The

Magic
Pantry
Tarot
Guidebook

Cedar McCloud
Copyright © 2024 Cedar McCloud
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or
mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.

Deck printed in China.

Guidebook printed in the USA.

ISBN: 978-0-9995449-9-0

Published by Numinous Spirit Press.

[Link]
 Introduction
Welcome to the kitchen, friends! My name is
Cedar McCloud, and I’ll be your host, server,
chef, and dishwasher today. Our house special
is the deck you currently hold in your hands: the
Magic Pantry Tarot. Would you like to know
more about it? You would? Great!

The Magic Pantry Tarot is a combination of

my lifelong love of food and home cooking
with my love of and expertise in creating
tarot and oracle decks. When I began work on
this deck in 2021, there weren’t any decks
available that matched what I personally wanted
out of food-themed tarot: a focus on individual
ingredients, largely fresh produce, which could
be combined into readings like a recipe
combines into a finished meal. So, I decided I
would make it myself.

It took multiple attempts over the next three

years to complete this deck. I began it a I was
coming out of severe autistic burnout, the
recovery from which is still ongoing in 2024. At
times I thought I might give up on this project,
but love and perseverence won out; learning to
cook can very much be like this, as no matter
how many cookbooks or blogs you read, it is a
skill which demands hours of practice and the
development of new instincts to master.
Food is an incredibly broad topic which must be
viewed in a culturally specific context.
Ingredients, cooking methods, meals, etiquette,
traditions, everything about how we eat is based
on where we are and where we come from, even
in a global economy where ingredients from
faraway places appear in our grocery stores, and
cuisines from halfway around the world are
served at the restaurant next door.

I made this deck from my own personal food

context, which is as follows: I am a white
person born and living in the USA who was
raised by a working-class single mother and, as
an AFAB eldest child, taught to cook from a
young age in order to care for others. My family
has largely been in North America for many
decades, if not centuries, and there weren’t any
specific European food traditions passed down
to me from elders.

I have lived most of my life in or close to large

urban centers with diverse populations, which
meant that I was exposed to many different
foods and ingredients by friends and neighbors.
Their cultures are also not mine, and so the
depth of those traditions are not showcased
here, though some of their common ingredients
may appear in the deck.

I have been vegan and vegetarian at different

points in my life, but have resumed eating some
animal products due to intersections of
disability, finances, and food intolerances. I
personally do not believe that eating animal
products is inherently wrong; I believe the
systems that create those products in the US in
particular need changing. I have IBS and GERD
and autistic sensory sensitivities which keep me
from enjoying certain ingredients, including
ones in this deck. I no longer drink alcohol for
personal reasons, and so none appears or is
referenced here.

I have tried my best to be inclusive with this

deck, both in the imagery, the ingredients
chosen, and the guidebook interpretations.
However, given the vastness of food, cooking,
and various limitations or beliefs about what we
do and don’t eat, it won’t be able to cover
everything. I’ve done my best to be fat-positive.
I’ve tried to be thoughtful of people with or in
recovery from eating disorders, as well as
mindful about the intersection of food access
with things like class and race. As always, know
yourself and stand with your personal beliefs
and boundaries.

However you use this deck, I hope that it brings

you joy, insights, and delicious moments. It’s
the support of folks like you that allows me to
continue making decks like this and putting
them out into the world. Thank you!

Happy eating,
Cedar McCloud, August 2024
Tarot
Basics
 HOW TO READ TAROT
If you’re new to Tarot, this section is for
you! I will use it to lay down a few basics for
doing readings. Please note that this information
is based on my personal experience and practice
and does not fully represent the vast and varied
school of thought that is cartomancy. I
encourage you to use what works for you and
toss out the rest.
Some other books on Tarot I recommend,
which you can find online or at bookstores near
you:

Kitchen Table Tarot by Melissa Cynova

Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow
Finding the Fool by Meg Jones Wall
Tarot Spreads: How to Read Them, Create
Them, and Revise Them by Meg Jones Wall
Your Tarot Court by Ethony Dawn

This book focuses on using Tarot for

divination purposes. There are dozens of other
uses for the cards—such as spell casting,
devotional purposes, writing prompts—and I
encourage you to explore them on your Tarot
journey!
For now, we’ll talk about using Tarot to
gather messages about our lives, minds, and
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hearts from your subconscious/the collective
subconscious/the Universe/God(s) or wherever
you believe this information originates.

Tarot Structure
The Magic Pantry Tarot contains a total of
79 individual cards. Those cards can be broken
down into two subsections which are inherent to
the structure of a Tarot deck: Major Arcana and
Minor Arcana.
The Major Arcana consists of twenty-two
cards, starting with The Fool and ending with
The World. Each of these cards is marked with
a Roman numeral, except for The Fool, which
is numbered as zero. The Magic Pantry Tarot
contains two Fool cards, one animal product and
one vegan alternative. Use one or both if you
like! Major Arcana cards represent mythos,
important archetypes, big life events, and the
continuous cycles we all spiral through as we
age and learn and grow wiser.
The Minor Arcana consists of the other 56
cards in the deck. Sixteen of these are called the
court cards: a Page, Knight, Queen, and King
for each suit. They represent versions of
ourselves, our behavior and attitudes, our
personal growth status, and other people we
know.
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 The other 40 cards in the Minor Arcana are
called the pip cards. They are numbered Ace
through Ten and are assigned a suit, like regular
playing cards. They represent the everyday
details, emotions, thoughts, and goings-on of
our lives. The suits in the Magic Pantry Tarot
have been matched up with different types of
foods, like fruits, vegetables, starches, and
spices.
Some people get overwhelmed by the idea
of memorizing the meanings for 78 cards, or
more if you read with reversals. I’m here to tell
you that I’ve been reading Tarot for over 20
years now, and I still look things up in books.
It’s okay! Seriously. Tarot contains a massive
amount of information, and all of our brains
process information differently. Do what works
for you.

How to do a Reading
1. Shuffle the deck while focusing on
yourquestion or intent.

2. When you feel ready, lay the cards out on

aflat surface in front of you (usually face-
down).

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3. Flip over the cards and apply their
meaningsto your question or intent.

That’s the bare bones of reading right there!

Before we get into the specifics, I think doing
readings with this basic method is the best way
to gain understanding of the Tarot and how it
works. You can read all the books in the library
about baseball, but you won’t be able to hit the
ball until you play a few games. Don’t worry
about being “good” or “accurate” at this stage in
your journey; that develops over time.

Shuffling
Use the method you’re comfortable with.
Some decks may be easier or harder to shuffle
depending on their size and the size or
flexibility of your hands. If you want to spread
them out on the table and mix them about that
way, go for it. If you like riffle shuffling, go for
it! Some people like to “cut the deck” when
they’re done shuffling. The deck gets cut in half,
or in multiple piles, and then put back together
by whoever the reading is for (you or your
querent).
Sometimes when you’re shuffling, a card
may “jump” out of the deck unexpectedly.
These are appropriately called “jumpers” and
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are thought to be important messages from the
deck, so pay attention when this happens!
Unless you, you know, accidentally drop half
the deck all over the floor. Not everything is a
sign or omen.

Questions and Intent

When you do a reading, it’s common to ask
the cards a question, but this is not strictly
necessary. You can also do a general reading on
a particular area of your life, such as your
career, love life, or family. I often like to “ask
the Universe for messages,” when my querents
don’t have a specific question in mind and see
what comes up. Some spreads (maps for laying
out the cards) are also made for very specific
purposes, so a question won’t be necessary. Just
know that the more vague you are with your
intent, the broader the scope of the answer, and
the more puzzling you may have to do.
That said, what makes a good Tarot
question? While some readers have developed
methods for answering yes/no questions with
Tarot, it’s not something I am drawn to. I find
that Tarot as I use it responds best when a
question begins with “How,” “Why,” “Which,”
or “What.” For example:

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• How can I get out of the creative slump
I’m in?
• Why do I feel sad when good things
happen to me lately?
• Which of my behaviors are contributing to
my fight with [insert name]?
• What details should I pay attention to
while applying for this school?
• How can I draw new friends or lovers my
way?

The usual advice is to focus on this question

in your mind while you shuffle the cards. If
other thoughts interrupt your focus while you’re
shuffling, gently acknowledge them and bring
your mind back to your question or area of
intent. There’s no strict need for a totally “free
and clear” mind, but excessive distraction can
sometimes affect a reading. If you struggle with
this, you may find writing your question down
or saying it out loud helps.

Laying out the Cards

How do you know when it’s time to stop
shuffling? It will vary by person, but I usually
just wait until the moment feels intuitively
“right” or I feel like I have a good mental “lock”
on the question. This might not happen when
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you first start reading, or at all depending on
how you receive messages from your mind and
body. Go with the flow and pay attention to how
you feel. Over time you will develop a system,
but for now, if you feel unsure, just lay them out
whenever and see what happens!
There are two main ways for laying out
Tarot cards: intuitively or with spreads. With
the first method, you simply place cards
wherever seems “right,” until you feel like
you’ve finished, and then figure out what the
positions mean. This is the main way I work,
and it requires a good relationship with your
intuition (the calm little voice/gut feelings you
get deep in your core), as the name implies.
With the second method, you use a specific
map or template where each card position has
an assigned meaning. For example, one card
position might represent the querent, another
the problem at hand, and a third the solution.
You can use spreads made by others or you can
make your own! We’ll go into that a little later
in the book.
When you draw cards from the deck, you
don’t have to limit yourself to pulling from the
top. I often draw from the bottom and middle of
the deck as well. Bottom cards are good for
shadow aspects, foundations of a problem, or
hidden influences. Top cards are elements that
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are more apparent and direct. Middle cards can
be bridges, pathways, and compromises.
Basically, it all relies on symbolism and
allegory. See what you can come up with as you
practice reading.

Interpreting the Cards

Interpreting the cards in a spread is, to me,
like weaving a tapestry or completing a puzzle.
The individual cards, the question, context, and
people involved in the reading are the threads
and pieces we must put together to form a whole
picture.
This process will look different for
everyone, but I like to approach it as if I’m
telling a story. Here are some questions to ask
yourself while reading to get in this mindset:

• “Who are the characters/players in this

reading?”
• “What is the setting (context) of this
reading?”
• “What are the major and minor conflicts at
hand?” “What or who caused these
conflicts to come into play?”
• “What actions can be taken to resolve the
conflict(s)?”

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• “Does the reading show the characters
changing or growing, & how?” + “What
do the characters desire?”
• “What blocks the characters from their
desire? What helps them achieve or
receive it?”

Some of this information will come from the

cards, while some of it comes from you or your
querent. If you are using a spread, the positions
of the cards will help you figure out which of
these questions apply to which cards. Spreads
can be helpful in this way for getting you to
think critically about applying the card
meanings to their placements.
In fact, here’s a couple simple spreads to get
you going:

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Meal Spread
1. PROTEIN: The main focus of the situation.
2. PRODUCE: A potential refreshing change
to the situation.
3. STARCH: Something that will lend you
energy to deal with the situation.

Set the Table Spread

1. PLATE: The foundation of the situation.
Underlying matters and causes.
2. KNIFE: Something to be careful of in this
situation that could help or hurt.

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3. FORK: The best tool to deal with the
situation.
4. DRINK: A way to stay hydrated and ready
to deal with the situation.
5. DESSERT: A sweet reward that awaits you
when you reach the end of this issue.

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 the
Major
Arcana

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 0 THE FOOL: EGGS
Ingredients:
▪ New Beginnings
▪ Risk Taking
▪ New Lessons
▪ The Unknown

Instructions:
1. Off we go! Pack your bindle (that’s what the
little bundle on the stick is called) in
preparation for adventure. Where exactly
we’re going isn’t important yet; it’s all about
the journey itself.
2. Eggs are an obvious symbol of new
beginnings, seeing as, when fertilized, new
life hatches from within. What eggs do you
currently have in your basket? Are they
ready to hatch, or do they need to incubate a
bit longer?
3. Eggs are notoriously fragile; think of the
phrase “walking on eggshells,’ to mean
having to tread very lightly around a person
or subject. This card may be instructing you
to slow down and take a little more care, lest
you break something important.
4. On the other hand, there’s also the saying,
“You have to crack a few eggs to make an
omelet.” Sometimes we have to take a risk,
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 mess things up a little, in order to learn. Pay
attention to context and surrounding cards to
know which advice to take.
5. Most of the time, you won’t know exactly
what’s inside an egg until you break it open.
Is what’s in there good? Bad? A single yolk?
A lucky double? This card can speak to a
sense of mystery just ahead.

