I am caught between worlds at the moment, waiting to find out what my future will hold, and it all rests on the shoulders of some arbitrary decisions made by arbitrary people. In what ways can I maintain confidence and faith without being super let down in case things don’t work out?
-Monkey in the Middle
Cards: The Seeker, The Full Moon, The King of Wands rev.
Dear Monkey,
In my deck (Pagan Otherworlds by Uusi), there is a new Major Arcana card: The Seeker.
The image is based on the Flammarion engraving and shows a seeker with a torch breaking through the veil of earth and emerging into the cosmos—literally caught between two worlds. But it’s in this liminal space that we’re able to see the light of spiritual knowledge. This is a card for encountering The Divine, however you define it.
With The Seeker and The Full Moon (clarity, energy, being fully present), I think you can maintain your faith and your confidence by mindfully tending to your soul.
In Gnosticism, there’s a sensation called “pneuma,” which is a holy sensation of connecting to The Divine through knowledge. It’s a fleeting moment, but it’s probably one you’ve felt before.
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It’s that feeling when you read something, and it describes something you’ve always known without knowing, or when you listen to a piece of music and everything in the world sort of clicks into place, and you feel sublime. It’s a tiny, temporary moment of transcendence, and it makes you feel fully alive.
So what makes you feel alive as a person? What brings joy and calm and a feeling of being connected? Is it taking a bike ride at dawn? Getting lost in playing music? Sex? Make a list, a literal list, of these things and refer to it when these arbitrary bastards are getting you down.
The King of Wands is a natural leader with a great internal compass. You know what rings your bell. Regardless of what decisions these people make, you can still follow your path. It might be more twisty than you imagined, but you got to have faith in the process. You know where you are going.
Dear Oracle,
I met “Morgan” through a friend at a party a couple of months ago, and we’re starting to become friends. They have a lot of similar interests as me, and they’re pretty funny and smart. However, they’ve said some things that have given me pause. In the past, I’ve had some unhealthy friendships that were hard for me to break from. I worry it might be the same with Morgan, but it’s hard to tell because we mostly talk over text and don’t see each other in person very often. Am I overreacting? Can I really see red flags in texts? Should I pursue this friendship?
-The Sound of One Red Flag Flapping
Cards: Four of Cups, Four of Pentacles, Eight of Wands.
Dear Red,
You know what? Maybe take some time with this friendship. The Eight of Wands can feel like something getting very serious, very fast, and I don’t think this friendship needs to be that thing.
As adults, we can be emotionally slutty with new friends, which can hurt us if they turn out to be a frenemy. So vet this new friend as close as someone you’d lend money to.
The Four of Cups can be disillusionment, while the Four of Pentacles is a conservative card. Combined, these suggest you’re a bit more cynical with friendships and risk-averse. While it might protect, it could also hold you back, so evaluate your risks. Does Morgan just want to get coffee? Do they want you to be their therapist? What red flags are you seeing, and how are you feeling in your gut?
Remember: You don’t really know Morgan, and you don’t owe them friendship. So if they cross a line, it’s ok to tap out.
Dear Oracle,
-Crackerjack Adrift
Cards: Justice rev, The Fool rev, Ace of Wands
Dear CJ,
Now is the perfect time to gather your thoughts. The Ace of Wands is your card for the present moment, and it’s a wonderfully generative card, a creative powerhouse that’s great for brainstorming. It’s figuring out the beginning of something and seeing the potential in all ideas.
What would it look like if you were a research scientist? What would it look like if you were a lawyer? An educator?
How do those things make you feel? Is there anything surprising coming up?
What’s the best-case scenario for these jobs? The worst-case? The boring middle?
You have two Major Arcana cards here: The Fool and Justice, both reversed. You have some time before this path starts, but it’s an exciting one to be on.
The Fool is a beautiful card of new beginnings, of potential to the max. It’s a new dawn, a new day, baby. Justice is a card of balance and fairness, and, yes, potentially law school -but it could be any program where you’re seeking Truth.
However, I do want to stress that graduate school is a difficult thing. It requires many sacrifices—money, time, sleep—and those might not feel worth it if you aren’t 100% into the program. So, again, use this time to gather your thoughts and research what kind of career you could see for yourself.
Also, regardless of your chosen profession, if you’re an artist, you’re an artist. That’s your vocation. You aren’t less of an artist if you have a day job. All it means is you have to be more creative with scheduling.
You got this!
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This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2021.