Beyond the Shuffle: Tarot, Life & Everything In Between

How Do We Receive?

• Adrienne Amari • Season 1 • Episode 25

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How good are you at opening yourself to receiving? Whether that's receiving a compliment, some help, or just more fulfillment and happiness in your life? Does that make you uncomfortable?

Over the past few weeks, so many of my readings have come up with a similar message or theme: you're great at giving, but not so great at receiving. In this episode, we dive in to cards that help us realize that we need to receive more.

Plus, a reading that asks how can we as a society open ourselves to the art of reception?


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SPEAKER_00

How good are you at opening yourself to receiving? Whether that's receiving a compliment, some help, or just more fulfillment and happiness in your life. Does that make you uncomfortable? Hi there, and welcome to Beyond the Shuffle, a podcast where we explore the wild ride of the human experience through the lens of tarot. I'm Adrienne Amari, your host, guide, and someone who's constantly working on getting better at receiving all that this world has to offer. So settle in, open your mind, and let's go beyond the shuffle. On this week's episode, I wanted to talk about something that has been coming up in a lot of readings as of late. And when I see these repeating patterns and messages, I always think it's worth mentioning because if so many people are feeling the same energy, maybe it can help someone else too. Now I want to talk specifically about the three cards that kept coming up that led to this conversation, but there are other cards that are great for this theme as well. But the three cards that I really would like to focus on are the Six of Pentacles, the Six of Wands, and the Ace of Cups. So let's start with the one that has popped up the most, and that'll be the Six of Pentacles. And I think it's actually come up in my taroscopes for the last few weeks as well. And if you don't know, every Monday I post taroscopes, which is a tarot message for each sign, on my website, through my newsletter, and on Instagram. So if that's something that you'd enjoy, make sure you check it out. But let's start with the Six of Pentacles. So in the Ryder Wait Smith version of the tarot, we see a man kind of dressed fancy, holding a scale, with two beggars beneath him, and he's dropping coins into one of their hands. Now this is a card of giving and receiving, of community, generosity, and charity. And I can tell you, nine times out of ten when this card comes up is because it's somebody who loves to give, and that is not a bad thing. But the problem is the Six of Pentacles asks for balance. It does ask us to give without expectation, but to also be able to receive when we need it. And that seems to be the place where so many people struggle because they are happy to be of service. They are happy to share what they have. And I think that that is so lovely because the Six of Pentacles isn't just about giving money. It's about the giving of your resources, which can be money, but it's also time, energy, experience, emotion. A lot of the time the response to being able to receive is that it's hard. It feels awkward. And a lot of the time it does go back to our self-worth. We don't believe we deserve to receive. Now, with the Six of Pentacles, I had one client who I said to, you know, think of how good you feel when you give, when you help somebody. So think about how good it makes them feel when they're able to do the same for you. And by not allowing yourself to accept or receive that, it's kind of like robbing them of that gift. And they said to me, you know, I have never really thought of it that way. I never considered that they would enjoy giving. But it makes sense because it does bring me so much fulfillment. So if you are someone who struggles with it, think of it that way. Now the next card I want to talk about is the Six of Wands. And you might be thinking, where is she going with this one? Because the Six of Wands is often a card of pride, success, victory, reaching a milestone, recognition for a job well done. But do you know how often it appears when someone just brushes off the compliment? When they have a really hard time receiving praise or feeling pride over something that they've done a good job with. Because I'm sure you've done it too. I know I have. Somebody says good job, and you think, oh, it's no big deal, and you just brush it off. You kind of mumble an excuse of why it was nothing at all, instead of just saying thank you. So the Six of Wands can represent our ability to receive a compliment, to receive a pat on the back from someone other than ourselves. And it can be hard sometimes to be recognized. It can be hard to feel proud because again, it goes back to thinking that maybe we don't quite deserve it. And if we're not noticing a pattern here, there definitely is one emerging. One of the things I often say with the Six of Wands is accept the compliment. Nobody's saying it just to say it. People generally aren't that nice. If they're going out of their way to pay you a compliment, they mean it. So take it and run. Let yourself feel good about it. Because what happens when we accept those compliments? Well, we feel motivated. We feel like we're ready for the next chapter because that's what the Six of Wands is about. It's about the celebration when you reach the milestone, knowing that you still have more work to do. You're not done. It's only a six. And it's not saying that you need external validation to keep going. But sometimes doesn't it feel really good to be recognized and to receive that compliment? Of course it does. And a third card that has been popping up all the time as a reminder to ask ourselves to receive is the Ace of Cups. Now I've