The Most Common Card in My Tarot Readings

The Archangels Discuss the Importance of Balance

I do a lot of Tarot readings, although they are not done traditionally.  I use the Archangel Power Tarot Cards by Radleigh Valentine, and I don’t use the traditional, common spreads.  I just blindly pull ten cards and interpret them in my own way, including channeling messages during and after the readings.  I do a weekly reading for myself, another weekly reading for my subscribers on Substack, and a monthly reading that I include in my newsletter. 

There are twenty-two major Arcana cards, and the rest fall under one of four Archangel suits belonging to Michael, Ariel, Raphael, and Gabriel for a total of seventy-eight cards in the deck.  I thoroughly shuffle the cards between readings, yet there is one card that makes a very habitual appearance more than all the others.  It’s the two of Ariel, and it states the following:  It’s important to have balance.  Working multiple jobs or projects at once.  Making work fun.

In the beginning, I just read for myself.  First, it was just for fun, then I thought it was great practice not only for channeling, but for training and trusting my intuition.  Eventually, it became great guidance, and I rarely miss a week.  It gives me a heads up on what to expect and helps me identify things to focus on that may be coming my way.  There are several cards that are drawn repeatedly, especially for my own readings.  As I said, I shuffle thoroughly between readings, and all cards should have an equal chance to be drawn, but the two of Ariel comes up not only for me, but for the other readings I do, as well, more so than any of the other cards in the deck.  It defies the rules of statistics over and over again and has done for as long as I’ve been using the cards.

Life is a balance, always, at least if you want to manage it well without losing your sanity!  Life is never hard or easy all the time.  Emotions are never stable or static.  Things are never always good or always bad.  If you don’t want to feel like you’re on a colossal roller coaster ride all the time, you have to learn how to find and maintain some semblance of balance to manage life.  This is what I asked the Archangels about, and their answer and guidance follow.

Question:  We always hear about finding balance, but that’s so much more easily said than done.  Sometimes, I wonder if it’s even within our reach as human beings.  Can you shed some light and offer some guidance on how to accomplish this, please, and why it’s important?

Answer:

Your opening comments sum it up nicely with, “Life is a balance, always, at least if you want to manage it well without losing your sanity!”  Although we Archangels do not incarnate on Earth, it is easy to see that life is challenging for all people, as it is meant to be.  Part of what you are tasked to learn while there is how to balance it in a way that allows for joy, hope, love, and peace while you are there, as much as possible.  Most people know that balance is essential, but finding it and, especially, keeping it is never easy. 

Most people seek balance when they are struggling, perhaps to manage stress, grief, and different aspects of life, but it is also important to balance your life during times of abundance and joy.  It is not that you can be too joyful, but in order to truly grasp the joy, there must be knowledge and awareness of the absence of joy.  We have spoken before about the emotional spectrums.  There are half the number of emotions you believe there to be, because emotions are levels of energy.  For example, hatred is not its own emotion as much as it is the absence or low quantity of love.  Fear is the absence of hope, anger is the absence of compassion, etc. 

Naturally, everyone wants more joy than sadness in their lives, but you cannot understand joy unless you understand sadness, do you see this?  Some call this the universal law of polarity.  You come to live a human life on Earth in part to experience this polarity of all things, so that you have a greater understanding of how things work, including emotions, and so you can learn to balance them.  This is one of the reasons why Earth is such a desirable source for learning and spiritual growth, because it offers many lessons and opportunities to evolve.  Not all worlds are steeped in emotion, as Earth is, and emotions offer an exceptional opportunity to learn about polarity and finding balance.

One of the desirable and most sought after outcomes of this life experience and learning is balance.  Learning to balance emotions is essential to a good life.  Our channel used to advise that life is full of ups and downs.  When people are at a low point in their lives, it is good to remember that hard times never last forever.  Unfortunately, she has said many times, good times never last forever, either.  As she channels this message, she realizes that there is more to add to that advice, and that is that you do not have to be at the mercy of good or bad times if you learn to balance your emotions and responses to whatever is happening at any given time. 

This does not mean that you must mute your emotions or bury them.  What it means is that you choose which emotions to spend time with and indulge and which you are better off discarding sooner rather than later.  Even in the hardest of times, you can still find joy, hope, love, and peace.  Equally true, when you are experiencing wonderful times, it is important to be aware that not everyone is in such a good place, and it is always a good thing to offer them compassion, love, and empathy.  Knowing that others are struggling does not need to dim your own enjoyment, but it should trigger gratitude and appreciation, as well as remembering harder times which you were able to survive.. 

Another area of balance that people often seek is the work/life balance.  This is changing rapidly, because you are changing rapidly, whether you realize it, or not.  We have shared before that the outlook of getting “more, more, more” is slowly being replaced with the “I have enough” mindset, and the notion of what constitutes success is also changing.  People are beginning to realize that material wealth cannot be truly enjoyed without joy, hope, love, and peace in your life, as well.  To sacrifice these things in order to gain more riches is neither satisfying nor fulfilling, and if you spend your entire life trying to gain more materialistically without feeding your spiritual self, there will be a prevailing sense of loss and emptiness, despite the level of wealth and privilege one might enjoy.  As more people realize this truth, there is a growing realignment of goals and perspectives on what constitutes success, which will likely lead to working in ways that provide intrinsic rewards as much or more than extrinsic rewards.  People will no longer be willing to choose one or the other, but rather they will find a way to have both.

