February was added to the older Julian calendar in the 700’s BCE when two new months were added to create the new Gregorian calendar, matching it up more closely with the actual length of the Earth’s journey round the sun.
But the Anglo Saxons called February Sōlmōnath, from sōl n Old English word for wet sand or mud, alluding to the weather this time of year and the effects of rain and snow melt. The romantic Solway Firth between North West England and South West Scotland is actually the massive tidal ‘Mud way’, rather than the ‘Sun way.’
The northern English scholar monk , saint Bede, wrote that February was celebrated as “the month of cakes,” when ritual offerings of savory cakes and loaves of bread were made to ensure a good year’s harvest.
But is the fire festival of Imbolc and Brigid is a more ancient celebration in Gaelic Britain, including Ireland, Scotland, swathes of Northern England and the Isle of Man.
Brigid’s fire festival began as a neolithic festival marking the 1/2 way point between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Beltane.)
Imbolc spans 1-2 February, celebrating the arrival of Brigid, the Divine Feminine, and the harbinger of the coming of spring and the first lambs, so vital to survival of those early communities. Brigid’s name means ‘Exalted One’.
Brigid From The Sacred Circle Tarot
‘Imbolc’ is thought to mean ‘in the belly’ referring to the precious ewes in lamb Soon is the time of the first lambs although the start of the lambing season varies by up to two weeks in any given year.
Brigid was a powerful protector of women in childbirth, as well as the safe birthing of precious livestock. She was not only a goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, The Tribe of the Gods, but a triple goddess of healers, poets and smiths.
Via Wiki Riders of the Sidhe, the Tuatha de Dannan
“The Tuatha de Danaan, the people of the (mother) goddess Danu in Celtic mythology; a race inhabiting Ireland before the arrival of the Milesians (the ancestors of the modern Irish). They were said to have been skilled in magic, and the earliest reference to them relates that, after they were banished from heaven because of their knowledge, they descended on Ireland in a cloud of mist. They were thought to have disappeared into the hills when overcome by the Milesians. The Leabhar Gabhála (Book of Invasions), a fictitious history of Ireland from the earliest times, treats them as actual people, and they were so regarded by native historians up to the 17th century. In popular legend they have become associated with the numerous fairies still supposed to inhabit the Irish landscape”. From The Encylopedia Britannica
Brigid was said to visit one’s home at Imbolc. People would make a bed for her, and leave food and drink and items of clothing outside in the hope of receiving her blessings, petitioning her to protect homes and livestock.
This was a time for feasting and visits to sacred wells, and a time for ritual divination. A St Brigid’s cross is made from rushes and was placed in doorways to protect the home from harm, representing the wheel of the seasons.
Spring is fierce in its quickening of new shoots. Spring is initiation. Spring is fire, just as Aries the Ram of the zodiac, though bot starting until later, in late March, is a fire sign.
The old Norse rune ING or INGUZ is a fire sign rune, associated with male fertility, vitality and recovery from sickness. This powerful protective rune can also be noticed incorporated into pargeting, used in half-timbered buildings in Britain and northern Europe
The people would light bonfires on the hilltops by night, and by day might run cattle through the smoke of lower lying bonfires, asking divine protection for the livestock.
Imbolc was a key moment in weather forecasting. This was the time when The Cailleach —the divine crone of Gaelic tradition—gathered firewood for the rest of the winter. If the Cailleach knew the winter was going to last a good while longer, she’d make sure of good weather during Imbolc and would use it to gather more firewood to top up her stores. Bad weather at Imbolc was good news. The Cailleach wasn’t worried about running out of firewood. She had turned over and gone back to sleep and the worst of winter was almost over.
Via Pinterest
‘Dark sacred night’…yes, but when the dark goes on too long, we shout back at the dark, fighting back with the Promethean gift of fire.
Why is this time of year associated with Sagittarius the Archer? Two thousand years ago and more, the ancients looked up at this time of year and studied a constellation overhead that they decided represented the image of a man with a bow and arrow.
But the zodiac signs were cast in stone by Ptolemy in the 2 century AD and these dates remain unchanged, based on his arithmetic model of the zodiac. The astrology has parted company with the astronomy which inspired it, due to the wobble of the earth,and the effect known as the precession of the equinoxes.
The constellation of Sagittarius is now visible in the northern hemisphere in summer until September, and is visible in the winter in the southern hemisphere.
To find out where and how to see the constellation VIEW HERE.
But the zodiac dates endure, and the story and the meaning endure.
This was the time of year when the men of the family group went a hunting, to to catch, to kill, to cure and to store meat for the coming winter.
Common associations
Symbol:
Date of Birth: Nov 22 to Dec 21
Ruling planet: Jupiter
Element:Fire
Key phrase: I seek
Body: Thighs
Birth Stone: Topaz, Citrine, Turquoise
Colour: Light Blue
Tarot card: Temperance: Timing, Moderation, Education, Solstice, Healing of Chiron
Public Domain: Rider-Waite
More about the Astronomy
Source :Wiki
Sagittarius, the zodiac sign inspired by the constellation of Sagittarius, from the Latin meaning Archer, was recorded in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy.
The constellation of Sagittarius is near the centre of our galaxy, the spiral Milky Way, mainly visible in the southern hemisphere June-November. In the Northern hemisphere the constellation is low on the horizon from August to October.
Sagittarius has a nickname, ‘The Teapot’ on account of its vaguely teapot-shaped star pattern, or asterism.
To find The Teapot
The best time to look is in August or September, somewhere really dark. Locate the hazy band of The Milky Way stretching right across the sky. Looking in the northern hemisphere, the Milk Way seems to bulge as it descends to the southern horizon. This ‘bulge’ is roughly about the middle of the Milky Way and is contained within the boundaries of the constellation Sagittarius.
Photo by u200bu0468u0477u047bu048f u046au0454u0459u0469u04e1u04c4u047bu0487u0477 on Pexels.com
Sagittarius contains a massive star-forming region, the Omega Nebula, home to the bright blue hyper-giant Pistol Star, one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way. The Pistol Star was discovered with the Hubble Space telescope in 1930, and is largely hidden in the dust of its own nebula.
