Wellness Wednesday - October 4, 2023

This reading uses Lindsay Mack's Beyond the Veil: A Soul Tarot Spread for October from her Tarot for the Wild Soul October newsletter.

Lindsay Mack's Beyond the Veil: A Soul Tarot Spread for October

1. My card for the month ahead
2. What am I being invited to work on and pay attention to most this month?
3. The lesson of this month for me
4. What am I being invited to see beyond the veil this month? What's ready to be revealed?
5. A card for my work with the Eclipses this month
6. An supportive Anchor card that I can call upon to be with me as I open to the medicine of the month ahead?

Transcript

Cheryl Ball 00:02 [skip to 7:06 to bypass the intro remarks and get straight to the reading]

Hey everybody, its Cheryl, thank you for coming back to our wellness Wednesdays, this is Wednesday, October 4 2023 Wheel of Fortune at the Bottom of the deck, a little shiny, because I just came back from a walk. I was like I gotta get on my Wellness Wednesday. And I've got a new deck this this month that I picked up from when I was traveling in Maine, over September, I went up to Maine for my birthday to check it out. I'd been up there a couple of times, but never as far north as I went, which included like Acadia National Park, and even a couple of places even farther north than that by like an hour or two almost to the to the Canadian border. And it was a lot of fun. And while I was there, I stopped into a couple of metaphysical shops as I do, and looked and I wasn't planning on buying a tarot deck because I don't really need a deck right now. But one of my teachers Jeanne said to me a couple of weeks ago, she's like, oh, yeah, I just bought, you know, a two dozen new decks or something. And I was like, and she's like, well, I get them. And then I researched them and I use them and I you know, feel them out. And then I bring them to classes. She said, this is Tarot Jane, I'll link to her in the notes. And and then when she brings them to classes, if somebody doesn't have a deck with them, you know, they can borrow one and then on occasion, but usually once a year, I think she's got one coming up and in the metro Detroit area. She does a deck swap. And I've gotten some cool decks through that kind of deck swap. And I was like, Okay, well, if that's Jane's rationale, then I can get decks, even though I don't really, I'm not really called to buy a deck right now. Well, I don't want to just willy nilly buy decks that's that's nobody needs that. Right. I mean, like Jim's doing it for a specific purpose. But I'm not doing deck giveaways right now or exchanges. So I wasn't really in the in the market. But then I saw this one. This might hurt. And I'd heard about this deck through another tarot reader who I follow. I can't remember which one unfortunately. And I was like, Oh, okay. So I decided to buy it and rationalize that like, Okay, it's good for me to study new decks. The iconography on this one is very similar to the traditional rider, Waite Smith, tarot. And, excuse me. I'll show you some of the examples right, like, here's the full here's the death card. Here is the Empress right, these are on the box, which is lovely. Here is the world love this. Here is the devil, which is I'm going to forget how to pronounce his name. That meant to look it up, because I don't want to screw it up. Baphomet, the Subotic the sabbatic goat and intersects magical deity using modern Western mythical mystic traditions. And is usually a visual representation for Satan. Right? So yeah, with the horns and everything like that. Baphomet. Okay, so that's kind of what this deck is about. Oh, and on the cover is strength. Right? Temperance. So we do have some androgynous representation, non binary representation in this deck intersectional representation. There's the two of swords, right? And then the Hanged Man, as his deck calls it, so. Okay. So I got this deck, and I was like, Okay, great. I'll check this out. Maybe I should start a whole separate pot, separate podcast. Run UPS right up. So decks that I am testing out reviewing. I've seen people do that. And that's kind of fun. And I looked through the deck, and I really, I ended up liking it, I thought it was a little derivative of at first of the modern witch Tarot. But as I got into it started using it more, I noticed some distinct differences that I really enjoyed, like the five of wands, which is I can pull it out later. I'll find it for you and show you, which kind of looks like you're at a dog park. And I'm like, actually five of wands being represented by dogs at a dog park is probably the most perfect representation of the five of wands I've ever seen. So we're going to use this deck. One of the things that cinched the deal with me buying it was that the artist apparently is from Maine, and I was trying to look it up because the artist doesn't declare that in their bio in the guidebook, which has a lot of personal anecdotes strewn throughout which I found really interesting and also He's really cool in the way that our intuition can connect with the stories that we tell ourselves right? So the, the artist is Isabella Rockman, r o t ma n. And again, I'll put a link to any information I can find about her in the show notes. Keep doing this with my eyes and it looks really weird. So sorry about that. Trying to express my interest Okay, so here we've got the This Might Hurt Tarot, which is maybe a bit appropriate because October might hurt a little bit. We've coming upon eclipse season oh, here's the Empress coming for us. Right. Which is helpful is helpful. Eclipse Season astrologically is a time of can be a time of tumult and uncovering things that we maybe didn't realize we wanted or needed uncovered. And so I'm using one of Lindsey Max spreads for October again, I know I use for September spread last time, and I hope you all found that useful. I just really love her solteiro approach and her spreads are just delightful. So this is a six card spread called beyond the veil, a soul Tarot Spread for October. Okay, so.

