Happy Monday!
This lunar cycle already feels so much better than the last for me, which is weird because generally speaking Cancer energy and I don’t usually talk too well. We’re both water and very passive. Anyway! I am sitting in deep gratitude as I got to give 3 people New Moon readings, and they were such beautiful and hopeful readings. There are so many fresh starts happening within the community, and it all feels so connected within everyone’s individual stories and lives.
A few of the oracle cards I pulled had the of the Eight of Pentacles. I feel like it is often an underrated and forgotten card, but it is one of my favorites. It is a card of devotion, practice, focus. I actually hate doing the act of practicing in order to get better, but I know it is needed, and I am trying to change my mindset on that.
The card above is the first 8 of Pentacles that I really connected with. The standard Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot depiction didn’t really stick with or inspire me. This card from the Victorian Fairy Tarot (apparently now out of print, and I am kicking myself for donating my deck haha) spoke to me though. I feel like it really tells the story, illustrates the story of mastery, precision, focus, and practice that the energy of this card encompasses.
It takes years upon years of dedication to become a master instrument repair person. There is a lot of technical knowledge and skill that is required. That’s not to say that in masonry (see the standard depiction) doesn’t require this. It absolutely does. We can see that in all of the stone sculptures from history. This particular card however told more of a story to me.
As I was writing up the reading for this client, I was struck with a couple sentences that I wrote for this determined energy, and it spawned this Substack. “There is a self devotion practice layered within practice. We are promising ourselves that we will do a thing, and we love ourselves so much that we keep that promise.” I think that is part of why I love this card so much, especially these two depictions. The practice is not just to become the best, but instead it is a devotion to self, devotion to Spirit, devotion to The Divine.
Now that I have framed the art and act of practice as a form of devotion, I will definitely be more conscious of when I am avoiding the practice because I hate what I perceive as failure. Though it is not failure at all, but instead a learning opportunity. Learn from your mistakes, and it is not a mistake but a lesson. Life is a ritual. Not every ritual needs candles, incense, offerings. Sometimes that ritual is just about experiencing the present and being completely enveloped in your task at hand.
What are your feelings around failure? How do you interpret the Eight of Pentacles? What would you like to focus on practicing this week?
Wishing you well this week! May your life offer what you need in this moment.
With love,
Aventurine ✨