Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire?
–William Blake,
1794, from The Songs of Experience
True Tiger Tales
Where does the tiger’s name come from?
The modern word comes from the Old English tigras (plural), also in part from Old French tigre “tiger” (mid-12c.) and they both from Latin tigris “tiger,” from Greek tigris, possibly from an Iranian source akin to Old Persian tigra- “sharp, pointed,” like an arrow in reference to its springing on its prey.
The scientific name, Panthera Tigris, is thought to have various origins, but is most likely from the Indian language, in which “panther” refers to the yellow and white colouring of the tiger.
There are 2 main subspecies of tiger but two main groupings: the Asian continental tigers and the island tigers. The largest cat in the world is the Amur tiger, and the smallest of the tigers is the Sumatran tiger.
This – Via World Wildlife Organization
Since 2017, IUCN has recognized two tiger subspecies, commonly referred to as the continental tiger and the Sunda Island tiger. All remaining island tigers are found only in Sumatra, with tigers in Java and Bali now extinct. These are popularly known as Sumatran tigers. The continental tigers currently include the Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese and Amur (Siberian) tiger populations, while the Caspian tiger is extinct in the wild. The South China tiger is believed to be functionally extinct.
However, wild tiger numbers are rising again after a century in decline. Based on the best available information, wild tiger numbers are rising again after a century in decline in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia and China. An estimated 3,900 tigers remain in the wild (a TINY number) but much more work needs to be done to secure the future of the tiger in the wild. In some areas including much of Southeast Asia, tigers are still in crisis and declining in number.
The tiger is honoured in mythology throughout all its ranges in Asia. The tiger is a wonder of the world entire. The Goddess of Compassion, Kuan Yin will surely be mourning the decline of the tiger in the wild due to hunting and poaching and loss of habitat. She who hears the cries of the world will surely hear the cries of the tiger.
Kuan Yin rides a dragon in token of her power, and also in her role as a protector of fishermen.
For Buddhists the tiger represents spiritual struggle, finding one’s own inner light in dark and dangerous times. The tiger hunts alone by night, and will travel great distances, combining stealth with power. This year of the Water tiger reminds us that the tiger is an excellent swimmer and the mother tiger is devoted to her cubs.
To the Samurai of Japan, the tiger was a natural emblem of courage.
Hindu goddess Durga, (Sanskrit: “the Inaccessible”) principal form of the threefold Goddess, also known as Devi and Shakti, is depicted as a warrior going into battle riding a tiger, Damon. Shown here slaying a demon buffalo (Source Wiki).
North of Mumbai, harvested crops are donated in honour of the tiger, where it is seen as a symbol of life and regeneration.
This is a Year of the Black Water Tiger in Chinese astrology. but the first astrological day of the Tiger year is on February 4, 2022, not to be confused with the day of the Chinese New Year, Tuesday February 1 and the celebrations finish with the Lantern Festival February 15th, 2022.
The start of Tiger month marks the first month of spring when the sun enters the 315th degree in the tropical zodiac.
Each Chinese zodiac sign is associated with one of five elements.
Wood: creativity, imagination
Fire: passion, adventure
Metal: persistence, ambition
Water: agility, eloquence
Earth: patience, stability
Why a black tiger? Chinese astrology links colours with the elements, and black is the colour for water.
The Water Tiger symbolizes something moving in, as well as upon the Water. This could mean ships and boats for example and by extension, river or marine fishing, overseas trade and shipping and pleasure cruising.
This imagery could be also read as a fertility sign, something that grows in water could mean water crops or even a baby growing within the womb. There could be far reaching discussions and decisions this year for instance, to encourage or support a rise in the birth rate in China to offset the economic challenges of an ageing population in consequence of a thirty year one child policy.
On the other hand water is connected to danger in the I-Ching. Add this to the courage of the Tiger, for which we could also read potential aggression, then the Water Tiger of 2022 implies a need for caution while suggesting a year of growth, development, challenge, creation, planning with a need to be well-prepared. This has clear implications for developments or confrontations in the Taiwan Straits in 2022.
It could predict significant maritime events this year. Possibly too, because it is about the movement of water or movement in or on water, and following the underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga, the water tiger could mean further significant underwater seismic events or tsunamis.
Update 4/2/2022The HMS Endeavour has been located off Rhode Island 250 years after it sailed to Australia under the command of Captain James Cook. It is believed that it was scuttled by British Forces in the American war of independence, now identified via archival and archaeological evidence. This, upon the advent of the Water Tiger, and during Jupiter in Pisces.
A Tiger year is a potentially explosive year in world events but the fact of this being a Water Tiger year, the first since 1966, somewhat cools, calms and moderates that Tiger effect.
We are probably in for a series or a succession of standoffs, then, and the situation on the Ukraine border is one marker, but not the only one in 2022.
In the UK, Boris Johnson looks likely to stay in position as PM at least for now, as per a recent reading here in the archives. It looks likely that his party , while unhappy at the recent media storm focused on civil service gatherings at 10 Downing Street, will likely choose not to risk a vote of no confidence with the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol still not resolved, the aggressive stance in respect of this by the European court of Justice and now that M Macron is head of the EU in 2022.
The UK will not rejoin the EU so far as I can tell, looking through the cards.
Update 4/2/2022The long lost HMS Endeavour has reportedly been identified off Rhode Island 250 years after it sailed to Australia under the command of Captain James Cook. It is believed that it was scuttled by British Forces in the American war of independence, now identified via archival and archaeological evidence. This, upon the advent of the Water Tiger, and during Jupiter in Pisces.
General Astrology
Where the signs in western astrology change every month and come round every year. Aquarius comes round every February in western or tropical astrology, a Chinese animal year comes round only once every twelve years, and when we add in the element as well, the last Water Tiger year was 1966.
Astrology suggests some kind of cosmic replay of global events or trends in 1966. This could be a year of extremes.
Personal astrology
People born in a Tiger year are characterised in Chinese astrology as confident, in tune with their instincts, knowing the best times to act, and when to stay still. They may, for all their confidence, present a quiet appearance, and may catch people by surprise, who did not realize they were there but it is rare for the tiger to be caught surprised or unprepared,
Tiger year people, even in leadership roles, still like their privacy, and will often choose to work alone or by night.
The Tiger is sensitive, tactile and charismatic, which may draw them into the healing or psychic arts for which they may have a natural talent. Change may be a challenge for the Tiger as for everybody, but their self-control, their talent for observation and their gift of good timing stand them in good stead.
The Water Tiger: 1966 and 2022
These Tigers are curious and independent-minded, but are more reflective, and tend to have very good interpersonal relationships compared with other Tigers who can struggle with other people at close quarters, and in consequence sometimes experience loneliness. They are more family-oriented and like a quiet and peaceful family life. Though they are outwardly confident, they may be more prone to indecision than other tigers. These Tigers tend to keep family and work separate and try to never take work home. They often don’t say much but in general are known for being considerate and sympathetic to their loved ones.
Water Tigers are as ambitious as other tigers, but they need a settled home life to thrive professionally, and they also tend to be stubborn and resistant to listening to advice and learning from others which then works against them.
Thinking of the water tiger of 2022, I can’t help but think of the tiger called Richard Parker in the novel, The Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
Richard…royal rule
Parker… a warden of a park, the garden of Eden, the Earth
Lords of the atlas, we are not. What goes around, as they say, comes around.
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
February is the second calendar month in both the Gregorian calendar and in the older Julian calendar, and was added to the older Roman calendar some time in the 700’s BCE when two new months were added to the new Gregorian calendar, to match it up better with the length of the Earth’s journey round the sun. February comes from the Latin Februarius, which referred to Februa, a Roman festival of ritual purification.
The Anglo Saxons called February Sōlmōnath, from an Old English word for wet sand or mud, sōl; while according to the northern English scholar monk and later saint Bede, it meant “the month of cakes,” when ritual offerings of savory cakes and loaves of bread would be made to ensure a good year’s harvest.
This year we entered the zodiac territory of Aquarius with the New Moon in Aquarius 21 January 2023.
Aquarius is even bigger news than usual in 2023, when Pluto enters Aquarius, leaving Capricorn where it has been since 24 November 2008.
Pluto, the lord of wealth, mining, death and the underworld made its ingress into Capricorn, the sign of money and property. This followed hard on the heels of the Stock Market Crash of 29 September 2008; a crash which had been building for a long time.
So let’s see what happens when Pluto leaves Capricorn and goes into Aquarius 23 March 2023. There is the clear potential for massive if temporary effects, seen in not only high finance and technology, but in egalitarianism, ‘people power’ – for good or ill, with far reaching real world implications.
Revolutions may ultimately bring inevitable and much needed change. But they cause displacement. There are losers as well as winners, and if the tech revolution seems relatively quiet bar a bit of grumbling and disquiet…things will move super fast over the next 20 years.
Pluto -transformation to an extreme degree-here signifies a clear potential for revolution. Or at least mass unrest, civil uprisings and the abrupt unseating of more than one currently hugely powerful or influential established autocrat or plutocrat.
We’re not quite there yet. 2023 marks a prelude. Pluto will move out of Aquarius again 11 June 2023, moving in and out again before stationing there for the long duration 19 November 2024 where it stays until 8 March 2043 in a new ‘Age of Aquarius.’
Cloudy Aquarius
The zodiac sign of Aquarius is named after the constellation of Aquarius, The Water-Bearer. Aquarius is an air sign and its quality is Fixed, rather than Cardinal or Mutable. The other Fixed signs are Taurus, Leo and Scorpio.
