As above, so below

So “as above, so below” isn’t just about the beautiful things we come to experience. It also includes our struggles, our challenges, and some of the lessons we’re facing right now.

As I reflect on the Magician card, I think about our capacity for creation. If you look at the card, it shows you all the tools you need.

The sword represents your agency—your direction in life, your control over your talents, your gifts, yourself, your thoughts, and your soul.

The wand represents your gifts, the things given to you to create while you’re here. Those gifts are also part of how you expand.

The pentacles represent what you receive from those gifts, from the things you came here to do. It can also come through other people. It’s a reminder that no matter what happens, you will always be resourced. There will always be something and/or someone available to support you. No matter what you go through in life, there will always be another opportunity, another way forward.

Then there are the cups, which represent your relationships, your connections, and how you engage with the collective. All of these things are provided to us as we enter this life.

But one of the things we often miss when it comes to the Magician card is the snake around the Magician’s waist. According to the Kabbalah, the snake represents opposition. Not opposition in the sense that you’re being prevented from doing what you came here to do, but opposition as the challenges that accompany your path.

So whatever it is you do in life, know this: whatever challenges you face are there for your expansion. Every time you move through them, you have the necessary tools. You don’t have to live in fear that you’ll run out or that you’ll somehow be left without support. You are the creator. You can create.

Now, you might say, “I don’t want to experience certain things anymore,” and that’s okay.

If you believe in the higher self, you also know that it is guiding your journey. If there are experiences you feel you’ve outgrown, lessons you’ve already learned, or patterns you’re ready to release, then you can choose a different path. You can revisit those agreements, release what no longer serves you, and make new choices.

But it’s also worth asking your higher self, “What is best for my soul? Have I gotten everything I need from this experience for my soul’s evolution?”

If the lesson is complete, then choose differently. If there’s still wisdom to be gathered, perhaps your next step isn’t to escape the experience, but to move through it with greater awareness.

Keep in mind that no matter what you choose to make new or different, because the goal is always expansion, you will encounter some form of challenge. It may not be the same challenges you’ve faced before, but it will be a new set of challenges. And challenges aren’t meant to be bad. They’re only limiting when we become stuck in them. Their purpose is to expand us.

As above so below.