Meditations On The Tarot - 3

The tarot in this case shows its nature as a tool of transformation. What can we do when we draw cards that are difficult to consider in a positive light? The answer lies in the transformation of the given energies. Sometimes this occurs through taking a different perspective, or taking a step back and considering the wider overall view.

These are techniques that are used in modern counseling psychology to bring us closer to a state of peace.

Transcript

Welcome to Meditations on the Tarot.

For these readings,

I will be using the Thoth Tarot as developed by Alistair Crowley.

The images used in this deck are particularly powerful and link closely to the teachings of the mystical Kabbalah.

For each of these readings,

I will draw four cards.

The first card representing the past,

The second the present time,

And the third to represent the future as it may unfold.

The fourth card will reveal the underlying energies underpinning the reading.

These readings are timeless.

If you are drawn to this reading,

You may find it particularly pertinent to you.

If not,

Then take what applies to you and leave what does not.

These readings are for self-illumination only and do not constitute advice.

In this reading today,

In the past position we have the Queen of Cups.

In the present position,

The Two of Cups.

In the future position,

The Five of Cups.

And underlying the whole reading,

The Nine of Swords.

On the face of it,

It already seems like this will be a rather difficult reading,

So do prepare yourself.

I will draw a further clarifying card or two at the end to redirect our thoughts though,

So keep with it.

The message is important.

Taking the Queen of Cups in hand,

We see an image of a regal person robed in veils of pure light.

Her face is obscured and she is almost invisible to us,

Suggesting that her true nature is hidden and that she acts as a mirror.

She symbolizes self-reflection and the unconscious mind.

She represents deep intuition,

Clairvoyance,

Profound empathy and artistic imagination.

She is a healer,

Deeply connected to the subconscious,

And someone who understands the heart without needing words.

She is kind and loving,

But may also seem distant and preoccupied with the ethereal realms.

In the context of the past,

The Queen of Cups signifies a period defined by profound receptivity and the quiet dominance of the subconscious.

Rather than a time of overt action or worldly conquest,

This position suggests that your foundation was built upon a state of being where intuition,

Dreaming and emotional sensitivity were your primary guides.

You likely navigated the world through feeling rather than logic,

Acting as a mirror that reflected the environment and the people around you.

This may have been a time of significant psychic incubation,

Where you were deeply attuned to the unseen or the unspoken,

Allowing internal shifts to occur beneath the surface of your conscious awareness.

However,

Because the Thoth Queen is veiled and somewhat ethereal,

Her presence in your past can also point to a time of emotional fluidity that lacked clear boundaries.

You may have found yourself susceptible to the moods of others,

Or lost in a dream world where reality was obscured by your own projections.

If you were dealing with a specific person,

This card represents a mysterious,

Nurturing but perhaps elusive influence,

Someone who offered deep soul-level understanding but remained difficult to truly grasp.

Ultimately,

This past position highlights a phase of passive growth,

Where the stillness of your emotional life allowed a specific wisdom or creative seed to take root,

Even if you weren't fully aware of its development at the time.

Now let's take the Two of Cups in hand.

The Two of Cups suggests a state of perfect emotional equilibrium.

The two overflowing cups in the foreground pour forth water that fills the sea below with a constant flow symbolising a continuous exchange of energy.

The overall meaning of this card represents harmony,

Marriage,

A soulmate connection and the resolution of conflict.

It represents an ecstatic union where two separate entities find common ground.

In a negative aspect,

It could signify over-dependence,

Cloying affection,

Or a relationship that is too focused on the other that it loses connection to reality.

In the present position,

The Two of Cups signifies a moment of profound harmony and the realisation of a perfected emotional state.

Because this card is titled Love,

Its appearance suggests that your current circumstances are defined by beautiful reciprocity or successful union of opposites.

This is not a passive or stagnant peace,

Rather it is a radiant flowing exchange where your internal desires are in complete alignment with your external reality.

Whether this manifests as a blossoming romantic connection,

A creative breakthrough or a newfound sense of inner self-acceptance,

You are currently operating from a place of will to love where the disparate parts of your life are intertwining as gracefully as the lotus stems depicted in the imagery.

However,

The presence of the Two of Cups also serves as a reminder to remain present within this state of grace without immediately trying to force it toward a more concrete or burdensome conclusion.

In the Thoth system,

This card represents the ecstatic spark of attraction and its significance in the present is the invitation to dwell in this balanced equilibrium.

You are being encouraged to trust in the natural flow of your feelings and to recognise that,

For now,

The conflict or duality that previously occupied your mind has been resolved into a singular,

Shimmering unity.

It is a time of healing by attraction where the most effective way to move forward is simply to remain open to the joyful,

Nurturing influences currently surrounding you.

So far,

The reading is pretty positive,

Isn't it?

If it does reflect a time of healing by attraction and a time when the nurturing influences are surrounding us,

Then so be it.

But moving to the future,

We have the Five of Cups,

Entitled Disappointment,

And it's a sombre card that conveys a sense of hollowness.

In this image,

The cups are arranged in an inverted pentagram associated with the triumph of matter over spirit and the falling away from the divine.

The emotional energy that flowed freely in previous images has dried up and the flowers that relied on this energy have died.

There is betrayal,

Resentment and loss here.

