I like using spreads. I especially enjoy the challenge that can be presented when what seems like a totally inappropriate card shows up in a certain spot, and I have to find a way to see it in a useful context.
Today’s example: In a spread for myself, there was a position of “What will help me the most with this challenge?” A good place for a nice, positive, nurturing card, right? What I got was the Ace of Cups reversed and the Ten of Wands. Okay….so being cut off from my source of love and joy, being overworked, and being at the end of my endurance are what I need to meet my challenges? How could that be?
Well, when I get a “negative” card in a spread position that has to do with something needed, the main way I see it is “What you need is to look at me, be aware of me, honestly acknowledge my presence in you!”
Look at the Ace of Cups reversed? I have to look at what’s standing between me and my connection to this all-important gift (including, and this is the hard part, what self-destructive behaviors or thought patterns may be involved). Look at the Ten of Wands? I have to look at where I’m overwhelmed and overworked (including whatever I might be doing to take on things that aren’t mine, or refusing opportunities for rest and help).
So, my two “help” cards didn’t give me a cuddly figure to look up to or rely on for advice. They called me to account for the ways I’m contributing to my distress, and challenged me to be honest in seeing it–and, in seeing the truth, be able to change.
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