said it many times before. Aces are always potential, they are never the guarantee of anything because you have to be open to making them happen. And I feel like the Ace of Cups is such an obvious one because it's literally a cup. It's supposed to receive, it's supposed to hold. So it makes sense that when it comes up, we're being asked to receive the emotion, the love, the happiness, the joy of life, to receive new connections or rekindled connections, to open our heart and allow that to happen. I see it coming up a lot in readings where people have previously been quite closed off. And oftentimes it's with reason they've been hurt, they've had some bad experience, so they've closed that door. But the Ace of Cups comes up and it says, no, open yourself because if you don't, you can't receive all this goodness that is available to you, all of this joy, all this connection, even all of this intuition. We want things to flow. And nothing can flow if it only goes one way. I think it's also interesting to note the Suit of Cups itself is a receptive suit. And I think we could argue that pretty much every card in the suit is asking us to open ourselves to receiving something. So, for example, the Seven of Cups with all the choices is asking ourselves to receive the path forward from our intuition. In the Four of Cups, we are stuck and stagnated because we're not allowing ourselves to see and to receive opportunities that are available to us. We're cutting off our emotions, we're numbing ourselves, we're giving in to apathy, which, while sometimes that's needed, we also have to allow things to flow again. We can't exist in that state forever. In the Two of Cups, it's that reception of that mutual love and respect. And the internal master of the realm of the cups, the queen, she'll tell you that you can't fill from an empty cup. So you have to allow others to replenish yours as much as you do theirs. And if we follow the same line of reasoning, we can also look at the suit of pentacles, because that is the other inactive, passive, or receptive suit, but we can see a lot of that in the pentacles as well. Of course, we've already talked about the six, but even the ace of pentacles is allowing yourself to see those opportunities, to see and to seize them, to start planting those seeds. The Ten of Pentacles can be receiving an inheritance, a windfall of money, but even the stability and the security that your hard work and effort has brought you to. We've talked about this one before, but the five of pentacles is asking for, or again, receiving help when you're feeling lost and stuck and isolated, low on energy, or even impoverished. And if you'd like to learn more about the Suit of Cups and the Suit of Pentacles, and Wands and Swords, I did a podcast episode for each suit that you can go through the journey from ace through 10 for each of them. Now we've talked a lot about the minor arcana, but what about the major arcana? There has to be something about receiving in there, right? Because it is such a big part of the human experience, and it is such a lesson that many of us have to learn. The first card for me that comes to mind is the Empress, because again, the Empress is a feminine energy card, and feminine energy is often a receptive energy, and she is just lounging on her beautiful, comfortable throne, enjoying the abundance that exists around her. So it is that reminder to allow ourselves to receive beauty and abundance and comfort in this life. Through doing so, we are able to create, we are able to put forth our ideas into the world because if we don't receive from the world around us, we have very little to funnel out. And I think the Empress also relates really well to our self-worth because when the Empress is living in her best, most powerful state, she feels like she deserves the universe. And I don't mean that in a cocky way or a way where she thinks that she should have everything, but she's willing to accept or receive the universe. How's that? But when she's in a shadow state, when she's not in her full power, we get that lack of confidence, that lack of self-esteem, that feeling like we're not doing enough, like we're not worth enough. A lot of the time when the empress comes up in a difficult position, I'll say to someone, You've had a blow to your confidence recently, haven't you? And the answer is always yes. So the lesson of the Empress is how do we receive the abundance that the world has to offer? How do we know that we are worthy of it and that we deserve it? It's a hard lesson for so many of us to learn, myself included. But that's also probably why she's a major arcana, right? Another card I'd like to talk about is the high priestess, because she is the receiver of messages, of the intuition, of the subconscious mind. She is the number two, and all twos have a duality. The yin and yang, the passive, the active, the dark and the light. Even on the card, you see the black pillar and the white pillar. Our subconscious and conscious minds and the high priestess asks us to receive the mysteries from the universe, even if at the time we're looking, they're unknown. To receive the messages that the universe has to offer us. And I don't think it matters what you call it, whether it's universe, spirit guides, higher self, angels, God, it's all the same thing. But how do we open ourselves to receiving that? And it goes so lovely with the Ace of Cups because it is a similar sentiment in some ways. How do we become a vessel that can be poured into? Because in temperance, we have both. We are both sides, the one that is being poured into and out of. And as I was sitting here talking about this, I probably should have gone back and insert it with the Two of Cups, but I'm not going to because that's not my style. But if we think about the heart chakra, we have the two directions. We have the giving of