Joan Borysenko

I read a lot of spiritual/self help books and listen to an enormous amount of meditation cd's. One that I came across and really liked was by Joan Borysenko, and I put myself on her mailing list and she just sent me a notice that she is giving a free on line workshop Forgiveness: An Essential Component in Health and Healing Free 3-Lesson Live Series with Joan Borysenko and Robin Casarjian
Hay House Live Online Course Thursdays: January 6, 13, 20 9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m. (Pacific Time)

I've heard recorded lectures of hers and they've been fun and enlightening, so if anyone has the time and inclination, I would encourage them to sign up for this. (I've not heard of Robin Casarjian, but I'm counting on Joan to find an equal quality companion)

Page of Pentacles

All the good things of the pentacle suit – wealth, stability and achievement are augured here. The page is the promise of grounding, of a strong start, of beginning something with legs.


If the page is a person, then this is an old soul – young of body but old of mind. This person is the best of all things – a constructive dreamer. Sometimes they may appear too serious or pragmatic, the pentacles generally lack that spark of charisma, but they are usually generous and good hearted.

Court Card Qualification

Whenever it’s time to start the court cards I find myself hesitating. The court cards most of all resist pat interpretations, and can mean significantly different things, depending on where they lie and what cards fall next to them. With the court cards, more than any other, context matters. So I find I have to write this caveat before I start, and only then can I let myself go forward and write these summaries…

10 of Pentacles, Inner Child

The inner child cards do not strictly follow the Rider Waite pack interpretations, and in the pentacles in particular they differ widely, so I will occasionally give them their own link.


This version is all about warmth and the idealized family time that Christmas can present. It’s about family traditions and togetherness, feeling true gratitude and being open to the gifts that life has for you.

beauty on the internet

When I first started reading tarot cards, there was no Internet, not even a hint of one. So I learnt through books and readings and buying the very occasional pack. I can't draw at all, but I tried to create my own pack, which just helped deepen my knowledge of the tarot.


But now there is the Internet and there are so many exquisite images out there. I just came across this amazing pack - the Fractal Tarot deck. I don't actually think I could read from it, but some of it's images are so beautiful, I don't want to lose them, so I'm recording them here...



I particularly like this image of the hermit, which shows that you focus on the inner so that you can reach out more strongly with the outer...

10 of Pentacles

Whenever I get this card I say it involves 3 words – complex / family/ money. It’s never simple to decode this card, so this more general reading is not going to be accurate – a proper interpretation depends where the card falls in the tarot spread, and how you feel about it. It can be positive or negative, but it’s not simple. It can mean established, contented wealth, but with a flutter of change… something new is coming and how does it affect the traditions already established?


This version of the card is oddly disturbing, and then you realize that the cozy father and son chess game is being held up by a person/servant/slave? Here there is affection and respect within the family but disrespect or contempt for others. You see, complex, family, money… it’s all there.

9 of pentacles

In this card we are enjoying the finer things in life. Here, after the hardship and work of some of the previous cards, comes a stroll through the park, and a sense of plenty.


This card can be the reward for hard work paying, leading as it does from the industrious 8 of pentacles. Or it can simply be about feeling comfortable in your own skin, happy with the luxuries of life. When you get this card you are letting the good stuff in, be grateful for it and let yourself enjoy it while it lasts.


The Inner Child card gives us the sweetly domestic Christmas scene, with plenty of presents promised, but love and warmth all ready there…

Eight of Pentacles

I started reading the cards forever ago (more than 25 years!) and when I first saw this card it wasn’t shiny and glossy enough and I didn’t like it. But I’m older and wiser now and I can see its virtues. This card is about work, steady and interesting.


The person sits, having their accomplishments on the wall, working with focused attention, with more work to follow after that. It’s about focus and concentration and doing something you personally find rewarding. People who are looking for work love to draw this card. People who are in work feel pleased that their hard work will pay off, and that there is more coming.


I like the inner child version, skating the figure of the infinite, in the flow, moving with grace. It’s when you are in the right place at the right time, and it’s all good.

Seven of pentacles

When I see this card I always tell people they have sown their seeds and are now seeing the fruits of their labor – taking a moment and resting while the outcomes grow heavy on the vine. So you are finally seeing some results (People who are graduating from college often draw this card) or seeing some investments - of time and energy as well as money - pay off. I have also seen it for women asking about pregnancy and it signifies a yes!


