Monthly Medicine | May is Stepping it Up

Determination is in my bones. A desire to charge ahead with all that I want has been lingering for some weeks now. It’s as if the arrival of spring, tulips, and more people taking it to the streets and sidewalks stirred within me energy and motivation that was severely lacking only months prior. For whatever reason, attempting to get what you really want and desire just seems easier when the skies are bright, the weather is warm, and your windows are open. Turning to you, what powerful, go-getting, trail-blazing force showed itself in the last weeks of April?

The Knight of Wands is a wonderful companion and force to embody when you’d like to burst forth on a path or find yourself already at the starting lines of one. What are you giddy about? Where do you ultimately want to be? What blue and cloudless skies have shown themselves to you? Where are you directing all of your energy and in what way? This Court Card buddy is a spunky presence that encourages you to keep striving forward, to let that horse carry you ahead while things are still hot, and to employ a little tunnel vision to really hone in on the desired end game. This isn’t the time for petty distractions, plain and simple. You’re probably thinking, why is May about stepping it up if this energy is peachy and extremely useful?

As marvelous and driven as the Knight of Wands can be, there are moments when they’re a real brat. Think teenage energy at its worst. Think being easily distracted by something glimmering on the periphery that will ultimately prove to be a waste of your time. Think sometimes acting in your worst interests. One prime example of this energy that I recently discovered is the character of Sophia in Girlboss. As much as she wants her business to expand so she can rake in the big vintage-flipping bucks, she’s stubborn, refuses to see that a little guidance wouldn’t hurt, and downright rude and privileged. This is where the Emperor’s structural magic would do some damn good for the oftentimes bratty Knight, who could benefit from the reining in, toning down, or molding of their energy.

Considering what I just mentioned, this May is asking you to take it to the next level in a more mature fashion. As much as I personally dislike this rigid, patriarchal figure, there is some sweet medicine present in the Emperor. There’s a lasting foundation that won’t crack under pressure. There’s discipline and levelheadedness. There’s momentum that’s more of the slow yet steady variety (versus the knight’s giant burst). There’s bullet-pointed and outlined structure where before there was a fleeting grasp of what supposedly needs to be done and when. When you think of a spectrum, the often times immature Knight is on one end and the Emperor is on the other. Yet, as different as these cards are, opposing even, there are similarities that deserve to be noticed. Both are outwardly active and representative of Fire energy to some degree. Both have an urging to get what they ultimately want. Both are seen in a dry desert setting with little to no water in sight, which I feel signifies being filled with the impulse to act free from emotional baggage and feelings of insecurity. When you think about it, both the Knight of Wands and the Emperor have the desire to get shit done, only the former needs a hell of a lot more guidance and life experience to master the art of successfully obtaining what they want.

Even though the Knight of Wands may appear to be more fun and fancy-free, trust that the medicine of the Emperor will take you where you need to be. Trust in the taking of a little extra time to plan every last detail out. Trust the emergence of the Emperor showing itself to you as a more skilled individual, a parent or family member who has years of experience on you, a realtor or mortgage lender who knows exactly what’s expected of you, or a no-nonsense figure that’s eager to show you exactly what you’re doing incorrectly. This Emperor energy isn’t the warmest in the world, but what it can build and create and stabilize is pretty fantastic!