Cheryl Ball 06:29

Now she's talking about this month in her astrology. Sorry, in her monthly medicine, Lindsey Mack talks about October is being the month to clear away the cobwebs. And as you might imagine, clearing cobwebs can be a good thing if you are into spring or fall cleaning. But it can also mean that there might be spiders there, right? Which I don't have a problem with. But spiders can sometimes startle you, right? And then you have to deal with them and hopefully in a respectful way. Okay, so let me go back to my notes on this.

Cheryl Ball 07:06

The first card is our card for the month ahead. And again, this is a collective way for us to think about clearing those cobwebs using this, this highly intuitive month ahead of us. So, collectively, the card that we have here is the nine of cups for the card the card for the month ahead. Now, I was just thinking about this card earlier today. So it's interesting that it should show up. And I think it's a perfect example of how this particular artist Isabella Rotman, right, how she infuses personal narrative into her descriptions of the cards. So I'm going to go to the guidebook and read some of this for you for this gentleman Potter here.

Cheryl Ball 08:01

The Nine of Cups which is She is calling the happiness card.

Cheryl Ball 08:05

"Look at this happy dude and all his cups. He made these cups, he loves them, and now he's going to bask in their glory and enjoy them. I often wonder Which comes first happiness or gratitude? are you grateful because you're happy? Or are you happy because you're grateful. Of course, it's not that simple. But you get my point. The man in the nine of cups is both. This is a card you really, really hope comes true. Whatever you've been working for in your emotional life, your relationships, your hobbies, your home, it's all here, and it's all beautiful. The nine and subsequently the 10 of cups are both about happiness. But [this artist she says,] I see the nine as being about internal happiness. I drew the man in this card is a potter because he is creating his own joy. He carries his optimism inside him. He's aware of his blessings. Sometimes the nine of cups heralds a dramatic accomplishment. But often it's simply about gratitude and appreciation. Take a deep breath and marvel at your life. Celebrate where you are and find joy in the moment."

Cheryl Ball 09:24

That's a good card for us to remember for this month. happiness and gratitude go hand in hand and find joy with what you have.

Cheryl Ball 09:34

The second card here is asking us the following question. What am I being invited to work on and pay attention to most this month? And here we have the seven of cups. Now this is a card that is traditionally about, at its worst. It's like analysis paralysis right? At its best, it's like, oh my God, I've got all these options, like, right? And sometimes having that many options can feel overwhelming and can can have us get stuck a little bit. Right. And that's where sort of that analysis paralysis comes in. So I think that's what we're being invited to work on and pay attention to most this month, is where are we overworking things that we can let go of? Right? What are the what's maybe the one or two things that we want to focus on. And the rest of it we can attend to, but also clear away, right.

Cheryl Ball 10:45

And I'm not a plant person. Some of y'all might know that. But I think about that in terms of tending to these types of plants that she has hanging here. Where sometimes, like the bonsai, you have to not overextend or you're going to kill it. Right? And some of these more succulent varieties. You don't want to overwater, right, because you will kill it. I have done that. And maybe you just need to take some of the dead leaves, you know, prune some things back and tend to the ones that actually need attention. And so this is a card about making sure that we're focusing on the right, the right areas, and I put right in scare quotes because sometimes we really need to meditate on what that what that right thing is.

