Here’s another “current events” reading I published on Medium back in May of 2021, a few short months following January 6.
. . .
Like many of you probably have, I’ve been watching a lot of the news lately about how Republicans are pushing back against President Biden’s efforts to help regular Americans survive and thrive during a pandemic.
Voter suppression laws popping up in Republican-dominated state after state; excuses justifying toxic policing; refusal to support bills like the George Floyd Justice Act, the American Family’s Act and Biden’s infrastructure bill are just a few examples highlighting this desire to resurrect a cruel past that keeps Republicans in power.
It can get so depressing that I often resort to turning off the news and binge-watching something funny or inspiring just to take the edge off.
On the other hand, I am an eternal optimist, always looking for ways to view what’s happening from a mindset of empowerment that comes from focusing on what I WANT to experience instead of putting too much attention on what I don’t want.
Yes, I acknowledge that what I don’t want exists NOW. I’m not putting my head in the sand and ignoring it. But I don’t want to wallow in it. Instead, I try to let it guide me towards what I DO want so that I can focus my attention and energy on it.
The tarot card readings I do for myself are excellent vehicles for helping me understand what’s going on beneath the surface of problematic life events and showing me what I need to do to move forward.
Is it possible to do a similar reading for the entire country? I had to find out, so I did one!
Tarot Card Readings on Current Events Can Be Tricky
… at least for me.
Because I’m coming from a particular political point of view (Bernie Sanders progressive!), my challenge is removing enough of that filter in order to give an “objective” reading.
I tried a little over four years ago in a spread that was supposed to tell me who would win the 2016 election. The answer was staring me in the face (that Trump would win), but I didn’t want to believe it. Four years later, I’m willing to give it another try.
And while it’s next to impossible to COMPLETELY remove the filter through which one views the world, my goal will be to interpret the cards as objectively as I can, based on each card’s meaning, its position in the spread, and the intuitive insights I receive about it.
The New Era Elements Tarot
I chose The New Era Elements Tarot deck by Eleonore F. Pieper, PhD because it brings the imagery of the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWH) and Crowley-Harris (CH) decks into the 21st century and is a bit more reflective of our times as opposed to the “feudalistic” imagery of these older decks.
Keep in mind that each deck creator presents their unique understanding of the cards’ meanings which is reflected in the images they choose to represent those meanings. So I may need to refer from time to time to the LWB or Little White Book since this is a pretty new deck.
The “Elements” in the name refers to the fact that the four tarot suits are represented by the four elements of Nature, namely — Fire (Wands), Air (Swords), Water (Cups) and Earth (Pentacles).
In addition, the court card characters emerge from their medieval setting to become members of one version of the modern family, namely Fathers (Kings), Mothers (Queens), Sons (Knights) and Daughters (Pages).
The USA’s Question and a Spread to Answer It
“What can my citizens do to ensure that their President’s agenda, which is designed to address many of the inequalities and injustices that my citizens face, so that we can move into the 21st century, stable, secure, and productive?
Whew! That’s a tall order! I’ll need to create a tarot spread that will answer this question in a way that empowers the USA and gives her citizens hope for the future.
These are the spread positions I’ve come up with to answer the USA’s question.
(1) What is the current environment that has given rise to this question?
2–4) What are three underlying reasons that would explain why there is an attempt to amplify and perpetuate these injustices?
(5–7) What are three actions my citizens can take to heal these injustices so that they can move forward toward a more equitable and just society?
(8) What can my citizens expect as a result? OR What’s the next step they need to take to move forward?
I like using 3-card spreads and positions because they have an internal flow, from beginning to middle to end, that lends itself well to storytelling. This spread is also divided roughly into past, present, and future, beginning with the bottom row and proceeding to the top rows.
Here’s the sequence in which I dealt the cards.
8
5 6 7
1
2 3 4
Okay USA, Here’s Your Reading
(1) What is the current environment that has given rise to this question? — THE SUN REVERSED
The Sun symbolizes the energy without which growth is impossible. It pours its rays on ALL of us, not on just a select few. Joe Biden wants the USA’s Sun to shine down on everyone. Reversed, this stream of energy and support is being blocked.
The potential for massive growth and renewal is present, but something is standing in the way of its full expression.
(2–4) What’s are three underlying reasons that would explain why there is an attempt to amplify and perpetuate these injustices? — THE MAGUS (MAGICIAN) REVERSED — SON OF WATER — 7 OF AIR (SWORDS)
The Magus (Magician) reversed is Donald Trump, “the pitchman, the go-getter who can communicate and persuade, who is always firmly in control“ (New Era Elements Tarot LWB, pg. 9). He’s out of power now, hence the reversal, but his influence remains.
