Cancer Season 2022 - Where are we being tenacious and where are we just being stubborn?
I am taking no credit for the question posed in this blog. I owe it all to the fabulous Christiana Gaudet and her weekly Three card reading over on her YouTube channel (please check out the video, channel and the other great content here). Affectionately known as TGFM (Tarot Fairy God Mother), Christiana delivers a weekly collective reading every Monday and then also pulls individual cards for those requesting them. Having already decided I wanted to to write a blog on the upcoming start of Cancer season I definitely wanted a card, even better a card that would inspire me to get started. The card that was drawn for me was the 8 of Cups reversed. This card was drawn about 4 times for different people so there is definitely a message for the collective in there right?
Straight away I started thinking, wow what a great card to show the upcoming transition from airy Gemini , where we may have found ourselves being more outgoing in communicating and seeking connection with others and generally being more talkative to the deep and emotional sign of Cancer. True the 8 of Cups would not normally fall within the decan of Cancer, however, when you consider that Cups are associated with the element of Water AND that Cancer is the cardinal water sign me personally, I think that's a terrific link.
Cancer brings into focus our emotional well being. Being ruled by the Moon it is a great time to take stock of how we are feeling and perhaps more importantly, how we are expressing our emotions. The Moon and water have a natural affinity, with the Moon controlling the tides. With our emotions being linked to water, the tides of our own emotions can be just as tempestuous. Remember we are not talking rivers and lakes here, we are more likely compared to the Sea, the Ocean. One minute we can be calm and serene, then choppy and fierce, a maelstrom of anger and frustration dragging everything and everyone who sails by into the fray.
Cancer is also ruled by The Chariot, the card of progression and moving forward. The Chariot asks us to consider our goal, where are we trying to get to? What are we trying to move on from? What experiences, both good and bad, are driving us. This helps us not only to move forward with intention and direction but gives us a felling of control. With both Cancer and The Chariot linked to our intuition we also learn to realise when we need to take the reins and steer ourselves and when we can allow ourselves the freedom to roam and explore, knowing that every move is in the right direction. So how do these things fit in with our 8 of Cups reversed? I am getting there honest. But first lets have a quick look at the upright 8 of Cups..
In the traditional 8 of Cups image (shown opposite) we see the figure in red walking away from 8 neatly stacked cups. The tag line of 'walking away from that which no longer serves' may be familiar. This would also fit in with the spirit and energy of The Chariot card right? Moving on to something new after this experience. My problem, and this is just my personal opinion and problem is how do we know if what the 'person' is moving on from is good or bad? The inference of 'what no longer serves' implies that it is something bad, something gone wrong. A break up for example (romantic, friendship or business) this would be great right? The person no longer 'serves' you, everyone is telling you are better off without them anyway so leaving it behind is great?
But what if you had recently been promoted? Whether in your team or to an outside company, your previous role no longer serves you but is this a bad thing? The experience, knowledge and friendships you made all helped shape you, maybe even helped you set your current goals? Surely this cannot be a bad thing but still in order to embrace it, we have to 'walk away'. My point here is that this echoes The Chariot, taking the good and bad from a situation and moving forwards.
So if upright means we are 'walking away', reversed means we must be staying put? Now I am not one of those people who believe a reversal is a negative, or is just literally the reverse of the upright meaning, but in this case I would say this is true..... at least in the sense that we are choosing not to move on. Whether its the need for closure, refusal to open ourselves up to new possibilities, our need to try and fix everything, for whatever reason we have dug our heels in and either don't want to or can't move forward.
The 8 of Cups reversed from The Light Seers by Chris Ann is my favourite depiction of this. You can image the person in the card retracing their steps, digging around in the water, searching for those cups in the depths and bringing who knows what to the surface in the process. Will they look anything like the pretty cup still floating on the surface?
Just like with the upright meaning we need to look more closely at whether we are staying for our benefit or our detriment.. or as the question at the beginning of the blog asked.. Where are we being tenacious and where are we just being stubborn? For me this can be answered by looking at what is motivating us. Using the scenarios above for example, turning down or not applying for that promotion because you want to maintain the status quo, your comfort zone? That relationship you stay in because you are hoping for the best? That work project that didn't go quite according to plan and you are determined to fix it. These all have emotions that drive or motivate us... whether or not it is for our own good.
Take some time now to think of a situation or scenario you feel you are 'stuck'. To take the cue from the Chariot, what is driving this motivation? What is your end goal?
My guess is it would fall somewhere in the following categories:
1) You are trying to prove something to yourself
2) You are trying to prove something to someone else/to others
In each of these scenarios we are feeling challenged right? (fits again with The Chariot being number 7 , 7's being about challenge). We are exercising our free will and choosing to stay. As humans our usual natural instinct when we feel challenged is that of fight or flight. How well does that fit in with the Cancer realm of emotion and explain why Cancer fits so well being represented by the crab. Are you going to show your claws and duke it out? Defend yourself and the choice you have made? Or retreat into your shell and hope the moment passes.
It is likely your own intuition has been trying to get your attention on this issue, to give you signs and gentle nudges. Have you been acknowledging them? Or dismissing them as not fitting with your vision?
When we can really look at why we care so much, why we have invested so much emotionally, we can begin to understand why we really feel so attached. See why we maybe unwilling or unable to let go, to take the advice of the upright 8 of Cups and simply 'walk away'. This brings us full circle and looking at whether the fight, the effort, the emotion we are putting in is ultimately in our best interest. We had our goal, we set our intentions on how we were going to reach that goal and set out to achieve it. Now we ave reached this junction, do we even have the same goal? If so how will digging in and keeping up the fight help us to achieve it? What benefit will this scenario ultimately bring to us? How will it serve us? Does it still feel like we are on the right track or have we strayed off our path somewhere? By continuing to be so invested are we still serving our highest good? If it doesn't why are you fighting so hard? Are you afraid of being of being vulnerable and opening up to new opportunities? Walking away from your comfort zone?
With tomorrow also marking the Summer Solstice we can enjoy the longest day of the year, after which the days will begin to slowly draw in as Autumn and Winter approach. Perhaps these extra hours of sunshine will give you the added energy and vitality to delve into issues above. To turn over each and every stone, bring everything into the light.
When you are clear once more on your goal and know once more where you are heading and have re-aligned where you need to invest your energy will you truly know the answer to the question:
Am i being tenacious? Or am i just being stubborn?
Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed my thoughts on this.
Happy Cancer Season everyone,
Ben x
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