Saturday, August 13, 2016

The Emperor and the Nine of Pentacles - Practice makes… Happy

the emperor the nine of pentacle original rider waite tarot
Yesterday I’ve pulled two cards from the Rider Wait tarot for my daily draw. One to answer the question: what is preventing me from experiencing creative freedom and the next would be telling me what my gift would be if I could embrace this freedom, which is already within me, waiting to be found.
The first card, the challenging one, was The Emperor. Look at him sitting there in his armor on his concrete throne. If he would only look behind him, he would notice the mountains, symbolizing the blocks he is experiencing. But no, he just sits there being high and mighty and if he would sit there much longer I think his armor would immobilize him because of the thick layers of rust.  The Emperor in this position is rigid and controlling and is certainly not in the mood for a  playful and open minded approach of making of art.
If I would discover my creative freedom my gift would be the Nine of Pentacles: a feeling a success. fulfillment, happiness and tremendous self-worth. This card is a perfect follow up of the Eight of Pentacles, where we see a guy practicing his skills.
Together these two cards have influenced me enormously yesterday. First I went to the gym because I knew I had to get out of my chair and out of my head and that I had to start moving. Then after a refreshing shower I picked up my watercolors and painted a part of the Nine of Pentacles in my Tarot journal. That was a big step for me. Instead of writing a blogpost about it (the wish of The Emperor) I also painted a Sunflower which was so much fun to do. Sometimes it feels like I have to open the floodgate to my creativity, which can be so heavy and is sometimes almost nearly impossible to do but when it is open creating feels like the most natural thing to do and it makes me so very happy.

13 comments:

  1. You are so talented with watercolors - love the sunflower! When I see the Emperor, I think of discipline (which doesn't feel very warm and fuzzy). But I was reading something the other day which said that 'discipline' comes from the same root as 'disciple,' and that there is an underlying devotion in both. Now that I can live with!

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    1. I like that correlation between discipline and disciple. disciple in discipl(in)e

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    2. "The devoted disciple" again reminds of the Eight of Pentacles. I do recognize the more positive traits of The Emperor. Life would be very chaotic if he didn't have any influence but as a challenge card he came across as a very rigid and unyielding :)

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  2. Good going - getting to the gym. Changes your energy. Those two cards look like dad and daughter, he - "you will do as I say" she - "no I will not, I think I will go out for a walk."

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    1. "Father and daughter" Lol! Sometimes I do feel like a contrary teenager towards my inner parents who are very strict :)

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  3. sometime it kickstarts me to set a timer for 15 or 30 minutes. Amazing what we can accomplish when we don't have time to rethink every thought.

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    1. That is a good way too loosen up the creative muscle. I often use a timer for creative writing. I am going to try it for artjournaling too! :)

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  4. Love your painting of the sunflower! And the Nine of Pentacles, such a positive and encouraging card to receive as a gift.

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    1. Thank you! It is one of my favorite cards in any deck. She always pust a smile on my face :)

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  5. I absolutely love your painting, and how your card draw helped push you in that direction. The mention of a floodgate opening reminded me off the 6 of Swords from the Tarot De St Croix :-)

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    1. Thanks Olivia! Yes, my day would been quite a different one with out that deck of cards. Love that card!!!

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  6. The Emperor is such a stickler for rules, which certainly doesn't fit very well with creativity. And yet, if you could put in place a routine for creativity, I wonder if it might help to loosen up those floodgates of your creativity. So you don't have to prise them open every time, but have a structure to help with that, like a winch...
    Not sure what that would look like for you. For me, I know that every evening I will sew something after the kids are in bed. If it isn't a question (shall I sew something?), but a rule, then I always do something, and always enjoy it. Works for me, anyway ;)
    In any case, I'm delighted that the Nine of Pentacles got you in contact with how lovely it could be to connect with your creativity. And that sunflower is beautiful - had to come and read this after seeing the picture on IG :D

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    1. I've tried routines numerous times: daily, thrice a week,nothing really seem to stick longer than one week. But he, a girl can always try again :)
      I am very happy it works for you though. Love seeing the pictures of your work on IG too

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