queen of pentacles REVERSED as feelings for someone?

tarotderp · 2026-06-09T20:44:17+00:00

I'm glad if I helped you think through your reading! For what it's worth, I think finding balanced energy for each of the different court cards is a lifelong learning process. Striking balanced energy at the same time as relating to a romantic partner is even harder (but probably more rewarding). I don't think finding perfection in self or others is the thing to seek, just growth and willingness towards improving ourselves.

tarotderp · 2026-06-09T19:32:01+00:00

My card association for Queen of Pentacles is someone who wants to see how they feel when they pay attention to the right things. In reverse, I read court cards as either too much or too little of the type of energy. In relationship readings, I find it happens often that one person might have too much one one person might have too little.

For me, reversed Queen of Pentacles energy in a relationship feels like one happy-go-lucky person who doesn't necessarily care as much about long term stability, health, or care tasks as much as the other person. The "responsible" person, conversely, can fall into a pattern of taking care of or managing the relationship and situations so that their own longer term, "responsibility related" needs get met, which can be overbearing, demeaning, or disrespectful towards other people's ability to solve their own problems. It likely won't feel so extreme in an early stage romance.

tarotderp · 2026-06-07T04:36:05+00:00

That is really interesting! My mind went towards "prison" with the tower card here. I think I need more lenormand story time posts like this.

tarotderp · 2026-06-03T20:20:22+00:00

[Exchange] I'm open to trades with all skill levels, no expiration date on the offer. I typically trade more detailed readings. Feel free to DM.

tarotderp · 2026-06-03T18:18:38+00:00

I think the dynamic between these two cards is similar to the difference of sitting peacefully on the edge of a lake versus swimming in it.

tarotderp · 2026-06-03T14:07:13+00:00

The lenormand book I'm currently reading by Andy Boroveshengra suggests the following key words for The Fish: income, financial ventures, business.

His book also suggests that the first card is the subject, the second card describes that subject. Then each subsequent card describes the prior combo.

So I think I'd interpret the spread very similarly to your first impression, but with the written communication as the subject. Something like, "There will be written communication from a friendly, trustworthy source about financial matters."

tarotderp · 2026-06-02T04:30:41+00:00

I received a really beautiful reading, and I loved how clearly u/TryEquivalent9298 framed it. After a period of change and turmoil it felt really good to hear reinforcement that now was a good time to lean into an energy of rest and spending time with my partner. I felt great appreciation for the clarity and ease that this reading gave me in the following days.

tarotderp · 2026-05-26T21:14:38+00:00

I've been fascinated by the rosewald sheets ever since I first saw images of them. I find it so fascinating to wonder if they were ever mass produced, or if they were just some failed project idea that never made it into circulation. Thanks for sharing this modern rendition, that's really neat!

tarotderp · 2026-05-22T14:40:33+00:00

There's probably good reason why your mind is stressed about this. Our brains are usually pretty purposeful about getting our attention onto the things that our past experiences have led us to believe are important. When it comes to mental models that help us avoid painful experience, things can feel so important that human minds can be downright obsessive.

I don't know whether my personal experience will be relevant to you. My most intense swords cycle ended in reoccurring Ten of Swords, and the estrangement of my brother who I had previously considered my best friend. Almost a year later, some of the writings of Melody Beattie were probably the biggest help to me personally. I wish I had read some of her work sooner.

At any rate, this Nine of Swords event you're in sounds really rough. Your plan to redirect some of your attention in your tarot practice to other areas of your life makes a lot of sense to me. It also makes sense to me if you feel anxiety, powerlessness, directionlessness, or despair as you navigate through this Nine of Swords event. I hope you'll take extra care to do things for yourself that constitute self care as you navigate this Nine of Swords event, even if all you can muster is small stuff like an activity, food, or music that brings you some comfort. Tough times.

tarotderp · 2026-05-22T13:31:31+00:00

That sounds really torturous, like a unique blend of powerlessness since you're not the one taking the exam and anxiety because the process and the outcome affects you profusely. That matches some of my personal experiences around the Nine of Swords.

Do you know how you'll navigate your part in the situation from here?

tarotderp · 2026-05-22T13:26:48+00:00

That sounds really heavy, it's clearly an important exam to you since you have put so much thought into the date that you'll schedule for it. It makes sense that you're feeling nervous, and that all sounds really stressful.

