Shuffle your deck of choice, then pull out every ninth card.
Of the eight cards now sitting in front of you, which card do you relate to most strongly and why?
Of the seven cards now left sitting in front of you, which card do you relate to the least and why?
Extra Credit: There are now six cards left. Assign a real person in your life, a fictional character, a movie, a book, or a song to each of these six cards and then tell us why you made the choice you did for each.
Part 1 (most relate to) –Ten of Swords – I am a survivor. I survived my father’s tyrannic rule. I survived the accident that decimated the right side of my body and made it impossible for me to go through an MRI machine. I’ve survived sexual assault, betrayals, car accidents, impalement, a home invasion and near death experience, life-long chronic pain, ongoing physiotherapy, testicular cancer, and melanoma.
I have survived through years of suicidal obsession and urges, multiple major depressive episodes, and just this past year I survived a stalker that tried to kidnap me out of a Costco parking lot. I have survived dropping out of university a mere three months before earning my degree, the crushing disappointment of discovering my mother is not the person (or mother) I thought she was, a metabolism that is determined to eat me alive, and the loss of loved ones.
I have survived, and learned from, all of these things and more. Each of these things was more than just a painful experience. Each experience brought me to my knees and made me bleed either from my body or my soul… and yet I have continued on. The Nine of Swords connects me to these experiences, and my survival from them… as well as the fact that I continue to thrive not just despite them, but also because of what they taught me along the way.
Part 2 (least relate to) – Eight of Wands – I’m not getting anywhere fast these days, it seems. In fact, life in general as well as the cards seem determined to teach me to slow down and take my time more often. This is not something that is easy for me to do… and I struggle with it even at the best of times.
Extra Credit:
Two of Wands – She makes lists. Going on a camping trip? She’s got a list. A shopping trip? She’s got a list. Need ideas for what to do next weekend? She has a list for that too. If you need to get organized? She is the one to go to. She’ll help you make a list, and explain how to use it too. There’s power in lists and she knows it well, and she wields that power with impunity.
Seven of Cups – A woman that sees outside the box, if you need ideas, she’s the one to go through. Not that she’ll give you the answers, but sit and talk with her a while and you’ll soon find that your narrow view of what’s possible will begin to open up. Options appear where none had been, just in the span of spending time in her presence. Suddenly, the diversity of what’s possible is breathtaking and you wonder how you ever felt your options were so limited.
Five of Swords – He’s one of those guys that always has to have the last word in any situation. It makes him feel like he’s won, and that feeling is something he lives for. Whether it’s a debate or a disagreement, or even a physical fight, rest assured his voice will be the last one that sounds, and what he says will be sharp edged but probably not entirely unwarranted.
The Chariot – Single minded and determined, he plows forward with his eye on the prize. He knows what he wants out of life and he knows how to get it, he has both hands on the reigns and full control over the direction of his life. Goals for this man? They aren’t possibilities… they are already his reality as if he needs only to reach out and pluck them out of the air and they’ll be his.
The Tower – She’s spent her life catastrophizing every little thing. Nothing catastrophic has ever happened to her, and yet… to her even a splinter is just that. The end of the world. Her life is in chaos, her world in upheaval… and this is how she lives. Each and ever day is one horrible thing, one disastrous event after another and she is unable to see beyond the cacophony to anything positive in any of it. She’s trapped in this place… and refuses to try and escape.
Judgement – He lies in a hospital bed and waits for his family to arrive and surround him. He has things to say, and apologies to make. Weathered, with aching joints and years of hard work wrought in wrinkles upon his face… he’s had plenty of time to consider all that he’s done and all that he failed to do. It’s time to make things right, before it’s too late to do so.
Twisting the Leaf 