Looking at the 5 of Swords reversed in the Pagan Cats Tarot, I see a fluffy cat enthralled by the ribbon if shimmering light that is spiraling around her. he sits on 5 swords and there are 2 cats in the background walking away from her location. It’s as though in capturing or claiming these swords, the cat has unleashed magically energy stored in them.

For some reason the 5 of Swords reminds me of the old TV show The Highlander. I get the sense that the cat is absorbing the energies unleased by the other cats when she defeated them. Of course they don’t seem to be harmed physically but they do appear demoralized and leery. What I also find intriguing is that the cat walking off to the left is black, the cat walking to the right is white and the central cat is pie-bald. She combines the essences and energies of both the black and the white, the left and the right. she is the balanced center.

The Death card shows a fluffy black cat sitting near a grave adorned with a black stone Celtic cross tombstone and black or silver roses. a scythe rests near the cat’s front paws. She wears an amulet that seems to be a silver rose too.

She (why do I always view cats as female?) is motionless and focused on the headstone. The scythe rests at her paws but she seems oblivious to it. It’s as though she isn’t concerned or in need of its power. Is she the spirit guide/guardian of the person resting in the grave? Is she the one who measures out each cat’s life – and counts which life each cat is living? Her gaze is piercing and clear – she is unemotional and does her job well because she knows it is a transition.

Both these cards are reversed which can suggest a few things. One is that I need to apply these qualities in myself – balanced, not engaging in pointless intellectual struggles, using clarity and focus to help me transition to a new phase in my life. On another level it might be warning that my choices and behaviors right now will actively prevent these changes from occurring. That my resistance to finding some balance and letting certain things in my life die will prevent me from transitioning to a new phase.

I pulled another card for additional clarification – The Hermit. The image on this card reminds me of Grizabella, the Glamour Cat from the Cats (the character who sings Memory). She walks alone up a mountainside, a staff with a lantern hung at the end clutched by her tail. Her clothing is rather shabby and worn. She is obviously no interested in appearances; more important matters fill her thoughts. Like Grizabella, this cat has seem the darker side of life and learned lessons from it. She sometimes serves as the light in the darkness to others because she manages to control her fears and venture out into the dark wilderness and bring back knowledge and insights. This cat is telling me that the lessons I need to learn can only be completed by a solo journey. No one else’s journey will give me the answers.