Four of Water/Cups moves to the guiding card position this week as we discover the answers that were hiding in plain sight all along.
We are leaving the confinements that we thought encompassed the whole picture. Breaking free from existing limits, we create a life that is more in alignment with who we are and what we need and want.
Action is called for here, as well as decision. The safest place to be is on the cutting edge of the blade, because that is where the dross shears away and leaves the gold. When you are in the center, the wind cannot push you off one edge or another because the opposing forces actually help you balance. Whatever it is you hold true on a deep level, stay grounded in it. Allow yourself to stay secure in your truths.
You may experience a change in support system, with some people falling away and others coming in closer. Those who have been offering resistance for the purpose of harming you will be quite dramatically ripped away by their own Karma. I’m getting this image of people begging you to save them, Mufasa-on-the-cliff style, but if you try to hold onto them as they fall off the edge of the blade, you may lose your own footing or get cut. Know when to say no. You aren’t actually the villain; they are.
Boundaries are really important this week. I cannot stress enough how vital it is that you find your calm center, decide what limits you place on people’s access to you, and then firmly honor your boundaries. If your soul is screaming no, but your schedule is demanding a yes, choose your soul. Build your self-trust this week, as it is what you need to succeed. Discipline sometimes looks like allowing yourself to be “a cold-hearted bitch” who doesn’t let people walk on them.
I know that people-pleasing is a hard habit to break when you are leaning on it in a stressful relationship. Break it anyway. Yes, you need things to work out well, but if it’s not honoring your needs, it’s not working out. Be okay letting others down. There will be better opportunities waiting for you.
This is rapidly changing energy. If you need help to shift the problem in a way that is easier to handle, reach out. This help could be in the form of talking with a trusted friend, brainstorming solutions with an expert, or receiving energy work. You are so deserving of getting your needs met.
Book an energy session, distance or in person, here and get the relief you need.
This is a week of shifting from one foot to the other, as the ground shifts beneath us. One stepping stone will stabilize, and then the water rises and we have to step up to the next stone.
Think of it like the staircase rising up before you. One step after another rises out of the ocean, before your very eyes. The next step may not be visible under the water when you take your current step up, but it will shift into place in enough time for you to walk forward onto it. This is a Cave of Ali Baba type of magic, where all the elements of your success are working around you in real time to create your path. All you need to do is steady yourself and keep moving forward, trusting that the next step will be there. You are right on time.
Breathe. Trust. Reconnect to your support network. You know them by how they feel to you. If you feel safe, your body will react accordingly. If not, you will feel that something is off. Listen to that and go with it. Now is a really good time to practice all your recent lessons in grounding, emotional awareness, and observing before responding. You are right on time.
Yes, there are a lot of moving parts, but there are only as many as you can truly handle, and they are all timing themselves around your momentum. If you feel overwhelmed, go back to basics. One step at a time. One moment at a time. One right action at a time. No need to rush or go off half-cocked. You are right on time.
Keep your focus on the now, with the future in the background. The steps behind you are swallowed by the rising ocean, which can trigger feelings of loss, scarcity, and fear. But the reality is that everything is happening for good reason, and you don’t need what drops away. Some of those things dropping away are doing so for your protection, and others are simply not in alignment with what is happening now.
You are right on time. It doesn’t matter what you may have missed out on or may not be ready for yet. The whole scene is revolving around you, because it is your own, made of your own desires and design. This path is what you are ready for, and it is ready for you, too. Right on time.
If you need help focusing or steadying, an energy session is an excellent way to meet that need. I offer distance and in-person. Book via https://InSightTransformations.as.me/
This week is about evaluating how your creative process happens and tweaking it. Get a good feel for how every step happens, and if you’re not seeing the results you want, make a list of what is and isn’t working and schedule repairs.
The Chariot reminds you that a well-oiled system is going to keep you rolling forward. But because there are so many moving parts that need work, you need to pace yourself with repairs. Kind of like taking your car into the shop for regular maintenance, you’re going to have to budget what you fix when.
As you plan this out, you’re looking at percentages, margins, and acceptable ranges. If your tires are still good for another 2,000 miles, you need to take care of the parts that need replacing or cleaning in the next 200 miles first.
Nurturing yourself and your work over time is Empress energy. Can you sustain the kind of long-term care you need, with your current self-talk environment? Start there if you are blocked from self care.
