applied psychology – True Tarot Tales

Birds and bees and all that flies. It’s time again for Gemini. But what’s the story behind the zodiac sign?

Gemini the sign of the Heavenly Twins is a mutable air sign, and the third sign of the western or Tropical zodiac, representing late spring/early summer in the northern hemisphere.

The word ‘zodiac’ comes from the Greek meaning ‘circle of animals.’

The only zodiac sign that is non-representative of a living creature is Libra, representing the Scales of Justice. But even the scales of Libra are borrowed from the stars of neighbouring Scorpio, the heavenly scorpion.

See the Scales of Libra, doing double duty as the claws of the Scorpion.

Gemini Associations

Dates: May 21- June 20

Astrological symbol:

Ruling planet: Mercury

Element: Air

Quality: Mutable

Affirmation: ‘I think, I inquire.’

Birth Stone: For Gemini born in May, Emerald. For Gemini born in June, Pearl (although it is not a stone, and it is a product of the sea it is classically ruled by Mercury)

Lucky stone, The Tiger’s Eye. Why? Grounding of ‘flighty’ Gemini energy, brings focus

Colour: Yellow

Tree: all kinds of nut trees

Flower: Lily of the Valley, Lavender

Astronomy of Gemini

The Gemini constellation was listed as one of the 48 ancient constellations by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century, though Ptolemy referred to it in terms, not of the constellation as a whole, but of its two brightest stars, Castor ‘ The Star of Apollo,’ and Pollux ‘The Star of Heracles’.

Gemini is the northernmost constellation in the zodiac, in size the 30th largest. To see Gemini with the naked eye, we need to look north east of the constellation Orion between the Taurus and Cancer constellations.

Best viewing is during February. By April and May, the constellation is visible in the west soon after sunset.

Castor and Pollux, the brightest stars in the Gemini constellation, represent the heads of the twins from Greek mythology. Fainter stars are the outlines their bodies. Pollux, the westerly twin, is a red giant star, 33 light-years from Earth while Castor is about 51 light-years away.

(One light-year is the distance that light travels in a year – approx 6 trillion miles/9.6 trillion KM.)

Pollux is the brighter of the two stars, orbited by a massive planet orbiting it, Beta Genorium B, 1.6 times bigger than Jupiter.

Castor is actually not a single star, but a star system made of up six stars not visible to the naked eye.

Ancient History

Gemini represents the key principle of duality or polarity, similarities and opposites, life and death, light and dark, night and day, hot and cold.

We see this principle in active operation in spring, in the climax of splitting or cloning. Pollen flies free. Eggs hatch. Butterflies and dragonflies hatch out of their chrysalis. The mythology of twins goes back at least as far as the so-called Age of Gemini, during the Palaeolithic, 6, 500 BCE, arising from our understanding of the duality fundamental to the nature of reality.

There are countless stories of the twins in world myth, representing dualities and polarities; night and day, light and dark, heat and cold, male and female, war and peace, good and bad, life and death. The creation myths of ancient cultures across the world reflect this eternal battle of seeming opposites. Many surviving objects feature twin gods and goddesses. But there is a shadow side. In some cultures twins have been feared

In Egyptian astrology the stars of Gemini were twin goats, or else they were the two gods, Horus the Elder and Horus the Younger, while classical Greek mythology identified them as the twin brothers, Castor and Pollux, The Gemini.

Gemini is the first sign of the western tropical zodiac year that has a human representation rather than an animal one, following Aries the Ram and Taurus the Bull.

Castor and Pollux

Gemini is the name by which the constellation is known today throughout the western world. Gemini is Latin for “twins,” and Gemini is The Hellenistic names of the Heavenly Twins, Castor and Pollux.

Castor comes from the Greek Καστωρ (Kastor) and means “to excel, to shine.” In Greek myth Castor was a son of Zeus and the twin brother of Pollux.

Pollux comes from the Roman form of Greek Πολυδευκης (Polydeukes) and means “very sweet”.

The circumstances of their birth were unusual, to say the least. Queen Leda of Sparta was seduced by Zeus who had disguised himself as a swan. ‘Seduced’ is putting it rather too politely. She was bathing in the river. He glided about pretending to peck at things and then pounced on her while she was looking the other way, minding her own business. Later that evening, notwithstanding this shock, or perhaps, who knows, because of it, Leda also slept with her husband King Tyndareus and went on to produce four children; Castor, Pollux and their sisters Helen (later Helen of Troy) and Clytemnestra (later married to Agamemnon as queen of Mycenae.)

Pollux and Helen were fathered by Zeus, and were immortal, while Castor and Clytemnestra, fathered by Tyndareus,were mortal.

*Source: Public Domain, the young Castor and Pollux (Meissen)*

The brothers, known as the Dioscuri, meaning ‘Sons of Zeus’, were handsome, curious and always up to something. The mortal Castor was a renowned horseman and a master at fencing, while the immortal Pollux was known for his great strength and skill at boxing.

But then Castor was killed, possibly in a quarrel over dividing the spoils after a cattle raid. Pollux was distraught. He didn’t want immortality, not if it meant being without his brother, he said, and he begged his father, Zeus to make him mortal, and then kill him so he could be with his brother. Zeus couldn’t bring himself to do that, scratching his head, wondering how to fix this, and decided to place them both in the stars, to be immortal together forever as the constellation of the Gemini.

The Greeks, in particular the Spartans, though the twins had a temple in Athens, worshipped the twins as horsemen, and also as patron saints of shipwrecked sailors. Sacrifices were offered to the Dioscuri before a voyage, with a request for favourable winds.

The Romans later developed a cult around Castor and Pollux, dating back to 484 B.C. They built a temple to the twins in the Roman Forum in 414 BC in thanks for their help in defeating their old enemy The Latins, in the battle of Regillus.

Castor and Pollux were the patron gods of the Roman cavalry, the mounted knights or equites, and appear in this role on many early Roman coins.

The Zodiac Archetype

Mercury by Hendrick Goltzius, 1611, Public Domain

The planetary ruler of Gemini is Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, representing the winged god Mercury or Hermes; patron deity of all forms of communication, media, trade, global commerce and travel, medicine, research and analytics.

But Mercury has a lesser known role as a psychopomp; one who can go between the realms of the living and the dead, a go-between and safe escort to the dead. It was Hermes who escorted the souls of the newly dead to the banks of the Acheron or The Styx, where they waited for Charon to come in this boat and ferry them across to the Underworld.

It was Hermes who escorted Persephone out of the dominion of Hades to be reunited with her mother Demeter, not knowing that despite his instructions that she was not to eat anything, or the deal was off, Hades had tricked Persephone into eating six seeds of her favourite pomegranate fruit. Seeds don’t count, Hades told her, and she believed him, but now she was bound to his side for six months of the year.

All the zodiac signs represent archetypes; meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing.

A zodiac sign paints a poetic portrait of a person born at a particular time of year, in a particular season. A baby born in summer arrives into a different physical environment from a winter baby; differences of temperature, hours of daylight, maternal diet during pregnancy and so on, with potentially different effects on the baby’s physical makeup and constitution.

As a mutable sign, Gemini rules a borderline between seasons, in this case late spring into early summer. The other mutable signs are Virgo and Pisces, and all three mutable signs are considered the most changeable and agile of the signs, inquiring, analytical, logical and restless.

Mid- May is the start of grass pollen season which then builds to a peak in mid July:-

“May is quite the roller-coaster when it comes to tracking pollen. Dock and lime pollen start triggering hay fever in May as they begin their season, while both pine and oil seed rape peak and end within the month. Oak and plane end their peak – but grass pollen begins hitting its high notes.“

The Gemini temperament is friendly yet watchful, generous but changeable -mercurial as personified by Hermes with his winged sandals and his staff, caduceus- emblem of messages and trade. The well-known delivery company of the same name clearly chose its name for this same reason.

In medical astrology, Gemini rules the arms and hands. The typical Gemini native is of above average personal appearance, personable, attractive, usually slim and of average height or taller and with neat, tidy facial features. The Gemini is socially gifted, cheerful, humorous, witty, capable and quick to learn.