It is 100 times as massive as our Sun, and 10,000,000 times as bright.
Mythology
Sagittarius is the ninth sign in the Zodiac, not to be confused with the constellation itself, and represents those born between Nov. 22 and the advent of winter solstice, Dec. 21.
Sagittarius is nowadays generally associated with the ancient Greek story of Chiron. But the story is far, far older, and goes back to a Babylonian god, Pabilsag, and even further back than that.
Public Domain: Celestial Atlas 1822
Pabilsag and the Solstice
Pabilsag was the ancient Babylonian name for what we now call Sagittarius, handed down to the Greeks through the Sumerians and Kassites.
The Sumerian word ‘Pabil’ means ‘ancestor or relative’. Combined with the final element sag, meaning ‘chief, head, tip or foremost,’ his name can be translated as the ‘Chief Ancestor’ or ‘Forefather’.
Just as we were hunters at the dawn of human civilization.
Here, 3 millennia BC, we we have a winged centaur type figure, and yes, he is an archer too, and his arrow points at the heart of Scorpio, the red star Antares, but he also has a scorpion’s tail as the wheel of the Zodiac turns, and as Sagittarius gallops in, we leave Scorpio behind.
The distinction of Sagittarius, though, is that he is a solitary hunter. He does not work as one of a team to being down the really big prey. He is an individualist, working alone, just as many a hunter or trapper still hunts alone in winter.
Sagittarius – Psychopomp
The constellation of Sagittarius-Pabilsag is within the Milky Way, rising from the southern regions close to the horizon into the higher reaches of the skies.
This section of the Milky Way represents a symbolic bridge or a rainbow for the souls of the dead on their way to the afterlife, as the arrival of Capricorn draws near, marking the advent of the winter solstice. so that Sagittarius, or Pabilsag, is a psychopomp; a guardian and a guide to the dying year, and also to the souls of the dying as the sun sinks ever lower.
Chiron the wounded Centaur
Most modern versions of the story refer back to much later, classical variants of the old Babylonian myths, and say that Sagittarius represents the gentle, cultured centaur, Chiron, who was accidentally shot by Herakles with a poison arrow.
The centaurs in general were a rough lot, hard drinking, hard fighting, not remotely glamorous. It has been suggested that the legend of the centaurs rose from perfectly mortal, mounted ancient Greek cowboys.
But whatever the centaurs were, Chiron ‘the wisest and justest of the centaurs’ was something very different, representing a hope for the centaurs, and for Humanity itself, as collectively it strives to rise above the ever present tyranny of the Id and its own worst nature.
Here he is, trying to teach Achilles to control his temper, learning to play the lyre. Chiron had many other pupils, as well, including Asclepius, Ajax, Achilles, Theseus, Jason, Peleus, Perseus, and Phoenix. And Herakles, who brought about his death, when he was sent there to be schooled with Chiron.
Herakles had previously lost his temper with Linus, his music tutor back home. Linus, criticised his playing, and Herakles responded by smashing his lyre over the teachers head, killing him. Though in some accounts it was a stool.
Now Chiron, wounded by the poison arrow, was left in terrible pain. He was wise in the ways of medicine, none wiser, but he could not heal himself, and none could help him. Nor could he die, being Immortal.
Still, he carried on until he could bear it no more, and he asked Zeus to release him from Immortality so that he could die and be free of pain.
Zeus placed him in the heavens and the story goes, placed him there as Sagittarius.
However, Chiron already has another constellation, Centaurus, and in addition, there is another classical version of the story of Sagittarius, referring instead to Krotos, a satyr who lived on Mount Helicon with the Muses.
Krotos the Cultivated Satyr
Krotos was the son of Pan and Eupheme, and his mother had nursed the Muses. He was a renowned archer, hunter, horse rider – hence a possible source of confusion with the centaur, and besides all this, a devotee of his childhood companions, The Muses and their arts.
Krotos means ‘One who Claps his hands.’ He was credited by the Greeks with not only having invented archery, but introducing the convention of applause at artistic performances.
In this version of the story it was the Muses who, when Krotos died, asked Zeus to place him among the stars, which he did, transforming him into the constellation Sagittarius, says this variant of the zodiac story.
So Sagittarius is either the cultured wounded healer, Chiron, already represented in the constellation Centaurus, or he is the cultured satyr, Krotos; goaty, horse-riding archer, culture vulture and hunter extraordinaire.
There is a secondary link here, Krotos the Satyr linking Sagittarius with Capricorn, the next sign coming up, sun sinking to the winter solstice.
Chiron or Krotos?
Take your pick.
Or you can go Babylonian with Pabilsag.
The Muses
Sagittarius is keenly intuitive, and usually has a marked talent, a gift, in the field of the Arts. Winston Churchill for example, was a Sagittarius subject and probably psychic. He was certainly subject to visions and feelings of premonition, and he also painted.
Delphi said there were three Muses. But c 600 BC Hesiod wrote in his Theogony that there were Nine Muses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory personified) and this is the version that has generally stuck.
The Muses were not necessarily benign. They were touchy, sensitive to human hubris, and liable to exact vengeance of anyone they decided was getting too far above themselves.
Image via Greekmythology.com
Kalliope ‘She of the Lovely Voice’ was the muse of epic poetry. Also of Diplomacy.
Klio ‘She Who Proclaims’ was the muse of history.
Erato ‘The Lovely One’ was the muse of love poetry.
Euterpe ‘She Who Pleases’ was the muse of music.
Melpomene ‘She Who Sings’ was the muse of tragedy.
Polyhymnia ‘She of the Many Hymns’ was the muse of sacred poetry.
Terpsichore ‘She Who Delights to Dance’ was the muse of dance.
Thalia ‘The Cheerful One’ was the muse of comedy
Urania ‘The Heavenly One’ was the goddess of astronomy, astrology, and later, Christian poetry.
Sagittarius: The Astrological Personality
Of course there is no such thing as THE Sagittarius personality. Everyone is unique. We are speaking here of an archetype.
Sagittarius is ruled overall by the planet Jupiter, and rules the Ninth House of philosophy, law, travel, higher study, and the second life partner when we have one. The seventh house rules the choice of a first life partner. In any second choice we are looking to learn more, and to expand our inner horizons from meeting with a mind that is very different to our own. A third choice of life partner is said to be ruled by the eleventh house of group identity.
