Every Tuesday I select one card and give you my interpretation of it. See how it applies to your life. What messages are here for you?Each Thursday I choose one reader's comment from Intuitive Tuesday and pull an additional card for more clarity...so check back on Thursday to see what cards come up.
Today's card is the Two of Swords, a card of decisions and feeling stuck. The card pictured here comes from the Gilded Tarot deck.
Twos can indicate the need to make a choice/decisions, partnerships, duality and balance. Swords indicate conflict and/or they have to do with your intellect, thoughts and the mental realm.
The Two of Swords can indicate a decision that needs to be made, but not having the ability or need to think about it or look at it just yet.
It can also be a card of feeling stuck between your thoughts. Both options look equally pleasing or displeasing and it's easiest NOT to decide. I call this the "sanctuary of confusion" and can find myself in this state when I just don't want to or have to decide...yet.
Pulling this card today probably indicates that you are on the fence about something. The decision can be something big or small. The Two of Swords indicates that it's been on your mind and that possibly you haven't decided what to do and so you have not taken any action.
It reminds me of a quote my wise aunt told me when I was growing up, "NOT to decide is to decide." If you have a pretty good idea what situation/decision I am talking about in your life, a good question might be this: As long as I'm not deciding (or taking action), what am I deciding?
For example, if you haven't decided whether or not to apply for a new job and haven't submitted your application, by NOT deciding (and not taking any action), you have decided to NOT apply for the job. Until you decide and take action, your path will lead you towards NOT applying. Does that make sense?
Realizing the truth of this concept (not to decide is to decide) helps you to see that you really do have your blindfold on and will stay stuck until you actively decide something.
Know that it's OK to research and review the options, which isn't really what the Two of Swords is about. This card is about gyrating around potential solutions so much that you feel stuck and may be driving yourself and others crazy because you just won't decide. Pondering is fine, just know that when you bump up against the energy of the Two of Swords, it's time to take action.
Use the energy of the Two of Swords today to remove the blindfold and either actively make a choice to move forward (even if it's just a baby baby step) OR realize that by not deciding you are deciding...at least for now. Simply acknowledging this may help you to feel less stuck and more in the space of being able to decide.
10 comments:
Hi Sheri,
I can really relate to this. My hubby and I have felt stuck for a long time. We operate a small catering business and we are both pretty burned out. Also business has been really slow this past year. We feel like we need to to something different but we are just not sure what direction to go. We are stuck on the fence. I guess by not making a decision to do something different we are choosing to do the same thing.
I definately relate to this. My decisions right now are about whether it is time to move on from certain groups/teams - and as I read todays post I was reminded of this quote by W.H. Murray “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”
And that is what I realized - that by not deciding to stay or go, my commitment is compromised and my initiatives are ineffective and feel hard. Time for me to poop or get off the pot :)
Wow. Thank you for this card, Sheri...the last paragraph hits me especially hard. I am exactly in this place right now...indecision about whether to leave my current infertility clinic and doctor and get a second opinion. I am in the middle of treatment right now and time is precious, and I don't want to lose any chance of getting pregnant in the transition...I am currently researching other clinics and doctors and trying to figure out how to go about it...I do feel stuck and it's a scary place to be.
This is right on for me, Sheri. I am doing the synchronicity exercise of randomly choosing 5 or 6 books from my shelves, opening each one at random and writing down a sentence or two that jump out at me. All with my decision question in mind.
Fascinating way to get information about what is going on beneath the surface! Try it!
Laura Rose, I love your exercise. What a powerful way to collect data toward a decision.
Mad Hatter, it just kept coming to my mind for you to pray or meditate. Your answer is within you and you will recognize it when it makes itself obvious.
Sheri, remember a conversation we had about the energy people get when they are stuck in this place of back-and-forth? Back-and-forth? Sometimes we like the energy of indecision, even if it seems like it should be "uncomfortable."
All I was coming up with was not about a decision, but was definitely about duality/balance/conflict. Right now I'm stuck in this in-between place of not knowing if I'll be changing jobs or not. There are pluses and minuses to staying and to going to the new position. At this point, it's out of my hands, but not off of my mind. This describes where I am: "It can also be a card of feeling stuck between your thoughts. Both options look equally pleasing or displeasing..."
I definitely feel stuck between my thoughts. I think, "by the end of the week it will be resolved" but then I think,"But if I have the new job, the chaos is just starting!" Argh. Trying just to be present in this in-between time, but my nature wants me to have everything settled.
I know I kind of went off on a tangent from your post, but that's where I am--tangential.
Oh, yes that makes sense, because I have the same wise aunt!
I don't do this as much as I used to, deciding by default. That's because it is my intention to become ever more mindful and have more ownership of my life.
It's a process.
Good morning Sheri,
What a beautiful card! I was so struck by the image that I just looked at it for several minutes before reading your insights.
As you know, the energy of not-deciding is strong in my life right now. As you also know (and helped me to see), the space of not deciding can be a very sacred space. It is not always necessary to act; it is sometimes far more important to sit with our uncertainty and let that be.
Learning to live with uncertainty has been the single greatest challenge of my adult life. I spent years telling myself I knew what was going to happen -- and the truth is, of course, none of us ever knows the future. We can only know what's true and present right now. Tuning into what I want -- noticing when my energy lifts, and when it is blocked -- is the best way I've found to accept the unknowable future and live into it.
Rather than a blindfold, the woman in this image appears to have one of those virtual movie-things on -- allowing her to "see" that which she desires. Living in fantasy versus living into your soul's desires -- that is the double-edged sword I see in this card.
Beth
Hey Sheri! I took action! I found another doctor who is perfect! Thank you for the thought-provoking post! :-)
Love,
Maddy
Post a Comment