Tarot – Page 20 – True Tarot Tales

The Sounding of the Last Trump? Updates on original post of 20 September

Tweeted 11 November 2020

Tarot cartomancy re: Pres inauguration 20 Jan 2021? PAST 2 Clubs (election) 6 Spades= moving on (or not) PRESENT/CRUX card 4 Hearts=White House, NEXT? A sticky Ace Clubs Rx =CHALLENGE + says ‘Capricorn’ and 20/21 January. FUTURE: Jack D+2D=’new contract’ suggests new govt.

The sacking of the Defence Secretary, Mr Esper the incumbent President suggests a risk of serious trouble ahead. Who is he making room for, and why? I understand Mr T had been at odds with Mark Esper before, who had argued against the need to deploy troops on the streets during the BLM protests during the summer. Mr Esper has said that he now very much fears a yes man.

It does not look as though it comes to that. A sudden volte face seems more likely, and a step down,though probably without ever conceding, is suggested by:

9 Spades = mourning. Mr T’s disappointment.

7 Hearts Hopes = dreams, castles in the air. The deal is done on the world stage.

10 Hearts Mr Biden in the White House, settled by the hearth.

4 Diamonds, media = New regime, Mr T, furious at Murdoch, FAKE NEWS and FAKE MEDIA will harry via his own media outlet the next 4 years.

7 Spades, conspiracy, sabotage, but not civil war, though a military option would seem to have occurred to Mr T, in respect of resisting removal.

But it doesn’t get to that point. Why not?

There is No Joker, and no Ace Spades or Ten of Spades on the future timeline.

UPDATE IN SUMMARY

While not explicitly ‘calling’ it yes or no on the outcome, and this lack of clarity in the cards, in seemingly refusing to call it was a puzzle at the time, events have since confirmed that what was being shown here via the cards was an unfolding process or STORY. The victory was at the same time a kind of a non victory, because it is being contested and recounts are still happening as I type. Mr T is prepared to do whatever it takes to overturn this outcome. Up to a point, and what that point is remains to be determined. It IS a victory for Mr B however.

Originally posted 20 September

I can’t believe it’s been a whole month since I last posted. I’ve been working on a few other things, while the public mood at the moment in the UK, the same in the US, and pretty much everywhere is such that even the most stalwart, nay, foolhardy tarot reader, astrologer or other practitioner of divination in its various forms, may hesitate to dip so much as a tootsie into the morass.

But regular readers of this blog are of a thoughtful, civil, inquiring and sophisticated ilk, while a cat may look at a king.

I’ve got to take a look.

17 September I tweeted

“Polls put Mr B ahead but I’m not so sure unless Mr T gets bored. For Mr T the Ace of Swords, showing an eagle (American Eagle?) + Wheel of Fortune (Jupiter= he goes back to biz?) Mr B draws introspective Knight of Cups (Pisces) and the serene, domestic 10 of Cups. Legacy Tarot.“

Cards for Mr T

The Wheel of Fortune from the Legacy of The Divine Tarot

Key concepts: the world turns, the seasons turn, shifting fortunes, events beyond our control, what goes up must go down and vice versa. Jupiter. Expansion. Here the card is drawn right way up, generally considered lucky.

The Ace of Swords from The Legacy of the Divine Tarot

Key concepts: air signs Aquarius, Gemini and Libra. Mr T is a Gemini subject. Initiative, power, victory, a new idea, an act of will or law. A sword to cut clean or to cut through a Gordion knot, but sometimes this is a double-edged sword, ruthlessness.

Cards for Mr B

The Knight of Cups, Legacy of the Divine Tarot

Key concepts: The element of water, carried on the tides, the Moon, sign of Pisces, the twelfth and last sign of the zodiac, a saviour, a warrior-martyr, a dreamer, visionary, hidden depths, secrets, mysteries, a healing quest, the occult.

The Ten of Cups from The Legacy of The Divine Tarot

Key concepts: note this second card is also ruled by Pisces, the Moon. Card meanings, a happy home, happy relationships, devotion to family, safety and contentment. A positive card signifying an arrival at a completion. This is a card of stasis rather than movement and momentum.

We can draw our own inferences from the imagery. I am struck at the coincidence of the appearance of the bald eagle in that Ace of Swords card drawn for Mr T.

Joe Biden has been consistently ahead in the polls, with a clearer margin than Trump versus Clinton during the campaign in 2016.

BBC US Election Polls

If I were a US citizen planning on voting Republican on Nov 3 I might be twitchy as anything at this point, based on the polls, but if I was planning on voting Democrat I’d still be wishing for a stronger candidate with a bigger vision and a clearer message, reflected in a more strategic and forceful show of cards. Mr B’s cards, you do not need me to point out, notwithstanding the polls, for some reason do not immediately embody the energy and qualities one might associate with an electoral victory.

His VP Ms Harris has a nice strong stride, good energy levels there, though my cards have thus far suggested that she brings to bear a high degree of executive talent rather than overt leadership potential.

Let’s have some fun, and just run the names by my pendulum.

The Question: Do we see this person as the next President of the US?

Pendulum divination mobilizes the unconscious central nervous system in detecting water or minerals underground, or in obtaining a yes or no response to a clearly stated question

Mr Trump…neutral – moderate yes – maintaining

Mr Biden…neutral – moderate yes – weaker yes- weak no

It’s not matching up with the polls. Why not. They are way out, or I am, or we all are?

So….?

This lack of clarity, this failure to separate out the candidates and their deputies, to polarize them more clearly, suggests that whoever gets in is going to have a tough time of it from the opposition. No free pass to do whatever it is they want to do.

UPDATE: I understand that in real terms this may be not only because Mr T has not as yet conceded,and has sacked his Chief of Defense, and why would he do that. The implications are clear and worrying, and refer back to that Ace of Swords card. Victory Defeat War though it does not look as though it will come to that scenario, though we can see how it could. But it is also because Mr Biden, once inaugurated will have to work with a Republican dominated Senate, though this may work for him in maintaining a more traditional centrist Democrat approach, in providing checks and balances, dealing with more extreme progressive elements in his own party.

Top Row: Mr T

Jack Diamonds: a message, sudden good news. What might that mean from his POV?

Nine Hearts: the wishes card, he wants to ‘make good’.

Two Clubs: governance, a contract, business, government. The Ace of Clubs means an election, so here the 2 means a second election. Mr T wants a second presidency, whatever the doubts some have expressed as to how much he is really interested.

Eight Spades: sickness, hospitals, lockdown, the coronavirus pandemic. The recent death of a family member, his brother, has weighed on his mind. The effects of the pandemic have tied him up, stopping him from doing what he wants to see accomplished, and there are now less than 8 weeks to go till the election.

