125. Devotional Discernment with Two of Pentacles
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In this time when the majority of us are so stressed, working so hard to care for ourselves, our families, and our communities, it has never been more important to deepen our discernment with what is worthy of our energy and time.
Two of Pentacles reminds us that we only have two hands, and energetically, we can only feed, nourish, caretake, or devote our energy to a limited number of things on any given day, or at any given time.
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About the Episode
On today’s episode of the podcast, we are dropping into the medicine of Two of Pentacles, and how we are being called to work with it as a collective Anchor Card.
In this time when the majority of us are so stressed, working so hard to care for ourselves, our families, and our communities, it has never been more important to deepen our discernment with what is worthy of our energy and time.
Two of Pentacles reminds us that we only have two hands, and energetically, we can only feed, nourish, caretake, or devote our energy to a limited number of things on any given day, or at any given time. What are we devoting our energy to? Who or what is deserving of it? How can we sink into our devotional discernment around this, reclaiming some of our precious inner resources for what matters to us?
Land Acknowledgement
Honoring and acknowledging that this podcast episode was recorded on the unceded land of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, currently called Portland, OR, with the deepest respect to the Kalapuya Tribe, Cowlitz Tribe, and Atfalati Tribe.
Please Note
CW Tags: toxic relationships
The content in this episode contains references to toxic relationships. We have done our best to identify difficult subject matter, but the labels may not be comprehensive for your personal needs. Please honor your knowing and proceed with necessary self-awareness and care.
Transcript
[Introduction]
[0:00:00]
(Instrumental intro music)
This is Tarot for the Wild Soul, a weekly Tarot podcast about life, death, and rebirth, hosted by me, Lindsay Mack.
[0:00:15]
Hello Loves. Welcome to a brand new episode of Tarot for the Wild Soul. I am your host, Lindsay Mack. Thank you so much for gathering with me today. It's so lovely to be — I know I say this constantly, but I'm so grateful for this virtual community — and it's lovely to be able to serve those of you who feel called to attend twice a week. And yeah, it's lovely to be here.
I asked Spirit what would be of highest use this week and was told very clearly Two of Pentacles. I understand this, and I also don't, which is so wonderful because once you take the pressure off having to understand what Spirit asks you to do, it can really allow you to open with so much more freedom, you know. Because I understand like every 40th thing (Lindsay Laughs) that Spirit asks me for. So I trust that this will land where it's meant to, if it's meant to, for those of you who feel called to listen.
So we are at, you know, I say this pretty much every time we meet, and yet, you know, we're in this spiral of sheltering, pandemic, Coronavirus. It has to be named because turning away from it — although, obviously, not thinking about it every second is like perfect and ideal — we want to always be, ideally, looking to the cards to help us move through what is here; not what will be, not what was, but what is here now.
And this is where they really shine, Tarot cards, is in the mess. And like they're having their moment right now basically. Like I don't know that they've loved being tools for fortune telling for all this time. But we're moving in a time that is so obviously very challenging for so many. And I think many of us last week hit quite a wall, even in the midst of this week, where we just don't have any answers, right?
So the more we hang out in this Hanged One-style energy, the deeper we have the potential to go into ourselves. And, you know, as many folks would say, this is where, like, the good stuff is. It's where the gold is. So I’m not, in any way, romanticizing this time, but it is here. And to the degree to which we're able to touch in with it, to the degree to which we feel access to resource, even available to touch in with it, it can be really powerful, you know, to begin to say, “Hey, what's, you know what's here? Can I bring my discernment, my attention, in a devotional way to where I'm at today or in this moment?”
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And It's not just these worldly events and these collective events. We’re totally going through this kind of scenario astrologically, and we'll be in it for the entire summer into the fall. We are... Jupiter's retrograde, Pluto is retrograde, Venus is retrograde, Saturn is retrograde (Lindsay Laughs). You know this shit, it's no joke, like we’re... and Mars is in Pisces.
Like this is a time to be extremely self-reflective, very self-reflective. This is a time where we'd be encouraged to slow down and go within, even if many of us are not, you know, really facing some changes with regard to the way we are living our lives right now.
