While I had already taken the Rune Soup tarot course, which does have an entire module on the pips of the TdM, I found this YouTube series really opened me up to the possibilities of the pips. And while I think I’ve gotten good at reading the majors, I want to push myself and do a daily pip only reading. To start I’m just going to do three card draws with my trusty Noblet deck and see what narratives pop out at me. In time I may move to bigger or more elaborate spreads, but the three card draw is my main method for a standard reading.
Today I began with a question that’s really been bugging me: Why am I not making headway in my magical practice?
Here is what I drew:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/ChuZBGB_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium)
The first, most obvious thing to note is these are all swords. That made me laugh a little, as I had thoroughly riffle shuffled the deck and even then I cut the deck for each individual draw of the card, so it wasn’t that the swords were bundled. Sometimes the tarot just be like that.
The next thing that caught my eye were the center icons: Small flower, penetrating sword, large flower. I also noticed that the cards are going from high to low, most complex to least complex.
Without bringing in any predetermined meanings or associations, my initial reading was “Your potential is trapped by too much complexity. Cut through the confusion and simplify in order that you may grow and flourish.”
After that, additional thoughts that came to mind were if swords represent the mind, then maybe I’ve got too much going on in my head. I also see the progression of the parabola created by the swords as a developing of space. Right now I’m too in my head and there are all these layers between me and the outside world. I need to thin these out, be closer to connecting to things outside myself, in order to thrive.
This is one of those readings where the tarot just cuts straight through to the heart of the matter (and with so many swords I mean that literally!). I have been jumping from topic to topic within my practice, not letting any one thing breathe and develop and grow organically. The one thing I have given that space to is the tarot, and the TdM specifically, and so far I feel the tarot has rewarded me for my focus. I need to pause, take a breather, and realize I’m not going to become a master of anything if I keep flitting from one subject to the next. For now the TdM is taking a lot of my time and energy and this I feel is a good thing. It’s opening up my creative and intuitive faculties, and I’m learning how to read visual language in a deeper way. I’m not sure what other practices I will retain but I’m going to be far more careful about what I choose to take on from here on out.
If anyone has any additional thoughts on this reading, please let me know! Also if anyone else wants to join in and do their own daily pip practice, I’d love some compatriots in this endeavor.