While many of the Major Arcana cards in the Tarot touch on boundary issues in different ways (The Chariot for third chakra/willpower and The Emperor for assertiveness, for example), today I want to look at two of the cards that signify boundaries in the tarot Minor Arcana. These two Minor Arcana cards both carry the personal boundary energy in quite specific but nuanced ways. The two cards are the 4 of Pentacles (Sun in Capricorn) and the 9 of Wands (Moon in Sagittarius).
In general, with the 4 of Pentacles, the boundaries are more about physical matters, power and ownership, whereas with the 9 of Wands, we are dealing with emotional issues and past experiences creating blocks to a harmonious union, due to a lack of healing and integration of past lessons.
4 of Pentacles
You may have boundary issues that make you isolate yourself and/or feel afraid to share yourself with others because you don’t wish to be taken advantage of. All 4’s can relate to the home sphere, so the boundaries can quite literally be the four walls of your home where you feel strong and safe.
If the 4 of Pentacles represents another person or romantic partner whom you are failing to connect with in loving ways, you could feel as if they are stonewalling you when this card shows up.
As action advice, the 4 of Pentacles speaks of a need to have tighter boundaries, especially with the kind of people who always seem to be out of pocket, want to borrow money or other things and never seem to remember to return them.
Realise that while trust has to be earned, the process of allowing others to earn your trust is well worth the effort. There are ways to engage with the world around you with greater warmth, compassion and a sense of connection. The cure to a ‘not enough’ mindset is to simply give more of yourself and your assets. This doesn’t mean that you have to keep giving to moochers but that you should find ways of giving joyously, for the sake of giving.
9 of Wands
Your boundary issues could stem from someone abusing your trust. This, in turn, led to you establishing a pattern which allows the past to dictate your relationships in the here and now. You habitually expect the worst. This then prevents you from truly enjoying relationships. Unfortunately, this lack of trust also tends to perpetuate toxic relationships.
If the 9 of Wands is a lover, friend or business partner, it could indicate that they are the ones with the trust issues. This means that they won’t be sharing what is going on in their heart openly with you. They are constantly on guard and waiting for you to put a foot wrong.
As action advice, it is important to discern the bigger pattern when the 9 of Wands shows up. You are meant to learn from the past, not live in it. The 9 of Wands can also indicate a need for forgiveness. Sometimes this card can mean that you should not trust another person too easily as well. Surrounding cards will provide more clues.
Similar to the 4 of Pentacles, you need to make the conscious decision that learning to trust others is worth the effort. Be patient with yourself and learn to observe when mistrust rears its ugly head. Particularly pay attention to tendencies to catastrophise or to expect others to behave like abusive people from your past. Mindfulness and centring yourself in the now is the way forward.
You can only ever change yourself
We can never heal boundary issues for others, so when either of these cards addresses behaviour in others, we need to choose how to deal with it in a way that doesn’t drain us of energy. It’s good to realise that stonewalling is actually a form of abuse and you don’t have to subject yourself to it. Nor should you be made to feel as if you are always made to walk on eggshells.
Communication about these issues is always the way forward but especially in cases where the other person is stonewalling you, it may not be possible to open up to honest dialogue. That is when it becomes time to decide if it is not better to cut your losses and move on.
I hope this has helped cast some light on what I consider to be the two boundary issue cards in the Minor Arcana.