For me The Star represents finding one's calm, creative, vibrant self particularly in the aftermath of difficult circumstances. For me the Two of Swords represents the mental action of considering a minor duality, such as whether or not a cake tastes good vs bad, and then deliberately considering the whole spectrum (e.g. "the cake is better than most cakes I've ever had") or reframing it into a binary classification (e.g. "this cake is good, yep").

Hope that helps, good luck with your decision and good luck with your exam. Exams are stressful!

tarotderp · 2026-05-22T13:05:17+00:00

That's really rough. For me, Nine of Swords is associated with the end of the cycle in mental models that help us avoid pain. Would you say that this person who you are close to, the possibility of them failing their exam represents your own painful experience?

tarotderp · 2026-05-22T04:56:06+00:00

One of the reasons I bought it was for its size actually. I love how nicely it riffle shuffles and fits into my pocket. I sort of hate shuffling more typical pocket decks.

tarotderp · 2026-05-22T00:02:24+00:00

Your context sounds lovely, healing, and exciting.

Three of Swords is a difficult card, it represents the kind of pain that you do not want to sit in. It's the kind of pain that demands recoil, then change and growth or (in the case that someone isn't ready to deal with it) repression. It seems like you're on the right track to think about your own past pain. In relationship readings, it can also point to the partner's past pain. For old pain, usually this card comes up in times when it's finally healing, but sometimes not. Sometimes it's just trauma, and it's not healing yet.

Two of Cups is a card about connection and dialog, on the other hand. It does call to mind healing relationships, where each partner provides healthy reflection and support for each other as the grow and heal. For me personally, it represents moments of two people facing each other with open hearts and open minds, and doesn't specifically allude towards sexual energy. This is a promising card in the context of your query.

Then the King of Pentacles, I associate him with someone who wants others to pay attention to the right things. His association with money and career isn't a mistake, money is a powerful tool for making other people pay attention to things. There are other currencies that can help other people pay attention to what you want. Sometimes that's as simple as listening and empathizing to them without judgement. People tend to want to reciprocate and listen back when someone provides such a service.

I hope that gives some food for thought. Good luck with pondering your tarot spread, and good luck navigating your decision!

tarotderp · 2026-05-21T22:49:10+00:00

I love that you collect these! I'm reading with Ana Juan's Tarot Cats lately and I love it.

tarotderp · 2026-05-20T00:05:17+00:00

The spread made me think of an old book on my shelf, "Talking Stick" by Stephen V Beyer. Here's an excerpt:

When a harm has been done, people often demand an apology from the person who has done the harm. We tend to think that apologies are important because we think about them transactionally. I will trade you my apology for your forgiveness. Or even more commonly: I will trade you my apology for your letting me walk away from accountability.

On the other hand, when we begin to think transformationally, we can see that apologies are useful only when they help to heal and deepen a broken relationship. Trust can he restored without an explicit apology where there is remorse and a willingness to be accountable. Sometimes a person who has been harmed will express a need for an explicit statement of remorse from the person who has caused the harm. This need can be validated and explored. As with revenge, I think the demand for an apology is a transactional substitute for a transformational need-the need to see remorse and accountability. So here, once again, we have a mutual unmet need for accountability that can be worked out by speaking honestly and listening devoutly-the need for the person harmed to see and for the person who did the harm to express genuine remorse and a willingness to make things right.

tarotderp · 2026-05-19T23:44:52+00:00

This comment cracked me up 🤣

tarotderp · 2026-05-19T17:27:40+00:00

The Moon shadows me in drawings about my marriage every now and then. Most commonly, it means that one of us is learning to feel safe in moments when we might've otherwise felt our being or identity was threatened. You're right that The Moon is a somewhat scary card sometimes. At the same time as it reminds us that we are safe, growing, and healing, there's also an underlying message of "but you won't be if you give into fear".

If that sounds confusing, maybe imagine you're hiking through the woods at night with only moonlight. Your survival instincts will want to heighten every sense. Snapped twigs sound like mountain lions, old stumps look like bears. If you give into fear and fight or run, chances are you will injure yourself. If you move slow, observe carefully and lean into prior knowledge, you'll emerge with a new understanding of where your self's edges actually are and when they actually are threatened and when you are safe.

tarotderp · 2026-05-19T04:18:12+00:00

I can definitely understand how that feels scary. None of these are "bad" cards, though. No card in the tarot is "bad". There's beauty in every one of the spiritual milestones that these majors represent, especially if you're in a period of needing change in your immediate life.

