Line Three: Career

Line Three Career
Heart of the Situation - The Moon
What to Leave in the Past - Seven of Wands
Others - Fool
Advice - Prince of Cups

This line of cards perplexes me. I suppose that is not a surprise, as the heart of my career situation is The Moon, a card of confusion and hidden currents. I'm up in the air (or under the sea, maybe?) about my career. There seems to be no future in my current work. I really have no idea what to do, what I want to do, or what I should do.

I would like to leave in the past all the struggle and strife represented in the Seven of Wands, for sure. This is a card, among other things, of being always on the defensive, of standing up for oneself, dealing with bullies, drawing on our own inner resources. I don't think there is a job where you feel no stress or pressures of some kind, though. Unless I win the lottery, the Seven of Wands is going to be a part of my life. I don't see how I can leave it behind entirely. (And in fact, if I were to win the lottery, it would probably become an even bigger part of my life!)  It's also the card of proving oneself, striving to achieve and have those achievements recognized. That's something we can't really get away from in the world of work. Perhaps it's suggesting leaving behind defensiveness about my choices...or lack of them.

As to Others...well. Maybe some others encourage me to be a timewaster, while other Others might encourage me to strike off in new directions (which for me might indeed feel like stumbling off a cliff). Either way, it's foolish to listen to a Fool. It's also foolish not to be Foolish. Others can't offer me much help here. These choices and decisions must be made by me. Pooey.

Advice: Be the Air of Water--volative, changeable, subtle and crafty. How could these qualities help me in my career? I suppose it's telling me to keep my head down and trust no one, so to speak. The Thothy Prince of Cups would certainly agree. I have a tendency to be an open book. I should probably crack out the old bottle of Heather Bach Flower Remedy. A little circumspection might suit me better.

Well, I've been thinking a lot for the last few years about my job and where it's going, and how I should deal with that. So there's nothing terribly surprising here, even though some of it I still need to think on a bit more for it to make sense to me.

[Pleased to report that I have chanted the Gayatri Mantra daily for three days running now. Here's a tidbit about the mantra, if you're curious: Gayatri Mantra.

Gayatri mantra with literal translation:

Om (sound of the Universe)
bhur bhuva swaha - earth sky heaven, past present future, morning noon evening
tat - that
savitur - Divine Sun
varenyam - adore
bhargo - illumination
devasya - Divine Grace
dheemahi - we contemplate
dhi yo yo nah - who our intellect
prachodayat - pray

Hmmmmm, earth sky heaven, we contemplate the Divine Sun, we pray  Divine Grace illuminates our intellect.

You can play around with these root meanings. There are so many English renderings of this mantra online. Try googling it!]