Now, obviously, the vast majority of people are not sheltering in place. Sheltering in place is something that not everybody is able to do, not everybody has access to do. And yet, even if we're going out, we're working, we're living our lives — in hopefully a conscientious way right now — we are still being called to bring even deeper attention to our body, even deeper attention to our care.
And you know, hopefully, these moments, finding these moments of being able to touch in with ourselves, they don't have to be fancy. They don't need to be, you know, lacey. They just need to be, you know, how am I right now? What am I being invited to pay attention to? Where's my, where can I access devotion? No matter what's going on in my life, how can I make devotion work for me?
And there's a funny thing about devotion is that when we start to pour our devotion into something, the things that do not matter become very, very apparent. And I'm not talking about what you have to do. What you have to do is what you have to do. Like that's what it is right now. Like what you're in is what you're in.
It may not feel desired or fair — and that's obviously so held, so completely witnessed and regarded — but most of us can identify with being in some scenarios that are not what we'd necessarily prefer. And many of us are in situations that are downright, like, literally putting our bodies on the line. So I'm not talking about those things. I'm not talking about our job that we may not love or, you know, whatever it might be.
[0:07:08]
I'm talking about the other pieces. I'm talking about who we talk to, who we feel obligations to, what we feel an obligation to. What do we feel pressure to do? And not pressure like, oh, the brain is uncomfortable because of this big action the soul wants to take, that’s kind of evolutionary discomfort. That's ideal, actually. It's not comfortable, but it's great.
How do we begin to discern what is worthy of our attention and what is not? How do we begin to do that? That's a lifelong question. You know, what really do I want to devote my attention to at this moment, and what do I not? What person in my life is really worthy of my attention?
There are times in life when things happen. Any new parent can testify to this way more than anyone else probably (Lindsay Laughs). You know, maybe even anyone else in the world that sometimes life events happen where you're just like, “I don't even have time to text you an apology that I don't have time to text you. I'm just not here. I'm not available right now. I'm in baby world, or I’m in kid world,” or whatever it is. As we move through that adjustment, and then even as kids get older, things can be so crazy and full.
So there are lots of different scenarios in which we might work with this idea, work with this concept of discernment with regard to our energy and our time, how we choose to devote ourselves to life, what we're pouring our attention into, what we are tending, what we're serving, what we're nourishing.
[0:09:15]
The Pentacles are about soul work, soul work translated into earthly material form. How do you take your sacred, soul, devotional work in this world, your soul essence, what your soul desires to do, what it's called to do, how it's called to serve, and how do you plug that in to the things — mundane as they may be — that are in your life? How do you translate that?
We have really, really been sold a bill of goods about how soul work is somehow fancy, or you need to be privileged and rich to do it, or that if you're not privileged and rich, you're not doing your soul work right. I mean, these are deep things, and this is part of why the wounds of the Pentacles suit, being relegated to money, are much more far reaching than we think they are because the Pentacles has always been about soul work.
It's always been about tending the seeds of what we want to nourish in the world. And the predominant narrative or viewpoint on that interpretation has really been co-opted by capitalism, period.
So we're already going into Pentacles medicine feeling like something's funky, but we don't quite know what it is, and that's a part of it; that it doesn't have anything to do with money. It doesn't not have anything to do, it can be about money, because Pentacles are about earthly stuff. And unfortunately, or fortunately — however you want to look at it right now — money right now is a part of life for most of us and a really important part of life for most of us.
[0:11:11]
That marriage between soul work and earthly devotion, earthwork, basically, the body is the bridge. What the body thinks about, what we think about, what we spend our time doing, who we talk to, what we're literally holding in our hands, what we're maybe feeding from our body, what we're devoting to and how we devote comes directly from the source of the body.
It is an act of devotion to even be in the energy of the body, much less in Pentacles energy, which is all about sacred devotion and all about the connection; the bridge that this body has to the heavens and the earthly realm.
You know, we embody that bridge by having channels that, you know, connect to all kinds of different realms, into all kinds of different Spirits, and we're able to communicate, write, think, speak about all of these different ways of being, sign about all these different ways of being.