Limbourg, Anatomy of The Zodiac, Wiki via
Photo. R.M.N. / R.-G. OjŽda

At the same time, Gemini can also be surprisingly dogmatic, attaching themselves to causes, even inclining towards fundamentalism, whether it is to do with religion or an entirely secular creed or manifesto, or to do with lifestyle, for example, exercise or diet choices.

Gemini can be, not insincere, at least, not in that moment, but quick to lose interest, fluttering like butterflies, looking for the next new thing, looking for some better, brighter flower. This can apply to the way they interact with other people, here today and gone tomorrow, even though once mature, and once committed, they make dutiful and devoted partners and parents.

Gemini in the Tarot

The Tarot cards associated with Gemini are The Lovers, The Knight of Swords and the 8, 9 and 10 Swords.

Card Meanings: love, friendships, partnerships, agreements, contracts, difficult choices, decisions

Every suit in the Tarot has its own court with a king and queen, a knight and a page. The principle Court card associated with Gemini is the Knight of Swords.

Card Meanings: speed, action, forward movement, sudden developments, attack, assertiveness, intelligence, sudden news, cunning, calculation, good timing, a pre-emptive strike, a confident, forceful young person, windy weather, east wind, motorbike

The Decans of Gemini

The word ‘Decan’ comes from the Latin meaning ‘ten.’ Each zodiac sign lasts about 30 days and is further divided into three blocks of roughly 10 days each. These are the decans or as they’re sometimes called, the ‘thirty-six faces of astrology,’ bringing added depth to the psychological profile associated with your zodiac sign/sun sign.

The minor arcana cards associated with Gemini are the Eight, Nine and Ten of Swords, correlating with the dates of the decans.

If you don’t feel like you are a ‘typical’ Gemini, well, we’re all unique, but perhaps you are also a second or third decan Gemini native, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Gemini.

Gemini is still Gemini, whatever the decan and this holds true for all the zodiac signs. But an early born Gemini is born under a slightly different planetary influence than a later born Gemini. It’s all still Gemini, the same heavenly recipe, but with varying amounts of classic ingredients.

First Decan Gemini

(0-10 degrees of the sign)

21-31 May

Eight of Swords

Card Meanings: Entrapment, uncertainty, a sense of helplessness, waiting for rescue, there is a way out if only you will open your eyes, look around and take a step forward. I have personally also come to associate this card with plumbing, drainage issues.

This decan gets a double dose of the planetary influence of inquisitive, rational, Mercury. This is an alert, perceptive, intellectual and forceful personality. The acumen is sharp. The negative side of this coin is a Gemini native who is just as inquisitive but careless, flighty, forgetful, restless and unreliable.

First decan Gemini is a multi-talented juggler, light on their feet, graceful and agile. But at the same time they tend to develop a strong point of view on a wide range of subjects, and they have a clearly defined belief system. For all their apparent flightiness they are also tough and resilient- even stubborn, a quality more usually associated with Taurus, its next door neighbour and predecessor in the zodiac.

Gemini make devoted partners, contrary to whatever people might assume. They will hang on in there when the going gets tough, though they are prone to boredom, can quickly tire of routine quickly; and have considerable charisma or sex appeal. But they know when they have a good thing so long as there is plenty of social interaction and short distance travel to keep their restlessness under control.

Second Decan Gemini

(10-20 degrees of the sign)

June 1-10

Nine of Swords

Card Meanings: The Nightmare card. Worry, ‘the black dog’ anxiety, stress, grief, insomnia, things that keep us awake at night.

The personal planet of this decan is Venus, planet of love, beauty- and money. This Gemini has charm, and a generous and giving spirit. The sub-ruler is Libra, ruled by Venus, the natural ruler of the seventh house of marriage, partnerships, close associates, associations, and legal matters. This Gemini is more of a “me-too” person, rather than an “I-am” person when compared with a first decan Gemini.

This Gemini native needs to be especially careful in the selection of companions/associates. The choice of a mate is, of course, of the utmost importance. This Gemini especially needs to avoid making big decisions about a choice of partner when they are too young to fully understand what they are doing.

These are easy going and pleasant people. Gemini strives on change while Libra works to establish equilibrium. Their Venus/Libra influence is their salvation, because it makes them artful in their judgments and full of affection for those they do judge.

Gemini 2nd decan is drawn to quiet, reserved people. Not only do opposites attract, but the secrecy fascinates Gemini-Libra, ans they also match up well with reliable, practical types who can get the job done with little fuss or excitement. A person that will ground, refine and implement the Gemini-Libra.

People respond well to the Second Decan Gemini warm and effusive nature. They also have a sense of adventure, same as the other Gemini decans, and they enjoy travel for the sake of new experiences. Sharing is part of the Gemini-Libra life; they are generous with their time and friendship and also with possessions.

Gemini-Libra is great company, with a great deal of magnetism. They are kindly, sharp and witty. Just cut your cloth to suit and don’t be too surprised or upset if they disappear as suddenly as they appear or go quiet on you without warning. It’s not personal. It’s just the way they are.

Third Decan Gemini

(20-30 degrees of the sign)

11-20 June

Ten of Swords

Card meanings: Destruction, despair, betrayal, ruin, dark night of the soul, darkness before dawn, the only way is up, illness, comatose, a fall, spinal injury, head injury.

Incidental perhaps, but this card has come up repeatedly in respect of events and outcomes affecting the personal destiny Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine, 24 February. We shall see what occurs during these forthcoming decan dates, June 11-June 2020.

The personal planets of the third decan Gemini are Saturn and Uranus, painting a portrait full of contradictions. Sometimes this person is ultra-careful, dutiful, responsible, serious, at other times carefree or even careless. Uranus combined with the planet Mercury suggests an unusually active or even brilliant mind possibly even verging on genius. This person may be a thinker who is ahead of their times. Or maybe they are just zany.

Aquarius – natural ruler of the eleventh house of friends, hopes, and wishes-makes this Gemini a social type, a friend-oriented individual interested in social causes. This Gemini is an optimist, always interested in trying out what is new, and never happier than when they are on the move.

Life is rarely dull with a cheerful Decan 3 Gemini around, but they are the most independent- natured Gemini decan. They need plenty of space and freedom, with a partner who makes few demands on their time and attention. They are very hard working when they put their mind to it. But keeping promises, fulfilling obligations and routines are not their strongest suit. It is a mistake for this Gemini native to marry early or settle too soon. Adventure, exploration and experimentation with ideas, people and places- this is what they are about. This is what makes them tick.

Famous Gemini people

Carl Linnaeus, Peter the Great, Adam Smith, Richard Wagner, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Maynard Keynes, John F Kennedy, Frank Lloyd Wright, Boris Johnson. Johnny Depp, Queen Victoria, Charles 11, George 111,George V, Donald Trump, Muammar Gaddafi, Angelina Jolie, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Happy birthday, Gemini 2023

What is the advice for Gemini in 2023?

Astro-dice Casting

We have drawn The Sun in Gemini in the Second House.

Here is the mystery of synchronicity at work in real time. I throw 3 dice, asking, what is the keynote message for Gemini in 2023, and, blow me down, we have drawn the Sun in Gemini, reflecting an exact mirror image of the question as stated, and then the Second House, ruled by Taurus, represents the answer.

And here is more real time astrology. The astro-dice are picking up on the current transit of Mercury (ruler of Gemini) in the second house of Taurus.

These die have already been cast. What we have been dealing with since April and May may start to bear fruit (or deliver further baggage) from June onwards in 2023.

The focus this year is on material and financial security, and also perhaps wining and dining and other earthy luxuries. The money sign of Taurus, ruled by Venus, planet of beauty AND money, as the best things in life may be free, but the basics cost money, and beautiful things cost more money. Taurus also refers to agriculture and food- all good things.

The second House is also to do with our values and priorities, and these can change over time.

