By Pascale: “The Good, with less of the Bad and the Ugly”
All tarot cards have a good and a bad side, with an array of variations between them. But there are a few cards that are prominently oozing out with negativity simply by looking at them, and which can easily be perceived with suspicion, doubt and fear as they could point to undesirable and unwanted challenges on your path.
Here, I have selected a couple of cards with an unpleasant outlook and considered them individually. I have described them generally, then focused on the silver lining in their meaning, but also on their positive side, at the gem within them, and which, understandably but also questionably, is often overlooked: the Devil and the Tower.
The Devil
The Devil invariably suggests that you can extract yourself from a situation by removing old ties to that situation, be it from addictions of all kinds to toxic relationships and material dependency. It brings a signal that it would be preferable for you to act now rather than later, and to seek help and support if necessary. This means that you can step into your own free will and decisive power, which are always available to you, in order to tame, take charge and limit any damage, and even ultimately overcome a situation.
It can help you decide to choose how you want to react and to help you remain more in charge of your emotions/feelings. It reminds you that the material world is flitting, superficial and that, for example, so long as you have your basics, from food on your table, a roof over your heads and/or a few people you feel close to, (and possibly some good wine;), then it is all that matters, but it is all about your perception and what you consider an illusion or not.
Devil can suggest power and trickery, because that power invariably comes from within and, besides, what is power exactly? It’s just another word, another perception of meaning: the power to control others or your own thoughts. The power to dare speak your mind or to remain silent. The power to blame or to forgive. What else can you think of?
The Devil card also offers you an umbrella, so that you may acknowledge the energy of this card’s existence and presence through being attentive and through self-awareness, as well as to enable you to prepare yourself for a potential threat around you, a lie, a secret enemy, an unpleasant sneaky situation that may be coming (and I’m not speaking of dark witchcraft or voodoo here). It presses you to know that, should you become embroiled, willingly initially or unwittingly in a situation, your own freewill and courage will be available to you to extract yourself from it, to exercise your willpower to regain charge/control over it, and that for now, while accepting whatever may come, you’re not going to let it get under your skin, because you know that you can choose how you will think about it, perceive it and feel about it when and if the time comes. Remember, there is always an “if”: the predictive nature of the Devil card could present itself in your reading merely to make you feel uncomfortable and never manifest in real life, since the Devil card likes to promote doubt, illusion and fear.
Here are a few quotes to muse over when the Devil card appears in a reading:
“To acquire true self-power, you have to feel beneath no one, to be immune to criticism and to be fearless.” – Deepak Chopra
“There comes a day when you realise turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realise there’s so much more to the book than the page you were stuck on.” – Zayn Malik.
But also: “I’ve learned so much from my mistakes, I’m thinking of making a few more.” (☺) – Unknown.
The Tower
To begin with its worse meaning, Tower usually warns of an external and disruptive event of any kind showing up and over which, generally, you have no control over: from stumbling and breaking your finger, to finding out your partner leads a double life, or your bank going broke: You don’t have much time to prepare, if at all, when Tower strikes, including not much choice and control over it. In other words, your ability to use your freewill and change the outcome may appear limited, and you are likely to feel confronted and powerless. Where is the good, even if minimal in all of that? Well, once again (sorry to reiterate), the answer lies in your awareness, your ability to choose whether or not, after the event, you want and can pick yourself up or not and be patient, resilient as well as creative with the damage and disruption that has been incurred. Take your time if needed but never, ever give up. Also, when “SH… or stuff happens” your flexibility and adaptability will help you navigate unruly waters and, rather than fight the flow of a river’s overpowering current, will help you keep yourself afloat until you can find your footing again and reach the shore. Tower reflects an internal state of how you perceive an event and the extent to which you let it affect you. Keep in check your perceptions and seek help or support if overwhelmed. But enough of the bad.
Tower, often merely reflects internal states of disruption and turmoil, pointing to changes in the structure of your vision of yourself: a thought, an emotion, a past memory may have laid dormant within you and found its way to the surface, creating havoc yet bringing much clarity and a much needed, and perhaps welcome, awareness. It often comes with the manifestation of coincidences in your life, and can trigger chains of events of all kinds, welcome and not so welcome, yet just like a storm after it has struck, there is relief, peace and the ability to see, decompress, recalibrate and observe growth.
And, on the plus side x infinity, Tower may bring sudden spiritual and insightful breakthroughs, it can signal winning a game of chance, being rewarded by an unsuspected promotion/prize, an unsuspected love declaration, someone returning in your life, a chance of a lifetime being offered to you. So why bother focusing on the negative disruptive force of Tower? (Just remember that surrounding cards will give you cues as to the energy and meaning emanating from a negatively perceived card). If you are a novice at reading tarot cards for yourself, beware the panic button and raised anxiety when seeing ‘negative’ cards or meanings: if you feel too uncomfortable, don’t read alone and/or expand your knowledge further.
In summary, it is how you choose to react to the event which will determine the energy surrounding you and its manifestations, its outcome, as well as the short and/or long term impact. Life always brings unexpected challenges and sometimes abrupt turns of events, because it’s part of life, for all of us: you are not alone and you can choose how you react to them as well as to reach out. Those challenges are like hurdles, hills or mountains: if you can’t jump, walk or climb over them, go around them.
…And a few more quotes to think about when the Tower card shows up in a reading:
“Forewarned is forearmed.”
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – F. Delano Roosevelt
“You cannot beat a river into submission, you have to surrender to its current and use its power as your own.” Buddhist quote.
Love & Light
Pascale
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