July's Challenges

The card I drew for July for my New Year Spread way back in January was the Seven of Rods, also known as the Seven of Wands in the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith deck.

7 of Wands
New Palladini Tarot

We see a figure wearing a plumed helmet with protective neck gear so we can assume he might be preparing for or is already engaged in a battle of some kind. He stands behind a rock and is holding a large rod in a somewhat defensive pose. Perhaps he is guarding or protecting something of value. Six other rods appear in the foreground. We don’t know if they are a first line of defense or are actually trying to take what the man in the image is protecting. Regardless, he is being defensive in case of a challenge. 

When I first saw this card for July, I was apprehensive. What would I be challenged about? And by whom? Why would I need to be defensive? What possible stance would I have to take?

I kept waiting all month for the shoe to drop. 

It never did.

Yet, as I reflect here, the last few weeks have been challenging energy-wise.

There was a solar eclipse visible only in the Southern Hemisphere, a lunar eclipse as well and Mercury went retrograde in Cancer, the sign of emotions.

Astrologically speaking, eclipses can bring things into the open or up from the depths. As eclipses are a change from the regular pattern, they want us to break out of our regularity and shake things up a bit. Eclipses occur while the sun is in an astrological sign which adds that element to the energy, so a lunar eclipse in Sagittarius will be different than a lunar eclipse in Taurus. Likewise, solar eclipses always occur during a full moon, while lunar ones occur on the new moon. This solar eclipse was in emotional Cancer suggesting a further opening up of emotions often held buried and the Lunar eclipse was in the hardworking sign of Capricorn, bringing to light some changes in work habits or attitudes towards work and success.

A planet goes retrograde when, during its orbit, it appears to be going backwards as Earth swings by it in its own orbit. As Mercury is the planet of communication-he was the messenger of the gods, after all-communication can also be going backward leading to possible miscommunication and misunderstanding. A retrograde can also serve as a way to revisit parts of our personality, path or other area we might need to work on. Or work on again.

I definitely felt some old anxieties come back up which I thought I had let go, but obviously hadn’t. Plus, I had definitely noticed a change in communication in a few friends so, I was just careful not to misinterpret what I thought I heard them say. And I also generally felt edgy for most of the month.

I also reverted back to some old sleeping patterns where I wake up after a few hours’ sleep and then try to get back to sleep. I usually do, but am groggy the rest of the day.

On a plus side, I did finally finish a story I had been working on for about a year. Now I just have to type it out, revise and edit it, then figure out what I will do with it. 

Maybe the message from the Seven of Rods was just that the month itself was going to be challenging and I needed to be on the defensive because of the Mercury retrograde.

Regardless, the month is over and I move on to August and a reversed Knight of Cups. Now that could something to be apprehensive about.

Knight of Cups
New Palladini Tarot