6 - The Clouds
6- The Clouds
Energy of the card:
I felt a wave of uneasiness, heaviness in my head, and then it was brushed away.
Symbolism
Clouds:
Clouds are linked with the divine, many divine beings come on a cloud! Kuan Yin/BM is often represented on a cloud, etc…therefore, clouds are messengers of the Spiritual realm, and the cloud that carries the dragon on this card makes me think that it is to tell us to “not worry”, everything is under control, don’t panic! Because these problems were set up for our greater good, for our spiritual growth, and we should embrace them as an opportunity to better ourself, to increase our knowledge! Turn what looks like “stumbling blocks” into “stepping stones”! Clouds speak to us just like our dreams if you pay attention and look up just like the monkey and parrot do! Clouds represents also our thought life, can be dark (with negative thoughts that are destructive instead of productive), can blur our thinking, so we are invited to pierce through them instead of relying on our physical distorted sight…If we are experiencing a “cloudy” situation we should seek insights and find out what it is all about (good time to use our oracle
), the expression “having our head in the clouds”, tells us that one is a dreamer. And finally, I’ll say that clouds also represent “revelation” and with the dragon on this one, it is like suddenly, as a gift, you find out the answers!
Chinese Dragon:
Here, it is important to note that it is a “Chinese” dragon as they are quite different for the western dragons. Their symbolism is actually very positive. It speaks of happiness, of good luck, magic, hope, of wishes that come true, things will turn out for the better, prosperity, power to overcome problems until success, balance, protection against evil. Speaks also of adaption, transformation, which allows to cope with the problems we encounter; we see them as challenges and not as problems and make the best out of those situations.
The Chinese dragon rules the 5th sign of the Chinese zodiac, the symbol of the rising sun! (a dark cloud might be hovering over you, but the sun will soon take its place!). Seen also as divine, it is represented with the clouds. On this picture he blows out the dark cloud which for me tells us that any problem, set back, difficulties in our lives are controlled and are beneficial, they are there as lesson to help us grow while we go on with our journey; (they are created by a “good divine dragon”).
Monkey:
The monkey symbol was also well chosen for the Clouds. He invites us to expect the unexpected, the forecast suddenly changes, and clouds are darkening our life. The monkey have the ability to keep their balance while swinging from branch to branch at diverse heights…this tells us to adapt ourselves with our situation and found balance to go through it. They are playful and do tricks that can fool people…even if they can imitate human beings they are still monkeys, so here again we have the aspect of appearance not being really true to reality. He can warn us not to get tricked by appearances. The monkeys are bold and confident and do not hesitate to “bite”, to attack if need be, his message for this card is “don’t worry about the clouds, take action! On the picture he and the parrot look up at the sky and what they see do not concern them, they look quite relaxed.
Parrot:
Symbol of illusion, the parrot can fool anyone very easily if one only hears what is said one can believe that a human has just spoken when in truth it was a parrot. Thus, appearances can be deceiving, also the parrot seems to be able to “speak” but it truly only can repeat what he hears. That links again to the message of the Clouds, telling us that the difficulties are not so bad, we should not get ourselves all worked up about them. In Feng Shui the parrot brings good news and attracts positive energy while repelling negative energy.
The beach:
Water, the ocean…represent diverse emotions, feelings, the fluctuation of both, the ups and downs. Also things always in movement and changes, while having also an effect of purification, life and its cycles the moon does control the tides, this give the idea that things don’t remain the same, if one’s sky is darkened by black clouds it is just temporary and it will pass.
Neptune Symbol: (Right upper corner)
This symbol of course is not only representing the planet but also the “god of the waters” also known as Poseidon. This matches well with the representation of the beach on the card. Neptune’s fate (being swallowed by his father Saturn and being trapped inside of him) indicates a set back before he became the ruler of the waters; which goes along with the message of this card “delay, some difficulties, problems, but it is just temporary”. The ups and downs of feelings, emotions, are also seen in Neptune who is just as the symbol of water. Imagination, dreams, intuition, insights as well as illusions are part of Neptune who rules the zodiac sign of the Pisces. This quite links with the clouds as one can “scry” the clouds, as they form symbols to the intuitive and imaginative mind. Also, the dark cloud can give the wrong impression at first; both clouds can mud our perception about a situation. Neptune also rule the Tarot card “The Hanged Man” and this card speaks about “delays” besides others things, just like the Clouds suggest.
General meaning:
“The clouds” for me is not a plain positive card like the Clover, the house, but it is not a “negative” card either. It shows a mix of problem (dark cloud) and solution (the white one). I would read the combination according to which cloud touches which card. I will say that if the dark cloud touches a negative card it is a message that things are quite troublesome but as it is still a cloud, in due time it will pass. If it is the white cloud that touches a negative card I will say that we are encourage to keep a positive mind, reach up for answers and ways, and help to overcome the omen of that negative card. With a positive card by the dark cloud, IMO it would mean watch out trouble is heading your way, and with a positive card touching the white cloud would mean all will turn out for the best.
The clouds bring us a sign of worries, troubles, as well as insights and a change for the best. They speak of the ups and downs of our life, of the changes, and cycles, of the lessons we are supposed to learn and grow through them, of not being tricked by appearances and of keeping a positive attitude no matter what. Also, of seeking answers, controlling our emotions, accepting changes; of being patient when a cloud of delay is upon us, and look up toward days of good fortune.
Health:
In general, it is temporary trouble and nothing major. Depending of surrounding cards we are caught into an illness or getting out of it. Tells us also that we are worried, troubled and need to regain some confidence as well as control our emotions. It is not so bad as it looks.
Financial:
Some momentarily financial set back, little problems, a checkbook not well balanced, few bills that are to be paid and we don’t have quite the money for it, and might have to charge them on a credit card. Come down from your cloud and look into your financial situation, to clarify everything, time to face these little problems. Feeling of insecurity regarding our finances but on the other hand the white cloud with the dragon says that things will get better, just wait and see.
Love:
Misunderstanding, little conflict with loved ones, a relationship is not really clear don’t really know what to think…Again nothing major and it will pass. Look for insights and better days that are to come
Career:
Again nothing major but little annoyance at work or with one’s business. Things are not smooth, and some misunderstandings cloud our relationships with colleague/boss/customers. Little difficulties to overcome, set back we don’t get exactly what we were aiming for, some changes at work bother us. Can represent career where people do a lot of thinking, like analyst or psychiatrics.
Spiritual:
Time to search for answers, to go deeper, pierce the clouds, and get revelation, insight, an epiphany, meditation. By the dark cloud, our spiritual path is confusing, we are wondering about many things, not sure what to believe.
Timing:
Not long, things changing pretty fast, maybe just from a cycle to another. If using the #6 of the card I will tend toward 6 days or weeks.