Weekly Card Pull 2-22-26

The Four of Swords

This week’s card is the Four of Swords. Although it looks ominous, it’s really a call for you to turn inward.

It looks like this week may be one that’s a little fraught. Everything may be too loud, too intrusive, just too much. We’ve all had weeks like this. Everyone has an opinion that we aren’t looking for or even asking for; they’re making so much noise that we can’t even think. This week let’s sit back and go quiet.

The Four of Swords isn’t telling us to hide from life, it’s saying we’re supposed to return to ourselves and our inner knowing. To look inwards and find the answers. We know what we are trying to do, or what we want to have happen. We know, we just can’t find it. We look out the window…and then there it is…

The crowd.

It’s outside the door, shouting for attention, for us to listen to each idea, suggestion, and every lesson they’ve learned. That murder of crows raising a ruckus so that we can’t even hear our own voice. Of course, they mean well. But that’s not what we want, nor what we need. We have the answers, we need some quiet.

So, this week is a time for some self-care and quiet time for contemplation and reflection. Read a book. Take a long, hot bath and just soak. When was the last time you did either of those things, just for you? Just to relax and let the bustle of the world fade into the background? When was the last time you lit a candle just because you wanted to enjoy the gentle glow?

The week ahead is the time to do the things that bring you peace, relaxation, and the quiet that restores you. You can’t run on high all the time. That stress-inducing level of activity doesn’t help you figure things out, much less function in a way that’s healthy and productive. You aren’t withdrawing toward inaction, just the opposite. You’re withdrawing into your inner self, the one that knows what you need to do and how you want to get there.

So, here’s a gentle spell idea if you need one. Not advice, not a suggestion, just an idea if you need one. It’s my favorite way of finding my quiet place, so I wanted to share it for those who can’t think of something in the moment.

Find a sugar scrub at the store or make your own. Whatever brand or type you like. Set up your bathroom in a way that makes you want to just linger as long as possible. Draw your bath, add some Epsom salts (scented if you like) to draw out the stiffness that stress causes. Add a few drops of a

relaxing essential oil, like lavender (the boss of essential oils, IMHO). Get your sugar scrub open and within reach. Light a candle or two, or more if you like. If music sends you into bliss or meditation, listen to what you love. Then climb in and luxuriate in this time, just feeling the tension leave. Before you get out, take your sugar scrub and set an intention for yourself. Use it all over, seeing the tension and overwhelm melt away.

Personally, I like to do that by taking a shower after I soak. I use it often just to scrub away everything that stuck to me during the day, it’s a ritual for me. I don’t always have time for a hot bath, but I can do it in the shower just as easily. I always marvel at how that takes any negativity I’ve run into and flushes it away from me. So, you don’t have to have a tub to do this spell, make a bowl of water with oils or herbs to rinse the detritus of life away at the end of your shower. And if you really feel grimy, like my empath-self often does, take a sugar scrub and press intention into it so that it becomes a spell unto itself. Even if it’s store-bought, it can be magickal.