Finding Fulfillment with 7 of Cups

Last night I pulled two cards for the week ahead, using the Prisma Visions Tarot and the Wisdom from the House of Night oracle. Before discussing what popped up, I feel the need to reflect for a moment on last week's post, Channeling Fire. I'd pulled very "hot" cards, and was prepared for a wild week ahead. In reality, my week was probably even more hectic that I could have anticipated, and there were several times where I definitely felt like I was on the back of a runaway horse. To be honest, I still feel a bit like that! I had thought to use the High Priestess of Fire as a focal point to avoid burnout, and I'm not entirely sure if I managed to do that successfully, though I did think of her often. I did feel close to burnout somewhere around mid-week, and then, almost miraculously, I just started laughing. The kind of laughing which you come to realize is just a way of expressing out-of-control stress in a fairly healthy way! I just stopped caring so much about where my wild pony was going, and I carved out a fraction of space not rudely invaded by my overwhelming work responsibilities. It was a good thing.

Two days ago I decided to pull a card from the Tarot de St. Croix to gauge my own progress and I pulled the 2 of Pentacles. Yes, I thought, this is about right. Harmonic fluctuation. Well, "harmonic" might be pushing it. I mostly just felt like I was treading water, however I did manage not to drown, and I'm certainly pleased about that!

So today I drew the 7 of Cups along with Fulfillment:

Prisma Visions Tarot

It's an interesting combination because the 7 of Cups is certainly not a card that I'd say brings to mind satisfaction and pleasure, per se. This is a card often understood to represent fantasy, illusion, dreams, and the act of pondering one's many options.

Wisdom from the House of Night Oracle

Meanwhile Fulfillment is about enjoying the fruits of success and accomplishment, relaxing, reveling in material comfort. What is particularly noticeable to me is that in the 7 of Cups we can see many chalices enveloped by fog or wind. Only one is actually holding something - from the central chalice rises a rather large-looking serpent. Thinking in Lenormand-style, the snake often signifies complications (among other things). And it's fair to say that I will certainly have a lot on my plate, and will be wondering what to do first, all the while attempting not to let the haze carry me away. But these chalices are mirrored in the cup of wine on the Fulfillment card.

What does that mean to me?

It means that I will certainly be weaving my way through a complicated web of duties and emails and students and conflicting interests, and will very likely find it challenging at times to know what to check off my list first. But if I can look the snake in the eyes and focus, I'll have the opportunity to enjoy the satisfaction that comes from a difficult job well-done. (And truth be told, if I can make it to the end of the week, I'll be attending a special event for my padrino which will certainly be a wonderful way to kick back and relax!).

2 of Pentacles: Balance Amidst the Tempest

Last week was full of ups and downs and twists and turns, and I was pretty happy when the weekend arrived. On Saturday I took the kids out with me to buy herbs and we discovered a new park that turned out to be a lot of fun to play at for the little ones. After dinner we stopped by the bookstore, which is popular with everyone. Aside from the endless shelves of reading material there is a train set for Gabriel to enjoy, a lego station where Lourdes loves creating complex structures, and a nice café with cookies and espresso. All the good stuff in one location!

On Sunday we couldn't leave the house for very long because people were coming to remove our old toilet and install a new one. I had no idea how long that would take, so in the morning I took the kids to the arts and crafts store and we bought some materials with which to make Halloween decorations: some bake-able clay, acrylic paints, a sugar skull wood cut-out, and a ginger bread haunted house kit. I figured that if we were going to be stuck inside all afternoon at least we could have something fun to do! Indeed we spent hours forming, baking and painting our creations, far after the fixer-man (as Gabriel called him) had gone.

Halloween/Samhain crafts
O. Destrades

After I put the kids to bed I made some tea and decided to pull cards for my week ahead. The Aquarian Tarot is one I'd admired from afar for quite a long time, and about a month ago the Italian version was on clearance for a very low price, so I snatched it up. I'm glad I did, because the combination of stark fields of white with bright, flowing color is quite interesting and beautiful. And the card backs are stunning and a pleasure to behold! I plucked the deck from my overflowing divination bookcase, and settled down to read.

I chose a card on which to focus my energies for the week ahead and pulled:

2 of Pentacles

Aquarian Tarot - Palladini

The 2 of Pentacles encourages me to balance all of the responsibilities that I'm currently experiencing in healthy ways so as to avoid the feeling of being overburdened. Yes, there's a lot to do, and I have very few moments to just "sit." But that doesn't mean I have to let my circumstances own me. It's only been just under two weeks that Jorge's been gone, and I'm still working to establish a flow in our routine. That's been difficult because the week after he left most of the kids came down with a nasty virus and are only on a significant upswing now, after nearly a full seven days of illness. So I hope that this week we'll finally be able to fall into a rhythm. And crafty activities are my friend! The Halloween activities that we did on Sunday are a great example of how to provide something engaging for the kids to do while giving me a breather or two. And I need those little breaks now and then in order to recharge my batteries, and refocus my thoughts and energies. So my goal this week will be to allow the 2 of Pentacles to guide me and help me consider positive solutions whenever I start to feel like I'm slipping under the surface.

Sometimes all we need is to see our reality reflected in the layout before us, a confirmation of what we're experiencing, and how we're feeling. And like the 3 of Cups I drew the other day, and the 2 of Pentacles today, having a clear focal point can be a powerful and effective resource to help us navigate the inevitable bumps in the road, encouraging us to think creatively, and to empower ourselves to move forward in the most positive way possible.