You do deserve good things. The question is not whether you’ve worked enough to rest; you need to rest enough to perform well. Work to eat culture is different from eat to work culture, but both require a balance between effort and ease, pleasure and patience.
If you have to put in more effort to get something done, that is more costly compared to doing something that is easy for you. Know what it costs you to complete a task and figure out how to make it easier on yourself.
When you are completing a higher volume of the same task, you have more opportunities to improve the quality of the result. Quantity improves quality, because, “The master has failed more times than the beginner has tried.”
Your self-talk comes from how you were raised. I’m getting a lot of mother wound energy (Fire Mother, Empress). Remember that any completed creation is much more valuable than the criticism it receives. Creation has life; criticism checks growth.
Stop being so harsh with yourself and your work. Healthy critique is necessary, but not all criticism is healthy. Some is downright acid rain. There is a difference between pruning a tree and watering it with acid rain, AND there is a difference between good pruning and bad pruning.
Pruning is supposed to correct growth and prioritize resources to set the tree up for a long and healthy life. Prune too aggressively, and the tree is stunted, or even killed.
You want to grow in a way that is going to set you up for long-term living. Treat yourself and your work accordingly.
There is a beautiful magic about the way we are navigating chaos, choosing the better options, and taking back our personal power this week. We have been so gaslit by those who took our power that we forgot how to feel the very negative emotions that prompt us to enact change, but feeling these emotions is a vital step.
The world cannot keep going the way it’s been going. Resources that are misused deteriorate. We know this. Our awareness of the problem is the secondary cause of our discontent–the first cause being the actual problem, of course. And because there are two causes, there are two needs we must meet in order to really heal.
We must not only have better conditions, we must also feel good. The hardships, Karmic connections, and pain we are alchemizing right now are necessary to resolve in order to live in a more sustainable way. What an amazing opportunity we have to change what isn’t working.
And what a huge task it is. If you feel like you’re just trying to keep ahead of all the things being thrown at you, know that taking one step, one task, one problem at a time is all that is required of you. If you are overwhelmed, it’s showing you where you have too much pressure placed. If you are angry at someone letting you down, it’s showing you where you can redirect your trust and create better boundaries. All of your reactions (emotions) have logic (a story) behind them. Observe and allow yourself space to feel and explore why you feel that way.
In the meantime, when you look at your tasks list, set the intention that the Universe will handle everything you can’t, and allow yourself to be satisfied–really satisfied–with what you contribute to the whole.
You were never meant to control all the pieces, in your current position. Stop putting pressure on everything. It only paralyzes you. Start trusting again and allowing things to unfold how they will.
As you let go of the outcome, the steps, the idea of what you thought things would be like based on previous knowledge, and explicitly trust that it’s all happening in the best way possible, you will see how surrendering to your Higher Self and taking the most efficient way forward is better than carving your path stubbornly. Don’t try to dig through solid rock with a spoon. Flow with what feels right, even if it means admitting that your first idea was wrong.
The Hanged Man is in a pivotal position, identifying the shift needed in order to pass through this lesson. Is it better to be always right about every detail, or to be pleasantly surprised? Trauma says you have to direct everything yourself and always be 100% right. Trust says that being part of the whole picture and shifting your perspective is safe. There is no moral value attached to making honest mistakes.
Trusting the Universe does not mean blind ignorance or refusal to change. A healthy curiosity that fosters communication and growth is also necessary. Working with others who have similar goals is necessary. If you can’t do everything at 100%, and someone is willing to take a task and complete it at 80%, sometimes it’s better to accept their 80% than try to put your 40% into it and only have 60% to put into your other tasks. Work smarter. Accept progress over perfection.
Some helpful mantras:
“This situation is turning out better than expected, and I am finding out why.”
“I’m so glad I finally found what I was doing wrong. Now I can do better and get better results.”
“Making mistakes is part of the process.”
“I forgive myself for not knowing more, and not doing better. I did so well with the knowledge I had. I am proud of myself and know that this chance to try again is a gift I am worthy of.”
“I recognize the efforts of others and give thanks for our common goals.”
“Good enough is good enough.”
“Eyes on the prize.”
“I have more tools and awareness than before, and that changes the outcome.”
“Everything is always working out for me.”
“I give thanks for each golden link in my chain of abundance.”
