One of the disciplines I practice is drawing a single tarot card each day, following the traditional planetary sequence of the week. The card drawn the previous day is returned to the deck before the next draw, so the sequence is never fixed and occasionally the same card reappears in the same week. Whether that happens or not, a sequence emerges that feels like a narrative of the soul unfolding through time.
This past week was one of those occasions. The seven cards drawn from Sunday through Saturday formed a remarkably coherent progression, beginning with instability and ending with grounded authority. The draws occurred during a sidereal Leo lunar eclipse that activated the axis of identity and value in my natal chart, giving the week an additional layer of symbolic resonance.
The week began on Sunday, the day of the Sun, with the Ten of Pentacles reversed, a card I associate with Pluto in Taurus. The Ten of Pentacles normally represents long-established structures of security, inheritance, and material continuity. Reversed, the image remains but its stability is called into question. Something about the foundation of security no longer feels entirely reliable. Through the lens of Pluto in Taurus, the symbolism points toward transformation in the realm of value and resources. Pluto dissolves and regenerates, and Taurus governs stability, wealth, and the material ground of life. A week that opens with the destabilisation of an earth structure often suggests that deeper changes are already underway beneath the surface.
Monday’s lunar draw shifted the focus inward. The card was the Two of Rods reversed, which I associate with Chiron in Aries. The Two of Wands normally speaks of vision and direction, the moment when a person surveys the horizon and begins to consider the path ahead. Reversed, it often indicates hesitation about that next step. When seen through the symbolism of Chiron in Aries, the card touches a more personal dimension: a wound connected to initiative, leadership, or the confidence to act independently. If Sunday’s card questioned the stability of an external structure, Monday’s card asked an emotional question about readiness to move forward. When old foundations shift, uncertainty about direction naturally follows.
Tuesday, the day of Mars, introduced friction through the Five of Swords, a card associated with Venus in Aquarius. The Five of Swords is rarely a card of peaceful resolution. Instead it reflects tension, intellectual conflict, or situations in which different perspectives clash. Mars ruled the day, and Mars was also moving through sidereal Aquarius at the time, which gave the conflict a distinctly Aquarian tone. Issues of principle, ideas, and alignment with others can come to the surface under this influence. In tarot numerology, five represents disruption. It is the number that disturbs the stability of the four and forces movement. Without the turbulence of five, transformation rarely begins.
Wednesday’s card brought a shift in energy. The Ace of Rods appeared, which I associate with Venus in Sagittarius. The Ace of Rods represents the spark of new life, the moment when creative fire suddenly appears. After the tension of the Five of Swords, the Ace feels like an ignition point. Something begins to stir that carries the promise of action and inspiration. At the same time, Mercury was retrograde in Pisces and slowly moving back toward Aquarius. Retrograde periods often bring rediscovery rather than novelty, suggesting that the spark might arise from something previously set aside or overlooked. The week now contained the first clear sign of forward momentum.
Thursday’s draw marked the true turning point of the sequence. On Jupiter’s day the card drawn was (13) Death, which I associate with Saturn in Scorpio. The Death card is one of the most misunderstood symbols in tarot. Rarely does it signify literal endings. Instead it represents irreversible transformation, the shedding of a form that has reached the end of its natural cycle.
Significantly, this card appeared on the day of the sidereal Leo lunar eclipse. Eclipses tend to accelerate processes of completion, removing what can no longer remain in place. The association with Saturn in Scorpio deepens the symbolism. Saturn represents structure and time, while Scorpio governs what lies beneath the surface. Together they point toward the dismantling of structures that conceal deeper truths. Something passes away so that something more authentic can emerge.
Friday brought the archetype of authority in the form of the (4) Emperor, a card I associate with Mars in Aries. The Emperor represents sovereignty, order, and the establishment of boundaries. As the archetypal ruler of the tarot, he embodies the principle of self-governance. His appearance on Venus’s day is intriguing because Venus speaks of value and relationship, while the Emperor defines territory and responsibility. The pairing suggests a moment when one must clarify what truly belongs within one’s domain of value. Earlier in the week the Two of Wands reversed hinted at hesitation about taking initiative. The Emperor represents the mature expression of that same impulse. Where there was once uncertainty about direction, the Emperor stands firmly in command of his ground.
The week concluded on Saturday, the day of Saturn, with the King of Pentacles, a card I associate with the Sun in Taurus. If the Ten of Pentacles reversed at the beginning of the week suggested unstable or inherited structures of wealth, the King of Pentacles represents personal mastery of the material realm. He embodies stability, stewardship, and mature responsibility for resources. Saturn’s day, traditionally associated with endurance and structure, was an appropriate moment for this card to appear. The symbolism completes the arc of the week in a satisfying way. What began as unstable earth concludes as mastered earth.
Seen together, the seven cards form a narrative progression.
- A foundation becomes unstable.
- Hesitation arises about a new direction.
- Conflict clarifies what matters.
- A new spark appears.
- Transformation becomes unavoidable.
- Authority is claimed.
- A new stable foundation emerges.
The week begins with earth reversed and ends with earth embodied in the form of the King of Pentacles. The symbolism suggests movement from inherited stability toward consciously grounded authority.
In a year whose guiding card for me is the Ten of Cups (see When the Sun Speaks Twice: A New Year Tarot Sequence ), a symbol of emotional fulfillment and harmony, the events of this week may simply represent the structural work required to support that deeper harmony. Tarot often shows that genuine stability arises not from avoiding change but from passing through it. The cards of this week seemed to trace that process through the second week of Lent, moving from the breakdown of an old structure to the emergence of a more mature and grounded one.
Note: I am using a revised set of astrological associations for each tarot card, so the planetary associations applied to the arcanae in 2026 may differ from those of earlier blog posts.
