Future Tarot     -     Tarot Chat: Wednesday 9.30pm EST

On Monday, Miss Michele drew the Queen of Pentacles as our card of the week. It is interesting to reflect each day on how the Queen of Pentacles influences our lives. Each of the Court Cards have distinct representation within our lives and, as family-oriented women, the Queens often resonate with Miss Michele and I more closely than other cards.

In Tarot, there are four Queens -one for each of the suits- and each Queen is unique. The Queens collectively, however, share many traits. They represent a degree of evolution and growth, a level of mastery and talent.

Queens are self-assured, confident, able, and committed. They are aware of their place in the wider world and understand their power, their command, over themselves and their environment. They are the matriarch of their family and the leaders in their field. Queens know that their role is vital to the health and happiness of those around them.

Queens as Family Women

• A Queen of Pentacles builds a warm home and welcoming hearth. She is committed to providing the best for her family. She focuses her time on making sure every member of her family has what they need to be happy and successful. She is also concerned with self-worth, personal identity, and social standing. Many child-stars have Queen of Pentacles mothers, those women who encourage their children to be the best, stand out, perform, be great.
• A Queen of Cups makes herself emotionally available to her children. You’ll often find a Queen of Cups choosing to stay home rather than work. She’s often the school mom, spending her days in the school canteen or helping to manage the school fundraisers. She’ll also spend time in the home creating an environment where every member of her family feels her love, from the careful folding of sheets to home-cooked meals.
• A Queen of Wands is inspired and passionate. She’s the advocate of charity and causes. She loves adventure and can be enthusastic and excitable. The Queen of Wands might organize camping trips and vacations for the holidays. She gets her children invoved in craft activities and after school sports. She’s the story-teller who wants her family to dream and imagine, she wants her children to grow up confident and filled with a fire for life.
• A Queen of Swords is motivated and organized. This Queen keeps an orderly home and maintains and manages the structure and routine of her family. It is often a Queen of Swords who will work outside of the home, providing for her family financially as the bread-winner and setting an example of hard working loyalty. The Queen of Swords encourages talking, family dinners, and one-on-one time with each member of her family. She might not show outward affection as easily as other suits but wants her family to do well and to achieve.

Queens as Career Women

• In the workplace, the Queen of Pentacles often works in very textile ways. She’s hands on and wants to be actively involved through each stage of the process. These women tend to lean toward hand or machine crafting with woods and fibers. They often make excellent chefs or gardeners with an eye for preciseness and the hands for fine-skilled, light-touch work. These women see trade and commerce as balance and often find themselves trapped trading hours for dollars, they risk under-valuing their craft but are also in the position to create work wherever they choose to as their business is their talent.
• The Queen of Cups is a healer and carer. You’ll often find these queens gravitate to jobs where they can be of service to others. Because of the emotional intensity of their careers, these Queens are at risk of stress related illnesses. They are prone to depression and are often very sensitive to the moods of those around them. This makes them excellent doctors, nurses, carers, counselors, therapists, even teachers. When a Queen of Cups chooses a career it is usually one where she feels deeply and can be involved on a personal level, she needs to feel like she makes a difference in the lives of others.
• A Queen of Wands will flourish in a career where she users her creativity and inner fire. She’s a risk taker and may choose to be involved in active roles that take her outside, traveling, or into adventure. These queens often become writers, landscapers, designers, and artists. These queens may also be those outstanding women who join the military as pilots or in other intense and traditionally male positions.
• The business world is often the frenzy in which a Queen of Swords will find greatest satisfaction. These strong-minded women handle numbers, routines, and people. They make excellent public speakers and politicians, accountants, lawyers, and architects. The Queen of Swords will enjoy putting her intelligence and communication skills to use in her career and is results focused and action empowered.

No matter which path a Queen of any suit may take, their inner sense of worth and confidence helps them excel and achieve. These women are capable and talented.

Finally, I want to acknowledge that just because we consider these Queens a ‘she’, these traits are not gender biased. There are elements of these Queens in all of us and in all of those around us to varied degrees. Queens represent a feminine energy. Warmth, emotional availability, caring, and gentleness, being generally considered feminine aspects, are not exclusive to women or to any particular age.

Can you see yourself in any of these Queens? Can you begin to imagine how the roles these Queens play come together with the other court cards? In what other ways do you think the Queens might influence our lives?

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.

In a recent Wednesday morning chat, Future-Tarot regular, Deb, had a general question about her future. Serenity drew the cards using her Mythic Tarot Deck.

[Serenity Bly] Do you have a formulated question Deb or just a general ‘future direction’?

[Deb] Hmmm. General, I think. It’s pretty clear that I’m headed back to learning things.

[Serenity Bly] *ponders* So, Deb… You’re going to have a baby. *grins wickedly*

[Deb] lol Not possible, though… and since the SO is in Florida, it would upset him no end.

