I love the symmetry of these two cards from The Wild Unknown tarot deck. On the left is 6 of Swords, on the right is 6 of Wands. I pulled them consecutively. I pulled 6 of Swords first, after asking what general message I need to receive.
I went to the cards with a heavy feeling of despair. Everything is piling up—financial stress, grief, political horrors, loneliness. 6 of Swords is about recovering from bad times. It's a positive card. However, The Wild Unknown deck emphasizes the overwhelming darkness.
Notice how the black lines take up over the majority of the picture. The swords are in shadow. The rainbow is small, just at the edge of the blackness. There is still a journey to make from depression to relief.
6 of Wands tends to be a triumphant card that signals you've overcome certain obstacles. Notice how the darkness of the 6 of Swords is mirrored but there is less of it. It takes up only around a third of the image. Like the swords, the wands are obscured by shadow but they're poking through, reaching for the light.
At the top is not a rainbow but a butterfly, a symbol of transformation. I pulled 6 of Wands after asking what was on the other side of all this despair. It's a card that tells me to hold on. Something profound is happening. I am being reborn.
To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall by Kim Addonizio
If you ever woke in your dress at 4am ever
closed your legs to someone you loved opened
them for someone you didn’t moved against
a pillow in the dark stood miserably on a beach
seaweed clinging to your ankles paid
good money for a bad haircut backed away
from a mirror that wanted to kill you bled
into the back seat for lack of a tampon
if you swam across a river under rain sang
using a dildo for a microphone stayed up
to watch the moon eat the sun entire
ripped out the stitches in your heart
because why not if you think nothing &
no one can / listen I love you joy is coming
Source: Poetry Society of America