AUTHOR’S NOTE: It’s not uncommon during our life’s journey to encounter major pitfalls that can only be described as steeply plunging cliffs barring the way ahead. Assuming the risks have been identified far enough in advance to allow for timely deliberation, we may have a number of choices for dealing with them. My focus here is on their appearance in a tarot prediction.

We can jump right off like the Fool and trust to our luck; we can dangle from the rim like the Hanged Man and contemplate the height from which we must eventually plummet; or we can pick our way down along devious paths like the Hermit descending from the apex of his solitary climb (Paul Foster Case once observed that the Hermit’s mission is to return from his pilgrimage bearing wisdom for the masses). But I’m proposing that we simply step back from the brink and sort out our available options before proceeding.

In tarot terms, this decision-point is frequently signified by conceptually negative cards like the Tower or the 10 of Swords. While it’s a popular assumption that “there are no bad cards,” they can certainly make us feel threatened and elicit a spontaneous reaction no matter what our conscious mind tries to tell us. This is the knee-jerk impulse with which we’re all familiar. The goal of empowerment in these situations is to make our response less volatile, less “edgy” so we don’t make a careless misstep as we approach the precipice.

The best advice I can give a seeker is to pause before acting and think about the best route down or around the obstacle; this is the “take a deep breath and two steps back” recommendation I usually give when a daunting challenge looms. It falls under the heading of “Discretion is the better part of valor,” along with “Run away and live to fight another day.” It won’t always do to beat a hasty retreat that is more like an undisciplined rout, but on the other hand there is no use in blundering on heedlessly before the consequences of “taking a header” are fully understood. Although it may be a lot to ask in the heat of the moment, a single thought for self-preservation can be all it takes to avoid a disastrous fall, and I would be remiss not to mention it.

Some readers like to say “Just rely on your intuition and you can’t go wrong.” I’m nowhere near that sanguine because I believe that in many circumstances there are definitely cards that should be considered unfavorable for the querent’s prospects. These “red flags” are ignored at the seeker’s peril, and I’m not going to let them pass unannounced. I may not be insistent about them if the rest of the reading is encouraging, but I won’t be nonchalant either. If we trust the cards we should pay attention to all of their messages and shape our counsel accordingly.