Week Ahead Spread for Me - Iris Sacra Cards

This week is gonna be a doozy.

I decided to use the Labyrinthos app to do a spread for myself. I genuinely love the Labyrinthos app because even if you use a free version, you get access to a digital deck (great for people who are new to tarot) and learning resources. For this spread, I’ve also chosen to use my Iris Sacra deck - one of my favorite decks, and gifted to me by the love of my life a couple of years ago.

If you’re interested, this is apparently what I can expect this week in my own life, so, getting personal I geuss.

Here we go.

Card number one: XX THE AEON - Keywords: Awakening, rebirth, renewal, liberation, revelation

Associations: Major Arcana, element of fire, Pluto association in astrology - which, pretty sure Pluto is joining the army of planets retrograding this year so…

Labyrinthos summing it up: “I am awakening to my calling.”

This card is about the death of one’;s ego, and a rebirth or awakening that comes from that death of self. The element of fire is prevelant in the meaning, so energy is moving quickly toward something - which, not going to lie, I’m most definitely feeling this week. It’s about the shift from a conciousness bound by the present into a greater consciousness, something more universal.

Boy howdy I hope so. This card is kicking things off, so let’s keep going.

Card number two: XVII THE STAR - Keywords: Hope, trust, Faith, optimism, Inspiration, following one’s dreams

ASSOCIATIONS: Major arcana, Aquarius astrology, element of air

Labyrinthos summing it up: “When all is lost, my hope still shines like a guiding star. I will follow it.”

This card is strongly associated with the Aquarius astrology sign - my sun sign, as it so happens. It has to do with recovering from something awful happening, It can also mean following dreams, trusting that the good things will happen through the bad.

Card number three: 7 OF SWORDS - FUTILITY-Doubts, low self esteem, feeling lost, loss of focus

Labyrinthos assessment of this card: “I choose the path of principle and ethics, even when it is more difficult.”

ASSOCIATIONS: Swords, sevens, Decan three and moon in Aquarius, element of Air

This is a bit different from traditional decks. In traditional decks, the 7 of Swords can indicate decite of some kind. In the Thoth tradition, the definition is a little different. In this tradition, it’s as if the seeker (me) has lost their fervor for what they’re doing, they’re tempted to give up because things seem very hopeless right now.

Cheery card, no?

I’ll be honest - this is a mindset that I am more than a little accustomed to. I was raised by people who wallowed in misery. People who wrapped themselves in self-pity as if it was a comfort blankie. It’s a practice I have done a lot of work to try not to do myself, and, that I still have to catch myself on. It’s an easy pattern for my brain to tell me I’m not good enough, but the reality is: I am, in fact, good enough and worthy of good things. And that’s okay.

I’m genuinely trying to believe that. On to the next one!

Card number four: 3 OF DISKS - WORK - Achievement at work, concentrated effort, ambition, work-life balance

ASSOCIATIONS: Pentacles, Threes, Decon 2 with Mars in Capricorn, element of earth - this is funny because my SO is an earth sign.

Thus sayeth Labyrinthos: “I see the gifts that others bring to help me and I honor them.”

A place where a lot of effort has been applied and it might be something big, scary, and ambition. This project can be all consuming and might even take away from other aspects of my life - this card calls for balance.

It’s also a card about allowing others to help me as I need. Everything in me is viscerally rejecting that idea. I’m the eldest daughter of emotionally immature parents - independance is the name of the game, my friends. The idea of asking others for help? Psh, nah, I’m good. Oh, I’m on fire? I can put it out myself - that’s what hoses are meant for anyway, right? No, no, don’t inconvenience yourself.

Maybe it’s this mentality that’ll lead to the next card tho, so…

Card number five: XVI THE TOWER:

ASSOCIATIONS: Major arcana,

Television portrays the death card as the scariest card. It’s not. To me, that designation goes to The Tower. Death is transition of somekind, The Tower is the proverbial and/or literal sh*t hitting the fan - it’s the destruction. It’s when the world crashes down around you and you have to pick up the pieces.

So. That’s cool.

Definitely wanted that card in this spread for myself.

To be fair, The Tower is also about breaking down structures that we rely on that ultimately don’t serve us anymore. they may have served us at some point, but we’ve come to a point in our lives when the universe is basically like, “Sorry kid, time to rip the bandaid off. you don’t need it anymore.” Now, for me, this can be a few different things I can think of, but I’m not going to name until after the fact. And, of course, the next card is another of those cards that can be not fun in a reading, depending on what’s happening.

Card number six: XV THE DEVIL - Independence, Spiritual freedom, Independence, Our shadow self

The devil is typically indicative of the shadow parts of ourselves, the pieces we don’t want to acknowledge, the things that effect us, no matter how far back in the closet we try to stuff them and forget about them. These are where our fears, our harmful behaviors, and even our baser selves can manifest. It’s almost like an infestation in a way, and if we don’t clean things out, then they’re just going to get bigger and bigger and become more and more of a problem in the future.

The key to shadow work, isn’t hating these pieces of ourselves; it’s realizing that we need to offer ourselves and our broken psyches a little compassion so that we can properly, and carefully, address those jagged edges and soften them accordingly.

For me, this could be any number of things, but intuitively? Probably fear. On the immediate horizon, there is a very present fear that I may have to face - something I had never anticipated. I’m not ready to share what it is specifically yet. Once the chips have fallen where they may, and the doors I need to open have opened, and I’ve walked through them, I’ll be ready to share what’s going on. I promise it’s nothing health related, and both Maverick and myself are okay, it’s just something really frustrating, and involves people using manipulating/gaslighting tactics. These are people I can’t yet cut out of my life, but with any luck, by September, I’ll never need to think of them again.

Summary of my reading - in my mind, anyway:

I’m coming to an interesting place both spiritually, and, in the mundane world. In a spiritual sense, i do feel that I’m growing and becoming who I want to be. This growth and expansion is growing more at odds with other aspects of my life - things I have relied on for my identify and independance; things that are no longer serving me, and they will most likely come to an end sooner or later. It’s a weird in between space I find myself in, and as things progress, it’ll be interesting to look back at this spread and see how accurate it was.

What do you think?

Tosha reads tarot for herself and friends from the comfort of her home, with her demanding familiar interjecting his thoughts. Especially during Leo season, since despite being a little dog, he is a Leo.