January 7, 2021: 10 of Wands and 9 of Wands

I am seeing once again how connected I am to the Decameron Tarot.  Yesterday was a traumatic day in our country, and watching the assault on our Capital play out on tv was troubling for me.  But I don't want to get into the political weeds here, rather I just wanted to describe my mindset as I threw today's cards.

My Inner Focus card is the 10 of Wands.  The image on this card shows a man (who appears to be the same man on the 8 of Chalices from a few days ago) and a woman.  The woman is naked and it appears that the man is in the process of tossing her onto a bed.  That bed is not rumpled, so this appears to be just beginning.  He is looking toward his right hand, which is still on her right calf. The woman does not appear to be fighting back at all; her hip and elbow are on the mattress and she appears to be allowing her body to tumble onto the bed. The key phrases for this card are indiscretion, uncertainty, and tiredness.  

My Outer Focus card is the 9 of Wands.  This card showed up in my Wheel of the Year spread as the Energy of the Year card, and here it is again.  The image on this card shows a naked man and a naked woman on top of a rumpled bed in the shadows.  She is on her hands and knees and he is behind her. They both appear to be in the throes of pleasure and not paying attention to their surroundings.  He has one hand on her shoulder, holding her in place, and the other hand on her breast, caressing her.  She has her head turned toward him as he penetrates her from behind, with one of her hands on her pubis, pleasuring herself.  The key phrases for this card are good stimulation but watch your back, and defense and vigilance are important.  

The suit of Wands is connected to all the correspondences of Fire, as well as to strong passions and extreme experiences.  The message of these two cards is pretty clear to me.  I may be feeling battered and not in control of my immediate circumstances.  I may be feeling that I am helpless and that there are no options immediately available that will assist me in taking control.  But I do have options.  I can make certain that I am not allowing my emotions to blind me to everything but my feelings, or distract me from the things happening around me.  I alone have the power to find enjoyment and peace (whether offered by the efforts of another or by my own efforts), and I alone have the power to be aware that I can choose to not allow events to control me.  I may feel internally like the woman in the 10 of Wands, but actually I am the woman in the 9 of Wands.  She has agreed to have sex in a position that allows her to control her own experience.  I can do that, too.

This interpretation is very focused on my current state of mind.  But these, after all, are cards I threw to better understand what I am feeling.  Again the Decameron helps me to find my way through the distractions.