Tarot Card of the Week: August 10 – August 16
Are The Furies Visiting Your Thoughts?
You arrive at the path of the furies visiting your thoughts… The Eights represent the status of your relationship. In the distance, there are nasty storm clouds hovering over the mountains! These storm clouds represent the storm of uncertainty that is brewing in the Archetypes thoughts!
This week you might feel trapped in an uncomfortable situation that is self-inflicted through fear, or the consequence of a choice you need to make. You’ll need to make the effort to free your thoughts from being jailed in the situation, or feeling hopeless, or feeling sorry for yourself, or feeling like you’re experiencing another stinging event that is out of your control!
You need to remember that fear will paralyze you straight in your tracks if you let it, and you won’t be able to act on what needs to be done. Do you fear confrontation? Do you fear hurting someone and burning your bridges? What do you fear this week?
Decode And Learn The Secrets Of Symbols And The Stories They Tell… You’re going to break out of this self-inflicted situation rather quickly because the mountains in this card are close.
When the mountains are close they represent a fast timing, but when the mountains are far away they represent the opposite!
The Minor Arcana represents your choices and actions throughout the realization of your destiny. The Swords usually indicate a struggle or conflict, or a possible decision that you’ll make, or separating from your past attachments because you need to heal your mind so you’re not jailed in your thoughts. There is a desire to find the truth that will shed light on your situation, so you’ll act on it and find closure.
Mythic Tarot: The Story About Orestes. The Furies Visit Orestes’s Mind…
In the past, Ordestes withdrew into isolation because his father (King Agamemnon) was killed by his mother (Queen Clytemnestra) and her lover (Aegisthus). Aegisthus became the King, and Prince Orestes was taken to a place of protection (Phocis). He escaped in exile to heal his mind, body and spirit, and come to terms with the fact that the life he once had has changed and he can’t go back.
Meanwhile, Orestes fears that he’s doomed because he has two difficult choices: the first choice will be to suck up his fears and follow Apollo’s orders (kill his mother), and the second choice would be not to follow through with Apollo’s orders and lose his Kingship and possibly his life. Orestes feels that he’s not going to come out of this situation in one piece! Even if he makes it through this toughest time in his life, he fears the Furies will haunt him until he dies of regret!
Apollo stands to the right of Orestes in his mind’s eye. Apollo visited him in the past to tell him about his fate and destiny, which required him to avenge his father’s death by his mother’s hand. The terrifying Furies stand to the left of Orestes in his mind’s eye. They are embedded in his thoughts and represent his paralyzing fears that nothing will ever be the same!
My Interpretation of the Eight of Swords
The Eight of Swords is enumerated eight and represents regeneration and transition. The sky is cloudy, which represents something unclear that feels paralyzing! An Archetype, dressed in white, with his hands over his head, can’t turn off the thoughts in his mind.
There is a struggle between the Archetype’s emotions because he is thinking about two situations that are haunting his thoughts (3 bat-winged creatures dressed in black, with snakes for hair = the furies), and the wishes of Apollo asking Ordestes to follow through with what he needs to do (a sun crown with pointed spikes = Apollo). Yikes… This situation feels very intimidating to the Archetype! The subconscious never sleeps and it’s in a battle with the self, the conscious, and the time of now to make a heartfelt decision!
The eight swords planted in the ground in front of the Archetype are symbolic of restriction and impaired clarity of vision (the Archetype is jailed in his thoughts). The Eight of Swords represents bondage of his thoughts imposed or caused by outside sources that are in opposition with the Archetype’s personal power (how the Archetype initiates what he wants to do, and act on it).
The brown mountains represent a goal and also a timing, but the color of the mountains suggest that the Archetype feels burnt to a crisp right now, stuck in his fears and regrets!
The Archetype in this card is restricted, in limbo, and feels imprisoned and jailed by his surroundings. He is plagued with fear and guilt because another person put him in this situation. He feels powerless, uncertain as to where to turn and what to do.
The Archetype needs to realize he is not trapped and he can move freely, only his thoughts make him feel this way. This feeling of powerlessness will fade when he lets go of old patterns and beliefs that hold him back. When the Archetype realizes he is no longer a victim, he’ll be able to break free from bondage and make a fresh start, just like the Phoenix that rises from the ashes to start anew.
Positive Position: This position indicates the beginning of breaking free from a bad situation. It represents the bondage of your thoughts imposed or caused by outside sources. You’re feeling restricted, in limbo, imprisoned and jailed by your thoughts and surroundings. The Eight of Swords represents that you’re coming to the end of this unfortunate time! You’re at the end of this struggle and you’ll break free and see the new path ahead, moving away from your former environment and the people who made you feel restricted. You’ll make a fresh start, just like the Phoenix.
Negative Position: This position indicates that you can’t move forward, but you might leave at a later date because you’re walking on egg shells, stuck in bondage, and living in your fears!
Timing is within 8 hours, 8 days, months, or the winter season.
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This weeks’ card comes from the original Mythic Tarot by Juliet Sharman-Burke and Liz Greene.
This version, illustrated by Tricia Newell and distributed by U.S. Games is no longer available.
A newer version — the New Mythic Tarot — is still in print.
This deck can also be downloaded as an app for IPhone, IPad and Android devices through the Fool’s Dog website.
This article also appears on Lotus Tarot.
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