The Library is a card of sudden change and catastrophy. The Schoolgirl, confronted with a challenge to the things she believes, responds by destroying the things she used to love. Similarly, this card may signal an abrupt, fiery, and catastrophic change in the your life, as the structures which no longer serve you come crashing down.

In a reading, the Library speaks to a situation when, dismayed by something which has happened to us, we destroy the things we love most. This is not always a bad thing; sometimes, the old must be demolished to make way for the new. But good or bad, it is a symbol of chaos and destruction, the end of something we love.

Keywords: Chaos Catastrophy Change Upheaval

Chaos is a card of plunging headlong into what awaits us, accepting that the outcome, whatever it may be, is the result of the choices we have made.

In a reading, Chaos is a challenge to embrace the chaos that accompanies change, for change is the essence of growth. Inaction leads to stagnation; argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours. All things begin in Chaos; this card challenges us to use the Chaos to create our own beginnings.

Keywords: Chaos Beginning Action Courage

This card indicates a situation in which we are so focused on some goal or on escaping from some situation with such determination that we may be unaware that we are working in opposition to someone close to us. Together, the women in the Four of Chains could easily escape, but each of them is so determined to try to save herself that she is unaware that she is making her partner's situation, and her own, worse. This opposition cannot last, else both will surely perish.

In a reading, it presents a warning: beware focusing on our own situation with such single-mindedness that we ignore how we are hurting others, and ourselves!

Keywords: Conflict Chaos Deadlock Strife

The Disciple of Chains represents the opening of Pandora's box--initiating change, perhaps naively, without completely understanding what lies within the box. Change is a powerful force; it is not necessarily bad or good, but it is definitely tumultuous. The Disciple of Chains is not sure what she will find within the box.

In a reading, it represents a decision which will change our lives, but which we make naively, without knowing what we are unleashing into our lives.

Keywords: Chaos Change Uncertainty

The Disciple of Books represents the turbulent nature of intellectual discovery and inspiration, unchecked by experience or wisdom. The Disciple of Books is consuming vast quantities of information from a wide range of topics without synthesization. When it appears, it may mean that we find ourselves eager for, but also overwhelmed with, information...without a framework to comprehend it properly.

In a reading, it may indicate an area in which we are finding ourselves inundated with information that we can't put together properly. It may also represent someone in our lives who is a fount of information, but who lacks the ability to synthesize the information into a coherent whole. As the Librarian reminds us, information without context is not knowledge.

Keywords: Chaos Inexperience Learning Knowledge

The Three of Tentacles represents a situation in which we have received more than we bargained for. The girl in the card made a decision not to flee the tentacles, not knowing that another tentacle was on the way. Similarly, we may have made a decision or performed some action, and now we're getting back more than we anticipated! Now is the time to swallow or drown.

In a reading, the Three of Tentacles may symbolize some decision or some turning point in our lives where we thought we knew what we were getting into, but turned out to be wrong and have now found ourselves in over our heads.

Keywords: Struggle Overwhelmed Chaos Gain

This is a card of both chaos and opportunity. Just as the schoolgirl is completely overwhelmed, but throught it all she also feels pleasure, the Eight of Tentacles symbolizes a circumstance in which we are overwhelmed, bombarded from all directions, but also promises that we can find a way to turn the tumult into something positive, even if the alchemy of that transformation is not understood.

In a reading, it is both a statement and a promise: a statement that some situation exists or may exist in which we are inundated by a tide that threatens to sweep us out to sea, but also a promise that we can find a way to turn it to our advantage, or at least experience something positive from it.

Keywords: Action Chaos Choice Transformation Learning Opportunity

This card reminds us that life is often overwhelming, surprising, and sticky. In order to embrace the full possibility of what life has to offer and to gain new insights, we must be willing to embrace the messy and complex truth. The schoolgirl has born the full force of the Tentacle Monster, and we too will bear the full force of what life has to offer.

In a reading, the Nine of Tentacles is a reminder that one cannot avoid getting messy all the time. It might represent some situation where life takes us by surprise in untidy ways. We can not always wrap yourself up in a nice tidy world; sometimes, life has a way of imposing on us.

Keywords: Overwhelmed Surprise Messy Chaos