Dark of the Moon spread - anyone want to help me out?

[Elektra]

(I'm using the Gilded Tarot deck, which has essentially RWS-like imagery/meanings.)

I'm pretty new at this, so I'm having some trouble with a few of the cards (and my interpretations are no doubt laughably simplistic!). I would welcome any insight .

1-------4
--2-7-5--
3-------6

1: Releasing. Things you should be letting go of in your life:
The Sun

2: Retaining. Things you should be holding close to you:
Seven of Pentacles

3: Receiving. Things that are coming into your life:
The Emperor

4: Surroundings. How the world around you is affecting you:
The Lovers

5: Giving. What you should be giving to others:
The Moon

6: Beginning. Something new that will begin soon:
Six of Cups

7: Your lesson. What you should be learning at this point:
Seven of Cups

It seems to me that the two Sevens (in the "what should I be holding onto" and "what should I be learning" slots) are a significant pairing, and they indicate that I need to learn to take control of my mind (Seven of Cups - I have obsessive tendencies) while retaining control in more practical aspects of my life (I'm reading this as school - I put a tremendous amount of work into my classes last semester, am just now receiving my grades - assessing the investment - and need to continue or reevaluate my study/work strategies as needed). The Emperor also indicates control and stability - given that it's in the "coming into my life" slot, perhaps that means that I'll succeed in acheiving this control.

I guess The Emperor could also be read literally as a strong man coming into my life.

I'm having trouble with the rest of the cards, though.

The Sun and The Moon seem like a significant pairing (what I should give up and what I should give to others, respectively), but I don't know what they mean in this context.

Given that The Sun is such a positive card, I'm not sure what the spread is indicating that I should give up - the only thing that I could think of was my fiery temper. I'm not at all sure what The Moon indicates what I should be giving to others - I don't even have one idea.

The Lovers - how the world is affecting me - forcing me to make choices?

Six of Cups - something beginning soon - could either be a period of childlike happiness and joy or a period of dwelling in the past.

Also, the Seven of Pentacles and Six of Cups have been stalking me - the Seven turns up in just about every spread I do, and the Six shows up in all of the relationship-oriented queries (I'm single). The deck is apparently trying to tell me something. With respect to the Six of Cups, it could be telling me that I need to stop living in the past and let go of past regrets. With respect to the Seven of Pentacles - buckle down and work hard for the next year and a half until I graduate from professional school?

I'm not sure. Like I said, all of this is really simplistic, so I would love some insight from more experienced readers. Thanks in advance!

 

[WalesWoman]

I'm not quite ready to add "experienced" to my handle, but ever since I first saw your spread...I haven't lost this "feeling" that with the Sun and Moon you might be less forthcoming and open in some areas and a bit more subdued in others.

I think this has a lot to do with classrooms and relationships with your teachers and fellow students. I think you are very bright, but maybe rather than letting your work and performance speak for itself, try to outshine everyone to prove it? Maybe the Moon is giving the others a chance to speak up and share thier views and opinions. Another thought is that you might be too open about things that may be fuel for gossip and only you can control that by holding some things closer to your chest. The Emperor is there to help you gain control of yourself, perhaps your obsessions...he won't allow chaos to mess with the general growth and well being. It could be someone in authority needing to have a chat and setting down some ground rules?

I see you have some choices to make, and the Sun and Moon figure in here too, depending on how you choose to see them. It seems to center on relationships, freindships and maybe who you choose for friends or how you try to make them become freinds. It could be simply realizing why you do what you do, what is meaningful to you? Where are compromises ok and where they aren't? Could you be sharing too much of something you might not need to or shouldn't either about yourself or someone or something? I feel like you are very open and honest and trying too hard in some respects to prove yourself and it's working against you. (I guess it's the chaos control factor of the Emperor and setting boundaries)

So with the Moon, this could be as simple as using your intuition and not letting clouded emotions control your interactions with others, giving them the benifit of the doubt or not taking sides, but keeping to a middle ground. Keeping your opinions to yourself or mellowing them a bit?

Either the 6 Cups is discovering something based in the past or it could be that taking a moderate approach will gain you support and new relationships that are much more balance and fulfilling than they have been.

You need to focus on what is real and lasting and worthwhile and most importantly...why you want this, what you hope to gain from this and the best way for you to accomplish your goals and dreams...let your imagination soar while keeping your feet firmly attatched to the ground.

I am probably so way off on this...I keep feeling two distinct things here and am not sure which one to address or if it is even either of them.

 

[Elektra]

Reply

Hi WalesWoman! Thank you so much for your thoughts! Very interesting - none of the things that you mentioned had occurred to me.

I'm not quite ready to add "experienced" to my handle, but ever since I first saw your spread...I haven't lost this "feeling" that with the Sun and Moon you might be less forthcoming and open in some areas and a bit more subdued in others.

Definitely possible. I do tend to be very talkative and open, and at various points in my life I've kind of eased back because I felt too exposed. I've been doing that again for the past month or so - not through a conscious choice, but reading your post made me realize it.

