The 4 of Cups is saying that there is 1 thing that is causing us to focus all of our attention and it feels like a bummer. When this card comes up it is important to remember gratitude. The thing we are focusing on is just in our face and not really something that we want. It’s ok to take a breath, shift our focus and bring in the Lovers energy. How to we compromise? How do we bring balance to our lives between obligations and the things that actually make us happy? The Lovers card invites community, innovation and new ideas. It’s ok to blend things together in ways that only makes sense to you. The 5 of Wands can be about competition but it can also be about strategy and problem solving. This reading is asking us to stop focusing on what we don’t have and put more gratitude into what we do have. When we do this, we shift our mindset from lack to abundance. This already allows new energy and ideas to come in which increases harmony in our lives. We don’t need to be at battle with ourselves or anyone else. We can be open to new people, places and ideas that align with our higher selves.
Graveyard – Today’s modern graveyard are restful places – normally highly manicured and very well set out. Whilst they can be places of profound sadness, few are the creepy gothic places of old, yet they still hold an undercurrent of fear and seem frightening places.
Due to countless stories of haunted graveyards, the thought of walking through cemeteries, evokes fear in many of us – we imagine zombies and ghosts rising from the graves and bad spirits hiding out, waiting to harm an unsuspecting living person who walks by. The idea of being at a graveyard after dark, or worse, at midnight, is the stuff of dares and nightmares.
But this isn’t the way with every culture. On the Mexican Day of the Dead, whole families picnic on the graves of their loved ones who have passed. Children play upon the graves, people play music, drink wine and share food all in the ‘company of the dead’. Graveyard dust is used as an ingredient in protective spells not in curses.
You fear unnecessarily. Things are not as they seem, and you can overcome your obstacles. The anxieties you have, although real, should be put aside before they haunt you long term. Instead, trust that you know the correct next steps and that you will act upon them.
Skull of darkness – The beautiful and mysterious skull of darkness encourages us to look to the part of ourselves that normally remains hidden or as unseen as possible.
We may not appreciate or like certain aspects of ourselves and yet, sometimes our greatest treasures lie within these areas. How many times have you heard of famous artists or people extremely successful in their fields being bullied for being so different – yet it is their very differences from others that make them so powerful.
Additionally, all of us at some stage of life have certain ‘blind spots’ that may cause us grief and trouble. Although we cannot see the issue clearly, it is the repeated patterns of pain that may alert us to them – symptoms, if you will. For example, the same things keep happening over and over again; we may be betrayed repeatedly, fail at something repeatedly, not complete tasks continually. Peace and pattern-breaking can be achieved by doing the work in uncovering our blind spot or even consulting trusted close friends or professionals to assist us to see what we cannot.
I am of the earth and in harmony with nature – We are forces of nature and carry the fertile, creative, elemental beauty of the earth within us. We were born from it and are an embodiment of her harmonious cycles. ‘Earth my body, water my blood, air my breath, and fire my spirit’ is a chant that we can all celebrate together. Like the Earth and all that you touch. You contract and expand, gather and release, rise and fall. When you’re in harmony with nature you can allow this dance to lead you with less force and more flow. Communicate with the elements and pay attention to the softest of whispers. Ground yourself in the soil and unleash your creative life force. Our beloved Mother Earth generously provides for us and is our sacred home. In respecting her lush bounty with gratitude and love, we reflect self-reflect and healing for all. Together we are connected to her wise rhythms.