Sagittarius zodiac sign subjects need constant adventures to stay interested. Freedom is of the utmost importance to them. Movement. Travel. Space and room for manoeuver. Likewise they allow space and freedom to their partners.
The archetype of Sagittarius is brave, lively, warm, optimistic, curious, adventurous, rational, but also insightful, even visionary.
These are generally astute, clever and capable people. But they need career flexibility, and they may refuse to fail to apply themselves if bored. Like Gemini, they are prone to restlessness. They may fail to stick at a job or a succession of jobs, and may struggle financially long term in consequence.
Hence their challenge, but also their guiding light is the idea of Temperance,personified in the Tarot and symbolising patience, prudence, and the art of good timing.
They can do ‘domestic’. It’s not that. But you wouldn’t really call it how they roll.
And they do tend to roll, place to place, job to job, and a rolling stone gathers no moss. The problem being, other things it doesn’t gather either, like a steady home life, or steady income, or savings or other means of security in old age, if Sagittarius does not balance the need for freedom , space and independence with prudence and good timing.
Sagittarius tends to have lots of friends. More than almost anyone else, so much so, family and friends can feel neglected at times, forgotten, when Sagittarius goes off yet again, devil may care, to share experiences with new best friends.
Sagittarius must have inspiration, and the freedom to follow it, and to roam. But this humanitarian, kindly, if restless rolling stone sooner or later almost always comes rolling home again, expecting to find their loved ones exactly where they left them. And usually, they are. Though others do not enjoy being taken for granted, and this may need care.
Sagittarius will be the star of this show. But what they really need for domestic happiness, is a quietly confident, self-reliant partner who has plenty of interests themselves; and much life experience.
Friday 23 September marks the the first day of astronomical autumn/fall in the Northern Hemisphere. and spring in the southern hemisphere, when day and night are nearly equal. In the United Kingdom the equinox will be 02:03 AM
This is the day when we enter the zodiac air sign of Libra, and the Tarot cards specifically associated with 23 September are Justice and the Two of Swords, belonging to the first decan of Libra.
You will notice a striking similarity between this card and the Tarot’s Justice card, its major arcana counterpart.
The Gilded Tarot Royale, Ciro Marchetti
The Two of Swords is blind like Justice. Wilfully blind, and for a purpose, either for tactical reasons, or because this decision simply cannot be rushed. Here, the wings serving as a blindfold denote the element of air, and impartiality, the use of cool, calm intellect brought to bear on a tricky situation.
If the card comes out upside down, then someone is being a refusenik. A decision must be taken but they are procrastinating.
The Two of Swords can describe a see-saw, and is reflecting what we all know, that internationally and domestically October looks like another tense month of watching, waiting, diplomatic stand-offs and tensions.
Mercury goes direct again 2 October, possibly smoothing certain communications, but October 2022 is going to be anything but a mild news month, and we don’t need the Tarot to see that.
I’ll be watching the first ten days or so of October when we are in Three of Swords territory. Meaning? Severance. Putin is a second decan Libra, which has all manner of wonderful qualities. But his personal chart features a difficult fixed star; born with his natal sun conjunct the ‘rapacious and fiendish’ Algorab, the right wing of the Crow in the constellation of Corvus the Crow.
The Two of Swords is difficult at times. It may suggest indecision, a delay, or a truce, a stand-off, a stalemate. Libra will see-saw in seeking to achieve an equilibrium. It may see-saw rather a lot.
On a personal level, more than once the Two of Swords has alerted me to the fact that a client has been experiencing headaches, possibly migraines. These have often been attributed to stress. Or they have been to see the optician, or have just scheduled a visit to see the optician. The Two of Swords may mean eyes-or teeth. This card may be talking, entirely literally, about needing to see the dentist.
Tarot can be literal like that. Rightly so. The reader is working in the real world. No, it isn’t always fun.
But the world keeps turning, and with it, the wonders of the wheel of the seasons.
I may be asked about anything in a reading and cannot prepare in advance. I can only prepare to respond.
What? Don’t I know in advance what I am going to be asked? How crappy is that?
No I don’t. If I draw cards ahead of a reading and ask, what am I going to be talking about with this person later on today, I will generally have some idea that for example, this will be about a job, a house, a relationship. This feels like a worry about children, or a pet, or money. This is about a bereavement etc etc, maybe even a ghost or some kind of strange occurrence, but I can’t know that I have got it right. How could I? I don’t claim to know anything until it is verified by the other party.
Someone wanted to know which re-investment option would work out best.
Option A, 1 year at 1.4 %?
or
Option B, 3 years at 1.8 %?
Image: The Legacy of The Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti
I shuffled and drew two columns of three cards each, asking to be shown money cards. I always state a question to myself during shuffling. I may do it silently, but this is my way of consciously directing what is ostensibly an entirely random and unconscious process, pulling cards from the deck.
The cards you do NOT draw can be as instructive and illuminating as the ones you do draw.
Option A initially drew The Nine of Swords Reversed, The Sun and The Page of Swords.
The Nine of Swords speaks of past losses, or worry. The Sun is success, also travel and sometimes children. The Page of Swords represents a good decision, and also in concrete terms, a young person below the age of 25 who will often be an air sign subject: Aquarius, Gemini or Libra. This was the enquirer’s daughter, an Aquarius subject, being funded through a course of post-graduate study…teacher training. The Page of Swords is all about learning.
There were no ‘risk signs’ attached to Option A, but there was no explicit money card either, so I drew an extra card and …aha! drew the very solid card of local business, family and community, the Six of Pentacles or Coins.
Option B drew the Star card, new ideas, a new vision, and oddly enough, this card is THE card of Aquarius again…the daughter, embarking on teacher training. Then we had the Eight of Cups —a card of moving on and finally, a happy, nostalgic card of old haunts, children and childhood, the Six of Cups.
So Option A drew a Six…Coins, and Option B also drew a Six…Cups.
Six is the number of family and community. Six is the number of schools, colleges, schools, hospitals, charities and public parks and other spaces.
