Three of Swords Inverted + Queen of Pentacles Inverted
Wow. What a heavy combo first of all…and you know what? I’ve personally been feeling that weight lately. My guides have been constantly reminding me to find joy in my moment and my immediate surroundings because to be frank, the world has felt overwhelming recently.
The first thing that sticks out to me is that both cards have Saturn energy in common. Saturn is the planet of duty, karma, limitations, and discipline. Saturn is intense. He is the teacher who throws you into the deep end and says “Swim,” in a cold and monotone voice. Though this energy may seem unkind at times, ultimately he sees your potential and wants you to experience it firsthand. Saturn’s light aspect is to remove what does not serve you. Saturn is currently transiting Pisces, the dreamy and mystical energy that unchecked can lead to escapism and dissociation. When harnessed wisely, the power that can be gained from this combo is sobriety and the dispelling of illusions. What aspects of your life need a wake-up call? What addictions or distractions are ready to be examined?
When thinking about the themes of the inverted Three of Swords and the inverted Queen of Pentacles, the overlap is unsustainability and the worry of wasted time. These cards question whether or not certain efforts you started this year are paying off in the ways you predicted (or at all, really). There is a sense that some energy that has lingered with you for too long needs to be cut out, remixed, and turned into compost. Take the bullshit in our lives and turn it into fertilizer for our progress and growth. The “shit” we are experiencing collectively is not for nothing. It is the soil from which we will grow into a flourishing future. Isn’t it amazing how nature shows us that decay and waste can become life and bear fruit by honoring the cycle? What parts of the cycle are you blocking for yourself?
The Queen is asking: Are you holding on to the feeling of heartbreak from past failures and are those feelings preventing your future growth? The Queen of Pentacles is a ruler of seeds. When these cards appear together they can invoke images of seeds that are not taking root or the disappointment that perhaps the wrong thing was planted. It is important to note that you can plant things anywhere but the seed that grows is the one that is nourished and surrounded by nutrients. Our current societal narrative states that garbage is tossed and we never have to think about it again. This idea disrupts a cycle. In reality, nature’s cycle, the Queen of Pentacles, states that food scraps must become the nourishment for the future. Instead, we wrap them in plastic and throw in a landfill. We are taught to toss away what does not serve, but “waste” needs to be reintegrated to support new life. Nature is self-replenishing. In nature, there is no “waste.” She asks, “In what ways have you been trying to throw something out that could be the key to your evolution?” This duo serves as a reminder that “waste” is a man-made construct. Anything that cannot be recycled into the Earth is man-made. Before man, the concept of waste did not exist.
So, moving into harvest season, we may be disappointed by this year’s yield. The bounty may not be as abundant as we are used to. But if we can take the scraps and allow them time to settle and become our enrichment – distilling the strife and joy and frustration and cultivating it all into lessons and boundaries that best guide our way forward – we can have a bigger future harvest. That should not stop you from feeling gratitude for the path that led to this process, as there is no waste. It may not be glamorous, it may not be exciting, but we are more than a mission. We are an environment unto ourselves. These granular lessons build our strength and clarify our resolve for what is to come, and what truly we want to come out of it.
A lot is germinating this year, and we do not know yet what seeds have taken root. But collectively, as the farmers of this planet and society, we can start by self-analysis to uncover how we can restore our soils and thus our souls. As we are, so is the Earth, and we all deserve the recuperation of our smallest parts we thought lost to time.
Much Love,
Aster
