Jeff Russell

Alrighty, to do this reading, I opened a sacred space, called upon the Wyrds (Norns) and concentrated on your question while shuffling my deck of Ogham cards. when it "felt right," I drew three cards, using the spread "Setting (context), Work (following your current criteria for dating), and Outcome(s) (whatever is most likely to come about if you keep using this approach). If I drew the card right side up, it is "upright," and if I drew it face down it is "reversed." Reversed in Ogham is not necessarily a bad thing, the way it generally is in Tarot - it varies a lot from Few to Few (each Ogham letter is called a 'Few').

Asking - "What does anonymous most need to understand about his current approach to dating?"
Draw
Setting: Straif - "Sulphur"
Work: Saille - "Willow"
Outcome(s): Ioho (Reversed) - "Yew"

My Take on It
Okay, so for your Setting, I drew Straif, which is the Few of necessity, hard realities, and the consequences of our past actions. I think it's pretty clear that you're in this situation because of the divorce, so this is no surprise! I think what it's drawing attention to, though, is that you are very much operating in a constrained environment - what would work for a young, childless guy is not what will work for you, which you seem entirely aware of. For the "Work" (following through on the current approach), I drew Saille, which is the Willow, and as you might expect, stands for flexibility and "going with the flow," and somewhat pointedly "letting go of fixed ideas." For Outcomes, I drew Yew (Reversed). Yew is all about that which lasts and carries over from the past - and when it is reversed, it implies the past as a lingering burden, things better let go that are still holding on.

So, putting these together, what I would take from this is that you're already facing a tough situation with its own constraints, but if you impose too many more restrictions on yourself, you will find it harder to move on. I might suggest looking at what's motivating the criteria you're imposing on yourself and ask "can I get what I want another way?" For example, presumably the reason you're looking for single mothers is because you want someone demonstrably committed to being a parent and who will treat your son right. A single mother with a kid near your son's age willing to merge families would very likely fit that, but maybe someone else would too. Lastly, this is a bit of intuition on my part, as I have some personal associations with the Willow Few, but I'm getting a feeling that you might need to let yourself be swayed by love, and not just practicalities. That's likely very hard with the rough divorce and with your appropriate concern for your son, but the "softness" wedged between two very hard Fews speaks to me here.

Please let me know if you have any follow up questions, and if you're willing, I'd very much appreciate hearing whether this struck a chord or felt off, and if so, in what ways.

Cheers,
Jeff