The six of wands is cause for a moment of triumph.

Today I pulled a card thinking about whether to write a newsletter? (It will be my first tarot newsletter since January! ) And more importantly was there something I wanted to say?   

I realised rather than encourage people to come and have tarot readings with me …I wanted to say….

1.     Thank you for having readings with me.  I hope they are useful. And if there are I hope you continue to having readings with me.

2.     However I would like to suggest, if you find tarot fascinating, gift yourself your own pack of tarot cards this Christmas.

3.     If you learn to read tarot for yourself. It will become a friend and invaluable tool for self care.

The magic of nature and tarot

Over the years my Tarot cards have become my spiritual guide, best friend, mentor and confidant all wrapped up into one.   I turn to the cards to give me insight and/or guidance and feel they have my best interests at heart. It’s as if the cards have got to know and care about me. however crazy that sounds. Hence become a spiritual guide.

I pulled the six of wands as I was thinking about all of this as the thought crossed my mind perhaps I might offer classes (see section on ‘reading tarot for yourself’ on my website), but nowadays who needs to go to class, we’ve got AI.  And certainly to start with, AI will tell you the meaning of every card and does a very good job at it, after all it is gathering all the information out there in the ether, everything that’s been written about one card and defining the meaning for us.  

So if not offering classes, how does the 6 of wands relate to my question?

He rides triumphant while the crowds around him cheer.

I always think of the 6 of wands as a moment of triumph; a moment of success when we feel respect for our genuine talents, talents that we have developed that demonstrate our particular creativity and achievements.  A card of recognition and respect, for ourselves and by others. 

When I am reading tarot for someone else and the six of wands appear, my first reaction is, wow look at how talented you are, and bravo for bringing your talents out into the open, I bet others recognise you and respect what you bring to the table.  And generally there is an accompanying nod.

I remember my teacher, Annabelle, used to say, think of the 6 of wands at a graduation ceremony, you’ve finally got your degree and everyone is acknowledging you and clapping as you collect it.  Bravo your peers see and acknowledge you. A moment of triumph, of success. 

I decided to have a reading by AI and I was impressed, it was very close in meaning to one I had given by a tarot colleague (see blog). So AI deserves respect and recognition.

But what about the difference and whether there is a benefit to having a reading with a real person? My thoughts stimulated by the six of wands is that there is a whole witnessing aspect of having a reading with another human being that I think is missing from AI. There is something very powerful about another human being a witness to ourselves and our lives.  And there is a dynamic in the conversation between that occurs in an in person tarot reading.   More importantly if you are having a reading, it is you who speaks up and says how things reflect what is really going on, and by opening our mouths, new realisations and understanding occur within us. And more powerfully we come to our own conclusions rather than being told our future. And as you know I am a great believer in the power of feeling we have agency and power to motivate the lives we want. And so in conclusion having a reading with another human being as your witness is valuable.

Certainly I know in a conversation with a young client this week about her loss of ‘purpose’….she, so young and feeling the need for a grand and definitive one was feeling unmotivated and and so I told her mine I kept mine simple, and just for today it was to be able to give space for possibility for myself and others. 

We were able to discuss, purpose in simpler terms, as just trying to make the world a happier place.  Living in gratitude instead of making the approval of others our purpose. Perhaps it can start with being as simple as giving a smile hello to friends, and strangers on the street and as our intention is to ‘hold space’ for friendliness it can become contagious. It was in our conversation as a response to the cards that the reading opened up a whole new conversation of possibility and she started to smile.

By ‘holding space’ I think I mean, that my energy field open, as clean as possible from personal judgement, assumption, certainty, so that there exists an unbiased kind of welcome to exist happily within the moment.  Certainly when I am reading tarot I try to hold space for clients to feel safe and relaxed in themselves, seen, accepted, respected….we all desire to feel welcomed just the way we are.  It shouldn’t be conditional.  

The six of wands talks of this, being seen, accepted recognised potential and all. Perhaps that’s what having an in person tarot reading achieves?

I’m not sure Instagram is the healthy way, nurturing way, to seek recognition.

Although to be fair AI is unbiased, and I felt seen and recognised. And I didn’t explore with lots of questions.

Perhaps the difference is, once we’ve some insight on the potential at hand, the value is in being able to give voice to our thoughts and work out our response, as so often I don’t know what I think until I think it out…or have a sounding board. Or journal. Like here. Perhaps we’re all going to rely on journaling? 

Perhaps that’s why my focus as a tarot reader is for my client to leave with an idea of the best way forward to activate the potential ahead.   So that we have a plan of action.   The tarot is the first to speak of cause and effect, of reciprocity. What we give so we receive.   Of the need to take action.  It’s all very well having a tarot reading and being given lots of information and then walk away without having made a plan of action about how to go about things. So often without actually talking our response to a reading the message doesn’t quite land.

That’s my argument for having a tarot reading with me !