ENERGY READING FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 20 BY CARDSY B FROM THE HEX AND THE CITY PODCAST, PRESENTED BY LOUVE

Welcome back to your weekly reading! For more insights, tune in to the Hex and the City podcast, presented by Louve, airing weekly on the podcast platform of your choice, including Apple and Spotify. You can also follow me on Instagram for more magic.

Our card of the week: Seven of swords. This is going to require some strategizing. In the original Smith Rider-Waite Tarot deck, this card shows a man carrying five swords, and he's clumping them all together. He's looking back at the two swords behind him, almost like he wished he could have scooped them all up, but he was only able to carry five swords. But he's still carrying the majority — five out of seven is still good odds. A lot of people read this card and think it can indicate deception or envy, which it absolutely can, but more than anything, the "7" cards are ruled by the chariot so Seven of Swords actually indicates a strategic victory.

Astrologically, this card is ruled by the moon and Aquarius so when we break down the astrology of that, the interaction of the fixed air sign with the moon, often indicates the ability to discern things objectively, without being swayed by emotions. Though it can give off the essence of being cool and aloof, it usually results in a clear-headed response.

I think this card is often mistaken as a negative card because it can be perceived as someone doing something shady but that's not necessarily the case. It's usually self-prioritization with a cool, calm ahead versus an overly emotional ruling. The swords tend to be the mind intellects - very cool, calm and collected.

This week may bring in the need to make a decision or forge a new path and Seven of Swords is really asking us to be discerning, to be strategic and also to remove the weights of outside opinions, expectations and pressures. This will likely reveal itself through a personal or work scenario where it's impossible to make everyone happy. The Seven of Swords is teaching us that we can't win it all here and that can be understood by looking at the original card illustration where he's carrying five swords instead of seven, he just can't have it all.

It's really calling us to listen to our energy and take the course of action that we're being intuitively guided towards and it feels like it's in our highest good to do so. A lot of times, the Seven of Swords causes us to feel that pull between an obligation or outside pressure and what we genuinely want to do or what we feel called to do. It creates that dilemma of: is it better to let ourselves down or to let someone from the outside world down? This could be a friend, a family member, or a boss for example. I'm a strong believer that when we learn to prioritize ourselves, it actually benefits the balance of those relationships being affected. There may be initial pushback, but it recalibrates the the fair, energetic exchange and the flow of the relationship when we start to prioritize ourselves in a genuine way.

The thing is, the Seven of Swords challenges us to become as comfortable saying no to others as we are saying no to ourselves. It pushes us to trust our inner voice and choose ourselves this week, not just for our highest good, but also to set an example for others around us. Not only does it help us, but it really sends a ripple effect out to the collective when we choose what is in our highest good and trust our intuition.

See you next week, and don’t forget to tune in to this week’s episode of Hex and the City, brought to you by Louve, available on Apple and Spotify!