Die To Your Self

by Marcus Katz

  You came to the realization today that to move beyond the physical and master the spiritual world rather than creating in the material.

  8 of Swords

  You were put in a position today where you were put on the spot by an aggressive inquisitor, it could have been in a job interview situation. You found yourself unable to formulate and answer something that you knew inside out! You were your own saboteur.

  You felt yourself today crippled by over-analysis and a reluctance to express to others your inner thoughts.

  You realized today that you are the jailer of yourself, and that your prison is a construct that you erected to protect yourself from being hurt from others.

  8 of Cups

  Today you made a clean break from a comfortable but limiting relationship, be it a personal one or a workplace contract. It may be that you had a big clear of all the sentimental stuff in your life that keeps you stuck.

  You found yourself today able to walk away from your comfort zone, and the support of those who are there to love and support you, and into the wilderness of uncertainty, and in doing so you were no longer dependent, and fearful of the support being taken from you. You embraced a change and survived.

  You may have taken time out today to mediate upon where you are in life, emotionally and spiritually and come to the realization that you need to let go of those things you feel most attached to in your life. It could be that you realized you are too sentimental, and this sentimentality binds you to past experiences, that are depleting you in the now.

  8 of Wands

  If you have been on the go all day, without a rest, a break, not a single stop, this is your card. It is constant activity, news, events, all going somewhere fast but not settling to rest.

  If you have been acting swiftly, smoothly, and without pause, this is your card.

  A dart from above, a message from the divine? This is the card that you should choose if you have experienced something from “out there” today – a break-through of the mysterious world into the mundane.

  7 of Pentacles

  Having an anxiety about work and money is indicated in this card, so if that is your unlucky state for the day, this is one of the cards to choose.

  If you have felt like your work has been in vain, or ill-rewarded, the 7 of Pentacles pictures this unhappy state.

  As a spiritual card, this image is difficult, but perhaps it shows that what we treasure turns out to be not worthwhile in the greater scheme of things. If you have transcended something today which was once all-important to you; riches, fame, success, you can remove this card.

  7 of Swords

  The card of design, in its sense of plotting, scheming and planning. However, it is often unawares. If you have seen evidence of a ploy, a scheme, a plan, perhaps being carried out in secret, this is the card.

  Uncertainty in who is supporting you is also part of the nature of this card – like the feeling that if you go for something, no-one will follow you! If you sense this uncertainty, it is this card in action in your life. Remove it.

  In a reversed sense, and suitable for a more spiritual interpretation of this card, here we see a situation of good counsel. If someone has seen you truly, and where you are, and then advised you accordingly, this is one of your cards for today.

  7 of Cups

  A day pictured by this card is a day in which something has evaporated – poof! Something that you were sure would happen, even made changes in plan for – has vanished. A cancelled appointment is the most mundane example. A politician disillusioning an entire nation is another example of the false hope of this card. If you have experienced an example of this, select this card.

  Contemplation, dreams, hopes and wishes. If you feel that you have been dwelling in these visions, this is the card. Remove it.

  If you have experienced a creative vision, one far removed from the everyday and somewhat fantastical, you can select this card. It is a card of some spiritual progress in widening your imagination of the divine, even if not yet realized.

  7 of Wands

  Holding your own today? This is the card! Victory against overwhelming odds, winning out a discussion, argument or just your own view. It has to involve direct attack, though, the situation which references this card for you.

  On a more abstract level, this is the card too of barter, negotiation, discussion, and competition. If you are experiencing these states, or being called into deal with such things, this card is active.

  Holding the courage of your spirit against all the odds is the highest nature of this card. If you are walking your talk, no matter what others may do, this is the card.

  6 of Pentacles

  You may have found yourself today giving money out to somebody on the street begging for money. It is a case of having actively redressed an imbalance which you felt was unfair.

  You may have found yourself today troubled by the unfairness of the world, how the few has so much, and the many so little. On the way to work each day you see the extremes of this, the expensive flash cars, a woman who has it all and ‘lives the dream’ carrying a $6000 handbag, and then you see the ‘down and out’ on the street with very little, ‘living a nightmare’. You may have resolved to make a difference, to try to help the many in your community.

  At a more spiritual level, if this has been a day of weighing up your affairs and balancing out your energies, this is a suitable card.

  6 of Swords

  A simple journey is enough to match this card, although one by water is more appropriate. If someone takes you somewhere, or you ferry someone (to school, to work, to the shops) these activities all accord with the sense of this card.

  Doing what is within your limits is also another interpretation of this card for your day. Just doing enough, not extending yourself, and still getting somewhere? This is your card.

