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Maribel wrote in for a L-for-Love Spread. She offered no details on her current relationship or situation, but the tarot revealed insight into her deepest thoughts and desires, along with her best course of action to avoid the future she does not want.

Past Experience in Love – Page of Wands

The reading begins with our Page of Wands standing on the seashore looking off into a bright future ahead. Love was new, pleasant and full of surprise and wonder. Maribel spent hours planning the future with her lover, down to the minute detail, and had every expectation it would go as planned.

Current Experience in Love – The Sun

Things are still currently good and in a growth stage, as shown by the major arcana, The Sun. This card often indicates fertility, a birth or family planning, but can also relate to a spiritual breakthrough.

Maribel is ready to move on from the fresh new Page of Wands stage of the relationship to something more intense and serious. She seeks a spiritual connection from her lover but he is still only interested in “fun in the sun.”

Factors you’re not seeing currently – King of Pentacles

Maribel is not seeing the “King of Pentacles” traits in her lover. In her eyes, he hasn’t grown up. The tarot would urge Maribel to take a second look – perhaps he is the mate you dream of, a strong influence, a financial provider, a caregiver and partner in all things – spiritual and material. He could be the perfect partner to “set up shop” and maintain a home with – but you’re not giving him that chance to be. This is revealed in greater depth later, when we see that what you offer a relationship, Maribel, are the traits of the Hermit: deep thoughts, pensiveness, introspection. Don’t let your partner’s lighthearted ways fool you – he’s deeper than he lets on. I want to say “still waters run deep,” but your partner is anything but still waters. On the contrary, he is the Page of Wands in action – he’s poetry and dance and energy and fire.

What you Need from a Love Relationship – Three of Cups

More than anything else in this spread, this card tells us you’re so ready for marriage, children – that greater commitment. In fact, that need is so strong, you’re willing to sacrifice what you do have in the pursuit of the commitment your current partner has been, so far, unwilling to make. With the Three of Cups tarot asks you to examine things from all angles. A wedding is one day. A ring, only a symbol of love. Can your partner, perhaps, be your King of Pentacles even without those things?

Your greatest strengths in a relationship/What you Offer – The Hermit

No doubt, Maribel, you bring maturity to the relationship. More so, this card indicates your discontent, even restlessness. But The Hermit tells us now is not the time for hasty decisions – more thought and consideration is needed. The Hermit in the Robin Wood Tarot Deck is on a quest, his lantern above his head illuminating the way. Continue seeking what you need. It may be time, in the future, to move on, but don’t be too quick to give up what you have.

Maribel’s Hermit is a strong counterpoint to her lover’s Page of Wands. He’s in the spotlight, she prefers the dark corners of her mind. He loves action. She likes to think. Rather than being a bad thing, though, this could strengthen their relationship. Vive la Difference!

Possible Future Outcome – Three of Swords

Maribel, your restlessness, if things continue on this path, could end in break-up. It will be painful but, like cutting away a dead branch so the rest of the plant will thrive, you feel it would be necessary. In this case, the Three of Swords indicates that sacrificing this relationship is not necessarily the best course of action, though. There’s a thread going through this reading – psychic intuition, if you will – that the two of you are meant to be together.

Serenity Bly corroborates my thoughts on this: “The Three of Swords indicates the contention going on simply because he’s fundamentally unchangeable and she’s unsettled by his liveliness. But I don’t get any sense that this relationship is doomed. I actually feel like this man is perfect for her. She NEEDS his sunshine. Without it she’ll disappear into the darkness. She is more of herself, she reaches higher, goes further, and becomes greater, because of his influence.”

Clarification Card – Page of Cups

With this in mind, Miss Michele couldn’t let the reading rest in this way. She drew a final card to determine how Maribel may best avoid this outcome if careful thought shows it’s not what she truly wants.

A card that has been sharing many different messages with us lately comes up: the Page of Cups. And so we’ve come full circle with yet another new beginning, another Page. Like the Page of Wands, the Page of Cups is full of adventure and wonder. Highly-creative, he is also as pensive as the Hermit at times. This Page of Cups is telling Maribel to look outside herself, and to also look at her lover with new eyes. Is he giving you what you need? Let loose, have fun. Remember how to play again.