This signal of security meant he was not going to go wrong either way, despite the fact he was slightly concerned about the possible financial effect of Brexit. Would the UK leave? (The Eight of Cups) This card indicates yes, after a long hesitation or delay.
How would uncertainty impact on the three year plan if he chose Option B?
I saw no loss associated with the choice of Option B either, but just as with Option A, there was no explicit money card, and again I drew an extra card and drew the Five of Wands Reversed. This card is about volatile markets and did not suggest a loss, but nor did it offer an advantage over the Six of Coins drawn against Option A.
Therefore I suggested he go with Option A.
He was intrigued. It emerged that he had already made his decision, but wanted to see if I would concur and based on what reasoning. My comments supported his own assessment and what he gained from this, he said, was external corroboration, and with that came a sense of greater certainty and clarity.
What if I had seen it very differently?
That might have happened, and then he would have had to weigh his instincts against mine, wouldn’t he, in deciding how best to proceed.
In this situation, should it arise, I would always suggest going with your own assessment, rather than taking the reader’s feedback on advice. But being forewarned you may find a way to ring fence the risk.
It is better to stay true to your natural way of doing things.
And here we are again…embarking on the selection process of a new Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party
I will be looking further in the Tarot as this new contest unfolds. We will all know sooner or later of course, and in that respect, one might say there is no need and little point in doing any Tarot reading. But this is a Tarot blog, and I am writing this for those people who are interested in divination or psychic thinking and its workings. That’s what this blog is about, getting the Tarot’s Eye view on a real life situation and then seeing how that works out on the ground.
Rishi Sunak is the obvious front runner at the time of writing, and he could well get the post. I have drawn the Nine of Cups for him (the card means wishes granted) But I have twice in a row drawn the Nine of Wands for him, offsetting that Nine of Cups. Not an encouraging card in this context.
The Nine of Wands is courage and stamina, but someone has dug themselves into a furrow. Are they a one trick pony? This may prove to be a reference to Rishi Sunak’s position re taxation. Whatever his support within the party, if they are keeping a sharp eye on the prospects for winning the next general election, this seems at present to be the star to which he has hitched his wagon, and it is not classic grass roots conservatism.
Boris Johnson had wanted Rishi Sunak to cut taxes in line with previous manifesto promises, and notwithstanding the economic effects of the global pandemic crisis which hit almost as soon as Boris Johnson came into office. We have all been given to understand that this had set them at loggerheads, and we now see that Rishi Sunak has been quietly preparing for this moment for some time.
It is also I feel a reference to the emergency in Ukraine. The situation won’t go away. It is a direct longer term threat to Britain’s security and the economy. There is no appeasing Putin. How will Rishi Sunak handle it?
Ben Wallace draws positive cards and is clearly very well liked indeed, but the cards drawn last night were not looking strong at this juncture for him as the next Prime Minister. The same for Suella Braverman. Penny Mordaunt drew stronger cards than either of these two potential candidates
This however was merely te briefest look. The Tarot outlook may change. I will be watching this space and reporting further. Meantime, you can read on here for a reminder of what the Tarot had to say in June 2019 about Brexit, which was not yet ‘done’ (and arguably still isn’t completely done) and also what it had to say about the last leadership contest in 2019.
Original Posting 19 June 2019
Prescience is not omniscience. Tarot cards are used to facilitate divination via the language embedded in their imagery. Generally this means that they allow a reading of the present situation, but with hints about the past or hints about the future reading events in respect of an evolving continuum.
The puzzle of this, and not infrequently the wonder, is what the reader may pick up when reading for complete strangers, while knowing nothing or little of them, or their present circumstances.
Public Domain: The Fortune Teller, Albert Anker, 1880
Sometimes the cards enable forecasting or sudden leaps of insight, not easy to account for through the standard meanings of the cards themselves. It is a conundrum that sometimes the future exists and sometimes it does not. As the saying goes, nothing is certain but death and taxes.
People may scoff all they like about the method. But this is a method that has to be learned, and we all make forecasts all the time. That is what planning is based on, and what forecasting activities are based on…projection of some pattern or algorithm. The tricky thing about ‘psychic’ predictions are generally disbelieved, even by the person making them, because unlike numerically based forecasts, they indicate a lack or break in some easily seen pattern. We don’t get to see the whole audit trail.
Experience tells me prediction with cards is possible, though of course not infallible, while others point out that it can’t be done, full stop, and that tarot is actually a meditation or counselling tool.
I am not in the business of telling other people what to think, or that they are wrong. But it has happened far too many times in my work to agree that tarot prediction can’t be done with an accuracy rate that goes far beyond the chances of the random hit, way beyond 50:50.
Reading the cards for predictive purposes was one of the earliest functions, if not the raison d’ etre of tarot reading in the first place, going back possibly even further than the renaissance, and as early as the thirteenth century.
Too many times, peering through the dark glass of my cards, looking into the unknowns of this or that; the answers proved correct. This does not mean that I knew the answers. I did not. How could I? had to sit with my cards, have a look, and have a think, deciding how I felt about them.
When, as here, I am looking at politicians through the cards, who or what am I trying to read? There is no direct personal connection. How am I coming at it? What am I trying to read, actually? Future news headlines? The thoughts of people who do not know I exist, who are not asking me any question, who have not entered into a ‘telepathic’ dialogue with a reader like me?
I do not know, and I don’t ‘know’ anything more than anyone else, but of course I will give it a go, for the experience, and to learn, and test myself in new ways.
These were the cards I drew 18/19 June 2019 in respect of
-Brexit and
-the contest for the new PM.
Context: These cards were drawn forty five minutes ahead of the announcement that Dominic Raab was now out of the contest for Prime Minister.
I drew further cards after the cards discussed below. Unfortunately the photo evidence didn’t make it to my lap-top. IT glitch but the bottom line of the lost cards was that the UK will eventually leave the EU as per the referendum mandate 2016, and may yet achieve a trade only special deal with the EU.
I drew the Ten of Cups twice, Scorpio timing, late Sept-late Oct, indicating that the UK government may deliver on its new promise to leave by or before 31 October. If not, it could slip until at least May/June 2020 (Knight of Swords =Gemini, and we are still in Gemini now, with 2 days still to go of Gemini in 2019) To what extent does this depend on the choice of the next PM?
