Pamela Eakins - Tarot of the Spirit

Pamela Eakins, Ph.D. is the director of Pacific Center. For the past decade, she was an Affiliate Scholar at Stanford University's Institute for Research on Women and Gender. She is a medical sociologist, university educator and counselor. In addition to her regular academic pursuits in health and women's studies, Dr. Eakins is learned in women's mysteries, Qabalism and the Western Mystery Tradition. She has been a pioneer in childbirth reform and sees childbirth as a metaphor for spiritual birth. She delights in teaching classes in spirituality for men and women outside the university walls and, in January 1991, founded Pacific Center which offers correspondence courses in the Western Mysteries based on the Tarot of the Spirit. For more information, please write to Pacific Center at P.O. Box 3191, Half Moon Bay, CA, 94019.

The Minor Arcana

Fire__________________________________________________

One of FireForce: You feel a sense of transformative high energy; inner blocks are falling away freeing you to move into newness; you have the will to change and you feel the great energy of new beginnings; you have a newly discovered source of power; you are excited, you feel exhilarated; if there is an undercurrent of depression, it is only because the future remains unknown at this time; if you feel like you are burning up with no channel or outlet for your emotions, do not worry, the way will very soon become clarified, you will soon find someone or something to connect with.

Two of FireConvergence: Unfocused energy becomes clear and polarized; you feel you now have a strong direction; you are making changes spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and physically; while you may go through various struggles, your courage in starting an enterprise at this time will eventually payoff; maintain your own internal sense of balance as you begin your new activities.

Three of FireBirth of Light: Stay on the path; keep on with your present activities; everything is coming into fruition; it is as if a mimiraculousbirth is at hand; to resist this great birth would bring pain; realize you are in a state of grace and stay with this feeling; giving birth to the children of body or mind is not always easy, but it is a highly rewarding process; in this case, your child is a product of love.

Four of FireFlame of Spirit: A phase of development is complete; based on your revelations and good intentions of the past, you built a strong structure, but in some ways, you no longer feel connected to that structure; know that old structures must frequently be abandoned to make way for new growth; you are growing, beginning a new phase in your life; it is as if your own personal wheel of fortune is turning again; this is necessary in order for you to grow; search your heart for the right course of action.

Five of FireThe Struggle: You feel a sense of conflict; the struggle which seems to be happening outside of yourself may, in reality, be happening on the inside; you feel as if you are striving, but you are immobilized at the same time, a sense of chaos has resulted from the presence of conflicting ideas; allow yourself to fail, allow yourself to lose and you may find that you are actually winning; in losing all, you will gain everything; in this case, you are merely relinquishing that which is obsolete.

Six of FireGlory: The struggle has been difficult; it is as if you have fought a battle and now all you have left is the bloody fruit which you have won; make an offering of this fruit, surrender your winnings, to move into a state of harmony and beauty; you must understand that glory, however much you covet it, is a brief and fleeting thing; the truth is that which endures deep inside of yourself over time.

Seven of FireCourage: Conditions intensify; take further risks with greater awareness; you may feel trapped by social expectationsall that you were taught as you were growing upbut now the reality of the past no longer works for you; if you trust in your own internal convictions, you will develop strengths and a sense of self-confidence which will work for you and will, in good time, come to be respected by others; if you have the courage of your convictions, all that traps you will fall away.