And Two of Pentacles is a very powerful, very strong Anchor Card for us to be working with right now. Because even though we're going through unprecedented times, life is still life. We still have people who are pains in the asses that we're talking to, that we don't really want to be talking to. We still have parents who are asking — I don't mean to be harsh here — but, potentially, more than we have to give them, who we have difficult relationships with, and we absolutely wish for them to be safe, for them to be well. And it may not be healthy for them to talk to us.
We may be on a new journey of parenthood. We may be on, actually, a journey of doing even more work than we usually do with our kids or with trying to get side jobs to survive. We may be very busy with our current job, and it may be we may have kind of less time on our plate, you know, for what we prefer or what fills us up now than we did before, which makes sense.
We're not able to connect with a lot of our loved ones and those who connect, you know, who we maybe have broken bread with or spent time with. We have phone calls in Zoom, but as much as it's so beautiful and important, it's not the same as kickin’ it and going out to dinner, if that's really what we're wanting.
[0:14:12]
What that means, essentially, is that our energy right now is extremely precious, that you are likely working more, working harder. Our bodies are moving through energetic shedding and regenerating, are running frequencies through them and things that have literally never been run through human bodies before because we're not in anything that's ever been before.
So these bodies are a lot more tired than we're giving them credit for because they're working constantly. If you are a sensitive person, and even if you're not, even if you consider yourself to be the most, like, beautifully logical square, you know, person who, you know maybe wouldn't identify as sensitive, I can almost guarantee you're having some pretty vivid dreams, or that sleep might be a little challenging, or your eating schedule might be different, or your digestion might be different. The body is feeling all of this.
So anytime we work with Pentacles energy, we're reflecting on the body as a devotion. That reflection, in of itself, is a devotion. We're checking in. We're saying, “Hey body, fuck, man. Like I see you. You're running so much through you that you've never had to run through you before, stuff that may feel very disturbing and upsetting to us, very uncomfortable, all kinds of brain chemistry, all kinds of sensitivities, all kinds of total exhaustion, burn out.” I mean, we're, many of us are feeling that. Some of us don't even have the privilege of really even looking up from what we're doing to consider that we're feeling that.
So this is really, you know, it can — this practice and these practices — can meet us where we're at, whether we have, like, a second to just name like, “Body I see you. We're really moving in Knight of Swords energy here. There's not a whole lot of time or space for me to check in with you, but I see you. I love you. Thank you for being with me.” You know, that.
And some of us may have the privilege of more time, you know, to be checking in with that. Some of that time might feel very hard. You know, we may wish that our time was filled up with a bit more. And really, where you're at is where you're at. It's valid and worthy. And this card is here to meet you wherever you're at.
[0:17:02]
So why is it important to, you know, how can we tie all these pieces together that our bodies, our physical vessels, are under more pressure and stress right now than they've ever been? And I'm not just talking about the potential of more work, because that is very valid for many of us that there's actually more movement, more work, more time on our feet for some of us — and especially the first responders — than maybe they normally have, especially in certain areas, and so that is very real.
And on top of that, there are frequencies, energetically, that are running through us that are unprecedented. Like, there's no model for them. We don't have any writing yet that is helping any of us really move through or understand that particular spectrum of this experience. We will, you know, it's probably being written now, and people are talking about it now on their podcasts and stuff. But we don't have a map for this, you know.
And we are energetic beings. We are souls in these human bodies, and the human body isn't meant to be kicked aside and just considered to be a house for the soul, although it is. It is the partner that we walk through in this life.
So one of the pieces that I think, given the fact that we're moving through 1,000 retrogrades at once, which are always about review, always about pausing, always about reflection. So they're essentially doubling down on what's already happening without a retrograde.
We're also in Mars in Pisces. This means that the way that we are moving and taking action in the world is happening through a Pisces lens. It's happening through Moon card. It means we're not going to know or understand or see what the hell we're doing. We're going inward. That's the point of the Moon. We're reflecting in, we're bringing all of that energy in.
