How Work Is Hurting You: Tarot Pick a Card

Hello, my soul friends! Today I have a reading about the struggles you’re facing on the job. It’s not easy to make a living, but sometimes the struggles are worse than normal. If you were attracted to this reading then the universe has advice on how you can heal that.

All you have to do is pick the pile that sticks out to you the most. Which illustration inspires your intuition? That’s your pile and that’s your tarot reading.

After you select your cards, scroll down to your pile or choose below.

Here I’m using the Dark Mirror Oracle deck (this is an affiliate link that supports me if you make a purchase). Remember that you have free will. That means you can manifest the positive and avoid the negative of any reading.

Now it’s time to heal. You’ve got this!

Pile 1: Globe

Out of Place

The reason work is hurting you is due to your first card, Hiding Your True Self. It’s common to put on a mask when you’re on the job, but some masks are more false than others.

For example, a common mask may be in what you wear. Many people attribute their identity to how they choose to appear. While some people may not mind wearing a suit to work, others would feel as if this was lying to everyone they met, including themselves.

However, masks aren’t only an aesthetic thing. Someone introverted, but not shy may not have a problem engaging in casual, fleeting conversations at work. However, they may struggle with intense networking in the evening and find certain careers impossible for them to do because of it.

There’s something about your current work that isn’t a match for your identity. This could be limited to the specific project or location you’re at, but it may be related to the entire career. Either way, you need to change your circumstances to be in alignment with your identity.

Slow Down

You’re making sacrifices for the future. The second card, Today for Tomorrow, means you’re making rational choices to improve your future circumstances, but something about your approach is making you miserable. You’re going too far.

I get it. Transforming your life is instantaneous. Someone who wants to switch from being a cashier to a doctor is going to be on a long journey. There’s no lucky break.

But while you will need to make sacrifices, your sacrifices can’t be too great. Happiness is determined by two facets: long-term fulfillment, which is what you’re working on right now, and immediate joy.

Most people focus more on immediate joy and disregard long-term fulfillment, but you’re the opposite. The cashier may think it’s appropriate to study eighty hours a week to be the best doctor possible, but they may be so exhausted from the experience that they don’t laugh for years.

Rest. Go at a slower pace or at least set time aside to just enjoy the moment. Can you wear this mask for as long as you’re planning to? Take it off during the weekend at least!

Choose to Be Whole

Your last card is Fragmentation. Your identity should be holistic, not a jigsaw. What I mean by this is that some people think of their work self as different from their home self.

It’s fine to act differently in separate circumstances, but how you act should always be in alignment with who you are. Spending forty hours a week as someone else isn’t going to make you happy.

I see this often with teachers, usually when it comes to discipline. They’re either too strict or too lax and this eats away at them, especially if they have their own children. Who they are at work and how they live their values are either artificially constricted by the school or done because they believe this is how teachers must act.

Eventually, they have a crisis of identity and some quit the profession entirely.

If you continue to let your work self fragment away from your holistic identity, you may discover that you choose to abandon it or some other aspect of your life.

I loved reading for you! If it resonated, let me know. You can also leave a tip on ko-fi or book a private reading and get 10% off until December 31 on my Etsy.

Pile 2: Wheel

You’re Being Targeted

Your work is hurting you because of perceived fault. The first card, Atonement, suggests that you either made a mistake or somebody perceived you made a mistake. I don’t think it’s important which one as those who chose this pile may fall on either side.

Unfortunately, this perceived fault has had incredibly negative consequences for you. Those who work with others may find themselves being stabbed in the back or betrayed in some manner. If you didn’t actually make a mistake, this is especially traumatic, but even if you did, you may feel as if the other people involved are being a bit heartless.

Those who work alone are beating themselves up. You need to learn to forgive yourself for past mistakes. After all, the person you’re responsible for is yourself. You’re the only one who has the power to forgive your mistakes on the job.

Regardless of where you work, this negativity is making it difficult for you to continue working effectively. When someone feels as if they’re under attack, it’s impossible to give their best because they’ll always feel as if their best isn’t good enough.

