![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/tower-tarot-crop-Sweden-May62023TheTowerMarseillesTarotFortune.png\")
A cropped photo of the tarot card The Tower Credit: Emzzzz \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\nA cropped photo of the tarot card The Tower Credit: Emzzzz \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Dear Oracle,\u00a0<\/p>\n
I am on the precipice of a great change: I am about to become a mother in just a few short weeks. My pregnancy has been a wild journey, and I\u2019ve found myself turning inward and reflecting. I know my life is changing completely. It\u2019s been hard to do all the things I love (travel, events, making art) while growing this baby, but I\u2019m excited to see how the future unfolds. While I know I\u2019m in for a new \u201cnormal,\u201d I wanted to know if the cards had any advice on what to embrace in my new life as a mother and what to let go of.\u2014Moon<\/p>\n
Cards of What to Know: The Tower (reversed), Two of Wands
Cards of What to Embrace: Four of Swords (reversed), Queen of Wands (reversed)
Cards of What to Let Go Of: Four of Pentacles (reversed), The Moon (reversed)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dear Moon,<\/p>\n
First off, congratulations! I realize this column might reach you after the birth, so if it does, I hope it was successful, and everyone is healthy and doing well. If you\u2019re still waiting on the arrival of your child, I hope things are comfortable, and you feel as ready as you can be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first thing to know about welcoming your first child into your life is that everything will be completely different. The Tower has come up before in this column in terms of pregnancy, and it really is an accurate description. It is the Big Shake Up; your life changes completely at lightning speed, and you can get whiplash. A lot of people find the change destabilizing: the lack of sleep, the anxiety, the trying to figure out why the baby is crying. It\u2019s hard! But coupled with that destabilization is also hope.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Two of Wands is a card of hope and abundance. Your hard labor (literally!) is beginning to come to fruition. It\u2019s watching the growth of something joyfully. There\u2019s more work ahead, but it\u2019s about enjoying the moment. So while you are dealing with the Herculean task of new motherhood, you\u2019ll also get to see this wonderful new little person exist. Their personalities emerge fairly quickly, and you get to meet your kid. It\u2019s incredibly exciting!<\/p>\n
Are you a Tampa Bay area local who wants a free tarot reading as part of this column? Send your questions to oracle@cltampa.com<\/a> or DM @theyboracle on Instagram<\/a>. See more of Caroline and learn about her services at carolinedebruhl.com<\/a><\/p>\n As you enter this new phase of life, it is important to recognize that life won\u2019t bounce back to what it was before you got pregnant. This doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll never enjoy those things you valued before, but it will look different. At this moment, it is time for a serious rest. The Four of Swords is a card of going to ground and letting your ego go. This season will be a quiet time for you\u2014both literally because you\u2019ll have a sleeping baby and metaphorically. You\u2019ll be forced to slow way down, and as those long hours draw out, you\u2019ll learn how to move into your new identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n You mention creating art and traveling, so it doesn\u2019t surprise me that you may be learning how to become the passionate mother, the Queen of Wands. This queen is a protective mother, a mama bear if there ever was, but also a warm mother, one who\u2019s creative and nurturing. You mention making art, and I think the Queen of Wands is the perfect representation of the artist-mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the next few months, you\u2019ll learn to weave your artistic self with your mother self and become this whole individual. Since you\u2019ll have a lot of quiet time on your hands, I\u2019d suggest the book The Baby on The Fire Escape by Julie Philips. It\u2019s a nonfiction book that looks at the lives of many artist-mothers and how they did both. (Note: many people will tell you that you cannot be both a great artist and a great mother. That\u2019s bullshit. It requires a lot of finagling, but it can be done!)<\/p>\n As you are becoming the mother you\u2019re meant to be, it\u2019s important to remember that rigid expectations are not beneficial. There is a perfectionist streak to the Four of Pentacles, one that\u2019s rooted in fear. Paired with the subconscious of the Moon, I think that you might cause yourself lots of unnecessary stress if you tried to hold yourself to an impossible standard. If you\u2019re on social media at all, your algorithm has certainly been poisoned with a skewed version of motherhood and a bunch of people telling you how you\u2019re going to fuck up your kid.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019re not, I\u2019m sure you have thought about how your parenting would go. But it\u2019s important to tease out what you actually value and what you expect to happen. I remember so distinctly my husband holding our two-week-old daughter and saying, \u201cI don\u2019t want us to be a Ms. Rachel house. I want her to listen to 1920s jazz,\u201d and me wholeheartedly agreeing. Eighteen months later, we all knew every single Ms. Rachel song. It was an expectation that we wouldn\u2019t do any screen time because what I valued was that she only be exposed to things that would help her brain. And you know what? Watching Ms. Rachel helped with that.\u00a0<\/p>\n You will have to pivot multiple times in your parenting journey. You\u2019ll have to figure out what\u2019s actually serving you and your family and do it, even if it looks different from what you expect, even if it looks different from other people. Your life and family system is unique. It\u2019s about finding what works for you all.<\/p>\n I will also say that the Four of Pentacles is also a card for therapy, and The Moon can be a card for depression. One in seven women suffer from postpartum depression, so it\u2019s important to check in with yourself and get support if\/when you need it.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is going to be a completely new world for you. It can be exciting and terrifying and joyful and exhausting and hilarious, all in equal measures. I hope this journey is enriching and as smooth as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n Congratulations again, my dear.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Oct. 08 \u2013 14, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t