I don't know. Probably no one wants to hear this, but you know who wants it? (Lindsay Laughs) Like, I don't want it. And yet it's here. Right? So all that resistance is a fire, and it's already burning so hot. We may as well lean into it and let it burn off everything that is not meant to go with us. This is a burning off time. Even with the water of Pisces, you know, we can all feel that heat, feel that intensity underneath all of this, our grief, our anger.
[0:20:00]
Looking to Two of Pentacles as an Anchor Card around devotional discernment has to do with recognizing that our bodies as physical vessels and bridges, that hold the channel, that hold the heart that hold the brain, that have to work through all of the fucking brain chemistry we're going through, all of the emotion that we're feeling, all of the channeling and downloads and subconscious things, and sleep issues and dreams, and the body has to run all that through it.
You know, my teacher has been talking to me about this for years, Michelle, about how crucial it is to remember that the body has to run all this shit through it, so to have compassion, to have awareness. And it's very, very important to be in collective reflection around that right now. That doesn't mean you have to be treating your body a certain way. That doesn't mean you have to stop engaging with whatever you're doing.
You're doing great wherever you are and however. This is not a call to eat or drink or whatever the fuck any way other than, like, where you're at is… you're doing, you're doing great (Lindsay Laughs). Like we're all doing the best we can. It's not about that. You know, although if you feel called to it maybe you know an opportunity to be specific about what you're eating, depending on whether or not you think that would serve or support you.
It's an Anchor Card for us right now because it is a time to have great respect for what the body is moving through. So if there is something, if there are people, if there are issues, circumstances, things within your control that you do not have space to hold right now, Two of Pentacle says, “Please drop them. Please let them go. You will be better off without them. The people, situations, might be upset with you. Let them be upset. That's okay. They can be upset. You don't have to try to hold all the things. You don't have to try to do all the things. You can let the house get really, really messy. You can wear the same outfit five days in a row. Go for six! You can sleep in late, you can get up early, you can not move your body, you can move your body, you can do whatever. You cannot call a particular family member, you know, you can opt for texting just to make sure they're okay. You can not talk to them at all. If there's a particular friend in your life who you feel like is just not really serving you or not really supporting you, you don't have to talk to them.”
You don't have to do anything other than what you have to do. We have a lot of beliefs about what we have to do.
[0:23:19]
We assume we have to talk to certain people, we have to, like, you know? You don't have to do anything, anything except what you are being called to do. You got a job? You work your job. You got kids? You take care of your kids. You feel called to, if you're in a space with your partner that feels safe and secure, you connect with them as best as you can. You don't need to do anything for your partner, be any way for a partner, you don't need to fuck if you don't want to fuck. You don't have to do a goddamn thing that you don't want to do.
What we can do without even realizing it is hold all of this pressure and blaming and “Oh my god, like, I'm so behind or I should do this.” It's like not even a thing to be thinking about right now. Some of us are literally in survival mode. You're doing, again, as beautifully as you can.
And some of us are not in survival mode, we have a shitload of time on our hands. That's just the truth. And I want to be really inclusive of that. Because it's in those situations, too, where we can, if we have no time on our hands, we feel super scared and super, you know, just like working so hard, it can feel really challenging to have this moment of discernment at all to even be like whoa, like what does feel hard? What does it feel like it's on my plate in a way that I don't want it to be?
And then, you know, if we have too much time on our hands, we may be engaging in things that aren't really serving us at all, or chatting it up with people who it’s fine, but you'll know. Look, it's fine to chat with people (Lindsay Laughs). It's not a problem. But if we know that they are not great for us, you know, if they're wanting something from us, or especially expecting something from us, then we want to keep our eye on it.
[0:25:24]
Two of Pentacles is really about devotion in terms of our attention, our energy. What is being expected of us?
You know, in this card, very classically, there's two kind of little balls, two pentacles that maybe the figure on the card is sort of juggling. And in a number of deck this is one of very few cards that has an infinity loop on it. In fact, in the Smith-Rider-Waite, it's one of only three, and that's because there's a lot of magic around this.