0 THE FOOL: TOFU

Ingredients:
▪ New Beginnings
▪ Risk Taking
▪ New Lessons
▪ The Unknown

Instructions:
1. Off we go! Pack your bindle (that’s what the
little bundle on the stick is called) in
preparation for adventure. Where exactly
we’re going isn’t important yet; it’s all about
the journey itself.
2. Tofu is made from soybeans, a legume
which has been a staple in many world diets
for thousands of years. From a single bean,
you can grow a plant which eventually

15
 rewards you with many more! What are you
currently planting?
3. Tofu is like a blank canvas. On its own, it
doesn’t have a ton of flavor or color, but
those very qualities are what make it so
versatile. Right now, you might be in this
unflavored tofu state, yourself, as a new
chapter in your life opens up.
4. Through marinades, rubs, breading, and
sauces, tofu can be transformed into just
about anything. In order to achieve flavor,
you have to risk ruining that beautiful blank
canvas. What new flavors will you try this
time around?
5. Tofu can be silken, soft, medium, firm, or
even extra firm, and which kind you buy is
important to the recipe. This card
encourages you to slow down make sure you
don’t buy the wrong one.

I THE MAGICIAN: BEANS

Ingredients:
• Power
• Manifestation
• Tools
• Intent

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Instructions:
1. Beans are one of the most ancient and
important foods across the globe. They are
high in nutrients, easily dried for long-term
storage, and come in an impressive variety
of shapes and flavors. Just like a bean, your
body and soul are containers for your
energy and intellect—whatever power you
seek is within you.
2. Plant a bean, get more beans! If there’s
something that you currently want or need,
this card assures you that you have the
ability to grow it. What beans do you
currently have resting in your hand, ready
to be sowed?
3. The gardener in this card has a trowel in her
hand. If you’re going to be planting beans,
you’re going to need the tools to do so.
Think about what tools might be necessary
to achieve your goals, and then get your
hands on them. If your tools seem too
expensive or complicated, get creative.
4. From folktales about magic beans that
grow stalks high into the sky to “beans,
beans, the magical fruit,” there’s definitely
an association with magic here. Your
situation may call for your energy, intent,
and willpower to be channeled through a
magical or ritualistic method.
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 II THE HIGH PRIESTESS:
CONDIMENTS
Ingredients:
• Intuition
• Duality
• Divination
• Mysticism

Instructions:
1. When you’re looking for something to dip
your fries or carrot sticks into, what do you
automatically reach for, without even
thinking? Many of our decisions are made
without conscious thought, some quite
literally from the gut. This card says to trust
the signs and signals of your body when it
comes to current choices in your life.
2. In many parts of the USA, ketchup and
mustard are an iconic duo, the matching red
and yellow bottles easy to find in
restaurants and homes. What duos or
dualities can you see in your current
situation? Are they opposites or
complementary, can you have both or do
you need to choose one? Is it a false
duality? After all, there are a LOT more
condiments than just ketchup and mustard!
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3. What can you divine about a person’s
upbringing or personality based on the
condiments they choose (or don’t)? This
card can bring with it a suggestion to turn
to your favorite method of divination for
more insight and answers. It may also
represent a person who has a skill for such
things.
4. Have you ever been to a late-night diner
and everything seemed a bit strange and
liminal? This is the sort of atmosphere
being evoked, now. An in-betweenness of
states where you may make strange and
new connections.

III THE EMPRESS: VANILLA

Ingredients:
• Creativity
• Sensuality
• Abundance
• Simplicity

Instructions:
1. Vanilla makes a wonderful base for all sorts
of creative flavor choices—whatever you
add or sprinkle on top is sure to taste good.
This card encourages you to lean into your
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 creative side and make something that’s
exactly your own.
2. Vanilla is most often used in sweets and
desserts. Seek out beauty in your life and
pay attention to your body. This card may
indicate gifting yourself with more than the
bare necessities. This is a time for
indulgence!
3. Modern mass vanilla production was made
possible by the invention of hand
pollination techniques. What can you do to
increase the wealth (spiritual, emotional,
physical, mental) of your life and your
community? How can you further share the
goodness you’ve earned or been blessed
with? Or perhaps you’re in need of such a
benefactor, yourself! Who is The Empress
in your life?
4. Some people may look upon the humble,
now common flavor of vanilla and think it
boring, but that would be a mistake. When
done well, the simplest of things can
become the most enjoyable. How can you
improve upon the basics of your situation
in small ways that count? How can you best
appreciate what you already have?

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 IV THE EMPEROR:
CHOCOLATE
Ingredients:
• Wealth
• Patience
• Hard work
• Barriers

Instructions:
1. Historically, chocolate was a food only for
the wealthy and noble, and before that, food
for the gods. This card brings up themes of
wealth, not only in the material and
monetary sense, but in all areas of your
life—spiritual, mental, emotional. It may
indicate a person who is wealthy in one or
more areas of life and/or who controls and
distributes that wealth.
2. Chocolate is difficult to grow, and after
being picked, the cacao beans must be
processed—fermented and roasted, among
other things! This card may be suggesting
that patience is necessary for the task or
situation at hand. Things may need time to
develop more rich, complex flavors.
3. Beyond the initial processing of the beans,
the production of quality chocolate is an art
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 which requires much attention, skill, and
effort. Are you ready to put in the work to
get the results you desire? Do you need
more practice or learning, first? What is
your plan?
Chocolate without sugar is quite bitter!
This card may appear when we are facing
barriers and disappointment to getting what
or where we want. Additionally, sometimes
we ourselves need to learn when to say
“no” to others, even if it causes bitter
feelings to arise.

V THE HIEROPHANT: MEAT &

Meat SUBSTITUTES
Ingredients:
• Systems
• Hierarchy
• Wisdom
• Initiation

Instructions:
1. The systems which produce meat and meat
substitutes are enormous. A complex chain
of farms, processing, production,
packaging, and safety measures get these
goods to us. What larger systems are you a
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 part of? How do they affect your current
situation?
2. In many places, meat is considered the
most important part of a meal, while others
believe meat is not needed at all. Pay
attention to how hierarchies affect your
situation. Where are you on the pyramid?
Who is considered to be above or below
you, and why?
3. The ethical raising of farm animals requires
knowledge and wisdom. Insight and
innovation is needed to create and promote
vegan alternatives. Who are the leaders in
your life, and how do you learn from them?
Or is it your turn to step up and instruct the
class?
4. When this card appears, you may be facing
an initiation or access to a particular
tradition, skill, or community. It may test
you or require dues be paid. Will you
accept?
5. There are dark sides to global food
production systems, and many corrupt
powers in place. Are there any such powers
affecting your own life or situation? Will
you stand up to them?

Note: Please interpret this card to your own

tastes whether you are an omnivore, vegetarian,
23
or vegan. This is a complex topic for just one
page.

VI THE LOVERS: SWEETENERS

Ingredients:
• Love (of all kinds)
• Connection
• Community
• Choice

Instructions:
1. Here, sources of sweetness represent the
love that we feel for others and for
ourselves. Just as there are many types of
sweeteners (cane sugar, beet sugar, stevia,
maple syrup, honey, agave, monkfruit, and
others), there are many flavors of love.
Platonic, romantic, familial, sexual, all are
welcome here.
2. Through the offering of a single sugar cube,
the two people in this card are making a
joyful connection over tea. Who or what do
you feel connected to? What creates,
strengthens, or weakens connection for
you? How does it make you feel?
3. When many connections are made,
communities can be formed. What
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 communities are you a part of? How might
they support you in your current quest? If
you don’t have a community, how can you
find or create one?
4. Just as we have many choices of
sweeteners, we get to make a choice about
how we show love and who we give it to.
We may not have control over our initial
emotions, attractions, or reactions, but how
we express and engage with love is a
choice. Long-term, deep love, as indicated
by this card, requires waking up every day
and deciding to put the effort in. What
choices are you making in love?

VII THE CHARIOT: COFFEE

Ingredients:
• Energy
• Motivation
• What fuels you
• Forward movement

Instructions:
1. Caffeine, of course, is the magic behind the
world’s obsession with coffee! Caffeine
provides most human bodies with a burst of
energy. It’s that energy that is represented
25
 here, suggesting either that you’ve
currently got a lot of it or are in need of
some more.
2. Many people can’t start their day without
their custom cup of joe. It’s one thing to
have the energy to do something, and
another to have the desire to do it. What is
your motivation behind your current quest
or question? What do you hope to get out
of this goal or achievement?
3. Country of origin—even the exact estate
where it’s grown—is very important to
coffee connoisseurs, as the soil and climate
can alter the flavor. It’s all very well to have
energy and motivation, but where does it
come from? Is it a sustainable source? Are
all your sources equal, or are some better
than others? What is the best source for
your current plans?
4. Once you’ve got those three things sorted,
you’re ready to go! This card often comes
up when you’re headed in the right
direction and are being encouraged to
continue on. Right now, it’s about the
journey rather than the end destination.
How can you enjoy the sights along the
way?

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 VIII STRENGTH: NUTS
Ingredients:
• Bravery
• Protection
• Resilience
• Acceptance

Instructions:
1. What is it that you fear? Whatever it is, take
it and imagine that it is inside the walnut in
this card. Then take the nutcracker of you
mind, and CRUNCH! Bravery is not the
absence of fear, but rather an assertion
through action and/or words that we will
not be controlled by them. How might you
face yours?
2. The hard outer shell protects the delicious,
edible insides of the nut. This card may be
asking you to think about how you do or
don’t protect yourself from harm. Are your
walls too thick? Too thin? Nonexistent?
What is it inside of you that you’re trying
to keep safe, and why?
3. Once off the tree, whether in the shell or
released and roasted, nuts can be stored for
a very long time without going bad. This
card may come up when resilience in the
face of pain or difficulty is present or
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 needed—or unnecessary. Don’t forget that
just because you can endure suffering, that
doesn’t mean you have to.
4. Some nuts just won’t crack no matter how
many times you try. It’s important that, as
we face fear and pain, we accept that these
things are always going to be a part of our
lives. This card may be asking you to
accept your fears without judging yourself
as a person for having them. Accepting fear
and pain can be a big step toward lessening
their rule over our lives.

IX THE HERMIT: TEA

Ingredients:
• Contemplation
• Solitude
• Interdependence
• Ancestry

Instructions:
1. What’s more calming than a hot cup of tea?
This card may appear when it’s time to
indulge in a long, slow, deep think. Settle
down in your comfiest armchair and gaze
into your cup, eyes soft. What truths and

28
 connections might you make when you
give yourself the necessary time and space?
2. We may need to draw away from the world
for a little while to savor our tea. This card
may be encouraging you to spend some
quality time to yourself, whether that’s just
ten minutes in the restroom away from the
kids or a year-long sabbatical from work.
3. True solitude is an illusion. The tea leaves
would not exist without the whole tea plant,
which could not exist without the soil, sun,
water, and air. Everything in the world and
in our lives is connected. How do you fit
into the world? In what ways can you
achieve a feeling of oneness with all other
beings? How might this increase your
compassion and awareness?
4. In the spirit of this interconnectedness, this
card may also refer to the ancestors we
carry with us in our body and spirit—
whether they were people we’re related to
or not. Have you ever sat down for a cup of
tea with an elder and listened to their
stories? Whether you have someone living
to sit with or not, this card may encourage
you to seek out the knowledge and wisdom
that’s come before.

29
 X THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE:
DAIRY AND DAIRY SUBSTITUTES
Ingredients:
• Change
• Cycles
• Seasons
• Luck

Instructions:
1. Dairy and nondairy milks are frequently
transformed into other foods like yogurt
and cheese. When this card appears, it may
refer to big changes in your life, for better
or worse. What was the catalyzing moment
or action?
2. It’s not uncommon for a little yogurt to be
reserved in order to begin the next batch. In
life we return again and again to the same
lessons and experiences—but fresh and a
little different each time we do. What does
this pattern look like in your current
situation or quest? Is it one you want to
return to, or one you want to leave behind?
3. Mammals that produce milk only do so
when they have babies to feed, which
traditionally (when left to nature) only
happens certain seasons out of the year.
Crops grown to produce plant milks also
30
 have their sowing, growing, and harvesting
times. This card may remind us that we
can’t expect constant production or growth
at all parts of our lives. What are your
personal seasons? Which one are you in
now?
4. A number of the enzymes, molds, and
processes we use to create dairy and
nondairy products were discovered by
chance. This card might indicate that luck
is a big part of the picture—whether it’s
good or bad luck, you’ll have to find out
through a taste test!

