Three Kings and a Spare

Kings from the Morgan Greer Tarot Deck

Yesterday morning I woke up dreaming about tarot.  Since I’m a pro tarot reader and teacher, you would think that this would be a common experience for me, especially since I’m also an avid dream interpreter.  If I remember details of a dream, I note them in my journal and pour over my favorite methods of dream interpretation to puzzle them out, but I do not typically dream of tarot.

In the dream I was in a group of tarot readers and we were doing some type of exercise that involved the intentional choosing of a card.  We were all working with the same deck.  You had to find the card you wanted, sign it, place it back into the deck, and pass it down the row to the next person.  I wanted the King of Swords, but when I pulled it from the deck, I found that it was already taken; someone else had signed their name to it and claimed that energy.  So, I decided to look for the King of Wands instead.  I found it and it was available.

Before I offer you my ideas of this interpretation, I want to tell you what happened when I woke up.  First I recorded my dream. Then, after my daily reading of inspirational books and morning prayer, I pulled out my tarot deck of the month to do my daily draw.  Guess what I pulled?  You guessed it!  Another king.  This time it was the King of Cups.  So, I decided to interpret the three Kings as a whole, although they came from different sources of divination.

First, a little context.  In a few weeks I’ll be having a surgery.  It’s quite common but major and certainly a big deal to me.  Due to a number of factors out of my control, I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to get some information from my surgeon in order to be prepared for post-op life. I finally went to my primary instead and got the ball rolling.  He, in the meantime, has referred me to a cardiologist to get a pre-op clearance. 

Now, let’s look at interpreting those cards.  I think all three kings are in reference to my medical situation.  Kings in general are the mature, masculine, authoritative expression of the suit which could certainly denote doctors.  When they appear in a reading they denote mastery at some level of the energy of their suit.  The King of Pentacles, for example (who is my missing king, by the way) is a good provider for himself and others, self-sufficient, stable, and successful.  He is what the rest of the suit strives for in terms of what we manifest on the earth plane in terms of health, wealth, and well-being. We will come back to him.

What about the kings I drew and dreamed about?  The King of Swords would be the elusive surgeon, who in true King of Swords style, feels remote and impassive to me and inclined only to focus on excellent work in the operating room.  (One would hope!)  He is the one from whom I need information, but his time is already claimed, so as in the dream when I search instead for the King of Wands, I defer to the next best option, my primary care physician, who shows as the enthusiastic and engaging King of Wands. 

My PCP, like the King of Wands, is competent, friendly, and optimistic and does finally get the pre-op process started for me (good use of wand energy!). He also shares some traits with the King of Cups, as he is kind and empathetic, but in a literal sense he has referred me to the cardiologist!  Who better to personify the King of Cups, with his connection to the heart energy?  I can only hope that doctor will be as considerate, compassionate, and calmly competent as the King of Cups.  I will find out more soon as I have an upcoming appointment.

Now, back to the missing king – the King of Pentacles.  He is ultimately what I am seeking in this situation.  Remember that I said he represents the culmination of the suit of pentacles in what and how we manifest health, wealth, and well-being.  My goal is the return of good health, which in turn will support my ability to create abundance and well-being in my life.  I would just really, really love it if sometime down the road within a month or so of the surgery, I was able to report to you that I drew the King of Pentacles as my card of the day!  In the meantime, I will place him on my altar to help me hold that vision. 

PS – Here’s a little extra info about the kings.  To share with you probably even more than you care to know about them, they are often perceived as representing real-life historical figures for both playing cards and their cousins, tarot cards.  French and British playing card decks are often said to depict Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, the biblical King David and Charlemagne representing the four great empires of Greece, Rome, the Jews and the Franks.  They correspond in turn with the tarot kings:  Alexander the Great as the King of Wands, Julius Caesar as the King of Pentacles, the biblical warrior king, King David as the King of Swords, and Charlemagne, the most spiritual, as the King of Cups.