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Eight of Wands and Five of Cups

Whilst shuffling the cards I asked my guides to give a message to help us through the Mars Retrograde which began on the 30^th October and will continue until 12^th January 2023.

These two cards got pulled and I think sum up how this period may well affect us. 

The Mars Retrograde doesn’t happen as often as retrogrades of other planets – usually about every two and half years. Mars is associated with war and a warrior spirit that propels us forward into action. In tarot, The Emperor is the card associated with Mars, as his astrological sign is Aries which also rules this sign. 

I feel the Eight of Wands is symbolising the normal energy that we would associate with any Mars. The fiery orange glow of the card and the dust clouds generated by the stampede of hooves moving ever onwards. This is an unstoppable force …usually…but a retrograde period means that we will experience the opposite of what is normally symbolised by a planet and its energy. And, the opposite of charging forward is to stop or maybe even look backwards at the past and what has happened up to this point.

As we edge towards the end of a year, we do tend to look back and make a judgement in our head whether we would class this as a good year or one we would rather forget. So, how was 2022 for you? How is it now? Are you looking forward to seeing the end of it? Or are you hoping that you could stay in this year forever as the future seems a little less inviting? 

The Five of Cups is our second card, which points to the fact that this Mars Retrograde may well be calling us to an important time of reflection. It is also a reminder that sometimes we have to sit down and shed a tear over the circumstances that we have been through. Life can be tough, hard work or just downright unfair. It’s part of the human condition to feel sad, to grieve or to feel loss of some kind. And, it seems that this retrograde period will allow us the time to do that, to give us a chance to work through all the sadness and loss and accept the changes that either have happened, are happening at the moment or are going to take place in the near future. 

As with everything in life, a planet’s retrograde is temporary and it is poignant to bear in mind that so is what we are going through. I haven’t picked a third card to see what happens after the Five of Cups, but, I don’t have to because the two little spirit beings floating in the sky of this card tell me everything I need to know – there are speckles of light, hope and brighter times ahead. The girl in the picture is not interested in looking at them just now, she just isn’t in the mood, but one day soon she will look up and see the signs.

And that is the same for all of us. We don’t have to be happy and cheerful all the time. If you are spiritual person and always striving to be the best, highest version of yourself, it does not mean that you always have to be happy and positive. We are human and have a full range of emotions for a reason. They all have their place in our lives, and if we allow ourselves to feel deeply in times of joy or times of sadness, then we are being an authentic person and not pretending we are feeling something we are not.

I am now looking at these two cards for a final message and now imagining a story in my head. I am visualising the magical unicorns eventually stopping their stampede to rest and take a drink at the pond where this girl is sitting. She looks up and realises that there is wonder and magic all around her and is shaken from her thoughts of the past to find gratitude and joy in her present and is gently moved to a more positive frame of mind. 

This can happen to us too, when we are feeling the low energy mood depicted in her card, the slightest interaction with an animal, a stranger or the natural beauty of our surroundings can shift our mood and make us realise that there are many things in life to be grateful and happy for. And, hopefully, as we navigate the next few months of Mars retrograde we can use the message from these cards to help us make this happen. 

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