Breaking Free from Toxic Cycles with Tarot Reading: How Grudges and Revenge Can Hold You Back from Happiness

Bindu Session #2

Bindu came to me for a Tarot reading after her past life regression session had unearthed long-standing patterns of betrayal, trauma, and a deep-seated desire for revenge that had followed her across lifetimes. Even though we had identified the origins of her resentment, she still felt an unshakable burden. Her desire for vindication, fuelled by past and present slights, was becoming toxic—isolating her from friends, family, and any semblance of peace.

She needed closure and clarity, something to break the cycle of grudges she had been caught in. This was no simple "get over it" moment; Bindu was ready to do the inner work but didn’t know how to start. I shuffled the Tarot for further insight, using a Horseshoe Spread to examine her situation from every angle and offer practical guidance.

The Horseshoe Spread

The Horseshoe Spread is ideal for providing a full picture of any situation, especially one as layered and emotionally charged as Bindu’s. The seven cards reveal the past, present, and future, offering advice, external influences, hopes, and, ultimately, the outcome.

1. The Past: Three of Swords

The first card, Three of Swords, was no surprise. This card is the embodiment of heartbreak, betrayal, and emotional pain—exactly what Bindu had been living through in both her current and past lives. The swords piercing the heart symbolise the deep wounds inflicted upon her by people she once trusted. Betrayal was a recurring theme in Bindu’s life: lovers, friends, family. She had been let down by many, which created the strong grudges she now carried.

The Three of Swords confirmed that Bindu's grudge-holding was rooted in intense emotional wounds that had never healed. It wasn’t just the events of this life, but lifetimes of pain carried forward, building layers of mistrust and anger.

2. The Present: The Devil

The Devil card appeared in the present position, reflecting Bindu’s current state of mind. This card represents bondage, obsession, and self-imposed limitations. Bindu’s desire for revenge, while understandable, had become a chain around her own neck, enslaving her to negative emotions. She was imprisoned by her grudges, much like the figures on the card are shackled to the Devil’s throne.

The Devil in this context signified how Bindu’s thoughts of retribution were poisoning her from within. She had become so consumed by her desire to "balance the scales" that she was neglecting her own freedom and peace. The card urged her to acknowledge the chains she was binding herself with and to realise that letting go wasn’t about letting others off the hook, but about releasing herself from the clutches of bitterness.

3. Hidden Influences: Seven of Cups

In the third position, representing hidden influences, was the Seven of Cups. This card signifies confusion, illusions, and the temptation of too many choices. Bindu’s mind was clouded by an overwhelming desire to get even, but the options she envisioned for her revenge were unrealistic or destructive.

The Seven of Cups also revealed that Bindu was stuck in a mental fog—perhaps due to the unresolved pain from past lives, or perhaps because she was too focused on what could have been rather than what is. Her fixation on revenge was distorting her reality, leading her further away from emotional clarity.

4. Advice: Knight of Swords

The Knight of Swords appeared in the advice position, bringing the energy of action, decisiveness, and intellectual clarity. This card encouraged Bindu to confront her situation head-on, but with rationality rather than anger. The Knight of Swords is a brave and assertive figure, but unlike the emotional whirlwind of revenge, he acts with a clear mind and a sense of purpose.

The message was clear: Bindu needed to embody the Knight’s energy, charging forward not to settle scores, but to cut through the chaos of her emotions with sharp insight and reason. She had to be assertive in finding a path to healing rather than letting herself spiral further into the emotional traps set by The Devil and the Three of Swords.

5. External Influences: The Tower

In the position of external influences, The Tower made an appearance—a card of sudden, often shocking change, and the dismantling of illusions. The Tower indicated that external forces were at play in Bindu’s life that would soon bring a dramatic shift, whether she was ready for it or not. These upheavals could manifest as confrontations with the very people she held grudges against or life events that would force her to reconsider her current path.

The Tower symbolised the shattering of long-held beliefs. In Bindu’s case, it suggested that something would happen to expose the futility of her revenge fantasies. This card wasn’t a warning of doom, but rather a necessary destruction of the false foundations upon which her grudges had been built. Only after these structures fell could she start rebuilding a life not dictated by resentment.

6. Hopes and Fears: Four of Wands

The Four of Wands appeared in the hopes and fears position, representing celebration, harmony, and stability. Bindu desperately wanted peace and joy in her life—symbolised by the Four of Wands’ depiction of a celebratory scene—but she feared that letting go of her grudges would leave her vulnerable to more betrayal. She worried that if she forgave, she would be opening herself up to more hurt.

The Four of Wands suggested that Bindu's true desire was for happiness and emotional stability, but her attachment to grudges was preventing her from achieving it. It was a reminder that celebration and joy await, but only if she can break free from her self-imposed prison of mistrust and anger.

7. Outcome: The Star

Finally, in the outcome position, we saw The Star—a card of hope, renewal, and spiritual healing. The appearance of this card was a beacon of light at the end of the dark tunnel. It promised Bindu that if she embraced the advice of the Knight of Swords, faced the upheaval of The Tower, and released the Devil’s chains, she could move toward a future filled with hope and healing.

The Star represents the calm after the storm, a time of introspection, forgiveness, and spiritual growth. For Bindu, this was the key to letting go of her grudges: she had to trust that by releasing her desire for revenge, she would open herself up to a life of peace and emotional renewal.

Finding Balance and Moving Forward

Bindu’s Tarot reading mirrored much of what had been uncovered in her past life regression session. Her grudges and desire for revenge were not just products of this life, but echoes of unresolved pain from lifetimes past. The Horseshoe Spread offered her a roadmap: from the pain of the Three of Swords, through the temptation and bondage of The Devil, to the hope and renewal promised by The Star.

The journey ahead wouldn’t be easy. The Tower warned of necessary upheavals, and the Knight of Swords urged her to take swift, decisive action to clear her mind and heart. But with the promise of the Four of Wands and The Star, Bindu had every reason to believe that letting go of her grudges would lead to a life of greater peace and joy.

In the end, the cards reminded Bindu that revenge is a hollow pursuit, one that only serves to imprison the soul. True healing lies in release, in moving forward with clarity and purpose, much like the Knight of Swords cutting through the storm to reach a brighter horizon.

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