The Emperor Sage
It was a strange week.
And then I was sick all weekend with an unknown ailment.
My body hasn’t caught a virus, or food poisoning. I think it’s just had enough.
Where we are right now
We start out with the 9 of Pentacles and the Ace of Pentacles, from Catrin Welz-Stein’s Tarot of Mystical Moments, which both fell out at the same time—and there are a LOT of pentacles in this reading.
The suit of pentacles is about behaviour and the body. It’s about our connection to the earth, what is tactile and what we can ‘see,’ as opposed to the more internal aspects of thought (swords), emotions (cups), and creativity/spirituality (wands). A few succinct words regarding the suit of pentacles from author and tarot scholar Michelle Tea: “We eat, we have sex, we poop, we create things using our hands, and we use money.”
(And sometimes we feel sick, which would also fall into the realm of pentacles.)
But it’s not only this.
Pentacles is about behaviour and our behaviour illustrates what we truly value. The 9 of Pentacles, specifically, is all about self-care.
Traditionally, this gorgeous self-made 9 of Pentacles figure has a falcon perched on her index finger, a bird associated with focus and planning—in her command. If you look closely there is also a little snail among all that fruit on her head, a reminder that the road ahead is a slow and steady process, and you are getting a nudge to focus and plan, but make sure you take care of yourself along the way.
This may be striking you as a revelation right now, and a recent experience (like being very ill, perhaps) has made this need more obvious. Maybe you’ve been reminded (in a harsh and sudden way) to make better decisions on behalf of your future self.
YOU are the one who decides, afterall, how you’ll handle your own life and, when it isn’t working you are the one who must dig yourself out.
We each have a body to tend to and how are we treating it anyway?
From Jessica Dore’s Tarot for Change: “When we’re born we’re given our own little plot of earth—our bodies. The pentacles suit, as a whole, is an exploration of what we need to do in order to determine what’s precious to us.”
The Ace of Pentacles is the very idea dawning on each of us about how exactly we might do this. I, for one, am having a sudden revelation that feeling calm and conscious—even in the midst of so many tasks and goals—is more important than anything, really.
I know. Not rocket science. But sometimes you have to have a really sh** weekend in order to gain some perspective.
So, how will I move forward with this more in mind? (Less doomsday media. More tuning in to to ways to stay serene and centered.)
4 of Inspiration (a.k.a the 4 of Wands), from Chris-Anne’s The Muse Tarot, lends further clarification to all this pentacle energy, and it’s giving a very zen vibe to things.
We’re not doing a bad job of things these days (if that’s where you thought I was going with this.)
As a new project or phase in your life begins to ‘root in,’ we are realizing that we may need to make some adjustments re: how we’re caring for our bodies, but the 4 of Inspiration (Wands) reveals that this is an entirely new juncture of stability and community too. It says, “Holy eff, you are getting somewhere!” So, celebrate in some small way because you have been working pretty crazy hard at it.
The 4 of Wands has ideas around ‘belonging’ too. Whatever that may mean in your case.
Full disclosure: much of my discomfort right now is around sensing who in my life accepts all the aspects of who I am, and which people want and desire only certain parts of me. The fact that these 4 of Wands ladies are ōm-ing together probably hints that I’m being too sensitive—and my comrades love me just the way I am.
Regardless, these cards start off the reading reinforcing (big picture) that we ARE in a good place, a place for which we should feel proud, even if we’re realizing our bodies are in need of some extra loving care and attention.
The Upcoming Obstacle/Challenge
Again, two cards popped out from the first deck for this position: The Star and the 2 of Pentacles.
The Star is the ‘hope’ card.
It’s about optimism, and in this position—representing what may be challenging in the days ahead—it can mean it may feel difficult to feel hopeful, or that finding replenishment, rest, and recuperation seems beyond possible.
So you’ve deduced that you need to point your behaviour in the direction of TLC, but (frustratingly) it may be easier said than done.
Coupled with the 2 of Pentacles (which is about juggling and adapting) this lack of optimism is mostly around our tasks, and maneuvering what must happen in order to get it all done.
When the 2 of Pentacles appears I always think of a colleague of mine who seems to accomplish the impossible every week. A professor at the helm of a large academic program, she writes and publishes one book after another and travels to speaking and teaching engagements all year. She’s also an editor at one of the country’s foremost publishing companies, AND she has a fat bucket of family responsibilites.
I’ve ring-side watched her spin these plates—and she thrives on it.
But, unlike this colleague, as much as I may want to gracefully churn out each task in my growing calendar, I’ve been feeling a bit unsure about the busy-ness of my days, and not certain I can continue to manage them.
Yet another pentacle card is here too. The 3 of Materials (traditionally the 3 of Pentacles) is about collaboration.
This week we may also feel like working with others isn’t working out very well either. :(
In the push-pull of egos, people who must come together for a common goal aren’t coming together.
And a word of warning, and a bit of pre-advice to the advice … You may lack faith in the necessary teamwork, but pick up the strings and fill in the gaps because you’d be better off sidestepping competition and dissension. It may feel like you’re working hard and settling for less, but it’s temporary.
