So what do I need to know today for my heart's health and happiness? Still refining the question, as you can see. I feel a bit like Aladdin given a set number of wishes and trying to cover every base within the magical parameters. Not sure where we get the idea that magic is limited, that we only get so much luck, love, happiness. Maybe from fairy tales themselves.
The Eight of Pentacles is a card of success brought by hard work, painstaking work, increasing knowledge and expertise, and paying careful attention to detail. It's a craftsman's card, signifying a time of hard but beloved work nearly done.
Since I wasn't specific about the realm, I have to wonder where in life am I a craftsman and where do I dedicate myself -- family, speech pathology, writing, love? I suppose it could be all of them although I can't imagine a more exhausting thought then trying to be an "expert" in all of them. I'm of the ebb and flow, the turn of the wheel, to everything there is a season school. So what season is this for me?
In the Jane Austen Tarot, this card is associated with Anne Elliot, the heroine of Persuasion, an older but wiser unmarried woman of 27 (gasp! but I understand the time in which Jane was writing and that a woman of this age could, like Charlotte Lucas, fear ever making a match, let alone one based on love). Anne is the most capable member of her family. She is the master of many skills, including running a household, managing children, budgeting, compassion, clear-thinking in times of emergency, and passionate, despite her age and dwindling prospects. While I would love to think myself lovely and lively Elizabeth Bennett, I have always felt myself more closely aligned with Anne Elliot, which is perhaps why I reread Persuasion again and again, to catch the face of hope.
The astrological assignment for this card is Sun in Virgo, supporting a precise yet grounded approach to life. Virgo is ruled by Mercury, suggesting this sign, at it's best, is both practical and intelligent. With a sixth house sun (the sixth house being the natural house of Virgo) then, it isn't at all surprising this practicality is an essential part of my being, though it is colored by the lens of Libra.
So what does it mean, this Eight of Coins? Have I achieved a level of mastery in a particular field or, like Anne, in many fields? Am I just the unseen hand behind many projects and possibilities, helping them toward success without any recognition? Perhaps, as the Jane Austen Tarot suggests, I've gone as far as I can in one realm and it is time to move on to greener pastures, to bigger and better things. I am a person who always thinks of herself as an apprentice in every realm, becoming and becoming but never quite "being." I've finally decided I can call myself a writer, but just a novice. I am a good speech pathologist, but certainly not gifted. I consider myself a "good enough" mother, but not great. You get the picture. Because this card is the suit of coins, it speaks to creating tangible things like art, music, crafts, writing. So I'd like to think it speaks to a new period in my writing, a certain level of craftsmanship achieved, greater success in my endeavors. I think this would be vital to my heart's happiness, and therefore, to my health as well.
What would Jane Do?
"We all know industrious souls who achieve much, but have not the discernment to achieve well.... Alternately, there are those whose ideas are brilliant, but come to naught. Potential without application is pure vapour. When Labor and intellect align, however, the results seem divinely inspired."
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