CARDS | Flash reads

APPROACH

I DO NOT PREDICT THE FUTURE: The cards do not know the future and neither do I. There is enough to reflect on with the past and present. I see the cards as adult flashcards that offer a visual pause from external screensomnia and ways to prompt conversations with and between the self.

MAJOR ARCANA: I read the 22 major arcana as a map of major mysteries relating to the human experience and one's self-relationship. Card zero, The Fool, is the avatar that travels through these major mysteries.

• The first 7 cards can be read as early mysteries of coming of age through discovering dualities.
• The middle mysteries (8-14) are where The Fool matures through exploring internal dimensions to transcend duality.
• The outer mysteries (15-21) are where The Fool reconciles their inner tensions with broader truths, vulnerability, and their calling towards the collective.

SUITS: I read the four suits as minor mysteries that can help us identify the gifts we're most naturally inclined to use as well as the ones we tend to avoid or underutilise. I have replaced the suit names with visuals I find more relevant to the present.

• I read 'Wands' as Sparks, the fire suit of semangat, velocity, the sacral.
• I read 'Swords' as Blades, the air suit of power, comms, and designs of the mind.
• I read 'Pentacles' as Salt, tangible material energy, resources and wealth, carbon and mangroves under our feet.
• I read 'Cups' as Vessels, containers of soul, feeling, the water suit of a relational heart.

FACE CARDS: I substitute the monarchic archetype of 'court' cards into face cards of figures who embody their suit through the practice of different valuable roles in their community.

• I read 'Pages' as Students, curious and open beginners and initiates discovering their suit's energy.
• I read 'Knights' as Hands, charged and driven novices embodying single-minded expressions of their suit.
• I read 'Queens' as Keepers, guardians and caregivers of deep inner wisdom and restraint, leading by example through a subtle mastery of the suit.
• I read 'Kings' as Elders, architects and influencers of social standards, figureheads that embody the collective responsibility and external mastery of the suit.

THE FOOL

You are nowhere and everywhere. Take a deep inhale outside of all structure before diving back in. Take a risk and surrender to the potential of the universe. Let's re-enter life's lessons as a holy misfit. The holy misfit does not overthink their journey through dualities. When they place trust in the Divine, they know that it is never just them that is doing the work. In the experiences to come, let faith make you brave. You are invited— over and over— to enter an exchange of trust with the Source. Just start. Travel light. Collaborate with God. [2024-08-20]

EARLY MYSTERIES

1. The Magician

The word comes from magi, plural for a Zoroastrian priest: wise men who were thought to possess powers and visited Jesus as an infant. Your past experiences have visited you with everything you need to now perform your specific magic. The core tools are laid out before you, one of each minor mystery: the spark, the vessel, the blade, the salt. You are a conduit directly linked to the source of all creation. You do not need another app. Stay grounded and concentrate to synthesise these elements. With your magic, create a connection between the now to the timelines of our best potential. [2025-03-18]

2. The High Priestess

Action is not only what happens visibly in the external world. If you want the Divine to visit, make a place in your home as you would a guest. If you want your guest to stay, then prepare a bed. Here is an invitation to find sanctuary from the noise and let your intuition surface. This is the time to sit about a thing, not for sudden moves. You might look passive to others in the moment, but suspending external energy is not the same as doing nothing. Even stillness is an action. [2025-03-19]

3. The Empress

"My idea of a perfect moment is one that stimulates all of my senses at once—but gently, without surprises." — Annie Kotowicz

We long to be in our bodies but have forgotten how. Seek mind-body awareness. Embrace the fact that you too are something wild. This is an invitation to be strong, gentle, and loving, to embody an organic way of being and flow instead of force. To adapt instead of manipulate is also a powerful act. Think of people whose self-love has made others feel comfortable, safe, loved. If none come to mind, then be that person for yourself and others. [2023-06-01]

4. The Emperor

Monitoring, evaluation, learning.

