The 10 of Wands is our tarot card for September. This card often shows a person walking across a landscape carrying a huge bundle of sticks. They’re bent over, a sign of the enormous weight they’re carrying alone. Does this sound like you? If it does, keep reading. If not, still keep reading. The following may come in handy.

In my book, The Numinous Tarot Guide: A New Way to Read the Cards, I share how the 10 of Wands can be a clear signal that you’re literally taking on too much. I also talk about how you may be carrying other people’s thoughts, ideas and responsibilities. This month, the most important item on your to-do list is one thing: drop those wands. Here’s why.

We’re in the middle of global, evolutionary change. We can either tap into that energy and use it for deep, sometimes uncomfortable, self-analysis and, yes, change. Or we can become fearful and leave the difficult inner work to someone else by taking advantage of their strength.

If you allow yourself to be used as a spiritual beast of burden, like that person bent over on the 10 of Wands card, two things will happen: you won’t have time or energy for your own work; and you will take away another person’s chance to do the same for themselves.

Here’s an example. You have a friend who constantly overspends and is completely broke by the middle of the month. She asks you for loans quite a bit, which you know she’ll never pay back. She could take the time to analyse her spending habits to see if they’re connected to something deeper. But by constantly bailing her out, you’re actually taking on the responsibility of superficially ‘solving’ her money issues for her every month. Of course, you love her and don’t want to abandon her in her time of need, but you’re adding yet another wand to that bundle you’re carrying around. It’s not fair to her, and it’s not fair to you.