This is a year for cautious rather than exuberant optimism. New opportunities and adventures are coming this year, and new relationships, though these may be slow to start with.

Taurus gets things done, sharpened by the wit of Mercury. But you may find yourself making slower progress than you are used to. Gently does it.

There is a sense of needing to make peace with the past, letting go of griefs or grudges to do with past disappointments in relationships and business.

Health wise, though butter for instance is a real food, where margarine is not, and Taurus is all about real, rather than processed foods, rich heavy foods may not suit the slightly slower Gemini digestion, or the Gemini mood this year.

Back soon with more to come on Gemini 🙂

Tarot, Scotland’s new first Minister and IndyRef 2 (?)

Photo by Carsten Ruthemann on Pexels.com

There is a new First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, and his first order of business, or so he has announced, is to sever Scotland from its historically hard won Union with England; a union forged at a great human cost on both sides after three hundred years of lawlessness both sides of the border.

Is this what the people of Scotland want? Outside of the cities too? And do we see the end of this historic Union on his watch?

There is plenty of commentary. But what does the tarot show us?

The cards show that it is possible. But the signs are not strong.

Carry on scrolling for the analysis.

***From The Illuminati Tarot, Kim Huggens and Erik K Dunne***

Top King of Cups-benchmark card. A key person/situation. Scorpio timing but may also refer to Cancer or Pisces. Element Water.

Left 10 Cups- The stakes/history of the Issue. Pisces. Element Water.

Bottom 3 Wands- Hopes/fears. Deciding factor/s. Aries timing. Element Fire.

Right 4 Swords- Near future/outcome/comment. Libra timing. Element Air.

Missing element: Earth. Manifestation. Measurable results. Economy. Agriculture.

Tweeted 29 and 27 March 2023

@truetarottales

#Tarot Humza Yousaf. Cards re: detected consequences of this selection. King Cups (HY) deep, secretive but is he ‘adrift at sea’? Lovers (the Party’s choice) Scotland’s choice? 10 Cups says Scotland prefers Union at least for now. Ending Union=4 Swords=retreat/tomb/stagnation

#Tarot #SNP What do cards show re new First Minister Humza Yousaf? King Cups, joy at selection but haunted by ‘water=’ Issues: Health, Overseas & Islands. The Lovers=Party’s Choice. Union? 10 Cups=staying ‘home’. Indy ref 2=4 Swords. Stalls. 3 Wands= Ferries=a key test.

The Cards in Close-Up

The King of Cups

The suit of Cups is about feelings, in this case, feelings of pleasure. This first card reflects the joy of being selected as First Minister astrologically correlates with a mature man belonging to the water signs of the zodiac, Pisces, Cancer or Scorpio. Astrologically, Humza Yousaf is an Aries sun sign, born in Glasgow 7 April 1985. His grandparents came to the UK from the Punjab in 1962.

Astrologically Mr Yousaf is not a water sign king, though his chart may reveal key water sign houses, transits and aspects. He is a second decan Aries sun sign native, an archetype known for drive and ambition. Leading is the thing. Teamwork, not so much. And the minor arcana card representing this decan astrologically is the ambitious, adventurous and restless Three of Wands, and coincidentally this card was also drawn in this reading. Ideas, not a problem. Starting things, not a problem. Seeing things through is the challenge for him.

So why has the King of Cups turned up in this benchmark position? Tarot does not limit itself to any one single meaning. We are all far more complex than the archetypal storyboard attached to our sun sign, while reading the cards astrologically is only one approach.

The King of Cups classically denotes a man of faith, a man of authority, a man of good intelligence who may give good advice. He may also be a good administrator at least on paper. But he is somewhat remote and not easy to approach. See him sitting on his throne in the middle of the sea? He has a good theoretical understanding, and he has ideals, but how to ‘land’ them? And He likes to give advice but not receive it. Hubris. Here is his challenge or Achilles heel.

There is usually kindness, but there can be a certain intransigence. ‘I am the chosen one. I am the keeper of the faith. Who are you to question me?’

More specifically, the King of Cups is picking up on two arenas in which he has not yet won his crown. Health and Transport. The NHS in Scotland is still facing big problems with ambulance delays and the critical Caledonian MacBrayne ferry issue is still ongoing after years of delay on the state commissioned delivery of two new hulls. The sea is his challenge. More about that later.

But what this card is showing is that Humza Yousaf is ‘all at sea.’ He is a popular choice in his Party and the vote was overwhelming. But still, the track record in office is not anything to show off. The King of Cups shows a lot going on inside, but without there anything of consequence being show for it, and this is the perception of his critics.

There is a greater Scotland beyond the mainland, and the cities. Perhaps Humza Yousaf feels that the economy and the welfare of Highlands and Islands need not be his priority, and that for his own objectives and purposes, his power base is reliably and numerically sufficient in the cities.

Readers must beware personal bias. Like many of the English- and I identify as English, though strictly speaking I am Anglo-Irish, I can understand and respect why Scotland might ultimately choose Independence. I have Scottish family too; close family ties with Scotland in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brechin, Montrose and Helmsdale.

But I feel it would prove to be a very great mis-stepand a loss for both countries. This great Union began in 1603 with the coronation of the first king of a new kingdom called Great Britain, and this king was James 1 of England, James 6 of Scotland, a Scottish king on the English throne.

The history here goes deep, and ‘Braveheart’ with its several inaccuracies is only the tip of an iceberg in this epic story, not forgetting the later tragedies of Culloden, Glencoe and the Highland Clearances. Also not forgetting the horrors of the things William Wallace did to his own people, to those men he deemed were too slow to enlist, and to unarmed civilians in Guisborough and six other towns in the north. A capable and brave soldier, absolutely. A traitor, no, though he was betrayed by a fellow Scot. And his death was truly appalling and shameful. Edward 1 always was a hideous person.

But we need to beware hubris. The fixed stars in the second decan of Aries carry a warning for Humza Yousaf. They are in the constellation of Cetus the Whale. and these fixed stars absolutely reflect this card, the King of Cups, the man on his throne ‘on the sea’.

Eta Cetus, Theta Cetus and Tau Cetus are stars in the constellation of Cetus the Whale or Sea Monster. Cetus shares a word root with Cetacean, the word for whales and dolphins. The Cetus of myth was more monster than whale, like the Kraken that was sent to devour Andromeda only to be turned to stone by Perseus who rode in on Pegasus to rescue Andromeda, brandishing the deadly severed head of the tragic Gorgon, the poor Medusa, hunted to death in her own sanctuary.

The constellation Cetus is the fourth largest in our visible skies and is said to have qualities of the planet Saturn. There is an authoritarian feel about this individual King of Cups in the wider world.

The Lovers

The SNP has made its choice of a new leader and perhaps it was more difficult behind the scenes than the final vote suggests. The Lovers does just what it says on the tin, and signifies lovers, friends, allies, but also difficult choices.

It may indicate critical developments to come in Gemini season, late May-late June.

10 of Cups

The question while shuffling was, do we see Indy Ref 2 or do we see the end of the Union during the leadership of Humza Yousaf?

The 10 of Cups is a stable card. It talks about home and family. It is the card of Home Sweet Home. But this is a card of completion. It is about being settled. It is not a card of movement or change.

4 of Swords

This card is nicknamed ‘the hospital card,’ and it speaks of sickness, retreat and delay. This card may be reflected a personal health issue for Humza Yousaf, but is likely detecting his track record as Health Minister and ongoing issues in the NHS in Scotland during his time as First Minister. It seems likely that these issues will continue to dog or even overshadow his premiership.

This future card is not indicative of a change in the state of the Union. For this, I would be looking out for the appearance of any one of a number of other cards, including but not limited to, The 3 Swords, Judgement or The World.

3 of Wands

I have mentioned that this card is astrologically limked to Humza Yousaf in terms of his person horoscope.

Traditionally this card signifies foreign travel and trade; opportunity, growth and expansion. What is the vision and strategy of the SNP for this, beyond Independence?

It starts with Scotland’s own islands.