There's tremendous magic in being able to distinguish and determine for oneself: “I have room in my hands for this, I do not have room in my hands for that. That is not an alignment for me to be engaging with that.” You still have the ability to reflect, you know, even if there are so few things you can't put down. And, again, I think I'm being clear, but I want to make sure:
What this is not is an invitation for everyone listening to this to go out and, like, just not do anything. Like don't work your job. Don't do it. Like, make space. Absolutely. You know what I'm saying? In fact, I'm saying the opposite.
Because we're having to take on so much more than we usually do, because there is so much pressure, because there is so much running through the body, and so many of us feel so scared and so lost, and because this is such a strong time, collectively and astrologically and otherwise, to self reflect, we have the opportunity to clarify for ourselves the things that actually do not need our attention, do not deserve our devotion. And yet, we may be continuing to make room on our plate for them, and we want to start getting curious as to why.
Most of the time it's fear, it's pressure, you know, old habits, old patterning. We're afraid to take our space. We're afraid people will be mad at us. We're afraid we won't have friends after we do, are afraid, you know, unhealthy patterning that develops from, you know, too much codependency with certain friends or certain loved ones. We're not trying to fix all this or change it overnight.
But here are some of the invitations to begin to reflect on with regard to Two of Pentacles. So when Two of Pentacles comes up in life in a reading as an Anchor Card, it is an invitation to deeply reflect:
What are we desiring to devote our energy to? We only have two hands. We can only hold a finite number of things in those hands. So what are we holding in our hands? What is precious enough, important enough, to actually have space? Precious, like rental space, essentially, in our hands, in our mind, in our heart. Like what we gets to have the honor and the privilege of being a part of our container?
[0:29:07]
Because when we're in Two of Pentacles, it often doesn't feel like it because we're so close to the Ace. We're so close to the seed, that we're not seeing the evidence of it yet. As much as it feels like nothing's happening, there's actually a tremendous amount happening.
We're in a time of profound choice right now. The more we pay attention to the way that we, as individuals, work with these types of things, the more we look at where we tend to sacrifice our own desires for the good of others, and not because we actually have a desire to serve, and it may come at a cost of our time, you feel that difference, you know that difference.
You know the difference between between truly feeling a call to serve, to offer, to devote a part of your energy and time and attention to something, even though it might take up a lot of your time, a lot of your space. We know this. We know what it feels like to do this in a way that's in alignment. Everybody has an example of that.
And most of us know what it is to do it in a way that does not feel good. That feels like we're constantly getting a withdrawal without anything coming back in. And eventually we just start feeling like, all of a sudden, like, we have to do something, and we weren't sure where exactly we signed off on that, but we're doing it anyway. And that's what I mean.
Where can you shift? Is it possible to shift? You may not be able to shift right now. That's okay. Time is spiralic, you know. It's not immediate, this life.
But what you can do, if you feel called to it, where the things that you don't feel called or able to change right now or to shift right now, with regard to what you're holding and what you're devoting your energy to, you can — to, again, honor my teacher Michelle — call in your willingness and just state your intention, you know, in a prayer, in a ritual, in whatever feels right to you. You could also just, like, whisper it into the air. And you don't need to do... that's ritual enough. You don't need to really do anything particular or special there.
But you could just say, “I don't see a way to let go of this, and I feel like I can't.” Or “I don't... I'm not able to. I'm not sure whether or not that's true. I would like to be able to let go of it, would like to be able to have more spaciousness for this thing. I would like to be able to take a little bit more boundary or space with this person. And I don't feel ready to, but I'm calling in my Guides. I’m calling in my higher self just to be with me, because I don't know how, but I'm willing to consider that you could help me. So yeah, just be with me through that process.”
[0:32:26]
That's enough to be able to say, “Shit is so fucking hard right now. I'm not sure what to do. And I'm having to do a million things right now because of the circumstances of the world right now. I don't want this. My prayer is that eventually things will even out, there will be less on my plate. Until that time, may I have all the support I need. May I receive devotion in order to do what I'm doing?” You know that's a way that we can start with this card is from that place of willingness to consider.
Life is, again, it's very spiralic. It's not linear, so instant manifestation, first of all, is a myth and bullshit anyway but there really isn't. There's not… it's not instant. Like, you know it's okay to have it take time. It's okay to not have it happen right now.