Why is Aquarius an air sign and not a water sign? The clouds carry water. The water of Aquarius is airborne. To the ancient Mesopotamians this time of year, in the season of Aquarius was known as ‘the curse of rain,’ and meant the very real and present risk of potentially devastating floods as the clouds and then the rivers tipped forth, especially as this was liable to coincide with the time of snow melt in the mountains way upriver.
The constellation of Aquarius, Wiki Public Domain
Many of the world’s great flood myths (of which there are many) are thought to come from the real life story of the worst that Aquarius can do, as seen from the human point of view at least, from Sumeria and Gilgamesh, to ancient Greece, the story of Deucalion, and the Old Testament and Noah’s Ark.
And now Aquarius stands also for space exploration and travel. Our spacecraft are the new Arks, if only for exploration and not rescue. Earth is our one true home.
“If you can see a thing whole … it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives…. But close up, a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. You need a distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful the earth is, is to see it as the moon. The way to see how beautiful life is, is from the vantage point of death”.
– Ursula Le Guin
Planetary aspects: Saturn and Uranus
The traditional ruler of Aquarius is the same as Capricorn. It is Saturn, the stern planet of order and of finding one’s place in the order, self-reliance, self-discipline, duty, responsibility, conservation, patience, limitations and restrictions. Not all astrologers accept modern planetary rulers but for those who do work with them, the modern ruler, Uranus, planet of innovation and rebellion, is Saturn’s opposite, reflecting an essential polarity or apparent contradiction in these natives; at the same time conservative and fixed in their habits, and somewhat quirky or even eccentric in presentation, communication or behaviour.
The Aquarius Archetype
The Teacher, The Reformer, The Revolutionary, The Truth- teller/Preacher, The Exile, The Scientist.
Aquarius
Card Meanings: A New Hope, the spirit of Humanity, a lone star, independence, a new vision, inspiration, healing, Hope, recovery, intellect, the collective, technology
All the zodiac signs represent archetypes, meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing.
The zodiac signs paint a ‘typical’ portrait of a person born at a particular time of year, in a particular season. A baby born in summer arrives into a different physical environment from a winter baby; with differences of temperature, hours of daylight, maternal diet during pregnancy and so on, with potentially different effects on the baby’s physical makeup, constitution and temperament.
The major arcana Tarot card for Aquarius is The Star. This beautiful card stands for Humanity itself, and for Hope, Inspiration and recovery from sickness or despair. The figure is unclothed because she is in a state of innocence, natural, honest and unashamed.
Aquarius is communicative, humanitarian, progressive, fraternal, optimistic and idealistic. The shadow side? Every sign has one and Aquarius is no exception. Aquarius can be a groupie, or a crusading zealot, self-righteous, utterly self absorbed and mulishly obstinate.
Aquarius likes to dispense good advice, and indeed, they can be very shrewd and they will give excellent advice. But they are notably resistant to receiving it themselves.
“The good news is that she is one of the nicest people in the universe. The bad news is, that’s because she always does exactly what she pleases. An Aquarius female is rebellious, headstrong, and contrary. She can be selfishly independent and exasperating, especially when she is running through the house screaming, “freedom!”
The appearance is generally good. Aquarius signs tend to have rather long, slim straight bodies with clear, strong but fine facial features. The posture can tend to be droopy when they’re not paying attention. Their legs are often sturdy in comparison with the torso. They often have a distinctive way of standing with their lower legs and calves set rather far back, and can be susceptible to trouble with their hamstrings.
The Court Card: King of Swords
Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot
Card Meanings: a mature man of knowledge and authority, a ruler, adviser, judge, military leader, lawyer, doctor, surgeon, scientist, teacher, technician, engineer, IT expert, diagnosis, authority, law, medicine, logic, impartiality, metrics, statistics, cool, remote, observant,
This is the court card of the sign of Aquarius, while in the Thoth deck he is called The Prince of Air. Note that he is seated. He has arrived, that’s why. All the kings in the Tarot are seated, while the Knights are on horseback.
Aquarius is the sign of fixed air, denoting a certain fixity, but this is more to do with temperament than anything else. Aquarius is famously quick to learn new things and to adopt new ideas and technologies.
“Lots of people like rainbows. Children make wishes on them, artists paint them, dreamers chase them, but the Aquarian is ahead of everybody. He lives on one. What’s more, he’s taken it apart and examined it, piece by piece, color by color, and he still believes in it. It isn’t easy to believe in something after you know what it’s really like, but the Aquarian is essentially a realist, even though his address is tomorrow, with a wild-blue-yonder zip code.” ― Linda Goodman,Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs
President Zelensky is an example of a King of Swords in real world action. He was born at 2:00 p.m. on January 25, 1978, in Krivoj Rog, Ukraine and very much embodies key aspects of the archetype; intellectual, determined, single minded. Here, the coolness and detachment of pure Aquarius is warmed by a hospitable Moon in Leo and with sociable Gemini rising. He also has Venus in his chart, conjunct his sun in Aquarius. Here is a man who looks younger than he is, notwithstanding stress and strain. Here is the charm. Here is the arch-communicator.
President Putin is his counterpart, a native of Libra ruled by the Queen of Swords. There is almost something fated about this dreadful encounter, on a personal level. This Queen is mightily powerful, and crafty, but -viewed in terms of simple cartomancy, King trumps Queen. Nemesis.
Russia still took Crimea, though. And it seems unlikely that NATO will provide Ukraine with the crucial backing it would need to take Crimea back, though Putin will almost certainly fail in his present objective of seizing Ukraine entire, and taking Kyiv.
The point here is that our sun sign is only the keynote of the astrological portrait. The zodiac sign (sun sign) is a major keynote, but there are many other factors in play, your rising sign, your Moon sign; the planets in your houses, your decan and the degree of the actual day you were born. If you don’t feel like a ‘typical’ Aquarius, perhaps you are a second or third decan Aquarius, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Aquarius.
The decans
The idea of the decans comes from the ancient Egyptians c 2100 BC, and was later adopted by the Greeks.
The Zodiac is a belt of sky we see from earth, tracking the path of the sun across the sky over the course of the year. We call this pathway of the sun ‘the ecliptic,’ and the zodiac belt shares this same pathway extending 8 degrees above it and 8 degrees below it. The paths of the Moon and visible planets can be tracked within the belt of the zodiac.
The Greeks divided this belt into twelve sections, using twelve for ease of arithmetic, and named them after twelve constellations: Aries, Taurus, Gemini Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Aquarius, Aquarius and Pisces.
Each of these zodiac sign represents a 30 degree section of this belt which can then be sub-divided into three blocks of ten degrees, each of about ten days in length with slight variations. This gives us the ‘decans,’ from the Latin meaning ‘ten’.
They have been nicknamed ‘the thirty-six faces of astrology,’ adding more faces to the portrait gallery, breaking down the story of the zodiac signs into further chapters.
First Decan Aquarius
Aquarius-Aquarius
Dates: 20 Jan -29 Jan (approx.)
Planetary rulers: Saturn-Uranus
Tarot card: Five of Swords
From The Gilded Tarot. Illustrator Ciro Marchetti
Card meanings:Victory, defeat, ruthlessness, a pyrrhic victory, not worth winning, chagrin, humiliation, resentment
These are complex individuals, containing an innate contradiction. On the one hand ruled by Saturn, they are serious, intelligent, hard- working, responsible and conservative by nature, obstinate even. On the other, they are co- ruled by Uranus the innovator and rebel, and this might mean they are a rebel either with or without a cause.
They are well meaning, likely to sign up to good causes, keen to contribute, and kindly unless they feel emotionally challenged, when they are easily wounded, and their recovery may be very slow. They have courage but bouncing back from disappointment is not their forte. They are kindly and affectionate but partners may complain of their detachment.
They strive for excellence and often achieve it, whatever their field of work. They are well suited to the academic life, with a logical, or scientific but visionary turn of mind, and a talent for abstract thinking, and for research and analysis.
They can also be a lot of fun, but while they readily grasp complex and abstract concepts, their emotional intelligence is sometimes in conflict with their intellect, resulting in misunderstandings with loved ones.
Famous first decan Aquarius subjects: Mozart, Lewis Carroll, Ellen Degeneres, Nicholas Sarkozy, Oprah Winfrey
Second Decan
Aquarius-Gemini
Dates: 30 Jan -8 Feb (approx.)
Planetary rulers: Saturn and Mercury
Tarot card: Six of Swords
From The Legacy of the Divine Tarot, Illustrator Ciro Marchetti
Card Meanings: convalescence, mourning, recovery, progress, relocating, a voyage over water, distance learning
This is one of my personal favourite cards. She captains her own boat, steering a course towards the rising sun.
The second decan of Aquarius is ruled by Mercury, planet of communications, the ruler of Gemini. These natives have the gift of the gab. They are charming, and socially in demand, but while generally very pleasant, they can be aloof, and not particularly interested in the feelings of others. This does not mean they don’t have deep feelings. They certainly do, and when they are upset they can become very quarrelsome indeed, even vengeful. They are however, eminently civilized and humane in their general outlook and much concerned with big issues affecting humanity on the highest levels.
They are creatively talented but rational with it, analytical in their approach, more interested in ideas, technicalities and activities than in “shooting from the hip”.
Famous Second Decan Aquarius subjects: Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, Rosa Parks, Bob Marley, Boris Yeltsin, Ronald Reagan, Ashton Kutcher, Michael Sheen
The third decan is generally appealing and attractive, and generally somewhat more easy-going than Aquarians born in the other decans. The personality is charming yet mysterious, affable yet elusive, with an acute sense of humour which they use to defuse and manage challenging situations. They can be something of a court jester, but with many a serious thing spoken in jest. These quirky, sharp but friendly Aquarians are like shooting stars, nice to have around, but may be less easy to understand.