“The ships, known as hulls 801 and 802, were ordered by the state ferry procurement agency CMAL in October 2015 at a cost of £97 million and set to sail in 2018.

The cost is now around £300m and the boats are due in late 2023 and 2024.

From the outset, the contract was burdened by disagreements between the shipyard and CMAL over design changes and money.

Ferguson Marine went bankrupt and was nationalized in late 2019.

For more than half the time between the award of the contract and the public ownership of Ferguson, Mr. Yousaf served as Minister for Transport and Islands.”

The Highlands and the Islands of Scotland do not have anything like the population of the cities. They do not have the electoral clout. But the Scottish people are careful, prudent, and this card shows that they are looking for a bold, brave vision that goes far beyond identity politics, looking out on an international horizon, as shown by the international Three of Wands.

If the new First Minister still cannot deliver the first new ferry before the end of 2023, serving Scotland’s own islands, what would this signify for Scotland’s future on the world stage on his watch?

Author’s *Own image. The approach to Mull taken on board the Caledonia MacBrayne*

There’s a greater England beyond London and Westminster and the cities. There’s a greater Scotland beyond Edinburgh and Holyrood and the mighty Glasgow. England and Scotland have fought many cruel and terrible battles. We have also done great things together. Often we are literally, English and Scottish in the same family.

I am English, though technically I’m Anglo-Irish. My father’s family came from County Kildare to London in the 1920’s, and later my father came north, one of many poor boys who were in some ways actually saved by the War. He would never have gone to University had he not been evacuated out of Greater London to a family in Sevenoaks in Kent, and to a school, and in particular, one Head teacher, who encouraged my father with his education in a way his mother did not do, either with him or her five other children. My father never set foot overseas until he was 18 and he went to Austria to do his year of National Service, working in the map room because he knew French and German- largely thanks to that same Head Teacher.

I also have direct family ties with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Montrose, and going back further, there is a close connection to Sutherland, and to the families who were moved out during the Highland clearances to the fishing village of Helmsdale. Such family stories are nothing unusual. I love England. And I love Scotland. I see no reason in principle why Scotland should be denied full autonomy if that is the democratic will of the people.

But the story of Scotland is still also England’s story, and our nations have done great things together. On Sword Beach in northern France, there is a memorial to the Normandy landings on D- Day and to the Scots Commando Brigade under Lord Lovat who took heavy casualties, storming the beaches under fire on a mission to relieve the airborne troops holding the critical Pegasus Bridge

(And what a beautiful spot it is, and here again, how curious is this, we have yet another connection to the legend of Perseus.)

It was once rather grimly said of Lovat that he was “the handsomest man to ever slit a throat.”

Hitler offered 100,000 marks for his capture, alive or dead.

Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, Sword Beach statue. Photo Ian Rank-Broadley

The memorial on Sword Beach says, “Leur histoire est notre histoire. Respectez les.”

Their story is our story. You are to respect them.

Nothing worthwhile ever came easy. It always costs dear.

We could say the same of the Union. It is an entity greater than any of us, greater the sum of its parts. And as such it deserves utmost respect.

Until next time 🙂

Putin and Xi: A Tarot’s Eye Snapshot

Question: what is the dynamic between President Putin and President Xi as shown in the cards, and what will be the consequences of this recent meeting in Moscow for the outcome of the war in Ukraine and beyond?

Katie-Ellen H.

@truetarottales

Mar 20

#Tarot #Ukraine STANDS. President Xi twitchy, non enthusiastic, doesn’t want China bogged down by Putin. But wants to give P just enough to defy western hegemony yet without alienating western business. Tricky tightrope for Xi. Turkey & Japan tense. Aries season will be LOUD.

2/ But if Xi is careful, canny, Water Rabbit year, carefully does it, he is quids in. He will have Putin/Russia over an (oil and gas) barrel, literally, and even though that particular pipeline is years off completion- Xi is securing others. Hierophant. Taurus Money king. #Tarot

TOP ROW: PUTIN 7 Pentacles- THE LOVERS- 7 Wands

MIDDLE ROW: XI 2 Swords -TOWER – 2 Pentacles

BOTTOM ROW King Wands-Ace Wands-Princess Wands-King Pentacles-4 Swords- comments, short term developments

It is striking to notice the symmetry of the sevens cards either side of the central card The Lovers, especially as it is mirrored by symmetry of the twos cards either side of The Tower on Xi’s row of cards.

7 Pentacles classically signifies great efforts with little to show for it.

The Lovers signifies Putin’s hopes of a partnership with Xi on equal terms. Russia, after all has the gas and oil that China needs. Additionally it may signify discussions that focus on ideas or decisions to be put into action during Gemini season-late May-late June 2023. Gemini can mean intel, surveillance,drones or weapons deployed for air attack.

7 Wands classically indicates defiance, determination, a sense of moral righteousness and can be detecting critical events to occur during the third decan of Leo season. This decan is ruled by active or downright aggressive Mars, and correlates with dates 12-22 August

The 7’s in tarot are laborious. They are slow. Heavy going. The fact that Putin’s row of cards both starts and ends with a 7 card suggests that he will get the minimum support from President Xi, for all the helpful noises Xi may be making as shown by The Lovers card. Empty words. Help may be forthcoming, and it may include military technology or hardware but if so, it doesn’t seem to do much if anything to accelerate Russia’s military progress or advantage in Ukraine.

The clear suggestion here is that the meeting between Putin and Xi will have little direct effect on Russia’s ability to escalate the war against Ukraine. That slow 7 does not speed up. We start with a 7 and we end with a 7. It speeds up a little. The earth suit card, the 7 Pentacles (Taurus) is slow. The 7 Wands (Leo) is fiery, somewhat faster. But this is no real uptick in tempo. Whatever Putin might be hoping for, he seems unlikely to get it from Xi based on this lack of change in pace or scope across the tarot storyboard, for all the friendly words between them, at least in public.

The inference. Xi does not NEED Russia to win in order for China to get what it wants from Russia. Cheapest oil and gas. Whether China helps Russia or not. Whether Russia wins or loses- however victory or defeat is to be defined in this situation- China will have a strong bargaining hand in trade with Russia, and Xi knows it.

Xi can afford to stand by-that 2 Swords and the 2 Pentacles. He is no hurry to see a Russian victory. He reckons that this disastrous war may actually buy China both leverage and a breathing space of time to build back its own economy post- covid, as represented by The Tower card (correlating with Mars=War and the Pandemic )

Does Putin see this? Surely he does. But he sees that he simply does not have the luxury of choice in this partnership, or certainly not at this juncture, to strain this ‘partnership without limits’ by bringing pressure to bear upon Xi.

Others close to Putin will obviously know it, too, and they don’t like it at all.

That final Four of Swords is a card of stalemate and retreat. A knight is in his tomb.

This the card of hospitals, while the 10 Swords (ruin, sometimes sickness) has made countless appearances in readings since February 2022, saying this will not end well for President Putin, personally.

The 10 Swords correlates with the third decan of Gemini. We may find that the dates June 11-June 21 may prove pivotal for Putin, though it might well be late in 2024 before this card manifests in terms of concrete developments in respect of Putin position in power.

The ‘Final’ outcome of this war of Russian territorial conquest : no one can say, and the future is mutable. But the cards have been consistent since February 2022 that Russia fails to take Kyiv. Ukraine survives as a sovereign territory. The territorial integrity of the entire Baltic region is at stake, even if this is a prospect way beyond Russia’s present capability, and is a direct threat only in principle. Finally, Ukraine is receiving the fighter jets it has been asking for- Migs supplied by Poland and Slovakia. Can Ukraine take back Crimea? The cards indicate that this might be possible if it was a question of Ukraine’s will to do it. But they won’t get the support. Ukraine is not only smaller but very angry that promises have been broken and betrayed.

“Three decades ago, the newly independent country of Ukraine was briefly the third-largest nuclear power in the world.