5. The Hierophant

x

6. The Lovers

x

7. The Chariot

A portal out of the early mysteries. This is the part of us that wants to win. Make sure that need to win is rooted in self-improvement, not twisted and degrading competition. A healthy ego for friendly rivalry with peers can elevate your art. Learn to listen for a no, because this card also reveals the limitations of willpower and control. Imposing your will on reality is not just a series of manipulations over others. We do not have to be total beasts to get what we want. And always getting what we want is an unmagical one-note way of looking at life. Muscling your way through life like an obstacle course makes little sense in a life of industrialised death production where compliance is a preset path. Use the tension you are now in to propel yourself into exploring the secrets of internal life: force (Strength), peace (The Hermit), change (The Wheel of Fortune), adjustment (Justice), acceptance (The Hanged man), transformation (Death), and balance (Temperance). [2023-06-01]

MIDDLE MYSTERIES

8. Strength

x

9. The Hermit

x

10. The Wheel

x

11. Justice

x

12. The Hanged One

It's time to return to the practice of meditation, which in these days feels like the ultimate sacrifice. But sometimes we control by letting go, and we win by surrendering. Here is an invitation to withdraw from the world for a greater personal good, to experience a moment before big transformation. Or maybe this is the time to give up assumptions or ways of thinking in favour of more concrete action. [2024-04-08]

13. Death

x

14. Temperance

x

OUTER MYSTERIES

15. The Devil

x

16. The Tower

x

17. The Star

Ya Zāhir. From its roots it shows the radiant life of the One manifesting in a form that communicates clearly and in an apparent way. Flexibility allows for the greatest radiance. [2025-05-02]

Neil Douglas Klotz: "Sometimes we need to do something very clearly and conspicuously in our lives, so that it makes an impression on others. Jesus told his disciples that sometimes they needed to teach obviously and openly, like a dove that flies straight toward its goal. Other times, they needed to teach in a hidden and roundabout way, like a snake that slithers this way and that until it gets to where it's going. This pathway tells us that working outwardly in life can be just as important as doing inner work. [...] Perhaps life is calling you right now to take the role of the star— to be clear, radiating and out-front. Remember that clear, positive action can cause others to become attached to you personally as the 'doer.' Use this pathway to meet and purify this starstruck energy with the greater manifested light and life of the One."

18. The Moon

x

19. The Sun

x

20. Judgment

x

21. The World

It's the end of a cycle, and the Beloved has given you a win in some way. That is to say, there is something special about what you have achieved and you should recognise it too if you haven't yet. This isn't the time to think about what comes next or contaminate your achievement with unworthy narratives. But if you need to be called out about being an active participant in Reality, here it is. The Beloved showed up for you, so this is the time to be willing to show up in the World, through courage or celebration. We move differently when we are proud of ourselves, and that can change people too, even if it is just changing how they respond to us. This is a signal for ease and acceptance; some kind of process is over for you in terms of what you need for times to come. Although Reality can be learned about but can never truly be grasped, maybe this season finale has something to teach you about experiencing Reality in all its ambiguity and contradiction. And to that we say Alhamdulillah. [2024-11-26]

MINOR ARCANA

• Sparks 🧨 The fire suit of semangat, velocity, the sacral.
• Blades 🔪 The air suit of Swords is about mental programming, power, and comms. Sometimes straightforward and sudden bad news. Mental health, addiction, sobriety. Fighting with words, cunning, writing. Some sorrow. Not always getting us what we want, but what we need. Logistics.
• Salt 🪨 The earth suit is tangible material energy. Slow and steady growth. Wealth and resources. Carbon and mangroves.
• Vessels 🧊 The water suit is about a relational heart, containers of soul and feeling.

