For this series of writings, I asked people online to send me a question for the tarot and then choose a number from 0 to 21.

QUESTION

How long will it be until I have a new job?

CARD CHOSEN

17: The Star

RESPONSE

For your question, you chose card 17, which is The Star. You are asking about getting a new job and here, in this card, there is a woman who is appears to be totally unconcerned with employment. Maybe she has a day job, but in the scene depicted, it’s not a priority in her mind. What is her deepest, most heartfelt priority? What is the focus of her inner self? What does she value in herself and in her life? These are the things she is concerned with.

She’s taken off all of her clothes, knelt by the river, and is assisting the flow of liquids between the jars in her hands. The liquids she is balancing and supporting could be her emotions, or it could be demonstrating how she responds to the flow of life as it comes to her and passes through her. To learn what this has to do with your question, I’ll have an imaginary conversation with her, putting myself in the position of asking the question you’ve given.

Ben: How long will it be until I have a new job?

Star Woman: That’s not something you will know until it happens.

B: That kind of seems like a cop-out answer.

SW: I know. I get it. You’re feeling impatient. Maybe you’re not satisfied with your current job or jobs you’ve had in the past. Maybe you’re anxious about whether or not the next job will be good for you.

B: A little bit of all of that, yes.

SW: Each job you have is the world’s response to your current state. The world sees you and says, “Oh. This is where she’s at. These are the qualities she’s grown inside of herself. We’ll give her this new situation (a job, a relationship, a life event, etc.) to match her current state.”

Life sees a horse racer and gives them a horse. Life sees a person who doesn’t want to do much, or doesn’t believe they are capable of much, and it gives them a situation to reflect that belief. Life sees a person subconsciously looking for egoic victory over others and gives them ample doses of arguments and confrontations. Life sees a person who has nurtured a sense of love and appreciation in their heart and gives them experiences that reflect that. These are examples.

B: That makes sense, but how does it relate to my current desire for a new job?

SW: What do you want in a job? [You, the reader, can take a moment to answer this for yourself if you like.]

B: I want work with a purpose that I can get on board with. I want to do work that makes me feel like I have a useful purpose in this world. I want a job that makes use of my unique qualities and sensibilities. I want a job that my mind and heart eagerly say “YES” to. I want a job that is fun, inspiring, and lights me up.

I want these things in my work and in my life, but part of me thinks it’s not likely.

SW: Okay. There’s two key things there that I want to touch on.

One, you want work that is fun, inspiring, and lights you up.

Two, part of you thinks that isn’t possible for you.

Let’s look at each of these thoughts.

The jobs you find (both now and later) will be a reflection of the seeds you’ve tended to in yourself. If you want to have a job that is fun, inspiring, and lights you up, then you first have to tend to those seeds of wonder and joy in yourself. In some ways, you probably already have. The more you nurture and explore what is naturally fulfilling to you, the more that energy will grow and ripple out into your daily life.

Do you see what I’m doing in my card’s image?

B: You mean kneeling naked and supporting the flow of multi-colored waters between yourself and the river?

SW: Yes, that. I’m doing this because it’s what is naturally fulfilling to me. I’m naked because I am letting myself be myself. I am recognizing who I am. I notice what my heart leads me to do or focus on in life and I try to water those seeds as best I can.

Those seeds of purpose and fulfillment are different for each person. It can be inner qualities to develop, fertilize, and blossom. It can be experiential qualities like love, humor, playfulness, patience, or whatever it is we want to grow within ourselves. The seeds can also be avenues of exploration in the outer world. Learning about a topic we gravitate toward. Taking a class in something that makes us curious. Connecting with people or a community that revolves around a certain practice (yoga, ecology, salsa dance, biking, social justice, or anything else).

Every person has their own unique allotment of seeds in themselves and in life. When those seeds are seen and tended to, they expand, grow, and blossom. Whatever we do gains momentum. It snowballs. The more we tend to those seeds, the more “the world” sees our growth and gives us experiences (including jobs) that reflect that.

B: How do I know what my seeds are?

SW: When you’re doing something that resonates with your naturally fulfilling proclivities, you’ll know it because it feels good to do it. It’s those moments when you feel open, light, zesty, curious, playful, inspired, hopeful, or purposeful. There can also be fear, discomfort, and hesitation if it’s something unfamiliar or beyond your current comfort zone, but despite that discomfort, there’s something that leaves you wanting more.

B: And what about the other thing? I’d love to have a fulfilling job and life, but there’s a voice in me that says, “You can’t have that.”

SW: Explore that. What else does that voice say? “You can’t have ____ because…” [You, the reader, can contemplate your own answer to this. Let yourself write about it for a few minutes.]

B: That voice wants me to believe that, “You can’t have a purposeful, inspiring, and meaningful job because you don’t deserve it. You’re not good enough. You’re not skilled enough. You don’t know enough. You’re not needed. You’re not useful. You’re underqualified. The jobs you want are already taken by people who are better than you. It’s not gonna happen for you so don’t even try.”

SW: That’s great that you’ve articulated that voice of doubt! That voice might sound dark and disheartening, but it’s not the voice of truth, even if it seems utterly real and convincing. Even if your past experiences seem to support what that voice says. That voice’s beliefs stem from one core belief: The belief of low self-worth.

This belief, which has subconscious roots, convinces you that certain possibilities are simply not available to you. Since you don’t believe these things (a job, a relationship, etc.) are possible for you, you will unconsciously shape your reality to support this belief of low self-worth.

B: Alright… But what can I do about that?

