August 2025 Tarot

The Tower

 "Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos." -Mary Shelley

When we see this card, we need to remember that at as well as it's reflecting a state of sudden collapse, The Tower card can also convey the meaning of breakthrough or awakening. Think of that moment when a flash of lightning blazes right across a dark sky and illuminates absolutely everything!  To us, that flash can also represent the mental clarity that suddenly arrives to throw down it's light onto circumstances or onto the beliefs we may have held for as far back as we can remember. The world may be mired be in a state of emotional and physical turmoil, as is so often what happens after something comes crashing down. However, what follows in it's wake will be a reckoning. Damage of the intellectual, emotional or societal kind may need to be addressed and repaired in the aftermath of some revelations or actions. People may reach the conclusion that what they believed or thought of as absolute or unshakeable is built on unstable foundations. 

Perhaps for many us, this is not a new feeling. Some very shocking and previously unimaginable events seem to have happened with intense frequency in the last few years. They've brought into sharp focus just how fragile life can be or how many things we took for granted. Perhaps we see we aren't really as secure as we thought. At it's most powerful, the Tower card seeks to shock  us  as to the extent of how we may have been lulled by false assumptions or believing mistruths. It can be very uncomfortable when our core beliefs or way of life are disrupted. However, coming to terms with change and then making both individual and familial plans to sustain us builds up resilience and makes us far more powerful as a result.

The Four Of Swords

"The first great thing is to find yourself and for that you need solitude and contemplation - at least sometimes..." -Fridtjof Nansen 

High Summer is so often a time to pause and take time out to reassess and this August is a great month to examine and enhance your well being. This month provides a very powerful energetic opportunity for many of us to take a breath, reclaim some space and re-evaluate our lives. On a deeply personal level, it may be the perfect moment to claim back time and space for yourself.  Often it's the case that other people and situations monopolise our energy and so the Four Of Swords is asking us to think about the actions we can take to mitigate that and create stronger energetic, emotional and physical boundaries around ourselves. Perhaps it's time to finally say that magic word- 'no'- to others!  if you're able to take some time out, do so. If not, then at least negotiate some changes over your working hours. Perhaps your current role is just asking too much - or too little- of you. Use this quieter time to cast your eyes and your efforts elsewhere.

Emotionally, if you're feeling rather left out or disconnected - don't panic. It might be that you simply need some time where you pursue your own interests and activities. Sometimes a little distance is just what's needed to bring back closeness to relationships. Perhaps consider if you might have developed an attachment to helping and 'fixing' other people and situations. Maybe you've become over involved in the lives and problems of others? If so, try to curb your impulses to do so- even if they are kindly meant. Not only may your actions have become exhausting for you, but they might not be as welcome as you think! So step back and focus on you this month...

The Two Of Pentacles

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” -Henry David Thoreau

It seems like we're living-through a period of unrest, uncertainty and confusing messages, at the same time as we're frantically trying to manage multiple and competing demands on our time and attention. The energy of this card is encouraging us to examine - and then hopefully rejig - our lives as much as outside demands will allow. Do we need to recalibrate our balance? Jumping from one thing to another with little time for contemplation means we can be in real danger of losing sight of what life is actually about. Being overwhelmed by so many demands is exhausting. The month of August -and this card- is asking us if this is the life we truly desire. What must then change to help us find that elusive balance and give us what we want? Perhaps we need to think about where our true wealth lies...

Most people's lives aren't streamlined and seamless but come with responsibilities to family and  friends, obligations to work and finances to monitor. If what's preventing us from living our best and most balanced lives is dealing with far too many priorities, roles and responsibilities, maybe we need to do something radical with our time management and organisation. In the tarot, the suit of Pentacles is very much about the practical and the tangible. So perhaps this month it's the time to consider whether we could actually whittle down our 'to do’ lists, or be much stricter with adding yet more tasks to our calendars. Maybe we aren't asking for any assistance and trying to juggle everything ourselves. This August we should take a breath, reassess- and restore! 

The Wheel Of Fortune

 "Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. Life goes on."- Søren Kierkegaard

For me, no card is more reflective of our current world situation than the Wheel Of Fortune card So many people these days start their day wondering what calamitous things might happen next. Living like this is unnerving and exhausting, when factors outside our control seem to dominate our everyday lives. We know that we'll likely hear yet more news of economic instability or armed conflict. There may be other events like floods or earth tremors. We may also see a wider spread of civil unrest as well as individual acts of physical protest. However, alongside these do be aware of the 'Fear Factor' and of those who have an interest in promoting it or spreading it. These are difficult times, but this card is a reminder that there have always been cycles of upheaval -and the wheel of time continually turns. Things move and change rapidly as life moves in a circle and not a straight line! Events can shift and things can depart just as quickly as they arrived. 

The positive aspect of the Wheel of Fortune card is that it signals a critical turning point. In our  individual -and collective- lives this month  we can expect to find the kind of opportunities that perhaps we couldn't otherwise imagine or we're given a rare chance to make great changes. So many of us are going through difficult times, but this card is a reminder that the wheel's always turning and life is in a state of constant change. Better luck and better times will make a return. All of us will feel the turn of The Wheel at some point. While it's cycle may bring us challenges or lessons, we should remember that even if things don't seem right for us in this moment, if we can hold tight and hang on then things will inevitably move forward.