Thousands of nuclear arms had been left on Ukrainian soil by Moscow after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But in the years that followed, Ukraine made the decision to completely denuclearize.

In exchange, the U.S., the U.K. and Russia would guarantee Ukraine’s security in a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum.not only by Russia which then broke 2 peace treaties, but by the West, which promised Ukraine protection in exchange for their agreement to surrender of their own nuclear weapons capability.”

The tarot has not shown either an ultimate Russian or a Ukrainian victory. There are only losers here. Except that the signs all point to the survival of Ukraine as an entity in its own right. Russia fails to take Kyiv and for Putin, that means failure- that Ten of Swords.

This is only one reader’s interpretation, and of course, it needs no saying, tarot card readers are not omniscient. But tarot is what I know. And what I see, or do not see, is what I can share.

Thank you for reading. Back soon. In the meantime I’ll leave you with a video demo of the deck that we’ve been looking at today; the Tarot Illuminati.

That Old Devil! Valentines and Vampires

Valentines and Vampires. That old Devil….

True Tarot Tales

Painting Andrea Camassei 1635, Museo del Prado

Once upon a time there was a fertility festival called The Lupercalia. Men in wolf masks ran about the streets of Rome, and in honour of the fertility god Lupercus and in memory of the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus, would symbolically thrash (lightly touching) any women they met of child-bearing age. Any woman not wanting to be fertile had better stay indoors. But some would deliberately loiter in the streets, hoping to encounter the wolf men.

Later Christianity claimed the festival, originally held on February 15th, renaming it in memory of poor Valentine, a physician who was cruelly beheaded in Rome after doing many a good turn to other people, including the daughter of his jailer, whom he apparently cured of blindness.

The violent death of a well-disposed person on religious grounds. What could be less romantic?

Valentine’s Day is nowadays…

View original post 998 more words

Cartomancy and the contest for the new PM

Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were first introduced into Europe in the 14th century. Practitioners of cartomancy are generally known as cartomancers, card readers, or simply readers. Wikipedia

A couple of people on Twitter had asked me to look at this contest for the new PM. Asking me to:

‘Please look at BJ’.

‘What do you see re PM?’

‘Will it go to the members?’

‘Will it be a General election?’

‘What about Graham Brady?’

Events have moved so fast, and I have been away this week, so that I have been posting quick fire readings over on there, and now, with the outcome expected to be announced shortly, am collating and reviewing them here.

I had better declare that I personally, have mixed feelings about this current situation, but am neither strongly pro nor strongly anti the idea of Rishi Sunak as PM though this recent making and unmaking of ‘kings’ does seem to have been conducted as a pretty mean and dirty business. But. That’s politics.

Jeremy Hunt

@truetarottales

Oct 18

#Cartomancy J Hunt doesn’t seem to be aiming at job of PM as seen through this lens. There’s a new ‘team of 3’, 3 Diamonds/3 Spades/3 Hearts drawn (Who’s the No 3?) JH shown here as King Diamonds (money ‘king’) looking at 6 Diamonds ‘Get this runaway horse back under control.’

I still haven’t figured out the message of the ‘team of 3’. but sure enough, Jeremy Hunt did not enter the contest to be PM.

UPDATE Jeremy Hunt has today, 25 Oct, been reappointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer. I find this interesting in light of other things suggested by the cards, discussed further down the page.

Penny Mordaunt

Tweeted 21 October

Katie-E

@truetarottales·

Oct 21

#Cartomancy #Tarot is not about prediction as such but takes left field soundings on a given situation. eg Penny Mordaunt for PM? Line of 5 Ace Diamonds (New PM) 8 Hearts (=Pisces native) 6 Spades/10 Spades/Jack Spades She is sharp but 3/5 Dominance of Spades reads as prob no.

At the time of writing Penny Mordaunt is still in the running but with only 26 nominations. She is hoping that it will go to a member’s vote, and seems confident that if the Conservative party members are given a say, they will choose her over the favourite, Rishi Sunak.

This may be true, while looking highly unlikely. But this is to disregard the fate of Liz Truss who was basically, hounded out of post for a pro-inward investment fiscal policy which the parliamentary party then seized on, contrary to their own traditional fiscal ethos, invoking envy politics as the stick to beat her with, and most effectively.

Liz Truss’s prospects for survival as PM were already widely in doubt back in September. I was shown, rightly or wrongly, that her policy would have started to come good December-March 2023. The Ten of Pentacles showed major inward investment coming into the UK from overseas after the first quarter 2023 or even before. This was some new investment (and I recommend following Jefferson for this kind of news)

But I also ‘saw’ that Liz Truss was being watched by a ‘King of Diamonds’ – this, I think, must have been Jeremy Hunt, who would later be replacing Kwasi Kwarteng, and Rishi, quietly watching and waiting, having become almost invisible after losing the previous contest.

Sometimes one card will be doing two jobs, or saying two different things at the same time.

I had previously forecast here in another recent blog that Liz Truss would win that first contest with Rishi Sunak. I had drawn the Eight of Cups for Rishi, a card which shows someone walking away, off to new pastures.

Clearly, although that forecast was correct in terms of the immediate outcome, that he lost to Liz Truss, he did not wander far at all, but only went to sit in the barn the other side of the pasture, looking out with binoculars, and talking on walkie-talkies to ‘his’ people, dressed as farm workers and passing ramblers.

Plan A didn’t work.

Time for Plan B.

Rishi stayed out of sight, staying clean and out of trouble. But his team were on it.

On a purely personal level, I was not especially pro-Truss. Why not? Lack of stature. But she never had a chance. The choice of Liz Truss was the party members revenge for Rishi’s alleged part in the coup against the elected PM.

The cards reflected what we could all see, that Liz Truss was already in deep trouble by October 3

Oct 3

#Tarot snapshot. Liz Truss today (for those interested in Tarot. This does not represent AN OPINION) Six Swords Reversed. Meaning, progress, exploration, moving on, steering a new course, unknown waters. Drawn Reversed, not in charge, progress halted or delayed, Gilded Tarot

Forecast 15 October

Katie-E

@truetarottales·

Oct 15

#Tarot Attitude of G Brady re Liz Truss? The Death card. He wants to get her out soonest. Dates c. 23 Oct-22 Nov. Why? King Coins RX. Fiscal. She’s not Rishi (who is also a Taurus subject) GB acting as ‘kingmaker’ but card reversed-ought not be. Beyond the remit/right/paygrade.

Katie-E

@truetarottales

Oct 16

#Cartomancy reading of conditions. Gen election before Xmas? Presented as 3/5. New leadership before Xmas? 2 ACES=STRONG poss Oct/Nov. LT hoping to turn corner (+outlast 31 Dec deadline 2 apply rejoin EU) Ace H, 7 D, Queen Clubs=Capricorn dates 21 Dec+ Ace Diamonds (election?)

Whether Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s policy would have delivered well for the UK given sufficient time for even half a chance, we can throw rotten potatoes all we like. We can only hypothesize. The markets rule the roost and we shall never know.

Penny Mordaunt will suffer a similar fate should she somehow break through on a members vote, though this is looking highly unlikely, and the cards indicated some days ago, that the new PM would not be Penny Mordaunt.

We will know very shortly if she gets the MP nominations sufficient for a members vote or if the cards showed me correctly on 21 October. (this written here 24 Oct 13:48)

UPDATE

14:00 Penny Mordaunt has withdrawn

This, despite the fact that the astrology at this time is favourable to her- Jupiter, planet of opportunity is returning to her natal sign of Pisces. She may yet be offered another senior role in Rishi’s new government.

Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson

I drew this spread yesterday afternoon 23 October around 4 PM in response to questions directed to me on Twitter

Top Row ‘Line of Five’ for Rishi Sunak

Bottom Row ‘Line of Five’ for Boris Johnson=

@truetarottales·

Oct 23

These were cards drawn 4 h ago Top row, 5 cards=RS Bottom row, 5 cards= BJ. Extra 3 cards pulled for each for clarification. I asked, show any Ace for next PM. Drew Ace Hearts indicated RS. Joker on RS top row- this isn’t the end of the political road or of high office for BJ.

