Tarot Card ~ January 18

Nine of Swords

Lily Maid of Astolat

  

Fortune Cookie: Be careful today not to overextend yourself in unfair –especially to yourself — or unhealthy ways.  And hold solid, healthy boundaries! 

  

Okay! Okay!  I admit it.  It’s another long post.

  

But this is a card we haven’t seen since early June.  And as I said then, in our codependent, enmeshed and embalmed culture, it’s always good to be reminded of what this card has to say.  And read it.  And print it out.  And post it next to your bathroom mirror.  And every mirror you own.  Including the rear view mirror of your vehicle.   And send it to yourself as a text message three times a day.  And stuff.

 

[Finishes pontificating. Wipes sweat off of jowls.  Or at least a few.  Gets down off soap box.  Makes a feeble attempt to tidy hair and looks around for… Tidies hair and…  Tidies… Aw buggrit!   Tosses brush out window, accidentally nailing a groggy early-morning blue jay.  Looks around for coffee.  Asks, “Where was I?”  Where, or who?  Oh.  Right.  Where!]

 

Okay.

 

This is a card of warning, plain and simple.

  

Different readers vary the focal issues being dealt with here, so I’ll give bits and pieces of other perspectives before bludgeoning you with my take on things.

 

Betty – those of you who read this blog rather regularly will remember — was my long-time teacher and friend.  She used to turn the elucidation of this card into a real piece of performance art.  When Nine of Swords would come up, she’d shake her head, give a low whistle, shake her head again, look closely at the card, look up  mournfully at me − or whoever she was reading for − and say softly, “You gotta be careful.  This situation is nearly DEAD.”  Got me whimpering every time.  Even when I was just watching her read for somebody else.

 

So if that’s the interpretation of the card we’re working with, one of the things to be careful about − depending on exactly what’s being examined in the reading – is that you and/or a situation may be about to seriously pass the point of flameout or burnout and you need to pull back, regroup, rethink things and really recover before you go off the deep end or go up in smoke. 

 

So please, today, give that possibility some serious thought throughout all major aspects of your life.  [Except those that involve reading this daily card.  No sense going overboard, then.]

 

Some readers find this to be a card of delay, deception and disappointment − or worse.  [Charming!]  Others indicate that it betokens fear and dread for the future, and it implies you should take a course of action that will still and calm the mind to help instill courage. [Yeah.  That there is a sentence that would really help ME calm down, you betcha!  Yo! Waiter!  Bushmill’s double here.  Straight up!] 

  

Other sources say the card recommends finding a path of extra alertness and wariness, along the lines of “cover your back [or, uh… fundament],” for now, anyway.

 

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, writes of pining for a loved one, fretful dreams and obsessions.  Her interpretation that I’m most interested in (on your behalf) is depression blinding us to the possibilities and beauty that surround us.  (Don’t go there!  You DO NOT need to be in that place!!!!!)

 

My take?

  

When this card turns up in a reading for a client, I say things like, “Okay, several levels of meaning here, and you need to pay close attention to each one.”

First, this is a card that says be very careful NOT to take on the emotions of others.  You may choose to be kind and be a shoulder for another to cry on.  But understand that to do so does NOT involve letting someone else’s disappointment or depression take you over; you are NOT meant to be anyone else’s psychic and emotional trash bin. 

  

If you’re one of those people who lets a friend come over and dump all his baggage on you so that he can then just skip away, free as a bird and back in the groove while you need to go hide behind the couch – STOPPIT!  That’s unhealthy behavior.  It’s not kind.  It’s not even really helpful to you OR him.

 

Second, do not take responsibility for other people’s emotions.  Yes, we all do things that disappoint others, including those we love.  But their emotions in response to the situation are THEIRS to deal with and work through.

 

I remember overhearing a woman in a store, talking to her four-year-old daughter, saying, ‘If you keep acting this way Daddy’s going to divorce us, and it will be all your fault!’ [Just. Plain. Vile!!!!]  It’s obvious how false and manipulative − not to mention cruel − that is. 

  

Whether we like it or not, EACH OF US is responsible for OUR emotions and HOW WE RESPOND to all the situations in our life.  That’s true for everybody else as well. So don’t let anyone bamboozle you into thinking different.

 

Third, don’t take responsibility for anyone else’s life or life choices.  If you’re in a position to help someone when they’re lost or down, and you CHOOSE to offer that, do so – if you can do it in a way that’s safe and healthy, non-manipulative, non-addictive, non-codependent, with healthy boundaries.  It’s like they say on an airliner:  if you’re traveling with a child and the air masks come down, put yours on first, THEN put on the child’s. 

  

So:

  

~ Be careful today not to overextend yourself in unfair (especially to yourself) or unhealthy ways. 

~ Hold good boundaries. 

~ Be compassionate, but don’t be a doormat or a crying towel. 

~ Double-check your own energy to be sure depletion isn’t closer than you may have realized. 

~ If it seems depletion may be near, do what you need to do to take care of YOU!

  

Bright blessings, healthy boundaries, good choices and discretion!

  

Quote for the Day:  All killer whales are named Kevin. You knew that, right? ~ Christopher Moore, from Fluke: Or, I know Why the Winged Whale Sings
  

Today’s Weather:  Public quiche-baiting.  Old Spinal Tap records.  Nasi goreng!

  

On this Date: 1778 – James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the “Sandwich Islands.” [And there goes the neighborhood.]