Living the Tarot: Doing the King of Cups

Yesterday morning, before pulling my two cards for the day, I asked myself how I wanted to feel during the day. I have several writing projects stacked up, so I wanted to feel focused and productive. I asked the cards what I could do to make it a productive day, and pulled the King of Cups and the Seven of Batons from the Ancient Italian deck.

This combo isn’t very compatible. The King is planted solidly in his chair, grasping a very large open goblet that shows his enormous capacity for imbibing whatever life has to offer. Those frothy feathers and red garters don’t bode well for the kind of focus and dedication that the seven batons require.

The batons are straight, rigid and abstract — the opposite of the rather fleshy, embodied King. The vertical baton strives to push beyond the plateau of the previous card (Six of Batons) where you enjoy solid success, excellent health and a general feeling of well-being. The King wouldn’t mind hanging out there indefinitely. I could see I was going to have to struggle against my self-indulgent nature to get anything done.

Ten minutes after pulling my cards, a friend called and asked if I wanted to have breakfast on the waterfront then hang out at the art museum. Of course, my inner King of Cups said Yes! Food, art, beautiful scenery! How can one think of focusing on work when so much pleasure awaits! The Seven of Batons went out the window.

When evaluating a spread, my first instinct is to blend the cards’ energies and come up with a creative solution. But sometimes it just comes down to an either/or situation where you choose between options; or you do one thing first, then the other later.

We often tell our clients not to get a reading on the same question until something changes, or they’ve done something about their situation. In that spirit, I didn’t pull my daily cards this morning. I kept yesterday’s cards out, and now I’m doing the Seven.

I love how the TdM pips can morph into so many things. The Seven of Batons looks just like the electric fan that’s ensuring my survival during this week’s heat wave.

Working with one or two cards every day is an ideal practice for bringing the cards alive. Tomorrow morning, grab a deck, pull a card, and observe how it plays out during your day.