Eau de Puke
Dear Maribeth,
I have a friend who doesn’t know when to stop drinking when we go out. I love her, but I am getting tired of picking her up and dragging her ass around at the end of every night. She obviously is never in any condition to drive. Last weekend I had to pull over on the side of the road so she could throw up in the middle of downtown Newport, and then she wanted to go out more after that! She doesn’t eat much all day because she is concerned about putting on weight, but then she can’t hold her liquor and gets bombed after two cocktails. Why doesn’t she know when enough is enough, and, is there anything I can do about it?
Thanks,
Embarrassed
Dear Embarrassed,
What is that scent you’re wearing? “PukenRally”? That’s attractive.
But seriously, 3 major arcana cards showed up for this reading: The Devil, The Tower and The Sun. The severity of these cards indicates this is a very serious situation. I’m glad you are recognizing it early. Hopefully there are things you can do about it.
The Devil is the first card to come up and often means someone is fighting off some kind of an addiction. The chains around the people’s necks show us their connection to the negative influence. The figure of the devil is so much larger than the people. The perception is that this force is so much larger than the person trying to rid itself of it. It feels overpowering. But these concepts take place in the mind. Someone thinks they need something in order to be whole. Resistance is not futile! The torch in the Devil’s left hand, combined with the Tower card shows me your friend is playing with fire. Is she smoking too? Helping your friend to identify her real needs, as opposed to what she thinks she needs, will help her to recognize her ability to control them.
The Tower always symbolizes big change; a drastic upturn of events. In this case, this is a good thing, because change needs to happen for your friend’s well being. Something significant is going to happen to your friend to shake her up. It could be a health scare, a close call or not remembering an experience that was important. This will open her mind to the fact that her life is not what she wants it to be and she needs to change to get the results she desires. Since she cares enough about her looks to watch her diet, she should know people don’t dig slovenly drunkenness. Don’t sugar coat your friend’s experiences. If you justify or seem to approve of her bad behavior it encourages more. If it was ugly, let her know it was ugly. We all need a straight shooter when it comes to friends.
I’m so happy that The Sun is in the outcome position of this spread. This shows she will overcome this terrible phase and be true to herself. And most important: really happy. The sun will come out after all. Another implication I feel for this card is the importance of daytime activities for her. Once she has more going on in her life during the day, she will have to consider tomorrow’s schedule before she poisons herself at night. If it is important to get up early, she’ll have to restrain. Another way you can help is to make plans with her for things you both want to do during the day. You’re not her babysitter, but you’re nice enough to care about her and you’ll benefit from a much healthier friendship.