forming a firm foundation

Foundation, needing to establish a firm foundation, something to build on, something to work and to live upon with some sense of stability...

This card has such a modern vibe, the artisan working not at the stones of some ancient cathedral but at a computer, at a desk; the tools are not grand but compact - a little box, circuitry, a kind of modern magic, toss it in your bag and go. And yet it holds so much, doesn't it, allows you to do so much.

Labor of love, working at that computer, creating, learning, studying, reading until your eyeballs hurt; of love perhaps, but a labor nonetheless. Labor that needs foundation for focus, for sticking to it. The suit of pentacles is earthy...what is needed now, for this to work, is not the ideas, not the inspiration, the creative drive; no what is needed is concrete focus, wellness, comfort, a safe place (that rich, purple color; the spirals of light - growing brighter, or dimmer?) to settle into - physically and especially mentally.

I have been trying, to get into the right mindset for focusing on my studies again, properly, for looking for work, everything - this card both an image of where I want to be and what is holding me back. Foundation - needing to put your house in order, metaphorically speaking. A little bit of mess and crazy is comfortable - too much chaos and it becomes so, so much more difficult to be any kind of productive...

And how to go about with that? The King of wands, carrying the burning torch, trumpet-shaped, full of creative impetus, energy. Restriction seems like a funny title for this card, but the book provides some great clarification: look at the background, the desert, and beyond that, what, a mushroom cloud, yes. The metaphor of nuclear testing, nuclear bomb development - how much brilliance went into that particular innovation? And how much destruction can come from its use, unmoderated? How many decades have we spent carefully trying to restrict nuclear weapons use. Bolts of lightning, the potential for so much disaster...

Needing to harness the energy of the King of Wands not just to DO, but also to NOT DO. Time to get a grip on certain self-destructive tendencies of mine that have been given far too much free reign as of late. Everything has a price, consequences. If you are unwilling, at this time, to make the big, Tower-sized changes, then at the very least...restriction, carefully harnessing of resources to create at least that much stability, foundation, needed to focus on those things that matter most.