Serenity Bly adds: “The Page of Wands might be difficult to tie down but he will listen if she can communicate without blame. Yes, she needs to experience the Page of Cups first, introspection, look within herself for any issues she might have that are internal rather than external. When she’s come to terms with what she truly needs from him, talk to him about those needs because he has the fire and love to want to make her world beautiful and he will do everything in his power to make her happy.”

Hyna says:
“I’m unsure on how much info I need to tell you to get the most accurate reading. But anyway. My ex and I had been friends and neighbors since 2005. Then we became lovers around 2007 and everything went so fast from then. We move in together after just being bf/gf for 3months and it was fine at first but went downhill. We stopped living together but still tried to work things out. And still keep trying at this moment and just think its getting old and need some change. I just need some guidance. I love him and I think he feels the same way that’s why we keep going back and forth on this.”

Past Experience in Love

Page of Swords
This card shows how the relationship was tumultuous from the beginning. You were both young, full of fire and passion and adventure. This worked well for a time, as you had a fun relationship many people would envy, but when “real-life” set in, no one was the balancing aspect or the adult in the relationship.

Current Experience in Love

Knight of Pentacles
Currently, you’re ready for that adult relationship. You’re putting a lot of “work” into the relationship in the hopes it will change, but the key factor missing in this love reading, which is conspicuously lacking any cups and filled with swords and pentacles, is missing. It does not have to – should not – be this hard. That’s not to say relationships don’t take work — they do. But it’s work you should love doing because of your love for the person you’re with. That’s sorely lacking here. This has turned into – to continue the analogy – that job you work just for the paycheck, dreading every Monday morning when the alarm clock rings. It’s tedious.

Factors you’re not seeing currently

Three of Swords
You are ready for the break. He may not be, but you know, instinctually, that this is not a true love relationship and you deserve so much more. He’s scared to let you go. In the past few years, you’ve matured beyond him, both emotionally and as far as outside factors are concerned. You are living a different life than you were when you met him, and there may not be any place for him as a lover in your new world.

What you Need from a Love Relationship

Three of Pentacles
You need someone willing to work in the same way you are at a relationship. You can work really hard at something, but if you’re doing things incorrectly, you won’t get the outcome you desire. Or, you can work in the “right” way and things get easier. This is where you are now.

Your greatest strengths in a relationship/What you Offer

Four of Swords
You offer kindness, understanding, patience, and a balancing, adult influence on your partner. Additionally, this card shows that you are simply “tired” of working and fighting. It reiterates that you need a break.

Possible Future Outcome

Knight of Swords
If you continue as you are, this will end in a messy way, with you charging out of his life. On the other hand, if you heed the tarot’s advice and make a clean break, there’s a chance you’ll resurrect the friendship and remember the things you both enjoy about each other. In the future, I see another relationship that will begin, as this one did, as a firestorm of passion. Learn from the past and take it slowly to prevent repeating history.

I want to note a few significant aspects of this reading:

1. All these Pages and Knights tell me you are still, emotionally, very young. Being young at heart (or even young in reality!) is admirable and wonderful – traits to hang onto. It’s okay if your ex is not the one for you. Take the youthful aspects of your personality and nurture them but remember it’s okay to grow up in certain ways, as well…I see you on the path to maturity and letting go of things and people in your life that aren’t working to make way for new ones is okay!
2. The lack of Cups in this reading shows just how much this relationship has gone stale. Pentacles are the work cards, showing how much “work” this relationship has become, and swords represent the tumult within the relationship that I suspect was there from the start. At one point, it made things exciting. But one cannot live in a “Sword” mindset – always prepared for a fight – constantly. It becomes tiring and the Four of Swords (a need for rest and respite) is the result. I suspect you’re almost ready to live your next relationship from a “Cup” place, filled with love and understanding, but your ex isn’t there yet.
3. The lack of major arcana cards in this reading tells me the decision is entirely in your hands. I know you will make the best choice for both of you, to preserve the friendship and to make way for better things in your life.

Serenity Says: I just want to add a quick word to Miss Michele’s deeply tuned reading. I get an impression from the swords and pentacles in this reading that a part of the struggles you’ve had in the past revolve around your sense of security. When in a relationship financial and material burdens are, in an ideal world, the shared responsibility of both partners. A lack of balance or support creates emotional dependence and a destroying sense of insecurity. In this reading, I get the impression you’ve felt this with your ex.

