Category: Career & Purpose; Tarot Tips | Reading Time: 4 Minutes
The microphone sitting on the podium looks like a vacuum cleaner waiting to suck out both your voice and soul.
Public speaking anxiety hits you like a truck the moment you see the audience. Your throat feels as though you’ve swallowed a hairball the size of a tennis ball. Your brain has conveniently chosen this exact moment to delete every word you intended to say.
You feel the desperate urge to retreat under the nearest bed. Yet, you are standing there in the spotlight, forcing your hands to stop shaking.
You tell yourself to “be strong.” But in your mind, “strength” simply means “stop feeling anything immediately.”
This is where the disconnect happens. You are trying to murder the butterflies in your stomach, but all you are doing is making them aggressive.
The Myth of Fearlessness
Most people believe that confidence is a state of being cold, hard, and unshakeable. They think Strength means the absence of fear—like a statue or a warrior in heavy armor.
In the Tarot, the Strength card offers a different perspective.
It doesn’t present a soldier slaying a beast with a sword. It shows a woman in a soft white dress, calmly holding a lion’s jaws open with her bare hands.
She isn’t struggling. She is not sweating. She is petting the animal.
She understands a fundamental truth of the nervous system: The lion is not an enemy to be killed. It represents raw, wild energy.
If you try to cage a lion, it will pace and roar. If you try to suppress your anxiety, it will inevitably manifest as a shaky voice or a full-scale panic spike.
Managing the Professional “Zoomies”
Consider a cat experiencing the “Zoomies.”
That is pure, chaotic, kinetic energy. If you try to hold a cat down during that burst, you will end up with shredded forearms. But if you provide a feather toy, that energy becomes focused, athletic, and purposeful.
Your nervousness is simply the Zoomies trapped in a business suit.
The adrenaline flooding your system is a form of jet fuel. That buzzing sensation in your limbs is power showing up early for the meeting.
You are currently trying to keep the lid on a boiling pot, and that resistance is exactly what makes you shake.
The Science: Anxiety Reappraisal
Here is the science to back this up.
There is a concept called Anxiety Reappraisal. Your body cannot tell the difference between “Fear” and “Excitement.” Both states involve a racing heart, sweaty palms, and high energy.
The only difference is the story your brain tells about the sensation.
If you try to go from Terrified (High Energy) to Calm (Low Energy), you will fail. It is too big of a jump. Your brakes aren’t that good.
Seeking to be “calm” is a mistake. Calm is often uninteresting to an audience. They don’t want to see a robot; they want to see a human being who cares enough to be excited.
Channel the Lemniscate
Look at the Strength card again. Above the woman’s head floats the Lemniscate (the Infinity Symbol).
This symbol represents the continuous flow of energy. She takes the lion’s roar and cycles it back into her own power.
You do not need to be calm. You need to be channeled.
The lion in your chest provides the volume, while you simply provide the direction. Stop trying to kill the beast. Learn to ride it instead.
🔮 The Action Right Now
Your voice was meant to be heard, not swallowed. Stop fighting your own power and start using the fuel your body is providing.
Disclaimer: TarotPaw content is for entertainment and spiritual support only. We are cats, not doctors, lawyer, or financial advisor. This content is not intended to replace professional (medical, legal, or financial) advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are in crisis, please contact a professional or call your local emergency services.
