January 30, 2019

It seems this is a year when a lot of people are feeling restless and want to up and leave for other places. Here is a reading I did for my neighbour, Tony, last month, but I was too caught up with all kinds of end of year activities to find the time and energy to post it online.

When Tony asked for this reading, he was feeling a bit frustrated at his workplace. He felt he wasn’t earning enough money and was also wondering whether a complete change of scene, not discounting a geographical one, might not be a better move (pun maybe intended) for him. Tony wanted to know if he should try his luck in Montreal (Canada), a city he had visited before, or if he should be really adventurous and move to Australia.

Tony and I were working different schedules, so I did the reading on my own and said I would go over the cards with him later when we both had time to talk.

I decided to use two rows of three cards each, one for Montreal, the other for Australia. The first thing that bothered me about his question was that we were comparing one city with one country, but Tony hadn’t specified any city in Australia, so I went along with that.

Besides that, though, I felt that it was important to see how Tony would fare if he simply bided his time here, in Toronto, and not leave this city. So I laid out another row of three cards for Toronto. (The cards used are from the Sheridan Douglas Tarot.)

The top row, representing a move to Montreal, looked pretty dreadful: it started with discontent and went on to show conflict and more conflict. (Five of Cups, Three of Swords and Knave of Swords). Moreover, the Knave of Swords, although raring to fight, is still very inexperienced to win his battles. Montreal may be a delightful city, but not a good idea for Tony for the time being.

The second row, representing a move to Australia also didn’t seem particularly easy, but it showed promise on spiritual level. First the Hermit appeared, followed by the Moon, and the last card for that row was the King of Swords. Kings represent mastery and control, but because the suit is Swords, that would be on a mental level. He is also preceded by two cards from the major Arcana, so this is not just about material or day-to-day pursuits. (Note: when I use the Marseille deck, as opposed to a Rider-style deck, such as this one, the Major Arcana can talk about any sort of question.) So here we see Tony’s search (Hermit with lamp) moving to a spiritual or psychological level. If he manages to stay his course, instead of allowing himself to fall for an illusory path in the unclear light of the Moon, he will eventually be able to achieve mastery of his mind (King of Swords.)

I found these two rows particularly interesting because they seemed to say that if one tried to compare one specific thing (ex. a city) with one more general thing (ex. Australia without a direct reference to a particular city), we can still get answers, but one will be on a material level, whereas the other will be on a spiritual one. I think the point is not that cities can’t refer to spiritual quests, but more that choosing a country versus a city is too general for specifics.

Finally, the last row, representing staying put in Toronto, also began with some difficulties (as did the Montreal one). Here the row begins with Tony’s unhappiness with his financial situation (Five of Coins), so this is a period he had to go through, but it’s quickly followed by the beginning of emotional happiness (Ace of Cups), which is closely related to a new learning and money-making opportunity (Three of Coins). (Again we see the context switching back to a material level in this row about a city versus a country.)

Out of curiosity I drew out a few more cards, which corroborated this conclusion: Ace of Wands (new work), Six of Wands (success), which are then followed by the Six of Swords (a new path, which may involve travel), more choices (the Lovers, which is another number 6, but in the Major Arcana), and finally the Ten of Cups (complete emotional satisfaction). 🙂

When I got back to Tony with this reading last week, I found out that he had already applied for and accepted a position with a transportation company in Toronto. This position will provide him with an opportunity for inter-city travel. It sure looks like my reading was accurate! I wish Tony the best in his new job! 🙂