King Hearts: he would like history to show that he helped pull America through the coronavirus pandemic, and it didn’t ‘beat’ him.

Mr T wants to win, because he always wants to win, whatever, but though he wants to win, there is a suggestion here of a degree of inner ambivalence about actually serving a second term. The Wheel of Fortune suggests he loves ‘the hunt’ in general, but in politics he is much more limited in the way he has to operate, and he gets frustrated, for the reasons so vividly expressed by his predecessor in the White House:-

“What people really typically want is a clean solution, a silver bullet, here’s what we’re going to do and we just move forward—well, that’s not, unfortunately, how the world works.”- Barack Obama (Charlie Rose, June 17, 2013)

Bottom Row: Mr B

Nine Spades, mourning, sorrow, bereavement, fatigue/insomnia.

Three Spades: mourning again, separation, severance, bereavement, divorce, sometimes cardiac or other health symptoms.

I have been scratching my head, studying these.

I know very little about Mr B but, given the timing, and since I have drawn these cards only today (20 Sept 2020) I wonder if these reflect Mr B’s feelings and attitude in respect of the death yesterday of the mighty Ruth Bader Ginsburg She was, I can only assume, a powerful, most welcome ally to Mr B rather more so than to Mr T, may her memory be a blessing.

And so, writing this up at 10.10 PM in the UK I go online and see that Mr B has challenged Mr T’s nomination for the replacement of Ms Ginsburg, as tweeted by the BBC on Twitter 53 minutes ago. Click here to read.

Six Diamonds: a positive but volatile card of intermittent gains. Positive diagnostics. He may have recently undergone health tests and if so these were OK but with some unanswered questions. This card also reflects his popularity as indicated by the polls because again, this is a card of diagnostic tools of all kinds use for all kinds of purposes. It is sitting centrally, suggesting he has an advantage of this time. The card is positive, but generally considered not entirely reliable in whatever the context it appears.

Two of Diamonds: a great card for business and legal partnerships. We will all be watching that space re a replacement in the Supreme Court Judiciary and perhaps Mr B has high hopes there.

The Joker Reversed. Lawd, please help me. The Joker is just what you would imagine. The wild card.

‘Surprise, surprise!’

Further surprises are to be expected, relevant to the election. Hopefully not such sad ones as the passing of Ms Ginsberg. It is being mooted today on social media, greeted in some quarters with enthusiasm, that should there be no clear winner declared by January 20, there is a provision in the American Constitution that could make Nancy Pelosi president. I’ll take a look at that and report back with the soundings.

One more thing, I drew The Fool, which is the Tarot’s equivalent of the Joker, when looking at Boris Johnson’s chances of getting elected as PM in the UK General Election Dec 2019. You can find those readings here in the archives.

I have come to associate it with Gemini subjects, even though The Joker is ruled by rebellious Uranus and not Mercury. Both Mr Trump and Mr Johnson are air sign Gemini subjects, agile, mercurial, volatile, where Mr Biden is a water sign subject as befitting his cards, though he is a Scorpio subject, not Pisces.

I understand Kamala Harris is also a Scorpio subject; famous as a powerfully driven zodiac sign, family-minded, secretive and intense.

The appearance of The Joker, for me, drawn reversed on Mr B’s line of inquiry could suggest either that Mr B benefits from some mishap/withdrawal by Mr Trump, but equally that Mr T functions as his nemesis. Could it be a change to the date? It’s a pretty odd card to draw, if it is trying to show a positive election outcome for Mr B.

Card counting

The reader looks to see how many red cards appear and how many black cards, treating the red cards as a possible yes clue and the black cards as a possible no clue, as standard in cartomancy (fortune telling with playing cards) which has been practiced in Europe since the late fourteenth century, when it is believed to have arrived in Europe from the east. You could reverse it if you wanted to. It’s all about uploading a program, and what comes naturally is what will work best

Mr T drew 3 red, 2 black. Yes, but not a strong yes.

Mr B drew 2 red, 2 black and a reversed Joker. In the balance.

What does seem clear based purely on the cards, which do not reflect any conscious opinion as they are drawn and random and interpreted according to widely recognised traditions of translation, is that, whatever the polls say at this current time, further dramatic twists and turns seem likely.

Mr B cannot relax. It should be in the bag, according to the polls, butsomehow it ain’t in the bag unless that 10 Cups means ‘home and dry.’

I’ll be watching this space and shall report again nearer the time, if I’m feeling sufficiently teflon-coated. But if my ambivalence as to the outcome is unwelcome, there are plenty of commentators, analysts as well as highly regarded astrologers out there who are confident it will be Mr Biden. Though more than one Sidereal astrologer in India states with confidence it will be Mr Trump, and they are saying so on YouTube, and no shilly-shallying.

I can only say what I see. These cards today have leaned towards a Republican result as they did back in June when I looked before but things could shift. I do it for the learning, and I do shilly-shally in prognostications, at least by comparison with others, on the principle that, as the old joke goes, nothing in life is certain but death and taxes.

These are strange, unsettling times, the same as all times of disease have been throughout history. Let’s hold our nerve. The shocking interface of a new virus coming into contact with humanity or a new human group is classically a phase lasting 2 years.

2021 will bring a gradually improving picture, broadly speaking, with some sporadically better stuff before this year is out.

UPDATE: 2 October Well, well, The Joker has manifested even sooner than expected with today’s announcement that Mr T and the First lady have tested positive for Covid-19, currently asymptomatic, and have entered quarantine with only a month to go until the Election. It is looking like almost a done deal for Mr B with less than 40 % of the polling base declaring for Mr T. But the chances are The Joker hasn’t finished yet. More surprises seem likely.

Till next time 🙂

Virgo, Heavenly Harvest Goddess

“The Virgin with her sheaf belongs to Ceres,” The Astronomica, Manilius, 1st century AD.

Common Associations

Zodiac symbol

Dates: August 23-September 22

Symbol: The Virgin

Element: Earth

Quality: Mutable (Sagittarius and Pisces are also Mutable signs, marking the transitions between seasons, suggesting these subjects are capable and versatile; and generally inclined to conform, going with the flow if it’s for the greater good.)