[Miss Michele] Wait, no. She must have gotten my reading!! jk [Note: Miss Michele is not pregnant, only teasing!] Like when I read for the wrong Serenity.

[Serenity Bly] No, it’s her reading. The two proceeding cards are too much for her to be for you. While she doesn’t necessarily mean ‘pregnant’ I LOVE it when The Empress comes up in the future. She’s full of positive new beginnings and is the warm, loving, motherly energy that, if embraced, will completely turn around the not-so-nice cards of the past and present.

[Miss Michele] I can totally see you as the Empress, Deb.

[Deb] No, I’m the Queen of Swords. Always have been.

[Miss Michele] You are evolving… softening the edges.

[Deb] So, what cards?

[Serenity Bly] The past shows conflict and confusion. Mixed messages and deception, in the Eight of Swords. You’ve been hurt and perhaps feel you can’t trust as freely as you used to. Your faith, either in someone specific or people in general, has been rocked and you’re having to learn how to open up again.

It is interesting that I typed “having” then instead of “you’ve had”. Instinctively that means you’re still dealing with this into the present, with the Two of Swords. Two proceeding Swords leading into The Empress does, as Miss Michele suggested, indicate a softening.

For too long you’ve felt stuck in the middle of things and uncertain which way to go. I feel these cards are person specific so look to your near family and friends and evaluate any tensions that might exist in your relationships with them.

[Miss Michele] Serenity, can you describe the Two of Swords in your deck, please? I keep picturing the three. I know the Two of Swords indicates a need for balance. In my deck, (Hanson-Roberts) she’s a blindfolded girl, swords crossed.

[Serenity Bly] The Two of Swords IS a three, Miss Michele. Three people standing on a barren plain. The querent is in the middle as his closest friends fight it out over him. He’s covering his face, wanting to block out and ignore the tension when what he really needs to do is step into the situation with confidence and determination to settle the matter.

[Miss Michele] Diplomacy will be needed with that card, from that deck! It’s interesting how the deck affects the interpretation and reading. I’m sensing it may be a conflict with your supervisor–and the best way to deal with him is tap into your inner Empress.

[Serenity Bly] Coming back to the Empress in the future I feel she’s suggesting you treat the situation like a mother, or with a maternal hand. Gentle love blended with consistent boundaries.

[Deb] Which makes sense since what binds us is also often seen as supporting us.

[Miss Michele] YES!! You will NOT be captive much longer. Open your eyes to see things as they are, then visualize them as they should be. Make sure your actions are in harmony with your desires.

Join us this Wednesday at 10:00 AM EST for more free tarot readings and inspirational chat!

Stephanie is entering a phase of learning this year. She will be learning balance, discipline, money-making techniques and a stick-to-it-iveness that will serve her well throughout life. The Six of Pentacles in the year’s theme, while not a Major Arcana, Stephanie’s victories will be small but significant. Think: one step at a time.

A powerful man is a strong influencer, or perhaps it is a woman with male-dominant traits who figures prominently. This person is Stephanie’s inspiration as well as her drill sergeant, who gives her the strength and energy to keep going when she’d just rather not.

June: King of Swords

The person referenced above makes his first appearance in June, ruling with a bit of an iron fist, sword poised not so much for battle as to let Stephanie know it is there. The King of Swords will poke her with it if appropriate, if only to get her moving “for her own good.”

July: Wheel of Fortune

And move Stephanie does, straight into good things. The Wheel of Fortune heralds an unexpected windfall of time, money and energy puts Stephanie on the path toward what she wants to accomplish.

August: Three of Pentacles

This card indicates a journey of learning, honing a craft or skill into profits. It may also indicate a business endeavor with others, where the other person takes the lead in many areas. Just because Stephanie is behind the scenes, however, does not mean her contribution is inconsequential. To the contrary, the Three of Pentacles shows she is learning all she can, absorbing like a sponge, so she can take over.

September: Ten of Pentacles

This card indicates the fruition of that which was begun. Sometimes called the “Happy Family” card, the Ten of Pentacles is a Minor Arcana version of the Wheel of Fortune, which we saw earlier in the year. Hard work has paid off and profits are flowing in.

October: The Hermit

After a season of success, Stephanie is pulling back to re-evaluate her goals and ambitions. It may be time for a complete change of focus, or perhaps just a rest. Based on the cards surrounding this Major Arcana, The Hermit, too many people are counting on you for you to stay away long.

November: Page of Swords

It’s a young man! Or woman! With a great idea!
Miss Michele’s tongue-in-cheek exclamation points reflect the Page of Swords’ enthusiasm. There is no room for pessimism or naysayers here. Change is in the air, and it’s all for the better. Perhaps a new business idea, or a new direction for the existing business. Either way, this youngsters enthusiasm (and when we say youngster here at Future-Tarot, we mean the young at heart) will lift Stephanie out of October’s doldrums and won’t take no for an answer.

