Little Meg’s Survival Skills

Deck used is the Urban Tarot by Robin Scott

When I was young and in school, I was the bullied, lonely kid that everyone liked to pick on. I felt so out of place with everyone else, though that was partially my doing because I sometimes let myself be weird for the sake of being weird. However, while this was happening, I learned to survive the hurt and pain I felt at being alone. So how can I take those things and make them work for me now? Let’s see…

The Cards

from the Urban Tarot by Robin Scott

Prince of Wands: here we see the idea of intellect in the context of passion. The character of this card is represented as the noble trickster, the one that walks the line between playfulness and being a champion for moral change. Don’t count this person out. They sometimes manage to speak on things more powerfully than one might expect.

Princess of Swords: This person is logical, clever, stable and practical. They can’t be swayed in their cause. They are rooted in the element of Earth and this is helpful to them because they know there is a storm coming to them. They know they have a lot of minds to change and their weapon of choice is their words.

8 of Cups: the tone of this card is one of sad realization. This is illustrating a situation where we have reached the end of the line with something that hasn’t worked out the way we were anticipating. Perhaps someone has stopped putting in the effort to something that you thought mattered to them. This is the pit we dig ourselves into when procrastination, depression and distraction come together. Sometimes, we need to realize that the things we hoped for aren’t going to come to pass and walk away.

Queen of Cups: This card represents the emotional center of the court cards, in that this character is kind, affectionate, comforting and is able to accept everyone without judging them. They represent the calm stillness of introspection and the surface upon which we see ourselves reflected. Because of this, the Queen’s true nature is hard to grasp, but there is an unwavering ally in this character as well.

The Wheel of Fortune: this represents the sheer force of random chance in our lives. Sadly, we may plan and plan for every contingency that could happen to us, but there are always bigger and stronger forces around us. No matter how we’ve planned, no matter how we’ve figured things, sometimes, things just happen. We might be on top of the world one day and flat on the bottom the next. The upside of this is that the wheel always turns and our fortunes may chance.

9 of Wands: This is representing the idea of strength in adversity, the energy we have after we’ve used up everything else at our disposal. It is our ability to keep going in times when it seems that our jobs are thankless, unending and relentless. This is the inner flame we have inside us that keeps burning in spite of the darkness and cold around us.

So one thing Little Meg is teaching me is to understand and learn to know when to stand up and when to talk away. I certainly had some passionate (read that stubborn) moments when I felt attacked and had to stand up for myself. These were the moments where, in spite of me being quirky and odd to people, I had to speak up for what was wrong and perhaps unpopular. Sometimes though, walking away was the best option and perhaps I didn’t really know when to do that. I learned to treat everyone with kindness, no matter how cruel or mean they were to me in the past. The other things I’ve learned from Little Meg’s experience is how to stay strong in the face of constant change. One thing I’ve realized about myself is that I don’t do especially well with change, especially if concerns changes in my lifestyle. This has been a bit problematic in that things happen around us all the time, no matter how much we try and plan for things to happen. (Let’s look at how 2020 is playing out so far…) Life is so random that it’s hard to contemplate it all. But even if we don’t know what’s coming around the corner, we don’t have to be needlessly tossed around. We (and I do mean all of us) have an inner spark that can come through, especially when we’re being tested. Again, 2020 has definitely been the example of this for us all, I think. However, even if we’re coming into a new normal for us, we have the power to face what’s coming next.