  In a higher sense, this is the card of transition, of knowing you are going through change for a spiritual purpose. Whether you can see the destination or not matters not with this card; it is 6, the Tiphareth of the Tree of Life, and half-way between the most divine and the most manifest. So if this is how you feel, you can select this card.

  6 of Cups

  If nostalgic and childhood things have arisen during your day, this is the card to take out of play. Perhaps you saw an old photo on Facebook, smelt a scent that took you way back, or heard an advertising jingle from your past.

  Emotionally, this card is present in your tarot life if you are overtaken by memories, regrets or even happy reminiscence of the past.

  A new sense of belonging in the spiritual realm is prefigured by this card; an emotional contentment that you are doing the right thing.

  6 of Wands

  You can choose this card if you have achieved a success in your day. Especially one that was supported by others. It may even be news of success or accomplishment, such as the passing of a test, a grant, or other recognition.

  Internally, it is a card of victory and a sense of inner accomplishment, although the card itself always warns of pride. If you have gained something as expected, this is the card.

  On a spiritual plane, this card signifies events in the day that have functioned as couriers of the divine plan – little nudges in the right direction, coincidences or synchronicity.

  Knight of Pentacles

  Being of practical use is the nature of this card, in any guise. Opening a door for someone, helping them carry something. Pointing the way, giving practical advice – or better, doing something.

  A sense of responsibility will have been on your shoulders today if this is one of the cards you choose.

  Aligning your everyday work with your spiritual nature is the core of this card. It may be slow going, but bringing everything together to be truly authentic is the lesson of the Knight of Pentacles. If you have done nothing more than be solidly yourself, this is the card.

  Knight of Swords

  Direct action was taken today, swift and sudden, if you s
ee this card as embodying an event of the day. A person who went off the rails, suddenly charged forward, or yourself. An event that happened out of the blue, but then swiftly passed. All these flashes in the pan are of this card.

  Bringing yourself to bear to a pressing issue and charging into it may also be the state that leads you to select this card today.

  Being the prototype of romantic chivalry, as Waite sees this card, is the spiritual lesson here. Doing what is noble, what is right, what is the duty of all who put their highest angel first, are all encouraged by this card. If you have lived up to these lofty notions, then this is your card.

  Knight of Cups

  Getting a message is the simplest way to see this card as an event in your daily activity. It is the card to chose if something was brought to you – particularly if it is a romantic gift! Someone arriving to visit, whether at work or home, can also be associated with this card.

  Emotionally, this is following your feelings, even if they feel a little at odds with what appears to be going on. Trusting your instinct. If you’ve done that in some notable way today, this is one of your cards.

  Today have you been totally concerned with your spiritual health and quest? Select this card.

  Knight of Wands

  This card shows that things have moved on today, and started to “fall into place”. It is a card that shows the performance of an errand, a favour. It could have been something as simple as moving a box from one place to another, or delivering something.

  More substantially, it is a card that means that you decided today to take something in hand, and get a move on.

  A spiritual emigration is signified by this card; a metanoia, a total change of perspective. If something has swiped you into taking a whole new course, this is the card.

  5 of Pentacles

  Hardship, financial issues, a pause in income, or deferring it for a later day – these are all aspects of this card in tarot life.

  Feeling left out or in the cold, in a social sense, is also a reason to choose this as one of your cards in a day.

  The idea of the “mendicants” that Waite describes in this card is that of voluntary poverty in pursuit of a spiritual goal. If this has been your path today, you can select this card.

  5 of Swords

  An argument, saying something you regret, something you cannot take back, or watching the same, is the nature of this card.

  You may feel too like you are just putting an argument or conflict aside for later, storing it up – that is this card.

  Gaining disdain for such pettiness is a sign of progress on the spiritual path, and relates to this card.

  5 of Cups

  If you have experienced a bitter result today, something that was spoilt against your expectations, leaving you sorrowful, this is the card. It is a card of regret, which can be removed today from the pack of possibilities for the rest of the working.

  Feeling frustration is the hallmark of this card, it leaves you feeling that you are not getting anywhere at all. Everything is just out of reach. If you feel that, this is the card.

  In a more enlightened view of this card, it shows that we must learn to leave the “spilt milk” behind, on move ever onwards. If you have moved beyond something ruined, you can select this card.

  5 of Wands

  You found yourself at loggerheads with a group of people who all wanted to perform a task ‘their way’.

  You felt emotionally overwhelmed today by too many choices that came your way, a sort of emotional ‘choice overload’. You feared taking action in case it was the wrong choice, so much so you were hindered by the indecision itself.

  To gain growth you need to be able to make mistakes without fear of failure.

  4 of Pentacles

  You may have found yourself today resisting the temptation of spending money on a frivolous purchase. That’s this card!

  If you have felt that you have held onto what is your ground, that’s this card!

