Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Intuitive Tuesday -- Eight of Swords

Every Tuesday I select one card and give you my interpretation of it. See how it applies to your life and ask, "What messages are here for you?"

As I shuffled the cards to select this week's Intuitive Tuesday tarot card, I said, "Tell me what messages I need to bring to my readers this week." I selected the Eight of Swords from the Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti and Barbara Moore.

Eights can represent reorganization of ideas, thoughts, materials and emotions. Eights can also indicate power, success and stability. The suit of Swords usually indicates thoughts and conflict.

The Eight of Swords is a card about feeling trapped. On today's card, you see a woman who is handcuffed and blindfolded, surrounded by swords. She is trapped in a prison of her own making. Her thoughts and beliefs about a situation are keeping her stuck.

The energy of the Eight of Swords can be frustrating, not only because you feel trapped, but also because you have an inkling that YOU hold the key...but you can't remember where you put it!

You might also feel fear, because you don't know how to free yourself. Try as you might, you can't think your way out of this -- especially if you use the same thoughts, logic and reasoning as you did when you first got into this mess. The more you struggle, the more stuck you become.

It reminds me of when I get a knot in my shoelaces. At first, I pull on one of the ends to see if the knot will somehow slip out. No luck! Pulling only seems to tighten the knot, making it even more impossible to unravel.

My kids do the same thing. They pull their knotted shoelaces in an effort to loosen them, but tighten the knot instead.

By the time they bring the shoe to me, it's usually a huge knotted mess. My best course of action is to look closely and find a looser strand in the lace so I can begin to loosen it gently, coaxing it from being so stubborn.

It's the same with our thoughts. If we stick to what we've always known (pulling the knotted shoelace), we have no new way of looking at or moving through our situation. We are applying the same "solution" that keeps NOT working and the knot gets tighter.

No wonder we get frustrated.

Today's card -- the Eight of Swords -- indicates not only feeling stuck, but gives you some clues to loosen the knot. By reorganizing your thoughts (in the tarot deck Eights = reorganization and Swords = thoughts), YOU hold the key!

If you are feeling stuck now, instead of reacting with the same thoughts, why not pause and try something new and different? If you have no idea what that might be, ask a trusted friend for help in unraveling your knot.

Your friend may provide some insights for you, but what I find is that just talking through it with someone else, helps me to identify my roadblocks. Sometimes my friend doesn't have to say anything and I work myself up to and through my own obstacles. Other times, a friend can ask a thought-provoking question at the right time and BOOM! The answer appears!

The next time you feel stuck in a situation, think about your shoelace being knotted. Pretend as though you've pulled really hard to get the knot out and it's not working...how can/will you change your approach to help you find freedom -- from a knotted shoelace...and/or a tangled situation?

Remember what the famous tarot reader Albert Einstein said about the Eight of Swords (OK. He wasn't known for his tarot reading abilities but the same logic applies):

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking
we used when we created them.

6 comments:

Mad Hatter said...

Okay, Sheri, so is clear that the Eight of Swords is the official infertility Tarot card! That picture and your description says it all! Thanks for the food for thought today...
Love,
Maddy

Quiet Dreams said...

It really seems like last week's post and this weeks should be switched for me. Last week I was feeling stuck, and this week I am on the verge of starting a new project (being a volunteer facilitator for the divorce recovery group I went though in the Spring). Interesting how this works.

Kaleene said...

This is very profound for me today. I feel totally stuck professionally and keep asking the same questions to the same people and getting the same results. I need to rethink my path and stop pulling my laces so tight. Question is though, do I stay and stick it out or try and move on someplace else where I can make more of an impact while in the same company or an outside company.

Kristin said...

I love these posts Sheri because even when they don't apply to me, they get me thinking. Thanks.

Lori Lavender Luz said...

"YOU hold the key...but you can't remember where you put it!"

I've been feeling this way about a project for quite awhile now. I'm taking a different (drastic for me) tactic by stepping away from my blog for awhile.

I'm a big fan of getting input from friends (and sisters!).

Kim said...

Hi Sheri - just about every week your Tuesday card reflects an area of my life - ususally the one that feels most prominent too, this week being no exception. I've been in a pattern with a colleague for... oh years now - and I'm at a point where it HAS to change because the frustration is now too much. And just as this cards suggests, I don't know how, but I have realized that I do need to think differently in order to align with the thoughts that will move us forward into a new, and more harmonious pattern. I appreciate the shoe lace metaphor!