This is the last semester of my BA in Psychology and I am currently working on my undergraduate thesis. My supervisor is a very nice teacher, with whom I have worked before, and because of that I figured things would run smoothly… but they haven't. At least not so far.
I don't want to change my supervisor, because I like him (and because it's going to be a pain in the neck to do so at this point), but if he doesn't start engaging more with me and my project, I may have to. So I turned to the cards to get an idea of what my options are. For that I used the Mythic Tarot.
1. What should I expect if I do seek a new supervisor? ~ Ace of Pentacles
Not a bad card at all, and it's comforting because it tells me that it's still possible to find another supervisor, if I choose to. Because it's an Ace, it points to new beginnings and potentials in terms of practical work, but it also hints that a new supervisor would mean having to 'start over' at some level.
While the Ace of Pentacles is definitely a good card for work, it does lose some of its power when compared to the next two cards, which are Major Arcana. My interpretation is that while I can definitely find someone else to supervise my project, the work itself will have 'minor' results. Not bad, but maybe not as potent as it could be.
2. What should I expect if I stay with the same supervisor? ~ Death
Uh-oh. At first, I was tempted to interpret it as a sign that I should, indeed, leave my current supervisor. But then I remembered my question was not what should I do, but what should I expect if I stay. And Death is the big severance card which… isn't very conducive to a lasting relationship. Upon meditating on this card, I got the idea that remaining with my current supervisor will require me to drastically change how I have been doing things so far.
Liz Green, the author, says that "we go naked into the underworld, for we cannot bring with us our previous patterns and attitudes which have provided us with security". So if I am to remain working with my supervisor, I will have to change the way I do things and be honest to him about what I expect.
Last but not least, I feel Death is telling me that working together on my project will change our relationship. We always got along well, and I confess there was a time I idealised him a lot (sometimes still do). Perhaps this experience will be the 'death' of my idealisation and my projections.
3. An advice to help decide ~ Temperance
This one is quite clear: don't rush in. Temperance tells me that I gain nothing by hurrying this decision only to pacify my anxious mind. It also prompts me to come up with in which to bring balance to the situation as it is right now. Is there anything I can do that does not involve extreme measures? Is my frustration making me get ahead of myself? Am I trying to run away from the conflict instead of biting the bullet and letting my current supervisor know that I am unhappy with how we have done things so far?
Questions, questions. All very much worth thinking about.
After this reading, I decided that I will take the matters to my current supervisor, let him know what is bothering me and see how it goes from there. If he can still meet me halfway after listening to some criticism, then there is a big chance we can keep working together. If not… well, I'll cross that bridge when/if I get there.
Mythic Tarot [Brazilian Edition] copyright © Madras Editora, Liz Greene, Juliet Sharman-Burke & Tricia Newell
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