I know I haven’t yet written about the crucial Tarot reading (June 2006) that told me to be on the lookout for my true love, but I just had a little epiphany about it.

Let me just say, I had five cards in the reading and three of them were sixes in the Minor Arcana. And it JUST occurred to me today, almost three years later, that although it wasn’t laid out, the six of the Major Arcana is… The Lovers!

That’s why it’s good to think back on readings many times, even years later. You never know what insight will come to you later after you have more experience, both with Tarot and with life in general.

Anyway, here are the cards. There were five, drawn in a straight line from left to right. The reader shuffled and laid out the cards, I never handled them myself. The cards were: Chariot, 6 of Pentacles, 6 of Cups, 5 of Swords, 6 of Wands. These images are from Learn Tarot.

There were a group of about 7 people. The reader, mentioned above, was actually the woman running the class, and everyone helped try to decode the cards. So some of the suggestions made no sense to me, but some made so much sense it’s crazy. At the time of the reading, I was single. I had been engaged for a year, and the relationship had ended about five months before the reading. I didn’t see any new prospects in sight, and wanted to know if there was a new relationship on the horizon.

First off, the Chariot. Stubbornness. I am very stubborn, Aries ram that I am, so that could work for that card. My ex was also an Aries. But I think the card meant me. I let that relationship last far too long because I was scared that I’d never find anyone else, and too stubborn to admit that I had made a mistake by accepting this guy’s proposal. This card could also mean, according to some source I had a while ago, that you can’t progress until inner conflict is resolved. I was dealing with the aftermath of the breakup, and especially 6/26 – 7/14 of that year I was working on this through conversations with a friend who was going through something very similar.

The 6 of Pentacles. Still not completely sure what this meant in terms of the reading…. Okay, just looked it up on Learn Tarot and had an idea, but will get back to that later too.

The 6 of Cups. Nostalgia. Being a child, or child-like. I have always thought of myself as wise beyond my years, but I also love to act like a child. I giggle like a four-year-old when I’m tickled, and I love silly (stupid) jokes. So this could mean that too. Someone said it might mean a visit with an old friend. More on this card later.

The 5 of Swords. Interesting card showing a guy happily picking up swords. In the background, men walk away with heads hanging. This card could mean success, like the guy who has apparently won the battle, or it could mean defeat, like the guys walking away in shame. Maybe this meant that I could have been either one, but since the bad relationship ended I can see myself as the victor. I was also conquering a lot of my issues and becoming more self-assured/ready for the next relationship.

The 6 of Wands. Victory. However, someone in the class had a nagging feeling she couldn’t shake. She pointed out the person in the lower left corner. This person is looking up at the man on the horse (me), but the man on the horse doesn’t see because he’s looking straight ahead. So then everyone in the class started talking about how there was someone from my past (6 of Cups) that I wasn’t noticing. Someone from my past would come back and be my future. Maybe an ex-boyfriend, or someone who is just a friend that I’m not thinking of romantically. I thought this was crazy. There was no chance of me getting back together with my ex, and there was nobody else I knew of that could possibly be interested in me.

And then I met Mark, July 15 and 16 2006. I really liked him and now, almost three years later, we are engaged and planning our August 2009 wedding. After meeting him and getting talking I learned that he was the mystery man. We met in January, before my Tarot reading, a few days before my ex and I broke up. I was engaged so I didn’t remember Mark from then, but Mark remembered me. He thought I was cute and was happy when he learned that my engagement had been broken. That 6 of Cups? It’s because I met him at the engagement party for my friend Rachel, who I met in 6th grade. Then we met again at her wedding to Mark’s friend since high school Eric.

The 6 of Pentacles shows a man giving money to another, while a third looks on. The third looks at the first, but the first is looking away. So maybe the card has nothing to do with money, which is what I have always thought it meant. Maybe it was just another way of showing that someone was interested in me and I didn’t know it. That’s epiphany number two of the day for that reading.