, and seemingly trapped within a cage of swords, but they don’t form a complete circle, so if she could just see clearly, she’d realize she can just step right out of her confinement. There is nothing and no one else keeping her there but herself. And if she really thought it through clearly, she could even use one of those swords to cut herself loose from those ropes. In a nutshell, she has psyched herself out, wallowing in emotion that gets her stuck in the mud like the puddles at her feet. She might be throwing herself one righteous pity-party in her mind, but this card is a call to escape that victim mentality and free ourselves from the cages of our own making. It’s just a matter of shifting our mindset, gaining a new perspective and realizing that we have the ability to take our power back after giving it away in the first place. We truly do have control over our situation–at the very least, how we choose to think and feel about it–which is why this card rules. It calls you out on your shit and reassures that you can make the changes you want once you shed your self-limiting beliefs. Mind over matter. So, get over it and get going!

*

Crystal pairing: epidote to enhance personal power.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Minor Arcana, Mystic Monkey, Swords, Tarot Journal

5 September 2018

Mystic Monkey: The 7 of Cups

By thefallenmonkey

Good day to you! Let’s see what the tarot cards have in store for us today…

Must say I love the Seven of Cups, for better or worse. I’m pretty sure that’s what the inside of my brain looks like. Cloudy, muddled, mixed-up thoughts, all sorts of fancies and fears swirling around. The earthly and the spiritual fill these cups, some desirable, some not, some meaningful, some shallow. It can get overwhelming and paralyze me with indecisiveness. That, or I get so caught up in my fantasies that I neglect reality; I need to get my head out of the clouds and get something done. I still think this can be a positive card, though, for those times when it’s healthy and luxurious to get lost in thought, to take a time-out from the day-to-day and retreat into a rich inner world, explore all the possibilities before you and feel like you have a wealth of options to choose from.

As for which angle this card is showing me today, I’m inclined toward the negative. Though not so much negative, really, as just a little kick in the bum to be productive with my day–because I truly need to. I’ve had some time off to chase after any shiny whim that’s come my way, but tomorrow my sister arrives for a visit! So, I’ve gotta set some of my fancies aside to get down and dirty as the domestic goddess I decidedly am not. But it’s sooo worth it; I cannot wait for this extra-special guest who will help me get out of my head and out into the real world to explore all the treasures to be found there, too!

*

My chosen crystal pairing: clear quartz + tiger iron to clear and sharpen the mind, get grounded and motivated.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Cups, Minor Arcana, Mystic Monkey, Tarot Journal

%d bloggers like this: