Magic Cauldron Spread ~ Halloween Tarot

Today, I did the Magic Cauldron Spread using the Halloween Tarot in a Tin.  It turned out to be very insightful (I think!).

This is the spread:

I didn’t ask a question – I just wanted a general overview of what was going on in my life.

Card 1:  What’s in the pot? The current situation or the problem at hand.  The card for position one turned out to be the Knight of Bats (Swords).  This seems to sum up my life at present pretty well.  It reminds me of the saying – he flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions at once.  That is how I feel lately, so scattered, so unfocused, so running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  I’m always busy - but with things I really don’t want to do; however, I think I’d better do them because people will be upset if I say no.  Lately, I’ve not been able to really relax or calm down – ever, I have been having a dreadful time sleeping.  Then after a sleepless night I’m hurrying to get ready to go do something I’d prefer not to do with only two hours’ worth of sleep.

Card 2:  What stirs the pot? What influences this situation or problem – something that agitates it in some way.  The card for Position Two is the Five of Bats (Swords).  This card so accurately describes what is stirring the pot for me – it started with the deaths of my cat and five kittens, that sense of loss was so acute that I just didn’t want to face it.  It was easier just to run around and be  busy all the time instead of facing the loss.  That loss came on the top of many other losses that have happened in recent years.  It seems like every time I stand still some unseen force pulls the rug out from under me so it’s just safer to not settle down at all.  It sometimes seems that the universe is somehow pulling cruel tricks on me – every summer for the past four years there has been a very hurtful loss in my life.  I thought this summer would pass without something dreadful but it didn’t.  I’m ready to move to Antarctica so I’ll never have to worry about something dreadful happening in the summer.

Card 3:  What needs to be added? What can you do to enhance the situation or problem (to solve the problem) – to make that brew taste better!   The card for this position is the Three of Imps (Wands).  This seems to be very good advice about how to make what is bubbling in my pot easier to stomach – I need to calm down and basically be patient.  I’ve gone through hell and high water through the years raising my son and coping with a cranky husband and I’ll eventually get through all this other stuff, too.  I just need to be patient and calm and realize running around like a headless chicken isn’t going to accomplish anything.  There also seems to be a message that life doesn’t have to be perfect – one of the Imps has a wand that is different than the others.  They are all waiting together but they don’t have to be all alike.  It makes me feel that I need to realize that no one has a perfect life.

Card 4:  What comes out of the pot? The end result, how the situation will develop or how the problem will work out in the end.  The card for the last position turned out to be the Six of Imps (Wands).  Hurray!  It looks like if I’m patient and keep working towards coping with life’s problems that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.  Life will never be perfect but hopefully, sometime soon I’ll get past this feeling that if I stay still for very long the rug is going to be pulled out from under me again.  I’m really glad this card that represents success or victory came up at the end.  It made me leery to do this spread because of what card might come up in the outcome position - I almost left it out.

It is interesting (perhaps significant) that Bats (Swords) and Imps (Wands) were the only two suits that showed up in the four cards drawn.