We're just seeding. We're setting the intention. We're just checking in, you know.
I know for myself, even talking about this right now, because I'm not reading off of notes. I'm just going on what my Guides are telling me, but I'm really hearing so much of this for me. That's like, oh my God, I've been putting so much pressure on myself to to create this course, to tend the group to also, like, try to keep my house in working order somewhat to cook for myself. And, again, these are all enormous.
Cooking for oneself is a privilege. Like, let's name that, let's honor the fuck out of that. Some people can't even afford food right now. It's just a real honoring of, you know, meeting oneself where we're at.
And I've… there are things for me in here that I'm really hearing around, you know, not what I can necessarily, I can't necessarily give it to someone else, but what can I just take off my plate like, I just don't. Right now, this is not worthy of my devotion. Like it'll get my devotion maybe tomorrow. It'll get my devotion next week.
[0:34:45]
And that's the cool thing about Two of Pentacles that I think is really nice to remember is that this card is very, very, very flexible. So it can be a devotion. It can be an Anchor for every day inquiry. It can be a point of light at which, or kind of a North Star upon which to focus an intention for the day, to really say, “What desires my devotion today? You know, what am I being called to really offer my attention, my time, my space to? What do I not have time for today? What do I not have the desire for today? What do I have the desire for? And in the midst of a day where I may be doing a bunch of shit I don't want to do, but I have to do, what do I need to do to secure and make sure that there is even, potentially, five minutes for me to do the things that I really want to do?”
You know, it might not be as much time as we want and there's, for sure, grief in that to honor, but I do think that you naming it is really powerful. Making that space is really powerful.
We are, ultimately, right now, across the board, coming back home to the body. We've been out of the body, separate from the body, basically whipping the body into submission telling it what to do, and treating it like it's something to be to be pushed, something to be controlled. When the truth is that it is a partner. It's something that is with us, that travels with us, that walks with us through our lives that we get to make decisions with.
And there are times where the body may really want something because it's responding to something that the brain is putting out. And we can say, “You know, sweetheart, I'm not getting a yes on that. No, thank you.” We can let the body tantrum, really, it's the brain that the body is feeling.
But the body is… it's brilliant and beautiful. And you don't need to have a brilliant, beautiful loving relationship with it to begin to even just give it a sharp nod of acknowledgement, to be able to say, “Wow. You're moving me through a lot right now, and I'm willing to see you.”
And I'm willing to acknowledge that this infinity loop of transformation that is present in Two of Pentacles, that moves us, this is essentially letting us know that the more time we spend in this kind of devotional discernment, the more time we tune in with Two of Pentacles work, the more time we reflect every day, any moment, and just tuning in what's worthy of, what most wants my attention, what most deserves my attention right now, the more that we can, I really believe, truly expand and change.
And that's part of why that infinity loop is there at all. It always means a connection to something higher than us. The presence of that on a card means that we're connecting with divine. We're connecting with our higher self, with our Guides, with us, with the wisdom in us. And how powerful that that's present in such a card. You know the only non-Major in the Smith-Rider-Waite to have this, it's very significant. It lets us know that of all the cards this is the one Minor Arcana.
Minor Arcana cards are about engagement. They asked for us to get our hands dirty. They ask for us to figure things out, to learn, to scope it out, to try it, to scrape our knees, you know, to get in there and do the dance. They're about engaging, whereas the Majors are really about surrender.
[0:39:18]
So what does it mean? And how powerful is that to consider that this card has to do with engaging with our bodies and our devotion on such a level that every single day we can check in and begin fresh, begin anew and say to ourselves, “Okay, you know what? What's important to let go today. and what's important to to feed, you know, what's important to feed here? What deserves to be fed?”
It can help so much because it doesn't need to be, again, like we have all the time or we don't. That’s the point is that most of us don't have a lot of luxury of time. I don't have the luxury of time. And I'm not even close to being where other people are in terms of where, again, first responder, like, there's no comparison to that level of work. So it's… I, yeah, I have no time (Lindsay Laughs). So this is meeting me where I'm at, too, even in my great privilege of being able to shelter-in-place at home.
