The tarot Aces. They are most often welcomed in a draw, as they inspire newness in many aspects: growth, challenges, ideas, love, opportunities, perspectives… New everything!
They are usually seen as positive, if you are ready for change or to see things with a new vision.
I always get inspired when an Ace comes my way. I get all dreamy eyed, optimistic, hungry for life… Kind of listening to either Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger – Ace of Wands, Debussy’s Clair de lune – Ace of Cups, some Radiohead – Ace of Swords or maybe Barry White’s Cant Get Enough Of Your Love – Ace of Pentacles…Yes, I went there!
Sometimes we need a push to get out of our comfort zone, to take the plunge into something new. The Aces can be great motivators! They can shake us up, and give us hope that we do have all that we need inside us, if we just find and activate it! That’s what’s great about the Aces, they conjure endless possibilities. They are open ended.
How can we best use the energy from the tarot Aces? We first need to identify which one we want to work with and then find out its purpose in our lives at this time. Time for a little fun, doncha think?
An in-depth but simple exercise to help us work with the tarot Aces
Take your Aces out of your favorite deck. (You can use all four Aces, or concentrate on one or two Aces that you would like guidance from. It’s up to you!) Then divide your deck into its main sections, Major Arcana, Minor Arcana and Court Cards. Shuffle well and working with one Ace at a time, do the following:
While choosing a Major Arcana card, ask the tarot: what is the life force in action with this Ace?
For a Minor Arcana card, ask: >where and how will this inspiration manifest itself in my life?
Finally, in choosing a Court Card, ask: who can help me (or what part of my personality) can help me in this process?
Seeing this exercise in action
For my Draw, I concentrated on the Ace of Swords and the Ace of Cups.
- Ace of Swords
- For the Ace of Swords, my Major Arcana card was The Hanged Man. The Minor Arcana card was the 3 of Cups and the Court Card was the Knight of Cups. The first thing I thought:
I should use my sword to cut myself down from this position of self reflexion, enough thinking by myself, communicate with friends in a relaxed atmosphere, this is a great time to use my intuitive side found in the Knight of Cups to forge ahead!
- Ace of Cups
- For the Ace of Cups, my Major Arcana card was the Wheel of Fortune, the Minor Arcana card was the 3 of Pentacles and the Court card was the Queen of Cups.
It tells me to enjoy the cycle of life that I’m in right now. My days are busy with my children, a lot of work is necessary, but when the work comes from a place of love and nurturing, it is a blessing. Time goes by so fast. Take the time to savour it!
What are the Aces telling you? What is blossoming in your life today?
Johanne Blanchard
Be sure to check out Johanne’s tarot blog which is written in English and French.
Johanne –
I too love to see Aces come up in a reading! They are the pure energy of their respective suits, and so much can be done with them! They can have negative aspects, as can all cards, depending on the cards surrounding them. (I like to think of each card as having 360 degrees of meaning.)
Love the exercise!
Blessings,
Bonnie
Hello, Bonnie
I’m glad you liked the exercise!
Yes, very true, a card has positive and negative potential within it, and that duality is ever present. But the day I wrote this? I was riding the positive potential wave!
After I had a great reading with the Ace signifying where I should put my energy, I wanted to “capture” this potential. So I went a step further, and asked specifically how and where this energy will be present.
I ended up doing this spread, and it helped me focus.
Thanks for your comment!
Johanne…what a great spread! I also chose 2 Aces, the first two to appear as I went thru the deck & I also got the Cups & Swords. For my Ace of Cups I got this:
Major: Moon. I am a dreamer, a Pisces & a dream interpretor, lol! This made me smile :)
Minor: 4 of Cups. That’s the 3rd time in 2 days I’ve gotten that card! I am very emotional right now due to an illness in the family, so I’m not surprised. What did…it flew out of the deck!
Court: Queen of Pentacles. Must stay grounded! Or, as the Brits say, “Keep Calm & Carry On”.
For my Ace of Swords I got
Major: Hermit…lol! I love to be alone & prefer it much more than being in crowds or with noodniks.
Minor: another fly out, but when I picked it up, there were 2 cards. I couldn’t decide, so I chose both. 6 of Pentacles & 6 of Cups. Giving & receiving, reciprocity, nostalgia, reunions with people from the past.
Court: King of Pentacles my hubby :) My rock, my best friend & if not for him listening to all the crazy stuff coming out of my mouth for 26 yrs…
Lovely spread! Great work, Jo!
Hello Stacy,
I love that you let the deck choose the Aces! What a great idea.
And that reading sounds very you! Which tells me that you got a lot out of it. This makes me happy!
Thanks for trying it out!
Stacy, use the Ace to nurture the Queen of Pentacles in you…and rest.
Aurora
Hi Johanne:
I like your writing style. It is very fresh and straight to the point. I could her the music you suggest as I was reading, great idea! The exercise is fantastic. I always use the four Aces at the beginning of a reading session. It conveys the most important element the reading must bring to the table. I think your spread could be use for this purpose too.
Thanks for sharing.
Hello Aurora,
Thank you for your kind words. I always hear music when I get a feeling about something! Music is such a part of our lives, isn’t it?
I am curious about your use of the Aces at the beginning of a reading session. Can you share it with us?