I think this has a lot to do with classrooms and relationships with your teachers and fellow students. I think you are very bright, but maybe rather than letting your work and performance speak for itself, try to outshine everyone to prove it? Maybe the Moon is giving the others a chance to speak up and share thier views and opinions.

lol...I don't think that this could be the case, as I *despise* being called on in class and just about never speak up as a result .

Another thought is that you might be too open about things that may be fuel for gossip and only you can control that by holding some things closer to your chest. The Emperor is there to help you gain control of yourself, perhaps your obsessions...he won't allow chaos to mess with the general growth and well being. It could be someone in authority needing to have a chat and setting down some ground rules?

THIS, though, could very well be the case. Like I said earlier, I often don't play my cards close enough to the vest. I'm really pleased that I'll be having the Emperor's help in establishing and maintaining control .

I see you have some choices to make, and the Sun and Moon figure in here too, depending on how you choose to see them. It seems to center on relationships, freindships and maybe who you choose for friends or how you try to make them become freinds. It could be simply realizing why you do what you do, what is meaningful to you? Where are compromises ok and where they aren't? Could you be sharing too much of something you might not need to or shouldn't either about yourself or someone or something? I feel like you are very open and honest and trying too hard in some respects to prove yourself and it's working against you. (I guess it's the chaos control factor of the Emperor and setting boundaries)

Again, this is VERY insightful. I've been reassessing some old, close friendships that I think I've outgrown of late. One friend in particular really has no concept of boundaries, no matter how often I tell him that I don't think it's appropriate for him to be joking about X or beating a dead horse about Y, and it's really starting to push me away from him. I actually told him how I felt shortly after Christmas, and we haven't spoken since. I have no doubt that we'll reestablish the friendship, but it will be on very different grounds. More guarded. He's not going to have access to so much of my private life anymore.

So with the Moon, this could be as simple as using your intuition and not letting clouded emotions control your interactions with others, giving them the benifit of the doubt or not taking sides, but keeping to a middle ground. Keeping your opinions to yourself or mellowing them a bit?

Either the 6 Cups is discovering something based in the past or it could be that taking a moderate approach will gain you support and new relationships that are much more balance and fulfilling than they have been.

All of the above is really sound advice. I'm not a very moderate person (hey, I'm a Leo!), and my lack of moderation (temper or pride or what-have-you) HAS ended relationships in the past. And yeah, it probably wouldn't hurt if I kept my mouth shut more often. I'm working on it .

You need to focus on what is real and lasting and worthwhile and most importantly...why you want this, what you hope to gain from this and the best way for you to accomplish your goals and dreams...let your imagination soar while keeping your feet firmly attatched to the ground.

This is a wonderful articulation of where I am in my life right now . I have a year and a half left in professional school, and I've managed to line up a wonderful job which is exactly where I want to be geographically, and I'm so excited to get started on the rest of my life that I'm just about bursting out of my skin because I have to stay *here* for so much longer. So I *do* need to keep my feet on the ground, so I can actually get all of my work done in the interim!

I am probably so way off on this...I keep feeling two distinct things here and am not sure which one to address or if it is even either of them.

Thank you SO very much for your insightful response and the amount of time and energy that you put into it. I really, really appreciate it!

 

[WalesWoman]

Oh you're a Leo too! No wonder the Sun and Moon! LOL so you can understand the talking too much when you should be biting your tongue out...I feel like that everytime I get done hitting the post reply button...why didn't I just shut up when I had the chance to, instead of blabbing on!

It's not so much lack of moderation as that darn need to experience, and there is just so much to experience! Having high expectations for yourself, includes others and it's pretty darned hard to live up to those...so disappointments are inevitable, but in the long run, you are happier sticking to them. It just might take a long time until you find someone truly worthy of you, who can keep up and be just as fired up about things as you are too. But it is worth the wait.

Again, this is VERY insightful. I've been reassessing some old, close friendships that I think I've outgrown of late. One friend in particular really has no concept of boundaries, no matter how often I tell him that I don't think it's appropriate for him to be joking about X or beating a dead horse about Y, and it's really starting to push me away from him. I actually told him how I felt shortly after Christmas, and we haven't spoken since. I have no doubt that we'll reestablish the friendship, but it will be on very different grounds. More guarded. He's not going to have access to so much of my private life anymore.

That sort of fits with the 6 Cups too, freindships from the past...dim the Sun and he can be as obscure as the Moon till he wises up...emerging with a new consciousness. Plus the "freindship" as not going beyond a freindship. I wonder if the Sun you gave this freind was more like a laser blast? lol poor guy, just kidding, it sounds like he deserved it.

Well shoot darn about being off about being the light of the classroom...it's just your modesty...I'll bet you are anyway. I tended to sit way in the back to avoid being called on...didn't make any difference. So I decided to sit towards the front...actually I made myself, so I'd be able to pay more attention to the instructor rather than the goof balls in the back. Of course this isn't high school or freshman year, but I read something somewhere that struck a nerve...can't remember what it was exactly, but something about where we chose to sit, sort of determining what we wanted to get out of it and life in general. Being a leo and all, unable to take back seat to anything...

I'm glad you got something out of this anyway, even if I shot some blanks.