March begins with the Ten of Staves (Wands) Reversed
The deck used to create this spread is Vikings Tarot by Manfredi Toraldo with Artwork by Sergio Tisselli, published by Lo Scarabeo. You will find the Vikings Tarot title and keywords for each card below the corresponding image.
Stórverkr carries the beams for the enclosure of Asgard:
Over-tiring / Deceit / Double-crossing
This is very much a FML card concerned with feeling over-burdened and worn down. If we worked hard in February, thinking we’d be comfortable now because of those efforts, this is a particularly galling situation to find ourselves in.
Regular tarot puts the boot in here, with the frankly impertinent suggestion that it’s all our own fault: that we chose to take on more than we could carry, we refused to trust our colleagues and delegate, and the suggestion that we might have been underhand and sneaky, trying to get one over on others or exploit them.
What. A. Cheek. We are not always the ones at fault.
This card can appear when you haven’t anything to reproach yourself for. You might have tried your hardest, and yet your goal keeps slipping away from you, and you are putting in endless slog, but making no progress. One could think of it as a wage-stagnation-price-inflation card.
The Viking Tarot illustrates this card with Stórverkr, whose story features double crosses, love-struck horses, and an interesting and unexpected pregnancy.
How March plays out: your week-by-week guide!
Week 1 - The Emperor (IV):
Ullr – Powerful and generous protector / father / authority / solver of material problems
Interestingly, Manfredi Toraldo chooses not to give this most patriarchal of cards to Odin (who is literally the All-Father) but instead to Ullr who he describes as follows: ‘more ancient ruler than Odin, of whom he is a splendid version … represents the supreme character and organizer of creation. He took over the throne of Odin for ten years.’
I am sure Toraldo’s description is well sourced, but I prefer to think of Ullr as Odin-Lite. Ullr is the God of skiing, and hearty winter sporting pursuits in general, and when he hops onto Odin’s throne so that Odin can go rambling about in disguise doing tricky, complicated Odin things, Ullr seems to rule with calmness and composure and nothing particularly glorious or disastrous happens in Odin’s absence. In short, he’s a confident and calming hand upon the tiller.
Which is just what we need this week, to free us from our too-heavy burdens. Exemplify Ullr energy by laying some of those burdens down, and make sure to do so in a way that is straightforward and unapologetic. Go into any/all power struggles this week with the calm certainty that you are The Daddy. If anyone tries to make you feel bad, lean forward from the hips, knees akimbo, and look them in the eye with an expression that says you are not to be challenged on this. NB You are Ullr, not Thor – so be assertive but not aggressive, ready for a scrap if needed but not belligerent, confident not blustering … you get the gist.
If an Ullr-Daddy appears in your life this week, get them to set you up with a nice little flat in town. If a lesser patriarchal archetype turns up, like Thor, avoid.
Week 2- Ace of Staves (Wands)
The Head of Mimir – Origin / Debt / Instinct
Upright Aces signify new beginnings, new endeavours, new ways of thinking, and good foundations in general. The Ace of Wands signifies a new job, business, or creative project, and the energy, innovation and vigour required to succeed in that new venture and – sometimes – the birth of a child.
Which is why I find The Head of Mimir and the Viking tarot keywords an odd fit for this card.
I deviate entirely from Toraldo’s interpretation of this card, and I wish there was room in the Vikings Tarot guide for him to have explained his thinking on this one, because I can’t. Instead, let’s marvel at the striking image and consider what it might mean. I think we should be en garde against deception this week because The Head of Mimir is famously sulky, grudge-bearing and duplicitous!
Speaking of duplicity …
Week 3 - Seven of Chalices (Cups) Reversed
The gifts of Torgerdr Holgabrudr – Spells / Premonition / Revenge
Right way up the Seven of Cups is a very nice card that encourages us to retire to a silken bower with a hot-water bottle and a flask of opium tea and spend some time in daydream. Unfortunately, our Seven of Cups this week is Reversed, and we don’t get to slack off and build castles in the air … instead, we are urged to ground ourselves in harsh reality!
This card suggests that we are not being realistic about our current situation and consequently are in danger of making the wrong choice(s). Following as it does hard on the heels of the Head of Mimir, I think it also warns us against placing our faith in oracles – ironic, but that’s tarot for you.
If you have a wise and honest friend, try stress-testing your ideas and notions on them, to see if this shows up areas where you aren’t being objective. If your current circle contains no-one able to provide this helpful service for you, perhaps try to avoid setting anything irrevocable in motion until next week, when we find …
Week 4 - Eight of Swords Reversed
Starkadr (who sacrificed Vikarr, his own king, to Odin) Crisis / Conflicts / Bad News
Having read the Viking tarot keywords listed above, you might be thinking, ‘Oh God, how bad can this month get?’ I am here to assure you that when it comes to the Suit of Swords, it can get infinitely worse than the upright Eight of Swords, which is a reasonably benign card compared to some of the others that lurk in this suit.
Trad tarot interprets the Eight of Swords as a signifier of Frustration, Disillusionment and Restriction – all of which is made worse by the tarot helpfully suggesting that it is our own fault we are in this sorry state. The card encourages you to psychologically ‘step free’ from the binding situation you find yourself in through acknowledging your contribution to this unhappy position and taking responsibility for it.