Cards for BJ stronger than 2 days ago but not ‘trumping’- overtaking cards for RS who draws Ace Hearts.

First I looked for Spades cards. Spades can be read as trouble or else as a ‘no’ answer, while discounting the fact that as a Gemini native, Boris Johnson may be personally represented as the air sign King of Spades, when the card is to be read as an entirely neutral personal significator.

Rishi is a Taurus subject, born 12 May 1980. He is a third decan Taurus therefore, famously suave and smooth of tongue. But co-ruled by Saturn, the most ambitious of the Taurus decans. His court card is The King of Clubs, but in his role as a ‘money man’ and former Chancellor of the Exchequer he is also a King of Diamonds.

Spades would help me eliminate one or the other. Neither of them drew Spades cards.

I looked next for Diamonds cards, positive and fast moving. Diamonds indicate a yes answer. Well, Rishi drew one, Boris drew three, including the Ace of Diamonds in his recent past- reflecting the fact that he was already previously PM. summer

It was a bit like looking for spikes on a graph. But these two graph lines were not sufficiently, acutely or tonally differentiated from one another apart from The Joker reversed. More about that in a minute.

Next I looked at the outcome cards.

Boris drew a card of new business, the Jack of Clubs. OK. Well, this is a good, solid action card, and the Jacks describe something new, young or small. Or else they may detect an offer. But the scale of this card was not indicative of anything so monumental as a re-selection to be Prime Minister. I’d have needed to see the Ace or the Ten.

Rishi drew the 3 of Diamonds. Well, that was hardly monumental either but…The THREE. Aha? I think back to that ‘team of three’ message I drew when looking at Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor.

So that’s it. Jeremy Hunt is a Scorpio in Scorpio season, just as we are heading to the eclipse in Scorpio 25 Oct. Steamy Mars energy. Scorpio is secretive, subtle. It can make an excellent spy or detective. He was acting as one of a team of three people working behind the scenes, steering towards this new outcome while at the same time serving as Chancellor for Liz Truss.

(And just confirmed, he is now reappointed as Chancellor for Rishi Sunak. Very smooth and to quote a key word from Rishi’s inaugural speech, how very ‘stable’.)

This is pure speculation of course. This is only cartomancy. But three out of five cards were threes, and that’s rather like the cards shouting, ‘look at this!’

There was something active in process back there. A three sided relationship between Liz Truss, Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak. How pragmatic of the clearly very clever Mr Hunt. Was this his way of stopping that ‘runaway horse’ of the Six of Diamonds?

A not -quite love triangle.

When the UK economy shows signs of recovery, which it will, and always would have done, likely after Christmas- late March 2023 (and nothing is easier than to spook the markets, as we’ve all just witnessed) it will be attributed in retrospect to the ousting of Liz Truss, and to Rishi’s selection as Prime Minister.

Which is not to say that Rishi Sunak won’t make a good Prime Minister. He has high energy and I think is hardworking and well meaning, essentially benevolent. I personally like that about him. But when I looked at that prospect for him …then the Spades cards turned up.

Rishi has lots of Spades cards on his future timeline as PM. Here’s the thing. Spades is clever. Very. But can be narrow. Specialist. Is Rishi more than a clever operator and technocrat? He needs to be broader than that, more of a generalist, or else know how deploy the top talent, which is not to kept on a choke chain. These are dangerous times, not for any fault in Rishi Sunak and just because a card reader has drawn Spades cards, does not mean he may not do very well.

The technocrat thing is a concern, however, as flagged up through the lens of the cards, and there is today a perception, and a fear in some sections of the electorate that ‘the suits,’ ‘the money men’ are now promoted beyond their remit, and will now be running the whole show in plain sight.

Britain’s destiny is a matter that goes way deeper than the cold winds of the global economy. We need visionary leadership. We need a wise, humane but utterly resolute Home Secretary in defending our territorial integrity, and a courageous, supple and visionary Foreign Secretary, for all our sakes.

UPDATE Suella Braverman has just been reappointed as Home Secretary. James Cleverlyhas been reappointed Foreign Secretary. This from Ukraine.

@DmytroKuleba·

25m

Ukraine government official

I had a call with my UK counterpart@JamesCleverly who has just been re-appointed to the new government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Governments may change, but the support of our UK friends will remain unwavering for as long as it is needed for Ukraine to win

Back to the cards for the contest.

There was one big clue that Boris was at a disadvantage/would not proceed to a members vote. This was the appearance of The Joker, drawn upside down on Rishi’s line of cards. Why? Because Boris was the antagonist and Rishi perceived him as a threat to his chances until almost the last minute.

Time and again since 2016, I have drawn Boris as The Joker. But for all the buffoon jokes and for all his mistakes, make no mistake. Whatever the appearance of the Joker, this is a serious card. THE card of destiny. The only other card in the deck that can match the spirit, the particular genius and power of The Joker is the Ace of Spades with the Ace of Clubs the closest runner-up.

The Joker, drawn reversed on Rishi’s line was THE clue that the new PM would not be Boris. But I needed one more sign to feel sure about what I thought. I decided to pull more cards.

The cards are drawn blind and totally at random. Or so it appears. But this activity works on self-programming. One must trust that the mind will immediately start working on the question deep down, way below our level of awareness, and will then direct the reader to correctly select the necessary cards, triggered by unconscious physical signals from the central nervous system so that we choose this card but not that card but with no rationale, no conscious explanation of knowing why we do so.

I told myself, ‘show me a new Ace card for whichever one will be the new Prime Minister.’

On the third extra card, I drew an Ace for Rishi Sunak, the Ace of Hearts but no new Ace for Boris Johnson, while his existing Ace of Diamonds was behind him. I concluded from this that Boris would withdraw. It seems that he decided probably wisely, that it would serve no purpose to win the member’s vote if he could not also command substantially more than half of his own MP’s.

Why withdrawal rather than a defeat? The cards of defeat were missing. There was no 2 Spades, 3 Spades, 9 Spades, 10 Spades-and no Ace of Spades.

Boris Johnson chose to keep his powder dry. Perhaps to run again some other day.

By yesterday afternoon Penny Mordaunt had already been left behind in this contest. Where does it say so in the cards?

See that first card on Rishi’s row, the top row, the beautiful Queen of Hearts? That is Penny Mordaunt, a Pisces queen. Follow her gaze. Where is she looking?

Into the past or into empty space.

UPDATE

And now, even as I was writing this up, here we have it, 2:00 PM and the formal announcement. Rishi Sunak is our new PM in the UK.

The sacred chalice is passed.

Over to you, Mr Sunak. Many congratulations and good luck steering this most venerable ship Britannia away from the storms which are battering her, charting a course into brave new waters.

The lonely estate of high office, so hard to perform, so easy for others to criticize.

What else can we do but hope for the best.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

― Theodore Roosevelt

Tarot talks October, Putin, Poseidon and the nuclear threat

Disclaimer. This is a Tarot reading only, for readers generally interested in the modern use and applications of Tarot and cartomancy divination.

War is raging, people are dying. The political seas are boiling, the news is non stop, but we will all be glad if it gets no worse in light of Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons.

This deeply unprepossessing personage below, Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, 46, son of a Muslim cleric, Head of the Chechen Republic, who is apparently nicknamed Putin’s lap dog or Putin’s attack dog, has reportedly been urging Putin to up the ante, deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. He has just been promoted to the rank of general and looks like a choleric killer-gnome with high blood pressure. Better learn to calm himself down if he wants to make old bones.

Kadyrov fought against Russia in the first Chechen war, when he was pro Chechen independence. It is only natural and laudable to defend one’s own homeland, but he swapped sides in the second Chechen war. His province is economically weak, it has been reported. He relies on the Kremlin for money, and has a reputation for ‘human rights abuses.’

Kadyrov has said he will send his three sons to fight in Ukraine – aged 14, 15 and 16.

