The Tarot on ‘Conflict’.

The Tarot on ‘Conflict’ was a bit of an experiment – It was a pretty all consuming question and answer that I was looking for.

I was intrigued to know how the tarot cards would advise on how to handle an argument, or conflict, with another person (not for me personally, but in general) – we all have times when we are angry at the behaviour of someone else, especially if we feel it is unjustified, and we just get on with it, one way or another, for good or for bad, often without much thought, but I wondered what the tarot cards would say on the matter.  Could they really tell me?

This was the question I asked – ‘What is the best way to handle an argument – show me three key cards?’

These are the cards that came out:

The Knight of Swords, the Queen of Wands and The Star

1 The Knight of Swords

Firstly, we are not to have a knee-jerk reaction.  The Knight charges in to situations sometimes not knowing all the necessary information. He’s all for battle first, then battle some more.  The Swords suit is also about mental acumen and logical thought, making intelligent choices.  So this card is telling me that, whatever the problem is, we should stand back and have a proper think about the situation before doing anything hasty.  If we talk to at least one other person about what has happened is likely to put a different slant on what has happened and might just open our eyes to the possibility there has been a misunderstanding, a misinterpretation of what was said/done, or we may possibly see that it was not deliberately meant to hurt us but just delivered badly.  We may be able to put it to one side in a nice little pigeonhole and forget about it OR we may still feel we have to tackle the situation, and that is ok too.  BUT we need to know all the facts before confrontation,  so that we aren’t sent off with our tail between our legs – this is the mistake the Knight of Swords would make, he would go in, sword aloft, with the most superficial knowledge of the situation, and likely to come a cropper.

Key message:  Step back and have a think before reacting.

2 The Queen of Wands

The Queen of Wands is a very capable person who can turn her hand to anything and do it well.  She pays meticulous attention to detail to get it ‘right’.  She is telling us that we are able to do what we need to do, and we can do it well,  but a Queen has dignity, regality and power.  She advises us to make sure our position is secure and that we know exactly what is right, and what is wrong, in this situation.  To be able to ‘hold our own’ in conflict it pays to be able to keep calm, have a clear head so that we can remember the facts of the matter easily, to look able and confident, and to articulate the way we feel, properly; we also need to be able to listen, rationally, to the other party and be able to try and understand their side of the story, so we don’t make assumptions and inevitably the wrong judgement. We have to be able to treat this situation as a means to an end, to get the best possible outcome for us.  The Queen of Wands, in the image, holds the Wand with both hands – she is able to wield it if necessary – but she keeps firm control over it.  The Queen also represents maturity, drive and common sense.

Key message:  Be in control of ourselves and be correct in our facts.

3 The Star

The Star represents a dark time with only hope and trust as the guiding light right now, we need to trust and hope we are on the right track, that we are doing the ‘right’ thing.  We are in a situation in which the outcome is truly unknown, and which could have a serious impact on ourselves and others – dark territory indeed. This is about being SURE  that this battle is worth fighting for, that we are ready and willing to take the risk and accept the consequences.    The girl in the image continuously pours water from a vial into a flowing stream – a pointless task it seems, and she portrays our actions as seemingly minute in the grand scheme of things, and that perhaps this conflict doesn’t really matter; but every thing we do, no matter how small, is likely to have an affect on something/someone somewhere.

Key message:  We cannot be sure of the outcome, is this conflict worth the risk?

I thought these cards made a lot of sense and just confirmed to me that the tarot can teach us many things.  So perhaps, next time we get angry at someone perhaps these three little cards might just help us ensure that no-one gets hurt unnecessarily – and that’s good, is it not?

This is why I love tarot cards.

Patricia x