Get ready for September 2023 with a five-card tarot spread asking, “What do we need to know this month?” In this tarot reading for the first month of fall, the message is to use conflict as an opportunity to end self-sabotage, creating better relationships with yourself and others.
What Is Tarot?
Tarot cards originated in Italy as playing cards during the 15th century. The Romani people were the first to use these decks as a divinatory tool. Roma also brought other divination practices with them, like palmistry and tea leaf-reading, when they left India in the 10th and 11th centuries and arrived in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries.
How I Read Tarot
I read tarot, palms, and tea leaves in my Romani family’s tradition, taught to me by my grandmother. The five cards below represent embodiment (your energy right now); situation (what’s around you at the moment); obstacle (a struggle you’re facing); action (what to do about it); and a lesson (what you will learn from this month.)
Your Tarot Reading For September 2023
Embodiment: Ten of Swords
This card has a bad reputation, but I love it because it signals the opportunity to confront and reject toxic cycles in your life — think: bad habits, limiting beliefs, unhealthy relationship patterns, and self-sabotage. Usually you’re ready to do this hard work because you have reached your breaking point, which can be pretty uncomfortable. If you’re feeling low, you’re exactly where you need to be. You’re ready to get out of your own way by leaving self-destructive tendencies behind. It’s time to rise.
Situation: Five of Wands
The Five of Wands acknowledges that if you’re confronting unhealthy patterns in your relationships, some conflict is bound to pop up as you make changes. Don’t avoid these issues — that only results in resentment and stifled communication. The way you conduct yourself during difficult times matters, so aim to be kind, clear, and fair. Dealing with discomfort now can ultimately help you problem-solve and strengthen your relationships. It’s the first step toward improving honest communication and trust.
Obstacle: Three of Wands
The obstacle of the Three of Wands reminds us that collaboration requires trust and vulnerability, which aren’t always easy. It can be scary to risk the harmony and safety in your relationships by advocating for yourself, disagreeing, expressing needs, or otherwise sharing your feelings (whether it’s at work, with friends, or in a romantic relationship). Repressing your truth can lead to the appearance of peace, but it’s not authentic. Speaking honestly will nurture good relationships, signal the need for change in other ones, and alert you to connections that can’t or won’t work.
Action: Hierophant
The Hierophant’s energy is here to help ground you through discipline, tradition, and structure. Consider your values. How can they guide you to be a better version of yourself? While it’s true that certain issues in your life stem from others, you play a role, too. Take a close look at your own bad habits and unhelpful beliefs. Also, consider the ways that certain hierarchies — like sexism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia — have negatively impacted you. Practice spotting their insidious influences, and consider how you can liberate yourself and others from these systems. This is not something you’re expected to do alone. It’s OK to ask for help and guidance. Create new, better traditions for yourself and for the world.
Lesson: Knight of Pentacles
The Knight of Pentacles suggests that your efforts will pay off, particularly when it comes to your career, health, home, and abundance mindset. You’re ready to focus on these elements of your life and collaborate with others to reach your goals. Take action, address conflicts with kindness, and treat obstacles as opportunities to learn and grow.
How To Use September 2023's Tarot Lessons
Capitalize on the season’s “back to school” energy by undertaking a new project that benefits your career, health, home, or abundance mindset. Aim high; pick something that would feel like a dream come true. Does that feel daunting? Great. It’s an opportunity to work through self-doubt, impostor syndrome, perfection, shame, and anything else that haunts you. Don’t get bogged down in worrying about success or failure. Instead, give yourself over to a big goal and let yourself enjoy the process. Whether you’re writing your memoir, applying for graduate school, building a tiny house, or tackling some other adventure, your ideas aren’t too grand — they’re right on track.
Personally, I’ve been practicing putting this lesson into action by taking Romani language classes. Studying a new language is a vulnerable task because you learn by making mistakes. It helped me shed the shame and weight I felt for not speaking my heritage language (my grandmother did not learn or pass down her mother tongue because of the Holocaust). Reclaiming this beautiful language makes me feel brave and resilient, because that too is part of the Romani experience.
