Deck: Spiral

Question: What is blocking me and how can I overcome these obstacles with regard to motivating myself to find a job?

Spread: This is a 10-card reading which is read in a series of threes.  Each 3-card series includes the past origin of a block you are currently experiencing, the nature of the block, and what can be done to overcome this block. The first set of three cards represents internal factors, the second set represents external factors, and the third set represents hidden factors, or things you are unaware of that need to be addressed.  The tenth card represents a suggestion from the tarot on the type of work you could look for that would end up being more stable and enjoyable for you. The layout is shown below, and the cards you received are shown in the graphics attachment.

                     Origin       Obstacle      Solution      Suggestion

Internal           1                2                3

External           4               5                 6                   10

Hidden             7                8                9

Reading

Overall, the majority of the cards are reversed, and this does suggest some significant blocks that may be difficult to work through – but not impossible!!  Even some of the solutions are reversed, which suggests that they may not be the types of solutions you were hoping for, and may be things you don't really want to do. There is a series of Pentacles, from the Six through the Nine, that are all included in the reading and have to do with your everyday work and money, and how you balance this with your other needs and bring your work into a period of maturity and stability.

Internal Issues

Origin – Three of Pentacles. This card shows a woman receiving congratulations for her early successes, in the spotlight and enjoying the attention.  Being a Capricorn, recognition for your achievements is important to you, and the feeling that you could accomplish a lot and be recognized and appreciated for it was instilled early in your life. Perhaps you showed a lot of potential as a child or teenager, or in your early career, and came to expect that things would work out well from then on.

Block – Six of Wands. The Six of Wands shows a later period in life when you expect to be rewarded for your achievements.  You want a job that is not just a paycheck – it needs to accomplish something tangible that feels like a victory to you.  Not only that, you need and want people to notice this accomplishment.  The reward could come in the form of money, but even more important to you is the feeling that people have benefited from your work, appreciate it, and acknowledge it.  Also, you would like to do something unique, not just toil away in the crowd. You have a strong sense of individualism, and you believe you can accomplish worthwhile endeavors. These two cards are the main positive cards in this reading, and they show a strong and healthy sense of self-worth. They block you now, probably because you just can't see how the options available to you are going to provide the kind of personal satisfaction you are looking for. You have really had enough of boring, meaningless work, and are just not motivated to try for anything less than what your inner sense of self is telling you you deserve.

Solution – Judgment, reversed. Judgment is a card that represents a major turning point in our lives. It is a spiritual wake-up call, a blast from on high.  It requires you to evaluate everything you have done so far and judge whether you have taken the right path in life.  Your inner sense of what you want from a job and your external career path are not in sync. In order to make any progress you need to determine why this is, and make some potentially life-changing decisions.  Either you will have to accept that your career path is not going to be what you want it to be, and not cling to an inner sense of wanting and deserving something better, or you will have to completely change your approach to your career – possibly start over in a new field that is more in line with your inner drives.  The reversal of this card suggests that you have known for a long time about this dissatisfaction and disconnect between inner and outer reality, but have been reluctant to face up to a direct and honest assessment of the situation and the resulting changes that might require. This row of the reading is the most positive of the three rows, and it also has this major trump card at the end.  This suggests that if you focus on this area, it is likely to have the greatest benefits in terms of solving your problems – it is more likely to provide a positive breakthrough that will really change the situation.

External Issues

Origin – Hierophant, reversed. The Hierophant is traditionally the word of God brought down to earth. What he represents are societal and religious structures, that constrain our behavior and direct it into "socially acceptable" norms.  Reversed, this suggests that the Hierophant has not been kind to you and has limited your career options. In a work environment, he represents the old-boy network, corporate mentality, bureaucracy, and traditional expectations. All of this suggests that your individualism and early career promise was compromised and pushed into less productive directions by social structures and a male-dominated work environment, or possibly conflicts relating to having children or other women's issues.  Perhaps the career you really would have enjoyed was just not available to you when you started out, and now it is hard to get to where you really would like to be.

Block – Nine of Pentacles, reversed. The Nine of Pentacles shows a woman walking in a mature garden, which she has planted herself. She is very familiar with it, but it constrains her. This represents a situation with your everyday work which results from your past employment.  The reversal of this card suggests that you are not that happy with the jobs you have held and what that limits you to in the future. You are stuck near the end of a cycle in a type of work you don't really enjoy.  There is a need for change, yet it is not really obvious how to make the change, since you may not have had an opportunity to gain the skills that would be needed for the type of job you really want.