Ruling planet: Mercury (Travel and all forms of communication)

House: Sixth, ruling health, habits and routines

Colour: green, white and yellow

Body: Virgo rules the Intestines/Digestion

Birthstone: Carnelian

Flowers: all small, bright flowers, clover, buttercups

Tarot cards: The Hermit (introspection, perception, analysis, care for nature)

Also the Eight, Nine and Ten of Pentacles, beneficent cards to do with art, craft, and productiveness as a direct result of study, craft, diligence, application and direction of discipline, focus and a sustained effort

The Hermit from the Legacy of The Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Astronomy

Virgo is the second-largest constellation in the sky after Hydra, and is the largest constellation in the zodiac between Libra to the west and Leo to the east, and below the Big Dipper.

In the northern hemisphere it is most visible in the evening sky May- to late June. In the southern hemisphere, it can be seen in autumn and winter.

Find its brightest star, the brilliant-blue-white Spica, and you will work out the rest of Virgo with her feet pointing east.

It might seem a bit of a stretch, but add in a few more of her stars, and you can see her lounging, dangling a sheaf of wheat from one hand (Spica.)

And now you see her.

Spica is actually a double star, brighter than our sun. Its name is from the Latin, meaning ‘ear of grain.’- also called ‘The Lonely One’ because it is so far from the others. Ptolemy imagined these twin stars as ruled by Venus and Mars respectively, mated together in a chaste, androgynous union, rather like the slightly remote purity of Virgo herself, even when she is a devoted human wife and mother.

The star Vindemiatrix is ‘the Grape-Gatherer.’ This star, once it was seen at daybreak, was taken as the sign that now it was ‘Vendemmia; -the time to start harvesting the vines.

The Virgo Cluster

It’s mind-boggling to consider that our own Sun is only one star of the Milky Way. It contains at least one hundred billion stars. And the Milky Way is only one of a collection of galaxies known as The Local Group.

And The Local Group contains three large spiral galaxies: the Milky Way, Andromeda, and the Triangulum Galaxy plus a few dozen ‘dwarf’ galaxies.

But The Local Group is only one member of the Virgo Cluster – a collection of more than 1300 galaxies stretching across 15 million light-years of space.

And The Virgo Cluster is just one cluster in the Virgo Super cluster.

Existential angst beckons at the very idea. I need to lie down with a damp cloth on my head.

There goes The Milky Way, zooming out, just one of many. The galaxies look like blood corpuscles.

History & Mythology

The Sumerians

Shala was an ancient Sumerian deity (in what was later Babylonia, the area now known as southern Iraq and Kuwait) She was the goddess of grain -and also compassion. Why link these two things? Famine is suffering.

Shala was married to the fertility god, Dagon, or the storm god, Ishkur, or possibly both. Virgo the Virgin is not about a state of physical virginity – but refers more to an attitude; a slightly elusive and rather refined quality, male or female.

Shala’s symbolism endures in the name of the star Spica, the ‘ear of grain’, even as the names of the deity changed from age to age, and culture to culture. The Shala Mons is a mountain on Venus named after the goddess Shala.

In Egyptian mythology, the sight of Virgo in the night sky was also associated with harvest time, and with the goddess Isis while in Indian (Sidereal or Vedic) astrology she was The Maiden, Kanya.

The Greeks

Shala, to the Greeks was the harvest goddess Demeter, also called Ceres, (root of the word ‘cereal’) and also, by association, her beloved daughter Persephone.

When Hades abducted Persephone and took her to live with him in the underworld, Demeter went into mourning. There was no harvest that year. People and livestock starved. Then the goddess of the Crossroads, Hekate, who took pity on mothers, told Demeter where Persephone was, and Demeter realized that Zeus had known all along.

In her rage, Demeter declared there would be no more harvests until Hades set her daughter free. Zeus, the king of gods, eventually intervened, insisting that Hades return Persephone to Demeter.

Zeus sent Hermes to escort Persephone home from the Underworld, instructing him that Persephone must not eat anything until she arrived home again. But Hades, not wanting to part with Persephone gave her a pomegranate to eat on the journey, telling her a few seeds wouldn’t matter, and knowing fine well how much she liked them. She ate some of the seeds on her way home.

Hades was lying, and because of the pomegranate seeds she was tied to the Underworld, and had to return to the underworld for four months of every year. Then Demeter mourned. Winter returned. The land slept.

Photo by Kathryn Archibald on Pexels.com

The Decans

The archetype of Virgo is The Craftsman, paying careful attention to every detail, taking pride in doing the job, whatever it is, to the highest standard possible. A vision does not just materialize. It must be created, executed, manifested. There’s no substitute for skill and hard work, according to Virgo. S/he combines the artist and the scientist. researcher

Of course there is no such thing in reality as THE Virgo personality. You are a unique individual. Your zodiac sign (also known as your sun sign) is a major keynote, but it’s by no means anything like the full picture in real life – or even in astrology.

These archetypes, however, are based on thousands of years of observation, and your personal decan, which depends on where your birthday falls within your zodiac sign, digs a little deeper. If you don’t feel like a ‘typical’ Virgo, perhaps you are a second or third decan Virgo, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Virgo.

First Decan Virgo

Dates: 23 August-1 September

Planetary ruler: Sun

Tarot card: The Eight of Pentacles: ‘Lord of Prudence,’ art, craft, industry, skill, concentration, application, studiousness, apprenticeship, crafts, heritage, buildings.

Look at him. This person is absorbed in his work, and he seems to be enjoying himself. This work has meaning and purpose for him. This is typical of this decan. There is a quiet warmth but a cool mind with a talent for incisive analysis; however this is expressed, whether artistically, commercially or scientifically, or in administrative tasks.

They see more than they say, but they have a mercurial talent for communication via the spoken and written word; making many of these subjects potentially great teachers. They are hard-working, industrious.

‘We reap what we sow,’ goes the old saying. This is not necessarily always true or fair. Misfortune strikes plenty of people who have done nothing to ‘deserve’ it. And plenty of wrong-doers escape justice. However, it is broadly true to say, that we can’t reap what was never sown. Even wild berries had to be first sown by the wind or by birds. First decan Virgo understands this better than almost anybody else in the zodiac.

Virgo is generally physically attractive and well presented, though not necessarily in a dramatic way. Neat, tidy and well groomed is their preferred style; slob is not in their vocabulary.

They are affectionate, faithful friends and partners, with a keen, if dry sense of humour. They are cheerful company, though they may be annoying at times, due to their tendency, whether you like it or not, to tell you how it is, at least as they see it. This can make them seem fussy, picky, or even a tad OCD if they don’t watch it.

Second Decan Virgo

Dates: 2-11 September

Planetary ruler: Venus

The Legacy of the Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

The Nine of Pentacles as a personification of both Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and Vindemiatrix, goddess of the vines. She recommends the consumption of more fresh food, and less fast food. Slow cooking, a one-pot meal, is a delicious, nutritious and budget-friendly way to eat and feed a family. (The odd glass of wine doesn’t go amiss either, says Vindemiatrix.)