Aces

Ace of Sparks

🧨 x

Ace of Blades

🔪 Insight strikes as plainly as lightning. It is a warning. After a phase of reacting without acting, you may find yourself now feeling more isolated than you have ever been. It is not easy to let go of beliefs you've held for a very long time, or relationships that are unhealthy for either or both sides. It is definitely not easy to let go of the ways you have deceived yourself. But in the journey you are on, the time for the necessary discomfort is now. Allow yourself the pain of making a change that brings you closer to your values. Stay sober and sharp while doing it. Holding a blade is an act of responsibility. To cut through confusion— to arrive at clarity— is a powerful and painful act. This isn't an act to simplify either. Once you're done carving through the clutter, you should not be left with fragments of division. You want clear vision with that power, enough space to reach out and embrace complexity in any direction of spacetime. The word of God is alive and active, and sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). So with the blade, time travel back if you need to. It is never too late to learn from a relationship. It is never too late to uninstall old programming. This is a chance to free yourself from a life you have been trying to kill for a long time. If you stay in the present, travel through to truth together. If this is a new beginning, then own it. The justice you seek requires that dominant energy. [2024-08-22]

Ace of Salt

🪨 x

Ace of Vessels

🧊 Your heart turns the corner into a new era.

Dua

Two of Sparks

🧨🧨

Two of Blades

🔪 🔪 Your back is turned to the sea. You have your reasons not to look. The narratives you carry have protected your heart. You hold your ground to claim the space to think, feel, decide on your own terms. That's respectable. You maybe even already know that it's possible to be both fierce and kind when setting boundaries, even if it is easier said than done. But how long have you been standing here like this? Are we pretending the problem isn't a problem? You know which one I mean: the one that shifts the more you refuse to face it. You say your ability to choose this is what makes reality meaningful, but can't the same be said about the ability to change your mind? What if your expired coping mechanisms are blocking you from facing a different direction? When we avoid the problem, we also avoid why we react to the problem the way we do. We refuse to visit the narratives that guard the heart. When we abandon ourselves, we lose the possibility of sharing a softer heart with others; we ignore communities cooperating to care for each other and hold larger systems accountable for our present reality. The horizon waves back anyway, over and over. It swallows the sun every day, even when no one is looking. You have used your brains to block your own blessings before. I wonder if you are doing it again. [2024-08-20]

Two of Salt

🪨🪨 x

Two of Vessels

🌊🌊 x

Tiga

Three of Sparks

🧨🧨🧨 x

Three of Blades

🔪 🔪 🔪 x

Three of Salt

🪨🪨🪨 x

Three of Vessels

🌊🌊🌊 x

Empat

Four of Sparks

🧨🧨🧨🧨 x

Four of Blades

🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪 x

Four of Salt

🪨🪨🪨🪨 x

Four of Vessels

🌊🌊🌊🌊 x

Lima

Five of Sparks

🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨 x

Five of Blades

🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪 x

Five of Salt

🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨 x

Five of Vessels

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 Capitalism was always going to shut you out to fend for yourself. Prosperity gospel is a scam.

Enam

Six of Sparks

🔥🧨 x

Six of Blades

🪭🔪 x

Six of Salt

🪵🪨 The zakat lady.

Six of Vessels

🧊🌊 Unconditional love is what connects your inner child to the ancestor you are becoming. Did you know that strong emotions can defy spacetime until reaching someone who can resolve them? Let's believe that person is you, even though you can be so hard on yourself sometimes when time travelling. When the old narratives you rely on expire, return to tenderness. Children should not know or have to know failure. You were just trying to play, trying to be safe. Return to imagination, to the places your inner child was once denied in this broken system that was not designed for us to thrive. But when you return, be vigilant. Do not let the nostalgia they warp for profit cloud your vision. The illusions of childhood were necessary, but now clarity is your responsibility. In a world of unending horrors and empires that fail our young, isn't offering compassion to yourself and to others a sacred action? Sometimes your work is to create for others what you wished for when you needed it most. Sometimes it is about confronting the truths long buried beneath those simple joys. And sometimes it is about embracing the lineages of love and resistance that you want to continue, even when it challenges the one you were born into. Remember the heart of a child is tender, and the optimism it still feels is a form of intelligence that was earned. That child kept it safe for you to learn from today. The past is a place to visit, not to live in. Give yourself the space to play, imagine, and celebrate with your inner child. Be kind and generous to the ancestor you will become. [2024-08-27]

Tujuh

Seven of Sparks

🔥🧨🧨 To fight for what you believe in, you need good boundaries to deal with the pushback.