It represents the destructive power of passion when it is frustrated or unrequited.

On a positive note,

We can say that this card represents the end of an illusion,

The necessary realization that something is over so that a new cycle can eventually begin.

So in a sense,

We are learning from emotional pain.

In the future or outcome position,

The Five of Cups serves as a sobering signal that the current emotional trajectory is heading toward a period of disappointment and the necessary collapse of an idealized vision.

This placement suggests that the harmony or expectations you currently hold may soon meet the corrective force of reality,

Leading to a temporary state of emotional depletion or drying up of a particular source of joy.

Because the card is ruled by Mars,

The outcome is rarely a quiet fading away,

Rather it is often a sharp realization or a stinging letdown that forces you to confront the empty cups in your life.

It indicates that the spiritual or emotional sap is being withdrawn from a situation,

Leaving behind a stagnant environment where old habits or attachments no longer provide the sustenance they once did.

Within the rigorous framework of the Thoth Tara though,

This outcome is not merely a bad omen,

But a vital process of purgation.

By appearing in the future,

The Five of Cups warns you against clinging to shadows or mourning what is already lost.

It anticipates a dark night of the soul that is designed to strip away illusions so that you can eventually move toward a more authentic state of being.

While the immediate future may feel hollow or bitter,

This experience is the essential ploughing of the field required before a new,

More resilient emotional growth can take place in the cycles that follow.

The presence of the Nine of Swords,

Entitled Cruelty,

As the underlying energy of this reading casts a shadow of psychological distress over the entire narrative,

Revealing that this emotional journey is deeply rooted in mental anguish.

While the surface cards move from the ethereal Queen to the Radiant Two of Cups and finally the Hollow Five of Cups,

The Nine of Swords suggests that the energy driving these changes is actually anxiety,

Guilt,

Or a relentless internal dialogue.

Here,

The mind becomes its own torture chamber.

Its presence indicates that the love found in your present may be a desperate attempt to escape the mental cruelty of the Nine,

Or perhaps a temporary reprieve from a deep-seated fear of abandonment.

The significance of this underlying energy is that the disappointment predicted in your future with the Five of Cups is not merely an external event,

But a manifestation of these persistent,

Jagged thoughts finally poisoning the well of your emotional life.

The Nine of Swords acts as the subconscious architect,

Creating a self-fulfilling prophecy where the mind's inability to find peace eventually collapses the heart's ability to feel joy.

This suggests that the transition from the harmonious present to the depleted future is being fueled by shame or martyrdom complex that you have been carrying since the time of the Queen of Cups.

To alter this trajectory,

The reading implies that you must confront the swords of your own intellect,

The sharp,

Critical thoughts that are draining the life force from your Cups before they can manifest as the total emotional bankruptcy of the Five.

So as I said at the outset of this reading,

It's quite a heavy one,

Isn't it?

Full of the realities that can sometimes confront us in our lives.

The Queen of Cups is an interesting card in the sense that it could represent our youth,

Our growing up periods,

Especially if there is a sense of abandonment in our past,

A sense of shame,

All these things that have been covered by a busy life that we lead.

So anyway,

We cannot leave this reading as it is,

So let's draw a couple of clarifying cards to see what possibilities there are.

We draw the Star,

And as a clarifier,

This provides a vital spiritual bypass to the cycle of anxiety and depletion indicated by the Nine of Swords and the Five of Cups.

While the lower mind is caught in the cruelty of self-criticism,

The Star operates on the celestial frequency,

Offering a sense of hope beyond hope and the promise of ultimate purification.

Its presence suggests that the disappointment of the future is not a terminal end,

But a necessary clearing of the vessel to make room for a more divine,

Crystalline form of inspiration.

By aligning yourself with the energy of the Star,

Represented by the figure pouring the waters of life,

You are encouraged to stop identifying with the empty cups of your personal drama and instead view your life as a channel for universal grace.

The Star acts as a cosmic solvent,

Dissolving the jagged edges of the Nine of Swords and ensuring that even if the Five of Cups brings a loss of the old love,

It is only to facilitate profound spiritual baptism that restores your sense of purpose and celestial belonging.

And let's add one more card to point us to another possible direction.

It's Art,

The thought equivalent of the Card of Temperance.

In the context of your journey from the psychic depths of the Queen of Cups,

Art serves as the ultimate practical directive.

This card depicts the alchemical marriage,

Where the disparate elements of fire and water are boiled together in a great cauldron to produce something entirely new.

Your higher self is advising you that the disappointment you fear in the Five of Cups is actually a crucial ingredient in your evolution.

It is the acid required to break down your old ego so that a higher version of yourself can be synthesized.

A practical first step is to practice integration.

Instead of trying to suppress the anxiety of the Nine of Swords or avoid the sadness of the Five of Cups,

Pour them into the same vessel.

Acknowledge these difficult feelings as raw materials for your personal great work.

And by staying centered and tempering your reactions,

Neither drowning in the water nor being consumed by the fire,

You begin to transform your internal lead into spiritual gold.

So be it.

Reviews

Hi Nico, that was a great reading. You have such a way about you. I really do wonder how you can read for basically all of humanity in such a personalized way. It’s so interesting… Like you said and I heard, take what you feel as pertinent and leave the rest. Very interesting!