XI JUSTICE: OIL
Ingredients:
• Cause and effect
• Sound judgment
• Consequences
• Retribution

Instructions:
1. One of the oldest cooking companions
across the globe is oil; without it, might we
not be the same species today? This card
may be drawing your attention to the chain
of cause and effect, not just in your own
31
 life, but on a much wider scale. How did
your situation come to be? What personal
and worldly histories affect your current
position?
2. The type of oil you use in a recipe can affect
the end product, especially in baking.
Deciding on the right one for your recipe
requires knowledge of these things; what
knowledge do you require for your current
quest or situation? How can you make an
informed decision here?
3. When you cook with hot oil, you have to be
careful. Oil burns and fires are no joke!
This card may come up when facing the
consequences of your own actions. Do you
feel they’re deserved? Undeserved? Fair or
unfair? Whether or not these consequences
are just may influence where you go from
here.
4. In Ye Olden Days (or perhaps just in old
fantasy novels), boiling oil wasn’t just for
deep frying—it could also be used as a
weapon or punishment. This card may
appear to describe retribution for one’s
crimes and wrongdoing. Whether a
reminder to learn from past mistakes or a
warning for the future, again it’s up to you
and the surrounding cards to decide
whether this revenge is appropriate or just.
32
 XII THE HANGED One:
BROTH
Ingredients:
• Waiting time
• Contemplation
• Acceptance
• Sacrifice

Instructions:
1. The best broth is made when you give it
plenty of time to simmer. When this card
appears, it may indicate a period of waiting,
possibly even delay. Put whatever you’re
considering on the back burner of your
mind and let it quietly simmer…and see
what bubbles up with time.
2. Broth is a delicate balance of flavors, its
many ingredients layered in just the right
way. A pinch of this or a pinch of that may
change the whole flavor experience—but
how do you know what or how much to put
in? Go slowly and taste test every so often
before trying another solution. You can
always add more salt, but you can’t take it
away once it’s in there!
3. “A watched pot never boils,” as they say.
Staring your problem or question right in
33
 the face may not work right now. The Broth
card may appear when radical acceptance
of the situation as it is may be your best
option, rather than wishing or pushing for
things to be different.
4. By the time the broth is done simmering,
the vegetables, herbs, spices, bones, and
other ingredients that went in at the
beginning are usually no longer fit for
consumption. They’ve given up their
flavors to the liquid, and the solids may
have to be tossed/composted/etc. This card
sometimes appears when a sacrifice has
occurred or is necessary to move forward.

XIII DEATH: FERMENTS &

PICKLES
Ingredients:
• Metamorphosis
• Rebirth
• Endings
• Release

Instructions:
1. Through natural microbes, salt, sugar,
vinegar, and metabolic processes, fresh
foodstuff is transformed into completely
34
 new edible wonders. This card comes up to
indicate periods of metamorphosis; not
little changes, but huge, life-altering ones,
often happening deep within ourselves.
2. Fermentation and pickling are often used to
give new life to foods that are otherwise too
far gone to eat, or are inedible in their raw
state. Who will you be when you emerge
from your fermenting jar? What new life
have you been granted where there was
only difficulty or rot?
3. Once it’s been transformed, we no longer
call a pickle a cucumber. In order to gain its
new identity, it has ceased being what it
once was. In order to create something new,
something else may first need to be
destroyed. What endings are you currently
facing, and how do you feel about them?
4. One of the major methods of fermentation
is the release of gases, particularly carbon
dioxide, by the microbes driving the
changes inside the food. It’s this that makes
fermented drinks fizzy and creates bubbles
in our sourdough bread. What might you
need to release in your life right now in
order to make for a better future? What has
been digested that now needs to be excreted
from the body, to make room for something
new?
35
 XIV TEMPERANCE: WATER
Ingredients:
• Moderation
• Balance
• Healing
• Peace

Instructions:
1. The human body is, on average, about 60%
water. This vital element keeps our physical
forms alive, and if we have too little or too
much of it, our systems can start to fail. The
appearance of this card may suggest an
approach of moderation. Where is the
golden sweet spot in your situation?
2. One of water’s crucial roles in our body is
to assist in maintaining homeostasis. What
systems, people, communities, or resources
are needed to keep your situation balanced?
Where and how can you find them?
3. For thousands of years, cultures across the
globe have designated certain freshwater
springs as having healing properties. This
card may indicate a need for or the arrival
of much needed healing in your life. Allow
yourself to drink deeply and soak in the
moment; see how much better you feel with
time.
36
4. Tranquil, calm waters are often a symbol of
peace. When this card appears, you may be
searching for or finding peace between
warring factions in your life or especially
within yourself. The peace of the
Temperance card is often an internal one;
how can you learn to love and accept who
you are and what you’ve been through so
far in this life?

XV THE DEVIL -
MUSHROOMS
Ingredients:
• Indulgence
• Mind-altering practices/substances
• Taboo
• Control

Instructions:
1. Some of the most expensive foods in the
world are mushrooms; truffles in particular
can command thousands of dollars per
pound, and mushroom hunters zealously
guard known morel spots. This card may
appear in matters of material indulgence;
treat yourself, but also, be aware of the
potential consequences.
37
2. Certain types of mushrooms are well-
known for their psychoactive effects. When
The Devil appears, it may refer to
experiences with mind-altering practices or
substances. Whether the trip these take you
on is awe-inspiring or filled with danger is
up to you and your environment. Take care!
3. A common wild mushroom hunter saying
goes, “Every mushroom is edible once,” a
darkly humorous reference to the fact that
some mushrooms can, in fact, kill you—
you shouldn’t eat them! This card can
reference things which are forbidden,
sometimes with good reason.
4. Access to wealth, hedonism, psychedelics,
death, as well as, you know, phallic
imagery—are tightly controlled by people
or systems with power. Some of these
things may, with repeated exposure, exert
control over the user, too. When this card
comes up, you may want to ask yourself
who or what is in control of this situation.
Is it you? Or is it out of your hands?

XVI THE TOWER - HOT

SAUCE

38
Ingredients:
• Destruction
• Chaos
• Shock
• Trauma

Instructions:
1. Humanity has taken a defense mechanism
in pepper plants and turned it into a painful
pleasure. The most popular hot sauces are
only a little painful on the tongue, if at all—
but others may have you sweating and
crying as a result. When this card appears,
it may be in reference to destruction and
disaster, whether past, present, or future.
2. When our bodies experience the pain of hot
sauce, they release “feel good” chemicals
which paradoxically may leave you
wanting more of that sweet, sweet burn.
This card can indicate chaos at hand, where
things feel backwards, opposite,
oxymoronic, or simply overwhelming.
What seemingly opposite emotions are
competing within you now, or opposing
forces in your external life?
3. When we’re not properly prepared for how
spicy something is, it can be quite a shock!
This card can appear when a situation or
conflict seems to have arisen out of
39
 nowhere. Why didn’t we see it coming?
Was it even possible to predict or prevent?
Usually not.
4. If you eat too much of that super spicy
sauce, you might find your mouth, tongue,
throat, or stomach burn for a while
afterward. This card may refer to past or
present trauma—events in our lives which
have had lasting harm, and may need time
and special care in order to heal.

XVII THE STAR: SPOON

Ingredients:
• Hope
• Guidance
• Faith
• Healing

Instructions:
1. Often, the first utensil we’re ever
introduced to in life is a tiny rubber-coated
spoon our caregivers use to feed us baby
food. With their guidance, we learn how to
eat first from their hand. This card can
appear when you’re in need of guidance,
especially from a trusted elder or ancestor.
Even when we’ve grown up, we may still
40
 look up to the stars as a way to chart our
course through life.
2. Soup spoons and teaspoons are spoons
we’re familiar with. Soup and tea are often
seen as good for us when we’re sick—
chicken or veggie noodle, anyone? Ginger-
lemon tea with honey or agave? The Star
may indicate a period of healing What
medicines do you need a spoonful of in
your life right now?
3. A spoonful of hope for the future can make
bitter medicines go down easier—or it can
be the medicine itself. The Star suggests
taking a dose of hope daily to protect
against becoming jaded, despairing, and
numb in the face of the many struggles we
face throughout life.
4. Sometimes with soup, it’s difficult to see all
of the different ingredients hiding inside.
You just have to have faith that whatever
comes up on your spoon through the murky
depths will taste great! This card may come
up when we are encouraged to have faith in
something or someone (ourselves, even)
who we cannot see or has not been
“proved” yet.

41
 XVIII THE MOON: KNIFE
Ingredients:
• Mystery
• Magic
• A double edge
• Illusion

Instructions:
1. Until we use the knife to open up our cake,
the inside remains unknown. This card can
appear when there is a mystery at hand.
What tools do you need to solve it? Does it
need to be solved at all? Once you make the
first cut, there’s no going back; you’ve
begun to destroy the original in the pursuit
of answers.
2. Knives are used in ceremonies and magical
workings all over the world. Its cutting
edge creates a powerful symbol for the
work we are attempting to do emotionally,
energetically, spiritually. Magic happens
beneath the light of The Moon—where is
the magic in your life? What sort of magic
do you want to make?
3. A knife can cut our food into edible pieces,
but it can also draw our own blood if
mishandled (or used aggressively). This
card may be a warning. The power of a tool
42
 lies in the hand that wields it. How are you
wielding your knife? Carefully, carelessly?
In peace, or in anger?
4. “Is it cake?” asks a popular television show,
in which hyperrealistic cakes are pitted
against nearly identical, non-cake objects;
the reveal comes when the knife slices
through. Sometimes things are not what
they seem. The flash of the knife blade may
trick you in the dim light of The Moon; be
wary of illusions, tricks, and mirages.
Sometimes these tricks are played on us by
outside forces, but they can also come from
within.

XIX THE SUN: FORK

Ingredients:
• Abundance
• Happiness
• Growth
• Optimism

Instructions:
1. “Women laughing with salad” was a meme
for a while in which people discovered the
oddly vast number of stock images fitting
that description (often the woman was
43
 holding up her fork). What makes you
laugh and smile with your friends around a
nourishing, shared meal? This card may
indicate the presence of or need for those
sorts of happy, communal moments in your
life.
2. In my culture, the fork is probably the
most-used utensil during meals. This little
pronged gadget allows most of us to eat a
wide abundance of foods. The Sun card
often comes heralding great material and
emotional abundance. If you feel your life
is lacking, where can you turn for new
resources? If you have extra, how can you
share with those around you?
3. Forks resemble a much larger gardening
tool, the pitchfork. This implement is a
symbol of farmers who grow and raise all
of the food we eat. What can you feed
yourself right now (emotionally, spiritually,
physically, mentally) that will give you the
energy you need to grow?
4. No matter how bleak things seem,
sometimes you’ve just got to grab your fork
and take a stab at life, anyway. This card
might encourage you to take an optimistic
stance about something in the present or
future. A cherry tomato might be hard to pin
down, but it’s not impossible!
44
 XX JUDGMENT: THE STOVE
Ingredients:
• Evaluation
• Understanding
• Awakening
• The Reveal

Instructions:
1. Water boils from a liquid to a gas, and if
you’re not careful, you might find your pot
boiling dry. Your dinner can go from
undercooked to burnt in a matter of
moments. An experienced cook relies less
on clock time than an innate evaluation of
smell, taste, and texture. This card may
appear when that kind of experienced
evaluation is necessary.
2. This kind of evaluation isn’t possible
without deep understanding of the thing
being judged. It takes time and practice for
a cook to hone their senses and reflexes.
The Judgment card may call you to deepen
your understanding of a situation, subject,
or yourself.
3. When we achieve this kind of deep
knowledge and skill, it often becomes
apparent just how little we know in the vast,
grand scheme of things! This card may
45
 appear when you’ve had a revelation about
your situation or self on a grand scale. What
was your revelation? How does it change
how you see your situation?
4. Before you lift the lid on the pot, it’s
difficult to know what lies beneath. Has it
finished cooking? Has it cooked correctly?
What even is in there?? Can you guess
based on other senses? The Judgment card
may appear when a big reveal is at hand.
You may want to expect the unexpected,
even if you think you know what’s about
to happen.

XXI THE WORLD: THE FULL

MEAL
Ingredients:
• Completion
• Fulfillment
• The Circle of Life
• Belonging

Instructions:
1. Finally, it’s finished—and it’s ready for
you to eat. The World card may appear
when you’ve reached the end of a long
journey or a chapter in your life. What will
46
 you do to recognize this achievement or
ending? What did it take to get here, and
how do you feel?
2. Eating a nice meal leaves us feeling full
and satisfied. What do you need to feel
fulfilled? What sort of outcome to your
situation would leave you feeling
satisfied? Are there things that leave you
feeling too full or still hungry? How can
you make changes to add or subtract the
nutrition you need?
3. Eating is something we have to multiple
times per day, for our entire lives (even if
we receive nutrients through surgical tubes
or other devices). Now that you’ve
finished cooking this meal and eaten it, it’s
time to prepare for the next one. Do you
have plans for the next step? What will
you do next?
4. All across the world, people sit down to
meals together to form a sense of family,
friendship, and community. The World
card may appear in matters of belonging,
especially on a large scale. Do you feel
like you’re a part of this world? Do you
have a space where you feel like you
belong? How can you include others at
your table?

