It’s fitting that this inaugural reading hints heavily at moon energy, when no Moon card is to be found here. Riddles abound, and who are we kidding? We are IN IT, a mysterious murk, as two ultra-powerful, frenetic billionaires give global-wide executive orders that make millions of lives more difficult.

If your days are anything like mine, the external darkness has come into your intimate life too and it’s making itself at home. I pulled these cards locked away from my husband, who’s been getting on my last nerve. Things feel, well … unresolvable. And wouldn’t it just be easier to watch Netflix and take a nap with the cat? It’s Sunday afterall.

But how do we approach the week(s) ahead with any of this, and what do the cards say?

Change and anxiety, of course. But courage, courage, courage. Because the bottom of the well holds great promise, apparently.

Where are we right now, and what are the obstacles?

Also known as The Fates, the Major Arcana card The Wheel of Fortune, denotes great change and it’s got a bit of weight; whether you want it or not, it’s happening. It’s here. Whatever unexpected change of course is arriving, remember you cannot control (or escape) The Wheel. Revolution IS taking place in your life or work—but The Wheel brings us down, then up again. It never stops moving.

So, yes. Great. Change.

In the “Obstacle or Challenge” position of the spread, I drew:

9 of Voices (traditionally 9 of Swords)
4 of Materials (4 of Pentacles)
3 of Emotions (3 of Cups)

Interestingly, a figure on each of these cards has their eyes shut. I can relate. La la la la la. Everything is FINE!

And if ever there were a card suggesting anxiety and sleepless nights, it would be the 9 of Swords. The Swords suit is mental, rational, intellectual energy and, incidentally, it is the suit in tarot with the most difficult energies. I know we laud “the brain,” but the brain can make life so miserable. This card is also the depression card for me, and although I no longer succumb to the deep hooks of the big D (which chronically stalked me for decades), it’s energy is def circling. This card usually depicts a figure, head in hands, with nine threatening-looking swords swirling about.

Next to it, the 4 of Materials, which in the traditional tarot is the 4 of Pentacles (this suit is also sometimes called ‘Coins’), looks so warm and lovely here, yet in the standard tarot the figure holds onto four coins for dear life. In addition to—or because of—this sword nonsense, a scarcity mentality is running the show, and we’re prizing stability over EVERYTHING else and can’t see straight.

For me, reading tarot is a delightfully David Lynchian endeavor and true to the tarot’s abstractions, in the spread’s next bit a three-torso’d woman stands waist-deep in water, holding the moon in her six hands. I love this image (and the images that pop out in a tarot spread hold as much meaning as the defined meanings of the cards; sometimes more) which seems to sum something up about me right now (and probably the world too) that I can’t quite grasp. I am all of these figures at once (look, the one on the right has her eyes shut), and it feels impossible to integrate all of them into a smooth, easy single entity.

Let’s blame it on the moon in her hands, the moon’s nameless, watery apprehension and realm of illusion—a profoundly unknown territory. It is bewilderment and confusion and you only have your intuition to guide you, dear one. This mysterious place you find yourself gives you the opportunity to work on that.

Which brings us to the good stuff. Yay, advice.

Just look at this row of colour and light! But we must have the courage to fight for it, and this is the catch.

What flanks that radiant Sun card—which is our joy and fire; we successfully withstand the allure of the lunar night and find our way through to the sunlit garden beyond—are the Strength card, and the 7 of Wands.

In the traditional Strength card, a calm figure leans over a lion; it’s the card of quiet resolve and modest fortitude. Instead of wrestling with the beast, one must have the courage to caress it into submission, with trust. You are going to have to make peace with the animal inside you, and by this I mean the aspect of yourself who wants to say F**k it, and close your eyes. You’ve got a gently persistent wise one in their too, and that one knows better.

The 7 of Wands only reinforces this message: it’s going to take effort, inner strength and resolve. You are GOING THIS WAY INSTEAD, and you are going to have to (annoyingly) defend that position. But note that the figure gazes knowingly over her shoulder at the sun in the neighbouring card and doesn’t appear at all scared. Better days are coming.

