228. Refining and Clarifying with Two of Pentacles
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Happy Gemini season, Wild Souls!
Air date:
May 22, 2023
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About the Episode
Happy Gemini season, Wild Souls! Our Anchor Card for the week ahead is Two of Pentacles, which is going to be helping us to reframe and refine some of our responsibilities and tasks this week. This card often acts as an amazingly clear filter, helping to gently clarify the relationships, endeavors, and areas of our lives that are not serving us, or are taking more than they are giving. We have the chance to get much more grounded and aware of these places, and make different choices around them in response to that.
Plus, we answer a listener's question about how to deepen their understanding of the Wands suit during an extremely full and busy season of life.
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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: challenges of parenthood, burnout, ableism, relationship to the body, trauma
The content in this episode contains references to challenges of parenthood, burnout, ableism, relationship to the body, trauma. 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]
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(Instrumental intro music)
Welcome to Tarot for the Wild Soul, a podcast that explores the Tarot through an inclusive, soul-centered, trauma-informed perspective for growth, healing, and evolution. I'm your host, Lindsay Mack.
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[0:00:20]
Hello loves. And welcome back to Tarot for the Wild Soul podcast. Thank you so much for being here with me, as always. It is truly such a joy to gather every week in this virtual space with all of you. The Monday format is going really smooth, at least for me. I'm always interested to hear what y'all think, but it's feeling good.
So, as we always do in our time together, unless we're doing something kind of special or different, we'll dive into our Anchor Card for the week ahead, talk about ways we can work with it, how it relates to the monthly theme, I'll answer a listener question.
But before I get to that, I just want to say Happy Gemini season! Happy Gemini season! Gemini is Mutable Air, its connector card is The Lovers. It's kind of secondary connector card is The Magician. The reason for that is that The Lovers is ruled by Gemini, and the ruling planet of Gemini is Mercury, and Mercury is connected to The Magician.
In the case of The Lovers and of Magician, what we have are two cards that kind of start with us, weave outside of us to the world, how we relate to the world, our interpersonal relationships, and then we weave it back to us. Like, how are those things influencing us? How are we maybe taking on things that aren't ours to take on? How maybe are we beautifully influenced by each other? We can't escape that, right? We're influenced by each other. And then we go back in, and then we go back out and in. And so, in that way, it's like a beautiful weaving where we start with ourselves. We open our arms to the external factors and forces that surround us, we bring it back in.
Gemini energy is all about connection. It's all about bringing folks together, it's all about connecting together. There's a lot of just truly gorgeous energy that goes into that, and that makes it so special. And, you know, because we're in Gemini season, we're going to kind of be quietly working in Lovers energy.
And Lovers is powerful in that it helps us in many ways to dismantle some of the ways in which we have sort of identified with external validations in ways that we thought would bring us love, but are actually putting us a little further away from love. And conversely, we are learning how to rebuild something new, that's actually, truly, in line with the way that it feels good and supportive and natural to receive love. So inside of that process, one of the most powerful things that we can begin to do in this work is really think about our connections in our community.
[0:03:39]
You know, Gemini rules the lungs, that rules the nervous system, it rules the hands. There's something that I've talked about, that's deeply Magician-related, that has to do with, like, we literally breathe in that lifeforce. We breathe in Spirit. And our nervous system starts moving and pumping and sending impulses out, and our hands, literally, put out what's being received internally.
So this particular time on the Wheel of the Year, is really, really powerful. It can bring us into way closer connections with, like, travel with other people, with hangouts, with gatherings. Also, really just helpful to remember that the Mercury of it all around Gemini, Mercury, and Magician—a quality of them that's quite beautiful is that it's really about just like letting things out. It's not really about, like, editing those things, you know.