47
 the
MINOR
Arcana
 Suit of Wands:
Herbs, Spices, and
Seasonings
-----------------------
ACE OF WANDS: CINNAMON
Ingredients:
• Inspiration
• Creativity
• New passion
• New projects

Instructions:
1. Cinnamon is a fragrant, warming spice
which quickens the blood—quite literally,
it has blood thinning qualities, but here
we’re using it as a metaphor for an increase
in creative energy. What inspires you to
move, change, and create magic in your
life? How can you seek it out?
2. Cinnamon is commonly featured in winter
cooking around holidays that feature gift-
giving. What gifts have you received
lately? What shiny new projects have you
unwrapped?
3. The warmth of this spice is just begging to
be shared around a cozy fire. How can you
50
 use your creative gifts to provide yourself
and others with joy?
4. This spice is often depicted in the form of a
stick (actually a rolled, dried piece of bark),
which invokes a magic wand. If you had the
power (and you do) to wave a wand and
create anything you wished, what would it
be? This is a time for dreaming big.

TWO OF WANDS: MINT

Ingredients:
• Decisions
• Risk-taking
• Collaboration
• The first step

Instructions:
1. Mint is a cooling, bright herb which clears
the mind—and the sinuses! It’s
energetically invigorating and can help
inspire wakefulness. This is exactly the sort
of state we want to be in when making
decisions. What choices do you have before
you in your current situation? Are you
basing your decision on clear thoughts?
2. Whenever we make one choice over
another, we’re taking a risk. Will the
consequences be positive? Negative? A
51
 mixed bag? Don’t worry too much;
whatever happens, you’ll have a chance to
try again. Mint plants are notoriously hard
to kill and love to take over entire gardens.
If you get cut down, you’ll be popping back
up in no time.
3. Mint combines extremely well with some
flavors and horribly with others—
chocolate versus orange juice, for example.
This card can represent creative
collaboration with others. Some people we
will work really well with, while others
may be a poor match. Make sure that you
are choosing collaborators who match your
vibe.
4. Then again, you never really know what
might taste good together until you try it!
Taking the first step is key here if you want
to find out whether the rest of your plan is
viable.

THREE OF WANDS: NUTMEG

Ingredients:
• Travel plans
• Anticipation
• Results
• Expansion
52
Instructions:
1. Nutmeg is one of many spices which was
traded across Europe and Asia during times
of great exploration and expansion. Do you
have any plans to travel? Or perhaps take a
journey of the heart and mind? Where to?
What does your route look like?
2. Spices like nutmeg often took a very long
time to get from the place they were grown
to the places they were sold to. This card
may indicate incoming results, purchases,
or outcomes that have long been in the
making.
3. How are you at waiting? Are you patient, or
not so much? Pay attention to your feelings
while waiting for the aforementioned
results to come in. Anticipation can
sweeten the deal or it can provoke
anxiety—which are you leaning towards?
What does it say about what you expect to
receive?
4. With all this journeying, trade, and
receiving, we have a great opportunity to
expand our worldview, our hearts, and our
minds. What recent lessons have you
learned that broadened your perspective?

53
 FOUR OF WANDS: BASIL
Ingredients:
• Home
• Happiness
• Stability
• Togetherness

Instructions:
1. Basil is a sweet, aromatic herb which
brings joy and flavor to every dish it
appears in! This card may appear signal a
time of good fortune and abundance,
especially in the realms of creativity and
community.
2. It’s common to grow herbs like basil in pots
on sunny windowsills or balconies. This
fragrant green plant can make a home feel
more homey—what makes a home for you?
Who in your life gives you a safe place to
land?
3. For me, basil is often associated with dishes
that are served at big gatherings with a lot
of people—spaghetti and other pasta dishes
come to mind. What can you contribute to
your community or family to bring
everyone closer together? If you’ve felt
isolated recently, might you need a little
time socializing with others?
54
4. Who or what in your life to do you find
stabilizing and supportive? Think of a chair
with all four legs on the ground; what are
the legs that hold up your seat so that you
don’t fall?

FIVE OF WANDS: CILANTRO

Ingredients:
• Arguments
• Conflict
• Competition
• Ego

Instructions:
1. Cilantro (also called coriander) is an herb
with a divisive flavor! Some folks
absolutely love it, while others can’t stand
it and say it tastes like soap. It’s one of
those things people love to argue about—
so when this card appears, it may indicate
arguments and disagreements are playing a
part in your situation.
2. What do you do if you order a dish and it
arrives with your least favorite herb inside?
Do you send it back to the kitchen? Do you
eat it anyway to be polite? What’s the right
option here? Conflict between parties or

55
 within a single individual might be stirring
up some muck and muddying the situation.
3. When it comes to the cilantro debate, who
is “right” about the taste? Even though taste
is almost entirely subjective, many people
still insist that they are correct and collect
information to justify their “win.” Are you
currently in competition with anyone or
anything? Do you feel you’re winning or
losing?
4. On that same point, this card may indicate
the presence of strong egos, undoubtedly
what’s fueling the conflict and competition.
Is there space for more humility here? How
might we acknowledge each other’s
experiences and tastes as valid?

SIX OF WANDS: SAFFRON

Ingredients:
• Success
• Admiration
• Recognition
• Rewards

56
Instructions:
1. Saffron is one of the most expensive spices
in the world; the stigma and styles of the
saffron crocus flower are hand-picked, an
extremely labor intensive process for an
already low-yield crop. And yet, what
dividends it brings to its growers! This card
may appear to indicate success has arrived
after a long, hard effort.
2. Given how expensive it is, cooking with
saffron can be a way to signal social status
and epicurean tastes to your guests—who
will undoubtedly love it. When this card
appears, you may be about to receive
admiration and praise for your work or
actions. Just be sure it doesn’t go to your
head!
3. Saffron threads are red, but when they are
used in cooking (or dyeing!), they produce
a beautiful, rich golden color. Gold has
been a symbol of wealth for thousands of
years; when this card comes up, you may
soon receive material or social rewards for
your hard work and success.

SEVEN OF WANDS: GINGER

Ingredients:
• Individuality
57
 • Self-defense
• Self-worth
• Protectiveness

Instructions:
1. Ginger is a rhizome that is used in cooking
all across the world to add a kick of
delicious spice to our cooking! What
personal “spice” do you add to
conversations and social gatherings? What
is it that makes you stand out? No matter
how bland you think you are, we all have a
little ginger somewhere in our soul.
2. Typically, spicy flavors in nature evolved to
protect the plant from being eaten (a joke to
humans, apparently, who prize that very
spiciness). The Seven of Wands can appear
when there’s a need to stand up for yourself
against criticism or peer pressure.
3. In order to stand up for ourselves, we have
to believe we’re worth that effort. This card
encourages you to find value in yourself,
and especially what makes you unique or
makes you stand out from the crowd. Don’t
listen to what others are telling you to be—
you’re worthwhile just as you are.
4. This spicy protectiveness can also be used
to defend others in your life. When you see
bullying or injustice, do you feel capable of
58
 standing up against it? What fuels you to
risk your own wellbeing in order to make a
difference for others?

EIGHT OF WANDS: THYME

Ingredients:
• Movement
• Right direction
• Progress
• Courage

Instructions:
1. In American English, “thyme” is a
homonym for “time.” With this card, the
passage of time comes into play; we are
always ever moving forward, unable to stop
the world from turning. How has your
situation changed or progressed over time?
How might it continue to change in the
future?
2. The best we can do when we can’t stop life
from moving is to make sure we’re steering
ourselves in the right direction. Where is it
that you want to end up? What can you do
to ensure that you get there? This card
suggests that you’re already doing
something right.

59
3. Have you recently gotten unstuck from a
period of stagnation? Thyme has
traditionally been used to help with coughs
and other lung issues. Is there any sort of
stickiness or discomfort you need to
expectorate from your life? This card may
indicate a period of easier breathing in the
near future.
4. In ancient Greece and Rome, thyme was
associated with courage. Do you have what
it takes to charge ahead full-force? Are you
feeling brave and hopeful about where
you’re headed? I hope so!

NINE OF WANDS: ROSEMARY

Ingredients:
• Memory
• Experience
• Persistence
• Endurance

Instructions:
1. Rosemary has long been associated with
memory, and it’s that correspondence that
connects it to the Nine of Wands here—and
the fact that a long stick of rosemary would
also make a lovely and fragrant wand itself!

60
2. Memory and experience informs all that we
do in the present moment. How are your
memories (or lack thereof) influencing
your view of the current situation?
3. The thing about memory is that it can be
unreliable, both in the way it can fade with
time and the fact that the way remember an
experience is filtered through our own
senses, beliefs, thoughts, etc. How do you
look back on your memories—how do you
feel about what happened, how do you
interpret them? What stories are you telling
yourself that might be changed or adjusted
for new understanding?
4. Memory is one way in which the past
endures into the present. When this card
appears, it may represent a long, long
journey, possibly even a difficult one. This
is a marathon and not a sprint, as they say.
How can you adjust your expectations
accordingly?

TEN OF WANDS: GARLIC

Ingredients:
• Burdens
• Struggle
• Burnout

61
 • Warding off

Instructions:
1. Ah, garlic! One of the most beloved
seasonings in the world—and one of the
most pungent. Whether you are a garlic
lover or a hater, it’s hard to deny that its
scent and flavor can be quite strong, even
repulsive, especially when raw. Is there
something or someone in your current
situation who feels overwhelming or
burdensome? Off-putting, even?
2. Too much garlic (some people say there’s
no such thing, but I must be spicy and
disagree) can overpower other flavors in a
dish. Are you currently in a situation that is
so heavy, it blocks out all other desires and
responsibilities? Might there be a way to
lessen its burden on your life and let those
other flavors shine through?
3. Garlic is high in oligosaccharides, a type of
complex carbohydrate chain which the
human body finds difficult to digest. Is
there something or someone in your life
right now that you’re having trouble
stomaching, no matter how much you
desire it? How is your body handling
current stressors?

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4. Garlic is famous for warding off vampires,
whose blood-sucking is an easy metaphor
for things that drain us of our energy. Do
you have an energetic vampire in your life,
whether that’s a person, a job, a
commitment, etc? How is it affecting you?

PAGE OF WANDS: TURMERIC

Ingredients:
• Excitement
• Daydreams
• Bright outlook
• Confidence

Instructions:
1. Turmeric is a bright, earthy spice that gets
the blood pumping! What in your life
inspires you and gets you all excited? How
can you bring more of that energy into your
life and really dive into the experience?
2. There’s something so soothing about a
“golden latte,” a warm and cozy drink
made primarily from turmeric and
milk/nondairy milk. Imagine sipping this
liquid warmth while you stare out the
window as in this picture—when was the
last time you let yourself fall into a
daydream? What are your daydreams about
63
 these days? Don’t be afraid to let them
grow big!
3. When added to a dish or used as a dye,
turmeric produces a bright, sunny yellow
color that invokes happiness and optimism.
This card may encourage you to view the
future with hope instead of cynicism.
4. Bright yellow is also quite a confident
color; how is your self-confidence these
days? How can you pump yourself up (but
not too much!), believe in yourself, and
enjoy your own company? What’s standing
in your way?

KNIGHT OF WANDS: CAYENNE

Ingredients:
• Hotheadedness
• Aggression
• Rebellion
• High energy

Instructions:
1. There are many peppers in the world, but
cayenne pepper is perhaps one of the most
common and well-known. A dash (or a
whole spoonful) of this powdered red
pepper can add a serious kick to your
64
 cooking—or render it inedible if you add
too much.
2. Aggression and anger can be much the
same way; useful and empowering in the
right quantities, but damaging when
overdone. This card might be asking you to
check in with your spicier side and the way
it impacts those around you.
3. Peppers evolved to be spicy to keep
animals from eating them, but humans
laughed and decided they enjoyed that burn
so much that we needed to breed spicier
peppers! This card may indicate rebellion
against the status quo or large systems. The
question is, do you really have a reason for
rebelling, or are you a rebel without a
cause?
4. Spicy peppers can induce the human body
to sweating and heart palpitations, to a real
rush of blood, even to tears! With all this
hyperarousal, this card can indicate high
energy levels and even mania. How will
you move all that energy through your
body?

