Brighid’s Blue Moon Tarot Blog Hop
Welcome to the Tarot Blog Hop! For this hop each blogger is going to share a reading based upon a common tarot spread. This spread celebrates three cosmic events that are all happening this week: Imbolc/Brighid's Day (the cross-quarter point on the Wheel of the Year between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox) celebrated on February 1st, a Full Moon, and a Blue Moon (the second full moon in a calendar month) on January 31st. This is a very special tarot reading you should try out yourself at this time to connect with the triple potency of these special solar and lunar energies.
The Queen of Wands is comfortable and capable in her body. She possesses an ideal of feminine physical strength and fitness. The image above from the Deviant Moon Tarot depicts this Queen as an Amazon type of woman, strong, yet sensual. I welcome this energy, support, and wisdom from Brighid concerning my own physicality in the world. I am committed to gaining physical strength this year, increasing my physical fitness, and embracing my body as it is, without judgement. The Queen of Wands can be my role model, the embodiment of ease in the body that I desire to achieve. She is inspiring, inspired, creative, and glowing from within with health and vitality. What a great start to this reading!
The Fool sets off on a journey, a new beginning, without fear of failure or self-doubt. There must be a start, and now is the time The Fool will set forth. I see him as an invitation from the realm of Sky to begin a new way of thinking and experiencing the world. This year ahead, I plan on working on my mindset, on becoming more self aware of what I am thinking and how my mind is working. The Fool encourages me to pursue this goal with an open mind, without preconceived ideas of what I should be accomplishing, and without the doubt that will have me scrambling to get back into my comfort zone. Brighid sends me positive support in the realm of the mind for choosing to experience and preceive my life in a new way, with an open heart and an open mind.
Changing my mindset applies to more than simply how I judge and interact with my physical body, or how I aware or in control of my thoughts I am. My mindset also affects my self-development on a soul level, in the realm of Sea or Spirit. The VIII of Pentacles shows the effort and practice I will exercise to progress towards my goals. A spiritual practice is just that, practicing to get where you want to be. I am practicing yoga, meditation, and conscious transformation. I am practicing how to run, how to be still, how to eat, how to drink, and how to love. All of this self development takes discipline, hard work, and prolonged effort. Brighid gives me courage to keep practicing this year, to put in the work, to be motivated to make the effort. If this is what I want, why waste my time or energy working towards anything else?
The Construction: This Moon, according to the Celtic Tree Calendar, is the Full Rowan Moon. This tree is sacred to Brighid, and represents “Protection from Evil Enchantment”. It is considered a Guardian, a Guide, and a Gateway, so that we may be safely sheltered and receive direction as we walk down the new path of the year. So the three cards you draw for the second level, the Lunar energy of the year, will represent the answers to the following three questions: What is the energy of the new path that presents itself? From what will I need protection on this journey? What energies of my own or of spirit will guide and protect me?
The energy of my new path this year feels like it relates to the Seeker aspect of the Hermit. I am looking for new insights into myself. I am seeking answers to questions about what makes me tick, what I believe in, and how I can believe in myself. The Hermit likes to work in isolation and as an introvert I am always drawn to this inward probing energy. The question I have to ask myself is if I can find the answers within myself, or if I can use the guidance and wisdom of a Hermit or Guru who can help me access these inner regions of my subconscious. I have to be careful to balance my natural tendency to withdraw and do things myself, with the fact that there are limits to my understanding and what I can do alone. The Full Moon illuminates these dark places in my knowledge and beckons me to look to seek to shed light into all my blackest corners.
I need to be careful with my physical resources. I have a finite amount of energy, time, and money. It's likely that other people are going to be asking a lot of me and I will need to know how to allocate my resources to properly balance my own needs with the needs of others. There is a careful balance that I can achieve between giving and receiving so that I feel the right amount of reciprocity and generosity in my life. I have an innate desire to be charitable and giving, but an equally selfish streak that wants to keep my hard earned riches to myself. I'm inclined to lean towards giving more than I receive, believing that absolute balance is unrealistic. But is it?
The Surprise: Once in a Blue Moon, wonderful things come forth. Draw your final three cards connected with Body, Mind, and Spirit, in that order, to see what treasures the Universe has in store for you!
The VI of Swords gives me comfort and hope that I am on the right track, making progress towards changing my personal mindset, getting in control of my thoughts, and experiencing the world from a new perspective. All of these things are represented by the VI of Swords, even in the depiction above from The Deviant Moon Tarot. In it we see a figure who has put her thoughts aside and is allowing the expansion of her mind to take her sailing peacefully to a new land. I'm not sure I would say that my current mindset needs to be burned to the ground like in this image, but maybe it does. Maybe I need to start from a totally clean slate and enter an entirely new world within my mind. That type of movement would certainly help me get out of mindset that harshly judges and condemns my physical body and into a new way of looking at myself, my strength, and my body image. My physical home, physical health, and financial health could also use a makeover. The VI of Swords shows a surprising amount of potential for movement to a new way of thinking and experiencing myself.
I like to see this as a new love affair or loving feelings in my mind. Instead of a hot mess of jumbled thoughts and anxieties as shown in the X of Swords, I can see my mind offering up messages and thoughts of love and self-acceptance. I'm not going to say that that would be a complete surprise, but to have that be the dominant form of thought going on in my mind would be a wonder indeed. The brain leans towards distressing and fearful thoughts, I don't know why, something to do with self preservation and evolution. The fear-based thinking can quit is, as far as I'm concerned. I would prefer to have a love-based way of seeing the world with the Knight of Cups.
Wonderful surprises in the real of Spirit- Knight of Swords reversed And here we see my shining spirit moving away from the hasty thinking and wild fear-based thoughts and actions of the Knight of Swords. My spirit will be overflowing with love with the Knight of Cups, putting away or moving away from the Knight of Swords combative, troubled, and anxious internal monologue. The Knights represent action so this Blue Moon surprises me with my ability to actually do something about what I'm thinking instead of just daydreaming about it and wishing it would happen. It's good to daydream and get your goal honed and focused in on a particular objective. The next step is to take action towards that goal, even if you don't know what action will yield results and which are just movement. It's the intention behind the movement that counts, and the Universe will see my action and know that my intention is to move away from anxiety towards love. The surprise just might be success!
Thanks for reading my personal interpretation of this spread as part of the Tarot Blog Hop. Please use the links below to hop along or back to another great tarot blog!