And so, one gorgeous thing about Gemini season is that it all, you know, really encourages us to be adventurous, try new things. Also super helpful, at any point, but anytime we're working with Magician energy, which we do with Gemini, it's important to remember that it's about bringing stuff that's within us out of us, but it's not necessarily like for everybody, right? So what we might want to, need to, like, kind of vent out to a private processor, to a friend isn't necessarily, like, for everyone, or for social media, and maybe some things are, you know?
Like, Gemini being like a great communicator and a powerful communicator, it can be really, really helpful to actually do the opposite sometimes, which is to feel free to express, you know, where there might be some reticence or some worry. But um, yeah, happy Lovers-Magician season! I think it's really going to be a powerful one.
[0:05:55]
So our card for the week ahead, is Two of Pentacles. And it has a little helper that showed up that I'll kind of weave in, maybe talk about, maybe not talk about so much. The Tethered One reversed, that came up sort of around this energy.
Now, on this sort of last-ish week of May, what might that medicine, you know, what does that medicine sort of have for us?
One really big thing that Two of Pentacles helps us to do is, essentially, whenever it comes up, it has to do with bringing us into a refinement process, a filtration process; one that's really, really crucial, important, and necessary. One that's really a weight off. It's a liberation. And I think what is really important about this is that around Two of Pentacles, and sort of our medicine for the week ahead, it has to do with trusting the filter. You know, that's kind of our invitation this week.
This week is a really, really powerful, important time, where we might be able to get some really clear perspective on things, very clear, around what we're doing, and why we're doing it. And it's a jumping-off point from some of the Hierophant-ness. Because once you — that was last week — in Hierophant, once you get clear on like, “Whoa! I'm still really identified with this inherited belief that has nothing to do with my truth, nothing to do with the way I live other parts of my life, and yet this thing is still sort of rearing up and driving the car,” once we get clear on that, we can start to take steps because it takes a long time to clear out old beliefs. We can start taking and making steps to clear the way, to clear things up a little bit.
So one really, really powerful and potent thing here, a piece of the puzzle, is that Two of Pentacles is jumping off of the work that we did last week and deepening it. And one beautiful way that it's deepening it is that Hierophant is a Major Arcana card. The very nature of that, we're surrendering to this energy. It's a wave that we're surfing. It's not a wave we’re attempting to control.
[0:08:41]
This week, we're in a Minor Arcana card, and Minor Arcana are all about our empowered action. Like, we have the tools, like it clears the path, we can take action. Things are moving in a forward kind of direction, at least for the foreseeable future (Lindsay laughs). Like we're moving clearly, we're moving with, you know, again, taking like our planting and our gardening supplies, like out to our backyard, and we're going for it. And that's really what this card hangs out in and what it helps us to do. So that's really great. Whereas, last week, we might have felt like, “Whoa, these things are coming up. I don't quite know what to do with them.” This week, there's a little bit more like, “Okay, this is maybe a lot, this is maybe clarifying. This may be confusing, but there's something I can do with it,” right?
So, in terms of trusting the filter, trusting the clarification process with Two of Pentacles, Two of Pentacles follows Ace of Pentacles, and Ace of Pentacles is a seed. It's a seedling, one that's sort of handed down to us in the form of spirits, or great inspiration, like, kind of however you want to frame that. But it's an idea, it's a seed, one that can grow into something much bigger than just kind of us. It can grow to feed a lot, it can nourish our bodies. It can bring delight and beauty to our eyes, if it's a flower. But when you plant something, you take on the task of, yes, absolutely, kind of like letting the elements do their job, letting, you know, the compost do its job, letting the sun, the rain, the water, whatever do their job as best as possible. But we are also, hopefully, planting something that's really in alignment for us. It's not some random bullshitty thing, it's like, it's really in alignment (Lindsay laughs), you know, it's not here, there everywhere, right?
So the Two of Pentacles is the perfect jumping-off point from that place where it reminds us, because you have now planted this seed of intention, of creation, one that's going to be a little bit of a slower burn — and we're all in that right now: a period of kind of certain things dying away and changing and a new way being born that none of us are really privy to — we're kind of discovering it as we go along. But we're still very much in that death process.