Famous Decan 3 Aquarius subjects: Galileo, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Paris Hilton, Mia Farrow, Sheryl Crowe.
Aquarius is the Star of Mankind
And MANKIND means Humankind, the species. The animal that is MAN. All of us.
On New Years Eve I posed a very general Tarot reading for 2022 in which several mentions were made of tsunamis and other marine, maritime or water related newsworthy events….. SEE HERE
Plenty more to come.
Mention was also made re Prince Andrew and a lot of other things but events have overtaken the Tarot before I made time to look further at Prince Andrew. The Tarot showed me the Three of Swords Reversed, which means the aftermath of a divorce, or a severance. There is loss, there is grief, and the Queen, in mourning for Philip, has made doubtless personally upsetting decisions, severing the monarchy from the forthcoming civil case which Andrew, Duke of York, will be dealing with ostensibly as a private citizen.
This afternoon, I drew these cards asking, what will happen re Boris Johnson in the light of the ongoing media furore over ‘partygate.’
Clearly, any such gatherings were inappropriate and deeply inadvisable at the time, though there is much to be explained as to the context, as well as questions to be answered in respect of the source of the leak, the motivation and the timing of the leak so many months after the events in question.
Will Boris resign? I don’t know or claim to know anymore than anyone else does, but what are the clues in the cards?
Card 1 The Empress reversed:
This card suggests more than one interpretation
Unwelcome news on a Friday. Why? Because the Empress card correlates with the Norse goddess Freya, and therefore Fridays, and the card has been drawn reversed, suggesting unwelcome news. This makes sense as Boris Johnson’s office has been reported to have made an apology to the Queen (the Empress)on Friday 14 January, over events held at No 10 on the eve of the funeral of Prince Philip.
The Empress also correlates with the planet Venus, and we are currently in a Venus retrograde until 29 January. What does Venus represent? Love, money, luxury, social gatherings. What does Venus retrograde represent? Problems to do with all these things plus, old memories, old friends, old lovers coming back to haunt us…or bite us.
Boris Johnson, a person who likes to say yes to people, it seems was asked for permission for these events to be held, and unwisely said yes, thinking no doubt, that it would be good for the morale of the troops. He was thereby making himself a hostage to fortune, not considering how that might look, or how it later might be made to look by his critics or ill wishers…and now, here is the carefully timed involvement of a former colleague and friend, Dominic Cummings, stoking the flames.
Another story-line occurs, which mayor may not be relevant here, is difficulties Boris has had in private in saying no to Carrie (Empress: mother and child)
Angela Merkel is an ‘Empress’ recently departed from office. Leaving the UK somewhat more naked now in the face of rivals or enemies?
The PM lost his own mother last year. Perhaps he was on occasion more distrait than he should have been, and failed to pay the due and proper attention to such requests, as demanded by a very natural public expectation.
The Empress reversed speaks also of Mother Earth, Gaia, COP26, and suggests widespread public cynicism in respects of aspects of Green policy which seem impractical, non affordable or nonsensical to many voters, even those who are keen on doing their bit for the environment.
Also, just by the by, and not at all related to the conversation in hand, but this is typical of working with Tarot, today I am The Empress reversed. I had my first child on this date, 36 year ago today, and have had a few concerns lately in respect of her health and well-being.
Card 2:The Eight of Swords
This card is about blockages and entrapment, hostage situations, being unable to see the way out. There is frustration here and a sense of entrapment and helplessness. How best to out manoeuvre whoever is behind the leaks (and this has a planned manouevre, and has not been the action of some anxious, well meaning junior civil servant, anxious to salve his or her conscience) How to move forward without throwing certain people under the bus?
I have come to associate this card with plumbing….based lots of previous reading history for clients. Carrie may want to do something about the bathroom in the flat at Number 11 where PMs have lived since Tony Blair. Or the whole building may have plumbing issues…we know it has ‘leaks,’ but the Tarot doesn’t only talk in metaphors. It will gladly will talk about toilets, if necessary.
No 10 is a big place. But whatever the state of the plumbing, it is fitting that No 10 and the flat at No 11 should be kept in good order and condition. It is not the personal property of the PM. It is not Carrie Johnson’s home. It is where they must live, like it or not, and it is the nation’s property. They can’t take the wallpaper with them when they go.
Card 3: The Nine of Cups reversed
The Nine of Cups in general means wishes granted. More specifically it means socializing hospitality, as in the hospitality industry, and celebration. This is the card of wine, women and song. The card is upside down, possibly because these occasions are in the past and were convivial but not celebratory, ‘bring your own booze.’
Card 4: The Seven of Cups reversed
This dreamy, Neptunian card indicates that Boris has considered a number of options, but indicates no decision to resign as yet. The hostility of M Macron, whether to the PM personally, or to post Brexit UK, is one factor. It was already expected there would be new effects felt here swiftly attendant upon M Macron becoming President of the EU 2022 and with an election year looming. He became EU President 1 January.
This furore, from the POV of say, M Macron, could prove timely grist to the mill of nobbling UK options in terms of the NI Protocol. Invoking Article 16. This, Boris has thus far, to the frustration of others, including not only in his own party who see it as an increasingly urgent necessity, been desperately keen NOT to do.
In terms of timing, the Seven of Cups correlates with Scorpio late October-late November, so that if the PM resigns, it may be later in the year, when he judges it safer to do so. This day dreaming card suggests that at times he indeed may feel tempted to resign, and who wouldn’t understand that feeling. But that he feels it cannot be now, unless and until his hand is absolutely forced, and it is no longer his own decision.
Card 5: The Hermit
The Hermit walks quietly, marks out a path, shines a light on ahead. The Hermit is Virgo. The Hermit is the Sixth House of public health. The PM inherited a public health challenge not of the UK’s making…a poisoned chalice, with no clear road map, damned if does ABC, damned if he doesn’t, like all the other leaders of the western democracies.
On a personal level, this is a card of withdrawal, a need for quiet time. Go for a walk in the park.
In this sense yes, The Hermit clearly could indicate someone moving away to somewhere quiet. Or again, looking at the timing, it could indicate key developments around the PM later in the year, late summer, correlating with Virgo.
It doesn’t look like a classic picture of NOW or SOON. It looks more like older, sadder, wiser.
Card 6: The Knight of Wands reversed
This is a card of sudden arrivals and departures. It is a card of news, noise, overseas business and long distance travel, but here, drawn reversed, there are problems or delays. In respect of the PM’s current predicament it says this is a major setback but that nothing must be done in haste.
This is a card of attack, full of thunder and fury.
This card also means volcanic eruptions. The Tarot reflects, detects and projects. Here it is reflecting the underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga, and the following tsunami. There will almost certainly be further such events in 2020, and in themselves, they are not rare, but we are talking major events.
The Knight of Wands reversed, drawn blindly and at random is also reflecting back at me the first news of the day, the deportation of Novak Djokovic from Australia.
Runes
I have posted the pic again, to save us scrolling all the way back up.
I laid out 2 rows of 3 haemetite runes, looking for a sense of where the current situation is developing in respect of the calls for the resignation of the PM over ‘partygate.’ The runes are primal where the Tarot is a picture book.
Row 1 reading left to right
Ehwaz merkstave – Jera -Sowilo
A Horse bur drawn reversed…Boris ‘fell off his horse’. On at least one of the occasions, he was out or away. Ehwaz means a car or any vehicle.
Jera, harvest, he reaps a whirlwind. Possibly, goes late summer/autumn
Sowilo, healing, success,summer. He seems likely to carry on at least until the summer.
Row 2 reading left to right
Eiwaz- Ansuz-Gyfu
Eiwaz the Yew…suppleness, evergreen, resurrection, well what does that suggest?
Ansuz, answers, good advice, helpful new information comes to light, Odin,Wednesday. If Boris does decide to go, we should hear very soon, and readers can and do get it wrong, but it’s not really looking that way. Nor do I see him forced out by his party, for all the furious attacks of the Knight of Wands reversed.
Gyfu, a gift, an agreement, a contract between equals. Parliament and the People are equals. The contract must not only be honoured, but it must be seen to be honoured. If the rune had turned up merkstave, upside down, then that tome would suggest a contract cancelled.
The PM messed up. To what extent he is personally culpable, we don’t fully know. But the media are not the same thing as the vox pop, we’ve learned in recent years. And now, today, Nadine Dorries has announced plans to freeze the BBC licence fee with an expectation that it may be scrapped in 2027. I was not aware of this while reading my cards this afternoon, but no doubt she now too qualifies for some as the Empress reversed. Perhaps the BBC will also be also reckoning with that same harvest rune, Jera, though not on account of this current storm, though possibly now expedited.
All in all, it looks here as though Boris Johnson continues in post as PM.
BIAS I am a floating voter, blue and pink. I have in the past voted both Labour and Conservative based on issues at the time. A few spots of dark blue and red, dark green, a dot of lemon yellow and can I have some magenta please. No? Not on offer. I mention this because it has to be recognised that any reader. while trying to access the collective supra-personal via divination, has feet of clay. Fail and fallible with their own biases and blind spots if they are not careful. To indulge these, or indulge in wishful thinking when interpreting the cards is to fail in honesty, and this is to fail the oracular mind. The oracle is supra personal. It is not about us as individuals.
