Happy Beltane Y'all!! Got any awesome bonfire plans? Want to see which card I pulled for us to focus on this week?

You are probably not going to die from shock when I share with you that the card I pulled is none other than the Nine of Swords. Again? You may be asking, but bad habits are tough to break, y'all. This card has come up quite a lot for us recently and seems to be needling us to get out of our negative thought processes (and, therefore, out of our own way). If we took time last week to let some of our thoughts and ideas really germinate, we may have also let some of those neggy little voices shout louder during this time of repose.

The Nine of Swords likes to remind us to listen to others (which makes sense, as last week we were reminded by the appearance of The Hanged Man to see things from another's point of view), that our ideas are a part of the world - but not all of it. This is about finding illumination through a deeper spiritual practice which can be reached when we let go of our old mental habits.

How can we use this card to move forward this week? If we are able to break away from a mindset or pattern that has failed work for us, we are making room for actual clarity. Putting our focus on positive outcomes and directing our thoughts towards what we seek, want and hope for - rather than on the things we wish to avoid or nightmare scenarios - allows us to intellectually set our intentions for progress. It's not as easy as it sounds. Habits are super hard to break from, and it takes practice. I often have to catch myself from going full-martyr in my head - or worse, vilifying people, environments and dogmas that I am distancing myself from to make myself feel justified and validated for bugging out. What I (WE) really need to do is say NAH BRUH to all that horseshit and put our mental energy and focus on our victories and positive attributes - feed THAT wolf instead of the one that acts like a jerk.

*These three card readings are intended for us all as a community and are therefore broad. If you are interested in a more specific, in-depth reading - we offer individual readings at Oracle as well! If you would like to schedule an appointment for an individual reading, you can do that here or give us a ring at 816.982.9550. You can also join us for one of our monthly Tarot Workshop & Happy Hour events and learn more about cartomancy!

Y'all. Before we kick this week off, all of us here at Oracle would like to thank YOU - our customers, our readers, and our FB & IG followers, for being such an excellent part of our community. You are EXCELLENT and without you and your support, we wouldn't be here. We appreciate each and every one of you so much - thank you for helping us grow and for sharing our passion for beautiful and weird shit!

Nine of Swords, The World, and Ace of Pentacles.

I wanted to contextualize this week's reading with Jodorowsky's 'Yes, But......Therefore!' strategy - it's a great one to use when you don't necessarily have a question, or perhaps are confronted with conflicting desires. FUN!

~ Nine of Swords - Our 'Yes' card is our situation, it's where we are now. Roughly, we are collectively on the brink of a new understanding. This is a card of illumination - in which we break old mental habits and intellectually let go. This process puts the power back into our hands as we quiet the worst-case scenarios and 'what ifs' and look only at 'what is'.

~ The World - Our 'But' card is the obstacle or challenge for us. The World, of course, is the final card of the Major Arcana and represents total realization and enlightenment. So, you know, BFD. The World represents what we all aspire to gain on this life journey, so yeah, it makes sense that getting to this point will be a tough (but fulfilling) road. I would imagine our challenges here lie in freeing ourselves from self-destruction as we make our way towards totality and put ourselves at the service of humanity, but you know, I'm just spit-ballin' here.

~ Ace of Pentacles - Our 'Therefore!' card provides the clue (or clues) needed to find resolve. This card signifies material energy in all of it's potential forms and directs our questions to the concrete aspects of life. This is a card about the beginning of abundance (in family life, money, health and and home). If we plant the seeds for abundance, nurture them and foster this growth, then we are well on our way to becoming active in the World.

Pretty lofty stuff, eh? I couldn't just leave well enough alone, so I pulled........

::::::::: BONUS CARD Y'ALL :::::::::

~ The Tower - Okay Y'all. This card tends to reaaaaallly bum people out when it comes up in readings, but let me tell you, I love this card. (I have also included some bonus Jeff Goldblum in his titular role as Dr. Ian Malcom, Chaotician, to put you in a state of ease while we talk about why The Tower is actually an awesome card). This card has always come up for me when I am about to go through a pretty significant change. This is a card of transformation - things that used to be closed to us are now open, this is a call to push the boundaries and go beyond our mental and emotional limits. This card signifies the emergence of something that was imprisoned, having our foundations shaken a bit, all to open us up to raise our consciousness. This card also falls into the 'Therefore!' position, so we need to remain open and receptive to radical change as we strive for our goals. Chaos, Y'all!

See you next year!