  If you have simply been sure about everything you have done, that’s this card!

  4 of Swords

  For this stage of Tarot Life, we would like to fill in what YOU think this card is all about in life, and use it in the exercise accordingly. As you progress through this sequence of workings, you should be able to more confidently interpret cards in many different contexts.

  4 of Cups

  Called by the Golden Dawn, Crowley and Waite, the card of “blended pleasure”, this card can be appropriate where you have mixed feelings about a situation. It is as if you have partly-achieved something, and remain discontent.

  You may also have felt loss, or simply want to get away from it all.

  On a deeper level, this is a card that reflects the turning away from the emotional turmoil of the world to accept the singular path of the divine.

  4 of Wands

  Getting a break, a respite, a home away from home, these are all events that meet the joyous invitation of this card.

  Feeling loved amongst ones friends and peers is also a sign that this card is active in your life.

  The “perfected work” is that you are uplifted in the presence of those who are in accord with your spirit. If this has been the case today, you can certainly select this card to represent that experience.

  3 of Pentacles

  You may have found yourself playing at being the apprentice today to a person who knew better. You were humble enough to realize that you do not know it all and there is still much to learn and plenty of room to grow. This could have been at home or in the place of work, you may have started a new course full of how much you knew, but when you got there you recognized you have only just begun. You learnt the lesson of the importance of co-operation.

  Did you today let go of the desire to live up to others expectations of you? If so this would have enabled you to perform a task with love rather than out of fear.

  Did you today accept that you cannot always achieve perfection and that it is through, practice, practice that we get better at doing something. It is the doing not the end result that is goal.

  3 of Swords

  You may have fallen out with someone today and this left you feeling totally bereft and unable to function. It felt totally betrayed and wounded by somebody who you totally trusted.

  Emotionally today you felt paralyzed and unable to get out of your mind a hurt that had been perpetrated against you. Perhaps you feel that you have not been given a fair explanation for this behavior.

  3 of Cups

  Being in the company of others, a celebration, an agreement that brings happiness – these are all of this card.

  In the emotional realm, this card can be applicable in a day where you have felt merry, and fulfilled.

  The solace of finding the true joy of the world is the spiritual aspect of this card.

  3 of Wands

  For this stage of Tarot Life, we would like to fill in what YOU think this card is all about in life, and use it in the exercise accordingly. As you progress through this sequence of workings, you should be able to more confidently interpret cards in many different contexts.

  Queen of Pentacles

  A woman of depth and a certain sense of solid common-sense may be represented by this card, if she has been prominent in your day. Or it may simply be that you have seen through something into what is actually going on, and acted upon it.

  Being generous of your time, resources or energy is a mark that this card has been part of your character during the day.

  Waite says this Queen may see “world’s within” her Pentacle. In a higher sense, this is the card of divination; by seeing in small things the greater and secret patterns that bind the universe.

  Queen of Swords

  Keeping yourself separate or dealing with a cold person, means this card can be chosen to represent that part of your day. Or perhaps you had to make a cool decision.

  Emotionally, this is a card to choose if you felt like you were repressing something.
If you were withholding judgment in a situation, this is the image.

  Holding oneself “in the world but not of it” is perhaps the best reflection of this card in a spiritual sense.

  Queen of Cups

  For this stage of Tarot Life, we would like to fill in what YOU think this card is all about in life, and use it in the exercise accordingly. As you progress through this sequence of workings, you should be able to more confidently interpret cards in many different contexts.

  Queen of Wands

  A good woman, honest, authentic and true will have been present today, when you chose this card to represent her. Or you could have been such a character yourself.

  If you have provided a service to others, this is a suitable card to choose for the day.

  The Queen of Wands also represents being true to your values and sticking with them.

  2 of Pentacles

  Taking things as they come today? Has it been a day of spinning plates, juggling, just keeping up with nothing actually getting done? This is one of your cards!

  If you’ve felt somewhat off-balance internally, like you constantly have had to shift from one state to another all day, like different personalities, this card can be chosen.

  A strange card for spiritual affairs, this represents a view in which everything is seen as equal to everything else – which can be quite depressing, in a certain sense. If there is nothing more important than anything else, what should one do? This ennui is embodied by this card, and can be removed from the pack as one of the two cards of your day if you have really felt it so.

  2 of Swords

  If you have a deck in which this card is shown by a woman balancing two swords, you will know the situation it can represent – the holding of opposites, not committing, conforming. Biting your tongue or refusing to see what is going on. These are all conditions and situations which are pictured by this card.

  If you have felt equilibrium has been reached with something that has troubled you, a state you can support, this is the card.

  A certain contemplative balance in spiritual affairs is indicated by this card. It is hard to describe, but you will know it if you are experiencing it.