Meanwhile, Venus the goddess and planet of parties stays retrograde until the 29 January. She is not all sweetness and light. Oh no. If Boris does not resign before 29 January or say 3 Feb when Mercury stations direct, then he has probably weathered this storm. There are high profile astrologers say he will go. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Tomorrow, Monday 17 January is the first full moon of the year…the Wolf Moon of what the Anglo Saxons called Wulf-Monath. This one is taking place in the sky territory of Cancer, queen of hearth and home, creature comforts and sometimes moody blues.
A Hunter’s moon. Hark at the pack in full cry…..
From the Gilded Tarot, artwork by Ciro Marchetti
These are dangerous times. What is at stake? The nation state.
Last night, trying out a brand new deck #Astrology Reading Cards, hub said what do you think, Chelsea or Spurs to win tonight? I had no opinion. But blindly drew 11th House card for Chelsea THREE times in a row. LUCKY omen. For Spurs drew 1, 2 and 9 Houses. Chelsea won: 2-0
Tarot is not the same as astrology. It is a different discipline, but it contains a lot of embedded astrology, and then this oracle deck caught my eye and I decided to send off for it, though I don’t tend to use oracle in general; finding them somewhat TOO generic.
This one had a structure. I had just taken it out of its box when Il Matrimonio sauntered in, wondering what did I think? Would Chelsea win tonight or would it be Tottenham Hotspur?
What did I think? Well, I didn’t think anything. Once in a while I have had a feeling one way or another. There was one occasion which Il Matrimonio remembers as, thanks to him spragging on me, the story ended up in a local newspaper.
Another time I was cooking, standing at the stove stirring something in the pan and Il Matrimonio came down from watching the box upstairs to say it was half time, and did I think Team X would win. I held out my left arm and repeating the question, asking aloud, felt a tingle run down my arm and said yes, I thought they would, and they did. But I am not very good at relaxing and trusting myself. or maybe I could do it that way more often. It is an approach that relies on NOT THINKING.
Trust to the knowledge held in the body, in the central nervous system.
Last night, re Chelsea v Spurs, no, I didn’t have any feeling about it. Nor did Il Matrimonio actually. He is a bit of a data fiend. Loves puzzles,jigsaw, has recently latched on to sudoku. His interest in football runs along these kinds of lines rather than tribal lines, and his allegiances are variable, though he does get emotional, watching people getting it all wrong on the pitch, and having stupid hairstyles, as for certain pundits, don’t get him started.
What I did was pull 6 blind cards from my new oracle deck of 36 cards: 3 cards for Chelsea and 3 cards for Tottenham Hotspur.
The deck is simple to use, and has three sub sets:12 Planetary cards, 12 Zodiac sign cards and 12 House cards. Ask a question, pull any card, or ask a question, and pull one planetary card, one zodiac sign card and one House card
I asked about each team in turn, just pulled a single card at random, and repeated till I had done it 3 times for each team.
Very oddly, I pulled the same single card for Chelsea 3 times on the trot, and this was the card of The 11th House.
The Houses of the Zodiac denote different life departments if you will. In astrology this correlates with the spirit of the zodiac sign of Aquarius and this is not considered a sporting house in particular. What it is, is cerebral, technological, communal, humanitarian.
But one of the keywords on this card is LUCK. In the Tarot it correlates with the Star card: Aquarius, Hope, Vision, Inspiration. Classical astrologers called the 11th House “Bona Fortuna” (“Good Fortune”) and the “House of Good Spirit.”
Aquarius from the Rider-Waite Smith Tarot
Wishing on a Star.
Wishes granted.
For Tottenham Hotspur I drew the First House card (The Self) and the Second House Card (assets) and the Ninth House card…which is an excellent House for sporting achievement and teamwork as well as travel.
Not negative cards in this context, not at all. Just lacking that almost magical consistency of the triple appearance of the so-called Master Number 11 shown here at 10 0 clock in the photo.
I said to Il Matrimonio, well, this is peculiar. I have just pulled the same card three times in a row for Chelsea, and it’s a card of wishes granted, so won’t it be interesting if they go on to win? Which, as tweeted, they duly went on to do with a score of 2-0.
I do this kind of thing simply for practice. And Il Matrimonio does not go running off forthwith to the betting shop. He simply asks, notes, and then forgets what I said and asks me again, though he did once decide to go to a footie match pretty much last minute, when he wouldn’t have gone had I not said his team looked very likely to win.
Here was the thing. His old home town team of Dover was coming all the way up to play Fleetwood…a tricky conflict of allegiances. It was cold. It had been snowing. But he went, and stood with the away supporters, 12 of them who had come up in a minibus all that way, and happily (for him at least) Dover won, because he had told the Dover supporters what his wife had said, that Dover seemed the more likely team to win that night. They were intrigued and hopeful. One of them said, laughing, ‘well, that’ll do for me.’ But he took a small social risk telling them something like this up front (this was the story that ended up in a local newspaper)
No reader gets it right all the time…Dover could have lost and then …egg on the face…blackballed from the club, dear boy. (I can hear him now in the other room telling the cat to ‘eff off!’ This puddy cat is totally a Daddy’s girl. But she is in temporary disgrace after she clawed him on the arm earlier this evening, and drew blood. She doesn’t remember this, or if she does, she wants to be forgiven and allowed back up on his lap. But no, he is too busy deleting spam from some bounder, trying to infiltrate an online maritime history group.)
In summary, I am looking forward to getting to know this simple but rather spectacular astrology oracle card deck. Based upon this very first experience, it clearly portends spooky numinous potential, with that minor triple number 11 epiphany of cartomancy.
You do not need to know a thing about Tarot to be able to use this deck straightaway. Nor astrology, though obviously it could well add value. There is a book that comes with it. I read it last night, the instructions are simple, there is nothing to learn, your instinct does the lifting, and very likely you will hit the ground running.
This reading is necessarily very general. Context is key for getting at specifics in reading Tarot, as with any form of investigative divination, and to do this in a reading situation, we ask follow up questions, cross reference and so forth.
This approach basically saying, ‘show me a snapshot of the world in 2022’ is nothing more than licking a finger to feel the wind direction. And some winds are regular like the trade winds, and others shift. But still, let’s see what we get.
The Gilded Tarot by Barbara Moore and illustrated by Ciro Marchetti, is one of my most hard-used decks, as you may notice. This was my workhorse; my go to deck in face to face readings 2005-2013.
At present I use the Legacy of the Divine Tarot, The Gilded Tarot Royale, The Thoth, the Marseille or playing cards.
Author’s own photograph. Cards from The Gilded Tarot, artwork by Ciro Marchett
Tarot for 2022
The spread denotes the wheel of the year 2022, starting at the top with January, Capricorn and the Nine of Pentacles; the card with the lady holding the falcon.
I look first at the overall picture, mood or feel. How many major arcana cards? How many cards have been drawn reversed?
Five cards out of 12 have been reversed. This is not necessarily any kind of ominous sign, but does suggest a bouncy stop-start kind of a ride through 2022 on a global level, if not on a personal level.
The 22 Major Arcana cards deal with the BIG STUFF. They mirror the Collective, or overarching themes or pivotal moments or sea changes. The 56 Minor Arcana cards in a Tarot deck are no less important, but are more like the fabric of everyday living.
The Major Arcana cards are Strength, Temperance and The Hanged Man drawn reversed.
Update: I did not predict war in Ukraine. However it is curious to note that in readings posted and shared since February President Zelenskyy of Ukraine has been turning up represented by the Hanged Man card drawn reversed.
Strength means just what it says on the tin. Temperance is timing and healing and the Hanged Man reversed means coming out of a state of limbo but also a huge story to do with what might be called grievance politics.
10 March Update: ‘A huge story to do with grievance politics’. Well I suppose that was one way of describing it.
On the plus side, these cards suggest a gradual sea change during 2022 in respect of the covid pandemic. Not that it has gone. It most definitely has not. But either future variants are milder, or we are handling it better or both.
My eye is drawn again and again to that Hanged Man card sitting in the time slot designated for Pisces. The Hanged Man is ruled astrologically by the planet Neptune. Put Neptune and Pisces together, that is a big ‘water’ signature, and giant Jupiter has recently moved into watery Pisces where it will spend much of 2022. What do I mean by ‘water signature’? We think in practical terms, meaning that this could be detecting weather events during 2022, rainfall or storms at sea or tsunamis, and maritime events, maritime geopolitics, territory, shipping, fishing.
10 March Update: Tsunamis, mudslides,storms, oh yes. We’ve had those all right. Tonga, Peru, Queensland…
Update: Tonga underwater volcanic eruption and tsunami Saturday 16/into Sunday 16 January
This could also refer to things that cross boundaries like migration, people trafficking, or like birds, or like infection, whether bird flu or covid.
10 March Update: Things that cross boundaries …like outright invasion.
The mood is deep, intense, visionary, inspired – or delusional.
10 March Update: Delusional? No comment!
Each card corresponds with a month of the year and a sign of the Zodiac, but more significant is its correspondence with a House of the Zodiac, each denoting a particular concept, life area or department, Home, Work, Money, and Travel etc.
We start at the top of the wheel of the year with the Nine of Pentacles, representing the month of Capricorn/January 2022, but this is also representing the Tenth Zodiac, House of career, status and public life.
We carry on reading the cards anticlockwise, counting through the zodiac signs and their corresponding Houses for clues about the year ahead on the global stage, and the personal opportunities and challenges we might be witnessing or dealing with.
None of the findings really needs a psychic. There is little here that most of us do not already sense or see for the year ahead in broad terms. This is a snapshot of how the Tarot works.
The Tarot detects, it reflects and then it projects, meaning it may be nudged or directed to formulate a forecast in respect of a particular stated issue. For every card that is drawn entirely at random, other cards remain in the deck, and their absence can be as telling as their presence.
