Tea-break Tarot School

The classroom is quiet today…we are at a loss for what to do.  At a loose end, as they say.  Someone suggests something to distract us and we groan.  Someone else points out the great opportunities we have and we shake our heads.

The Four of Cups captures this energy for us.

Whatever we have it doesn’t feel enough.  We are bored, dissatisfied, whatever is here we don’t want, like a child with a room full of toys only wanting to play with the car keys it isn’t allowed.

This feels like a timely card as I write. After eight weeks of lockdown many of the often outstanding tasks are done and we are cycling round again to familiar activites.

I see this in many of my cards.  A figure with three cups before them,  a fourth being presented by a disembodied hand, or standing just out of view on a shelf, emerging from a rose bud, or held carelessly in a loose fingered grips, pouring its goodness out on the ground.

In a reading this card points to stagnation, boredom, stuckness.  There is also a flip-side of reflection; to take time to explore what it is we feel is “missing” or the longing ache inside us.  Where does it come from?  Where is it pointing us?  Is it a case of practising gratitude, or does this restlessness push us onwards into something more creative and hopeful?

Exercise 82:

Where do you feel this sensation (listlessness/ boredom) in your body?  It is close to impatience but less acute…does it sit in your jawline or limbs?  In your scalp?  Notice when it arises.

Practice following this feeling to its roots…what do you find there?  This is helpful as it allows us to empathise when reading for others and also may provide us with indicators of the roots of their situation when we read.

Take a block of post its or note paper.  Write on each one thing which brings you joy or pleasure.  Aim to create enough pieces to fill a cup or mug.  Pick one out when you are next feeling listless.