Waiting For What Comes Next

I’m late with this (busy at work + Dad in the hospital + everything else) and so ready to talk about what August may have in store instead :)

So, what the heck has been going on?

The first card out is The Chariot—and it feels about right.

In the traditional Chariot, a gladiator figure in a cart is pulled by two sphinxes. One sphinx is black and the other is white.

The figure has no reigns to hold onto and the black and white cat-sphinxes on this ‘camel on a bike’ version from The Tarot of Curious Creatures represent polar opposite drives.

There is struggle here, and we’re trying to wrangle very opposite energies just well enough to keep our day-to-day on course. It’s probably not great on our nerves. And we may—or may not—be dealing with this as gracefully as this camel charioteer (look how he smiles with his camel teeth).

So, what comes up first is a clear sign that daily life may require the will of a gladiator at the moment and the clarifier gives us a warrior figure too.

The 9 of Wands—which reiterates: if you feel like a warrior right now, you should, because you are.

It also reassures us that, as long as we don’t give up, we have more energy than we think we do, and we are in no way succumbing to an easier way (although we may be wavering a bit).

The indomitable spirit is not lying down, and it’s commendable, and the stylish socks on our bandaged fox-warrior flag this for us!

What’s Coming In

When I embarked on studying the big, mysterious system of tarot a few years ago, the 7 of Swords was the first card I studied. I only remember this because I drew stars and doodles on that particular page in my tarot notebook.

I was excited.

Some readers will say this card means you will deceive someone, or you will be deceived. That it’s about manipulation, lying, or stealing. I mean look at this version; it seems obvious. An ostrich dressed head-to-toe in black is stealing a little bird.

But the 7 of Swords isn’t about that.

In fact I always like to pull it in a reading because it gives us permission to be a bit selfish and self-interested about what we need and how we’ll have to go about getting it.

It’s about being truly honest with ourselves regarding where we’re at, and it may mean we need to bypass family, friends, and colleagues in order to assert our independence. It’s okay to be a lone wolf if you know there’s something you need to do that’s important just for you.

Setting up a customized strategy will help. You may need to plot and plan.

Or, you may need to be a bit secretive, at least for a while and be on the look-out for anything that says, Hey, look over there, and distracts you away from your deeper, more important priorities.

The Hanged Man, the clarifying card, suggests that—whether we like it or not—we’ll need to adopt a different perspective and a new approach.

Always bound by the ankles and dangling, this guy is about surrender. Instead of fighting things, let new views and unexpected bumps seep into your psyche (because the world looks different when you’re upside down).

Relax into the discomfort, it says.

Give up assumptions, it says.

It may feel like you’re in limbo but the new road will appear soon enough.

The Advice

Tucked inside this reading —I can see them plain as day—there are all sorts of opposing energies, and the uncomfortable feeling of the push-pull of multiple things in opposition.

I, for one, am trying my darndest to feel okay about this.

So, it’s no surprise that our advice starts out with the swift, decisive movement of the Knight of Swords—such a completely different energy from The Hanged Man—and what do we possibly make of this paradox?

The best example I can offer is by telling you about something from my own life and it’ll be up to you to find a similar parallel in your own world over there :)

I simply can’t help but think this sword-wielding figure (again, warrior-ish) with a plumey, colourful bird head wants me to talk about my new series of artwork.

I’m a university administrator, a pub server, a writer, and in recent years a collage artist. And I’m a little shy about my art.

Yet my collage art makes itself honestly, and it’s the most straightforward, satisfying thing I’ve done maybe ever (other than being a mom), and a few trusted folks even say it’s good. It often incorporates the images of birds.

But what will I do with this stuff after I cover my studio walls with it? Where does it lead? Why am I even doing it? None of this is clear to me.

My husband says, Who cares? Just make it. But I want to know what the point is—and I just don’t. I even feel a bit silly, like the ostrich on the 7 of Swords running away from everyone with what’s precious to him tucked away in a cage.

If you feel any parallel here, the Knight of Swords says, Keep going. Keep moving toward something that may seem effuse, unknowable, and strange.

There are no cups in this reading at all (which represent the watery world of emotions), so we’d be better off to remain a bit detached about it too—at least for the first few weeks of August.

And as you turn off your most destructive distractions and trench into something you can’t quite nail down, you may also take note of the clarifier here—the 8 of Pentacles—a card that literally means ‘don’t think too hard about it.’

Don’t think about what it means or where it leads, just ‘chop wood and carry water.’ Put your head down and do the unglamorous work that is required to nourish growth. Just move through the things we all do each day, that give us structure, with dedication and repetition.

Make food, do the laundry, walk the dog—and the rest will come to light when the time is right.

Last Thoughts

To be honest, I can hardly elaborate on these last two oracle cards.

From Resurrection Oracle by Jena Dellagrottaglia … Blind Faith.

Very appropriate :)

Both of these cards connect in such reinforcing ways (and I always love when that happens).

Blind Faith reminds me of The Hanged Man—where we’re asked to surrender and not expect clear feedback because the outcome is impossible to glean and nothing seems all that familiar at the moment.

And Bee Spirit from The Spirit Animal Oracle encourages us to just diligently work on the things that must get done, which is so much like the 8 of Pentacles. Like bees in a hive, each of us a very small part of an enormous whole, billions of creatures move about their days.

But knowing we are each a part of a greater force which has the potential for sweetness is sometimes just enough.

*This reading is dedicated to Joshua Stevens, a gentle and loving dad and partner who passed from our hive on July 8, 2025, and left us better for having known him. Rest in peace, Josh. Much love to you Alyson, Aidan, and Annabelle.

Resources

Baron-Reid, Collette. The Spirit Animal Pocket Oracle. Hay House Publishing, 2023.

Chris-Anne. The Tarot of Curious Creatures. Hay House Publishing, 2021.

Dellagrottaglia, Jena. Ressurection Oracle. Rockpool Publishing, 2024.

Thompson, Siolo. The Linestriders Tarot Deck. Llewellyn Publishers, 2016.