Tarot Advice For How Each Zodiac Sign Can Summit Their Inner Mountain

All of us have challenges we have to face – our inner mountains that we must summit.  

Here is some tarot advice for each zodiac sign on how they can summit their inner mountain. The three cards for this reading are interpreted as follows: 

• What’s the Mountain? What is the difficulty or internal challenge that you are dealing with, what is the thing you face time and again? 
• What’s the Route? What path should you seek to get over this hurdle?
• What’s Your Rope? What is a foundational emotional anchor that you can use to help yourself stay on the path? 

Aries

The Mountain: 9 of Swords. You’re coping with a large dose of despondency and despair, and the difficulties you’ve been facing are a Dark Night of the Soul – and have manifested by plaguing you physically, mentally, and emotionally. Fear will grow to fill our entire minds and rule our lives if we allow it to.

The Route: 9 of Cups. When things get dark, remind yourself of what it is that makes you feel happy and content. Follow your contentment and feelings of satisfaction towards gratitude. 

Your Rope: King of Pentacles. To keep your focus on gratitude and away from despondency, remember times when people have been generous with you, or times when you’ve felt secure. Ground yourself.

Taurus

The Mountain: King of Cups. You have a lot of big emotions and exert careful control over them as much as possible. Maintaining tight, stoic control during times of turbulence and stress is extremely difficult, and will be a significant inner struggle.

The Route: Two of Cups. We do not walk this world alone – and one way for you to be able to navigate the challenging emotions that you’re feeling is to lean on those precious ones who share your journey of life with you.

Your Rope: Knight of Pentacles. You are pragmatic and dependable, and your willingness to put in the work to get the results you want will keep you moving steadily forward. 

Gemini

The Mountain: Four of Cups. Your normal connection to joy and wonder has weakened, and you haven’t been feeling as engaged in the world lately. If you aren’t careful, those feelings could easily fall into bitterness and cynicism. 

The Route: Nine of Pentacles. Remind yourself of all in your life that you have that makes you grateful. If you can recenter your focus on the good parts of the world you’ve created around you, it will be easier for you to move away from the emotional entropy of boredom and cynicism and back towards joy.

Your Rope: Three of Swords. Remember that just as the 3 of swords represents sorrow, heartbreak, and loss, it also represents the healing light those experiences can open us to.

Cancer

The Mountain: Page of Wands. You haven’t been enamored with any idea enough to actually set off and get momentum for a strong enough start. You’ve been too emotionally reserved to allow yourself the enthusiasm you need to begin and have either had a bunch of ideas fizzle out after a false start, or never get to the point of launch. 

The Route: Three of Cups. Friendships with people who celebrate our joys and comfort us during our trials can help guide us, not only through their comforting presence but through their ability to share their unique perspectives with us. There’s also something special and memorable about the experiences we’re able to share with others.

Your Rope: Two of Cups. Keep your focus on your emotional connections.

Leo

The Mountain: Seven of Swords. You’re going to have to strategize yourself out of a tough situation that includes difficulties like deception, sabotage, and uncertainty. Your challenge will be keeping a level head regardless of these challenges. Don’t give in to your temper.

The Route: The Fool. Divest yourself of pre-conceived notions before you set out on this challenge, and allow yourself to adopt a beginner’s mindset. Instead of relying on everything you think you know, allow yourself to see the situation with a new perspective and free of prior assumptions.

Your Rope: The Emperor. Be orderly in your approach, and disciplined in your implementation of your strategies.

Virgo

The Mountain: Three of Cups. Your friendships have changed, and when you finally do have time for your friends, it may feel as though things aren’t as open and joyous as they used to be. Reconnecting is exceptionally difficult in this fast-paced world.

The Route: The Hierophant. Sometimes the traditional paths are best, and instead of depending on technology or social media, make sure you ground time with those you care about by spending quality time as possible. If distance makes being offline impossible, focus on turning off distractions and engaging as fully as possible when you do have time to spend.

