The Lord of Abundance is a warm and joyous card, which indicates a rare and precious type of love – a love which, once experienced, reminds us of the richness of shared emotion and commitment.
It is also a card which refers to the wellspring of fertility, whether spiritual or material. Here we see the first seeds sown of a bright and bountiful harvest. Accordingly, the card will sometimes come up to indicate high days of celebration – like weddings or other intimate celebrations of love.
The emotional quality represented by this card is deep and unusual – indicating the love felt not only by lovers, but also the love between close friends, or family. These relationships are gifts, which need to be cared for with great respect and gratitude.
The Lord of Abundance offers one word of warning – this type of love cannot be created, nor engineered. When it occurs in our lives we are lucky and blessed. Some people spend a lifetime looking for such depth of emotion. And sometimes, people try to pretend it exists where it does not. So when you raise this card in a reading be aware that you are fortunate indeed!
The Lord of Change is a card that indicates the necessity of constant change in life if we are not to stagnate. It often marks a turning point – a new job, a shift of fortune, a move of home.
Disks are an earthy suit, covering matters of material life, and the manifest Universe. If you look at the planet we live on, though in itself it seems solid and predictable (less so in recent years, mind you) it is in a constant state of change and movement. It turns in space, and if it did not, we’d all be very unhappy with the consequences. The cycle of seasons swings past us each and every year. The tides ebb and rise. Constant change is natural, normal and positive.
We do, though, often fear change in our lives. We will struggle against anything that appears to alter the pre-planned pattern we have applied to our future. But that’s exactly what this card does – instigates change. Sometimes we think that the change is bad – and on the face of it, it may appear to be – yet whenever the 2 of Disks appears, it’s warning us that change has become imperative. Something is stagnating, demanding to be broken down and made over.
It’s worth remembering that if you resist the change advocated by the Lord of Change, you might find that life imposes it upon you anyway – and then you’ll feel the effects either of the Death card, or the Tower. When this card appears, it demands a thorough re-assessment of your overall position and willingness to go with the chances that come your way.
The card is especially strengthened by cards like Fortune, and positive Disks and Wands. You can usually track down which area of life it applies to by looking at the cards that surround it – Cups would suggest you need to look at your emotional life. Disks would imply that it’s either your working or financial area that needs attention. Swords would probably indicate conflict around whatever changes you need to make, and may point to a need for clear communication. Wands would be more connected with your own application of Will, and the way you are trying to build your life. Major Arcana cards would suggest an inner, more spiritual area needs to be looked at.
I doubt that anybody feels comfortable when they pull this card in a reading. The Lord of Sorrow almost always indicates some sort of disruption which will cause pain and uncertainty. Such disruption leads to loss of balance and disharmony.
At worst, the Three of Swords will indicate loss or separation. In order to determine how serious this is liable to be, you need to consider the cards surrounding this one. With Death, or the Tower, the loss is liable to be of a serious and deeply distressing nature.
With cards like the Seven of Disks, you’d expect to find unexpected changes in the working situation – redundancy for instance. With Cups, the impact will probably be felt in the emotional area. Wands could indicate loss or damage to your inner nature – a big blow to the self-esteem, as one example.
However, sometimes, particularly when the Lord of Sorrow is not badly aspected by the cards around it, there’s another more complex reason for its appearance. This card will always come up during a period of unhappiness, confusion or disturbance. There will be doubt (especially of the self), inability to make decisions, sometimes ill-health which wears you down and makes you feel that you cannot cope.
And often during times like this, there are choices and decisions to be made, which you feel too uncertain to tackle. Yet the fact that you are unable to make your decisions perhaps prolongs a difficult or unsatisfactory situation, adding to your anxiety and worry.
To identify this as a meaning for the card, look for cards indicating weariness and apathy – Seven of Swords,Five of Disks,the Moon etc – and the absence of other ‘bad’ cards. If you feel that the Three of Swords is indicating that you are too untrusting and insecure to make important decisions, first and foremost, agree to give yourself a break!
Let things develop on their own for a while. Rest and allow yourself time to build up your energies. Then you will stop feeling quite so inadequate, and will be able to make the choices which will shape the next phase of your life.
And if the Lord of Sorrow brings grief and sadness into your life, try hard to look forward in the reading to the start of the recovery period, in order to give yourself something positive to hold onto. Sometimes this card will appear to mark a shocking unexpected event which, whilst painful, is not as awful as it might first appear. It helps a little to know when the tide is going to begin to turn in your favour.
The Wheel of Fortune is numbered ten and is usually shown as a great wheel. Sometimes Fortuna is seen, turning the wheel for all eternity. There are people or animals on the Wheel – some are falling off to be crushed, some are struggling to stay on, while a solitary figure makes no attempt to maintain its position but succeeds anyway.
Fortune is not the same as luck. We make our own luck and follow our own destiny. Good fortune comes from the still centre which contains the very heart of ourselves. The seasons will continue to wheel, the sun will rise and set, the planets will move in their allotted courses – with or without us.
If we struggle against the flow of life, we become those struggling to ascend the Wheel, or even one of those crushed beneath it. However, if we realise our own power to create a beneficial future and then trust in that vision, we shall become the still figure, master of our own universe.
The Wheel of Fortune is numbered ten and is usually shown as a great wheel. Sometimes Fortuna is seen, turning the wheel for all eternity. There are people or animals on the Wheel – some are falling off to be crushed, some are struggling to stay on, while a solitary figure makes no attempt to maintain its position but succeeds anyway.
Fortune is not the same as luck. We make our own luck and follow our own destiny. Good fortune comes from the still centre which contains the very heart of ourselves. The seasons will continue to wheel, the sun will rise and set, the planets will move in their allotted courses – with or without us.
