Tarot Practical: June 28, 2012

A few days ago, friend of mine auditioned for an exciting project.  He is very, very good at the skill involved, and being chosen at the audition would have resulted in travel and good pay.  Needless to say, he was very hopeful, and had resolved to do his best at the audition.

After we got off the phone, I drew the following cards to see if they would tell me anything about the audition:

The Chariot     5 of Disks     4 of Cups     8 of Swords     Princess of Disks

The first thing I noticed is that there were no Wands, which usually signify creative endeavors.  There were material Disks, an emotional Cup, a foreboding Sword, and a single Trump.  Hmmm.

Position One: The Chariot.  This card represents my friend going into the audition, which was for a spot in an improvisation project.  Improvisation requires paramount mental agility and the ability to metamorphose on a second's notice, represented in this card by the four multiform sphinxes which draw my friend's chariot.  In life, they have drawn him back and forth across America and to foreign countries, where he has been invited to perform.  Draw him though the sphinxes do, it is he who commands the chariot and he who holds the Grail--his talent.  Talent is inborn, but he has worked hard to master it, to take the reigns of what he's been given and direct it according to his will.

Position Two: 5 of Disks.  This card is indicative of past developments that influence my friend's motivation in this situation, mainly his material security.  In the Thoth deck, this card is named "Worry," and follows naturally the powerful success that precedes in the 4 of Disks.  It is natural to be nervous before an audition, but this card also usually represents material paucity, from which my friend has not been able to remove himself for many years.  Because I try to relate each card in a spread to the others, I thought it likely that he might be filled with too much nervous energy to fully reign in his chariot and audition at his best.  I also, fleetingly, thought of a "fifth wheel" mucking up his chariot's ability to move forward, which in this case would represent another person whose involvement would interfere with his ability to focus.   

Position Three: 4 of Cups.  Called "Luxury" in the Thoth deck, this card is a bit of a tough nut to crack.  In other decks, it represents self-absorption and the inability to see what's being offered.  In this form and situation, I believe it may instead be the inability to enjoy what's being offered.  When I look at this card, I get a sense of being overstimulated by the gushing waters and the beams of light pouring forth from the source.  At this point I began to feel that the audition would not go as my friend desired; that he was being offered something truly wonderful and luxurious, but that he would not be able to enjoy it for some reason.

Position Four: 8 of Swords.  I can't help but cringe when this card comes up in a spread.  It is blockage, formidable obstacles, isolation from desires and even imprisonment.  Because swords are often associated with the intellectual, I sometimes associate this card with writer's block (especially poignant here because it is ruled by Mercury, the wily patron of writers and those who must think on their feet).  I felt that my friend would either be hindered by something major, or would for some reason not be as mentally agile as the audition would require.

Position Five: Princess of Disks.  When I laid down the cards, I designated this position as the final outcome.  So when she appeared here, I felt a surge of hope thinking that my friend might get good news that he had won the spot despite all the worry and obstacles.  But the trees behind the Princess reminded me too much of the 8 of Swords, and in the Thoth deck she is the manifestation of the earthy part of Earth.  Earth can be practical, fertile, and materially successful, but it can also be plodding, slow, and stuck.  I suddenly saw the Princess as an actual person who had planted herself as an additional obstacle to my friend, the Disk of success firmly in hand, her staff pointed downward as if to say, "It is done." 

Sad to say, after reading the cards, I feared that my friend would not succeed at the audition, which has been partially confirmed by the fact that he has not yet called me to share any good news, which he would have done almost immediately.

How do you see the Princess of Disks here?