Putin’s PR man, Dmitry Peskov has apparently lamented that Kadyrov gets ‘too emotional at difficult moments’.

If this isn’t an exceedingly difficult moment for President Putin…

Let’s hope that Kadyrov’s promotion is actually Putin’s way of managing him, kicking him upstairs,keeping him sweet while at the same time, putting the frighteners on everyone.

Biden has said that Putin is not joking. Ukraine knows he isn’t, and we have all seen that Putin’s regime is capable of pretty much anything. It’s not that he’s bluffing. But I am not seeing that he will do it.

President Xi meantime has plainly intimated that the deployment of nuclear weapons is a red line that Russia had better not cross, while Saudi Arabia has joined up with Russia to agree a managed reduction of oil stocks from November, which will drive up prices, and which the Biden administration views as an act of betrayal by OPEC and the Saudis, driving up the price of Brent crude oil just before peak season demand. US views this as an act of solidarity with Russia. OPEC says they have done this to stabilize the market.

Will Putin deploy nuclear weapons? On the face of it it may seem entirely plausible that he will do so, given the current desperate circumstances, but he has many different audiences, each with their own stakes in play.

What does the Tarot show in respect of this nuclear threat this coming month?

Events in October

Tweeted 6 October

@truetarottales

23h

#Tarot #Ukraine #Putin October direct nuclear attack not shown, test not unlikely. 5 Swords=defeats. King Cups=water/Poseidon/threat +message to Biden. Week 3 fiery+4 unstable. 9 Pentacles/Temperance/3 Coins-China would be alienated. No clear gain +P hopes winter splits opposition

Tarot readers don’t claim to know ‘the future’. They use their cards, that is all, to try and sense the coming weather, and articulate their findings.

October is deeply worrying, The fourth week is potentially most worrying as seen in the cards. November too, highly likely. But I am not being shown an impending nuclear Armageddon outcome. Let’s consider the cards in more depth.

Issue: The Five of Swords and The Seven of Cups

The Five of Swords is Defeat, rage, mortification, humiliation and chagrin. This is a reflection of the recent defeats experienced by Russian forces, but is also holding up a mirror to the defeat he wants to inflict. He wants it finished by Christmas. This may not be possible. The Five of Swords is Aquarius, late January to late February. Putin could make use of a pause at this juncture. Ukraine has no reason to seek one, but it does have every reason to push harder and not lose momentum

The Seven of Cups talks about ‘castles in the air.’ Daydreams and potentially, delusions. This is about Putin’s dream, his vision. This card generally talks about those things which inspire us, but which are not realized. In terms of timing, this is a card of Scorpio and late Scorpio time, late November, suggesting that Putin is envisioning a next stage strategy working towards that date frame. This is a card of deep water, which in the context of the Poseidon submarine being deployed in the Kara Sea, is not a reassuring card. This card therefore, benchmarks the threat. (Not forgetting the nuclear train being deployed to the border with Ukraine.)

Week One: The King of Cups

This card represents a number of possibilities:-

A man acts as a broker or peacekeeper. The suit of Cups is calming in general
The card represents Neptune- dominant planet in 2022 and the alter ego of Neptune is Poseidon- well, here we are, in week one, talking about the Poseidon missile threat.
The deployment of the submarine-and the train- is a direct threat and intended as a rebuke to the ‘King of Cups’, which is the court card representing Scorpio native President Biden in response to recent further US armaments to Ukraine and the new Lend Lease.

The Russian Poseidon submarine is in the Kara Sea, in the Arctic, a prime fishing ground with vast reserves of untapped petroleum and gas. The US government sanctioned Exxon from drilling there in 2014. One wonders whether this is Putin’s way of reminded the US government that he has the means to prevent them from accessing those energy fields.

If I am understanding this correctly, for Putin to use that Poseidon submarine to carry out a nuclear attack on Ukraine it would need to enter the Baltic undetected.

However, this Neptune card conveys a strong sense of key coastal or maritime developments.

Aug. 24, 2022

On the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, the United States is reinforcing its long-term commitment to the nation with $2.98 billion to train and equip the Ukrainian armed forces for their struggle against the Russian invasion.

President Joe Biden announced the aid at the White House. He said the people of the world have been awed and inspired by Ukrainian resistance and pledged the United States will stand with the people of Ukraine as they fight to defend their sovereignty.

The aid “will allow Ukraine to acquire air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars to ensure it can continue to defend itself over the long term,” the president said. – SOURCE

Week Two: The Empress Reversed.

I am struggling with this one, to gauge its meaning apropos of the question. The Empress is Demeter, so, land and agriculture. The Empress is mothers and motherhood eg; Mother Russia. Maybe to Putin she is a vision of Catherine The Great, and attached to this, the city of Odessa which she founded. If so, perhaps this card is detecting that Putin may seek to scatter Ukrainian forces with further attacks on Odessa this month.

I think this card pertains to the problem Russia now has during this time, of identifying and declaring the boundaries of the land they have claimed via the four ‘sham’ referendums, now that Ukrainian counteroffensives are reclaiming ever more territory in those four Oblasts, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Wherever Russia now declares those lines to be drawn, are the lines that Russia must be seen to defend. They have not as yet made that announcement. Let us wait and see if Putin’s military chief minister, Shoigu falls down the stairs this month in weeks three or four.

There has been a sense since February, as seen in the cards, that Putin will end up with much less than he wants, but more than he should rightfully get, and finally comes a cropper. It will not be an easy exit for him, says the Ten of Swords. Perhaps it will be Donetsk that he gets to re-acquire, which may just possibly have a genuine majority in favour of returning to Russia. But now he risks losing what he has already seized by invasion, however ‘peaceful’.

Ukraine is now a hive of fury and is set on taking back the Crimea.

Curiously, the moon in the second week in October is a waning moon in Taurus, the zodiac sign of agriculture – Virgo is the other. Taurus is ruled by the planet Venus, all things sociable, beautiful, harmonious and luxurious. This means money.

A waning Venus-Taurus moon…this for Putin could therefore signify waning money, the erosion of the boundaries of the four annexed Oblasts, and in addition there may be some private worry or grief to do with a significant woman in his life.

This is a man whose upbringing and mother, The Empress Reversed, is a mystery. The mother, rather a touching figure in this photograph, the child withdrawn and anxious.

*By Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5389243*

Week Three and Four: The King of Wands Reversed and The Fool Reversed

A man who is a’king of wands’ may leave the scene. A man of action. Is this a reference to Sergei Shoigu, who has been the Russian Minister of Defense for some years? Astrologically this card represents Leo, but the planets are Mars and Jupiter. One can see the potential for heat here, suggesting missiles used or exchanged with Ukraine. But the card is reversed, and it remains possible that the situation may be somewhat defused by this time. There is a strong feel of ‘fire and water’, this could mean explosions rather than missiles but these are traditional, so to speak, below the grade of nuclear.

The Fool is the most dangerous card here in this spread, in this context. The Fool is the wild card in the Tarot, never to be discounted. ‘Accidents’ can happen. Fools jump in. Surprises are likely, putting it mildly.

But the more Putin looks before he leaps, the less likely it looks here that he will act to unleash nuclear weapons, however much he is tempted. Why will he not? The reader looks for the cards that follow, to get clarification on The Fool. People talk about the Death card. This most numinous card represents the concept of zero and can mean death. For whom, apart from all those who will certainly lose their lives this month, on both sides, not to mention the blameless Ukrainian civilians?

That Three of Pentacles tones down the Fool, and suggests Putin decides to stay his hand on the nuclear option at least until the winter. The Three of Pentacles correlates with 1) a team of close advisors 2) second decan Capricorn, late Dec-late January.

If it was a regional nuclear wipe out, I’d be looking at the World card reversed.

Putin does want this war ended as soon as possible, and he may not care how. He has lowered his sights. He would settle for Crimea and those four annexed Oblasts -for now. He wants it done but such is the damage done to Ukraine, a ceasefire may not be a realistic prospect.