Are circumstances beyond your control forcing you to hold fire on everything you want to do? ‘Wait it out’, says trad Tarot. ‘Sacrifice King Vikaar to Odin!’ roars Starkadr, pictured above having done just that.
Week 5 - The Hermit
Heimdall – Research / wisdom / prudence / detachment from material things
Heimdall is famous for having Nine Mothers (the poor thing) and a very big horn.
It’s comforting that The Hermit appears to shore up the introspection required by the preceding cards. It emphasises that all that anguished self-scrutiny and doubt is necessary. When the Hermit appears in a spread, his message is a simple one. In the immortal words of Aisleyne in Big Brother 7: “You better know yourself!”
The Hermit card is about self-imposed isolation, introspection, and solitude. If you have access to a remote cabin in a northern forest where you can roll in the snow and beat yourself with birch twigs to stimulate mind and body, this is the perfect setting in which to play out Hermit energies. If you don’t have this, you will have to be more imaginative.
Be as selfish as you like about taking time for yourself but don’t spend all of it watching Netflix and eating Monster Munch: do some proper thinking and take a fearless inventory of self.
March closes with the Knight of Chalices (Cups)
Odr – Messenger/ invitations / encouragement
Finally, some encouragement! Traditionally, Knights represent young men, but I say they represent youth of any gender: the key aspect of the Knight is YOUTH so expect positive interaction with a person between the ages of fifteen and thirty. The Chalices/Cups represent emotion and love in all its forms, so this card might also signify anything from a flirtation to a lifelong love affair.
Vikings Tarot gives to the Knights the realms and meanings that are more usually associated with Pages (one card down in the courtly pecking order) and reserves for the Knaves (there are none in this spread) all the love interest stuff.
One way or another, this Knight should hold in their sticky mitt enticing calls to positive action: a lucrative new job, an invitation to collaborate, or simply a quick bunk-up behind the bins …
The TLDR for March:
False fronts are all around this month. We kick it off struggling beneath the weight of something we thought we wanted, that’s turning out to be more than we can handle right now. Fear not! In the first week of March, The Emperor appears and is willing to lend us his manly manliness.
Here’s where the first piece of duplicity comes in: The Emperor might be a real person, one that’s willing to lend you money/fix your guttering/smite your enemies: if so, don’t let on that he has saved the day! Pretend you saved it yourself. If there is no burly All-Father substitute available you are going to have to save it yourself, by emulating The Emperor.
Once you’ve successfully manifested The Emperor’s cool calm, and his endless faith in his own abilities, and convinced all nosy onlookers that you can handle that burden just fine, thank you, and you’ll be dealing with it in your own way and in your own time, then (and only then) should you retreat to a walled garden and scream, in preparation for the challenges of mid-March.
Ah, mid-March: the Ace of Wands (Staves) should mean it’s a time of excitement, creativity and new ventures, but we’re using Viking Tarot here, and the Head of Mimir never wants anyone, anywhere, to have a good time. The Seven of Cup (Chalices) Reversed fill us with self-doubt, second-guessing, deception and indecision, leading somewhat inevitably to a state of inertia and ennui that could lead you – as it led Starkadyr – to taking drastic action in Week 4 just to move things along.
Minimise the chances of losing your mind and or committing grievous acts of bodily harm during Weeks 2 and 3 by bringing some Flora Poste (protagonist in Stella Gibbons’ Cold Comfort Farm) energies into play, so that you don’t go full Aunt Ada Doom during this stressful time.
Flora Poste, (for those who haven’t read this excellent book), ‘rescues’ her Starkadder cousins from a destiny of inertia and howling misery through simple acts of practicality, often centred around hygiene. Whilst you are hiding from the world, attempting to take frank and fearless inventory of your strengths and weaknesses, read/re-read Cold Comfort Farm, and you might as well do some housework while you’re at it. If you have enough disposable income, this would be a good time to buy a new washing up mop.
Following this course of action should allow you to fulfil the promise of Week 4’s Hermit card. When you emerge from your self-imposed retreat glowing with energy and the smugness of having tackled your metaphorical and material grouting, it will be with new certainty and a willingness to take a twirl around the dancefloor with The Knight of Cups (Chalices in this deck).
DECK USED THROUGHOUT: Vikings Tarot by Manfredi Toraldo Artwork by Sergio Tisselli published by Lo Scarabeo
MARCH NOTES:
Two Major Arcana cards brace the reading, appearing in the first and last weeks of the month.
All figures portrayed in the cards are solitary, pointing to a sense of/need for isolation.
Both The Suit of Wands (Staves) and The Suit of Cups (Chalices) appear twice.
The Spread is dominated by the Absence of The Suit of Coins
This is the second month with not a Coin/Pentacle (money, material reality) to be seen, contributing to the sense of over-whelm and no firm ground beneath our feet that permeates the reading.
Colours of the spread are muted and misty, with only occasional flashes of strong colour.
Home furnishing suggestions are limited to imposing chairs and fancy goblets.