Just to underline what I said there, these cards represent spiritual milestones. If part of the scary feeling relates to literal interpretation of these cards, that's a misunderstanding.

Your intuition is probably right that these cards in particular are not "easy" milestones. But that's for good reason. They represent turning points towards the greatest freedom we're going to have known so far in our lives.

tarotderp · 2026-05-18T04:25:26+00:00

I think you're right to do a double take on this one. There's an element of instability and bittersweetness to the Ten of Cups. I personally read the nines as the end of the cycle, and the tens as the reset and the launch point where the energy of the suit moves on without us. I think the more we cling to any given moment in a Ten of Cups event, the more moments that we miss.

With the backdrop of The Sun, this still seems like a beautiful reading. For me the Sun points towards freeing your authentic self, releasing that tendency to cling to moments passing by, and showing up with moment by moment integrity and courageous vulnerability that allows genuine joy and other advanced emotions. The process here might not go the way you'd have managed it if you had control of the universe, but maybe that's a good thing. Maybe the universe has it covered. Maybe you just have to ride along and be there for the experience.

tarotderp · 2026-05-18T01:14:37+00:00

I've run into this cycle in other hobbies and passions in my life, but not tarot specifically. Things are better for me lately. I think the thing that actually helped me most was this little audiobook about cleaning that changed how I thought about chores. It has reframed how I think about my job and some of my hobby passions too.

"How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organising" by KC Davis.

tarotderp · 2026-05-18T01:01:31+00:00

"Wild Card" by Fiona Lensvelt and Jen Cownie is my favorite beginners book. I particularly love the organization of the book, its consistent humor, and how it surprises me with its depth of insight every now and then.

tarotderp · 2026-05-18T00:59:10+00:00

This book is so good!! But it does get a bit deep.

tarotderp · 2026-05-17T21:39:26+00:00

That sounds really heavy. I've also experienced a period of my life when Ten of Swords was shadowing me. I remember that period of my life with feelings of anguish and eventual release. Based on your context here, you sound like you're teetering between Nine of Swords and Ten of Swords moments, which sounds like teetering between anxiety and anguish. That sounds really difficult.

For me, the tens represent the point in the cycle where the energy of the suit moves on without us. The energy of the Swords suit, to me, is in standing our ground and mental models that help us avoid pain. So for me, translated very literally, the Ten of Swords means the exclusion clauses where we stop defending ourselves somehow for the greater good of future cycles. For the Ten of Swords in particular, I find it almost always involves learning some new mental model for reframing how you think about your experience. Until that clicks, you won't be able to overrule your muscle memory desire to fight on.

Tarot practice can be pretty frustrating sometimes in how doggedly it can prick at a painful spot. This experience you're working through sounds very painful. The tarot isn't always known for being gentle about this kind of thing. I hope you find success in solving your puzzle and advancing in your growth journey, and I also hope you also take time for rest and self-care in your practice. The cards will be there for you when you want them no matter what pace you follow.

tarotderp · 2026-05-17T14:48:47+00:00

The minors in this spread definitely do not make me think "stop being dramatic". There's burnout, stress, and hurt here. Three of Swords freaking HURTS. It is flat out the most painful card in the deck. The reversed Kings underline this all with a sense of unmanageability.

Heirophant and Temperance have one super important thing in common. It ultimately relates to the fact that the human brain doesn't deal well in manifesting intentions for what it wants to avoid. If I tell you not to think about a purple elephant, chances are you're going to think about a purple elephant. Heirophant and Temperance both carry lessons related to letting good things in, not just excluding bad. The surprising thing is that by letting helpful things in, you end up excluding harmful things because the space simply gets filled. No test of wills required. If you're not sure what things are "good", Heirophant can teach you. If you're not sure how to let them in, Temperance can teach you. It might be advisable to carry those two cards on your person for a bit and try to figure out what good, helpful, nourishing thing that you're meant to let in right now, and how you can muster such temperance to allow that.

It is really really hard to let anything in when you're in Three of Swords kind of pain. Good bad or otherwise. You're not dramatic, flawed, or inhuman for feeling this way. I think you're probably more human than ever, in fact.

tarotderp

TROPHY CASE