The Main Advice :)
Last week The Emperor appeared and told us an old stable structure we’ve always relied on is not dying, but ‘dead.’ (Yes, fair enough. It made a lot of sense to me in light of recent decisions made by U.S. administration to upend trust around the world.)
The Emperor has arrived in the reading again here, but he says something entirely different. And clarified by the 4 of Voices (which is traditionally the 4 of Swords), I love this advice. It has a serenity about it—that asks us to (just try our best to) slip into the peaceful, conscious embodiment of a modern-day monk in the days ahead.
Monk as Emperor. What might that look like?
That’s up to you.
A little less screen time? Some yoga. Going for walks. Reading? Cooking?
One of the enlightening things about being so sick you can’t keep anything down is that, on the other side of it when you’re well again, simple, good food is an utter revelation. Why wasn’t I seeing it as the life-affirming sustenance it is? And, geez, I should cook more meals from scratch. It is so grounding, and so slow.
We may be balancing a kajillion tasks atop a tall building in our day-to-day, but the advice asks us to move through the week in our heads like this blissed-out lady bathing in stardust and rose petals, and assume a mellow stance like an Emperor who rules with a profoundly attentive hand.
In the original tarot decks, the 4 of Swords meant ‘retreat from battle’ (and to be honest this card is coming up a lot right now; so it’s REALLY OKAY to take breaks). If you must go off-grid, do it. If it feels too weird to retreat, or it brings up feelings of guilt, spend some time with that. Where does it come from?
There are other ways to live.
Recently I found myself scrolling real estate in interior British Columbia, where life moves more slowly and there isn’t so much noise. How you find quiet rejuvenation between tasks is your choice. But in the words of tarot creator Chris-Anne, from her guidebook for this deck, The Muse Tarot, “Consciously decide to slow down before you sprint ahead. Your nest will grow around you as you sleep. Your life will shift as you regenerate.”
Connect to the world where things JUST ARE, without reaching for external validation. This is how you lay down the ‘rules.’
You may be attempting to change something about your behaviour this week—to be kinder to your future self—but try to be the kind of Emperor to yourself (and others) who is not a ruler, but a sage.
Which brings us to the oracle messages.
Further Advice
A straightforward message that asks you to push through any difficulty in remaining optimistic.
Oh Sunny Day, from the Oracle of Mystical Moments, suggests that you have the power to make good things happen, even if the oomph behind that feeling is waning a bit.
And apparently those three little mushroom-climbing ladybugs lend us a little luck.
From The Archeo by Nick Bantock, a card I’ve never pulled before, and it feels like it pins the reading.
“The Sage sits quietly by your side, reminding you to stay centered.
… Unlike those priests who cloak themselves in wordly wealth, he [does not] demand adherence to a tablet of commandments. He sees no reason to regret or blame … teaching us to trust our deeper, intuitive senses and make right choices based on grounded consciousness.”
So, a recommendation, if I may?
In a book I’m currently reading, the author lists all the music that carried him through writing each chapter, and I’ve been playing this Sunshine Baby song as I write this on a rainy Sunday. Listening to music, and perhaps the sweet tunes by The Japanese House, could be merely one ingredient in an elixir of behaviours that may make you feel … more calm.
It’s no simple task: to embody sage-dom.
Ridiculous even to pose it, perhaps.
But a girl can aspire to chill the f*** out.
And now I leave you with a card I don’t really get :)
This oracle deck, The Citadel by Fez Inkwright, is the strangest deck I have, and I always have a hard time decoding its messages. Nevertheless I pulled it down from the shelf for this reading (half knowing I would regret it), and this card, The Chiromancer, is capping things off.
It’s a cool-looking card and may link to the earlier 3 of Pentacles—where collaboration is highlighted—but what ‘the fortune-teller’ has to share with us is anyone’s guess.
Perhaps it involves the delivery of some illuminating news?
From Inkwright’s guidebook,
“You have a message to deliver, or something you’ve been meaning to say for a while but it may not be a message that someone is ready to receive. Be careful about how you deliver it, and choose your timing carefully. The outcome may entirely depend on you.”
With that slightly onerous last instruction, I wish for you a delightful week.
Resources
Bantock, Nick. The Archeo. Understanding & Developing Your Archeypes. Llewellyn Publications, 2021.
Chris-Anne. The Muse Tarot. Hay House Inc., 2020.
Dore, Jessica. Tarot for Change. Using the Cards for Self-Care, Acceptance, and Growth. Penguin Random House, 2021.
Inkwright, Fez. The Citadel Oracle Deck. Sterling Ethos, 2023.
Tea, Michelle. Modern Tarot. Connecting with Your Higher Self Through the Wisdom of the Cards. HarperCollins Publishers, 2017.
The Japanese House. Sunshine Baby (Official LiveVideo). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv6ea48A-0I
Welz-Stein, Catrin. Oracle of Mystical Moments. U.S. Games Systems Inc., 2017.
Welz-Stein, Catrin. Tarot of Mystical Moments. U.S. Games Systems Inc., 2020.