This decan is traditionally associated with Venus, planet of love, beauty –and money. A perfectionist; conscientious, devoted, and above all focused, they can turn anything they do into an art form in its own right.

Notice the hooded falcon on her wrist. She has ‘tamed’ wildness – or chaos. She has cultivated a home, a garden, a business, and made it thrive, healthy and beautiful. She is financially self- reliant and self-sufficient, but this did not come quick or easy.

She learned, sometimes the hard way, to control the wild falcon representing her impulses, wants and desires. She learned self-discipline and self-control, the power of deferred gratification.

A squirrel would have no nuts in the winter if it ate them all at once. This, the second decan of Virgo can make a most wonderful, conscientious provider for themselves and for others. They love to spoil their loved ones. But though they have learned to do without, and at times, they had little, they deeply value beautiful things.

Third Decan Virgo

Dates: 12-22 September

Planetary ruler: Mercury

Tarot card- Ten of Pentacles: keywords: ‘Lord of Wealth,’ commerce, messages, deliveries, Hermes, home, homeland, ancestry, genetics, inter-generational relationships, inheritance, gifts, legacy, bequests, town planning, art, museums, banks.

Third Decan Virgo is both a creative and a practical thinker. These are proud people. Not vain but proud, dignified – this is a big difference. They need to be their own masters and it’s not about the money, or at least, not for its own sake. These people are careful, but they are not misers. They have a winning way with people and may work in the public eye; such is their talent for communication; personal, professional, artistic, written and spoken.

Notice the old man surrounded by family, adults, children, and dogs too – Virgo cares for animals. What he has built, he has created in order to share, to pass on, seeing himself as part of the bigger picture, a link in a chain of legacy. This could mean money. It could mean ideas. It could mean a place that means everything to them, their own home or their homeland. There is a sense of belonging, of being in the right place. To feel this way is a treasure beyond price.

These are family minded people, realists with an optimistic temperament and a ‘can do’ approach. They enjoy family outings, a walk in the woods, or a trip to the seaside. They will organize it. Eco warrior is not really their style. But they do care about the environment.

Virgo has both feet on the ground, and yet, it is something of an artist, something of a scientist. Something of a sage.

Elizabeth 1

Elizabeth 1, ‘the Virgin Queen’ was a Virgo subject. Born 7 September 1533, a second decan Virgo, she ascended to the throne aged 25 following an exceedingly tough time during which at one point she was disinherited and imprisoned in the Tower on suspicion of treason in collusion with Wyatt against her sister Mary. She could have lost her life, like her mother before her .

But even as a girl of 20, outnumbered and beleaguered by statesmen decades her senior, ‘she hath a very good wit and nothing is gotten of her but by great policy,’ said one of her exasperated inquisitors.

Welcome to Virgo Season.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

The Tower card says ‘Thunder!’

Originally posted 16 August 2020

Monday afternoon, 16 August 2020 and we’re having yet another thunderstorm right now. I posted here on 3 August suggesting we could expect humid nights during the next two weeks, as suggested by an astrological combination of a cool damp full moon in Aquarius opposite the Sun in Leo. A quirky, steamy, humid combination, as if The Lion was sporting a perm, and it was getting frazzled in the humidity.

This has proved correct in many parts of the UK including the Lancashire coast in NW England where I live. Close, humid, sticky as Sticky the stick insect when he’s got stuck on a stick. Last Tuesday night at 11.30 PM we had the first of this series of thunderstorms and it was a corker.

It started silently, sheet lightning, flash lightning, the entire sky lit bright as day; white, grey, lavender, palest pink. Then came the wind. The trees began to move, and then swish and then came the pounding rain. This sequence was repeated three times between 11.30 and about four in the morning.

I asked Il Matrimonio to film it on his phone, but this was just the start -slow TV.

The Tarot card that can forecast or describe a thunderstorm…or even a hurricane or a tornado is The Tower.

The Tower is hubris, pride before a fall, miscommunications, the Tower of Babel, shocks, buildings or damage to buildings, bankruptcy, unemployment, economic crashes, traffic crashes, air attacks, explosions. War.

It could be a fire, or electrical malfunctions or an electric shock. It could be a stroke or a heart attack.

Anything sudden or shocking, loud or disruptive.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is tower_golden.jpg — The Golden Tarot by Kat Black

Update: Tornado!

Back in 2011 The Tower card meant a tornado.

I had drawn the Tower card the previous evening and said to Il Matrimonio, there was rain coming, and it might be heavy.

The Tarot can lend itself to weather forecasting if you are interested to test it out, and The Page of Cups or Page of Swords may forecast a light rain shower, or light snowfall.

The ‘rain’ came the next morning. But I wasn’t expecting this. I have never heard anything like it in my life. A scream like a banshee or the whistle of a steam train; similar principles of science I suppose. It was fit to make your hair stand on end, as what we later discovered was a actual twister came screaming down the road, hurling wheelie bins about, as later reported by a startled dog-walker at the end of the road.

It flattened someone’s garden wall; one of our neighbours, Mr Fagge. Totally flattened it, but very neatly, and the wall didn’t fall on anyone, and he said it needed repairing anyway. So that was OK. He didn’t like it though, when people got word of the excitement they had missed, and turned up to take photographs.

But you could hardly blame them. We don’t often see a twister here in Lytham St Anne’s, though there have been others.

There was one on the beach here last summer, 1 June, 2020, and it whirled buckets and litter and towels and tents around in circles, possibly ruined someone’s ice-cream, and that was all quite exciting before it headed out to sea.

But we don’t want it getting any more exciting, thank you.

Photo by Ralph W. lambrecht on Pexels.com

Till next time 🙂

The Tarot talks Owls

The Fourth of August has been designated International Owl Awareness Day apparently, but we can never have too much of owls any time of year, say I.

Owl: Definition and origins

“Raptorial nocturnal bird of prey of the family Strigidæ,” Middle English oule, from Old English ule “owl,” from Proto-Germanic *uwwalon- (source also of Middle Dutch, Dutch uil, Old High German uwila, German Eule, Old Norse ugla), a diminutive of PIE root *u(wa)l-, which is imitative of a wail or an owl’s hoot (compare howl and Latin ulula “owl;” also see ululation) Read more HERE

The Owl in Tarot

The owl as a nocturnal airborne hunter is represented in the Tarot by the Knight of Swords or the Knight of Air, one of the court cards associated with the air signs of the zodiac: Aquarius, Gemini and Libra.