So that's why I say even if you are afforded huge privileges with this quarantine, this is still work for you because you're still working, you know. And even if you're not working, you're still doing work because the body is running things through it that we don't even have, again, any guidance for. This is brand new.
[0:40:54]
So, discernment is, I think, learned over time. You know, we learn through time, through experience, through getting it right, through getting it wrong, even though there is no right and wrong, but from recognizing those places in those spaces when that is where we think like, “Oh yeah, this felt so great to give my time to, even though I was fucking exhausted” or “This didn't feel great, you know, and let me look into why,” you know. And then we get to do Two of Pentacles work with that.
And it's so nice because the imagery of it alone with the juggling, it lets us know, like, there's no still point to this. We're always checking in with it. We're always tuning in with it. There's never going to be a fixed state where one thing gets all of the attention, and then we never pick anything back up again, you know. We go through cycles and phases in this life.
So when there's nothing external to hook on to or to Anchor to, and nothing that is familiar, nothing that keeps us tethered to our usual routine — although many of us are developing weird, new routines out of this time — we can begin to honor our own rhythms as routine, our own knowing as the guidance system for our life, rather than doing things because we feel like we have to do them, rather than doing things because we feel like we can't say no. None of those pieces are necessarily the truth for you, for me, for anyone, and we want to be checking in with that. We want to be tuning in with that.
We want to be reflecting, you know, what am I available to give today? What do I need to receive in order to give it? What do I have room to devote to today? What does not get my attention and my energy today? Does my attention and energy today go to me? Am I sick? Am I exhausted? Am I collapsing? Is there any way I can give a little bit more to myself than what I have? You know, can I just take it, you know, instead of waiting or somehow not wanting to give it to ourselves for some reason? Or whatever it is.
[0:43:35]
So, yeah, you know, we're moving into quite literally a new time. I've been saying this on the podcast for a while, like, the new paradigm that we're living in is here. We're not ever going back to the way it was. And even if things in life look almost identical eventually to what they were before — which I'm sure it will, to a certain extent — we've now learned something. We've now been invited into something that we can't unlearn, we can’t undo; that the body is calling out for our attention, period.
The way that we are, the way that we relate to each other, we relate to ourselves, the way we, you know, I could give a lot of examples of the way humans take up space in inappropriate ways that have deleterious results on the planet on other human beings, huge impacts, right, on ourselves, we're no longer able to do that anymore and have the earth hold both the healing that it needs and our bullshit. So we need to come get ourselves, and this is a part of how we can do it. This, actually, believe it or not, is a part of how we can do it.
And it's a powerful question because, again, in a time when there's a lot happening that we can't control, there are a lot of circumstances arising that put us in positions where we're kind of having to do certain things, having to deal with the bullshit, waiting for unemployment, or trying to get a job and not being able to. If we get a job, it involves, potentially, putting our body at risk, and some of us may not be able to do that. Some of us may not have a choice. Some of us are, again, being called into huge work, sacred work, service work right now on multiple levels.
So in a time when so much feels completely disempowering, and like we have no choice, and there's a lot I have to choose, what is it that you're maybe putting on your plate that is absolutely unnecessary, is actually taking some of your energy that is so incredibly precious right now — always, but especially now — at a time when, again, your body is channeling and running things through it that no body has ever before at any other time in history, literally?
When we are energetically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally — many of us — are at capacity or playing with new levels of capacity, you know, what is it to have Two of Pentacles meet us where we are, rather than in some impossible and unrealistic sense of “Oh, just clearing the schedule and doing everything we want?”
[0:46:55]
This card absolutely doesn't say that and neither do I. There are things that we can't control, and there are things we have to do in life. And believe it or not, that actually is a part of soul work, too.
There is a ton of stuff that I have to do, I'm called to do. I do not necessarily want to do it. There's a difference between the not wanting and the resistance with soul work, and the true hard stop like this is not in my highest and best, my soul is saying no, my body's saying no, and yet, I'm proceeding because my brain says, “We have to do it,” and I feel too overwhelmed to question that. So Two of Pentacles can provide some pretty beautiful anchoring around just gently where you can, when you can, and whatever way you want to; just literally imagining yourself, like, holding your two hands out and seeing in your hands everything that deserves a place there.