UPDATE: So now that we know for a fact that Boris Johnson is the new MP, will we leave the EU by or before 31 October 2019?
The cards:
The first card, the 8 Spades, denotes a stalemate, imprisonment or benighted state of affairs and this is the start point of the answer. 1 Black suit card, the Joker signifying a need for a fresh start, and then 3 red suit cards out of a total of 5 indicates that it can be done in fact, and very likely will be.
Will it be a rehash of the Withdrawal Agreement? I don’t think so, I may need to frame that as a direct question and look again, especially in view of suspicions expressed by the Brexit Party. The 9 Diamonds promises a tough time, with obstacles and delays, but an extra comment card is an Ace, (new start) while of the four Aces, the Ace of Clubs in particular refers to a new Government or a new Act of Government. The central card, the 9 of Hearts represents the crux of the answer, yes or no, and here it is saying yes, because
A) it is a red suit card and
B) the 9 Hearts is the ‘wishes’ card, indicating that The new PM will realise, or see realised, the stated wish of his leadership contest manifesto.
Who Will be the New PM?
NB I am not asking who should be PM. I will leave that to others. I am not enquiring into the ‘worthiness’ of the candidates, only asking for signs as to whom it will be, and what might prevent them from succeeding, or what might help them, as suggested by the cards and only the cards, but connecting these to the known evidence where possible. This is about divination, not a political opinion piece.
Boris Johnson
The Magician, The 9 Swords, The Knight Swords, FUTURE? THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
Image Ciro Marchetti: The Legacy of The Divine Tarot
Reflecting the current state of voting, these are the strongest cards, and this is the longest write-up for the same reason, but there is a but.
Mr Johnson is a Gemini subject, which interestingly for a reader, correlates astrologically with The Magician card. The Magician is Odin/Woden, the god of Wednesday. It is ruled by Mercury, combining agility, intellect and intuition. The Magician can get things done but is sometimes also regarded as a figure of mistrust, the Trickster. Sometimes this suspicion is justified. But the mercurial quality here means that the thinking happens so fast, others cannot follow it, and suspect a sleight of hand where actually, there was none.
Gemini is ruled by Mercury, planet of Trade. Another name for The Magician is The Jester. Mr Johnson is up for fun, can laugh at himself, or present himself as a figure of fun to many, a buffoon some say, But his mind remains separate and cool.
The 9 Swords is a horrible card of stress and sometimes sadness. There is a fair degree of stress suggested here, maybe headaches, literally. Insomnia. This situation weighs heavy on Boris Johnson, irrespective of appearances and how would it not? There is also a worry about something personal, close to his own home. Women and children feature in that picture.
Update: headlines followed a few days after this blog was posted re Mr Johnson’s domestic argument with Carrie Symonds. It would seem that the 9 Swords was foreshadowing this event, and possibly something more besides, but it really is private, and it doesn’t feel appropriate for me to speculate in public. Someone was listening in on a private conversation and by questionable means, always somewhat unsavoury.
The Knight of Swords attacks head on, but with a cool head. It’s not personal but get in his/her way, he/she strikes you down and carries on going. The objective is everything.
The Wheel of Fortune is a big card; a destiny card. THE destiny card, bespeaking forces greater than any individual’s ability to control. This is not up to him. He has been here before and it did not go his way. But the Wheel has been drawn the right way up. When the Wheel is drawn reversed, change is coming, but you’re riding the downward wheel. The Wheel is not only a major arcana card, it is a Number 10 card.
Mr Johnson has drawn two major arcana cards out of four cards drawn. That strikes me as significant. These cards are not straightforward, however.
The votes suggest this is almost in the bag, but that isn’t how it feels. This situation is, I feel, weighing heavy on Mr Johnson. Not shown here but looking on previous occasions I have twice drawn the 3 of Cups as the outcome in respect of his candidacy. A celebration. Still, there is that 9 of Swords…and a sense of perhaps entirely natural guarded reserve.
Jeremy Hunt
The 3 Coins, The Sun Rx , The Ace Coins RX, FUTURE? THE ACE SWORDS (?)
Image: Ciro Marchetti: Legacy of The Divine Tarot
The 3 Coins denotes conscientiousness, skill and attention to detail. I’d be inclined to rule out Mr Hunt’s chances of the top job based on these cards. The 3 Coins is a positive card, but here it is combined with The Sun RX (success denied or delayed) and the Ace of Coins RX (no new job, no new house) Except I can’t yet decide he won’t be in the final two, notwithstanding these cards, because of the presence of the Ace of Swords; ‘the seeds of a victory as yet unseen’ – a coup…though it could be foreshadowing a metaphorical coup de grace, the sword of Damocles, looming over the next round. Update:As we know know, Mr Hunt made it to the final two.
Cards drawn the evening of 22 July
Top Line: Boris Johnson: 1 character card followed by 4 yes cards
Bottom Line: Jeremy Hunt: 1 character card followed by 4 no cards
BJ’s Joker is picking up on his reputation of course, but in cartomancy it means ‘all change’. It can mean a risk taker. It can mean tricky dealings, or recklessness, but what it never means is stupid.
JH’s Three of Diamonds is a good communicator and team worker. But for significance it lacks the weightiness of The Joker. In cartomancy, BTW, it does not usually matter if a card comes out right way or not.
But again, The Joker seems to be making some additional comment attached to Mr Johnson’s personal life and relationship matters. Here is someone with an irregular domestic situation going on, but this is not someone who is a ‘womaniser’ on anything like the scale of a John F Kennedy, or a David Lloyd George, and by their final public record have they been judged by posterity, and in view of the gravity of their times, I’d say rightly so. Perhaps the jury of public opinion will stay out for now at least, and concern itself only with the performance of Boris Johnson the Prime Minister. But of course it won’t.
