Prioritise Pleasure 🍇 Nine of Pentacles
Tarot for the week of 22/05/23 🐦 Stop and smell the roses this week and look out for small stylish birds...
Hi all,
Yesterday we had a super cute potluck on the farm. Volunteers and staff brought delicious home-cooked dishes and we basked in the slightly hazy sun (Canada is apparently on fire). It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, surrounded by people who also loved food. As it wound down, upon request, the tarot cards came out.
People were asking questions about their upcoming months, their next moves, decisions and my favourite, when they didn’t tell me their questions at all. I find that that’s a good way to get to the root of something (hopefully). I really loved sharing that time with people and that so many were interested in getting a reading. And now, as my weekend comes to a close and the exhaustion still lingers, I’m glad to get to know such great people.
For many people, the back-of-the-deck energy was the Fool. The beginning of a journey. One you might not embark on if you knew just how rough it was going to be. When I shuffled just now I fully thought that the Fool would be the card that came out. But to my surprise, it was another special (and recurring) one.
Tarot for the week of 22/05/23: Nine of Pentacles
For those of you that don’t know my logo, designed by the wonderful Valentine Design Co, is based around this card. The card itself has popped up for me in various situations, often difficult ones, and its message is one I seem to need to relearn.
In the Nine of Pentacles, the central figure stands amid overflowing grape vines, a bird on their arm. They share a look; the bird and the figure. The sky is the yellow of changes, sunset or sunrise, the ending of one stage and the beginning of another. Just like the hazy sky, we’re getting here in Michigan. The theme of endings is clear too in the position of this card in the Minor Arcana. The ninth is the penultimate of the numbered cards, indicating the almost completion of a cycle. The coming home.
The Eight of Pentacles proceeds this card, where a craftsperson hammers away at the same Pentacle motif. They have committed to the grind that they must complete to reach the next stage. And here the next stage is. The basking, the abundance of grapes after a year of tending and caring and watering. The next card to follow is the Ten, the completion of this cycle in full. As an older figure looks through an arch as if looking back in time, to a younger couple. It’s a card of inheritance.
Between the grind and passing it off to the next generation are the vital moments of accomplishment that bring us back to why we do it all in the first place. This could be in anything, career, child-rearing, projects, anything practical and tangible. Take a moment to see where the grind has gotten you.
It may not be easy to see at first, but for myself, at least the past couple of weeks have been quite the push. And this time of rest, a pause to smell the roses (or grapes), is much needed.
Traditionally the Nine of Pentacles is associated with financial stability, with self-reliance and the ability to indulge in pleasures. As we enter Gemini season I think the work hard play hard mentality will call to a lot of us. But in between these two supposed opposites, work/play, there is the middle ground of the Nine of Pentacles. The play and appreciation we can bring to work. And the diligent persistence, the hard work, we can put into beauty, joy and play. So pursue pleasure this week. Revel in all that you have achieved.
Journaling prompts for 22/05/23
Ask yourself: What have I been working really hard at? How can I take a moment to recognise this work? Where can I see others have been working hard? How can I celebrate their “work”? What forms of pleasure do I want to prioritise this week?
Do I feel like I have the resources I need? Where do I feel resourced? Where do I feel the most abundant? How can I maintain this feeling of abundance and support? How can I bring this feeling to others? Where can I reep the harvest of my hard work?
That’s it for this week, aside from me finding out my favourite astrologer
is here on Substack! I took an amazing course, Intro to Adulting in Astrology, with her a couple of years back. Can’t wait to read everything she writes. You can follow her here…As always, my Tarot offerings are available online. They can be written or via Voicenote, or as a live Zoom session. All of my sessions are done on a sliding scale, so it's pay what you can. If you can pay more, then the “extra” is carried forward so that someone else can get a session for free. Let me know if you're interested in any of this.
Catch you in either.
Bye.
M
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Logo: Valentine Design Co
Photos: Yulia Ilina, my beloved and Wikipedia
Edits: Iona Glen of
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