Weekly Tarot: Caves & Casting Spells
Weekly Tarot: Caves & Casting Spells
By: Olivia Ashé
Listen to DJ Ashé playlist for 5 of Discs card on Spotify
Daughter of Wands, Motherpeace Tarot by Karen Vogel
The wands in the Tarot are ruled by the element of fire. In the Motherpeace Tarot, the Daughter of Wands card holds the element of fire, depicted by the red earth and in the freedom exhibited in the body of the womxn leaping forward. Her body mirrors the position of the unicorn and the cranes above of her head. In her hands she holds her wands, both the branch and the wheel. In the background of all this movement rest the mountains, trees and a cave built of rocks (that lavender is growing out of). Unlike the womxn and the animals, these beings don’t move.
The Daughter of Wands invites us to consider the questions, “What does liberation look like? What does liberation feel like?”
These questions are hard for me to consider, because the recent violation of Oluwatoyin Salau, her assault and subsequent murder hit me differently. It caused me to curl up and to weep for her, for me, for us. And so, when pulling this tarot card, which depicts a naked and free moving Black womxn casting spells, I had to wrestle with it before knowing its medicine. In this moment it feels counter to my instincts to expand, to leap, to be free. Instead, I want to draw in as a way to protect myself and loved ones.
How can I dare consider liberation when there are forces that don’t want us to be free?
And yet, this card is right on time.
In this image, the mountain is a archetype of our liberation. Its presence is a reminder that the forces that are hell bent on impeding our journey towards liberation are no match against the calling of liberation itself. These forces cannot defeat the strength or presence of a mountain; the mountain will continue to take up space unapologetically and it invites us to do the same, whenever we are ready.
Beneath the mountain is a cave, a space to draw in, to weep, and rest when needed. The cave is marked with lavender, an herbal ally that invites comfort to our bodies and nervous systems when we are restless and stressed.
Have you spent time in your cave lately? Allow yourself to weep.
It is no coincidence that opposite to the cave are flourishing trees rooted into the red fiery earth. The tree branch that serves as a magic wand comes from these trees. Moreover, the trees remind us of what it looks like to flourish.
What in your life reminds you to flourish? Whatever it may be, hold it in you hand and cast spells with it.
Amidst all of these grounding beings: the mountain, the cave, and the trees, are creatures moving with us, because we are never asked to leap into freedom alone.
The unicorn runs on the ground alongside us. A reminder to gather your comrades, your woes. We need to draw on each other for strength. The cranes flying above us are our ancestors, gifting us their perspective and wisdom to prepare us for what is ahead.
This week’s invitation to be free, to take up space, to cast spells is not a naive one. There is strategy to this. Retreat to your cave to weep and to rest. When the time is right, emerge with the power of the mountain behind you, comrades alongside you, your ancestral wisdom in view before you, and don’t forget your wand.
I invite you this week into these practices:
Locate your cave & use a calming herbal remedy or essential oil like lavender to accompany your rest
Take roll. Who are your trusted comrades? name them, save their numbers & make plans to support each other
Create a ritual to communicate with your ancestors, be that mediation, a somatic practice, or prayer
Take up space. Maybe dance naked in your home, move your body, let your voice be big. You might allow your hair and body to mimic the freedom of the trees— in other words, rock that afro.
May this reading bring us insights in our journey towards liberation.
Asé
-Olivia
Tarot has been an important part of our personal spiritual journey, serving as a Divine channel for our intuition. Olivia has used Tarot as a tool in her pastoral care practice and now feels called to share it more broadly with our Beloved community. Olivia reads the Tarot as an invitation for you to deepen your understanding of the journey you are on. By drawing on the images and stories of the tarot, her goal is to illuminate the power of your own intuition. As a queer womanist her readings center liberation. Olivia will pull one card as offering to the collective every seven days and it will be accompanied by a playlist of seven songs that bring the invitation of the reading to us through music. Listen to this week’s Spotify playlist here.