The last week has been a bit of a wash for me, mood-wise. I’ve made very definite progress on some things which I’ve been meaning to do, but I’ve also been dealing with some personal issues which have caused me no end of stress.

Then, of course, there’s…[gestures broadly at the world]…all of this, which comes with its own sack of conflicting emotions.

Life’s been exhausting, to put it plainly—a never-ending flip-flop between intense, positive experiences and equally-intense negative ones. Good news, bad news, and nothing in between except for a very tired wizard.

I’ve been a bit “stuck,” as many of us seem to be these days. And when I’m stuck, I usually throw some tarot cards and see what’s up.

More specifically, I asked: “What’s going on and what can I do about it?”

And since I also had the thought that I would write this up as a blog post in case it could be of help to someone else, you might consider whether or not some of this might apply to you.

Right now, we’re the Fool. We’re in a world that’s upside down, facing a future filled with uncertainty, seemingly ill-prepared for the challenges which may be ahead. We might have our hope, we might have a few tricks left in our bag, and we might even have an ally or three to aid us, but there’s really no knowing where the road is going to lead.

But we can see the first fork in the road, in the two cards just up ahead.

On the one hand, we have clinging to the old, trusted, habits and lives we’ve been leading thus far. We can cover ourselves in the armor of our possessions and previous actions, lock ourselves up in the relative safety of the familiar worlds we’ve built for ourselves, and wait things out.

On the other hand, we can take up our swords and strike off into distant lands, which are anything but familiar and even less developed. Throw a crown on our heads, claim sovereignty over these new worlds, and get to work building something uniquely ours.

I say this is a “fork in the road” ahead of us, because I see it as a definite choice between polar opposite modalities, and not a progression through one to the other. It might be tempting to think that we have to spend time under siege and on the defensive, before we can sally forth, but I don’t think so.

I think the old and familiar is a trap.

After sitting with the cards for a while, I’ve decided a good first stab at cutting my way through the siege probably looks a lot like this:

1. Don’t use social media unless it is to actively engage with other people as potential companions and allies. No doom-scrolling. No arguing with people. No time-wasting.
2. Pack light for the journey. This means some uncluttering about my house, as well as being even more careful about what I choose to spend my time, money, and energy on.
3. Don’t forget to take a “flower” with me. The road ahead is going to be long, and the work to do will be challenging. I’m allowed a pleasant distraction now and then, so long as it inspires hope, and reminds me why I’m doing this work in the first place.
4. Remember that the flower isn’t an unwieldy bouquet, and it’s certainly not a clutch of Pentacles which would ultimately just weigh me down. If the Sword is there for only one purpose, it’s to cut out anything which no longer serves a purpose.

We’re heading into strange lands, and living in even stranger times. That makes this an excellent time to re-evaluate the things we’ve allowed to clutter up our lives and thinking, and to toss anything we don’t need.

Pack light for the road ahead.