QUEEN OF WANDS: SALT

Ingredients:
• Passion
65
 • Social butterfly
• “Mom friend”
• Bringing people together

Instructions:
1. Salt! Without it, so many of our dishes
would taste so much blander, even when
they contain many other spices. This card
may represent someone with a deep passion
and commitment for what they do—which
has a noticeable and positive affect on the
surrounding community.
2. As such, the Queen of Wands may also
represent our “social butterfly” side! The
popularity of salt cannot be denied, and
neither can that of a person represented by
this card. Might you need to get out and
mingle a bit with friends?
3. Salt is abundant today, but in ancient times,
it was far more scarce and highly prized.
Traders would go long distances to acquire
and sell salt, creating connections between
far-away cultures and communities. How
can you bring together different groups of
people in your life? What do they have in
common? How might they benefit from
this new connection?
4. Some medical conditions and medications
require a low-salt diet, which in today’s
66
 world can be quite a lot to manage! The
“mom friend” of a group is typically the
person who keeps an eye on things, comes
prepared, and is ready to stand up and say
‘no’ to things that will affect their loved
ones badly. This card can represent that
person in your life and/or a need to watch
that we’re not overrunning our own
limitations and boundaries.

KING OF WANDS: PEPPER

Ingredients:
• Community leader
• Self-assurance
• Bold decisions
• Visionary

Instructions:
1. When ground, pepper has an assertive
flavor that can get your blood pumping and
kick any dish up a notch—and without the
same painful burn as something like
cayenne. This gentler spice then reflects the
qualities of a good community leader:
someone who is strong but gentle. How can
you embody this balance in your own life
67
 and communities? Do you know anyone
who does?
2. Taking the metaphor further, this sort of
leader also wins in categories of self-
assurance and decision-making. They are
kind and understanding towards themself,
which gives them the confidence they need
to make good choices for the community.
Someone who is too spicy might instead
project their own fear and anger when
deciding how to handle situations. This
card may call on you to stand up for
yourself and the beliefs you know will
make a difference.
3. Pepper doesn’t just come in black—it also
comes in pink, white, green, and many
other varieties. The King of Wands: Pepper
is a visionary who has a varied and colorful
view of life and how many different people
are necessary to build a thriving
community. How varied are your social
groups? How can you make space for
difference in your life even when you don’t
understand it yourself?

68
 Suit of Cups:
Fruit
-----------------------
ACE OF CUPS: STRAWBERRY
Ingredients:
• New beginnings
• New emotions
• Ease and comfort
• Curiosity

Instructions:
1. Strawberries are one of the first fruits to
ripen in the spring! This card represents
new beginnings, a springtime in your life or
the situation you’re querying about. What
does this new beginning mean to you? Does
it come after a long, difficult winter? Has
the sun come out at last? What will you do
with all the shiny new opportunities
hanging from the vines, waiting for you to
pick them?
2. Along with new beginnings come new
emotions. We see the arrival of the
strawberries and understand that time has
passed and indeed, keeps on going! How
does this new chapter or opportunity in
69
 your life make you feel? Does the idea of
starting something new excite you, scare
you, both?
3. Sometimes this card can indicate new
relationships, whether platonic or romantic.
Who has popped up in your life recently,
like the strawberry appearing on its plant?
4. Strawberries are SWEET! The Ace of Cups
may indicate an easygoing time and
comfort in the situation at hand. Lie back
and enjoy the fruit at hand; allow its
sweetness to carry you through any
difficulties that might arise.
5. That bright red of the strawberry peeking
through the green is eye-catching! This
card can sometimes stand for curiosity—
what’s catching your eye these days? What
are you curious about? How can you
explore it further?

TWO OF CUPS: PEAR

Ingredients:
• Companionship
• Attraction
• Connection
• Compromise

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Instructions:
1. In English, the word “pear” is a homonym
for “pair.”. Do you have companions in
your life, or in your current situation, who
make you feel happy and cared for? Who
are they, if so? Where might you look for
companionship, if not? What is it in a
relationship that makes you feel cared for
and part of a team?
2. Pears are sweet and syrupy, many of them
quite soft when ripe. This card may stand
for feelings of attraction: platonic,
romantic, sexual, aesthetic, whatever type
of magnetic pull that draws you toward
another person, place, or thing. How does
this attraction feel? Will you act on it, or
no?
3. Whether we feel connected to fellow
humans, to animals, the land, our vocation,
or the objects in our lives, this sense of
mutual care and understanding is crucial to
our continued happiness. Who or what do
you have a sense of connection to? Or do
you feel you’re lacking connection in your
life? How can you deepen existing
connections or draw in new ones?
4. Partnership requires that we each meet the
other’s needs; sometimes those needs may
be at odds, and that’s when compromise
71
 comes in. Are you willing to compromise
in your current situation? What are you
willing to change or give up? What aren’t
you willing to change or give up? How
does this affect your partnership and the
situation at hand?

THREE OF CUPS: PEACH

Ingredients:
• Companionship
• Hospitality
• Relaxation
• Community

Instructions:
1. Peaches are a summer fruit that’s fuzzy,
sweet, and juicy! Whether baked into a
cobbler or used to flavor a refreshing iced
tea, peaches have that “relaxing on the front
porch watching the sunset” flavor that few
can resist.
2. These moments are made even better when
shared with people we love. The Peach card
reminds us that quiet companionship is
often a balm to the wounded soul. Could
you be in need of this right now?

72
3. We all need other people to help care for us.
Who in your community, friends, or family
can you turn to when you need advice?
4. Hospitality is valued in cultures across the
globe. This card may be calling you to play
host to others in need—be the one to offer
them a pie baked fresh from the oven and a
listening ear if you have the resources.
5. Find your favorite place to sit or lie down
and make the space as cozy as possible.
Whether that’s a big armchair, a blanket
fort on the floor, or a rocking chair by the
window. How do you feel when things get
quiet and still?

FOUR OF CUPS: LIME

Ingredients:
• Boredom
• Apathy
• Discontent
• Disconnect

Instructions:
1. Look, lime is delicious, but when I was a
kid, the lime ice pops were usually the very
last ones to go in a mixed-flavor bag. This
card may indicate feelings of discontent
with matters at hand. Do you feel
73
 dissatisfied by your current situation? Are
any of the choices currently open to you
ones you want to take?
2. That is to say, in my childhood circles, lime
was a “boring adult flavor.” Do you feel
bored, lately? Does nothing seem
interesting? Have you lost motivation for
things you once loved or found exciting?
How do you feel about that, and how might
you change up the flavor?
3. Someone has left their ice pop to melt in the
sun. The Four of Cups might appear when
apathy abounds, and we just don’t very
much care what happens to them, or
happens to our situation, or happens to us.
Whether the outcome is good or bad, who
cares? We may not feel strongly invested
either way.
4. Often apathy arises in states of disconnect.
Limes are sour and the average person can
only take so much mouth puckering before
they have to step away. What in your life
was once sweet and now tastes sour? Do
you feel a sense of distance or separation
between you and a
person/place/thing/situation is making
things difficult? How can you bridge the
gap?

74
 FIVE OF CUPS: LEMON
Ingredients:
• Sorrow
• Bitterness
• Regret
• Resourcefulness

Instructions:
1. When life gives you lemons, they say you
should make lemonade. But what if, in the
process, you get a nasty squirt to the eye, or
you run out of sugar, or you just don’t like
lemons?
2. The Lemon card is about responding to
unwanted and unpleasant situations.
Whatever happened, whether it was
something you did or totally out of your
control, it’s now in the past and can’t be
undone. Time to grab those lemons and see
what you can make with them.
3. As a certain reality TV fashion mentor says,
“Make it work!”
4. Aside from lemonade, lemons are a classic
source of acidity for an infinite number of
dishes, elevating their flavors to a new
level. Think creatively about how you
respond to what’s happened; can you use

75
 what you learned from this experience to
brighten up another part of your life?
5. If you can’t, don’t beat yourself up. The
sting of lemon juice in your eye is only
temporary, and you will recover.

SIX OF CUPS: PLUM

Ingredients:
• Nostalgia
• Memory
• Generosity
• Familiar faces

Instructions:
1. Plums are plump, juicy, and sweet, just like
our favorite memories from the past—
especially childhood. Sometimes the skin is
a little sour, adding a tang that perfectly
describes the bittersweet feeling of
nostalgia. What are you nostalgic for? Why
are you drawn to those things from the past,
especially now?
2. When dried, plums become prunes, which
are often associated in the US with the
elderly—people who have a long life to
look back on and ponder. How we
remember the past is another element that
may come up with the Six of Cups. How
76
 good or bad is your recollection of the past?
Why do you think that is? Does the way
you remember the past have any bearing on
your current situation?
3. Sometimes this card may appear when
familiar faces from this past pop up in our
lives again. Have you been thinking of or
seeing someone from your past recently?
Who are they, and what does their
reappearance mean to you?
4. Plum trees flower beautifully and
abundantly in the springtime, drawing in
many pollinators, such as bees. How can
we mirror the generosity and beauty of the
plum tree? What do you have in abundance
that you’re willing to give to others? What
would you like others to give to you?

SEVEN OF CUPS: GRAPE

Ingredients:
• Illusions
• Too many choices
• Fantasizing
• Imagination

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Instructions:
1. In this card we see just a few of the many
uses of this fruit and its seeds: two kinds of
juice, oil, vinegar, raisins, jelly, and simply
for eating! The Seven of Cups may arise
when we have a multitude of options before
us—potentially too many options. What are
all the options before you? How will you
narrow things down and make your choice?
2. The trouble with this card is that some of
those options may not be what they seem.
Some of those bottles are only 5% juice!
The grapes are made from plastic! How can
you tell the real from the fake? With closer
inspection, which choices aren’t actually
choices at all?
3. Where did those illusions come from in the
first place? We may have dreamed them up
ourself; this card can indicate drifting off
into fantasy and daydreams. Outside forces
can also present us with fantasies disguised
as realities—is that real balsamic vinegar,
or is it cheaper vinegar that they’ve added
coloring to? It’s up to you to figure it out.
4. The plus side of fantasy and daydreams is
that they feed our imagination. Someone
had to imagine each of these uses for grapes
before they actually went about creating it

78
 intentionally. How can you utilize your
imagination to create a better future?

EIGHT OF CUPS:
POMEGRANATE
Ingredients:
• Leaving
• Letting go
• Spiritual pursuit
• Taking a break

Instructions:
1. The pomegranate is heavily associated with
the myth of Hades and Persephone. This
card may be calling you to your own
Underworld journey—will you leave
what’s familiar, leave the current situation
you’re in, to face the unknown? How do
you feel about that journey and what you
leave behind?
2. The myth suggests that the season of winter
came as Demeter grieved for the loss of her
daughter, Persephone. Ultimately, there
come times in our life when we must let go
of people, places, things, and thoughts. Is
there something you need to let go of for

79
 your sake or that of others? What does
letting go look like to you?
3. Underworld journeys can be precarious,
but they can teach us much. The Eight of
Cups may appear when you’re being called
to deepen your spiritual and/or religious
practice. How can you show up for the
spiritual side of your life? What rituals
would you like to begin? Where can you
increase your knowledge and study?
4. Whatever your “winter” looks like (it may
not be actual winter in your part of the
world), these slower periods, fallow
periods, are necessary to the cycle of life
and death. This card may indicate a need to
take a break from the busyness of life and
seemingly constant growth. How can you
bring rest into your life?

NINE OF CUPS: BLUEBERRY

Ingredients:
• Wishes granted
• Success
• Pleasure
• Gratitude

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Instructions:
1. The name of the market booth in this card
is Wishing Star Farms! When the Nine of
Cups appears, it can stand for wishes being
granted and dreams being realized.
Remember that wishes are tricky things,
and they may not always show up in your
life the way that you expect.
2. On the end of the blueberry are little
pointed flaps that resemble a star. Stars are
commonly held as symbols of excellence,
and thus can indicate great success! Have
you achieved something recently? If so,
what was it, and how can you celebrate? If
not, what will take you the rest of the way?
3. Blueberries are fun and easy to pop in your
mouth, one at a time or by the handful. This
card may stand for pleasure and sensual
joys when it appears in a reading. What
brings you pleasure? How can you invite
more of that into your life?
4. Whether we have only a single berry’s
worth of good in our lives or a whole
bucketful, gratitude can help us experience
that good on a deeper level. Gratitude also
strengthens our connections with others,
since none of us go it alone in life—we
grow in clumps, like blueberries! What do
you have to feel grateful for in your life?
81
 How can you show your gratitude to
others? If gratitude is difficult for you, why
is that?