If you choose to step away from the relationship you’ll be giving yourself the opportunity to build a firm foundation of security and independence for yourself. When you can approach your relationships without feeling like you NEED your partner you’ll find yourself able to rejoice in the joy, the desire and wanting of the relationship. A relationship that is out of balance tends to need work through desperation. Where as, if you feel a sense of balance and security within the relationship the ‘work’ involved in making it work is inspired by passion.

Best wishes from the Future-Tarot team!

Ed has faced some hard times in life and love, which manifest in his current state of mind. He views the woman of his dreams as unattainable. Our 6-card L-for-Love spread shares special insight on how Ed may change his future experience in love.

Ed requests a 6-card L-for-Love spread and asks: Will I get who I am pursuing?

Your Past Experience in Love – The Five of Rods – The Five of Rods shows some struggles in your past relationships. Your intense desire to be right at all costs and remain in control, combined with a strong woman, led the relationship down a path where it could simply not be sustained. Are you bringing these habits into your future with you, where they may not serve new or upcoming romantic relationships either? The card also indicates an emphasis on the physical in a relationship rather than the spiritual or a desire to find a life partner.

Serenity Bly adds: Wands equal fires of passion, inspiration, etc. It’s physical lusts and instant gratification, like the Devil.

Your Current Romantic State – The Tower – The Major Arcana the Tower represents a breaking down of walls. You want to – and would be best served – to destroy the demons of the past, change bad habits into positive attitudes, before moving forward in a relationship. Miss Michele gets the impression you feel as if great significance hinges on this woman you are pursuing right now. You know you must change in order to win her, but you’re not sure how to break those bad habits.

What You Want From Love – Seven of Cups - Right now, you feel as if what you want from love is-unattainable, as signified by the Daydream card, the Seven of Cups. You’re seeking the fairy tale romance, and the woman you asked about is your unicorn – ever elusive, but beautiful. You fear you’re not pure enough to win her.

What You NEED From Love – Queen of Swords - This card showed up in this spread as the woman you are pursuing. Clearly, your desire for her is so strong she’s showing up singularly as what you believe you need from a love relationship. However, she’s closed herself off to you romantically. Her sword is sharp and you fear she’ll use it if you get too close. In fact, though, the opposite of love is not hate, it’s apathy… and that’s what she’s offering you right now.

Serenity Bly adds: She’s a dominant force and he’s very certain he can’t catch her eye at this point. She’s focused elsewhere and ‘above’ him.

Why You Deserve Love – Two of Swords – Everyone deserves love and is worthy of all the good the Universe has to offer. It’s as simple as that, Ed. However, this card, with its blindfolded maiden, shows you are closing your eyes to what you have to offer in a relationship. Arms crossed in a protective stance, the person on the card in the Hanson-Roberts deck rebuffs advances. She feels she doesn’t deserve them because she’s too focused on protecting what she has.

Could you be protecting your pride, way of living, and even all your habits by pushing away love even as you yearn for it? Have you set your sights on a woman you feel is unattainable in order to avoid a true love relationship?

Your Romantic Future – Your Action Plan – The Emperor - Miss Michele leaves this one to Serenity Bly with her concise and accurate interpretation of the spread as a whole and the Emperor in particular.

Serenity says: The swords and the Emperor tie together. He’s fighting against her nature in his attempt to ‘capture’ her, his Unicorn. She really is out of reach and he might want to be the Emperor but I think he’ll find that attempting to lord over and above her instead of letting her take the lead will create more conflict.

Miss Michele adds: Remember, your future is not set… you create it. The act of requesting this tarot reading provides insight and knowledge you didn’t have before. Work on those “demons” in your past, seek equal footing with the woman you desire, and remember that you deserve love, and the future can manifest into something completely new – and better! Please come back and tell us how you’ve used this knowledge to make positive changes and build a loving and fulfilling relationship.

A funny thing happened on the RadioX show last Wednesday night. Serenity Bly couldn’t make it, so yours truly, Miss Michele, provided free tarot readings on her own for John Ale’s listeners at www.radioxshow.com.

I should tell you that Serenity Bly had been asking me if I could do a love reading for her when I got a chance, but I hadn’t made the time to do it yet.

Then “Serenity” phoned in with a question: “Is my new man the right one?” she asked.

As Miss Michele focused on the lovely Serenity Bly, an answer revealed itself in the cards.