They're, you know, maybe — I'm not even gonna name examples — but everything that deserves, that you want, you have to give your devotion to, that you're devoting your energy to, that you have to is a part of your responsibility, is a part of your soul commitment, you know, your children, your work, like whatever it is. And then we can honor the things we might want to do, that really feel like they fill us up, that nourishes so deeply that might be really hard to reach out for and take right now and always. And we can reflect and say, “Okay, is there anything in my hands now that I think I have to be doing that I don't really?” And that might involve some confrontation.
Like, are you a person who really believes, like, your house has to be clean. Is that true? You know, it doesn't need to be, like, crazy messy, although even if it is, like, I don't care how you keep your house right now. Again, we're all doing the very best that we can. But maybe like letting it get, like maybe leaving the dishes for whatever is a crazy amount of time for you, you know. For that amount of time is exactly what you need in order to have time to paint in order to have time to like, yeah, play video games, potentially, in order to have time to do puzzles with your partner, in order to have time to…
You may want to do the opposite. Where you feel like you have to paint, but what you really want to do is clean your house. So it's like these are, you know, very mundane examples, but we're doing mundane things right now, many of us.
[0:49:56]
So you know, what is it that you are needing? What is that you think you should be doing? And where is the intersection between the both of those things?
Because, again, Two of Pentacles is never about just doing some sort of fantasy version of life, where we only do what we want to do and blah, blah, blah, and you know, there isn't. It isn't that. That's sacred discernment, that judgement, that wisdom that we have within us to really know: this is not for me right now. Talking to this person, engaging with this group, tapping in with this material, you know, doing this action in my house or in my life. This is not... it's not for me right now. I just, it just isn't. Maybe I want it to be so badly, and yet, it isn't right now. So where can I meet myself? Can I download the materials so it doesn't go away before it expires? Can I, you know, just give myself a break from talking to certain folks if I don't want to? You know, again, could go on and on and on.
And why do this? Again, because this is a part of what we're being, this is the work right now. This is the work, capital I, capital S, capital W. Work with a capital W. But this is the work. It's been the work forever, we just haven't wanted to do it collectively.
The more we sacrifice the body in the name of what we think we should be doing, the further away we get from our wisdom, and the more we will, consciously or unconsciously, attempt to mitigate that in ways that create imbalance in other ways of life. So we don't, ideally, want to do that in a time when there is so much energetic imbalance that already is attempting to be compensated for.
[0:52:06]
So, what's in your hands right now? What are you committed to offering your devotion to, whether you necessarily want to or not? What deserves your devotion? What's in your hands?
And then what do you desire to make time for? What's in your hands that maybe you don't want to have in your hands anymore? How can you allow it to be cleared, maybe without even any explanation at all?
So working with this card, you know, it could just be that you let it wash over your knowing, and you walk away from it. It could also be that you put it on your altar, and you work with it every day. And you think about it like that: I'm only one body, I only have two hands. If I'm feeding a child, I can only feed two children, potentially, at a time with my body. You know, there’s literally not anything more than I can offer than what I can offer.
So how can we be even more sacred, even more discerning, even more devotional with our time around our body, around what our body is offering, what it's doing, for us and for the world around us?
I think that's the invitation, the meditation, around this card this week for us.
Thank you for listening, Wild Souls, now and always. Yeah, thank you for being here. And I don't really have much else to say other than that, and that I love all of you. And that until we meet again, on the Tuesday, Weekly Medicine mini-sode, or on Fridays, full episode next Friday, please take care of yourselves, and I will catch you at the next episode.
[Conclusion]
(Instrumental exit music)
[0:54:06]
Thank you so much for listening to Tarot for the Wild Soul.
This podcast was edited by Chase Voorhees. The podcast art is by Chelsea Iris Granger, and it is hosted by me, Lindsay Mack. For more about the podcast click here, or follow us on Instagram @wildsoulhealing. For more about me and my work, please visit lindsaymack.com.
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Thank you so much for being here.