TEN OF CUPS: ORANGE

Ingredients:
• Deep happiness
• Security
• Emotional stability
• Domestic bliss

Instructions:
1. Fresh orange juice is like liquid sunshine,
and what could be happier or more joyful
than that? The Ten of Cups may appear to
signify deep and lasting satisfaction with
your situation and/or broader life. What is
bringing you such joy? How can you share
it with others? If you don’t feel joyful, what
do you feel stands in your way?
2. Oranges grow in climates where the winter
is warm and mild, without the threat of
frost. In fact, winter is citrus season in the
USA! What would it feel like to live life
without threat of emotional winter? Who or
what makes you feel safe? If you don’t have
that sense of safety, what do you feel
threatens it?
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3. Orange juice is high in vitamin C and often
touted as “a part of this complete
breakfast.” Having daily rituals can be
immensely soothing, as it gives us
familiarity and a framework to stand on
when things get tough. Who supports you?
Who doesn’t support you? How can you
tell the difference?
4. As we all gather together around the
breakfast table, we create a space of shared
safety and joy. What is your home life like?
Do you feel comfortable around the people
you share your home with? How can you
support one another equally on the day-to-
day? What does family mean to you?

PAGE OF CUPS: APPLE

Ingredients:
• Childlike viewpoint
• Emotional truths
• Idealism
• Sensitivity

Instructions:
1. One of the most enduring symbols of the
teaching/educator’s profession is the round,
red, shiny apple. When was the last time
you approached a new skill, task, or
83
 experience the way that a child does?
Examine things as if they’re brand new to
you (or maybe they truly are?) with
curiosity and without judgment. What do
you see?
2. Kids typically have less of a filter on their
feelings than adults do. As we grow older,
we often are taught to soften or hide our
emotional reactions, sometimes to a
harmful degree. How would you feel about
your current situation if you removed that
filter? What deeper truths are hiding down
there?
3. Before we learn about all the horrors in the
world, before we master a skill and
understand just how much we don’t know,
it’s easier to look at life with a sense of
idealism. This card may represent a person
who sees the glass as half-full rather than
half-empty. Can you tilt your head and see
it that way?
4. Apples bruise easily if you drop them on
the ground. The Page of Cups may
represent someone who is emotionally
sensitive. They may feel hurt easily and
more deeply than others. Care and
compassion should be taken with the Page
of Cups—especially if the Page is you.

84
 KNIGHT OF CUPS: CHERRY
Ingredients:
• Messages from the heart
• Mediation
• Creativity
• Charisma

Instructions:
1. Cherries often have a deep red hue and
juice that resembles blood—kind of like a
heart. The Knight of Cups may represent
messages of an emotional nature, either
from deep within yourself or from the
people around you. What do they say? Will
you accept them? What will you say or do
in return, if anything?
2. Cherries are often depicted in pairs like the
one on this card. The Knight of Cups may
appear to represent a mediator or diplomat
who has the skills to facilitate good
relations between pairs of people or groups.
If you’re the Knight and mediating for
others, take care to remain both objective
and compassionate—towards yourself as
well!
3. Cherry juice can easily leave a stain, like an
ink or dye. The Knight of Cups may
represent someone to whom creativity is a
85
 vital part of life. Whether they work in the
arts or pursue them on their own time, this
Knight has a passion that they must follow
in order to feel fulfilled. If you don’t feel
connected to this archetype, how can you
bring more creativity into your life?
4. In the USA, one of the most popular flavors
of candy is cherry. The Knight of Cups may
represent a person with undeniable
charisma, someone who is easy to get along
with and popular. What natural charms do
you possess?

QUEEN OF CUPS: MANGO

Ingredients:
• Secret-keeping
• Emotional depth
• Wise counsel
• Empathy

Instructions:
1. The beautiful golden mango has been
cooked down into an award-winning jam—
don’t bother asking for the recipe, it’s a
secret! This card may represent someone
who is good at listening and keeping
secrets. If you’re the secret-keeper, be sure

86
 that you’re not taking on more than you can
handle…and be sure to keep those secrets.
2. Mango has an intense, rich, honeyed flavor
and is often used in frozen, blended drinks
like smoothies to make them thicker and
sweeter. The Queen of Cups is someone
with great emotional depth—layers of
flavor, if you will. It may take time to dig
down through all of those layers, each one
potentially more intense than the last.
3. Emotional depth makes this Queen of Cups
excellent at providing wisdom and
counseling. A therapist, an energy worker,
a diviner, a supportive older family
member or mentor, whoever they are, they
have much life experience and are ready to
share it with others, so long as they’re in
healthy relationship with their juniors and
themselves.
4. The sweet and soft mango reminds us of the
nature and power of empathy. The wise,
experienced Queen of Cups is able to see
themself in the emotions of others. This
shared emotional connection can be a great
power or a great burden depending on how
it is wielded.

87
KING OF CUPS: DRAGONFRUIT
Ingredients:
• Emotional mastery
• Emotional role models
• Devotion
• Calm

Instructions:
1. Did you know that dragonfruit, also called
pitaya, grows on a species of cactus? Like
other species of cactus, they have evolved
to grow with tough, leathery skin that holds
in as much moisture as possible. The King
of Cups is someone who can weather a
difficult emotional climate, protecting their
soft emotional core with ease.
2. The dragonfruit is one of the most beautiful
and impressive fruits one might find at the
grocery store or market. The King of Cups
can be looked up to as an ideal role model
for how to model ourselves emotionally.
They are someone we want to be like
someday. If you’re in a position of power
or mentorship, how can you ensure you’re
projecting a healthy image? What does
your ideal mentor look like?
3. In order to survive in a difficult climate,
one must ride out emotional suns or sudden
88
 storms. The King of Cups may stand for
devotion itself or for someone who gives
their all to a particular cause. They may
even be part of an initiatory tradition, like a
priest or tradesman.
4. For all its wild appearance, at least in my
experience, the actual taste of dragonfruit
is on the mild side. The King of Cups may
be someone for whom calm comes
easily—even if, and perhaps especially if,
they had to work for many years to
achieve the feeling.

89
 SUIT OF SWORDS:
VEGETABLES
-----------------------
ACE OF SWORDS: RADISH
Ingredients:
• New ideas
• Radical belief
• Faith
• The cutting truth

Instructions:
1. Radishes are one of the first crops ready to
eat during the spring! What new ideas have
popped up in the garden of your mind
lately? Have you begun a new area of
study? Discovered new beliefs? Remember
that these ideas are in their smallest and
simplest state right now, even if they feel
huge.
2. The bulb of the radish grows underground
where it can’t be seen until we uproot it
from the earth. While it’s still growing, we
have to have faith that it’s doing its thing
under there, and that when we give that
final tug, a vegetable will appear. This card
may refer to matters of faith and belief;
90
 whether or not that faith is deserved is up to
you and the surrounding cards.
3. The radish depicted on this card is a bright
pinkish-red color. It’s vibrant and
unapologetic! The Ace of Swords may
represent radical ideas, or at least a really
radical strength of conviction on one’s
ideas. When stated aloud, these thoughts
may really stand out from the crowd.
4. Radishes can get to be quite spicy on the
tongue. The Ace of Swords may come up to
represent harsh or cutting truths. Things we
may be reluctant to accept, or that are
difficult to swallow. Are you the one
waving knowledge around like a spicy
radish? Or are you the one being burned?

TWO OF SWORDS:
ASPARAGUS
Ingredients:
• Indecision
• Difficult choices
• Feeling stuck
• Stalemate

91
Instructions:
1. The vegetable we know as asparagus is the
young shoot of a larger, fully grown plant.
Do you know what full grown asparagus
looks like? No? Sometimes this card can
appear when we don’t have enough
information to judge a situation or make a
choice.
2. In this state, we may find it difficult or even
impossible to imagine the results of a given
choice or the future in general. As a result,
we feel unable to make a decision. This
card may appear to stand for indecision and
difficult choices.
3. Many people dislike the sulfuric, slightly
bitter taste of asparagus. When this card
comes up, we may be stuck in an identity
or space that feels incompatible with what
we’re currently being offered. What
happens when you don’t like any of the
options you’ve been given? What do you
do when none of the projected futures look
good?
4. If you’ve ever eaten with kids, you may
know how difficult it can be to get some of
them to eat their vegetables. Sometimes no
amount of cajoling, begging, soothing, or
consequences will work; you’ve hit a
stalemate situation. This card can appear
92
 when we’re at odds with another person,
organization, or force—and equally
matched. A tie may be declared; this is a
lose-lose situation.

THREE OF SWORDS: BEET

Ingredients:
• Heartbreak
• Betrayal
• Pain
• Grief

Instructions:
1. A beet sometimes resembles a heart. This
card may represent situations in which you
feel as if your heart has been yanked from
your chest. Heartbreak can occur not just in
matters of romantic love but in all kinds of
relationships: platonic, familial, self, etc. A
promise of mutual love and care has been
broken; who was that promise with? What
did they do to break it? How does that make
you feel now?
2. Sometimes heartbreak comes with a side of
betrayal; like Lady Macbeth, their hands
may be stained red with guilt (or beet
juice). Have you experienced a betrayal

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 recently, or do you feel this is a warning
sign of one to come?
3. With heartbreak and betrayal come pain
and grief. We wish to escape from this, but
pain shows us where change is needed.
Whether this hurt can be mended,
forgiveness granted, or the source of the
hurt needs to be removed, is up to you. Pain
is normal, but you don’t have to suffer. Do
what you can to self-sooth.
4. Grief is a form of love. It shows us who and
what we cared deeply about, even in
complicated situations with conflicting
emotions. Grief can be hard and long-
lasting, like a beet kept over winter in a cool
cellar. Who or what are you grieving right
now, or at another time relevant to this
reading? How does it feel? What might you
do to initiate healing?

FOUR OF SWORDS: CELERY

Ingredients:
• Rest
• Recovery
• Stillness
• Relief

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Instructions:
1. Celery has gotten a bit of hype recently for
its vitamin, mineral, and water content.
This card may appear at a time when you
need to nurture yourself through a period of
recovery. Do you feel tired or
overwhelmed, lately? Have you been ill?
How might it feel to take a break and come
back to the busyness of life later?
2. In some cuisines, celery is an important
part of building the flavorful foundation of
a dish, such as in French mirepoix. In this
metaphor, rest is the foundation for the
recipe of our daily life. How much rest have
you gotten lately? What kinds of rest do
you tend to go for when you need it? Might
you need more rest, or a different kind, at
this moment in your life?
3. Look at those celery stalks, just laying there
on the board, not moving. Sometimes this
card appears as an indicator of stillness.
Our modern world can move at an
incredible speed, and it can be exhausting
attempting to keep up with it. What can a
moment of stillness do for us, instead? A
moment where we are not trying to do
anything or go anywhere or solve a
particular problem. Just a little no thoughts,
head empty time. What do you think?
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4. If you’ve been experiencing a particularly
difficult time recently, this card may appear
as an indicator that relief is on the way.
Don’t worry. Your troubles may not last
much longer.

FIVE OF SWORDS: TOMATO

Ingredients:
• Disagreement
• Oppression
• Defense
• Hostility

Instructions:
1. “I say toh-MAY-toh, you say toh-MAH-
to,” is a common phrase in some places to
express an agreement to disagree. This card
may appear when disagreement and
argument are present or likely. What’s the
disagreement about? Does the other person
have a point or valid opinion, or is this
something that they really are truly wrong
about?
2. The image of an angry crowd throwing
rotten tomatoes for punishment has been
around for a long time. It’s usually a one-
versus-the-many situation. This card may
indicate oppression or bigotry is at play.
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 What sort of oppression is it? Is it obvious,
or more subtle? Which side are you
standing on? How might you deal with the
situation, depending on your position?
3. Yes, technically, tomatoes are fruit. I
wonder if anyone might message me to tell
me that I put it in the wrong category. You
know what other vegetables are actually
fruits? Cucumbers, squash, peppers,
eggplants, and more! No one is going to
message me about those.
4. As such, this card may represent both
hostility and defense. Is there someone in
your life or situation who has been
especially hostile towards you? Have you
felt the need to defend yourself, potentially
even before the blow is struck? Or are you
the one striking out, necessitating others to
raise their own defenses? How might this
conflict be solved?

SIX OF SWORDS: PEAS

Ingredients:
• Between states
• A journey
• Distance
• Safety
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Instructions:
1. The half-open peapod in this card looks like
a little boat with passengers inside! In this
way it invokes the imagery of the
traditional Six of Swords, where a family
flees across the waters to safety. This card
can appear to indicate a state of “between,”
a liminal space, or a transition period.
Where are you coming from, and where are
you headed to? What does it feel like being
in the middle of those two places or states?
2. The spoon is about to take the peapod on a
journey from boiling pot to a bowl filled
with its round, green brethren. Will it make
it to the bowl unharmed? Will it get
dropped on the counter or the floor? This
card may indicate a journey, whether
figurative or literal. What journey are you
on right now?
3. Journeys and between spaces are heavily
rooted in the concept of space and distance.
This card may appear when distance is
affecting the situation. Are there people,
places, things that you feel distant from?
Are there people, places, or things you feel
you need more distance from? Is this a time
to walk away, or close the gap?
4. Whether your journey will be safe or laden
with delays is often up to forces outside of
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 your control. What can you do to prepare
for the unexpected? How might you adapt
in the moment, if the journey is already
underway?