love, the outward direction, and the receiving of love, the inward direction. And to have a functioning and stable and healthy heart chakra, again, we need the balance of both. Another major arcana card is justice, which goes back to that duality, the balancing of the scales about fairness. So again, we have to remember that to balance the scales, to be just and fair, we need both. Giving and receiving. And I really feel like Joey in that episode of Friends, where he writes the speech for Monica and Chandler's wedding, and he just says giving and receiving over and over in that. That's how I feel like today, but I hope I have hit the point home. If you're learning tarot and you want to dive deeper into really enhancing your skills and connecting with the cards in a way that is personal, meaningful, and still supremely insightful, join me in the Tarot Lab. It's my membership program that comes with master classes, practice labs, monthly challenges, case studies, and community. And if tarot's your jam, we would love to have you inside. And if getting a reading is definitely more your style, I do offer one-on-one sessions both in person in Niagara, Ontario, and live over Zoom. All the details can be found at my website, adrianamari.com. Now to end this episode, I would love to do a little reading on how can we as a society, as a community, as a world open ourselves more to the art of receiving and finding that much-needed balance. And I had to laugh when I pulled the cards, but we have Justice, the Moon, and the High Priestess. So two of the three cards in the spread we already talked about, but of course, we're going to go into the reading as a whole. And we have all major arconic cards. So to me, that just reiterates the fact that yes, this is a karmic lesson. This is something we're here to really learn and to understand fully. And I think with all the divisiveness in the world right now, it's probably something we need more than ever. So let's start with justice. Now, justice is a card of truth, honesty, fairness, and balance. And it goes back to asking, what is fair? It's not fair if we're the one that's always giving, nor is it fair if we're the one that's always receiving. So we do want to make sure that that scale is balanced. And we have to remember that our actions have consequences. So by not allowing ourselves to receive, we are blocking ourselves off from so much goodness, from so much opportunity that could be ripe for the taking otherwise. It's a card that reminds us that at the end of it all, we have to decide if we're happy with the choices that we've made. So why not make ones that make you feel good all around? And I love that it goes so smoothly into the moon card. Now, first and foremost, on the moon, we often see a wolf and a dog. It's the wild and the untamed parts of ourselves and the domesticated be good in society part of ourselves. And how can we be open to receiving more? We have to realize, accept, and again find the happy medium between those two parts. And I think that's really what this balance helps us do. I think this also really leans well into the idea of we need to give and we need to receive without expectation, without strings attached. Because the moon skews our perception. It makes things unclear. So it's the art of receiving, even when we're not sure where this is going to lead or what this is going to do for us. And of course, we're not saying accept anything is okay. It's being open to receiving that help, that love, that guidance, whatever it is. It's not saying roll over and accept things that aren't good for you. Which leans so well into justice. It still has to be honest and true and upheld within integrity. Now I know I described the wolf and the dog because that is the classic Rider Wait Smith symbolism. But in the deck that I'm using, the Earth Woman Tarot, we have two women holding hands, let's say howling or basking in the moonlight together. And I think just looking at that picture alone, that is such that beautiful element of that reception of the joy and the partnerships. Now that doesn't really go into the meaning of the boon itself, but I feel like it's a really nice element to add based on the picture shown. And that leads really nicely too into our high priestess, our card of duality, of receiving the messages from the universe, which goes back to the moon card, that trusting in our intuition, even when the path ahead is unclear. So being open to receiving that guidance. So to me, this reading isn't so much about the reception on a one-to-one level. It's on much more of a cosmic or a larger scale. Because I also think that when we're open to receiving from the universe, it makes it so much easier to receive on a personal human level. And I think a large element too that comes through with the High Priestess is trusting in yourself, like trusting in yourself to know what feels good and what feels right without the lens of outdated belief systems or a lack of self-worth or a feeling like a burden. Because to me, the high priestess is so much more pure than all of that noise. So as you move forward in your day-to-day, I want you to pause and reflect. What are you receiving in your life? What are you open to receiving more of? And I want you to know that you are absolutely worth it. I also want you to remember that we're not here to do it on our own. So open yourself up to love, to joy, to guidance, to insight, to sharing, to compliments, and to messages from the universe. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Beyond the Shuffle. Make sure you give it a like and a follow everywhere you love listening to podcasts. New episodes come out every Wednesday, but if you want more tarot content in the meantime, make sure you're following me on Instagram at Adrian Amari Tarot. So until next time, stay open, stay curious, and work on finding that balance.