Sept. 28 – Oct. 4, 2026
- The Reading
- Thinking About the Reading: Questions for Journaling or Reflection
Did you get through that Full Moon? Whew buddy! My head has been full of thoughts that have only just started to settle, and here it is, the weekly reading again. Our cards for this week, to indicate possible energetic conditions and what we might make of them:
- Knight of Wands
- Knight of Cups, reversed
- Judgement
- 8 of Pentacles
- Ace of Pentacles, reversed
Firstly, it is interesting that we are getting a second appearance of Ace of Pentacles in the reversed position. Remember him from the Full Moon reading, when he was similarly reversed? It seems to me that the Moon wants to be taken very seriously when it cautions us against starting projects that have to do with our food, money, or shelter. It’s not the right time for that.
Knight of Cups, reversed? Probably better that we don’t have to deal with him this week, anyway, because he can get overwrought if not handled properly; he takes so much managing, and that means when he is around our own feelings are distracting and require a great deal of attention.
Which leaves us with the extremely interesting match up of the Knight of Wands, all hot up with his big ideas, the 8 of Pentacles who just wants to keep working and get as much done (but no more) as possible by quitting time, and then Judgement, Judgement, dropped in the middle of it like it was any normal Tuesday!
“Guess what I just found out,” shouts Knight of Wands, flinging his leg over the saddle before the horse is fully stopped.
“I don’t care,” replies 8 of Pentacles, who does not even look up. The Knight of Wands strides to the door of the shop and drops an alarmingly overstuffed saddlebag on the threshold.
“Nope,” says 8 of Pentacles.
“Oh, come on! Come on!” says the Knight of Wands, pushing the bag closer and closer to the 8 of Pentacles with his boot. “You’re gonna love it.”
And into this, the Judgement card appears? How does this happen, exactly? Does it happen as the 8 of Pentacles sighs, raises his head, and frowns at the Knight? Does Judgement arise from the floor like a Genie? Or does he burst through the door and intone, “GREETINGS” in a deep and significant voice, startling the Knight and 8 of Pentacles speechless?
Judgement is a weighty, weighty card. Judgement has tenure. (Meaning, having earned the right to hold something.) In traditional Tarot, the card’s illustration reflects the day of divine judgment, when the dead souls are appraised for eternal worthiness based on the various calculations and requirements of their particular faith.
You can certainly read it that way. But I am more inclined to think of all the components that go into making a fair summation of an event or circumstance, and how we hope there will be an element of understanding and mercy. There is also the realization that when the time of judging comes, it does not matter what we did in the past, or planned to do in the future, or all our pleas for more time so we could fix the errors and mistakes we had not yet got around to.
Judgement, in Tarot, says, “Empty your pockets and show me what you’ve got.”
How exactly does that fit in this reading? Obviously, a powerhouse Major Arcana energy is the one to which we’ll defer, and let the Knight of Wands with his wild creative inspirations and the 8 of Pentacles (who has long since turned his own excitement instead steady, replicable competence) stand over to one side.
What have we got, right now? This week? Have we found ourselves swinging between the ambitions, inspirations, and plans for some potential, but unformed, future and the regular routine? We might be perfectly content. We might be discontented, and letting our imaginations pull us toward different lives.
Either way, this week’s energy might challenge where we find ourselves and ask us to make an accounting of it; to defend it and present our case to a higher authority, one that is crucially interested in where our souls wind up, ultimately.
Is this where we want to be, when reminded that the future is not promised? Mother Angelica said, “Everybody drags his own carcass to market.” It might be a week that calls for some hard thinking about what that looks like and if we are happy with it.
Questions for Journaling or Reflection
Where do I stand between the Knight of Wands’ big, fiery ideas for an unformed future and the 8 of Pentacles’ steady, focused daily work? Am I content in that balance, or do I feel pulled (or stuck) in one direction more than the other?
If I were asked right now to “empty my pockets and show what I’ve got,” what would I present? Does this feel like the place I want my soul (or my efforts) to be, knowing the future is not promised?
Drawing from the Mother Angelica quote referenced in the reading—“Everybody drags his own carcass to market”—how am I showing up in life, in my interactions with others and my self-representation? Does it honestly reflect who I know myself to be, and how do I feel about that if it is what people ultimately remember about me?
