Tarot Strategies for Life Change

Passion, the Strength Card and the Mighty Lion

The Sun is making its annual visit through its home sign of Leo now. This is the place where he shines brighter than anywhere else. 

It also shines the light on all things solar including royalty and that king of beasts, the mighty lion. 

Strength is the Tarot card associated with Leo and also one of my favorite cards in the deck.  So it is appropriate to reflect upon this card at this time of year.

 

The image shows a woman dressed in white and a lion by her side looking up at her. She is gently holding his head. The background sky is gold as is her hair. Above her head is a lemniscate or infinity symbol.

The eye focuses on the interaction between this woman and the lion. That she is able to keep him in check is nothing if not remarkable. After all, anyone with a house cat knows the strength of even a small feline--lions weigh four hundred pounds and can easily overwhelm the strongest human and then eat him for lunch (as they might do in the wild).

For that reason, I believe we can rightly infer the lion is willingly submitting to her. 

But Tarot imagery is not to be taken literally. And like other cards, this one is metaphor also.

The lion is widely known as a symbol for passion and the woman dressed in white, a symbol of a civilizing force. The lion's passion invigorates the woman while the woman lends direction and focus to the lion.

I see this card as a reminder to ask yourself if you are living your passions? Does your life have meaning? Or has the necessity to deal with the day-to-day demands of paying bills and fulfilling other obligations taken the joy out of your existence.

If the latter is the case, then it is time for an overhaul. Because even if you need to keep your day job to pay the bills, you must make time for those things that draw you in and energize you.

The energy of the sign Leo is focused on self-expression. And whether you express yourself through the arts or just through force of personality, this is the time of year to focus on that part of you that is the creator. After all, Leo creates.

Leo is also associated with children, play, and the stage. Living your passion automatically puts you in touch with your inner child and approaching life with the open curiosity of a child is one way to put you in touch with your passion. The same is true with play.

So kick back, wriggle your toes in the sand, build a sand castle and take out your paint brushes. And have fun.

Can you read Tarot cards for yourself?

Recently, I was asked the question, 'can you read cards for yourself?'

The answer? Absolutely.

In fact I do it all the time. Sometimes I want to get a quick impression from the cards about someone or something that has caught my attention. For example, if I were choosing who, among three contractors, I would be best using, I might pick a separate card to represent each one. 

I would also do my normal due diligence such as checking for insurance and licenses, contacting the State to see if complaints were filed, so on and so forth. 

But using Tarot cards is one way of inviting intuition to give its opinion. 

Often, it is difficult to hear the voice of intuition through the background static of 'shoulds' and emotion. Tarot is a great tool to cut through it. 

Pulling a card of the day is a fantastic way to align yourself with the day's energies, give yourself a heads up for possible surprise, as well as get to know your Tarot deck. You can observe the pattern of cards of the day over time. Are there certain cards that keep popping up? Is there a suit that you are not seeing? This is information that can help you understand internal processes you are experiencing.

But Tarot is not infallible. If you are very caught up in the outcome or you are very emotionally attached to the situation at hand that you can easily miss the message.

True story. 

Approximately 20 years ago I worked for a company that was experiencing a change in ownership. New management was coming in. My hope was that they would perform some much needed house cleaning.

I did a spread and The Tower came up in a prominent position. At the time I was coming from a place of restlessness and fear and I did not want to see the message of upheaval brought by The Tower's appearance.

In this case, I had gotten other warnings--a medium described brooms sweeping clean, but in a careless and haphazard way. 

I was experiencing very strong outer planet transits at the time, but it wasn't until I saw that the then upcoming new moon was very closely conjoining the Pluto in my birth chart that it started to dawn that the brooms might be after me.

And two weeks later, a couple days after the full moon, I was handed a pink slip.

I should also point out that I did what many others do when they don't like the cards they see in an emotionally charged situation--I repeated the reading by asking the very same question. 

Experienced card readers will tell you that asking the same question over and over again gets you gibberish. It is as if the cards feel disrespected and react by refusing to comment.

The moral of the story is that reading your own cards can be very helpful, but, emotionally, you have to be able to accept the cards' advice.

It is when you are incapable of detachment about your own situation that it is particularly valuable to seek out a reader to give you needed objectivity and a sounding board.