December: King of Wands

Here’s that strong male influence again, only he’s softened around the edges this time. The King of Wandssees the progress Stephanie has made and he’s willing to step back and gently guide her this time around.

January: Queen of Swords

This card, more than any other in the reading, represents Stephanie and her evolution over the past six months. She went from being a person easily led down whatever path others saw as best for her, to stepping up to be a queen in her own right, ruling with that sword. Miss Michele’s only warning would be to not lose touch of the softness that makes her uniquely Stephanie. Strength is good, so long as it’s tempered by tenderness. The Queen of Swords is sharp and shrewd, but it’s wise to remember she doesn’t know everything – yet.

February: The World

Just as Stephanie steps into her own, The World is waiting for her. Quite literally, February sees the culmination of everything she has worked so hard for in 2009. With her business going strong, it’s time to sit back, relax, and await the next challenge.

March: Two of Swords

And, as always, life moves in cycles and the change of seasons brings the start of a new cycle. The Two of Swords reflects a need for balance and factors Stephanie may not have considered in the past. For instance, with this reading for the last half of 2009 so filled with Swords and Pentacles, there wasn’t much time for romance, tenderness or even fun. What areas of her life was Stephanie neglecting and how can she make room for them?

April: The Chariot and Four of Pentacles

The Chariot holds the answer, as this Major Arcana predicts a journey. The journey is literal in this case, as well as figurative. Stephanie seeks direction – a cosmic and spiritual GPS if you will – to tell her what’s next in her life. A clarification card, the Four of Pentacles, provides that direction. Now that the Universe has been so kind as to grant your wishes, it’s time to let go a bit. You can afford to be generous – with your time, money and emotions. Take The Chariot, enjoy your vacation, let all your worries drift away… and tip generously. The Universe has plenty more where that came from.

May: The Tower

May brings a time when Stephanie wants to reinvent herself once again her trip brought new perspective, but she came home to a perhaps unwelcome surprise. Like the phoenix rising out of the ashes – that’s the preferred analogy for The Tower Major Arcana – everything will only be stronger with the rebuilding. She may come home from her trip to startling news, a home break-in, or simply changes beyond her imagination.

Theme: Six of Pentacles

The emphasis is on balance, learning and, above all, fairness. Her karmic lesson for the year, shown in the Six of Pentacles is to think more about others than about herself and, from that, good things will come.

Overview: A troubled time has brought Deb to Miss Michele seeking advice in love. A rough divorce or heart-rending break-up is going on right now, but as soon as Deb lets go of what isn’t working, she’ll make room for something new and much, much better. The Tower and Ten of Cups both appearing in this reading show that Deb’s romantic life will run the gamut from nearly unbearable to absolutely divine in the near future.

Your past experience in love: Queen of Swords: The Queen of Swords, representing Deb in her past romances, shows that she was, in fact, afraid to love. Perhaps based on events from her childhood, she had a hard time opening up to show love to anyone. While the Queen of Swords in the Robin Wood deck wears butterflies on her gown, her visage is stern, her features harsh. She holds out a hand, as if she is making her point, using reason above all else. The Queen of Swords is afraid to show kindness and that describes Deb in the past.

Your current experience in love: The Tower. This tumultuous Major Arcana, the Tower, shows that Deb is either in the midst of a bad break-up or a very negative relationship. The good news here, however, is she is escaping. Sometimes, our situation must crumble around us in order to pave the way for something better.

What you want from a love relationship: Six of Swords: Not surprisingly, what Deb wants right now is to get away from it all. She would view a new, better relationship as an escape from her past, the past in which she was afraid to love.

What you need from a love relationship: Ten of Cups: Intelligent woman that she is, Deb will settle for nothing less than “everything,” in a love relationship, characterized by the Ten of Cups. She wants all her dreams fulfilled—the perfect family, a man who is her match intellectually, physically and emotionally, and, most of all, someone who will make her want to open up and love him. Tens represent the end of a cycle; the Tarot is telling Deb the best is yet to come.

What you have to give your lover: King of Pentacles: Deb may have been the Queen of Swords in the past, but the King of Pentacles exemplifies her potential. This king is happy, loving, generous, strong, powerful. The presence of a king in this spot shows that Deb will be perfectly happy wearing the pants in the family, taking charge, taking care of business. But the King of Pentacles has his own soft side, too. Most importantly, Deb seeks—and will offer—stability in a relationship.

Possible future experience in love: The Fool: This Major Arcana combines with the Six of Swords to tell us that a new relationship is around the corner, as soon as Deb is ready to embrace it. Her lover will make her feel young again, and perhaps sweep her away on that journey she longs for. Pack light, however, and buy what you need along the way. The Fool doesn’t believe in being prepared for every contingency—he’d rather wing it. Exciting adventures await when it comes to romantic prospects.

Miss Michele used her Robin Wood tarot deck for this reading.