SEVEN OF SWORDS: SPINACH

Ingredients:
• Deceit
• Theft
• Hard lessons
• Strategy

Instructions:
1. Have you ever cooked with fresh spinach
before? If you haven’t: it shrinks
immensely when it is cooked. You might
look at a big bag of fresh spinach and think
that will be enough for your meal—and you
might be wrong!
2. Thus, the Seven of Swords as spinach can
represent deceit and lies. The question
is…are you the one lying, or are you the
one being deceived? Who do you suspect
of being deceptive? What might they get
out of tricking you, and why?
3. You might say the heat of the pan has stolen
the volume of your spinach away. This card
may appear when theft is at hand, whether
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 of literal, material items or more intangible
concepts. There are things in our lives,
things we encounter or things that we do,
which may steal our energy, for example.
Or people that steal our ideas. If you
recognize a theft of this kind happening,
what might you do about it?
4. Once you know how the spinach is going to
shrink, it gets much easier to deal with. You
can buy two of those bags instead of one,
and feel confident that you’ll have enough
greens for everyone at the end of the day.
The Seven of Swords can represent a need
for strategy—instead of just running at
things intuitively or impulsively, it may be
time to sit back and make a plan of attack.

EIGHT OF SWORDS: SQUASH

Ingredients:
• Feeling trapped
• Freeze response
• Overwhelm
• Bondage

Instructions:
1. Squash vines may wrap their tendrils
around whatever they come in contact with,
including other plants. Here in the card art,
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 we see a butternut squash being strangled
by its own vines. It’s being held in place,
unable to break free or grow bigger under
such constraint.
2. Obviously then, this card may appear when
we feel trapped—often by our own mind,
our own fears. Do you feel trapped in your
current situation? What’s making you feel
that way? Do the vines come from outside
of you, or inside? How might you break
free?
3. The Eight of Swords may indicate that your
garden has indeed become overrun with
vines, perhaps to a level that feels
completely unmanageable. What do those
vines represent in your life? Where are they
coming from? How might you break the
task of removing them down into smaller
steps, so that it’s no longer so
overwhelming?
4. Sometimes it’s not our own mind that holds
us captive. Sometimes we are held in
bondage by forces outside our control—our
families, the state of the economy, the
resources available to us, the social views
of our society. Do you feel bound by any of
those things? In that case, where might you
find someone or something to help cut you
free of those bonds? Are there ways,
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 difficult as they might be, that you could
free yourself, even a little?

NINE OF SWORDS: CARROT

Ingredients:
• Anxiety
• Fear
• Pressure
• Despair

Instructions:
1. They say the vitamin A in carrots is good
for your eyes—but what happens when
your eye on the past, future, or present
becomes too sharp? Have you been feeling
anxious about this question/situation?
What does anxiety feel like to you? What
affect does it have on your daily life?
2. How do you feel when other people turn
their gazes on you? With the Nine of
Swords, we may be experiencing intense
and negative pressure from outside forces.
The judgment of others can even become
internalized, so that no one has to stare or
say something cruel to us; we instead say it
to ourselves first.
3. Carrots have a particular pointy shape
which could be likened to a knife or dagger.
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 The suit of Swords is often linked to the
realm of the mind, so this cut may have
been made by sharp thoughts or words.
What does your internal narrative sound
like right now? Are you using your own
words against yourself? What might you do
to put down the metaphorical knife?
4. With all of this pain and judgment, this card
may have us falling into a pit of despair and
hopelessness. Remember that our thoughts
are not always fact—what seems
impossible in this moment may feel less
intense with time, outside help, and self-
soothing. That said, sometimes all we can
do while in this state is endure and ride it
out.

TEN OF SWORDS: ONION

Ingredients:
• Difficult endings
• Surrender
• Deep exhaustion
• Hopelessness

Instructions:
1. Onions! Everyone knows that they make
you cry; this reaction is caused by
compounds and enzymes in the onion
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 which create chemicals which irritate our
eyes. The more you slice and bruise the
cells of the onion, the more enzymes are
released—and the more likely you are to
end up with tears on your cutting board.
2. We’ve been cut, we’ve been bruised, our
feelings have been diced into tiny little
pieces and sautéed in a hot, oiled pan! The
Ten of Swords can represent the deep
exhaustion we feel after expressing sorrow
and grief through our bodies.
3. But don’t worry, rest is coming soon on the
horizon. You’ll soon be able to put your
vegetable knife down and have a nap while
the soup simmers on the stove. While this
has been a horrible experience, this card
assures us that it’s over. We’re done! Stick
a fork in us!
4. There are ways you can try to avoid the
onion tears: freezing them beforehand,
adding acid like lemon or vinegar, using a
super sharp knife, even wearing eye
protection. But in the end, sometimes it’s
just not up to us whether we have a good
cry or not. This card may appear to let us
know it’s time to surrender to things we
cannot control; allow the feelings to roll
through you and the tears to roll down your

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 cheeks. After all, they’re there to protect
your eyes from harm.

PAGE OF SWORDS:
CUCUMBER
Ingredients:
• The truth
• New beliefs
• Mental acuity
• Refreshing change

Instructions:
1. Cucumbers are a cool vegetable perfect for
a summer’s day. During the hottest part of
the year, they provide a refreshing option
for any meal. What changes might you
make in your current situation that will
provide relief from the heat?
2. The CRUNCH of biting into a whole
cucumber can be quite satisfying. Learning
new truths can be crunchy in its own way,
as we bite open what those revelations
mean for us and our life moving forward. A
little bit of resistance meets a little bit of
force. What new beliefs or truths have you
bitten into recently?

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3. “Cool as a cucumber” and “keep your cool”
are phrases which indicate a calm, clear
state of mind. What can you do to keep your
mind open and sharp? Can you look at the
situation from a detached, objective point
of view? What changes when you do?
4. Be careful how you wield your cucumber!
Er, your sword! Objectivity and truth can
be useful, but it can also cause harm in
situations that need a touch of empathy and
emotional intelligence.

KNIGHT OF SWORDS:
ARTICHOKE
Ingredients:
• Speed
• Double-edged sword
• Fight for the cause
• Protection

Instructions:
1. Have you ever seen an artichoke bloom?
They are literally giant thistles and are just
as thorny! These spiky defenses are the
plant’s way of fighting back; what are you
currently fighting for, and why? What are
your motivations for aggression?
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2. Artichoke globes are made up of
overlapping scales, not unlike a dragon’s
famously impervious hide. This card may
appear in matters of protection—how can
you defend yourself or those who are more
vulnerable than you?
3. The very center of the artichoke is called,
well, the choke, and unlike all of the leaves
and flower parts surrounding it, is inedible.
Tools that we wield for our own benefit
often have downsides. Consider how your
actions of beliefs might be causing harm as
well as good.
4. An artichoke is the flower part of the plant,
and if you’re going to eat it, you must do so
before it blooms! There is a time limit in
place here, invoking the concept of speed.
This card can represent a situation which is
moving speedily along and a need to keep
up with it.

QUEEN OF SWORDS:
CABBAGE
Ingredients:
• Patterns
• Logic
• Rhythm

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 • Uncomfortable truths

Instructions:
1. When we buy a whole cabbage, we often
refer to it as a “head” of cabbage—and
indeed, they can easily grow to the same
size as a human cranium. This card
indicates a need to use your head and seek
logic, truth, and knowledge over pure
emotion or sensation.
2. The cut cross-section of a cabbage is one of
many examples of symmetry and patterns
in nature. The fascinating spiral of inner
leaves symbolizes the power of recognizing
or utilizing patterns. Is this a repeating
situation you find yourself in? What factors
have led to its return?
3. Patterns in life are not always negative.
We often find more ease in life when we
can live it in a comfortable, predictable
rhythm. What rhythm do you live your life
at? Do you march to your own beat, or
follow the crowd?
4. Cabbage contains many nutrients, but for
some people, it can be…difficult to digest.
The smell of cooked cabbage is not
especially pleasant, either—but it’s still
good for you! This card may indicate a
need to stand up for the truth or a cause
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 even when it makes other people
uncomfortable or upset.

KING OF SWORDS: PUMPKIN

Ingredients:
• Cutting through illusion
• Thought leader
• Questioning
• Meta-analysis

Instructions:
1. One of the most common depictions of
pumpkins is as the carved jack-o-lantern,
which is associated with Halloween and the
supernatural. Is it a real glowing face, or a
false one? Can we tell in the dark of the
night? This card may represent a need to cut
through illusions and reveal the reality of
the situation.
2. The traditional orange North American
pumpkin is one of the largest vegetables we
eat, though the prizewinning gourds that
weigh in at over a ton aren’t perhaps the
tastiest specimens. Who is the ‘largest’ and
‘heaviest’ in your situation when it comes
to power and influence? Are their thoughts
and beliefs worth consuming, or will they
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 end in a sticky, gloopy mess when broken
open?
3. In the USA, pumpkin pie is a staple of
Thanksgiving, a holiday that many of us
were taught originated as a peaceful
gathering of white colonists and Native
Americans. This story, it turns out, isn’t
exactly true! This card may indicate a need
to ask questions about what we are
doing/believing, why we do/believe it, and
how it affects the broader community.
4. While we’re at it, we might as well question
why we’re asking those specific questions.
Meta-analysis takes a huge step back and
questions not just the situation, but our
reaction to it. Food for thought, huh?

110
 Suit of
pentacles:
Starches and grains
-----------------------
ACE OF PENTACLES: RICE
Ingredients:
• Foundations
• Stability
• New income
• Financial/resource planning

Instructions:
1. In many parts of the world, rice is such a
staple that it doesn’t feel like a meal
without it! This lovely carbohydrate forms
a solid foundation on which to pile your
favorite proteins, vegetables, and more.
What forms the foundations of your life,
especially when it comes to resources
(money, time, energy, other forms of
wealth)?
2. When it comes to foundations, you want
them to be stable—not built on shifting
ground or cracking under pressure. This
card may come around when you’re
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 building a new foundation, as a reminder to
do the job right the first time. Don’t rush or
cut corners in this situation!
3. Speaking of foundations, how’s your
financial/resource planning? The Ace of
Pentacles may be a sign that it’s time to
make plans for the future about how you’re
using your limited money, time, energy, or
other resources. You don’t want to run out
too soon or end up with too much left over.
4. How many grains are in a single bowl of
rice? It’d be a challenge to count them! This
card may appear when you experience a
shift toward abundance, new income, or
new opportunities; may they be as
bountiful as that bowl of rice!

TWO OF PENTACLES:
QUINOA
Ingredients:
• Balance
• Flexibility
• Resource management
• Resourcefulness

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Instructions:
1. Quinoa is an edible seed that is high in vital
nutrients, especially proteins and amino
acids. The plant has decided to concentrate
these nutrients in its seeds; what will you
put your resources into? Where are they
best needed? How much will you give or
spend, given how much you currently
have?
2. Because it’s so nutrient dense, a little bit of
quinoa can go a long way. If you find
yourself in a period of lack or lessening
resources, how can you use what you have
in smarter ways that stretch those resources
further? How can you reduce, reuse, and/or
recycle to ensure needs are met?
3. A big part of this sort of resourcefulness is
being flexible when it comes to how you
fulfill your material and resource needs.
What can you go without? What can’t you
go without? Are there alternatives that you
haven’t considered? How can you adapt to
the situation?
4. When quinoa skyrocketed in popularity in
the USA and other similar nations, it drove
up the price of the crop in its homeland in
South America. Many people there who
used to rely on this staple found it suddenly
out of their price range. This card asks you:
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 how are the scales in your situation
weighted? How might certain actions or
resources tip the scales one way or another?

THREE OF PENTACLES:
CASSAVA
Ingredients:
• Hard work
• Collaboration
• Apprenticeship
• Learning

Instructions:
1. Cassava, also called manioc or yuca, is a
starchy tuber works together with proteins
and produce to create recipes and meals
that are filling and satisfying. This card
may appear as a signal that it’s time for
collaboration with others—different skills
are needed just as different flavors and
nutrients come together to make that full
meal.
2. Raw cassava contains compounds which
are toxic to humans; it must be processed
correctly in order to be safely eaten. These
processes would have been discovered
through trial, error, and study over many
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 years. The Three of Pentacles may indicate
that there is more to learn—how do you
learn best? Where are there gaps in your
knowledge?
3. Processing methods and recipes are often
passed down through the generations,
whether orally or through writing. Who are
you learning from? Who do you consider
mentor figures in your life?
4. Another byproduct of cassava is tapioca
starch, which is used extensively for
industrial purposes, animal feed, and
food…including the very popular boba
pearls. It takes a huge amount of cassava
root to extract all the needed starch;
learning to make tapioca pearls exactly
right takes effort. This card may appear
when you’ve got some hard work ahead of
you.