But I also get it when people have felt they’re taken as much as they can from this garden, and in the pause, they are considering change – new work, new careers, assessing whether the fruit is worth the labor involved. The beautiful quilt reminds us that to everything there is a season, and make sure you are waiting for the right moment to reap your reward.

The inner child cards emphasize the resting/assessing option; in that candlelit pause you can assess more fully, reflect whether you are on the right path, see for yourself if you want to continue, or if you want change. This is a moment to check your strategy and see if you are still on course.

Six of Pentacles Inner child

The inner child cards do not strictly follow the Rider Waite pack interpretations, and in the pentacles in particular they differ widely, so I will occasionally give them their own link.


Here you are climbing the mountain to get to the magic snow flake. It’s about determination and perseverance and getting there. The image also suggests that you are leading the pack, but sometimes you are walking too far ahead - check that everyone is on the same page, and wants the same goals/outcomes.

Six of Pentacles

This is a complex card and needs context to explain - money is often such a complicated issue. I always ask people which figure they most identify with. Are you giving and not getting or taking and not being able to give? Are you expected to be grateful or expected to be gracious? It’s about an uneven power dynamic, and a sense of not enough.


You might think the figure giving the charity is the happiest in this scenario, but actually no one is entirely comfortable when relationships are so fundamentally unequal. And the irony is, when I get this card for relationships, it can mean that both parties can feel that the other has all the resources, power and control…


The tarot of trees has a kinder version, where the scarcity of the nuts meets the sharp wits of the squirrels.

Five of Pentacles Inner Child

The inner child cards do not strictly follow the Rider Waite pack interpretations, and in the pentacles in particular they differ widely, so I will occasionally give them their own link.


I call this one the whistling while you work card. In this card you are satisfied and content in your labors, always a happy card to see if you are looking for work.

Five of Pentacles

No one likes this card. It’s when we are feeling out in the cold, poor and ignored. It can be about money, and simply not having enough, but it can also be about fear, and about feeling fragile and chilly in relationships.


It’s about poverty of spirit, and what wanting and not having does to you. It’s about being tired and weary, physically and spiritually. The will work for food card is a chilling and perfect summary of this card

4 of Pentacles Inner Child

The inner child cards do not strictly follow the Rider Waite pack interpretations, and in the pentacles in particular they differ widely, so I will occasionally give them their own link.


In this one, the scaffolding is up, but the building is not whole yet. There is a vision of what it should look like, and work is taking place, but don’t lose focus now, you need to ensure that your plans are good and that you are carrying them out correctly.

four of pentacles

When I look at this card I always think of two things: ‘holding on’ and ‘not enough’. This is not about how much money you actually have, but rather how you feel about it. You may have millions but you feel that you need more. You want to keep what you have, you want to be in charge, you fear change, you want control. But of course by giving it so much energy, it is starting to control you.

It’s not always about money, often it’s about maintaining the status quo – you want to keep the situation as is, to keep things static, hold on to the past. And that won’t happen either. So this is a card is warning of future unhappiness. You can’t keep hold of everything, not even the good, and if you try, you are doomed to fail.

I love the sulky cat image, because it’s a clear view of what will happen if we persist with this energy – we turn into this cat, and who wants that!

Three of Pentacles

It's funny, this is the card of harmonious work, and I'm having terrible technical difficulties with this post - first I couldn't get the images loaded, now I can't get the text... Not much harmony here!

However, when you get this card, it means that there is cooperation, harmony, similar goals and an understanding of how to get there. People love getting this card when they are looking for work because it means not only is work coming, but it will be fulfilling, interesting work - a career position not just a job.

When you draw this card you feel competent and part of the group. I like the skipping rope version which allows for a sense of play as well - but again, all three people are essential to this game and share in it equally.

Two of Pentacles

This is such a New York card – it shows the juggle, the flow of life in the city. Balls are in the air, the energy is good and you are grounded but moving. It’s that sense of fast paced life in the city, and it’s all working.

The see saw image shows the same thing, of course there will be ups and downs, but they are within reasonable constraints, and you are having fun, with the game of life.

The Deviant Moon version, shows it as a dance - shows you being flexible, responsive, moving at just the right time.

