I’ve been looking at the bonus card from Lisa Sterle’s deck for ages now and I’m completely stuck. I used to think tarot was nonsense, but I’ve actually gotten pretty good at understanding most cards. This one though? No idea.
The artwork looks simple enough but something feels off. I keep thinking there’s something right in front of me that I’m not seeing. Maybe it’s because bonus cards don’t follow the usual tarot structure? Anyone have experience with these artist-specific cards? My brain wants a clear meaning but maybe I’m overthinking it.
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I’m assuming this is from the Modern Witchcraft deck?
It really depends.
It could be literal. Telling you that everything is quite literally fine. Despite other negative messages, if this is in the future position, it could be telling you this stuff is going to happen… but everything will be fine.
It can also be telling you that you’re sticking your head in the sand. Ignoring a problem until it blows up and just telling yourself that everything will be fine.
In some rarer placements, it could even be telling you that you need a little escapism.
As with any card in the Tarot… a single card by itself doesn’t actually mean anything. The message is in the context of the placement and surrounding cards.
This card reminds me of when I’m scrolling through my phone to avoid stuff.
Like when everything feels overwhelming and I just. don’t want to deal with it. The ‘Everything is Fine’ card could be showing what it looks like when we’re checked out. Just going through the motions while ignoring what’s really going on.
That card always gets me thinking about how we put on a face for everyone else. Like when you’re having the worst day but still tell people you’re doing great.
You know what keeps happening? People get this card and assume it’s all good news.
When this card appears, there’s often more going on underneath. When someone takes it at face value, they tend to miss what’s really being communicated. It’s like the cards want to see if we’re looking beyond the obvious interpretation. There are usually multiple layers to consider.
Looking at Sterle’s bonus card reminded me of how some artists flip traditional meanings on their head. Like the Ten of Swords, usually shows that brutal scene with swords in someone’s back.
Modern deck creators love playing with irony this way. When a card says ‘everything is fine,’ it might be pointing to those moments we tell ourselves we’re okay when we’re clearly not. Bonus cards can break all the rules and show familiar patterns in completely new ways.
That’s probably why your brain is struggling to pin down one clear meaning.
This card threw me off a lot as a beginner. Still does sometimes honestly. I find it helps to look up the standard meanings when you’re feeling stuck. Gives you something to work with at least.
When this energy’s reversed, I notice it comes out as avoiding reality.
Just shuffling cards endlessly without actually hearing what they’re saying. It can be using readings to put off doing something, or that weird disconnect where you’re pulling cards but you’re not really present. Sometimes it’s hiding in the cards instead of facing things.
PS: The Moon card helped me see when I was using divination to avoid stuff rather than as an actual tool.
Looks like you’re using distractions to avoid dealing with some tough emotions. The cards are basically calling you out on staying busy so you don’t have to sit with difficult feelings.
In Buddhist practice, they talk about ‘spiritual bypassing’, using positive thinking or spiritual stuff to skip over real emotional work.
The same thing can happen with tarot if you’re constantly seeking readings instead of dealing with what you already know needs attention. The message here is to stop running and let yourself feel what you’re avoiding. It’s going to be uncomfortable, but you can’t heal by going around the pain. You have to go through it.
I really connect with this card! What deck is this from? I’ve been looking for this version because the artwork is incredible. The Ten of Swords always hits hard. When I see it, I think about those times when everything feels overwhelming, mentally, emotionally, spiritually crushed by life. You know what needs to be done but can’t even take a tiny step forward.
All those unfinished tasks and things left unsaid just pile up. This card captures that weird modern suffering where we’re connected to everyone online but still feel totally alone. The figure with all those swords reminds me how our own thoughts can turn against us, every worry and self-doubt becomes another blade. In readings, this card shows up when someone’s reached their absolute limit. It’s rock bottom. Whenever I see it in a spread, I feel for the person because they’re going through something really rough.
It means literally the exact opposite of the words… although reversed then it could mean that everything is actually fine?
I’ve always found the ‘Everything is Fine’ card pretty confusing. Sometimes it feels like denial, sometimes like dark humor. I guess it depends on the context of the reading.
These cards operate outside traditional upright/reversed frameworks. In my experience with Sterle’s work, she tends to embed the duality directly into the card’s design rather than relying on orientation. The ‘Everything is Fine’ card carries both meanings simultaneously: the surface denial and the underlying truth. It’s less about which way the card falls and more about which layer of meaning resonates with the querent’s situation. The tension between the words and their opposite is the entire point.
I get that uncanny valley thing with Sterle’s deck. pulled the Magician once and it looked like someone from my apartment building, not some mystical figure. Kinda threw me off and I kept second-guessing the symbolism. Maybe that’s what’s happening with your bonus card? When the imagery gets too contemporary our brains have trouble switching into that intuitive mode.
This card feels like it embodies modern toxic positivity.
The bright, forced cheerful colors clash with what looks like chaos in the background. It reminds me of the kind of spiritual gaslighting we sometimes do to ourselves. It’s like Saturn energy pretending to be Venus.
Unconventional cards often leave out key elements, like the Five of Swords where someone smirks while others are missing. Maybe your ‘Everything is Fine’ card is doing the same thing. Its simplicity might be concealing chaos or conflict that’s been pushed out of view, which could explain why it seems off even though it looks clear.
Try seeing it as avoiding or denying something rather than what’s shown. Bonus cards often play with these kinds of twists.
Mercury retrograde has been rough. I pulled that same card yesterday too. The timing was weird, I was completely burned out but still telling everyone I was fine. It felt like getting called out by a deck of cards. The Ten of Swords energy but with a fake smile plastered on.
I’ve been noticing this pattern where I pretend everything’s okay when it’s really not. This transit has been bringing up a lot of that stuff.