[0:11:38]
Two of Pentacles comes up when it reminds us because you've said yes to this seed, there are now certain things that you are not going to be able to take on, there are certain things that you are no longer meant to hold, there are certain responsibilities that you will have to take on and work with because of the depth and the power of what that seed requires.
It doesn't mean we neglect any of the things that we love, or that we are responsible for, or we take on, you know, or caretake. It means that — and this is true for every, every one of us — if there's folks, and I never want to describe anyone as being like in any way disposable or anything, but sometimes two people, you know, a group of people, it's just not meeting us where, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just maybe somebody really just brings out our worst qualities. And maybe like it was at a particular season of our life that that connection was really important. Maybe things are kind of weighing or bringing us down that we didn't, like, we didn't even know, we didn't even realize.
Like there's a lot of clarity that can come from Two of Pentacles because it places the important things, kind of places everything out on the table, and calls upon us to say, okay, in theory, because — of course, I know that there are folks listening to this, folks in the world, who don't even have, don't have hands on either side of their body. So I'm talking about the metaphorical two-handedness of this without, of course, moving into ableism, because that's not true for everybody. But if you want to go with that idea, that we only have two, we only have the amount of hands, symbolically, that we do, we can literally only hold certain things, right? We cannot hold all, you know, that we've been holding. We can't hold everything.
So the key then is, well, what do we want to hold? What are we being tasked with holding? What is important? And if we want to take it out of the realm of like the two hands in our particular cup, bucket, cauldron of what we hold and tend to, what are we available to take on? You know, like, what can we take on right now? What's too much to take on? Like, there's all kinds of questions around that.
So this week, in particular, whenever Two of Pentacles comes up, it offers us a pretty profound opportunity to refine that. This card is a refiner, it's a filter. It's like an amazing, like the best, objective, outside person to come in and basically say, “Hey, from what I'm seeing, this has really out-served its purpose. This you could outsource, that you don't have to do anymore. It worked for you at a certain time, and now it just doesn't.” And that's okay, you know. That filtration process, that process of clarity is profound. It can be profound, it often is profound.
[0:15:17]
So this week, we are being invited to truly let this card guide our next moves, let this card help us to trust the things that we're clearing away, the things that we're refining, the things that we're leaning further into. But make no mistake, in my personal opinion, one cannot have Two of Pentacles without Ace of Pentacles. You cannot have the Two without a seed in the Ace. You just can't. So with that being said, there is a really, really powerful opportunity here, again, to let that guidance shine a light on us and show us kind of, you know, what are we being called to pick up, put down, various, really important pieces like that.
And I do think that Gemini has the ability to get things done very quickly. It has the ability to help us to directly communicate, like move through things maybe faster than we normally would. So I think, again, it's the beauty of this being a Minor Arcana card, it’s that the clearer we are about what's ours to pick up and ours to put down, is that we are able to kind of take action on that really quickly. Like, once we know, we can communicate that understanding and act accordingly, you know.
So that is, kind of in a nutshell, very simplistically, our work this week, is really opening our hands to that wisdom, working with this idea, opening our heart to this wisdom, and really letting sort of the clarifying filtration system of Two of Pentacles do its work and start really consciously being aware. It might be that the way you become aware of how this card is working with you is that you just notice like, “Oh, my God, the way that my time is so unsustainable.” So then you might find this week that there's a lot of clarity for you, inside of that just being like, “Wow, I'm realizing that I'm taking this on. I don't have to, you know. Like, that's okay. I don't have to do that,” you know? So all of those pieces, I think are very, very important. And they are definitely coming up for our attention, again, in this next week ahead.