The Other Candidates
Michael Gove
Strength, The 8 Wands, The Empress, FUTURE? The 10 CUPS
Image: Ciro Marchetti The Gilded Tarot
Mr Gove’s cards start strong. The Strength card does what it says on the tin. Plus it hints at a health kick. Could this card be showing us Una, taming the Lion of Britannia? As an individual contender, it is not that Mr Gove trumps Boris Johnson in terms of ability, but he does seem to have an edge in terms of a gift for teamwork. Strength is a Number 8 card, auspicious in both western and Chinese astrology; a good card of money and trade. This card trumps the dedicated craftsmanship and attention to detail of the Three of Coins of Mr Hunt. Then we have The Empress – harvest home, and the 10 of Cups.
Mr Johnson has the 10 of the Wheel of Fortune. Mr Gove has the 10 of happiness. Could it be the hearth at 10 Downing Street? Theoretically, perhaps, but it’s a smaller echo , the 1o Cups is more domestic in character, when weighed against the ‘destiny’ card, and that weightier 10 of The Wheel of Fortune.
Update: As we know now, Mr Gove made it to the final 3, amid rumours that tactical voting had ensured Mr Hunt made it through to the final two, and if so, perhaps this was done a) to remove what was seen as a chief threat to Mr Johnson’s chances and b) to offer party voters the advantage of a clear choice between two very different candidates with different approaches to delivering Brexit.
Sajid Javid
The Hermit, The 7 Cups RX , The 8 Cups FUTURE? The 9 COINS.
Image: Kat Black: The Golden Tarot
The Hermit suggests commendable qualities suggested in these cards; personal kindliness, a marked degree of self- sufficiency and also keen analytical abilities, and Mr Javid’s future with the conservative party seems set to continue with some senior role as indicated by the future 9 Coins. But the 7 of Cups is reversed, castles in the air. The 8 of Cups is about moving on, and 9 Coins is about managing a sector, running a ‘hotel’ or a financial department, tending a ‘garden’. But it’s not an Ace (beginnings) and it’s not a 10 (arrival at a destination, end of a cycle, crossing the line, completion)
Update: That senior role suggested by 9 Coins and 8 Cups, running a ‘financial department’ as we have now seen, turned out to be Mr Javid’s appointment as Chancellor of The Exchequer.
Rory Stewart (typing this section at 18.05, having just heard the results of today’s round while typing up Mr Raab’s cards.)
The Ace Cups Rx. The 2 Wands Rx, The Page Cups, FUTURE? 4 COINS Rx
Image Public Domain The Ace Cups Reversed: Rider-Waite
This was the weakest row of cards yesterday.Weaker than Mr Raab’s, and on this basis, I expected that Mr Stewart would go out of the contest before Mr Raab for all the sudden media push of positive publicity on Mr Stewart. And that expectation was wrong. WRONGGGG. I award myself a bad gold star. I thought Mr Stewart would go out before Mr Raab. And as it turned out, there was only one day between them, but there it is. Mr Raab went out first despite the fact of his stronger cards, and there may be in that, another suggestion of tactical voting at work. No matter. Bad gold star for me.
So what was weak about Mr Stewart’s cards? Out of four cards, three were drawn reversed. We had the reversed Ace of Cups, meaning, ‘a cup is emptied on the ground’, while the 2 Wands RX is nicknamed the ‘sorrow of Alexander’. Disappointment in expansion and conquest. The most positive card in this spread, the page of cups- denotes a ‘new kid in town,’ and a surge in goodwill and popularity, which is certainly being borne out in the media. But in terms of the Tarot, Mr Stewart has done very well to get so far as he has in the face of this card portrait. The 4 Coins Reversed were saying, literally, as literally as the Tarot can speak ‘NOT round 4.’
Dominic Raab
The Chariot, 4 SWORDS Rx, High Priestess (Out)
Image Public Domain: The Chariot, Rider-Waite
It was the 4 Swords that was warning of Mr Raab leaving the contest yesterday, 18.06.2019. One may think I should have been expecting that? Saw that coming yesterday? Nah. Not with my everyday hat on, I was surprised to see Brexiteer Mr Raab go out so soon.
The Chariot card suggests Mr Raab could have made progress on driving Brexit forward, but those voting decided he was a horse (or the griffin) pulling The Chariot, rather than the charioteer himself, while the 4 Swords Reversed is a ‘sick’ bed, or a ‘tomb’. Perhaps pro-Brexit voters in the conservative party were not sufficiently convinced of his having the wherewithal to guide The Chariot? The 4 Swords suggests that this was based on the circumstances of his earlier resignation as Brexit Secretary.
Update: The Chariot, a weighty, Major Arcana card, turns out to denote diplomacy and travel. Mr Raab has been appointed First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. That High Priestess leaves him as a new Number 2. A much consulted figure.
The Four of Swords came up more than once before in previous readings, asking about the Withdrawal Agreement, and whether that would get through Parliament.
‘No’, suggested the Four of Swords back then, and we saw how that turned out.
The solitary figure of Mr Raab’s High Priestess is Number 2 in the Major Arcana whereas Boris Johnson has drawn that equally solitary figure, The Magician, is Number 1 in the Major Arcana.
One might have thought pro- Brexit conservatives would want to hedge their bets, ensuring that an unequivocally pro-Brexit ‘Number 2’ stayed in the race as back-up, but no. We are all seeing, politics at the moment just isn’t working according to what might seem to be obvious dynamics.
These are strange times and the cards are strange. I have been looking out for an appearance of The Emperor, Judgement, Justice, The Sun or The World against the name of one of these candidates.
Maybe tomorrow.
There remains a sense that the UK will eventually leave the EU as per the referendum 2016, and may agree a trade only special deal with the EU. But the battle is not over.
I drew the Ten of Cups twice, correlating with Scorpio timing, late Sept-late Oct, indicating that the UK government may deliver on its new promise to leave by or before 31 October.
If not, it could slip until at least May/June 2020 (Knight of Swords =Gemini, and we are still in Gemini now, with 2 days still to go of Gemini in 2019) But the Knight of Swords is a card sudden, speedy development and conclusive actions. Whose style is that? Mr Hunt has said that if he wins, he will have Mr Johnson on his team. And maybe Mr Hunt will yet do it, but that’s not sufficiently clear for me to feel he’s closed the gap enough yet.
