The focus here is ‘coping in the moment‘, drawing on the skills and wisdom of the inner parent that is present in each and every one of us: for who better to assist us than that wiser, more worldly part; the part who has been here before, multiple times; the part that was also inherited, who has lived in our mother and father, our grandparents, and all of their mothers and fathers who came and lived and breathed before?

When life is hard. When situations are restrictive and limiting. When the outlook appears somewhat bleak. When there is no certainty or clear forward path. When we lack power and control, personal autonomy. And we can all relate at different times in our life to these. We need a broader perspective, a higher vantage point, a less biased view. We need someone who can step outside of the picture, or who can come in from outside and sit with us in our discomfort within it. We need someone who has been there before, who has experienced these things, or similar, in their own lifetimes. We need us, from the past and from the future and from parallel lives. And we need the US who existed inside our ancestors as cells. For this Us is stronger and wiser and much more grounded and able to guide us, like a therapist or a mentor, only with more precision and skill.

The Seven of Fire, also the Seven of Wands, delivers an answer with a power kick; more like a truth bomb, a dose of tough love, a Joan of Arc no more hiding behind proverbial skirts.

The woman in the card suffers no fools and takes no prisoners. She says “get with me, or get thee gone”. Her message, as stated, “Stand up for yourself and your beliefs! Have confidence. Challenge those in power but also choose your battles wisely.” is perhaps exactly what we need to hear. She knows the answers to her own problems. She understands the source of her pain. She sees what is blocking her and she steps into her own authority, firmly taking responsibility for her path. No more waiting for a saviour, no more wasting time with the wrong person and people, no more suffering fools… The world has changed. The world is still changing. And we have changed too. What fitted doesn’t necessarily fit comfortably now. We have seen where we were dragging dead weight. We know our allies and we see our enemies for what they really are. Just because someone is our …….. (fill in the blanks) it doesn’t mean we are supposed to be with them, to suffer under them, with them, for them. We are sovereign and free. The outside is trying to tell us otherwise. It is a projection of the inside. In realising that we are our own saviour, we are our own hero, parent, guide, counsel and friend, we realise we are infinite and eternal and capable of magnificent things.

Do not limit yourself to your reality. Open your eyes and enter into your imagination. Test that space. Build a world inside it. Breathe life into it so that it comes to be. Know, above everything, that you are powerful, mighty, capable and brave. You didn’t get this far, suffer this much, only to quit.

Often, you are the answer you seek. The path you look around for lies right at your feet.