This spread, if this was a personal reading, would be what happens at the first look, the first pass, before we start drilling down in search of specifics, in teasing out a particular question.
Card 1 Capricorn: 10th House:
Professional status/career, public life
Tarot card~ 9 Pentacles
The Nine of Pentacles is to do with money earned by skill and hard work (rather than say, via gift or inheritance) It is to do with beauty, luxury and enjoyment. The lady is enjoying her garden, holding her falcon on her wrist. The falcon denotes that she has mastered her impulses, attained maturity with self-discipline. She has learned how to wait, and she has been prepared to forego the pleasures and distractions- and spending of the here and now, in exchange for greater long term rewards.
Governments must play geo-politics. They must play the long game and the shorter game while we, the people on the ground look on, sometimes screaming in frustration. Update 10 March(And rage, fear, horror, grief)
World Finance, the so-called Green Revolution, crypto-currencies and strategies for long term investment will continue to dominate the news this year.
Things will grow in this year’s garden, so the year starts tough, but there is economic progress and growth as the year goes on.
But gardens have gates. Sometimes those gates are open, other times we keep them closed. Border issues are big news all year. The hard border in NI, Poland, and the migrant crisis in Chile, and more. What are the solutions? How are so many extra people to be affordably supported by the unwilling hosts, despite the best of humanitarian goodwill?
There is no one size that fits all solution. But there is an abiding rock bottom line, and that is in human nature, which says, we are generous up to a point, and that point is, when we judge we can afford it. Beyond that point, should it be crossed, there will inevitably be a push back and it won’t be pretty.
Will it come in 2022? Not quite. It doesn’t quite get to that point this year I don’t think, based on the cards that are absent in this spread. We have no Tower card in combination with say, The Emperor, for instance.
On a personal level this is a year for ‘getting real’ and re-examining our basic needs and how we meet them, chiefly, our relationship with work, money and our control over information shared in respect of these.
The lady in this card has achieved a level of comfort and security, but none of it was given to her. She has got where she has needed to be largely by her own efforts on her local patch of turf. She is determined, focused, independent, proud, and generous to others. She knows what it is like to struggle. She remembers times of loneliness too. And ‘she’ may be a nation, as well as a person.
I have come to associate this card with the UK since 2016. Readers in other countries may have cards they feel especially represents their own homeland, and maybe it will even be this same card. UK will broadly do OK, or better than OK in 2022 in terms of trade, is suggested by the 9 Pentacles, notwithstanding the most recent EU threats in respect of the NI Protocol, should the UK government invoke its right to trigger Article 16.
Card 2 Aquarius: 11th House
Humanity, ideas, dogmas, technology
Tarot card~ 8 Wands Reversed
This volatile, fast moving card echoes some of the comments attached to the previous card, and suggests continuing social unrest in many parts of the world 2022, and clearly not just in Aquarius time, during February.
There are delays. obstacles,breakdowns in cooperation where cooperation could be reasonably expected in the mutual interests of the parties concerned. One thinks for example of the current state of relations between France and the UK for example.
There may be issues in the news this year to do with lamb husbandry/imports/exports.
This card is about sudden arrivals, departures and developments, and suggests protests and demonstrations to do with restrictions on movement. The Eight of Wands is all about fast travel, including phone calls.
Aquarius/February was indeed fast paced.Vis a vis the specific reference to France, we think of M Macron’s efforts to engage with Mr Putin during February.
This card also suggests issues to do with power lines. It also asks what do we do when we lose electricity or gas or when our IT goes down without any warning at all?
How can we protect our home environments with low-tech emergency provision, back-ups for circumstances in which power or IT can go down (for example, alternative lighting or heating or analogue telephones during power cuts, when mobile phone masts can go down too) At the time of writing, homes in the UK are still without power nine days later in the aftermath of Storm Arwen, and with another Storm (Barra) shortly due to arrive.
It also suggests we review our own personal use of IT, and the amount of extra personal information we gratuitously share on social media. Who are we actually talking to? There is nothing new about this. But there are new developments afoot.
This might mean government moves to control the power of the IT tech giants this year. They now command more financial clout than governments, but were never elected, and they know far too much about us. But if we were to clip the wings of companies like Amazon,with their new credit card now coming into use, would we merely give more power to their even huger counterparts and global rivals, such as AliBaba?
Aquarius was known to the Babylonians as the curse of rain. This card therefore suggest sudden, severe rainstorms as a likely notable feature in 2022.
Pisces: 12th House:
Sacrifices, borders, boundaries
Tarot card~ Hanged Man Reversed
This deep, watery card, drawn for March, is a double dose of mysterious wateriness, doubling up Pisces the Fishes with the outer planet again, Neptune, planet of charisma, dreams, visions, inspiration, illusions, delusion, confusion, alternative realities and lack of boundaries.
Turning up in recent Tarot representations of Ukraine President Mr Zelenskyy: a saviour or a victim? Or both.
This card is about looking at things in a new way, trying a new approach to an old problem, honouring our responsibilities, looking at a thing straight on, not hiding our heads in the sand.
We are reviewing our priorities, thinking carefully about what we really need, as opposed to what we fancy right now. It is about what we owe to ourselves, but also to others. It is about restoring and keeping order in our personal lives, and establishing- and protecting our personal boundaries.
There are habits, ideas, places or people- we need to let go of, to surrender this year. The Hanged Man needs to surrender something that used to matter a lot to him, in order to make progress. Will he or won’t he? Will ‘he’get stuck in a state of passivity and make victim-hood his excuse and default for not getting things done?
Own Image Pisces
Again, there could be flooding, or major maritime events in the news, any time this year, but likely late February-late March 2022.
Update: Tonga underwater volcanic eruption and tsunami Saturday 16/into Sunday 16 January
Aries: 1st House:
Self/initiative/action/organizations/military
Tarot card~Temperance
Temperance is a positive card for 2022. It is a truly mighty if unglamorous virtue, and needs to come back in fashion. It is also the art of right timing. On a personal level, self-discipline, self-control, patience and timing are key factors in making the best of the challenges in 2022, and maximizing opportunities. This year, it is all about the longer game.
10 March Someone is just biding their time, working out what others will do, and what they CAN do should that someone make their next move. Russia? China? There will be others.
The appearance of this card is, at least in Tarot language, an encouraging sign for progress of recovery from the covid pandemic, not everywhere, and it’s not done yet, but it does look as though it is moving in the right direction.
This virus has an intelligence of its own. It is gradually learning how best not to kill us, thereby depriving itself of habitation.
Taurus: 2nd House:
Material & money matters, arts, agriculture
Tarot card~King Swords
Rising inflation is widely predicted elsewhere for 2022. The King of Swords can be a regulator or ombudsman. World finances may come under strain April 2022, around the time of the 30 April eclipse in Taurus, though the UK and other countries might buck this trend to an extent. The financial effects are expected to last at least six months or so following such an eclipse, and certainly, things look better for the UK by autumn 2022.
The King of Swords inspects, oversees, directs or cuts things.
My Tarot has subsequently represented Mr Putin as the King or Queen of Swords
On a personal level the King of Swords knows exactly where his money is, online and offline, and keeps a close eye on his financial security. Beware scammers. This card indicates new facial recognition technology, iris or fingerprint coming into wider use in 2022, or even into wider domestic use.
This advice is simply common sense and it applies every year, but the appearance of the intelligence gathering, law and order vigilante, the warrior-judge, the King of Swords, makes that advice doubly important in 2022.
I associate Boris Johnson with the King of Swords. Mr Johnson is an air sign subject, a Gemini , and well expresses the archetype; quicksilver clever and agile, eternally curious and mercurial, friendly, sociable, and yet essentially solitary and remote, and by the same token, liable to be seen by some as elusive on unreliable.
He is constantly at bay, pincered between the alliance of the Civil Service Establishment, the Labour party and an unremittingly hostile mainstream media, as well as fractious divided factions within his own party, and is possibly making some important decision in respect of his party leadership this year, possibly as early as April/May 2022 though not necessarily.
Update: Amid media furore and calls for the resignation of Boris Johnson based on alleged parties held on the premises in 10 Downing Street during times of national lock down, cards are not at this point indicating imminent resignation, as of a reading done Wednesday 13 January.
The Two of Hearts in my playing cards correlates with the first decan of Cancer, hinting at late June as a possible turning point for him as PM. If he stands down as PM in 2022, which I currently detect as a likelihood of 2/5 meaning that it is a chance of 3/5 likelihood that he will still be in position at the end of 2022. If he does stand down then it will likely be largely his own decision, and not least due to sheer fatigue. The pandemic has been a poisoned chalice before he barely had a chance to get into the stride of the job of PM.
10 March: So far still in post after ‘partygate/cakegate’, and just as well, I feel, given the present global emergency.
The King of Thailand…another ‘king of the east wind’ seems to consolidate his increasingly authoritarian position in 2022. A woman aged 65, a former civil servant was sentenced to 43 years in prison in January 2021 for posting online criticism treated as a crime of – lèse–majesté. Small businesses in Thailand have been badly hit by the covid downturn in tourism, and to safeguard his position there will need some help for this section of the economy, and possibly for agriculture too, is indicated by Taurus. But while there may be more protests against his authoritarian stance he only seems to consolidate power in 2022.
Gemini: 3rd House:
Communications, IT, trade, air travel, siblings
Tarot card~3 Wands
The Three of Wands drawn in the third House is an upbeat, positive card for trade, communications, scientific and medical innovation in 2022, for the export of vaccines to developing countries. and for launching new businesses and enterprises. It also speaks of overseas ambitions. The figure has plans to launch the ship. The world is his oyster, he thinks. Where is it going and what is it carrying and what does it hope to load into the hold?