Late on Monday evening Il Matrimonio reminded me that the vote for the EU Repeal Bill was due to take place that night, and I reached for my playing cards. It was already 10.00 PM, just hours to go as I drew the cards illustrated below, asking, would the Bill be passed? I left the cards out on the table, made my initial assessment which was that it was a yes answer, then went to bed and tried to forget about it till morning.
These were the cards left out overnight. The top line contained the yes answer, but on what basis did I arrive at that interpretation?
To get at a yes/no answer, you lay out a row of cards using an odd number, 3, 5 or 7.
It’s a question of preference. On such a weighty and hugely multi-factorial question, 3 might seem too few, and by now I’ve trained myself to read in fives. That’s what this stuff is about. You learn your chosen system of divination, whether that’s playing cards, Tarot, runes or whatever. You study it. You learn and you practise, practise, practise until you internalise the code, the programme, or whatever you like to call it, until, if you persist, it feels like second nature.
You activate your internal oracular programme on request. The most psychic psychic in the world – whoever that is, and it isn’t me, doesn’t go round being psychic all the time. Do they heck. They wouldn’t be able to function. Prescience isn’t omniscience, with tools, you learn to manage, instruct and direct that innate human capability. So, how do you direct it?
If it’s cards you’re reading, you do it simply by stating your question aloud as you shuffle. Not for the purpose of enlisting any rogue, random spirits in the room (or, wait… no, are they…are they… aaaggghhh…imps of Satan come to steal your soul?)
No. It is just so that you will hear yourself say it. Then stop shuffling when you feel ready. That’s it. You just stop shuffling when you feel ready, then you take off the top five cards and lay them out from left to right, creating a story-board moving forward in time.
The red card suits are Hearts and Diamonds, simplistically read as supportive or positive.
The black card suits are Clubs and Spades, simplistically read as challenging or negative.
5 red suit cards represents a definite yes
4 red suit cards represents a probable yes
3 red cards represent a likely yes
2 red cards represent a likely no
1 red card represents a probable no
0 red cards says forget it. The answer is no.
So what did we have here? 3 red cards and 2 black cards, suggesting that it was more likely than not, that yes, the Repeal Bill would pass. But we had those 2 black suit cards. What else could be gleaned?
The first card out, the 10 of Clubs, is a card of business and far-flung travel and clearly represents the bottom line. Additionally, the 10 Clubs also represents the idea of a body of water. It might be a sink or a bathtub, or it might be a sea or a channel. For the first card out to say ‘The Channel! La Manche!’ provides quite a benchmark.
The second card out, the 8 of Hearts, speaks of a gathering, a convocation. It looks surprisingly cheerful here, there would appear to be more goodwill than so much other evidence suggests. It is strongly suggestive of togetherness (huh? eh? really?) It is suggestive of total sincerity at least, on both sides, whichever side of the argument you personally happen to support.
The third and central card, the pivot or hinge card here, is the 3 of Clubs: a card of confrontation but also collaboration. Three way deals. My goodness, there have been some mighty interesting conversations behind the scenes both sides of the House.
The fourth card here represents a male figure, highly significant in this debate. It might be David Davis, Jeremy Corbyn, or both. Any one card may have multiple meanings. My initial impression was that while David Davis was, despite everything, within his personal comfort zone, while Jeremy Corbyn was faced with a perplexity; needing not to alienate Labour voters who voted to leave, whilst needing to reconcile opposing elements within his party.
The final outcome card, the 4 of Hearts, is traditionally a card of a settled home, indicative of a solid, foursquare outcome. Because this card falls in the final position, this swung the cards more strongly towards a yes answer, denoting a solid but hardly sweeping result, and we now know there was a majority of 36 votes, with 126 challenges and amendments already tabled.
And if you got this far, you might be wondering about those other cards. What were they about?
When a question is so heavily loaded, supra-personal and complex, I cross- reference, coming at the question from different directions, looking for repetition, pattern and breaks in pattern.
The second row is talking about Theresa May herself. I had asked, would she achieve the result she was looking for? Again, we had 3 red suit cards and 2 black translating as, yes, more likely than not. The 2 black suit cards here however, were spades, which are to do with intellect, focus, strategy, loss – and stress, suggesting that while Theresa May will hold her nerve going forward, she is acutely aware of past mistakes and errors of calculation (the jack of spades is bad news, tricky in the extreme.)
The 9 of Spades together with the Queen of Diamonds, speaks of stress and strain, loss, attack and grief, concerning a reserved, pragmatic woman of quick instincts and warmth. It also seems, interestingly, to have foreshadowed the challenge of the 9 Conservative MP’s now tabling amendments
There is no doubt the Prime Minister has felt the sad and terrible events of 2017 no less profoundly on the personal, human level than the rest of the general population, and if anything, more intensely because some of her responses were criticised, and, wherever the culpability lay, because these things happened on her watch.
The third row of cards was looking at those opposed to the passing of the Repeal Bill. Would they be happy with the outcome? We see here 4 black suit cards and only 1 is red. The King of Spades here is Jeremy Corbyn again, or Keir Starmer, but those who were disappointed can be assured that some concessions will be negotiated or obtained, especially and broadly pertaining to business affairs, as suggested by the outcome card on this line; the lively, mercantile Jack of Diamonds.
In laying out the final row, I had no specific question but was looking for a general sense of how things seem set to progress. The indications here are that the UK will leave the EU more or less according to the scheduled deadline. If there had been a spades card at the end of this row, it would have suggested delays, perhaps even significant delays, and if it had been the Ace of Spades, may even have detected an aborted exit process. The only spade card here however, is at the commencement of this row and it is the 6 of Spades; a positive if solemn card, denoting a departure; charting a new course. It represents progress, though of course, not without effort, cost or struggle.
Below: The Six of Swords (Spades) from The Gilded Tarot by kind permission of Ciro Marchetti
The outcome card, the 2 of Hearts, suggests a 2 year time-frame, possibly accelerated by whatever is being flagged up here by the 9 of Diamonds sitting just in front of it. It looks as though, because of the electricity of the diamonds suit, that certain significant dealings in respect of transport or travel, and possibly also power stations, may be settled somewhat more advantageously to the UK than many fear. Let’s all hope so.
