My co-workers are causing trouble for me.
A note from Corrine: This real-life reading highlights some of the techniques I incorporate in my tarot practice. To schedule a reading with me, in person or online, click here.
Question: Could you help me in my work situation? We have a new boss and some of the girls at work are causing trouble for me. I hope you can help me, as I love my job. Thanks, Jill (via email)
Answer: From your question, it seems as though the girls you work with — your co-workers or your colleagues — may be trying to denigrate you or diminish you in front of your new boss.
Rather than focusing on the girls in your question (or, for that matter, your boss) I decided to pull a card solely with you in mind. The first card that came up was the King of Swords.
This makes a lot of sense. In any work-related conflict, the issue is probably going to be communication. In the tarot, all of the Swords cards symbolize communication. Not only can words be pointed, and double-edged, and cutting — just like swords — but words can also be used for both aggression and defense.
You may feel as though you’re being attacked at work, by the aggressive words and actions of your co-workers. You may feel as though your co-workers are talking about you behind your back, and you could very well suspect that they’re attempting to undermine your role and your contributions to the workplace kingdom.
However, it’s important to think about the reasons behind the attack. I suspect, looking at this card, that your own attitude may have put others on the defensive. You are obviously “kingly” in your bearing. You are used to a certain level of power and control over your realm, and you are comfortable with your own rulership. You also have a work history that your co-workers might not fully know or understand. All of those factors, combined, put you on a slightly higher level than your co-workers, and that could make you a target for their attacks.
At the same time, you’re also a little more sensitive to those attacks than you would be if you were a new and inexperienced leader. You have developed the ability to sense what’s going on behind the scenes.
Based on the imagery in this card, I suspect that your co-workers are merely scrabbling to assure their own positions of power under a new boss, and that they perceive you as some sort of threat. (Whether or not you truly are a threat isn’t necessarily the point; it’s their actions that matter to you most right now.)
In this situation, I think it would be best for you to maintain your regal attitude and bearing. Be as professional and polite as possible. Defend yourself if you are directly attacked, but do it without getting personal. Don’t be dragged into any petty feuds or personality conflicts. Stay above the fray. And if you need to, find a support system outside the work environment that you can use to vent, rather than lowering yourself to your co-workers’ level by complaining about them to other employees.
Ultimately, this is simply a royal feud that will settle out over time.