Your Rope: Three of Pentacles. Collaboration is key.

Libra

The Mountain: Strength. You haven’t been feeling as focused or as disciplined as you’d like, and your usual tactics to get things under control aren’t working, especially as you work through several issues. You’ll need to challenge yourself to be kinder and gentler in your approach towards discipline. Strength isn’t about domination through cruel force but through gentle and consistent guidance and compassion.

The Route: Knight of Wands. The best path to take to reach your goal is through bold and committed action. Be fearless in your compassion with yourself, and uncompromising in your kindness.

Your Rope: Page of Swords. Keeping yourself on this path will require you to be vigilant, and not let down your guard. 

Scorpio

The Mountain: The Hermit. You’ve been having challenges when it comes to being able to get the sort of alone time that is needed for contemplation, recuperation, and growth. It could be a variety of reasons keeping you away from being able to connect with your inner wisdom, but it’s vital that you recover the ability to spend some quiet time with just your own thoughts.

The Route: Knight of Cups. You have a deep connection with your feelings, and you can use them to help you work through how to best get the alone time that you need. Your intuitive connection with your feelings can guide you towards your inner wisdom.

Your Rope: Two of Wands. It may sound strange, but make and update a plan so you can track your progress. That way, when things become exceptionally challenging, you’ll have a way to keep your focus.

Sagittarius

The Mountain: King of Swords. You have been struggling to find a healthy center point, as you feel like you’ve been operating at the extremes when it comes to discipline. Either you’re ruthless and heartless in pursuit of your goals, or you are too gentle with yourself and find yourself unable to achieve anything meaningful. 

The Route: Six of Pentacles. Finding balance is important, and understanding where we are in a situation is important to maintaining that balance. When receiving, be sure to only take what you need and when giving, do so with no assumptions or strings.

Your Rope: Two of Pentacles. You’re going to be challenged with having to keep a lot of things going, and it will require you to split your focus and multitask. 

Capricorn

The Mountain: Nine of Swords. When fears loom large, they can overtake all facets of our lives. The impending sense of doom and feelings of hopelessness that accompany it can rob us of our mental peace, strength, and our ability to access gratitude. Our minds are at the center of this expansive experience we are having, and when turned against us it can be overwhelming.

The Route: Three of Pentacles. We experience many of our worst mental and emotional moments alone, but it doesn’t mean we are alone all the time or completely without the guidance, wisdom, or comfort of others. 

Your Rope: Knight of Cups. As you face these challenges, your ability to connect with and understand your emotional experiences will be key to keeping you moving forward. 

Aquarius

The Mountain: The Tower. Upheaval and change leave us feeling uncertain in the best of times, and it can be infinitely more challenging when we experience upheavals in more than one area of our lives. It is hard enough to deal with some of the outrageous arrows life has to sling without having to deal with our fear of the unknown and feelings of uncertainty at the same time.

The Route: Ace of Swords. You’ll find your way through this situation the way you always do – careful and methodical thought and analysis. Honor the grief and uncertainty that you feel, but allow yourself to recognize that this is an opportunity to see everything from an entirely new perspective, while still being informed by your prior experiences. 

Your Rope: The Hanged Man. Your ability to integrate this novel perspective into your prior wisdom is going to keep you on the path toward finding your balance during this chaotic time. 

Pisces

The Mountain: King of Wands. You haven’t settled into a healthy state of self-confidence yet. You may not yet feel like you are in a stable situation, which leaves your emotional state oscillating between overconfidence and imposter syndrome. Your inability to reach a healthy balance has left you feeling vulnerable and temperamental. 

The Route: The Hierophant. While we all may have complicated relationships with systems of faith and tradition, your route to being victorious over your confidence challenges is within your faith. This isn’t the faith of religions, but in yourself, and the traditions required will be those you create and revere. Now is as good of a time as any to start some traditions of self-care.

Your Rope: Queen of Cups. Your ability to connect with and understand your emotions will be an important guide on your path.