But given the risks to him of using nuclear weapons, the Three of Pentacles suggests Putin hopes a delay will work in his favour, not least because it gives him more time to produce/manufacture the resources he needs to support the now expanded military logistical demands. Another factor in his favour, from now on the cold weather will put pressure until spring 2023 on European support and UK support of Ukraine’s defense. It will now cost even more, thanks to the decision by OPEC.

Other cards

The Nine of Pentacles says Putin must be able to see a clear material gain as his justification and reward for deploying nuclear weapons. Such an action must be able to be presented as justifiable, at least, to those allies who are already maintaining a critically delicate diplomatic position. The Nine of Swords reversed shows the grief and anger of mothers in Ukraine, and now in Russia too, the mothers of the newly mobilized civilian population. Fathers too, of course, but we are working with the card language.

President Putin dare not push Russian public opinion ‘too far.’ The danger here is that these Russian mothers, however ambivalent they were before, would support the use of nuclear weapons, and likely they would, if it meant their own loved ones were sent home again safe and sound, and were not needed to fight after all. This would likely be Putin’s justification at home then.

But he needs China onside. Would this excuse wash with President Xi? Highly doubtful.

Temperance is a mighty card of restraint. This plus Putin’s OPEC ‘coup’ offer a modicum of hope that Putin will not order the use of these weapons during October. He can just wear Ukraine down and wait for the West to get fed up.

The intensity of the risk continues into late November or even Christmas, based on the connection of the Temperance card with the zodiac sign of Sagittarius, the Archer.

Ukraine’s war so far has been largely defensive. Its offensives have been counteroffensives and its civilians have been shelled in their beds by Russian long range missiles. But if we think of Temperance as the archer, then Ukraine’s increased HIMAR capability and longer range missiles, would be a significant ramping up of their own deterrent, since after all Ukraine was persuaded to forego its own nuclear capability in return for the promise of protection.

SOURCE NPR

Three decades ago, the newly independent country of Ukraine was briefly the third-largest nuclear power in the world.

In exchange, the U.S., the U.K. and Russia would guarantee Ukraine’s security in a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum.

Ukraine has been asking for long range missiles, able to cover four times the distance of the HIMARS to help them level up with Russia, and has said they are wiling to have the use of these overseen by the US. Biden at this time of writing, is still reluctant to provide these to Ukraine for fear of escalating the war by crossing Putin’s declared red lines.

The Ukrainian defenders must then, either cede that seized territory, or fight to take it back. up against a superior Russian artillery capability, with one hand tied behind their back, so to speak.

But by the same token, the Temperance card suggests, should Putin proceed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons against the Ukrainians, then he is aware- and so is President Xi- the US is liable to change its mind about supplying those long range missiles.

Cartomancy Spread

Tweeted 6 October 2022

#Cartomancy nuclear threat Oct 2022 5, 8,10 Hearts Water theme dominant, maritime. 10 = ocean/Poseidon. But no ace to show nuclear ‘tsunami’. 5 Hearts=Scorpio/23-25 Oct+ (eclipse?) brings a change to situation 5 Clubs. If there is an escalation however, cards suggest contained.

In Summary

Back in December 2021, in an article published in January 2022 I wrote among other things here and at AskAstrology.com that I didn’t like the Neptunian feel of things for the coming year.

Neptune is associated with all manner of desirable things; imagination, compassion- but I didn’t like its boundlessness in 2022, the lack of boundaries or the breaching of boundaries. Without boundaries, there is chaos. Where there is chaos there is distortion, madness and cruelty.

The cards for this coming month have that Neptunian feeling again, especially in the second half of the month, combined with that deep water fire of Scorpio. Both Putin and Biden have Scorpio written large in their profiles.

This, by the way, is not to suggest anything negative about this zodiac sign, or indeed any zodiac sign or its natives. Every zodiac sign has its positive and negative aspects, just the same as in every season of nature. Scorpio is also associated with great vision, drive, natural physical charisma and a gift of healing.

I am seeing correlations between the cards and the astrology in respect of this particular situation, that is all. Every zodiac sign has its positive and negative aspects.

But the ‘graph line’ of the cards does not look what I might expect to see if we were looking at a nuclear attack. I have seen a terrorist attack once before in the cards, before it actually happened. That was terrible. But this would be something far worse.

I had drawn the Chariot reversed, the Devil and The Tower in a casual ad hoc reading done around half past three UK time, a few hours before the truck attack in Nice, 14 July 2016. I did not know exactly what was coming, but I knew I did not like it, that it involved a vehicle and a collision, but with an added element in the mix, a suggestion of intent and of malice.

The key cards were:

The Chariot drawn reversed=a defeat, the zodiac sign of Cancer (14 July is Cancer) A transport accident/disaster /armour (truck, car,train- here it could be a submarine)

The Devil =desire, rage, lust for power, chaos,extremism, terrorism

The Tower, pride, fall, sudden shock, impact+explosion

That presentation has been absent in both of these card spreads today. Of course the reader must point out that this IS only a card reading, done as a demonstration exercise, for general interest, and is to be regarded as such.

None of these findings are to downplay the danger which is very real and present, not only as reported in the news but as reflected in the cards.

However, it seems to the reader, based on these cards drawn yesterday, 6 October, and on further cards which were drawn this morning 7 October, that there is no clear sign of a full on nuclear attack.

It is not evident in the cards, that Putin will deploy tactical or other nuclear weapons. It depends upon how he calculates the risks of doing so. This thing he has agree with OPEC possibly makes it less likely, more than more likely, strengthening his hand as he hopes to grind down Europe, the UK, the US and Baltic countries supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty.

It seems clear that Putin would not hesitate to use anything at his disposal if he could get what he wanted by those means. He may carry out ‘tests’ or demonstrations. That Eight of Diamonds can mean ‘performances.’ But it is a cautious card, the Eight of Diamonds, and here it’s being counterbalanced by the Eight of Hearts which is in essence, a card of balance and restitution. Possibly there will be a positive diplomatic development this month.

What seems likely to limit Putin’s scope for using nuclear weapons, apart from the delicacy of his relationship with President Xi is the problem of the ‘optics.’ How it will look to the world. That card, the Eight of Diamonds also refers to eyesight or specifically spectacles. Perhaps Putin now sometimes wears spectacles- away from the public eye.

Putin has no way of knowing what will be the full extent of the fallout of using such weapons-both literally and physically, from his own point of view-politically and militarily upon Russia, and upon himself personally.

There is a whiff of poison in these dominantly watery cards. Spite. Putin may well be considering biological or chemical weapons, or thinking how and where to do more damage to Ukraine’s water supply infrastructure.

When the Romans went stamping about invading other folk, they used to drop silver coins down the wells to disinfect them. Silver has antibacterial properties. The Maltese and the Knights of St John poisoned the wells in the south of the island, resisting the Turkish invasion during the Great Siege of Malta 18 May 1565 – 11 Sept 1565 (and for the full story I heartily recommend this astonishing book.)

Putin wants to flatten Ukraine once and for all. But the gruesome gnome, Kadyrov, and doubtless there are others of his ilk, are at this juncture, monkeys on Putin’s back. They have agendas which are nothing to do with Ukraine as such, making them as dangerous to Putin as they are to everyone else, including Russia.

Maybe he’ll poison the Kara Sea or drown an island, you know, just to show everyone and especially Biden who’s in charge.

No-one is not saying that the West is free of blame or that it has clean hands. We can all speculate, but had there been a different response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014, who knows, we might not be looking down the barrel of this nuclear threat right now.

This conflict is a polarizing beacon showing that the world order is drawing up and hardening into two global zones- broadly a face off between the model of democracy v the model of autocracy.

I don’t imagine President Putin is having a happy birthday. I don’t see him smiling, cutting the cake, all around him a vale of tears.

The Ten of Swords awaits. Ruin. That card was drawn right back at the start, the day of the invasion of 24 February. How can he avert that now, for himself? Next spring may tell us and he is pinning his hopes on the worst that the winter can do.

But the Empress is not smiling upon him.