Seven of Blades

🪭🔪🔪 The lesson returns until we learn it. Repetitive cycles are haunted by the ghosts of unresolved trauma.

Seven of Salt

🪵🪨🪨 Gardening is unglamorous work, and it is time to check that we are not trading in valuable life energy for hollow fantasies that cannot nourish the future. Consider the tension between what the system expects of you vs. your inner truths. Within that tension is a good time for rest. Step back and practice delayed gratification, second order thinking. Take in who you who are at this point in life, the autonomy you have reclaimed so far. Use that time to reflect on how your work is aligned with the bigger picture. Adjust plans if your crops aren't thriving, if the goals you are pursuing are hollow. This is not the time to delay life production for the rewards of death production. Cultivate for a future that honours your truth after years of survival mode compromises. [2025-03-05]

Seven of Vessels

🧊🌊🌊 Psychic traps can be tempting. Fantasy allows the illusion of control without having to be vulnerable.

Lapan

Eight of Sparks

🔥🧨🧨🧨 x

Eight of Blades

🪭🔪🔪🔪 x

Eight of Salt

🪵🪨🪨🪨 Cultivating the discipline for a practice.

Eight of Vessels

🧊🌊🌊🌊 x

Sembilan

Nine of Sparks

🔥🧨🧨🧨🧨 x

Nine of Blades

🪭🔪🔪🔪🔪 Nightmares.

Nine of Salt

🪵🪨🪨🪨🪨 x

Nine of Vessels

🧊🌊🌊🌊🌊 Secure attachment with the self.

Sepuluh

Ten of Sparks

🔥🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨 x

Ten of Blades

🪭🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 Doomscrolling. Psychic numbing.

Ten of Salt

🪵🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨 Interdependence. Kinship is to some extent, domestication.

Ten of Vessels

🧊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 x

FACE CARDS

Students

Student of Sparks

🧞 Moana.

Student of Blades

🧚🏽 Mulan.

Student of Salt

🦧 Belle.

Student of Vessels

🧜🏽 Ariel.

Hands

Hand of Sparks

🧞 x

Hand of Blades

🧚🏽 x

Hand of Salt

🦧 x

Hand of Vessels

🧜🏽 x

Keepers

Keeper of Sparks

🧞 x

Keeper of Blades

🧚🏽 x

Keeper of Salt

🦧 x

Keeper of Vessels

🧜🏽 The Keeper of Vessels grows their people's resilience and creativity without force or violence, speaks little but observes a lot, and their influence is steady even if overlooked. They hold space for others' feelings compassionately with the emotional wisdom of an attuned subconscious. Their energy cleanses without force or violence. They understand deeply but don't always speak. Their power is in quiet observation and intuition. They grow creativity and emotional resilience amongst their people, and their influence is steady, patient, and life-giving even when unnoticed.

Elders

Elder of Sparks

🧞 x

Elder of Blades

🧚🏽 x

Elder of Salt

🦧 x

Elder of Vessels

🧜🏽 The Elder of Vessels uses their understanding of the life cycle of emotions to break generational curses. To ruminate is to refuse to surrender to the actual experience. If you must design, lead with compassion and vulnerability. Tenderness is an art. Remove anything unloving that obstructs your loving nature. Use your talents to heal others by letting their emotions emerge, committing to the practice of being more forgiving, more open, less fearful of people and pain. [2025-01-22]