Practical Magic: A Beginner's Guide to Crystals, Horoscopes, Psychics, and Spells - Nikki Van De Car 2017

The Suits
Tarot
Casual Clairvoyance

cups

The suit of Cups is about relationships and how our emotions play into our connection—or lack thereof—with those around us. When you see a spread that is dominated by Cups, there is obviously something going on with one of your primary relationships, but it’s also an indication that you’re being driven by your emotions, rather than by logic or thought.

This is by no means a bad thing, necessarily—remember, there are no “bad” cards—but it can have a downside. If you are driven only by your emotions, reason gets left behind, leading to unrealistic expectations and self-absorbed behavior.

The Cups’ element is water, and how you interpret that will inform your understanding of the cards. Is the cup the self, and water what our relationships with others bring us? Or do you understand the symbolism differently?

pentacles

The suit of Pentacles—also known as Coins or Disks—is the suit of work and prosperity. How you define that work depends on the person the reading is for—this could be a job, or it could be the work we do around the home, maintaining our family and relationships. It depends on the context, but, generally speaking, Pentacles refer to work for monetary gain.

Because they are externally focused, they may also reflect our relationship with the world outside our own inner circle—so outside the group that the Cups would speak to.

The element of Pentacles is earth, and as such, it’s a very practical suit, which seems odd in tarot—but at the same time, it’s refreshing to see our most basic needs and goals discussed and held with the same respect as our creativity and relationships. The downside of being Pentacles-focused is obvious—greed and losing sight of what’s really important.

swords

A spread made up almost entirely of Swords will appear in everyone’s life at some point. We all experience conflict. We all have battles to fight.

The Swords aren’t literal here—instead, what cuts is the sharpness of logic and intellect. Sometimes our minds are at war with our hearts, and sometimes, our hearts are in danger from the force of another’s cold, hard logic, or vice versa.

The element of Swords is air, perhaps because the battles fought by Swords are seen from above, where the air is cold and thin and everything seems black and white. But again, there are no “bad” cards, and this is not a “bad” suit. Seeing things clearly is not a bad thing, and while logic and justice may hurt, they are necessary. Swords will keep you on the straight and narrow, so to speak. And that is usually a good thing.

wands

The element of Wands is fire, which may seem counterintuitive for a suit about creativity until you take a closer look. Fire, in the form of lava, is literal creation—land is created when lava hits the ocean. But creativity can also be a destructive force—like a forest fire, if it is not controlled, it can be damaging. Consider J. Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”

Usually, though, we think of Wands as the spark, the magical moment of beginning, rather than the conflagration. They are about your creativity and how you bring your true self out into the open. If you encounter a spread dominated by Wands, then that means it’s time to pursue that creative dream. That may not necessarily mean taking a painting class or writing a novel—though it might! It might also mean starting your own business, taking a risk, even having a child. What’s important is putting your authentic self out into the world.