So if you get this card, you are in the flow or the zone, making it happen for yourself. The shadow side of this card is when we worry that we will drop one of the balls, that it is unstable and all too much. Sometimes we want things to remain fixed in space and time - but we have to remember that change is the only constant, and with that knowledge, we can go back to the juggle of life…

Ace of Pentacles

Everyone is always happy to see this card. At the superficial level, it means money/success/promotion is coming, and who doesn’t want that? At a deeper level it means you are feeling grounded, that you are getting the results you want, and you can hold on to them. You feel a sense of abundance.

When I get it in a question, the Ace always signifies a ‘yes’ – so if you are asking about work or money, it’s overwhelmingly positive, the jackpot at the end of the rainbow. But even if you are asking about relationships or babies, the ace of pentacles is a yes.

I like the chick image, the sense of coming out of our shells, and getting into the freedom of the wide world.

The Last Suit - Pentacles

Oh my goodness, we are finally here – this is the last suit of the Tarot. Fourteen more cards and then the entire deck (all 78 cards) will have been covered. Very happy about that! Also happy to end with the Pentacles, a suit that is grounded, practical, down to earth, deals with money and work and real life. Pentacles deal with results, manifestation and prosperity (always welcome!) Pentacles can appear as crystals, coins, jewels, discs, gold or even shells, in various tarot decks.

King of swords

The King has all the strengths and the weaknesses of the swords. He is intellectual, discriminating and fair. He has a keen edge, and a dry sense of humor. He can be detached; he likes to look at the facts, and doesn’t like to factor in emotions.

He likes to work with information/data and analyze problems. He provides clarity in complicated situations. He takes time to formulate an opinion and then sticks to it. He doesn’t like to be challenged, though his innate fairness will make him listen. He values ideas, and wants others to value them too.

The Inner Child version emphasizes his passion for justice, idealism and correcting the world’s ills. The King of Swords can be highly ethical and tries to live to very high standards.

His shadow side is when he becomes cruel with his cutting wit, and cold or critical with his detachment. If he is not careful, he can value his ideals above the people in his life, which can make him unforgiving.

the magic of tarot

I do 2 -3 readings a day, (more than 3 and I start to babble!) and every so often something happens that is so amazing it just makes the hairs on my arm stand up...

So today I was doing a reading, and I always ask for the cards to be shuffled and then cut once, with the non dominant hand. And the very nice girl cut twice and gave me the cards and as I pulled them out I just felt wrong, so I said to her, no, you cut twice, I only ask people to cut once... So I gathered up the three cards, she shuffled the cards, really she did, and then cut once and the SAME IDENTICAL three cards came out.

The three of us looked at each other (thankfully her friend was there to witness the event) and I laughed and said, you're starting to freak me out! Clearly they were the cards that were meant to be read!

My immediate conclusion was that she is strongly psychic herself, and she needs to look into that. I haven't seen that done before, ever.

So here it was, today's magic moment with the cards...

Queen of Swords

The Queen of swords is a mature adult, not girlish at all! She is intellectual, strong willed and can cut through the nonsense. She likes clarity and knowing where everyone stands. She is scrupulously fair, and often detached – not emotional or clingy. She is armed and capable, but not defensive - she still has one hand that can reach out and connect. She is a private person, and doesn’t give intimacy easily. Independence is very important to her.

I really like this description from the Intuitive Tarot site: “The Queen of Swords is able to allow others to go through their necessary life lessons without the need to take care of everything.”

Her shadow side is that she can appear (or actually be) cold rather than detached, and superior rather than analytical. She doesn’t suffer fools easily and her criticisms can be cutting. If her intellectual edge leaves her, she can feel overwhelmed by emotion.

And of course, like all swords, she learns through suffering, and life can cut deep.

Knight of Swords

Here he is sword drawn, riding into the wind with full force.

The Knight of Swords will put ideas in action and has the courage of his convictions. He won’t listen or be stopped by opposition. The energy that swirls around the knight can feel violent: he pushes his will through, he wants his own way. He can fight for a cause he perceives is righteous, but he doesn’t always fight fair. It’s easy for this knight to fall into the trap of arrogance, of thinking the ends justifies the means. The plus side is that he is fearless and has no doubts, and that can get you through a difficult situation.

The Inner Child Card warns that if you feel you are at a crossroads, the knight of swords energy can cut through the confusion, but make sure you have all the facts, otherwise you will be racing off in the wrong direction.