SW: Shifting subconscious beliefs can be challenging. Since the beliefs are in the subconscious, they have to be accessed, acknowledged, and then adjusted over time in order to make a change. There are tools for this. There’s meditation and therapy. The writer of these words would also suggest checking out the online courses of Lacy Philips on www.tobemagnetic.com.

But another thing you can do if you don’t think something is possible for you is to show yourself that it’s possible by doing it. Say you have always believed you could never dance the tango. You believe, “Others can, but I can’t.” After years and years of repressed frustration, you still have a big desire to dance the tango so you say, fuck it, and start taking lessons. It feels awkward at first, but you persist. You keep watering that seed. It gradually becomes a bigger and bigger part of yourself and your life.

B: Okay. But back to my original question. When will I get a new job?!

SW: We can’t predict the future, but we can influence what happens in the future by choosing what we do in the present. When the new job comes (the next job as well as the other new jobs further along in your future), it will be a reflection of:

1) Your subconscious beliefs. “What are my limiting beliefs? What do I believe is not possible for me? Why don’t I think it’s possible for me?

If I turn that belief on its head and pretend it’s not true, what would its inverse be? What do I want to be possible for me? Why is it possible for me? How could it be possible for me? I don’t need to worry about believing it’s true (even though it very well could be). I can go at it from a stance of imagining it’s true, a stance of ‘What if?’ I can let my mind start to open up to that.”

2) The seeds you’ve tended to in yourself and in your life. “What do I want more of in my life? What qualities do I want to grow within myself? What curiosities and avenues do I feel led to explore and learn about? If I don’t have a specific idea of what I want, that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be anything like, ‘I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that I want THIS and it is my DESTINY and I want it FOREVER!’ It’s okay if there’s doubt and uncertainty. What’s important is that I start to explore anything that activates some sense of curiosity or wonder for me. Through the exploration of these avenues, I’ll probably find some things that I realize are not for me. When I have these experiences, I could think, ‘Why bother?’ and give up. On the other hand, if I keep looking, I will eventually find the morsels of life that really resonate with me. The more I follow these threads and incorporate them into my life, my mind, and my heart, the more my experiences will reflect them.”

If you want a job that feels great for you--rather than any old 9-to-5 that pays the bills but rings hollow to your core--these are two things you can work with in order to steer your life and work in the direction of what lights you up.

B: [Promptly removes all clothes, gathers two jars, and gallops down to the nearest river.]

On my blog, you can find more writings on art and alchemical thinking, interviews about creativity, psychologically-oriented reflections on tarot, and more. You can check out past posts in the categorized list below.

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Art
- Jul 2, 2018 About the Folks Who Think You Stink (Notes on Performance and Life)
- Jun 22, 2018 The Freedom and Fear of Being Yourself (Notes on Performance and Life)
- Apr 3, 2018 Public Alchemy: Notes on Street Performance
- Dec 1, 2017 Why the Tutu?
- Sep 14, 2017 Art is a Portal
- Aug 17, 2017 Put the Potatoes on Your Face
- Dec 28, 2016 How to Make Magical Oranges
- Dec 19, 2016 Wakey Wakey, Inner Kiddo
Interviews
- Jul 18, 2018 Artist Interview: Kayle Karbowski
- Jun 4, 2018 Artist Interview: Sally Nicholson
- Apr 23, 2018 Interview: Yogi Ron Katwijk
- Mar 1, 2018 Artist Interview: Lawrence Blackman
- Feb 21, 2018 Artist Interview: Samantha Blumenfeld
Magical Thinking
- Jun 21, 2023 Magick for Reshaping Life and Transmuting Trauma
- May 18, 2023 Magick is a Sentient Entity: Using the Imagination to Co-Create with Magick
- Dec 4, 2020 The Healing Voice: Wounds, Addiction, and Purgation
- Aug 5, 2019 Celebrating Your Misery
- Jun 21, 2019 White Peacocks, Constipation, and Emotional Liberation
- Aug 23, 2018 Melting a Snowball of Misery
- Jul 2, 2018 About the Folks Who Think You Stink (Notes on Performance and Life)
- Jun 22, 2018 The Freedom and Fear of Being Yourself (Notes on Performance and Life)
- Apr 16, 2018 Questions for Limitations
- Apr 3, 2018 Public Alchemy: Notes on Street Performance
- Jan 5, 2018 Chaos' Playground: Finding Gold in the Shitstorm
- Dec 1, 2017 Why the Tutu?
- Sep 14, 2017 Art is a Portal
- Aug 7, 2017 Three Reasons to Destroy Yourself (Or Not)
- Jul 6, 2017 Nerves and Tutus
- Feb 19, 2017 Why Does Heartache Happen?
- Jan 15, 2017 Following Fear
- Dec 28, 2016 How to Make Magical Oranges
Tarot
- Oct 24, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #5: Why does my skin crawl with wonder and fascination as such important relationships in my life are connected by the eyes?
- Oct 11, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #4: How long will it be until I have a new job?
- Sep 25, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #3: Why can't I find more hours in a day?
- Sep 3, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #2: Do abusers know they're being abusive, or is that just their sense of reality?
- Aug 25, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #1: Why is the Present Moment So Much All the Time?
- Aug 18, 2019 Today's Tarot: Shifting Pain by Surrendering to It
- Aug 13, 2019 Today's Tarot: The Golden Devils Inside You
- Aug 12, 2019 Today's Tarot: The Moon of Self-Loathing
- Jun 27, 2019 Today's Tarot: Snot, Beauty, and Tea for Pain
- Feb 28, 2018 Today's Tarot: The World is in the Seed
- Aug 26, 2017 Tarot as a Tool for Reality Construction