So what do we do next?

Create.

The overall message here is quite loud. Have the courage, in spite of maybe not feeling like it, in spite of how weird you think your plans might appear or how misunderstood you may think you’ll feel, to create something. Because The Creator has just lit up the spread (see how the shape of its image mirrors The Sun card), and it’s instruction could not be clearer.

From Kim Krans’ Wild Unknown Archtypes description of this card: “With meager, minimal, and outlandish materials The Creator reveals a new image. They generate bounty from the seed that others tossed away. They annihilate preconceived notions of what is possible. The Creator does this by, first, being absolutely present to what IS (not imagining or wishing things were different) and, second, trusting [in] a force greater than themselves …”

She also recommends curiosity as the way into creativity, and mentions Vincent Van Gogh—who lived in a single yellow room and, thus, made yellow paintings (how’s that for using whatever you have at hand), who toiled in obscurity and mental instability and who is now among the most influential figures in the history of Western art.

So just create something—even though it is easier said than done. Even though David Bowie said that the creative process turned him to jelly, his heart and mind, and it wasn’t particularly pleasant but it had to be done. Do it anyway, even under less than certain and ideal circumstances.

Make something. Anything. It’s not the result. It’s the road.

Ok, so what about the last row of rather daunting cards?

So, yes.

Have a good look at these cards. It’s going to feel like this. I never said it was going to be easy, but you may as well be prepared.

Two figures peer at each other; a deep chasm divides them. In the world at large and, admittedly, in my tense and uncomfortable home right now, and even in myself, this is how things feel.

The card on the left, from Nick Bantock’s Sailing the Stream of Consciousness oracle deck, is The Reverie. A figure contemplates fanciful or impractical ideas and the good order of things. The card on the right is The Last Stand. A figure, more than a little worse for wear, appears to gaze into the abyss. And maybe they are even squaring off.

So a little ‘Solitude’ is required. Replenish your energies. No one will die if you take a nap. Take the focus off worry and you’ll make room for Vulture energy to swoop in and do the work no one wants to do and no one even sees, balancing the worst of it— clarifying. Things will at least begin to sort themselves out, and sometimes you must step into acceptance in order for the answers to slowly come.

Last thoughts:

Something broke loose this weekend and inspired me to set up this website and finally start this thing I’ve beeen thinking about for months. There were a lot of influences on this project (so many I won’t go into them but I may pepper future posts with tidbits). The final straw of inspiration happened as I read lines from a gorgeous chapbook gifted to me by my friend Canisia Lubrin, and ironically titled What New Map. She gave me the space to feel where I am—that’s what beautiful art does— and Appleseed Tarot was finally birthed.

Perhaps then, begin the week by finding a painting, a poem, a story, or an album that inspires you—be open to stumbling on something magical—and I will continue to post readings here each week, toeing a creative, curious, and optimistic line.

I will, if you will.

Resources:

Bantock, Nick. The River: Sailing the Stream of Consciousness. Llewellyn Publications. Minnesota, 2023.

Baron-Reid, Collette. The Enchanted Map Oracle Cards. Hayhouse Inc. New York, 2011.

Chris-Anne. The LightSeer’s Tarot. Hayhouse Inc. New York, 2019.

Chris-Anne. The Muse Tarot. Hayhouse Inc. New York, 2020.

Douglas, Alfred. The Tarot. The Origins, Meanings, and Uses of the Cards. Penguin Books. USA, 1972.

Krans, Kim. The Wild Unknown Archetypes. Harper Collins. New York, 2019.

Krans, Kim. The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit. Harper Collins. New York, 2022.

Lubrin, Canisia. Traducción de Adalber Salas Hernández. Qué Nuevo Mapa | What New Map. Poesia. Franz Ediciones de Literatura. 2023.

Rose, Charlie. Interview with David Bowie. March 31, 1998.

The Courage to Take a Stand: From Moon Energy Comes Creation