Manifestation Challenges

Some things the Queen of Pentacles reversed and the King of Swords upright have in common are themes of separation, of isolation from others, and of holding oneself separate, whether it’s conscious, or unconsciously done (Pollack). And it makes sense if you think about it. Upright, the Queen of Pentacles is immersed in the abundance and landscape and other beings around her. If you reverse that concept, she would be separate. 

Radiant Rider Waite

The King of Swords doesn’t even need to be reversed to voice this message – this King is already arguably the most aloof of all the Kings of the Tarot. Sadly, the Radiant Rider Waite deck seems to cut the two birds of duality out of the King of Swords‘ sky that the original Rider deck features. Because when discussing this separateness in terms of the King of Swords card, Rachel Pollack points out that:

“if the birds symbolize the mind’s ability to climb above the world they also symbolize the remoteness such an attitude can produce.”

One of the most common mistakes Light Workers sometimes make is one of becoming so immersed in the Spirit world or in our other origins that we do indeed become too disconnected from the Physical realm of this Earth, and from all the other energetic beings that reside in it with us. We forget that we are here for a reason – whatever our particular reason may be. And when we have forgotten our reason for being here, and allowed ourselves to become this disconnected from our environment, then we cease doing the work we came to do in the first place.

Original Rider card

We work really hard, using the power of our mental faculties, to achieve some measure of control of our individual worlds – and this very act of raising our focus above the mud and fray also sometimes raises us too far away from the very people and planet we wish to serve. Besides the fact of this remoteness sabotaging any personal manifestation work we may be doing. In the end, we serve no one, not even ourselves, when we isolate ourselves too much from this world.

Because Pollack also says that the Queen of Pentacles reversed speaks of being so disconnected from the material world around you, that you are unable to enjoy the blessings and prosperity of the same, and unable to even perceive them sometimes, much less enjoy them. If you look at the card reversed, you will also see the rabbit featuring very prominently at the top and upside down – like fertility turned on its head. If one is working on manifesting abundance in one’s life … well, you see how this energy could create a problem with that goal. 

One of the first, most fundamental building blocks of manifestation in the physical realm is the ability to, and practice of, FEELING and APPRECIATING all the wonderful things that are already around you, instead of focusing on what you feel should be there and isn’t yet. All the affirmations and reprogramming in the world will not replace this fundamental building block; it is one that MUST be tended to, consciously, every day. 

If you see the Queen of Pentacles reversed come up for you in a reading, and especially in readings concerning physical prosperity, this may be the message she is relaying.

See that rabbit??? Check out that rabbit!!! I can almost see the money falling out of its ears and away from us lol! Like a piggy bank being emptied into a hole in the ground! 

And if you see this Queen reversed and clarified by the King of Swords – there is a STRONG possibility these are the messages they are trying to relay to you.

If you would like to rectify the situation, Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom suggests these  steps to get back in touch with your environment and fellow earth beings:

1. Meditate with the Queen of Pentacles upright, to reconnect with her positive attributes.
2. Ground / Connect with the simple pleasures and satisfying chores of the natural world
   I would add from myself:

• Make time and efforts to socialize even just a little. Do something that gets you out and interacting with other people. 
  God help me if anyone that actually knows me reads this; I will never hear the end of it. But I am working on this too. I’m finally going to Tarot Tuesdays every  month, and I may even start hitting a Reiki share that’s also once a month.And going from office work to retail sales has put me back in touch with humanity in a REAL hurry! And I am loving that, but don’t tell anyone. (Cricket’s mom is doing similar).

I just thought that these two cards together carry a really important reminder for many of us in our spiritual journies. Especially if we are doing manifestation work. It never occurred to me before looking into this pairing, that an attitude of separateness could impact abundance manifestation work. But it makes real sense that it would. Something to look out for and be aware of. It would be a shame for anyone to do so much hard manifestation practice only to hit a wall because they forgot to open their eyes and look around them once in a while to appreciate what and who is already in front of them..

Make sense?

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Queen of Pentacles traditional meanings

King of Swords traditional meanings

Works Cited

Pollack, Rachel. Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom. San Francisco, CA, Weiser Books, 2007.

Waite, Arthur E.. “Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot Deck.” Smith, Pamela C., Designer, (Reissued
in collaboration with Miss Sybil Waite and Rider & Company, London), U.S. Games
Systems, Inc., 2003, Stamford, CN.

 

Horses in the Tarot (Rider Waite)

Inspired by the Knight of Wands exploration, I went through the entire Rider Waite deck and pulled out the cards featuring horses that are in addition to the four Knights.

I found three. Interestingly, all the horses have riders and all the pairs are traveling in the same direction, to the right (and future?). Two are Major Arcana, one is Minor. The Minor Arcana card was of the Wands suit.  ALL the horses are WHITE. There is an object in the shape of an orb and in similar placement in all three cards: the sun in the Sun card, the laurel wreath in the Six of Wands, and … what is apparently the White Rose of the House of York, in the Death card.