This Knight can be law or war. It can be excellent news or frightful news, a decisive victory or a total and shocking defeat. represents strategy, speed and stealth of attack: watchwords, optics, surveillance, calculation, strategy, north wind, east wind, unfettered power, courage, agility, ruthlessness, precision, musical composition, mathematics, IT and medical diagnostics.

By the same token it represents all creatures of the air.

The Knight of Swords as personified below is the Great Grey Owl, and I am glad I am not a rabbit.

The owl is revered as powerful and sage, and feared as otherworldly.

The Owl of Athena

The Greek Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, had a pet Little Owl, Athene Noctua.

So why has the owl been considered especially wise?

Like domestic cats, the face of the owl is flat, with a forward facing stare like a human, making it at the same time alien and relatable. The owl has a piercing gaze and can see in the dark, just as metaphorically, perception may pierce the darkness of ignorance, confusion or obfuscation. Athena herself may have had her origins in a more ancient Minoan deity associated with birds and snakes -another of the ‘wise animals’. The girl’s name Linda or Belinda means a snake and denotes wisdom, just as does the name Sofia with its many variants.

Where Rome venerated the she- wolf of Romulus and Remus, the Little Owl was venerated as the totemic animal of Athens.

Here you see me below, or rather, the back of my head, a trifle windswept ensconced in my wheelchair, and I have been lucky enough to be selected for a personal introduction to a Little Owl, Dudley the Deadly at the fantastic Barn of Beal in beloved Northumberland, in North- East England.

Dudley, we were advised, had by far the worst peck for all he was so tiny; 8 inches high or 20.3. In fact, this made the peck all the worse, more pressure per square unit of area, and accordingly, I have nominated him Dudley the Deadly.

He did pretty much as he pleased and once off his leashes, he either came when called, or else only when it suited him, but happily, so long as there was a bit of raw meat on offer, it generally suited him. Here he is perched on the gauntlet and he pooped, but he did have the consideration to miss my feet, if only just.

The Little Owl in the wild can be seen during the day, and hunts at dawn and dusk. Its range in Britain includes England, Wales and the south of Scotland.

The Barn owl

(Tyto alba) is the most widely spread species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds. In Britain it is also known as the screech owl, for reasons you will understand perfectly if you watch the video at the bottom of this posting.

The Mabinigion tells the story of Bloduedd, a flower maiden who was turned into a barn owl as punishment for betrayal of her husband Lleu; a tragic love triangle featured in the numinous 1967 novel by Alan Garner, ‘The Owl Service‘. But in justice to Bloduedd, she had never chosen to be married to Lleu.

Bloduedd had been created for Lleu out of flowers by the wizard Gwydion. But then she met and loved Prince Gronwr, and together with him, plotted to kill Lleu. They failed. Lleu killed Gronwr and Bloduedd (the name means owl) was turned into a barn owl, cursed that from this day forth she must hide by day or be attacked by other birds.

In connection with this superstition of the barn owl as a bird of strange omen, if not actual evil omen. Although Barn owls have often been regarded as the farmer’s friend, keeping down rats and mice. been rewarded with a safe nesting habitat in barns, in return for these services, as recently as the 195o’s barn owls were, sadly to say, sometimes nailed to some other farmyard doors to ward evil away from the livestock and today there are thought to be only about 4000 breeding pairs. They love voles, which are in decline, and they like to hunt roadside verges, and so they are extra vulnerable to being struck by vehicles.

The Romans sometimes also killed owls. In ancient Rome, an owl’s hoot was taken to be an omen of imminent death. Reportedly, the death of several Roman emperors was foretold by an owl, including those of Augustus and Julius Caesar,and a held that death could be prevented by nailing a dead owl to the door of your home, which would ward off evil.

Children (and maybe these include one or two I have known) have been threatened for centuries that if they are naughty or they won’t go to bed, and now it’s well past their bedtime, the owls (or baby owls) will get them. The roots of this venerable threat hark back to the Barn Owl in particular, not only because of its ghostly appearance, but because its feathers are not waterproof, a sacrifice in evolutionary exchange for its almost total silence in flight. It will be upon you before you know it’s there, children!

‘Baby owl are coming!’ Said grandma, or maybe sometimes it was grandad.

‘I want to go bed now, grandma.’

Poor owls should sue for defamation. The Malayans in the South Pacific believed that owls would steal newborn babies out from their bedroom windows at night, while a German superstition said that if an owl was heard hooting as a baby was being born, it was doomed to live an unhappy life. The Greeks were particularly wary of owls, believing them to be shape-shifting witches capable of sucking out a child’s blood, and the native America Indians of Chesapeake, believed that medicine men could shape-shift as owls.

Some of these medicine men were good, but some were evil, and many native American tribes mistrusted owls on this account.

Illustrated below; a Snowy Owl attends The High Priestess in The Legacy of The Divine Tarot. As with the scroll, and the pomegranate, the Owl is a symbolic representation of her solitude at work, her discretion, learning and and wisdom. Like Persephone, she has been to the Underworld – and returned with her gifts of knowledge, which are also her burden.

But owls raise chicks, and the solitary High Priestess wears the cow horns of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess, daughter of the Sun god Ra, consort of Horus, the goddess of beauty and fertility.

Source Wiki: the Egyptian goddess Hathor

Owls in Britain

There are actually six, not five owl species found in Britain today; the Tawny owl, Barn owl, Short Eared Owl, Long Eared Owl, Little Owl and the Eurasian Eagle owl. These last two are relative new comers, and in the case of the Eagle owl, and as you can read here in this article from Country Life magazine, somewhat controversial as it is powerful enough to take a small deer.

I was going to blog about the US Election today, but I’m not sure anyone’s in the mood. It can keep, but I’m watching that space, Tarot-wise, and logging the findings, and shall report in due course ahead of the elections.

Until next time 🙂

Salutations, Star Lion Leo

Today 22 July, we leave the zodiac sign of Cancer, the mysterious and elusive Crab in the Starry zodiac sea, the sign of the zenith of the summer, and we move into the astrological sign of Leo the celestial lion. Most of us know our zodiac or sun sign, but what does it actually look like in the night sky, and what’s the story behind it? It’s time to roll out the red carpet for the star-lion, Leo…

Common Associations

Zodiac Symbol of Leo

Dates: 22-23 July-23 August

Symbol: Lion

Element: Fire

Metal: Gold

Position: Fixed

Ruler: The Sun

Body: Heart and spine

Trees: Palm trees, laurel, walnuts, olive trees, lemon and orange trees.