This card in the house of siblings suggests reconciliations or meet-ups in 2022, the first perhaps, in a long time. Might this include William and Harry?
Cancer: 4th House
Home, family, mother, security
Tarot card~4 Cups
I think of this card as “bored boy, busy boy”. It has a kind of shuttlecock dynamic with extended periods of hiatus in-between. We may be feeling restless from time to time this year, mildly unsettled, and possibly a bit low on energy or bored, but at the same time, unsure what, if anything, to do about it. This is only natural. The last couple of years have been difficult. The trick here is not to do anything destructive on an impulse, not to upset an apple-cart in a moment of frustration, just for the sake of it.
On a personal level, I am OK with the appearance of this card as it also represents my own father, a Cancer subject, though the the 4 of Cups suggest ongoing issues with oedema, needing regular physiotherapy.
Leo:5th House
Heartland, creativity, passion, romance, royalty, children
Tarot card~ 3 Swords Reversed
Ugh. This is always a challenging card, but is one of those cards that is slightly better news for being drawn reversed or upside down. The Three of Swords upright is severance, separation, divorce, bereavement, shocks, cardiac issues, all kinds of loss. Drawn reversed it is about coming to terms with grief, loss, bereavement, arguments,
There has been great collective sorrow attached to the pandemic and other ongoing humanitarian crises in geopolitics. The time frame of this card is 3 years. The sorrow has been great, and likewise the losses, but now, at least in some quarters comes a measure of acceptance or easement. Drawn in the Fifth House, it suggests that tensions between certain countries may ease. On a personal level, we are coming to terms with a family loss or a rift. Serious quarrels may settle down with forbearance.
Loss, sadness or disappointment. No-one escapes these experiences. How we deal with them determines whether we learn something new, and grow bigger and stronger, or whether take things personally, and see ourselves as victims and dwell on our grievances, thereby adding to the damage.
The Hanged Man reversed is very big on victim-hood as a badge of honour in 2022, when a distinction to be made is between justice and revenge, as with the case of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. This business is a can of worms, not finished yet.
Leo is the zodiac House of royalty. This is likely significant in this same context. This is undoubtedly a very great worry to the Queen, though I have not looked as yet to see what seems to be the outcome here for Prince Andrew.
Update: The Three of Swords Reversed was here foreshadowing the recent announcement that Prince Andrew has renounced his HRH title and Military and other affiliations. The fact that this card was drawn reversed means that there was a great shock, but that this announcement was nothing sudden,suggesting that Prince Andrew and HM the Queen had already discussed and decided upon this plan of action and were prepared should the judgement go against Andrew, in respect of permission being granted for a further civil suit against him brought by Virginia Roberts (Giuffre) The Three of Swords reversed reflects the great sorrow of the Queen, who is mourning, and seems to be trying to take comfort in the fact that Prince Philip is not here to know about this development.
There could be national mourning in 2022 for a much loved national figurehead.
Virgo: 6th House
Health, hygiene, harvests, crafts, routines
Tarot card~ Page Cups
This is a small but welcome card of healing, happiness, invitations and offers –and births of all kinds- is a cheerful sign for late August-September in particular, but in fact, any time of the year in 2022. In terms of Virgo, its zodiac sixth house ruler to do with Health, Hygiene, Hospitality, socializing and daily routine, the appearance of this card suggests encouraging progress in respect of the on-going global pandemic management.
Libra: 7th House:
Justice, diplomacy, partnerships
Tarot card~6 Swords Reversed
Globally and politically, old alliances are changed, as with NATO, or dissolved, as with Barbados and UK in December 2021. Migration laws undergo major reviews in Europe, UK and US in response to unprecedented pressures of mass migration.
There seems likely an escalation of tensions to do with military or commercial shipping in disputed waters, as previously mentioned, in the Black Sea, the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, or the Straits of Hormuz.
The disputed legalities, ethics and practicalities of mandatory vaccinations will continue a red hot potato in the news from 1 February 2022 when vaccination becomes mandatory in Austria, the first compulsory vaccination requirement in Europe.
Scorpio: 8th House:
Creation/destruction/occult/money
Tarot card~Queen of Pentacles
The Queen of Pentacles is associated with the earth signs; Capricorn, Taurus and to a lesser extent, Virgo. There is a theme in 2022 of a cycle of Taurus-Scorpio eclipses, making this a year with a focus very much on the basics and fundamentals of everyday living, personal finance and other material matters.
Curiously, we have a total lunar eclipse in Taurus right in the middle of Scorpio season on Nov 8 2022. The Tarot has seemingly detected this, and is reflecting and projecting the by now, clearly noticeable effects of financial shakeups dating back to January 2020.
There is big news this year to do with money and mining. This could be literal mining, as in mining for minerals, or it could be big news to do with crypto-currencies and crypto-mining. It could mean a boom or bust- something really big.
We have recently one way and another, been warned or reminded of the necessity of every nation and every household retaining some degree of energy self-sufficiency should either the weather play havoc or political diplomacy break down, threatening vital infrastructure.
Social unrest can be expected for a number of reasons, depending on where these happen. No way are we going back to pre Covid or pre Brexit in respect of the general tone of public discourse in 2022.
Jupiter moves into Pisces dips into Aries, but the ruler of Capricorn, Saturn still holds strong in Aquarius; a cosmic old man with great fixity of opinion, and black and white thinking as to what is right and wrong, and he is right and everyone else is wrong. This is the face of a certain kind of group-think we did not see much before 2016. Up is down. Everything comes down to feeling, says this new group-think. We speak ‘our’ truths, they say, as if there is no other kind of truth.
The Queen of Pentacles symbolically defends the bottom line, representing the element of Earth nature of biological reality v idealogy. There has always been ‘otherness.’ That too, is in Nature.
Sagittarius: 9th House
Far travel, friendship, foreign shores/powers
Tarot card~6 Wands Reversed
The Six of Wands when drawn upright is an extrovert card, representing heat, speed, victory, competition, sports, riding high – a triumphal procession. I once drew this card for a young man who was physically, very severely disabled. I asked him about sporting activities. He told me he had been selected to represent the GB wheelchair rugby team in the London 2012 Paralympics.
Conversely, this card when drawn reversed represents bad luck in competitive sports, losing, failure, lack of achievement, recognition, endurance, confidence or support. The Six of Wands reversed signifies disadvantage, disgrace, disloyalty, treachery and broken promises.
This may be detecting recent/on-going controversy attached to the safety and well- being of the Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai, and/or associated political tensions surrounding the Beijing Winter Olympics, 4-20 February 2022.
The advice here for foreign travel is that disruptions due to covid, but possibly other reasons, may still be anticipated during 2022, particularly early and late in the year. Travellers had better take precautions and book on a free cancellation basis, or take out insurance against last minute cancellations.
My oldest friend rang last night and told me that she had 2 vaccinations, and the booster and still somehow caught covid. She said she felt absolutely lousy for 10 days but said, to me last night, what might it have been like had she not had any vaccinations? The question is hypothetical of course. She still caught it, didn’t she, and how? She doesn’t know. It is nasty while seemingly getting milder. We knew a young man in his early thirties who died of ‘flu’ Jan 2020 after developing sepsis.
I have come to associate this card with vehicle maintenance issues, traffic issues, and have known it to refer to motorcycles or cycling mishaps.
Central Cards:
Tarot cards~ Strength and the Seven of Cups
These cards are reflecting core themes for the year ahead and how best to navigate it.
The Strength card means exactly what it says. This is a year of international power struggles, competition, and for making our health, comfort and security a top priority, and not wasting valuable resources on people, places or habits that cost more than they are worth. The card has been drawn right way up. Good news.
The pandemic seems to enter a new phase, or two new phases. Astrology suggests a possibility of two new variants, probably milder, and if so let us see whether these arise during Jupiter in Pisces (meaning an increase in a spread) which would mean between now and May 2022, or after October 2022, or both.
The dreamy, visionary Seven of Cups show us that we have many possible paths in life, and that life presents us with many choices. One is not necessarily better than another, just different. Good news, timing wise, attaches to the time of Fixed Water, in second decan Scorpio, 2 November- 11 November. This card again, is ruled by the god of the seas, Neptune.
A Test of Strength at Sea possibly in November 2022.
Taiwan has lost another of its allies, Nicaragua only the latest, transferring its allegiances to China but who is the number 1 producer of semi conductors needed for computer chips? Taiwan. My cards do not show any clear signs of any attempt at outright invasion of Taiwan by China in 2022, not of a military nature. China seems to judge this is not necessary. Trade is what counts.
This next Chinese New Year February 2022 is a Black Water Tiger Year. This is a highly assertive zodiac placement, and focused on wealth.
It seems only prudent that Europe invests big time in its own home grown computer chip industry, pronto.
On a personal level, should someone intrude on our personal space this year, we do not have to put up with it. We should trust our instincts, no apologies or self-justification needed, and act to safeguard our personal and online space, security and privacy.
Mute, block, avoid.
General Astrology 2022
Jupiter, planet of growth, opportunity and optimism is happy at home in mystical Pisces the Fishes for most of the year. Jupiter rules Pisces so it is at home in this sign, and the effect is only ramped up April 12 by Jupiter’s (rare conjunction) with dreamy, mysterious deep water Neptune.
This is a lot of water influence going on, in astrological terms. This can be understood literally, as in rain, or metaphorically, as in mood, emotionally intense, maybe in a good way, imaginative and creative- even inspired. But it could by the same token, be detecting potent suspicion, delusion or paranoia, such as we have seen in 2020 and 2021, with social disorder in consequence, protests, demonstrations, or episodes of collective psychosis, as with the storming of the Capitol in the US, January 2021.