Also interesting, is the fact that these three could easily symbolize the three major phases of our biological life span: Childhood, Adulthood, and Older Age. 

Lined up numerically, they would be:

Since the originators of the Tarot cards didn’t do anything by accident, this is interesting to explore as well. The numbers are 6, 13, and 19. If looked at still as the three major phases of biological lifespans, the Sun would be in the Older Age and Endings placement. If we think about it, our infancy and childhood really is the beginning of our biological decay – our spirits are eternal but the bodies we incarnate into are not, and they begin dying the minute the leave the womb.

I suppose Death could be feasible in the Adulthood placement too, as it is possible it is meant to remind us that our entire lives are illusions of life, and that as adults, we are in full blown Death phase? Could be.

And the Six of Wands in the Childhood placement. When a child is born, it is generally celebrated and heralded with joy and adulation. That is true. So even though the figure in this card is an adult, the adulation he receives could be said to be reminiscent of the birth of a new baby. So I guess that could make sense.

Horses generally symbolize Freedom, so freedom is a theme that will be found somewhere, somehow in each of these cards, as well as in the cards of the Knights:

Www.pure-spirit.com says that “Although the horse was present in many different cultures, they represent the same concepts of freedom and power.  In some cultures, white horses stand for the balance of wisdom and power.  In others, like Christianity, the white horse is a symbol of death.  The horse is a universal symbol of freedom without restraint, because riding a horse made people feel they could free themselves from their own bindings.  Also linked with riding horses, they are symbols of travel, movement, and desire.”

All seven of these cards do indeed do mark a transition from one sate of being into another. The Six of Wands takes a person from obscurity to acclaim. Death, from one plane of existence to another; the Sun, from darkness to light. And the Knights are all about movement and change within their respective elements and suits.

And finally, its interesting that there are seven of these cards. Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, by Rachel Pollack separates the Major Arcana into sets of seven with each set representing a phase of enlightenment while on earth.

Could this set of seven cards as a whole also be representative of something important in the experience of a soul?

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Knight of Swords traditional meanings

Knight of Pentacles traditional meanings

Knight of Cups traditional meanings

Knight of Wands traditional meanings

The Sun traditional meanings

Death traditional meanings

Six of Wands traditional meanings

Conflicted: the Knight of Wands

This card may surprise you, because its not a card traditionally associated with feelings of conflict. That being said, its a card I have come to personally associate with those things. I think I first interpreted it this way for a client’s reading, but then later realized it applies to me with regard to certain things in my psyche as well.

Radiant Rider Waite

It’s because of the conflict between the horse and its rider, the Knight. The horse is more than ready to go; the Knight not so much. The Knight is reining the horse in. The horse is fighting it. 

In my personal life, this applies to my journey through healing and learning to work around and work with, PTSD from various sources. And even to normal grief work. I tend to want things to be accomplished faster than they sometimes can. And when I push myself too hard or too fast, it backlashes on me and I end up struggling unnecessarily. I am learning to maintain a better balance in that. 

Some interesting imagery in the Rider Waite version of this card, which is the deck and the card I am basing this interpretation on, is the desert sand the Knight is traveling. Perhaps the horse is eager to get where he is going because the land is so barren here. Maybe he wants to get to where things can be planted, and grow, rather than just be moved through. But what the horse maybe doesn’t realize, is that all that barren brownness is also soothing to the eye and thus to the mind as well. Because there’s nothing to be done there but just keep moving, and appreciating the moment … there’s no additional stress to be endured. It’s just a relaxing walk or journey. Or can be, if permitted. Maybe they need to REST more than they need to DO.

Perhaps this is just an area of land that happens to be part of the journey to where the Knight and horse want to go, and it just has to be tolerated in order to get there. And there’s no use fighting it.

There’s also the point that, in a desert, where water can be far and few between, it’s probably a better idea to pace oneself rather than gallop full out and then fall down exhausted with nothing left and still far from water and rest. It is possible the Knight knows this and the horse needs to just trust him. Or at least trust his higher knowledge. 

The Knight is carrying his wand with new growth in it. He’s got what he needs for when he gets where he is going. And the Orion pyramids are behind him, watching over his journey. Maybe he doesn’t need to rush so much. Maybe Time is exactly what is needed, and the desert affords and gifts that to them. 

When I pull this card in answer to what’s going on with my Depression, Anxiety, or PTSD, it’s usually a call to slow down and stop pushing myself too hard or fast. And to not fall into the trap of thinking I have to take all action RIGHT NOW. To remember that it’s okay to let things unfold in their own time. To remember that I’m safer than I feel I am.

That there will be plenty of time later, to be here:

 

 

 

 

And later, here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, here:

 

 

 

 

(I find it interesting that two of these knights are facing left, (the past? Left brain?) … and two are facing to the right. The two hell bent on running are the ones facing the left and the two controlled, measured ones are the ones facing the right. 

But that’s for another whole blog post.)

Thoughts welcome from you readers out there! And what does the Knight of Wands mean the most, to YOU?   

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Knight of Wands traditional meanings