Start Today with Guidance and a Glimpse of Possibilities

After the shifting and chancy light of the moon comes the beauty of The Sun, blazing down joyfully on the child who rides a horse away from a walled garden. This garden is often interpreted as being that of Eden. Rather than leaving it fearfully and in shame, however, here the child leaves its shelter optimistically, ready for the adventures that his new self-knowledge will grant him. The Sun points to the inherent capacity of simple, everyday life to be deeply infused with wonder and happiness, and the miracles in the minutiae all around us.

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.

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.

In the King of Wands, we see a figure leaning forward on his throne: he does not seem as solidly planted on his seat as the Queen but, rather, as if he is about to - or very much wanting to - spring up and into action. In this way, he represents the culmination of the suit: the fiery Wands have been directed into successful, often long-term, projects, and yet still burn brightly with passion and great energy.

In the Six of Cups, we see the image of a figure giving a gift of a Cup, overflowing with life, to a child. The two people pictured are in the garden of a cottage, and the scene resonates with a sense of domestic comfort and security.

The Ten of Wands is a card that represents burden and choice. In the Rider Waite image, the figure trudges homeward, weighed down by the many Wands that he bears. He is close, though: a house is visible in the near distance and he has but a short distance of his journey left to complete.