Jupiter, the Planet of Luck, is entering into its favourite sign of all time, Pisces, on 28th December. “This is one of the defining and most anticipated astrological events of 2022,” says Madi Murphy, co-founder of The Cosmic RX and The Cosmic Revolution.
Jupiter will be in Pisces until 10th May, moves into Aries when we could see sabre rattling -if not more -on the world stage, and then comes back again into Pisces from October 28th, 2022 until December 20th, 2022.
Jupiter is the planet of joy, growth, opportunity, optimism, expansion. This year it escapes its celestial confrontation with Saturn, planet of restriction where it has spent much of the last two years. This, despite the new omicron variant, suggests overall progress in dealing with the covid-19 pandemic, and lightens the mood.
2022 will be intense but more buoyant than 2021. This is a good year to push hard on a long cherished aim. Jupiter in Pisces is considered lucky. Of course, to get lucky, if you want to make a dream come true, you actually have to do something. You will have to do rather a lot, and keep doing it, too. But if there is such a thing as divine luck to put the wind behind your sails, then Jupiter in Pisces is it.
Every planetary influence has its potential downside. Jupiter can be a giant bully. We could see a sharp escalation of maritime territorial disputes (Watery Pisces and Neptune are both about ‘blurring the boundaries’)
Pisces: Chartres Cathedral
This, for all the famous Piscean compassion and dreaminess seems to me to point to plenty more trouble this year, whether it turns out to be in the South China Seas, the Indian Ocean, the Straits of Hormuz, the Black Sea, or close to home in The English Channel/La Manche.
There are serious tensions ahead in 2022 attached to China’s ambitions in Taiwan, possibly midyear, and Russia’s relationship with Ukraine, specifically, borders, power supplies and Nordstream 2undersea gas pipelines.
2022 looks fast moving, intense. There are bound to be plenty of surprises, more than usual; political, social and economic, as well as extreme weather events; in particular rainfall, flooding, volcanic or seismic events. Poseidon or Neptune, the god of the seas, was not for nothing known in classical mythology as the “Earth Shaker,” the connection being that earthquakes or volcanic events will sometimes create tsunamis.
Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the solar system, meaning that a nation’s Pluto return only happens every two and a half centuries. Pluto is the planet of Death and Transformation. Heavy stuff.
Astrology tells us February 2022 marks the first ever Pluto return of the United States and it will be happening in Capricorn, the zodiac House of material status, prestige and power, with three exact degree-based returns: February 20th, July 11th, and December 28th.
For the first time ever, Pluto will return to the exact position in the zodiac that it was during the United States’ inception on Jul. 4, 1776.
What affects the USA spreads ripples very wide. This does not mean the US will cease to be a superpower – though it could. The Roman Empire fell at its second Pluto return. England rose higher at its second Pluto return, with Elizabeth 1 and a new Golden Age, and declined in world power after its third Pluto return.
Superpowers rise and fall like a law of Nature. In China, it has been observed that the great dynasties typically each ruled for about 250 years. But the Pluto return for the USA does suggest some kind of karma, a revisiting of roots, profound shifts and adjustments this coming year, both inwardly looking and in world relations.
Joe Biden is a Scorpio subject; a fixed deep water sign. Tarot has shown me the steady Queen of Pentacles in Scorpio, suggesting Mr Biden may well dig in firmer and stronger in 2022 than 2021. I do not see based on the Capricorn Queen of Pentacles he will be pursuing a policy of defunding the police. It will not prove a realistic option. But whether or not Mr Biden rides out this Pluto return as President, the US does seem to experience a major shakeup between now and 2024. Deeply Plutonic, the ongoing issues to do with gas pipelines in those territories never ceded by indigenous peoples. The world will be watching Deb Haaland, the new and first Native American US Secretary of the Interior
Debra Haaland
Mercury Retrogrades 2022
Not all astrologers agree on their significance but in 2022 there are four Mercury retrogrades, rather than the three which occurred in 2021. All of these will be happening in ‘intellectual’ air signs. These could mirror real life events, legal matters and continuing challenges to do with the covid situation (the connection here is airborne infection) and air travel. Be ready and prepared for surprises or possible disruptions to plans.
Datesof Mercury Retrogrades 2022
January 14 to February 3
May 10 to June 3
September 9 to October 2
December 29 to January 23 2023
Do I like the look of 2022? Mmm. Well, we won’t be hit by an extinction level asteroid, even though a few people might be somewhat tempted to wish we were. This coming new year is almost enough to make me feel seasick looking at it. Brooding one minute, boisterous the next. Deep, deep, deep.
“Canst thou draw forth leviathan with a hook?” (Book of Job)
It does look, however, more expansive and buoyant in spirit, compared with 2021, and especially compared with the almost existential horror of 2020. Wishing you a peaceful, prosperous and Happy New Year in 2022!
The runes have been described as “an ancient alphabet for modern magicians” – Edred Thorsson in his book ‘Futhark, A Handbook of Rune Magic.’
Runes were the first systems of writing developed and used by the Norse and other Germanic peoples. These runic alphabets are known as “futharks” after the first six runes (Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raidho, and Kenaz) – just as the word “alphabet” comes from the names of the first two Semitic letters (Aleph, Beth).
There are three principal futharks: the Elder, Younger and Saxon futharks. The 24-character Elder Futhark was the first fully-formed runic alphabet, dating back so far as we know to the first century CE/AD but was probably in development from at least 200 BC.
The Elder Futhark Wiki
The word ‘rune’ comes from the old Germanic, ‘runa’ or ‘runo’ meaning a secret thing, a mystery. This was Animism in practise; a belief in the conscious intelligence of the Earth itself; its forces and all things in nature. Animals, tress, the elements, the weather…they were – are-living forces and mysteries demanding recognition and respect.
So the runes are more than just letters. They can be read that way but they are also a pictographic or ideographic symbol of some natural principle or power as experienced by these Germanic-speaking peoples of the climate and landscapes of northern Europe, including Britain and the island of Ireland.
Rune casters were both welcomed and feared. Runemal (rune craft) took on a ritual function, and went beyond individual personal readings, directed for the protection and prosperity of the entire community. Runes might be used in casting of lots to decide who did what.
They were used in runes spells to influence the weather, the tides, the crops, fertility and healing. Runes were used to send curses or remove them. Runes were carved on amulets, carved into doorways and into the wood of ships. Protective runes can be seen in architecture, in the shapes of the decorative timbering of black and white timbered houses throughout Britain and Europe as seen near where I live at Samlesbury Hall in Lancashire.
Runes embedded in half-timbered buildings, Samlesbury Hall, Lancashire UK Via Wiki Commons
A popular rune design you can see here is the multiple use of Elhaz or Elk, a rune of general protection. Picture the antlers of the Elk, or you can picture it as a figure invoking divine protection, arms raised to heaven.
Casting the runes
Rune casters would shake their pouch of runes and scatter them on the ground. Sometimes they would lay a cloth or draw a circle and read only those runes that fell within the circle or on the cloth. Sometimes they would read only the runes that landed upright, and not count those that came out reversed, or ‘merkstave’. Today I am including any merkstave runes.
Given a lack of written history on the subject of rune casting, much information has been lost to posterity to know for sure how things were properly done. A Christian edict was issued in Iceland in 1639 that declared the uses of runic talismans as witchcraft and a man was executed in 1691, burned to death for using them as his forefather had presumably been doing for many generations. This, although runes were still in everyday use at that time in calendars and almanacs carved into wooden staves throughout Scandinavia and Estonia.
Before this and again today the runes were- and are still used today for psychic insights or guidance, or for magical purposes- to request or summon sacred protection or good luck. To pray in other words.
The runes have been found wherever Germanic-speaking peoples settled, travelled, traded or raided, from Iceland to Scandinavia, through England and Central Europe, all the way to Constantinople.
Runes were also chanted or spoken in invocation. We do not know how this sounded, whether it was done falsetto, or done deep as throat singing. Some get quite exercised in these discussions, but however it was done in those times, this chanting is called ‘Galdr’.
Runecastfor January 2022
Today we are using the Elder Futhark. You’ll notice the runes are all straight lines, no curves; as scratched or inscribed into wood, metal or stone.
The runes are chosen entirely blindly and at random.
We have drawn three upright runes (Sowilo, Perthro and Kenaz) and two reversed or merkstave runes (Ehwaz and Laguz.) This rune cast therefore translates as more positive than negative for January 2022 and for the rest of year itself. But clearly this is rather a close call. We are part of bigger world events. 2022 promises to be pretty intense, and occasionally downright turbulent, though somewhat more buoyant, optimistic and outgoing than 2021, and brighter by far than 2020.
Position 1: Sowilo/Sigel
Word/Symbol: The Sun.
Meanings: Victory, Success, Health/Happiness.
This rune is standing for the Here and Now- the Question. You can see this rune looks like a modern capital S, or a back to front Z.
This is a positive rune of victory, success, happiness and good health. Well, that’s a welcome rune, cheers! This rune of the sun can literally mean ‘a year’…one journey of the Earth around the sun. This seems a suitable rune therefore, to start a New Year reading.
The question broadly translates as, “when will life be ‘happy’ again/get back to normal?” If we mean, normal as, back in 2019, well, no, we can all see that is not happening this year. There are storms. But there are silver linings.
The days are already noticeably longer again in January. The sun is returning to the northern hemisphere where the runes first originated, just as it is slowly leaving the southern hemisphere.
