In a traditional tarot deck, the five of pentacles means worry or a critical analysis and negative outlook, particularly of financial or worldly aspects of life. Our card draw for this month is the Five of Discs (equivalent to pentacles) and the meaning given by the Sacred Circle Tarot is RESTRICTION. After six months of Covid virus, we certainly are familiar with restriction so this card should be no surprise.

The card asks us to look seriously at the challenges we are facing, particularly financially. We all face economic uncertainty, with many people unemployed or receiving limited hours or profit from their work. Balancing the need for restriction for health and safety with the need for people to go back to work to make a living and restart the economy is a juggling act of high stakes right now.

The high level of discernment and the deep level of wisdom required of us in these hard times can be overwhelming. The card reminds us to balance ourselves. Five is midway through the minor arcana (every day) journey; a 50%/50% balance of positive/negative, inward/outward perspective.

The author, Anna Franklin, assisted by the illustrator, Paul Mason offers us an image of 5 rusty shields at an ancient battlefield. A stone circle that to me represents stability and energy and hope. Yet, she tells us this is the Rollright Stone Circle in Britain. The story associated with it is that the invading forces were bewitched and turned to stone as they tried to destroy the village of Little Rollright. The blackthorn branches add to the scene the magic and power that the spell (or the thought forms held) restricted the king and his men as they came to the place of resistance.

She further notes in the interpretive section that restrictions are external limitations and that worry and negativity can obscure our ability to see the options and the potential before us. The inner sense of our abilities and worth as an equal chance to play out with the negative spell that has been cast.

This message really strikes home to me as I look at the decisions before us, both in this country and around the globe.

May we act with discernment, release the restrictions that harm while holding on to those that protect us, and may we go forth with a positive sense of what we can do to build a better future.