FOUR OF PENTACLES:
POTATOES
Ingredients:
• Miserliness
• Insecurity
• Guardedness
• Hoarding
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Instructions:
1. One important historical association with
potatoes is the Great Famine of Ireland
from 1845 to 1852, a terrible event which
was caused not simply by the blight which
affected crops, but by poor government
which left farmers isolated and
underserved. This card may appear to
indicate stinginess and a lack of generosity
and sharing—are you the one in need, or
are you the one keeping it all for yourself?
2. Potatoes grow underground, surrounded
and thus guarded by soil. Have you been
feeling guarded lately? Do you wish to bury
your head in the sand so you don’t have to
see or hear something unpleasant? Do you
feel a need to protect yourself from
potential harm? Why or why not?
3. Sometimes we have good reason to feel
protective of ourselves; other times, it
comes from a sense of insecurity. Where
does this insecurity come from? What
triggers it? Are these feelings telling the
truth, or are you safer than you think?
4. Beneath the lovely green of the potato plant
lies a treasure trove of starchy tubers. If you
or someone in your situation appears to be
hoarding resources, why is that? What is it
they’re hoarding?
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 FIVE OF PENTACLES: MILLET
Ingredients:
• Poverty
• Struggle
• Isolation
• Help needed

Instructions:
1. Millet grows productively and quickly,
which makes it an affordable food for those
who may be struggling with finances. It is
also largely grown in “developing”
countries where material poverty is more
common. How are your material resources
faring right now? Are you on a tight
budget? Worried about the future? Why?
2. Millet plants are extremely drought tolerant
and can withstand conditions that many
other grains cannot. What have the
conditions of your life been like, recently?
Have you felt like you are struggling
against the odds, with many misfortunes
befalling you one after the other?
3. It’s not unusual to withdraw or isolate
ourselves when going through a difficult
period in life. This card may come up when
you feel alone and unsupported, even if
there are people physically present around
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 you. Why do you think you’ve pulled
away? What lies between you and other
people right now?
4. All this is to say: help is needed. The lights
are on in the houses in the background; the
Five of Pentacles encourages you to look
for support or charity which may help with
your current struggles. It’s out there!

SIX OF PENTACLES: BARLEY

Ingredients:
• Generosity
• Give and take
• Privilege
• Community

Instructions:
1. Barley is a grain which was one of the first
domesticated crops. The production of
every crop is a give and take relationship
between human and plant. What are you
giving to your current situation? What are
you receiving from it? Is the situation
equitable?
2. Like wheat, barley contains gluten, which
makes it indigestible for people with
conditions like celiac disease or certain
allergies. It’s a bit of a privilege to be able
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 to consume something without worrying
you will be in pain later! Where in your life
do you hold privileges over some other
people or groups? Can you leverage it for
the common good? Where in your life are
others privileged over you?
3. In both of these cases, we’re thinking about
how our individual lives overlap with those
around us: our communities. This card may
appear when we need to turn to our larger
community for support and/or when we
need to invest more of our personal gifts
into the community for others.
4. The Six of Pentacles further encourages
generosity in matters of community.
Sometimes we hold back our giving
because we are afraid of lack; this card is
here to tell you that giving often leads to
greater receiving in the future, not just for
you, but for all involved.

SEVEN OF PENTACLES: OATS

Ingredients:
• Patience
• Perseverance
• Harvest
• Break time

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Instructions:
1. Have you heard the phrase, “A watched pot
never boils?” The Seven of Pentacles may
appear when patience is needed. Is there a
way for you to take your eyes off the
situation and entertain yourself elsewhere
while you wait? Is anticipation or anxiety
making your wait painful? How can you
relieve this?
2. Prepared oats come in different varieties:
quick-cook, rolled, or steel-cut. Each of
these has a different cooking time ranging
from a couple of minutes to half an hour or
more. This card might come up when a
longer cook time is needed. How can you
persevere despite your hunger? How can
you sate yourself in the meantime?
3. Oats are one of many popular cereal crops,
which in many places have come to
represent the fall harvest time. What have
you been growing over the past weeks,
months years? It may be time to reap the
rewards soon!
4. Oatmeal has soothing mucilaginous
properties, which makes it good for
soothing dry or irritated skin and stomachs.
This card may appear when you’ve been
working a little too hard and are in need of

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 a break! How can you soothe your tired
body and mind after all you’ve done?

EIGHT OF PENTACLES: CORN

Ingredients:
• Hard work
• Skill
• Expertise
• Dedication

Instructions:
1. Corn has been cultivated for thousands of
years, first as a staple crop in the Americas
and then all around the world. Traditional
preparations of this cereal often involve
drying the kernels and then grinding them
into flour with stone implements. You can
bet this takes a lot of hard work! Do you
have a project you need to work hard on?
What is it, and what must you do?
2. Hard work often leads to an increase in
skill, and more skill often makes for easier
work. Where are you in this cycle at the
moment? How is it affecting your situation,
and how can you use it to your advantage?
3. Masa harina, a type of corn flour used for
dishes like tortillas and tamales, is created
through the process of nixtamalization.
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 This involves boiling the kernels in slaked
lime or wood ash, a process which was
created by ancient people and makes
nutrients in the grain more available. This
card often speaks to expertise in a particular
subject, and can especially indicate
expertise passed down through
generations.
4. Dedication is a necessary ingredient when
it comes to lengthy, effortful processes. It
helps us stick through the difficult parts on
our way to ease and mastery. What are you
dedicating yourself to? How is the process
going?

NINE OF PENTACLES:
AMARANTH
Ingredients:
• Self-sufficiency
• Wealth
• Independence
• Achievement

Instructions:
1. Amaranth is a grain that is rich in nutrients
that our bodies need in order to function
and function well. Like the tiny amaranth
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 seed, with the Nine of Pentacles we find we
have all we need stored within ourselves!
This card may appear to recognize a state
of self-sufficiency and an ability to care for
yourself.
2. All these nutrients inside the seed are like
treasure locked into a natural treasure chest.
When eaten, we’re able to process them in
our bodies and “spend” them as daily
energy. This card may represent wealth,
whether material, monetary, a wealth of
time and energy, or of other resources.
3. When we’re self-sufficient, we are more
able to maintain a state of independence.
We can rely on ourselves to get the job done
or to deal with any issues that arise.
However, the downside is that we may find
ourselves feeling lonely or even isolated.
Independence is important, but
interdependence is needed to balance it out.
4. With all of these resources and power, what
have you achieved? Have you reached new
heights lately, won an award, or hit an
important milestone? Even small
achievements are worth celebrating: make
sure you recognize and celebrate yours.

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 TEN OF PENTACLES: WHEAT
Ingredients:
• Tradition
• Legacy
• Family
• Stability

Instructions:
1. In many places, wheat is the go-to flour for
baked goods of all kinds and has been for
many years. Baked goods made from other
flours are often seen as less traditional; as
such, this card may appear to represent
following tradition rather than seeking out
new ways of doing things.
2. Wheat stalks have long been and remain
symbols of harvest and prosperity due to
the importance of this crop to certain
regions. What sort of legacy do you hope to
leave behind with your life? Whose legacy
are you carrying on your own shoulders? Is
it heavy, or does it provide you with
support?
3. With all this talk of tradition and legacy, it’s
natural that the Ten of Pentacles also arises
with themes of family. This can absolutely
include found family, but may focus more
on those who raised us or from whom we
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 are descended by blood. How were you
affected by how you were raised, or by
family history? Does it affect you even
now, and how so?
4. One of the things that makes wheat so
popular is its gluten content, which adds a
lot of stability and binding power to baked
goods. Gluten-free bakers have come up
with clever ways to replace gluten’s power,
indeed! How is your sense of stability in
your current situation? Are you seeking
more or less of it? Why?

PAGE OF PENTACLES: BREAD

Ingredients:
• Reliability
• Consistency
• Study
• Diligence

Instructions:
1. Around the world, bread of all kinds has
been a staple food for thousands of years.
It’s one of those foods that you know you
will find if you walk into a grocery store.
This card may represent someone who is
very reliable—is it you? Someone you

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 know? How can you make an effort to be
reliable for the people in your life?
2. Industrial manufacturing has perfected the
ability to make loaves of bread that come
out the same every single time, so that
customers know what they can expect. This
card may represent a strong sense of
consistency; whether that’s a positive or a
negative depends on the situation and what
you want to get out of it.
3. Making bread at home is a skill that
requires a lot of practice and hands-on
study. While the ingredients are often super
simple, there are all sorts of small factors
that go into making your bread turn out
right. What do you need to study for this
situation? How can you get in and get your
hands dirty?
4. Kneading dough can be a lot of work! It
requires strong arm muscles if you want to
do it effectively and without soreness. This
card may represent someone who is
diligent and sees the process through even
when it gets difficult. That last minute of
kneading may be the key to the perfect
texture.

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 KNIGHT OF PENTACLES:
NOODLES
Ingredients:
• Commitment
• Patience
• Practicality
• Detail-oriented

Instructions:
1. Noodles are another grain-based food
which can be found all around the world.
Making noodles is often not difficult, but
can be a lengthy process as it’s often more
efficient to make a lot at once. This card
may appear when deeper commitment is
needed to progress in your current
situation, or to represent someone who has
committed to a particular skill or trade.
2. Patience is needed to develop great pasta-
making skills. Like bread, it’s one of those
things that requires a lot of hands-on
experience to get good at. The Knight of
Pentacles is someone who doesn’t mind
that it might take months or years to learn
and perfect a skill—they’re very patient!
3. One of the things that makes noodles great
is the way they hold sauce and other
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 ingredients in a dish. It’s just a nice,
practical way to get all of the flavors to
meld together in each bite. Might it be good
to look at your current situation from a
practical standpoint? What flights of fancy
might be getting in the way of practicality?
4. There are hundreds if not thousands of
different noodle shapes, and each one has
its own name and history. The Knight of
Pentacles sometimes represents someone
who is very detail-oriented, or else a need
to pay close attention to details in your
current situation.

QUEEN OF PENTACLES:
PASTRY
Ingredients:
• Generosity
• Comforting
• “Treat yourself”
• Homemaking

Instructions:
1. Whether sweet or savory, dishes made with
pastry tend to be immensely comforting to
eat. Crumbly or flaky, pastry often uses
butter (dairy or nondairy) or other fats to
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 create its signature texture and depth of
flavor. What do you find comforting? Who
brings you comfort in your life? How can
you bring comfort to yourself and to others
you care about?
2. If we’re talking about filled pastries, we
hope the amount of filling inside is
generous! This card often represents people
who are quite generous and caring, the sort
of person who would give you the shirt off
their back if you needed it. Are you in need
of a person like this? Or is it your turn to be
the grandmotherly type?
3. Sometimes we all need a little treat.
Whether it’s been a rough day or a good
one, sometimes a little pastry from your
favorite bakery is just the thing. This card
may appear to encourage you to treat
yourself to something nice today!
4. Many pastry-making and baking skills are
traditionally associated with those (largely
women and AFAB people) who played the
role of homemaker. Today we can readjust
our expectations around gender and
homemaking, but those skills are still
extremely important! How do you make
your house a home?

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 KING OF PENTACLES: CAKE
Ingredients:
• Ability to provide
• Prosperity
• Safety
• Abundance

Instructions:
1. Marie Antoinette never actually said, “Let
them eat cake,” but the phrase today has
come to epitomize attitudes of extreme
luxury and prosperity. This card may
represent someone who is quite wealthy,
whether that means they have money or a
lot of other resources on hand like time and
energy. What makes your life feel
prosperous? How can you invite more of it
into your life?
2. One of the benefits of wealth is that it
allows us to provide not only for ourselves,
but for others, too. This card may represent
a provider in your life (you, if that’s your
role) or encourage you to find someone to
fill that space.
3. Material safety is a crucial element in our
day-to-day psychological and physical
needs. When we are provided for, we can
relax knowing that we have steady food,
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 shelter, and more. Do you feel safe in your
current material status? Why or why not?
4. It’s important when it comes to wealth that
it gets spread around and used rather than
hoarded. What good is a ton of money,
energy, time, or other resources if they’re
just being sat upon and never utilized?
Remember that the world is an abundant
place and there will be more available to
replace what you use up.

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