Tarot on the Key to Happiness

The Tarot on ‘The Key to Happiness’ produced three cards, The Hanged Man, The Hierophant and the Eight of Cups.

I found this reading very interesting because the cards seemed to lack some punch for me……..at first, until I really began to muse on them, in fact I drew these cards a few days ago and came to a full stop.  They wanted me to think on them.  The Tarot is ever astonishing!!

I chose a three card draw for an ‘overall’ feel for the answer to my question, but even reading it as Past, Present and Future it works well.

As I look at these cards overall, I get the feeling that happiness is achievable only with effort, which is the same old, same old, as far as I am concerned; but if cards like The Sun, The World, the Ace of Cups and so on, came out I would have been inclined to sit back and say well, ‘obviously’, and that would have been it, I think.  But I keep looking at these cards and I know they are trying to tell me something else.  Our work is never done, each day brings new challenges, new aspects to life  that will either threaten, or enhance, our well-being and these cards do represent this, we know life is an ongoing adventure and that we are likely to be striving for the next thing day after day.

With regard to reading the cards in the Past, Present and Future context, we can delve more deeply into what we need to do to achieve happiness in our life. If we look to the Past we are faced with The Hanged Man; a card which represents submission and sacrifice.  Now that I am ripening into maturity, I can say that one of the most valuable lessons I have learned in life is that of humility, to never forget how far I have come, what sacrifices I have made and the submissions to hard work, or tedium, that have made up my life so far.  The Hanged Man hangs still, not struggling to make the situation go away, because he knows that will make his situation much, much worse.  He submits to this experience and focuses on how he can make the best of it.  When this period of difficulty passes he will be full of happiness, and appreciation, for his freedom and comfort.  In other words, we must recognise that the difficulties and sacrifices we face, should we submit to them and try to come to terms with them,  will not have gone to waste, and when those struggles are removed, we should feel the true benefit of happiness and achievement.

In the Present, we should be seeking answers.  We should try to be evolving every day, looking for that which will give us the understanding of who we are, and what we are here for, on this earth, to achieve .   The Hierophant is an advisor, a mentor, and more likely, a spiritual advisor. He would represent searching for a spiritual code of ethics to live our life in the best way possible, but a code that fits each individual, because we are all different.  To me, he represents finding a way to faith, faith of any kind, in a greater force beyond this existence, which will help us to understand why we are here and what our purpose is……..because there is something more than just existing, working hard, taking the knocks on this journey.  We need to find that deep core acceptance of why we are here, how we should behave and why, to help us relax into (trust), and appreciate (happiness), our life to the maximum.

At first I was surprised that the Eight of Cups came out in this reading, not only because it was a Minor Arcana card, but because it felt so sad, hopeless even. Then it struck me!  It is rather hackneyed to say we need to love each other, and I think it has lost its impact.  No, this cards message is much more stark.  Get out of the frame of mind of ‘love one another’ and imagine what your life would be like with no-one in it.  Whether you were as rich as Creosus or poor as Jesus, without the other people in this world we are nothing, and our life is not worth living.  It doesn’t matter who we are, or what we are, or even where we are in this world, because achieving happiness is inextricably linked with the need for other people around us.  The Eight of Cups reminds us that we will lose the essence of life if we don’t nurture the relationships we encounter and that includes everyone we meet, any time.  We must not take for granted how much we need other human beings.

So the tarot cards ‘Key to Happiness’ is to be humble (remember how far you have come), to have faith (believe we are here for a reason), and to understand that we share this world with other human beings, that we need them if we are to be happy and every human needs love. Humility, Faith and Love. Seems right to me.

I wonder what the tarot would say to you if you asked this question?  Perhaps you could do your own spread and comment on this post with what the cards tell you.  I would love to hear about it.

Blessings of Love and Light

Patricia x

The tarot cards used are from The Tarot House Deck available to buy from www.simplytarot.com