Plants: Marigolds, sunflowers, dandelions, (dents de lion =lion’s teeth) celandines, passion flowers

Gemstones: Peridot, carnelian, ruby, onyx

Peridot By Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10478407

Key phrase: I love

Tarot card: Strength

The Lady and the Lion. Perhaps it is Una. Or perhaps her name is Leona or Leonora, for the lion is also the lioness. Her hold on the leash could not be lighter. She is controlling the lion, but only because it is allowing it, not fighting her restraint, signifying that the lion is also a part of herself. This is just as one would imagine, a very welcome card of better health, signifying recovery if someone has been ill.

Astronomy

Leo is one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and one of the 88 modern constellations recognised by NASA today, between the neighbouring constellations of Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east.

Leo is the 12^th largest constellations, and one of the most easily recognizable due to its many bright stars, and a distinctive shape suggesting a crouching lion, apparently facing right.

The bright light in the sky beneath Leo as seen in the photo below is Jupiter.

The best time to see the Lion is Spring in the northern hemisphere, from around the March equinox. In early April, the constellation Leo reaches its high point for the night around 10 p.m. By around May 1, Leo reaches his high point for the night around 8 p.m. local time In early May, the Lion begins to set in the west around 2 a.m. local time and by June, Leo is descending in the west in the evening, drifting progressively westward.

By late July and into early August, the Lion is beginning to fade into the sunset, returning to the eastern sky and visible before dawn around late September or October.

Look out for the Big Dipper, Leo is below it. You are looking for a backwards question mark pattern called the Sickle; and you can see its curve outlines the Lion’s mane.

Leo’s brightest star, Regulus, or Alpha Leonis, ‘The King Star,’ is the heart of the celestial lion, a sparkling blue-white star at the bottom of the backwards question mark pattern. Regulus, means “little king” or “prince” in Latin. The star’s Greek name, Basiliscos, has the same meaning, while the Arabic name is Qalb al-Asad, meaning literally “the heart of the lion.”

Mind Boggler -Leo’s fifth largest star, Epsilon Leonis, 247 light years from Earth, is 288 times more luminous than the Sun, four times as massive and has 21 times the solar radius.

A triangle of stars in eastern Leo represents the Lion’s hindquarters and tail. The brightest star of the triangle is named Denebola, Arabic, meaning the Lion’s Tail.

There are 15 stars in Leo with 18 known planets between them, but none of the planets is in a habitable zone.

The Leonids are meteor showers associated with the constellation of Leo. They peak around November 17-18 every year, and there is another minor shower, the January Leonids, peaking January 1 – 7.

Photo by Henrik Pfitzenmaier on Pexels.com

Ancient History & Mythology

Leo the Lion has since ancient times been associated with the sun and royalty, ruled by the sun in astrology and is one of the oldest constellations collectively recognized with many ancient civilizations agreeing on perceiving it as a lion.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Mesopotamians recognized a constellation similar to Leo as early as 4000 BC. The Persians knew the constellation as Shir or Ser, Babylonians called it UR.GU.LA (“the great lion”), Syrians knew it as Aryo, and the Turks as Artan.

The story goes that the ancient Egyptians venerated Leo because the appearance overhead of this constellation used to coincide with the annual flooding of the Nile River, the lifeblood of their agriculture and indeed, the nation entire. Marking the end of drought, desert lions would arrive at the river, driven by desperation, and their appearance was welcomed as a certain sign that the floods were shortly on their way. The Egyptians accordingly honoured the lion with festivals, and even today many statues of lions can be found along the course of the Nile River, proof of their reverence.

It’s thought that the lion-headed fountains commonly designed by Greek and Roman architects equally symbolized the life-giving waters released by the sun’s presence in Leo.

Herakles’ first labour was the killing of the Nemean Lion. This terrifying lion lived in a cave in Nemea, a town located to the south-west of Corinth. It was a man-eater, dining on the local folk, not OK, and a few had tried to kill it, only to find to their (terminal) horror, nothing could pierce the lion’s hide, it was so preternaturally tough.But someone must have survived to tell this tale, for Herakles, being forewarned of this additional teensy problem, managed somehow to sneak up on the lion asleep in its cave, and strangled to death the uber-kitty; poor puddy-tat.

Herakles then rather disrespectfully, I can’t help feeling, if undeniably pragmatically, skinned the lion with its own claws, and wore its skin as a cloak, making himself even more ferocious in appearance, as well as presumably, and even more importantly, arrow-proof.

Astrology

This fixed fire sign is known for its pride, ambition and determination, warmth and generosity of spirit, not to mention, charisma, but above all, Leo is known for bravery; the lionhearted one, the divine expression of physical, mental, and emotional fortitude, which is a very great virtue. Leo parents are typically devoted, but they rule their households, no question about it.

Courage takes many forms. There is the courage of initiative, the will to advance, engage and attack. There is moral courage, proceeding in the face of fear, “feeling the fear and doing it anyway.”

And there is the courage to endure, to withstand, and the fortitude that quietly says to itself, “I will keep smiling, and tomorrow I will try again”. No banners and no accolades.

Leo can be its own worst enemy; hasty, arrogant, reckless, self-centred, headstrong and careless, and for these reasons, unless these subjects learn patience, consideration and self-control, they are not necessarily always as lucky in life as they could be, or as they, and the great, shining Leo truly deserve, proud and thirsty children of the sun.

Dandy Lion

Dandelion’s

Golden Mane

Prideful

Greying

Casts away

Alight on Chance

To someday seed

And newly golden

Lionize again

K Hazeldine

The Tarot and a Full Thunder Moon

The Full Thunder Moon, the Tarot and what it means this month…

What is astrology and why do astrologers study the Moon?

‘Astrology’ comes from Greek and means ‘the study of the stars.’

Humans have been studying the Moon since at least 25 000 years ago. This is only natural. It is the closest celestial body to Earth, exerting visible effects on the tides, and on every living thing that depends for its way of living on the behaviour of the tides, and possibly a whole lot more besides, though this is debated, e.g.; crop growth, hormonal cycles and moods.

It’s about the search for meaning and planning on earth using clues in the sky. Astrology began as humanity made conscious attempts to measure, record, and predict seasonal changes by paying attention to astronomical cycles. They did this largely for practical planning purposes, for example:

When would the wild cattle- the aurochs migrate – and they could organise a hunt?
When would the salmon or other fishes spawn?
When would the rains come – and possibly floods?

Early evidence of sky-monitoring appears as markings on bones and cave walls in the Neolithic period 25,000 years ago, recording the movements of the sun, and the moon and its influence upon tides and rivers. This led to the creation of the first written calendars in the Bronze Age 3,300 – 1200 BC by the Sumerians in the ancient Near East.