Cheryl Ball 11:35

Okay, the third card here is asking us or, sorry, is suggesting the lesson that is for us this month. And the lesson here is the three of swords in shadow. Now a lot of you'll know before I show you this card, the three of swords is often a card that is, let's see, I think I still have it on my, Yeah, here's three of swords typically. Okay. And so this card, though, depicts the swords -- this is a bit of a trigger warning -- Okay, because it's through a cartoon version of a, of a swan. Okay, so we have the three, the three of swords here, which is obviously rent this animal, you know, deceased, and it's in reverse. Okay. So the lesson with the three of swords is often about grieving. Right? It's about heartbreak. But it's not, it's not usually an immediate thing, right? It's, it's something that's happened that we are overcoming, like, I got the three of swords today as my card of the day, but there's no heartbreak around. Right. But it is a reminder for me to grieve the parts of me that I no longer need, right? The stories the swords, which are about storytelling and, and being analytical, like, how can we let go of the grief that we have worked through, right? And so the lessons here are about focusing right as in the seven of cups in order to let go clearing those cobwebs.

Cheryl Ball 13:25

Okay, the fourth card this month, asks, What am I being invited to see beyond the veil this month. So if you don't know what the veil is, the veil is simply sort of this a theoretic thing between this world this meat space and the spirit world, right the things that we cannot see. So beyond when you talk about beyond the veil, it means that the square that scrim is thin in October around sawin, the holiday we usually call Halloween where a Day of the Dead right where we had this commute communion between the spirit world and the earth and the earthly world.

Cheryl Ball 14:06

So this question asks, What am I being invited to see beyond the veil this month? What's ready to be revealed? And here we have the devil in reverse. Okay, so right here's Baphomet, right side up, right? smokin loungin while these people drinking and partying below him. And so he has shown up for us in reverse, and I'm going to pull pull him up again and read from this. Okay. All right, so make sure y'all can see that alright. To the "when the devil card comes for you, it's time to ask yourself, What are you chained to?" This is when the card is right side up and one's upside down. It's usually an invitation to like no, seriously I keep keep looking look more, look more. Okay, so the devil card asks you, what do you change to, "this is a card of addiction, you are tethered to some negative force bigger than yourself, be that alcohol, drugs and obsession, a toxic relationship could be a sexual addiction or a particular partner. You know, those feelings of helplessness and shame that follow giving into a desire that did real harm, either to yourself, or to someone else. That's what the devil is all about."

Cheryl Ball 15:36

Sorry, for the glare. These are very glossy cards. The devil card can also indicate evils that are out of our control. We can be chained by unjust societies and abusive situations. "More broadly, the devil indicates that you be that you're trapped by a lie. The power of the devil Devil is the belief that you have no alternatives. But you do. Once you have figured out what your Devil is, your job is to slip free of the chains." Okay, so this question, what am I being invited to see beyond the veil this month and what's ready to be revealed? The addictions that we don't even want to admit to ourselves, right? And that can come in any form. And this is not, you know, purely necessarily at all about like, Oh, I'm a drug addict, right? Or, Oh, I'm a sex addict? No, it's like, what are the what are the chains that are harnessing us in ways that are keeping that are holding us back in society today? That you do have control over? Right? Some you don't have control over. We all know that, right? But you have infinite control over your own body, your own space, your own mind. Right? And that may look different for different people, right? But there's some deep shit that's going to be revealed this month. So this card's a bit of a heads up that like, we're not joking around.

Cheryl Ball 17:26

If you think you know yourself, like, for me, I think I'm pretty grounded, right? I think I'm pretty intuitive. I think I'm a pretty good person, right? I think I've got a handle on, you know, my, my soul journey. Sure, just starting. And, already this month, I ever had multiple revelations around shit that I do. That holds me back. And then also holds other people down. So this month, all will be revealed, as they say, maybe not all just a little bit a little bit to take us further on our path.

