A querent asked me to perform a spread regarding her love situation, specifically in relation to her husband, whom she is now certain has a mistress.
The first card answers the question: what is his position towards his wife? We have the 8 of Cups. The element is Water, it is emotion, but the 8 is an unbalanced figure. If we turn to the decan of the card, we find the slow Saturn attempting to manage the difficult emotions of a mutable and unstable sign such as Pisces. Saturn feels bad in Water signs, being too serious and judicial to deal with emotions. There is a futile attempt on his part to stabilise, in a Saturnian manner, the emotional flood of the wife herself, trying to appease it in an almost rational way, since the 8 is also associated with mercurial Hod. The eights also attempt to rationalise the disruption of the sevens, but, in the suit of Cups/Water, this is often an empty effort. The slowness of Saturn may also imply that the husband wishes to delay the situation, using rational tacticism and mental schemes.
As for his position towards the mistress, the court card Knight of Swords appeared. This is Air of Air, without any trace of another element. It is curious how the element shifts. If, for him, the wife is an emotional matter, then the mistress is intellectual and abrupt. The duplication of the Air element is like lashes of wind against the windows, which arise suddenly and just as quickly fade away. This is the knight who lives in the mental and rational plane, with little grounding and no real materialisation. It seems clear from this card that he does not wish to turn this into a serious affair; otherwise, we would have some Earth present. There is neither the Fire of passion and lust, nor the Water of sensitivity and love, but rather reinforced Air. And this element, on its own, cannot sustain anything. It is a brief flare, a short fuse, something he wishes to overcome quickly, like a mathematical problem to be solved in order to leave the classroom as soon as possible. He is not serious about this.
And how does he feel? We have the 8 of Swords. Again the 8, the Tarot is telling us something. He is trapped in his own mind, analysing the best course of action. Jupiter in Gemini has the harmful tendency to expand every possible mental path and option. It is Jupiter in detriment, operating in a sign contrary to its nature. As soon as one path seems certain, this 8 of Swords appears to question: is there not a better one? And that one? And the other? This suggests that the man feels mentally divided between several options forward. Even if the affair appears brief and fleeting to him, he is not entirely certain that committing fully to his wife is the right choice, particularly given the double presence of the number 8. It is mercurial Hod twice over, mental whirlwinds that leave him uncertain. Even the shape of the 8 itself points to an eternal loop from which he does not seem capable of freeing himself.
What can the querent do? Ace of Wands. This is a new beginning, the seed of will signified by the element of Fire. In this reading, this is the first card with a clearly auspicious tone, rather than mere stagnation or mental emptiness. The Ace of Wands represents the germ of something new, the beginning of a flame that lies in the hands of the querent to nurture and grow. It clearly contrasts with stagnation on his side, represented by the eights. The Tarot tells the querent: return to the beginning of beginnings, return to the number One, where everything starts. Moreso given that the element is Fire, which represents action, will and desire. The verdict seems clear: it is time for the querent to return to herself, to initiate something, and to free herself from the web in which she is entangled.
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