[0:18:01]
So this was a shorty this week, and I think that's okay, I love kind of easy, breezy, beautiful episodes when they come up when the card’s wisdom was just kind of there. So to complete today's episode and come full circle, we're gonna finish up, as we always do, with our delightful lovely listener questions. But also, I want more of your Q’s! So if you have Q’s, simple or complex, about your cards, Tarot, your practice, your relationship with Spirit, give them to me, you can click the link in the show notes which will lead you to Ask Lindsay. You know, I would love to work with any of you lovely folks who have big questions for me.
So today, our question is from Cash and Cash asks:
Hi Lindsay,
First of all, I want to thank you for the amazing gift that you give to this world. I've learned so much from you over the past year I've listened to your podcast.
Thank you, Cash.
I'm new to Tarot, started learning a year or so ago, and I'm still trying to learn the energies of the suits. Lately, I've been pulling Wands all the time, nearly every pull, even today when I did your Equinox spread, and all four cards were Wands. This feels like such a strong sign, and yet, it feels opposite to what I'm experiencing in life.
If I understand correctly, Wands symbolizes energy, fire, driving motivation. However, I feel the exact opposite these days with two small kids, a full-time job, trying to launch a business, and it's just unrelenting life. I was hoping you could provide some insight and nuance to this newbie on the topic of Wands and its many manifestations because perhaps I'm missing the mark here.
Love from a fellow Portlander, Cash.
Oh my god, Cash, I would be so happy to talk to you about Wands. First of all, I, again, I'm really, really honored that you touched base. I feel like being at the beginning of our practice is so tender and juicy and lovely. And I'm honored to be here with you.
Okay. So I would love to invite you into something, perhaps that you've not considered with Wands, which is that I actually, when you described your life right now, like trying to start a new business, full-time job, two kids, that is when we need the Wands, when the Wands come to visit us, more than ever. Like, exactly where you are in this season of life is Wands. So yes, traditionally — and I'm not saying this is wrong, right? — traditionally, more kind of standard description of the Wands is energy, fire, drive, motivation. I just don't see, personally, the truth of that, because it doesn't really, just personally for me, has never really… It has seemed too vague and a little bit too on the nose with it being like “fire” and it's — I don't know. There's nothing wrong with it, I just think we can do better, you know (Lindsay laughs). We can do better.
[0:21:24]
Wands in Soul Tarot have to do explicitly and specifically with the inner flame, with our inner flame. Now, if you think about that, all of our inner flames are unique and different, and they change within us all the time. My inner flame at like 30, getting started on my business is definitely going to be different than my inner flame postpartum, which is definitely going to be different from my inner flame after a week on retreat or on vacation, right? It's completely different. It changes day-to-day. We're all cyclical beings, right? It can change from month-to-month, week to week.
Wands have to do with, they invite us into a space of respectful co-collaboration with that inner flame. I think, sure, absolutely, like energy, fire, drive, and motivation. I think more to the point, Wands really get to kind of come alive for us when, rather than applying them to energy — that term, which is, again, like quite vague, and it gives the impression that we should have tons of energy — I think it more rolls over the adrenals. And they more help us out around our that inner flame and our accessible amounts, like kind of what our energetic container, what the pilot light of our lives, of our bodies look like. And the brilliance of this suit is that I think that the Wands teach us how to work respectfully with that flame.
So the Wands coming to you constantly right now I think is — and I don't know the root system of your practice and how you practice, so I'll speak more holographically. But let's say you see the Wands as being like a conduit for your Guides and for your own inner wisdom and whomever you work with, the universe, whatever. Or let's just say the cards are like friends and helpers that are kind of reflective of your own best self, right?
Whatever they mean, if we're looking at the cards as benevolent pals who really, really, really want to help, want us to be compassionate with ourselves, want to, again be of service and assistance, I think the ever-present manifestation of Wands in your readings has to do with like, “Cash, you're doing great, like you're doing so much with this flame, and you're exhausted, and we know that. And how might there be just a touch of space for a little bit more rest or ease?” And I don't have two kids, but I understand with having my one daughter like the relentlessness of parenting, even though it's legit great, but there is like just a totally different rhythm to your day when you have kids, and so I get it (Lindsay laughs), you know. But is there just like a moment in your day where there can be a little stretch, a little check-in?
