TAROT READING FOR CURRENT SITUATION IN U.S.
As of the writing of this blog post we are 40 days into the presidency of Donald J. Trump and the consequent dismantling of the ship of state of the United States of America. In that time he has made a staggering amount of unprecedented changes. For those of you who are not up for the short political discourse that accompanies this piece, I have placed it on the bottom of this post so that if you’re only here for the tarot reading we’ll get right to it. However, if you don’t already know (!) my political bias is firmly liberal as I conduct this reading.
Question – What do we need to know about the current political situation and whether or not there is any hope for Americans who truly care about Truth and Justice?
Four Card Spread (see Benebel Wen’s Tarot Spread Practice: https://benebellwen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/01e-tarot-spread-practice.pdf)
(Note - I love this spread and use it constantly in my readings and when I teach tarot. It’s simple and right to the point.. Thanks Benebel!)
Deck – The Fantastic Menagerie – Magic Realist Press, Companion Book by Sophie Nussle
I chose this deck because I’m basically asking a political question, and The Fantastic Menagerie, while it follows the general classic structure of the Rider Waite Smith, is rendered through altered versions of series of drawings by the French artist Grandville (1803-1847) wherein he characterized human traits through figures that were usually shown with human bodies and animal heads. These lend themselves to the human drama of politics quite well. I shuffled the deck with the question in mind and drew the following cards:
Card 1 - Present Influence – Heart of the Matter – Six of Coins
The Six of Coins shows ‘the flow of resources between people’, depicting a prosperous-looking cat pouring candy or treats into the bags of two young rabbits. I think this is an excellent way of depicting the traditional spirit of largesse and even nobles oblige of the American Spirit. It may also be something that’s alarming to people who don’t want our country’s resources to be given to others. Maybe they don’t like the rabbits, or don’t feel that the rabbits deserve those awards.
Card 2 - Challenges/Obstacles – Nine of Cups
Normally I view the Nine of Cups as a great card. By reputation it’s viewed as ‘wishes fulfilled’. But I’m going to get down to some very basic tarot card reading and simply say what I see in this picture. To me it looks like a giant fat elephant with a shifty look on his face and his appearance on the challenge/obstacle card could really not be more to the point. It’s literally like he’s overshadowing the generosity of the Six of Coins with intention to stamp it out. This elephant wants it all for himself. Can you think of a better metaphor for our current political reality? (Bear in mind that the symbols for political parties in this country have long been a donkey for the Democrats and an elephant for the Republicans.)
Card 3 – Past Influences – Nine of Coins
The Nine of Coins shows a pretty dog at the keyboard of a piano relaxing and singing and enjoying a moment of peace and happiness. This peace and happiness was made possible by the work that brought about prosperity. It didn’t just ‘happen’; we had to work for it. We were able to enjoy it on a continued basis because in the past we had a reasonable expectation that although we did have to work for it, we would in fact receive our just rewards. That was in the past, however. Now many of us are worried that not only will we not be in a position to help others as in the opening card of this reading, but we may not be able to help ourselves either with the huge changes that are coming about.
Card 4 – Probable Outcome – Knight of Swords
Clearly this mosquito is on his way to the fight. His chosen weapon is words and he intends to use it. It’s possible that the fat elephant in our crossing card may view these words as a tiny little annoyance and merely swat them away. However, it looks like the mosquito is gaining some followers, another mosquito, a couple of flies, even a spider. One little mosquito on his own may not be able to do it. But what if there were a swarm of mosquitos? What if there were over 300 million mosquitos attacking the elephant? What then?
It’s something to think about. In the meantime we must all do out best not to give up hope. We must put on our swords and go out there and fight. To everyone that is already fighting the good fight, like posting about the injustice and calling the offices of our supposed public servants to let them know – thank you! Let’s keep it up.
Yes, there is hope. To paraphrase the immortal words of Walt Kelly through his character Pogo when he said “We have met the enemy and he is us"!”, I believe that we have met the savior and he is us.
!!!!!
A few thoughts on current politics: Trump installed Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, as a non-elected, unsanctioned entity in his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency where he promptly set about eliminating thousands of federal jobs. He fired a number of government watchdogs in a move clearly designed to make room for loyalists, fired the joint chiefs of staff, annoyed Canada and Mexico with unreasonable tariffs (thus invoking their ire and causing them to immediately raise their tariffs and to cut off trade with the U.S.) and many, many other moves with little or no regard to the Constitution.
Clearly he is making good on his promise to the authors of Project 2025 (despite his campaign avowals that he had nothing to do with it). Their agenda – which originated in the early 80’s with the far-right think tank known as the Heritage foundation – sounds benign enough. Its intention is to realize “four main policy aims: restore the family as the centerpiece of American life; dismantle the administrative state; defend the nation's sovereignty and borders; and secure God-given individual rights to live freely”. In practice, it appears to be a manifesto for replacing the rule of law – a sacred principal in our country – with right-wing ideals.