Symbolically, because it has no light of its own, The Moon represents our shadowy side, our deepest instincts, our dreams, hidden health, and the impulses that drive our behaviour whether or not we are consciously aware of them.

The Moon Headlines July 2020

July 5: Full Moon in Capricorn (a lunar eclipse)

July 12: Last Quarter (Waning)

July 20: New Moon in Cancer

July 27: First Quarter (Waxing)

The July Full Moon is nicknamed the Thunder Moon. This name comes from the indigenous American Algonquin people in the areas first colonized by the Pilgrims. This time of year was associated with powerful thunderstorms in the northern forests.

What do the moon phases mean symbolically?

A Full Moon occurs when the Moon is in opposition, meaning it is on the opposite of the Earth from the Sun on the same celestial longitude and we can see the entire lit portion of the Moon.A lunar eclipse only ever happens at full moon and suggests mysteries, hidden truths or sometimes danger. A Full Moon is traditionally the optimum time to take stock and evaluate, or to gather, collect, harvest or cash in on something. Emotions may be especially intense.

A New Moon occurs when the Moon is between the Earth and the sun, and we can only see the side that is in shadow. Traditionally, this is a time to clear away what is no longer wanted, make a wish, and start something new.

What does this potentially mean for you and me this month?

Full Moon in Capricorn:

Tarot card: The Devil

From the Gilded Royale Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Themes: authority/ lack of authority/power/powerlessness/obsession/addiction/attraction/desire/sexual chemistry/compulsion/ anger/ fear/ excess/ getting carried away/duty v violence

Tweeted today

#Tarot COTD The Devil. Sexy beast? Can be. And it can mean PARTY but this is a party that brings trouble. Drugs. Chaos. Lawlessness. This card in Tarot equates with Capricorn. Tomorrow’s full moon lunar eclipse is in Capricorn Sun 5 July.

We think of the current trouble in London, block parties out of control, neighbourhood’s terrorised, police and police vehicles attacked; last night in Hammersmith, police running away again, seven officers hurt but no arrests, sent in without protective gear. Doubtless there will be more such behaviour tonight.

The last lunar eclipse was the full moon on 5 June and public events got pretty intense. This month’s eclipse full moon may look reddish —the reason it is often referred to as an ‘umbral’ (umber) or as a “Blood Moon”

During lunar eclipses, we are encouraged to let go of whatever is no longer serving our best interests. This is the time to release, get rid, clear out and say goodbye to things that no longer do us any good. A little of what you fancy does you good, but overdoing it does just the opposite. Some places and people do you good, others mislead you or drag you down.

Focus on practical matters. Live and let live. This energy demands more give and take. Perhaps more give and less take. Take it easy round other people at this time.

New Moon in Cancer:

Tarot Card: The Chariot

From the Gilded Tarot Royale, Ciro Marchetti

Themes: ambition, determination, effort, focus, self- discipline, co-operation with others, aggression, or lack of effort, lack of focus, no direction

The imagery on this card makes me think of Cleopatra, and her partnership with Julius Caesar who bequeathed his name to July.

Around the New Moon on 20 July, your best well-being is symbolically focused on home, family and close friends. Your own nest is probably best right now. You may be feeling extra moody, more up and down than usual. Try to stand back a little and don’t let it get on top of you. Switch off the news if that’s what it takes to get a better night’s sleep. Life has been slow but it is going to speed up again before long. Let it find you in the best possible shape.

Advice card

The Magician

From The Legacy of the Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Themes: the Self, Knowledge, Skill, Communications, Self-Control, Self-Mastery

Things could continue tricky in July for many; on the world stage and potentially in domestic life. But the appearance of The Magician, drawn upright, and not reversed, means that it is certainly not all bad news in July.

The Magician is ruled by Mercury, planet of communications, media, commerce, trade and travel.

Mercury went retrograde on 18 June. You may have noticed any number of hopefully minor annoyances in connection with this; losing stuff, miscommunications, things breaking down.

But Mercury goes direct again after 12 July, which may indicate a lightening of mood, and perhaps represent something of a liberation. Things may noticeably start going a bit more smoothly, fewer blips and glitches. Likewise, in respect of the covid crisis, The Magician (because it represents the Number 1) is reflecting a wider reduction of the 2 metre social distancing rule, to a 1 metre rule, which would be beneficial to the retail, beauty and hospitality industries.

This card is likewise reflected in the opening up of overseas travel,expanding beyond the travel corridors originally mooted by our own as well as other governments.

On a personal level, The Magician is the ultimate card that says ‘a man.’

If single, you may meet someone new, but this seems more likely to happen after July 12 than before.

The Magician is also you, yourself, and the things you can or will do. It is the card of personal will-power, and the drive to do, learn, execute and manifest. The Magician has skills. He or she works hard to develop these skills or know-how. The Magician watches and learns, and is curious, and ready to put in the effort to achieve his/her goals. The Magician initiates, creates, practices, polishes, and then is ready to seek out opportunities.

Allied with the passion of The Devil, and the self-discipline of the Chariot, The Magician is a route map, and a recipe for progress.

There will be more public disorder on the streets of London tonight, highly likely. Watch out for that Devil and take it easy.

Until next time 🙂

Brexit Extension Deadline Imminent…what’s up ahead?

Photo by Francesco Paggiaro on Pexels.com

Torching – or smelting? Firing or igniting? Today is the last day the UK can apply to the EU for a Brexit Extension, ending at midnight, or strictly speaking, 11 PM on UK time. There is no sign that the British government is going to do that, which means the UK remains on track to complete our departure from the EU on 31 December, deal or no deal.

A ‘No Deal’ exit from the EU is looking like the most likely outcome at this stage. Though what exactly is meant by that? This was a question I have put to the Tarot more than once during the Brexit process starting 2016, and the answer was never clear-cut or rather, shall we say, it was not so simple. Those readings can be found here in the archives.

It will probably be a ‘No Deal Brexit’ in terms of there being no over-arching, top-cover deal. But that does not mean there will be no deals.

Will that be bad news? Those who think so will continue to think so, and those who feel more positive about it, will likewise continue to do so.

Only time will tell. All I can do as a card reader is share what I have been shown via the Tarot, repeatedly since 2016, and if it seems too bright and fluffy to be feasible given the current state of affairs globally, this can’t be helped.

There are rules in this work. I am not free to faff about and sing fa-la-la. Right or wrong is not for me to know. Not at the time of looking. I must only look and share what I see. And what I keep getting is one of two cards.