I heard at a moms and birthing parents, like, just a caretaker workshop that I took that was hosted by a therapist—heard her say that she often uses, what she will often do with herself when she is overwhelmed, overtired, her body is just it, her body is upset, angry, needs a break, and she's not gonna get a break, she really advocates and says, “It really helps me when I speak directly to my body, and I say: ‘I hear you, I'm not ignoring you. I can't give you what you want right now. But I want you to know that you're heard and you're seen, and I love you.’” And that, to me, I feel like is where you might find some connected connective tissue with the Wands at this moment.
[0:26:08]
The other thing that is really coming up for me is that in my personal experience, my personal practice, I get Wands the most when I'm the busiest because it's their way of being like, okay, things are really full. Let's make sure that they're not getting toppled over. Like, what do we need? Like, what do you need? How can there be, like, any accessible support that doesn't feel like kind of more work?
I think they’re our allies and our advocates around utilization of energy that happens in conversation with the physical body. Like I think Wands are about taking the body with you, and about working with the body. And recognizing that this is life in 2023: a lot of people are broke, a lot of people are having a hard time, a lot of people are exhausted. They're traumatized. They're worried. The cost of living is beyond. Childcare is, in the United States, an atrocity. People are exhausted, so we're doing the best we can.
And I don't think it's about like—we can't always be, like, lounging. And God bless folks who are able to do more lounging. Like, I salute you. I think that's great. But I do think with all your carrying, Wands are your best ally actually, Cash. Like they're the ones that are going to be like, how might you reach for something that's just a little bit more supportive, ask for a little bit more help? If that's even possible, like building a little bit more play, a little bit more pleasure. And those catch moments are there, I believe, throughout our day. It just might truly be like a catch moment. It might even be just checking in with ourselves.
[0:28:15]
Like I think every single one of the Wands cards offers us an opportunity to be like, “Okay, but can we bring all of us with us?” I mean, fuck, Four of Wands is the only Four card out of the four, Four cards that's like, “Get the hell out of the house and play. Stop working, please get the hell out of here, and don't do spiritual work. Like go bowling, go clubbing, do what actually makes you feel good.” So um, you know, it's easier said than done, right? But that's how I teach the Wands, that's how they make sense to me, that's based on my own personal experience with them. The Wands were the toughest for me, even as a more seasoned reader to understand. And it wasn't until I started like, listening to them and noticing and paying a little bit more attention when I read, and framing up my own experience.
So for example, because of where you are in your life, and because of the preponderance of Wands that you're getting—we do know, Wands must have something to do with caring for yourself inside of this very specific season of time that you're in right now. It doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. It doesn't mean you should have more energy, it doesn't mean you should stop, and that you're burning yourself out.
In fact, like Nine of Wands, for example: Nine of Wands, I think, is kind of like acknowledging that we're running a marathon. And can you find, I mean, this isn't really what, you know, but can you not, how can you work through the marathon of it all so that you aren't blowing yourself out? Like it acknowledges, I think, like, this is a big time. Can you make sure you rest inside of that time, you know?
So it sounds like you're doing great and that you're right on point with your Wands work and your relationship with these cards. But I would say, like, let them nourish you, like really let them nourish you, because they all kind of have to do with caretaking ourselves in some way, shape or form, you know? I believe. Okay, well, thank you, Cash.
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[Conclusion]
[0:30:41]
And thank you to all of you who tune in and listen, it's always such a joy and a pleasure to be gathered here with all of you. This one was a shorty. Shorties are nice. You know, short episodes are great. We won't meet again on this podcast until May 31, just a little bit over a week, for June Monthly Medicine. I literally cannot believe we're there. But until we meet again, and until we join together for June Monthly Medicine, I really hope you take beautiful care of yourselves. And I will see you at the next episode.