Take strength in your support network, both seen and unseen. Martyrdom is not noble. Sacrificing hurt feelings and unnecessary drama for healing is. Gratitude will highlight the good and bring more in. It’s amazing how much we and others thrive when we feel appreciated. The guiding card, 4 of Water, tells us that when we are pouring with others, we don’t just add, we multiply how much we can do. When we work with collective enthusiasm and effort, something magical happens: we generate more of it for everyone. It’s like taking multiple magnifying glasses and placing them on top of each other. Focus on gratitude and cooperation.
This is where sacrificing hurt feelings comes in. Forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting. It means seeing and accepting who someone is, and choosing to set proper boundaries so they cannot hurt you while you work in close quarters. It means letting go of their Karma and bringing back your own. Let them have the responsibility for their own happiness, as you hold your responsibility for yours. Everyone’s contributions are brought to light when we work together, which means you get to celebrate and own your own contributions and successes. Gratitude for what they contribute never looks bad on you; expecting gratitude for what you contribute, and holding it for yourself, is fair. It’s not a competition, even if some people try to make it one. Let competition be visible by not participating in it.
If you’re not at peace with what is, you’re not ready for it to shift. Get to that inner peace, and it will shift. Going back to the idea of your two needs, you must address your response to the problem as well as the problem itself. Like comforting a hungry child, you must embrace the discomfort in one arm and reach for the solution with the other. The comfort is just as necessary as the food. Dysregulated emotions make for poor attempts to eat.
You are doing so well with the tools you have, and this experience is going to bring more happiness than ever before because of your efforts. No matter what succeeds or fails, no matter how hard it is, your continued attempt is the success. You deserve to feel proud of you.
This week we are delving into the heavy things that need to be processed and resolved. It is important to validate how you feel, why you feel that way (what story you’re telling yourself to justify your feelings), and how that feeling has impacted your life over time. You aren’t the same person you would have been without the hard things you experienced. These pivotal moments forced you to accommodate them with whatever tools you had. I’m talking about negative and destructive patterns that scattered your energy.
When you desire to do things differently, to get better results, the old habits come into the spotlight. This revealing process is designed to show you the next step in your healing process. Any shame or guilt you experience is merely a symptom of how you were taught.
The fact is that you came to this life with full permission to figure it out blindly. That includes making mistakes. The impact of action does have incredible value, and is worth rectifying. But intention makes the difference between an action that continues to harm and the same action that is useful for growth. Those who know better and do better the next time are different from those who do the same thing after knowing better. Both feel guilt and shame.
Guilt and shame are not actually motivators in themselves. Guilt is internal, while shame is external. Shame teaches us that if we want to be accepted by others, we must do something acceptable to others. Guilt teaches us that if we want to be accepted by ourselves, we must do something acceptable to ourselves. These feelings are valuable in showing us the values of our society.
But guilt and shame are too heavy to carry long-term. They are roadblocks. Imagine you are rolling a round stone up a mountain. Each step is an action geared towards getting that stone to the top. Someone places shame between you and the top, which stops the roll. You can choose to remove the block, go around it, go over it, or stop rolling the stone altogether.
If someone shames you for pursuing your career, for instance, you can listen to them and stop going that direction, or you can get them out of your path. If you feel guilty for neglecting another aspect of your life in response to their shame, maybe it would be useful to figure out a different work-life balance, and then continue in a way that is smarter and easier. The right action is the one that aligns with your highest good, regardless of what other people think that is.
If all this heavy stuff is feeling overwhelming or frustrating, remember what you started out wanting. These dreams you dreamed were made from your deepest desire, which came from your highest self. They are worth pursuing sensibly so that you have the endurance necessary to finish the process.
You have a period of huge growth ahead of you, should you choose it. This growth will give you wonderful abundance and joy, because it will allow you to change how (or whether) you roll your stone.
No matter the source of the course correction, choose to take it as a valuable tool. A great mantra: “Yes, some of this is true.” It may only be a fraction of a percent of what you’re being told, but that fraction is enough to be valuable anyway.
Also remember that spite is a two-edged sword. It’s okay to live in spite of a condition. It’s okay to exist simply out of spite until you reconnect with your true desire. Once you get more hope and more peace, let the spite go in equal measure. Spite is a way to enforce a needed boundary, but it’s not the only method. Your feelings are information.
Your dreams were made in joy, and sometimes people get jealous or angry when you live joyously. Your goal is to let them have their drama and figure out their own shit, far away from you and your joy.
So cut through the shame and the guilt, and correct your course, however it works best for you. You deserve joy.