This one:-

The Nine of Coins or Pentacles from The Legacy of the Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Keywords for this card: Abundance, luxury, self-sufficiency, financial independence.

And this one:-

The Six of Swords, Legacy of the Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Keywords for this card: Transition, change, rite of passage, recovery, uncharted waters

Recently tweeted

Britannia, coming decade: hard work, ramping up production, some sectors happier than others, a picture of anything but decline despite current crises: Invention, manufacturing, #Fintech, hospitality, food, health, design, luxury services/goods. IMG Legacy #Tarot @Jefferson_MFG

Future face of Britannia, drawn again & again since 2016. Prosperity, hard work, some sectors happier than others, but broadly, a picture of anything but decline, notwithstanding unsettled times right now. Invention, Manuf, #Fintech, hospitality, food, luxury goods. Legacy #Tarot

It’s a funny thing, I follow a number of manufacturing accounts on Twitter, and the picture, while not always rosy, is far from being the desert void void or doom-fest one might easily imagine, given the sheer dearth of investment reportage on mainstream media.

Manufacturing Tweets from The Jefferson Group, tweeting @Jefferson.

I have collated here just some of their tweets for this month alone, investments and other UK manufacturing industry announcements, June 2020

Statement from the Jefferson Group: “To answer a few critics, yes, we are biased. We post positive news about new factories, investment and job creation. We are biased for a reason. The Mainstream Media gives undue prominence to negative news about British manufacturing and this needs to be counterbalanced.”

Manufacturing News – selected highlights

25 June: The European Space Agency has selected Leicester for its new space tech incubation centre. Expected to create 2,500 jobs, the £100m-plus Space Park Leicester development has already attracted global companies including Lockheed Martin, Thales, Airbus and Hewlett Packard.

BREAKING: INEOS to unveil new Grenadier on July 1st. The 4×4 will be built at a new factory in Bridgend (image) as part of a £600m investment programme set to create 500 jobs.

NEW FACTORY: British pharmaceutical giant 𝗔𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗭𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗮 set to build new 96,000 sq ft production facility at its Macclesfield campus in Cheshire.

British electric bike manufacturer @VoltBikesUK re-shores production to the UK with opening of new factory in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire https://bit.ly/2NzzInD

27 June American aerospace giant @MoogAircraft, headquartered in New York, is building a new £40m factory in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Moog describes the investment as “an integral part of its commitment to long-term development and manufacturing in the UK.”

UPDATE: Giant step towards UK’s first orbital spaceflight as plans for Sutherland’s spaceport get the go-ahead. Scotland-based ‘Prime’ rocket will be the first to launch into orbit from the new Space Hub. https://bit.ly/2BblJl6 @orbexspace

‘Revolutionary’ Belfast shipbuilding project set to create 1,000 jobs after securing £33 million innovation grant to develop zero emissions ferries. The 13-partner consortium includes Artemis Technologies, Belfast Harbour and Bombardier https://bit.ly/2BFXpb0

Swizzels Matlow, the British confectionery firm best known for its Love Hearts, Drumsticks and Parma Violets sweets, is set to build a new 158,000 sq ft production facility in Middlewich, Cheshire

26 June Due to open in the autumn, this is family-owned British food manufacturer @wrightsflour‘s new multi-million pound mill in Harlow, Essex

24 Jun Britain’s automotive sector, including projects led by #FactoryNOW member LEVC, Jaguar Land Rover and Ford, set to benefit from a £73.5m government investment in green technologies. Funding for the 10 projects is expected to safeguard 14,000 jobs https://bit.ly/2Z7gr20

£1 billion investment: Technology giant @Huawei set to create 400 jobs at new research and manufacturing campus in Cambridge. Once operational, it will become the global headquarters of the Shenzhen-based firm’s opto-electronics business https://bit.ly/2ViM6g6 (They’re getting something big then, at least, if not 5G. The PM says he is not a Sinophobe. Even if some of us other folk might be right now, given various current arenas of aggression)

Beautiful new Azuma trains being built by Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe, Durham. Azuma means ‘East.’

I grew up here in Durham City. The railway line passed near my house. My grandfather, a lovely man I remember, though he died when I was only four or five, was a railwayman in Darlington, County Durham. RIP Fred and Beatrice.

Ross Clark in The Spectator

“Why do we hear so little about positive things such as this? There was a time when industrial investment always featured prominently in the news. Now, investment like this doesn’t even seem to feature on the BBC’s science pages – although there was room yesterday for a story about Nasa naming its HQ after its first black female engineer and one about Greta Thunberg saying that climate change ‘is as urgent as coronavirus’. To be fair to the BBC, though, no newspaper seems to have carried the story, either. True, we are still in the middle of one of the biggest stories for decades. But otherwise, all news outlets seem so obsessed with woke and culture war issues that we don’t get to learn about important pieces of investment. No wonder we end up constantly thinking that Britain’s economy is going down the pan – when the opposite is true.”

Nil Desperandum, friends, when the clock strikes midnight tonight, 30 June 2020. Anything but despair.

Until next time 🙂

On Father’s Day: In Praise of The Emperor

Let’s talk about the ultimate Tarot card of Masculinity with a capital ‘M’, The Emperor.

‘The Emperor’ appearing in a Tarot reading signifies the current extra significance of an important man in your life, at an individual level. He’s a father, husband, employer, friend or advisor.

The Emperor stands for government, law and order, other big, hierarchical organisations. He is the Armed Forces, the Police, the Civil Service.

He is the guiding principle of protection and of the guardian at work in society and in the home. See those ram’s heads on the arms of his throne? The Emperor is associated with the sign of Aries, the fiery ram of spring. In a reading it may indicate a future event occurring at that time of year.

Image below is The Emperor from The Gilded Tarot, by kind permission of Ciro Marchetti

The Emperor in his true dignity is strength with justice, courage with reason: a defender, a chevalier, a sheltering tree, nesting birds held safely in his branches. He is firmness of order, rule with mercy, compassion for the weak. He upholds fair play, raising his shield so that those sheltering behind it do not get hurt or splattered with rubbish and er…manure.

He will lay down his life if that is what it takes.

He has another side to him of course: war, dictatorship, tyranny, petty officialdom, overbearing bureaucracy. The card may alternatively signify absence of structure and leadership. A bully. The Emperor Reversed is War.

But greetings are due to The Emperor at the top of his game – best friend to woman-kind; those men that we love, and what we love best in men, the sons of the red earth of Adam.

Let your Emperor wear his crown and ermine every now and then. You may be an Empress, and you can always wear yours too.

Greetings to the Tarot’s beloved Emperor.

Until next time 🙂