Tarot
Today's reading:
"How's this convention going to go?"
Cards:
"Good, keep working hard and try not to let past worries get in your way. It'll be a pile of complications but you'll pull through.... And then some swords showed up."
Time to completely reevaluate the reading I guess.
re: Tarot, a break down and examination of this reading
You know, I always feel better about my thinking when explaining it to others, so let's take a little stroll through this interesting (to me, at least) reading.
Feel free to chime in if you think you have input on this. I'm still trying to really properly grasp the Tarot.
A break down of what these cards are (to my understanding) and what this version of the celtic cross means:
The Present: 10 of Wands. A mixed card of both burden and responsibility. A man carrying a heavy load he has made for himself.
The Challenge: 6 of Cups. Clinging to the past, resistant to change. Don't get caught up in looking back, it can stop you moving forward.
The Past: The Emperor. Control, Structure. He is a fatherly figure of authority, wisdom and stability.
The Future: The Magician. Willpower, Creation. They take what they are given and create something new. Both pictures big and small.
Desires/Rising Above: 4 of Wands. A time of peace and celebration, generally implies a large group or community
Subconscious Feelings: 3 of Wands (inverted). Setbacks, frustrations. There will be unexpected problems on the path forward that you won't be fully prepared for. But they can be beaten and pushed through.
Advice: High Priestess. Subconscious, Intuition. She is a guide towards the inner thoughts. An encouragement to explore the world within.
External Influences: 4 of Swords (inverted). Burn out, restlessness. You continue to push through life's struggles to the detriment of your energy. There needs to be rest between the victories.
Fears/Holes 6 of Swords (inverted). Baggage, unresolved issues. Even when the place you're in is hurting you, you find it hard to leave. Movement is needed in life, you're resisting it.
End Point/Goal: 2 of Swords. Tough choices, stalemate. No option ahead of you is free of consequences. Notably the closing of the other path. You stand at a crossroads and must pick one or the other.
OH MY GODS am I glad that masto lets infinite messages be posted because wow that's long.
Okay now to break it down (it's been a lot of typing already)
re: Tarot, a break down and examination of this reading
Alright now for some deconstruction,
and keep in mind that the question was how my first convention as a dealer will be going.
The first 4 cards seem to tell a simple story to me. I've set forth on a path I'm not sure I can fully handle. I need to stress less about the structure of it all and focus on taking this by the reigns. The Magician always feels to me like a master artist in the middle of their work. A future I'd love to live.
Even the first 7 cards (stopping at the High Priestess) carry through on that. The 4 of wands may as well be literally "you've got friends at the convention, have some fun." In fact, the 4 of wands only ever has come up in readings regarding conventions for me. Go figure. the 3 and highpriestess in combination seem to me to say that I am stressed about trying to plan for unseen problems and I need to take the time to explore both the possible falseness of worries and prepare more for ones I may not yet have realised.
Then the swords show up.
The 4 still feels in line with this initial reading, "don't fucking over exert yourself at the con, you fool" But the 6 and 2 get.... weird.
Again, this is my initial read. I have some FEELINGS on this and Already have a lovely and insightful reply from @Motodrachen that sheds some light I'd not noticed.
re: Tarot, a break down and examination of this reading
To take a further step in. I have 3 major arcana, 3 wands, 3 swords. And odd balancing point being the cups. Now's a good time to talk deeper meaning in my eyes.
Wands are a suit of passion and desire. and a clear link with the magician previously mentioned.
Swords, A suit of logic and ideals. Matched with the Emperor.
And the major arcana are trump cards of their calling. The one left out in this being the High Priestess. The struggle between logic and passion rests on a point of emotions (the lone cups) and the subconscious.
I'm not fully sure what to make of this right now, so let's put that aside. Physically the suits are huddled. The wands all touch eachother in a V shape, the swords are a hard line on the end of the reading. Even the major arcana and lone cup form a Y.
To me the wands speak to a fear of overburdening myself. Getting into the deep end and having no way out... if I didn't have the community with me. The energy of those around me will help me carry through the problems I did not forsee.
The Swords? They're linked to the past with the Emperor. I feel this could be taken a bit literally as something to the effect of "don't overdo it and at the end you'll make the choice of doing it again or not." but I feel it could also be a bit more subtle? I can chose to push through and risk being burnt out, or not do so and constantly have the baggage and problems of falling to my old habits of reflexively refusing things without thought. The comfort of a passively harmful past or the prospect of a challenging future.