Get Outta There

The next card in your spread, Colorless Angel, indicates a depressive episode. This could manifest as actual depression in which you no longer feel joy or fulfillment in the work you’re doing or it could be you choosing to stay out of sight so you won’t be attacked anymore.

Normally, I would suggest reaching out to the people you work with to resolve the conflict, but the third card indicates that they’re going to be especially vindictive. Since other people are the source of your pain if you work with others, the healing starts with them, not you.

You’ll need to go higher up to seek protection or switch jobs.

As for those of you who work alone, you’re going to need to do some self-care. This may include journaling or therapy, but I’m certain regardless of the level of support you need, one thing you’re going to want to do is to find ways to experience joy in leisure or hobbies in the meantime. You need reminders of joy when your life feels colorless.

Watch Out!

The final card is Revenge. Now it’s not certain this will happen, but there’s the possibility if you don’t follow the advice from the second card.

If you work with others, someone is either planning to hurt you further or is trending in that direction. That’s why it’s important to seek help from a higher-up or switch jobs. Remember that you don’t owe a workplace your mental health if coworkers are toxic. You can leave. You have the right to leave.

As for those working alone, this revenge would be self-sabotage. The longer you perceive the fault as something inherent to your character rather than a passing mistake, the more likely you are to avoid opportunities or destroy current projects.

Healing from your depressive episode with self-care or therapy will help prevent this inclination.

I loved reading for you! If it resonated, let me know. You can also leave a tip on ko-fi or book a private reading and get 10% off until December 31 on my Etsy.

Pile 3: Gramophone

You Need to Accept Effort as Part of the Equation

The first card, The Temple of My Body, indicates a focus on the self. While it could refer to traditionally self-destructive habits, I actually think your focus on self-care is turning against you.

There’s this weird paradox when it comes to rest. Too much, and you start to be aimless and unhappy. Some people are so afraid of being burned out at work that they do the bare minimum or less!

Here’s an example: a writer doesn’t want to feel pressure when they’re writing a novel, so they pursue lots of leisure while they wait to be inspired. But months later, they’ve only written a few chapters. Turns out inspiration didn’t strike as much as they wanted it to.

You should feel motivated and enjoy your work, but to assume that work, something which requires concentrated effort, would be effortless just isn’t reasonable.

Choose Responsibility

Your next card, Alone in the World, reminds me of childhood. When young, most children feel liberated and pursue their interests when inspiration strikes.

This is fine for your hobbies, but when it comes to work, relying only on passion will fail you. No doctor goes to work just when they feel like it. If they don’t show up, people die.

But how do you work without passion?

People are motivated not only by passion but also by need. If you need to earn money to feed your children, you’ll write a hundred books if you have to. But often, people won’t do something until things get so bad that there’s no other option.

You need some pressurizing force in the external world to hold you to your work commitments, especially if you’re self-employed or you live as a dependent in someone else’s household.

Identify one responsibility that you can tie to your work that will pressure you to take it seriously. When all else fails, people sometimes get a plant or a pet. Now someone is counting on you.

Change Your Perspective

The last card in your spread is Bride in a Cage. You’re married to the idea of your job whether it’s good or bad for you. Because of this, you’re viewing work as something that happens to you rather than something you do.

This can happen with jobs you hate as well as with jobs you love. Knowing the difference between an internal and external locus of control is important.

A writer with an external locus of control will create a goal like “earn $100,000 a year” and despair when they can’t earn enough. But a writer with an internal locus of control will create a goal like “write two books a year” and likely publish and earn more than the first.

The reason why you focus so much on self-care and not putting in the effort you’d like is that you believe your success isn’t dependent on your effort but on outside forces. Sometimes it is, but often you still have power elsewhere.

Make your goals actions instead of achievement-oriented and you’ll heal your toxic perspective on effort.

I loved reading for you! If it resonated, let me know. You can also leave a tip on ko-fi or book a private reading and get 10% off until December 31 on my Etsy.