The 5 of Swords and The Prince of Cups
We are now in Sagittarius Season and for many of us, the holiday season as well. The holidays will look different this year and that may bring up some sadness and moments of reflection. Both our cards this week speak to this energy.
The Five of Swords, also called Defeat, comes with some heaviness. No wants to experience defeat, no one wants things to go astray. But the truth is that we all encounter disappointment, it is a natural part of life.
The Five of Swords looks like it’s underwater with reflections of green, blue, and purple. There are five swords in the shape of a pentagram star and the star is pointed towards us.
The significance of the pentagram in this formation is that we are the ones that are in control of the defeat. We control how it affects us and how we interpret it. We control what we learn from it and how we move forward.
This week we may experience our fair share of setbacks. Things may not work out the way we had planned. But the card of Defeat has more to do with how we limit ourselves to avoid failure or pain than the actual event that causes disappointment.
In Buddhism, there is the concept of the second arrow. The first arrow is the thing that happens to us, the heartbreak, the accident, the setback, but the second arrow, the more painful arrow, is how we view the first. It is how we beat ourselves up because of what happened. It is how we talk to ourselves and say we are a failure. It is all the ways we negatively process the first arrow.
How can we change the way we view defeat this week? How can we start to see it as benign and normal? How can we continue to take risks knowing we might be disappointed? How can we let go of the second arrow?
Defeat, disappointment, and failure are our best teachers. They show us how strong we are and what we can do differently next time.
We should feel proud that we care enough to be disappointed. We put ourselves out there to encounter a setback. That means we were brave enough to take a chance and brave enough to care.
The Prince of Cups helps us navigate our emotions and shows us how to process our sadness. He is an intuitive, sensitive, and creative soul that feels things deeply. He is the watery quality of air, bringing the mind and the heart together.
He will support us as we drop down below our outer world this week. Through spending intentional time in a quiet space, we can hear his guidance.
The Prince of Cups is about awareness of our inner dialog. He wants us to notice how we talk to ourselves and what messages we are sending to the universe.
For example, we may say we want to grow and evolve. However in our mind we think we are not good enough or that things will not work out. We want our lives to progress and change but our inner-monologue says differently.
The Prince of Cups wants us to see if we can match up our thoughts with our desires. He asks us to hold self-fulfilling beliefs about ourselves, to think we are good enough, and visualize our success.
The Prince of Cups supports awareness of the stories we tell ourselves. These stories are sending a powerful message. If we want our stories to change, we have to first hear them.
When we become the observer of our thoughts, we can ride the waves instead of having them crash over us. The Prince shows us that acceptance of our feelings makes us a skilled surfer on the emotional seas.
With acceptance and compassion, grief and sadness have their space. They are no longer stuffed inside. And when they feel heard, we are able to lighten.
Our thoughts are so powerful and can create so much change. Through dropping down into our unconscious and listening to ourselves, we can make sure the change we are creating is positive.
Mantra for the week: The path of life has ups and downs. Awareness and compassion help me navigate with grace.
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