If we struggle against the flow of life, we become those struggling to ascend the Wheel, or even one of those crushed beneath it. However, if we realise our own power to create a beneficial future and then trust in that vision, we shall become the still figure, master of our own universe.
The Lord of Wealth talks not only about material wealth and its appropriate use, but about the inner wealth and resources that we all have. This is a card that teaches us that the harvest we gather in our lives is the end result of all that we have put into living – and more importantly, how we have used the riches at our disposal.
We make our own realities with every thought, every deed, every wish. And when we direct our energies positively we shall arrive – as a perfectly natural consequence – at the Ten of Disks. Of course, if we direct our energies negatively we’ll find ourselves with the Ten of Wands, or the Ten of Swords – neither of which are happy cards!
There is a warning connected to this card though. When we have created sufficient wealth to make ourselves comfortable and contented, if we have a surplus, then we must make that surplus work. We cannot expect energy to flow freely in our lives if we hoard it, and try to hang on to it. This is as pointless as trying to save up the breeze so that it will blow on a stuffy day! There are some things in life you cannot clutch tight in the hand without crushing their value out of them.
If this card comes up in an everyday reading, it re-assures that financial and material matters are proceeding well, and that there is no cause for concern.
If it comes up in a more spiritually based reading, then we need to be applying the underlying principles to our lives – so in this case, we need to be letting our inner wealth show, in order to manifest that into our lives.
The Lord of Prudence is not quite as austere a card as it first sounds. It’s another of those Disks that works on more than one level. In the purely material and mundane sphere it indicates a period where financial resources must be carefully managed.
So long as it does not appear with cards like the Ten of Swords or the Five of Disks, there will not normally be any grave material problem. But there is a warning here that there may be unexpected expense, and good money management will enable us to fund whatever arises.
At the next level, the Eight of Disks can apply to a period where you enter into additional training in order to enhance your career projects. In this case look for cards like the Three of Disks, or the Ace, to indicate some new area of study. Then look for cards like the Universe, or the Sun to indicate the successful outcome of your efforts.
Finally in the spiritual area, when the Lord of Prudence comes up with cards like the Priestess, Death, the Moon, or the Hierophant, you’re approaching a period of rapid spiritual development – almost an initiation. In this case, this card is warning you to be alert for opportunities, ready to deal with stress and pressure, and to manage your energies thoughtfully and carefully. You can perhaps see the correlation which exists with regard to energy management between the material and spiritual definitions of the card – in either case energy must be regulated and respected in order for life to go smoothly and for you to get the best out of your experiences.
The Lord of Science appears in a reading when we have passed through a stormy or difficult time, and into the safety of a sheltered harbour, where we can recuperate, and consider the difficulties which have arisen around us.
Often we will have passed through a period of dreadful confusion – and frequently a time of emotional suffering. But this card indicates that, at least for the moment, pressure has eased, and we can try to sort out what we really feel. Frequently we need first to rest until we feel refreshed, but eventually we will be required to assess events and make new decisions for our future.
Because we will find ourselves seeing things more clearly, difficult and demanding decisions will be easier to make. We will find ourselves with a more clear overview of the issues we are facing. And we will be able to make choices which bring us peace of mind and happiness.
Expect to find greater objectivity, clarity and new perspectives as a result of the 6 of Swords. This is a card that indicates a healthy balance between the emotions and the intellect, where we can think through even delicate situations, with detached impartiality.
The Lord of Power represents the time when we achieve a stable level of material balance – at least for that moment in time. At the purely mundane level, it might come up after we had settled into a new home, or undertaken major improvements. The card is, at this level, much concerned with asset security and material bounty.
One thing to bear in mind about attaining the mundane value of this card – though you have achieved one level of material stability, you cannot either cling to this, nor take it for granted. Become too smug and you’ll find yourself losing the sense of safety and balance which has occurred. The human being is not naturally given to stagnation…
On a more spiritual level this card holds sway over crystals and semi-precious stones – it might be hard to see the cross-reference to the asset security I mentioned in the previous paragraph – but on a mundane level, we’re often talking bricks-and-mortar and the security derived from being safe within our homes – at this more subtle level, we’re still talking rocks!! But this talking we’re relating to the amount of energy we can all gain from crystal-work.
Some crystals teach us calmness, or emotional balance, simply by giving off their unique energies. Other crystals can be programmed to assist us in various self-development tasks, and in protection, healing and cleansing. So if this card comes up in your reading with cards like the Hierophant, the Star, the Moon or the Priestess, consider that perhaps you’d help yourself with a little crystal work!
The Lord of Power represents the time when we achieve a stable level of material balance – at least for that moment in time. At the purely mundane level, it might come up after we had settled into a new home, or undertaken major improvements. The card is, at this level, much concerned with asset security and material bounty.
One thing to bear in mind about attaining the mundane value of this card – though you have achieved one level of material stability, you cannot either cling to this, nor take it for granted. Become too smug and you’ll find yourself losing the sense of safety and balance which has occurred. The human being is not naturally given to stagnation…
On a more spiritual level this card holds sway over crystals and semi-precious stones – it might be hard to see the cross-reference to the asset security I mentioned in the previous paragraph – but on a mundane level, we’re often talking bricks-and-mortar and the security derived from being safe within our homes – at this more subtle level, we’re still talking rocks!! But this talking we’re relating to the amount of energy we can all gain from crystal-work.
Some crystals teach us calmness, or emotional balance, simply by giving off their unique energies. Other crystals can be programmed to assist us in various self-development tasks, and in protection, healing and cleansing. So if this card comes up in your reading with cards like the Hierophant, the Star, the Moon or the Priestess, consider that perhaps you’d help yourself with a little crystal work!
(via angelpaths.com and Alan Blackman)
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