Only after the show did she discover that Serenity was not Serenity… and, in fact, the querent’s name in the chat room was (ironically enough) NotThatGirl.

Miss Michele asked Serenity — NotThatGirl — how accurate the reading was. Understandably, the querent seemed confused by what the cards revealed. Not only was she “NotThatGirl,” it was NotHerReading!

And so, Serenity’s reading… which actually offers a promising future in the love department.

And yes, if you are wondering, OUR Serenity’s spread was quite accurate, too!

To meet Miss Michele and Serenity Bly “in person” (or as close as you’ll get via the InterWeb), drop by our chat room Wednesday at 10 AM. How’s that for a segue?

Hope to see you there!

Your Past Experience in Love: The Eight of Wands in this position indicates that you tended to jump head-first into relationships. You were in a whirlwind romance, but it may have left you feeling empty when the flame died.

Your Current Experience in Love: Three of Wands: What remains of your love relationship is more like a business arrangement – a steady, stable partnership. You work well together, but I’m not seeing a lot of love here at all.

What you Want from a Love Relationship: Temperance: This Major Arcana spotlights your loving nature. You are feminine, giving, caring and loving. This is coming through so loud and clear in the cards. You want someone who will return that love to you and also appreciate it. Think of your heart as a cup – you want someone who can fill it up.

What you Need from a Love Relationship: The Five of Swords indicates a certain passion – you don’t need a business relationship disguised as a romance. You want someone you can share your love with. Be careful of deception though… the time will arrive when you need to come clean.

What you have to offer in a relationship: Again, the Queen of Cups shows your loving nature. You are ready to start over with someone who appreciates that in you.

Possible Final Outcome: The Seven of Wands: The Seven of Wands indicates a victory, but not a decisive one. There may be a battle or an encounter between your two loves – not a physical fight but your current partner will be ready to fight for your love in the metaphorical sense. Your new relationship has potential but, like anything worth having, it will take work.

Ellen requested an L-for-Love spread with no specific question. Miss Michele’s Hanson-Roberts deck revealed some interesting insights and a positive outlook where Ellen will see her needs fulfilled as she gets what she has worked for.

Past Experience in Love: Two of Swords: Ellen may have been the victim of cheating in the past or, at the very least, a situation she didn’t like. The blindfolded woman, swords crossed, shows a strong sense of balance but also hidden factors that Ellen isn’t seeing. She removed the blinders which, based on the next card, brought forth a transformation. I’m getting a strong feeling that perhaps Ellen was with a man her family and friends disapproved of, but she failed to see his faults for a long time.

Current Experience in Love: Judgment: It’s put-up or shut-up for Ellen’s lover, as she’s passed judgment on him and the case is closed. He can either right past wrongs or hit the road. Once Ellen opened her eyes, she saw the problems but is working to forgive him and trying to work things out.

What You Want in a Love Relationship: Two of Cups: Simply stated, Ellen wants a fair partnership, filled with love. She’d like marriage in the future, with someone who returns her passion. Ellen is an extremely loving person and just wants someone who can give that back to her.

What You Need in a Love Relationship / Hidden Influences: Page of Pentacles: Ellen may need not only a new perspective — often indicated by this card — but a new relationship. Miss Michele gets a strong sense that this isn’t one of those situations where it just feels like a new relationship because both parties have changed so much. Once Ellen starts seeing things in a different way, she will get a fresh start with a new lover and it will feel very much like young love. The pentacles also indicate that they will match each other on a platonic and intellectual level as well as romantically, which is always an ideal situation in a relationship!

What You Have to Offer in a Relationship: The Nine of Cups: Ellen is ready to share all her love, her whole life and her dreams with the right person. The “Wish card” in this spot indicates that Ellen is ready to grant someone’s wishes while her own will come true. Ellen is extremely nurturing, loving and kind, as well as generally upbeat. She deserves – to put it bluntly – a man who deserves her, and nothing less!

Possible Future Outcome: Justice: She will get exactly that, while her potentially former partner will also get what he needs and wants out of life, what he was truly seeking all the while. It seems to me that, while he’s not a bad person, he just wasn’t a fit for Ellen. Her friends and family picked up on this before she did; it took a dramatic turn of events for Ellen to see what she was sacrificing by standing in an unbalanced and love-less relationship. Prospects on the horizon for Ellen are much happier; she’s a stronger person as a result of her turmoil and even better prepared for her true love to find her.