For generations, people have chosen careers and opportunities that build on the material side of life without including the spiritual aspects, and that has not served well.  Part of that was due to the third dimensional traits of prevailing fear and survival instincts.  Now, the energy has changed, and although people still want some material wealth and security, it is no longer enough without the inclusion of joy, hope, love, and peace in the work/life balance. 

We can already anticipate so many of you stating that money might not buy you love, but you would surely like to see what it is like not to have to struggle so much monetarily.  We understand this, and we know you are often tired, overworked, and underpaid, but do you see that the real problem is a lack a balance in your life?  If you work in a position that depletes you spiritually, even if it provides you with a means of making a living, you do not have balance.  If you work in a job that is satisfying, fulfilling, and inspires you and others, work is not as much of a sacrifice, even if it does not make you as monetarily rich, because you can more easily find balance.  There is nothing wrong with wanting more money and “things,” but getting more will not give you balance without an intention that includes it, and true balance always includes things that money cannot buy.

We know that things like joy, hope, love, and peace do not pay the rent or put food on the table, but they are just as essential as the parts of your life that do if you want to have balance, and without balance, you will not be able to enjoy those materialistic measures in any lasting way.  People are beginning to realize that the “more, more, more” mindset does not serve them as well as the “balance” mindset.   What good does it do to work yourself to the bone but have no enjoyment in your life.  There should be more to life than work, and when your work is fulfilling, it is not such a drudgery and can offer pleasure along with labor.  Dare we say it can even be fun and enriching?  This should be just as much of a priority as the monetary side of things, and more people are pursuing this.

We wish to add that there will be many challenges ahead that are not necessarily dangerous, but certainly difficult, and the best way to maneuver through them is to maintain an emotional balance throughout.  Do not allow fear to overshadow hope.  Do not let anger take away compassion.  Do not allow sadness to cancel joy.  Choose to increase the other side of these spectrums, and it is always a choice.  If you feel sad, do something that brings you more joy.  If you make this a priority, sadness will no longer be an issue.  The same can be said for hope, love, peace, and so many other aspects in life.  Make a conscious effort to do things that increase them, and if there are interferences that deplete you in some way, it is even more important to strengthen and increase the positive things and emotions in order to find balance.  Without balance, you will feel increasingly lost and helpless, rather than powerful and capable.  In the end, regardless of your circumstances, it is up to you whether or not you find and maintain the balance you need to conquer life. 

As our channel has said, life is full of ups and downs.  Either end of the spectrum can be challenging.  Too many “downs” can lead to you feeling defeated, and too many “ups” can also lead to downfall.  Consider the adage, “too much of a good thing can be bad.”  It is better to make a conscious choice to seek and maintain balance and to remember that you can overcome challenges that present themselves.  You already have what you need, and we can help you further as you need it, but it begins with the decision to overcome whatever hardships come your way and maintain balance in your life, and that requires consideration of internal, as well as external factors as you proceed.  You have the power to do this if you choose.  Also, remember that life should be enjoyed.  If you are not enjoying your life, it is time to make some changes.

Final Thoughts

I can still hear my dad saying, “You can make any situation as good or as bad as you choose to make it.”  I didn’t appreciate that advice at the time nearly as much as I appreciate it and believe it now.  Growing up during the Great Depression and dropping out of school at fourteen to work full time to support his family after his father left, he lived it.  I haven’t had such rough times with starvation and homelessness being real threats, but like everyone else, I’ve had challenges, too, and I try to remember his advice when I’m in the thick of it.  He also said to count your blessings, rather than you troubles.  I try to do that, too.

I wish I’d understood the need for balance when I was younger as well as I do now.  I try to offer lessons in balance to my kids in hopes that they will learn from my mistakes, so they don’t have to make their own.  There were times that I neglected self-care and devoted all my time and energy to caring for others.  That was a mistake that nearly cost me my mental and physical health at times.  When times were hard, I just plowed through them, never considering that I wouldn’t make it through one way or another.  If we needed more money to cover medical expenses after my husband got sick, I just got another job.  If I felt tired, too bad!  Pride and determination can be great sources of strength, but they can also lead to ruin if you’re not careful.

I wonder now if things would have been more bearable if I’d taken the time to ask myself if I was okay or if I needed something for myself.  Maybe I was afraid of the answer.  Either way, I got through it, but the cost was, at times, high.  I know better now.  These days, when I face hardship and challenges, I stop and ask myself how I’m doing and what I need to make my life better.  What do I need to do more or less of?  What do I need to change or adjust?  I take time for myself, even if it’s just ten minutes to meditate, sit quietly, listen to some great music or just count my blessings.  I’m no longer at the end of my priority or to-do list, and I don’t think anyone should be at the end of their list.  You can’t continue to take care of others things and people if you fall apart, right?  I’m devoted to finding my own happiness now, and I hope you are, too.  After all, nobody else can find it for you, just like nobody else can find balance for you.  That’s something you have to do for yourself.

If you don’t receive my monthly newsletter, the new intention for Friday night meditation is Renewal.  We are all in need of renewal, and we are surrounded by the need for it in virtually all aspects of life.  We need renewal in how things are done all over the world.  Systems are in need of renewal, leaders and their policies are in need or renewal, and we all need to find ways to renew our lives in order to find balance.  If you would like to join our group, just call on the Archangels from wherever you are at whatever time you’re available, and offer loving energy to the cause and intention of renewal for all.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and holiday season.  If you have a chance this month, I hope you’ll take some time to evaluate how things are going in your life and find ways to maintain a healthy balance in all aspects of your life.  Find the things that offer you fulfillment and satisfaction, and of course, more joy, hope, love, and peace. 

Blessings, all.