Solution – Eight of Pentacles, reversed. The Eight of Pentacles shows a man hard at work, a skilled craftsman who works with his hands.  He is very good at what he does, and patiently puts in long hours because he enjoys what he is doing and the sense of mastery over his work.  This card in the "solutions" position is also reversed, and interestingly, it represents a step backward from where you are now – the Eight normally comes before the Nine if both cards are upright.  To me this is saying that continuing to toil at the same work is not going to get you where you want to be.  This might be fine for some people, but for you to get anywhere in your current profession, you might actually have to go back and get some additional skills and possibly even take a pay cut while doing so.  The reversal says this is not the right direction.  Rather than trying to look for minor improvements in what you are already doing, this suggests completely thinking out of the box.  Look for something unrelated to what you have been doing, as basically, both in your mind and in the marketplace, it is not working out well for you. This could be something like starting your own business, working on the internet out of your home, who knows??  But it asks you to look for something new. The time is right for you to change directions.

Hidden Issues

Origin – Ten of Swords, reversed. Now we come to hidden factors. This series of cards suggests that there are hidden emotional factors unrelated to your work that are contributing to your sense of malaise and lack of motivation. Sometimes when we have emotional issues we don't want to confront, they come out in other ways, contributing to an overall depression of our enjoyment of life.  The Ten of Swords represents an old situation, probably a relationship (romantic, family, or other) that ended very badly.  You are still carrying around wounds from that situation, but you have buried them so deeply that you don't realize they are still there and still hurting you.  This old pain needs to be brought up and dealt with once and for all, so you can liberate yourself from these swords.

Block – Two of Cups, reversed. The Two of Cups is a card of successful and happy partnerships.  This could be in the area of love, marriage, or even business partners.  The reversal of this card suggests that the price for not releasing yourself from the previous situation is that you have been unable to form the partnerships that could be helping you with your current situation. Perhaps there is a lack of trust or old karmic business that keeps you from forming close relationships similar to the one that ended badly.  There are two ways this could be blocking your work situation – the lack of a partner in your life may contribute to an overall lack of motivation and sense of meaninglessness. Alternatively, what you may really need to do to get your business life going is to find a business partner you can trust to start up something new.

Solution – Six of Pentacles, reversed. The Six of Pentacles is a card representing being in harmony with your money. The amount that comes in and the amount that flows out is in balance, and you are thankful for what you have without being grasping of it, and happy to share with others in need. The Six in this deck also suggests that a third party may be able to help you find the partner you need – in this picture, a priest or counselor joins the hands of an older man with a younger woman. There is the sense that the man is helping the woman financially.  You could have a benefactor out there, either a parent, a partner, or a financial institution such as a bank, if you are willing to look for them and trust in their generosity.  Because this card is linked to the two previous cards and is reversed, it suggests that this person will not become available to you until these long-standing issues are resolved – it's a karmic issue. Releasing yourself from your past problems and opening yourself to loving and successful partnerships will help bring your life back into balance – and the money part will come with it.

Suggestion

Possible Direction – Seven of Pentacles. Yet another Pentacle (the suit of work and money), except this one is right-side-up!  This provides a clue to what will work for you – so far we have heard mostly about what doesn't work.  The Seven of Pentacles shows a woman working in her garden – a new one this time.  It is mostly bare, and the crops are just starting to rise to the surface. She is patient and sees well into the future, and knows that this will work out for her if she just keeps at it.  She feels satisfaction with these crops because she planted them herself and she is responsible for her own success.  We can read this card on a couple of different levels.  A more literal level would be to suggest working with your hands or the earth in some way, such as gardening, farming, or crafts of some kind.  If this does not appeal to you, then the card is read at a more metaphorical level – you need work that you yourself are responsible for. A business you build yourself from the ground up, a concept that bears fruit later on.  It may take a few years to get established, but you will be much more satisfied with the result than continuing on with various unfulfilling jobs.

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Illustrations from Universal Waite, Hanson-Roberts, Spiral, Ancestral Path, Herbal, Dragon, Halloween, Russian Tarot of  St. Petersburg, Medieval Scapini, Crow's Magick and Tarot of Ceremonial Magick tarot decks reproduced by permission of US Games Systems Inc. Copyrights © 1990, 1998, 1999, 1996, 1990, 1996, 1996, 1996, 1985, 1998, 1995 respectively by US Games Systems, Stamford, CT.

Wheel of Change tarot cards © 1997 Alexandra Genetti