This is not about politics, promoting any political viewpoint. This is about learning how to read the cards in respect of public affairs, reading cold, developing skill of interpretation via benefit of hindsight.
The lessons of hindsight facilitate wider, deeper future foresight. Reading practitioners develop intuitive muscle by tackling questions. All kinds of questions. Exposition builds the reader’s vocabulary, and with it, the capacity for more in-depth precision of card interpretation, and context is king.
My readings include forecasts not predictions. What’s the difference? Mainly presentation. Otherwise, very little. Forecasts are associated with technically based weather and economic predicting, nowadays largely based upon the interpretation of masses of computerised data, plus educated guesswork. A prediction is based on knowledge, experience, intuition or guesswork, and may be made in any context but is generally understood as being presented as almost a done deal, whereas a forecast deals in estimations of probabilities. I deal in probabilities.
Polls and other forecasts not infrequently get it wrong of course, as do fortune-tellers, no doubt.
When I talk to you about your present and past, as sensed and expressed through my Tarot or playing cards, you are in a position to evaluate what I am saying, and to validate it. When I address your question to do with likely future developments, no validation is possible; only time will tell; the future both exists and does not exist. You will die and so will I, the only things in life that are certain, so the saying goes, are death and taxes, and the taxes were only included as a joke.
But in-between, there are things within your direct personal control and things that are not, and a prediction may interfere, distract, block or stymie you, and become a self-fulfilling prophecy, while a forecast allows for the possibility of alternative outcomes depending on whether you do this next, or that next. This job or that job? This house or that house? This person or that person?
This freedom of choice may also be an illusion of course, just as ‘true’ objectivity is an impossibility, because we are always likely to do, and default to what is in our nature to do, regardless of advice, even when that advice is directly solicited. It is a wise and also essentially confident person who can, without instantly dismissing it, no knee-jerks, coolly pay out enough rope to listen to advice that is contrary to what they want or expect, or that challenges their own preferred version of events and vision of themselves and their past choices.
“Whatisbredinthebonewill not comeoutoftheflesh”, firstrecordedinEngland(inLatin) circa1290,widespreadinvarious versionssincethe15thcent.
The version I am used to says that what is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh…meaning, it will unavoidably manifest itself.
Norse mythology took a subtle view on prediction and the nature of destiny. Their Norns were not as absolutist as the Fates of Ancient Greece.
‘Wyrd’ is the Old English variant of the Norse word, ‘Urd’, referring to the destiny of each living thing, cast for them at birth by the three Norns. The Saxon variant is ‘wurd.’ The Well represents the Norse concept of the past – what we might now term birth memory, ancestral memory or the collective unconscious. The Norse view of destiny was that yes, it is written, but unlike the Fates of ancient Greek mythology, the destinies carved by the Norns can be overwritten…though does this pre-suppose that the hero on his or her life quest is aware of the existence and nature of that destiny and decides to challenge it?
The Well of Wyrd
She scrys alone; she is casting stones,
Disposing glyphs on graven runes,
No even numbers speak the Norns,
Wyrd runs water; she must deal,
In whisperings and Fates unsealed,
Winds of fortune shape and shatter,
Time, disposing of all matters,
Is Serpentine, the ouroboros,
Endless, rolling, still coils sinuous.
Katie-Ellen Hazeldine
Circe by Waterhouse: Public Domain
“The Well of Urd corresponds to the past tense. It is the reservoir of completed or ongoing actions that nourish the tree and influence its growth. Yggdrasil, in turn, corresponds to the present tense, that which is being actualised here and now.
What of intention and necessity, then? This is the water that permeates the image, flowing up from the well into the tree, dripping from the leaves of the tree as dew, and returning to the well, where it then seeps back up into the tree.[5]
Here, time is cyclical rather than linear. The present returns to the past, where it retroactively changes the past. The new past, in turn, is reabsorbed into a new present, whose originality is an outgrowth of the give-and-take between the waters of the well and the the waters of the tree.” Source and Further Reading:
One can see the flexibility of the Norns arising in the sphere of genetics.
It is not clear why blue eyes spread among ancient Europeans. One theory is that the gene could have helped to prevent eye disorders due to low light levels found in European winters, or that the trait spread because it was deemed sexually attractive.
Tarot loves to start off a reading, playing parrot.
Just as Art imitates or rather, conjures Life, that’s how Tarot works. As within, so without. The first thing I aim to do in a reading, is ask the cards to help me identify my client’s most pressing concern or question. The Tarot tells me by ensuring I draw the card that most accurately mirrors that unspoken concern or question, as closely as can be managed from among the 78 cards in a Tarot deck.
This ‘mirror-card’ tells me and my client that we are on the same wavelength, which provides a reliable baseline for the rest of the reading.
My Tarot did it again today, and deserves one of those little nectar pots adored by larikeets and parrots alike.
I was about to self- inject for the first time, trying out a new med for quite a severe severe rheumatoid-type illness (I have tried MANY approaches in 20 odd years, with too much ground covered to mention, while exercising great care in agreeing which pharma meds to try )
The med is called Orencia or Abatacept. It is a new class of meds known as biologics. Orencia works to inhibit the production of T cells, T1 and T1. These are normal proteins, and are essential for your normal immune response, but if that goes wrong for any reason, they can go into overproduction, causing an inflammatory cytokine cascade resulting in acute pain and long term damage.
These biologics, while for some they offer a last chance of respite, can be dangerous, so I thought I’d pull myself a few cards before injecting.
The first card out was The Tower.
Just look at that pic. How well did the Tarot do, with a deck of 78 cards to work with, shuffled and drawn blind and at random…in guiding me to draw this card, signifying the issue in question.
Look at the card again. Look at the injector pen.
Squawk! Pretty Polly!
This is how readers know their question has been heard and logged by their unconscious mind. The first card out of the deck will mirror the stated question, or even the unstated question.
Next I drew
4 Swords, (illness)
Ace Swords ( a sword, or in this case…spring loaded needle)
and 7 Pentacles. (tend to the crop, patience is required.)
This last card was also a suitable reflection as this med is is a weekly injection.
I therefore concluded, that while I could not expect a miracle, or even a significant observable response, there would be no significant negative response; a finding which I am so far in a position to validate.
True Tarot Tales 