Start Today with Guidance and a Glimpse of Possibilities

In the Three of Cups, we see three women captured in the moment of raising their Cups high in the air as they come together. They are surrounded by an abundant harvest and the card radiates joy and celebration: specifically, shared happiness and experience.

It’s unusual for The Tower not to provoke a visceral reaction; this powerful card depicts the fall of a vast edifice built atop a summit of stone that must have seemed utterly indestructible before being struck by an unforeseen bolt of lightning.

Just as The High Priestess is one archetype of femininity, so The Empress is another: from mystery and the profoundly spiritual, we now move to the Mother Goddess figure. The Empress reclines comfortably on her throne, surrounded by the abundance of the natural world, her body language open and at ease. The water that was hidden in the previous card here flows freely, pooling at The Empress’ feet. Yet her connection to the fertile earth does not denote a lesser power than that of her sister; it is her great strength.

The Fool is the first card in the Major Arcana; and yet he does not have a number. He is ‘0’, standing for both everything and nothing. The Fool is infinite possibilities; he is the decision to make a journey, to have an adventure, and to discover - even if that decision isn’t made consciously. The Fool is a special card, and careful attention should be paid to him whenever he pops up in a reading.

The Strength card traditionally depicts a woman gently opening (or caressing) the jaws of a lion, who looks up at her with complete trust. The lion can symbolize our passions, and our unconscious energy: the kind that manifests through our intuition and our dreams. In taming this, the woman in the card is allowing this side of her being to safely merge with the rational, outward-looking aspect of her core personality. Interestingly, the Strength attribute is normally perceived as being linked to the woman; however, in allowing itself to trust and have faith, it is, perhaps, the lion that more properly embodies the deeper meaning of the card.

The High Priestess sits, stable as a rock yet fluid as the waters behind her, representing one of the archetypes of femininity. Here, she is the untouchable mystery: the curtains behind her screen our view of the sea, representing the cost of looking upon such power. We may glance it in snatches before the veil falls back into place again. And yet these brief moments of absolute clarity can be some of the most important of our lives, if we heed them and use them.