The Tarot Asks: What Am I Worth?
Reading by Rahne Alexander
“Refusing to be undercompensated today will help everyone who comes after you”
It can be hard to know our value, especially when the economic system we labor under is dedicated to undervaluing you and me and everyone you know.
As an artist and freelancer, I have always had to try to figure out a figure when it comes time to set my rates. And while there are some good resources and tools you can use to try to get a better sense of your value, the next trick is getting your client to meet that fee — and dealing with the ensuing frustration when they don’t.
Sometimes I will get an offer that is so far beneath my rate that it's laughable, and sometimes that can set off an emotional chain reaction: Why do l keep getting undercut? Why do people only seem to want me a discount?
We’ve known for years that in the U.S., women tend to make less than men do for the same work and than non-white people tend to make less than white people do. But it’s only been recently discovered that trans women like myself make 60% of what the average worker makes. This is certainly an impact I’ve felt in my career, and now that’s it’s been quantified, well — now we know. No wonder I get so grumpy when I get my Social Security statement every year.
So when the market forces are stacked against you, and when your competitors are all also fighting for scraps, what do you do?
With these questions in mind, I turned to the cards for this month’s reading and would you believe that the first card to turn up is the Ace of Pentacles? Focus, opportunity, manifestation.
“When you begin insisting that the value you bring to the table is properly acknowledged, you begin to show how the systems in place have gotten away with undervaluing most of us for a long time”
This Ace seems to be saying, it’s a nice day to start again.
The Ace of Pentacles
I like to remind my clients of the emotional resources at play with the Pentacles as well. Spoon theory and the idea of emotional labor have come into popular use in recent years, and these notions are concerned with the often hidden limits many of us experience.
Bottom line, I try to think of Pentacles holistically, because my time and energy combine to make what little money I can get, and the exhaustion I feel from dealing with micro- and macroaggressions can really cut into my productivity.
So what is our Ace doing here? It feels a little bit like a personal taunt in this moment — manifest opportunity, Rahne. If you build it, they will come (lol).
The idea of manifestation is pervasive in pagan/witch communities for a reason. It’s nice to have hope, to ask your various deities for beneficence, especially when we’re struggling. At the same time, we also don’t tend to get things if we don’t ask for them, and the Ace in any suit is about initiating action within that suit. So this Ace seems to be saying, it’s a nice day to start again.
In my experience, manifestation practices can also be a little bit dangerous. Maybe you invoke your desire, but what kind of hangers-on accompany that desire when it arrives? Does your request have more riders than a congressional budget bill? As I once sang, be careful what you ask for, because you might get it.
Turning to the major arcana for a little nuance on this Ace, I pull the Chariot — a card that I have not pulled for myself in quite some time.
As a major card, The Chariot is talking about a larger purpose.
The Chariot
When you read as frequently as I do, It’s curious how there are cards in the deck that don’t appear for years at a time. Like an old friend on Facebook that never shows up in your timeline, never interacts with your posts, never responds to your event invitations — and then maybe you go on their page to wish them a happy birthday and see them interacting with other mutuals and you’re left to wonder if it’s the algorithm or if it’s something you said.
The Chariot has shown up for me so infrequently that I had to turn to the reference books for a little refresher, to remind myself if it means what I think it means? Because I don’t know about you, but I certainly haven’t been feeling very victorious lately.
For clients I tend to talk about momentum and control when the Chariot appears. Various iterations tend to invoke Apollo’s (or Santa’s?) chariot hurtling through the sky. As a major card, The Chariot is talking about a larger purpose, and what’s more purposeful than bringing daylight to the world every day, or presents to all the good little children around the world? Connecting with a larger purpose seems crucial in this time of reconsidering manifestation requests.
Control is key as well. Whether this Chariot is being drawn by wild horses, smug sphinxes, or eight tiny reindeer (nine if you count Rudolph) the driver of that chariot has to maintain control somehow — and it doesn’t seem like brute force is the effective way to effectively control these beasts. Not if you want to get where you want to go.
Returning to the central question this month: what am I worth? There is a process of re-evaluation here, of coming to a clearer understanding of what value we bring to the table and how that should be acknowledged and compensated. Being honest and clear about the baseline needs will go a long way toward building both control and momentum.
And here’s the thing – something I often need to be reminded of myself – when you begin insisting that the value you bring to the table is properly acknowledged, you begin to show how the systems in place have gotten away with undervaluing most of us for a long time, to the extent that no one really knows the true cost of anything.
This is a difficult task at hand, but it’s necessary work. Refusing to be undercompensated today will help everyone who comes after you. As they say, the rising tide lifts all boats.
This month’s Tarot Tunes playlist serves as a series of questions and answers for how your time and energy can be valued, and ultimately, what can be done when that value is not properly acknowledged.
Rahne Alexander is an intermedia artist and writer from Baltimore, Maryland. She holds an MFA in Intermedia + Digital Arts from UMBC. A tarot reader for more than 20 years, she can be reached for readings at rahne.com/tarot. Follow her on Instagram @the_tarot_asks.