The Son of Water, for me, is the perfect example of how masculine and feminine energies combine to counter toxic masculinity. The only person I can think of who fits this description is Joe Biden, although he’s far from young. But he’s a caring, sensitive man who wants to do as much as he can to help the citizens of this country.
Perhaps the youthful aspect of the card symbolizes the fact that this kind of energy expression is new for us after four years of Donald Trump’s narcissism and sociopathy.
In the RWS deck, this card would be the Knight of Cups which depicts a knight on horseback holding forth a cup, symbolically offering his love to whoever is open to receiving it.
I definitely had to refer to the New Era Elements LWB to understand the 7 of Air (Swords). It looks nothing like the RWS 7 of Swords and focuses on one aspect of that card’s meaning, namely Deception.
On the other hand, I don’t have to look at the LWB because it’s clear from the card’s keyword that the country is being gaslighted with The Big Lie that Trump won the election, as well as all of the lies the Republicans are telling now about how terrible Biden’s plans for the country will supposedly be, not voting for them, and then taking credit for them when they work.
In the New Era Elements Tarot, we see a cuckoo chick in the nest of another bird species where its mother laid her eggs. Now the mother of the other bird species has been deceived into feeding the cuckoo chick as well as her own, that is, if they even survived.
Mother Cuckoo can now head down to Mar-a-lago for a round of golf.
Bottom line, Biden’s efforts to bring light and healing to the country are being hampered by Trump’s continued influence as well as the Republican Party’s desperate attempt to regain control through lies and deception.
(5–7) What are three actions can my citizens take to heal these injustices so that they can move forward toward a more equitable and just society? — SON OF EARTH (PENTACLES) REVERSED — 4 OF EARTH (PENTACLES) — 9 OF EARTH (PENTACLES) REVERSED
Interesting. All in the suit of Earth or Pentacles. Well, the USA did ask how the country can be “stable, secure, and productive,” so it makes sense that Pentacles would show up here. Let’s see what each card reveals.
The New Era Elements LWB describes the Son of Earth (Pentacles) as “a calm, practical young man” who is “steady and dependable and rarely deviates from his path once he is committed to a course of action” and “[H]is somewhat fastidious get-up” symbolizes his focus on the material and “his own appearance.” [Ibid, pg. 102].
Reversed, I think this card refers to how the pandemic knocked all of us out of our regular work routines, shut down so many businesses, and destabilized our finances, causing a lot of stress and hardship for many of us.
But it has also expanded the definition of work or, at the very least, WHERE we work such that we’ve had to shift the way we think about how and where work gets done.
The image of the 4 of Earth (Pentacles) shows three “ancient fig trees” whose roots run deep into the ground, giving them the stability they need for their trunks to grow strong and their branches to reach high into the heavens.
Biden’s infrastructure bill and the recently passed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill are aimed at doing just that, strengthening the country by providing a solid foundation in the form of money to support its citizens and to rebuild the country’s failing infrastructure, from the ground up.
The New Era Elements 9 of Earth (Pentacles) has a meaning that’s different from the card’s meaning in the RWS deck.
In that deck, this card typically refers to someone enjoying the fruits of their labor after an extended period of hard work.
In the New Era Elements’ version, the image suggests new growth that’s sprouted enough that it’s ready to be planted.
The infrastructure bill and all of the other bills that have passed through the House of Representatives and are awaiting Senate action are ready to be planted in the ground so the country and its citizen can grow and expand, thanks to the support these bills will give us.
But again, the card is reversed, meaning something is standing in the way of their passage, namely Republican members in the Senate and the filibuster.
Bottom line, in order for the country to grow like those three “ancient fig trees” in the 4 of Earth, we’ll be required to adjust to new ways of working and get The President’s bills, currently blocked, through the Senate.
(8) What can my citizens expect as a result? OR What’s the next step they need to take to move forward? — 7 OF FIRE (Wands)
The 7 of Fire (Wands) is the perfect card to describe what we need to do to actualize the promise of cards 5–7! And the card is upright which tells me it can be done!
Bottom line, let’s not let the country burn down. Instead, let’s be brave and work together to confront the raging fires that want to destroy democracy and put them out with a big blast of the waters of unconditional love, compassion, and empathy.
So there you have it, USA. I hope I’ve answered your questions to your satisfaction. Your citizens have a lot of work ahead of them, but I’m more than confident that they can accomplish the goals that will benefit so many Americans, regardless of political affiliation.