Cheryl Ball 18:13

Okay, so the fifth card here, says, this is a card for your work with the eclipses this month. Now, I don't have time to go into all of the meaning of the eclipses. And I'm not an astrological expert, as I've said many times. So I encourage you to go listen to some podcasts. You know, I like Ghost of a Podcast. And Chani Nicholas just came out with a brand new podcast, but it's only once a month. And so I think it will come out in the middle of the eclipse season, which may or may not be useful to you at that time. But just go search around on the eclipses and see how they're going to impact you. Okay, and this is a card for your work with the eclipses this month.

Cheryl Ball 18:56

And we have the two of Pentacles in reverse. Okay, that's kind of interesting, because normally the two of pentacles is a card about balance. Right? And you think that balance would be a great thing to have during the eclipse season. So the fact that it's in reverse here for us? Like let's go, let's see what, let's see what Isabella has to say about this. The juggler, right. This is the card about the juggler. "You're juggling a lot right now, aren't you? You've got multiple balls in the air, but you haven't dropped them yet. The two of Pentacles suggests that there was more than enough going on in your life, but you're keeping it together and maybe even enjoying the multitasking rush of it all."

Cheryl Ball 19:39

Spoiler alert. This is going to tell us that we're not maybe keeping it all together as we thought we might. We might be okay, but she says, Isabella continues, "The key here is balance." She says, "I drew myself into this card." Okay, let's look [at her depiction of herself in the card]. There she is. "Like, I drew myself into this card because I feel like I'm always juggling about a million projects in addition to my social life, relationships, chores, and keeping my cat fat and happy." Y'all know it like a fat cat. "You absolutely need to balance these disparate elements, or else the Pentacles will fall to the ground and you're juggling act will fall apart. Even if you're struggling to keep it all together, you've got this. This is a time to be adaptable, and handle your many challenges with grace and efficiency. If you don't feel able to enjoy your current work life balance, perhaps it's time to reorganize. What metaphorical Pentacles do you need to drop, which ones could be thrown differently? Whatever it takes to restore balance to your life, do it."

Cheryl Ball 20:57

Whatever it takes to restore balance to your life, do it. I don't think that could be more clear.

Cheryl Ball 21:08

Okay, the final cup, a supportive anchor card that you can call upon as you open up to the medicine of the month ahead. And here, interestingly, we have the five of cups. The five of cups never generally feels like a supportive card. So again, we're gonna go I like reading from the book when I first get a deck right to get a better sense of what the artist has for the whole for the whole cycle of cards. Because the five of cups is usually a card of like I call it the Spilt Milk card, right because there's literally like cups and there's some kind of liquid coming out of them. Right. So she also says, the sad boy crying over spilt milk card. spilt cups card, okay.

Cheryl Ball 22:02

"Something bad has happened to the person this card, his heart aches. Three of his cups lie before him, spilled, their contents lost forever. He is grieving. He is at an emotional low, and he doesn't recognize the two full cups behind him. He knows. Across the river is a building potential shelter somewhere that could improve his life. A bridge in the background could get him to these greener pastures, but he makes no move to cross it. He's too busy being miserable. In a reading the five of cups signifies that you or a person close to you right is wallowing in disappointment. Often this card can suggest depression. But when you're ready, lift your weary head and see the two upright cups left standing."

Cheryl Ball 23:03

So this might seem like a very weird anchor card. But I think it's perfect for the idea of having to clear away cobwebs, to let go of the chains holding us in place to reorient our lives in a way that really requires us to think hard about the balance in our life. The grief that we'll be experiencing as we go through this, right, the uncertainty in which choice to make. But remember, we started with the nine of cups. Right? We started with happiness and gratitude. And we got a lot to go through. And even when it's it's it's at its worst, this anchor card is a reminder that what needs to remain remains and all the shit you didn't need is lost. And that's actually a good thing. Right? That takes you on your journey to the next places that you need to be.

Cheryl Ball 24:23

Alright, thank you all for joining me for this reading for Wellness Wednesday. I so love it to hear from you and that you watch and I'm really appreciative and I hope that you catch me again next week.

Reference Links

• Lindsay Mack's Tarot for the Wild Soul
• Chani Nicholas's new podcast (I can't find a direct link to it, but here's her website)
• Isabella Rotman's This Might Hurt tarot
• Tarot Jane