Let the gentle bush dig its root deep and spread upward to split the boulder.
Carl Sandburg

As the last days of our Wheel of Fortune Year play out, on this Christmas Day of 2017, I pulled a steadfast, and very informative friend for our Tarot card of the Week. Welcome to the Seven of Pentacles!

Because of the holiday — I know you are just as preoccupied as I am — I will keep today’s post somewhat streamlined.

In this card, a young man appraises all that he has worked for. His vine is laden with Fruit, the Pentacles of abundance. He has done what he can to cultivate this garden.

He seems to be considering whether or not his harvest is ready for gathering in.

The Pentacles of the Tarot inform us of the physical world and practical matters in our lives: our health, our money and resources, our homes, and our work.

And as most people may be aware, seven is considered a “lucky” number in Western traditions. But why?

Traditionally, it is a number of magic, spirituality, and initiation into a deeper realm of Mystery.

There are seven main chakras, the human body is said to renew itself on a cellular level every seven years, each phase of the Moon is seven days long, there are seven colors in the spectrum, and seven notes in the musical scale.

When working with the Major Arcana of the Tarot, we like to divide the 22 cards into three groups of seven, with The Fool standing alone. Each group represents a different level of understanding and depth.

And for most of its history, astronomy consisted of seven planets, not the nine (if you, like I, still include Pluto in that number) that our more powerful telescopes have revealed in the last century.

Thus, as Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm discuss in their companion guide to the DruidCraft Tarot, “Contemplating the existence of these [Tarot] sevens, we realize we are touching upon an essential structure of both the macrocosm and the microcosm…”

What an auspicious and profound omen for this threshold moment. As above, so below.

The Cusp of the Year

For yes, we have arrived at the last week of 2017.  Fast away the old year passes, yet the possibilities and dreams of 2018 still glisten before us, full of promise.

As we look back, we are being asked to consider what we have planted.

Where have you invested your time, your treasure, and the labor of your body? In what ways have you nurtured your health? How have you walked your path on this Earth?

Like the Seven of Pentacles, take some time to reflect upon the outcomes your choices may have engendered. Especially in light of this Wheel of Fortune year, where have you placed your bets?

As we stand at this doorway between the years, what consequences may lie ahead? What outcomes might you still wish to reconsider and change?

This lovely card reminds us that the fruit of the harvest, eventually, is not in the hands of the gardener. After the initial planting and careful stewardship, the final success lies beyond the farmer’s control.

Trusting the Fullness of Time

Ripening is a process that happens only in the fullness of time. We humans love our illusion that we can (or must!) control and manage time. But no matter how precisely we may try to schedule and measure it, we are all, in the end, subject to the laws and rhythms of our Mother Earth and Her cosmic neighbors.

There is only so much that we can manage with our labor and diligence. And then the rest is up to Nature.

So, too, this young man has done his part, and now he has no choice but to surrender to the Earth’s own wisdom. The pace of Nature is a gift, not an obstacle.

Knowing this, he cooperates with the good fortune of the Sevens. The impossible can become, not only possible, but inevitable.

Patience is necessary, but when applied, it enables roots to split boulders.

May the hindrances you wish gone thus be removed. May all fruits you have tended be sweet, nourishing, and plentiful.

Blessed be.