Beyond this purely pragmatic interpretation, Sowilo is one of the most fortunate of all runes, bringing good news, as if the Norse gods are saying, the sun will shine upon your efforts this New Year. Look on the bright side as much as you can. Seize the day.
We are in troubled times. 2021 was angry, 2020 was grim. Pluto had something to do with that in astrological terms, and its conjunction with Saturn. January 2020. We have all felt it. This year will also be difficult, stormy even on the world stage. It’s not personal even when it feels personal. The sun will shine in between the storms. 2022 is intense, perhaps rocky, but also more upbeat and mobile, less coldly relentless than 2021, somehow, less stuck in a rut, suggesting a new phase in the covid pandemic.
On an individual level, Sowilo drawn with Laguz next to it in the reversed position suggests one has become over-tired. This is hardly surprising after such a long haul for many people. They have become drained, fatigued and depressed, not to mention twitchy, nervous and in some cases, worked up, oversensitive or even paranoid, and also quite likely by this point, physically lacking not only vitamin D but low on vitamin B.
Sowilo means sunshine, and through this connection, may be suggesting that you look into your levels of the ‘sunshine vitamin,’ Vitamin D, so important both for mood and optimal immune function. Vitamin D Supplements are ideally combined with vitamin K2 for optimum calcium absorption. This is standard medical knowledge.
Sowilo is a bit like Jupiter in astrology. It is big, bright, bold, and upbeat. It can burn too of course. It can be wildfires though to the Norse it was always positive. This year really could bring you a lucky break, if you can find the energy, seriously applying yourself to whatever goal you set yourself for 2022.
One might say the faces of the gods are not so set against us this year, though there is still big infighting, and we could come a cropper in the collateral damage.
Position 2: Perthro
Word/Symbol: cup for throwing dice/paddock.
Meanings: Mystery/Secrets/Initiation/Sanctuary
This rune is standing for where we have recently been and what’s been going on, both on the face of things but also deep down.
Perthro is a mystery rune dealing with things far beyond our personal control, like the covid pandemic. Perthro represents sanctuary. We have been seeking sanctuary. What and where for us, represents our own personal sanctuary? Is it at home? Is it with other people? Is it doing something we love that takes our mind away from worry?
This rune deals with karma, destiny; things that are hidden. There are many theories, much speculation, but the causes of the pandemic remain unproven. That it started in the Far East seems certain. The exact circumstances are less certain. When I asked about this, wondering about Wuhan wet markets or labs and all that, my Tarot showed me The Hierophant, the Tarot’s card of Taurus.
This card bears no suggestion of a coordinated plan. It represents the earth itself and suggests natural causes rather than lab engineering gone wrong. This disease has originated in Nature. Humanity should not have come into contact with it at all, but has done so through over-expansion with an accompanying disturbance of previously undisturbed habitats in the Far East. This new virus variant escaped those habitats, possibly via fruit bats or flying foxes, and then infected animal intermediaries, locally farmed pigs very likely, and then humans, thereby entering the food chain through local conditions of animal husbandry and from those sites in the Far East inexorably spread via mass global travel.
Some think this rune is supposed to show a dice cup- meaning a cup once used for drawing lots in gambling games or throwing dice. As such, you may take a bit of a gamble this year, and it pays off. This gamble however, depends on your doing some research beforehand.
Secrets come to light or we learn useful new information starting this month. How do we respond and apply this information for personal progress?
We may notice our psychic abilities in some acutely significant way this year.
Beware leaks and spillages. Is this government leaks in the news, domestic gas leaks? A vehicle leak. Another oil tanker? This January, this year, beware leaks.
Position 3: Kenaz
Word/Symbol: Torch/Beacon/Opening/Ulcer
Meaning: Illumination, learning, opening
This rune is talking about how we handle things for the best in 2022. This is a friendly fire rune, like a domestic hearth fire, cheerful, small and manageable. Uruz the Auroch/physical power rune and Fehu the cattle/wealth rune are also fire runes but more primordial, fiercer.
It is saying, ‘keep the home fires burning.’ It is reminding us of a certain war time spirit that says we are all in this together; an attitude which has fallen out of fashion since the war, but it is salutary to be reminded from time to time, that the world does not revolve around us and our own personal concerns.
Kenaz talks about energy, drive, recuperation from illness, and enlightenment- learning of all kinds, whether this mean formal or informal study.
Kenaz is a positive rune, with a lot of vitality attached. It suggests good news in respect of the turning of the tide in the covid pandemic, even though we are not free of it in 2022. Still, this virus is evolving and over time, is becoming less dangerous, as human immunity is gradually learning how to deal with it as a brand new enemy of mankind, which it was until 2019.
Kenaz is masculine in its energy, and in a relationship will always denote the male partner. What is he offering? What is he looking for? Where is this going? Laguz, the rune next door in this spread is a powerful feminine rune, and says, well, we can have fun, and maybe this is the year to move ahead with a new partner, but keep your head screwed on tight this year.
Kenaz, like Perthro can also be psychic. We get the modern English words ‘canny/uncanny’ from this rune. ‘Beyond our ken’; is a phrase derived from this rune.
We have been more limited in our options than we are used to. Life imposes changing limits from time to time. That is the nature of reality. Still, we make our own choices, in choosing how to respond to challenges. This is our own instinct at work as we operate within our own environment where we can choose how to respond. There will be sudden insights, flashes of some new understanding of our situation – perhaps even a psychic dream or waking insights. You can see by looking at it that Kenaz shows something that is opening up, opening outwards. 2022 brings some kind of new awakening, both on a collective level and on a direct personal level. What new things shall we set out to study or explore this year? Kenaz is a morning rune. Start as you mean to go on this year. The early bird catches the worm and all that.
Kenaz is a positive rune for relationships, two people opening up more with one another, greater mutual understanding. It is a lucky rune for fathers and fertility.
Less glamorously, Kenaz can also mean an ulcer, either literally, as in; we may need some kind of skin care. Are we deficient in Vitamin D or zinc, for example? Or it may be speaking figuratively on an emotional level, as in, what apparently small wound never seems to heal?
If you recognize this wound or hurt, then do not nurse it. Do not let this thing fester any longer. Have the conversation. Bring the issue out into the light of day and sort it out once and for all. Or else draw a line under it. Let it go, let it be, make peace and don’t keep picking away at it.
This rune forecasts the challenges of 2022. The rune I welcome least in this reading is this one. The Lake represents water, both literally and symbolically. Are we swimming or sinking or just staying afloat? Drawn reversed, this rune signifies confusion up ahead. Beware of getting in too deep, too soon, whatever new waters you try out this year. These waters are deep. This is like Pisces in the zodiac. This is like the planet Neptune.
Dreams could come true or they can become nightmares. This rune reminds us, when those around us get worked up, we do not necessarily need to join in and add to the noise. Laguz reversed can mean collective inebriation, getting drunk or high. It can mean new ideas, new visions, but it can also mean delusions, mass hysteria, paranoia and psychosis.
Looking at it from another angle, this rune says global military and political maritime based events will loom large this year on the global stage. This could mean extreme rainfall, flooding, tsunamis and/or big maritime military or scientific events, perhaps in connection with Taiwan.
Update Tonga tsunami 15 January 2022
In Chinese astrology we enter a Black Tiger year in early February. This is the Water Tiger and it is proud, grand, fierce, expansionist. March/April could be the months to watch for in particular here, and then again later in the year, possibly during the summer months. This is not to suggest a Chinese invasion, but it certainly a further ramping up on its ambitions in respect of Taiwan.
Laguz could be maritime technology; submarines, submersibles and developments to do with spying, surveillance or mineral mining; lithium or other mineral extraction or production. This may or may not feature in the media, but it is big.
Could Laguz also be detecting Nordstream Gas? I think so. Trouble coming, with possible effects on power supplies in Europe in 2022, though not necessarily during the winter. Get in some non-mains power alternatives just in case. A camping stove. Torches. Batteries. Matches. Many of us already keep these sorts of things somewhere safely handy anyway.
Rune 5: Ehwaz (merkstave =reversed)
Symbol: Horse. Imagine you are looking at it sideways on. See the dip in the middle of its back.
This central rune is a recurring theme in January, and perhaps throughout the rest of 2022.
I love this rune. Ehwaz is like the Chariot in the Tarot. It is about physical movement and forward progress. Paired with Laguz as it is here, it could be a ship, a boat, or a submersible craft. It refers to overseas ambitions and far journeys over water.
Among other things this rune suggests an upping of the ante again in January in respect of M Macron and the issue of French fishing rights in British waters. Some progress has been made. But it’s not done yet for either side, and this year France holds the EU Presidency. But it is not only the UK that needs to be careful. M Macron needs to be extremely careful. The Horse also means cars and other vehicles, and car imports from the EU to the UK have declined in 2021, and with new import formalities coming in January 2022.
The escalating arrival of illegal small boats is a serious source of tension between France and UK. This moves up at least another gear in 2022.
Divination detects, reflects and projects. There is nothing here we do not know already. The runes are affirming. But they could just as readily contra-indicate.
It is worth noting that there are 19 runes which have NOT been drawn, some of which are more challenging than the spread we have here.
Clearly there are problems. Maybe we will feel effects of power cuts or pipeline issues in 2022. The causes may be weather related but they might possibly be political. I was already inclined to invest in a camping stove after my parents were left several days without power after Storm Arwen, and would not have had hot food otherwise.
This rune drawn merkstave seems to me only to reinforce that message from Laguz merkstave.
This rune merkstave is not necessarily negative, depending on the surrounding runes, but does indicate continuing stops and starts in 2022, both in respect of control of the pandemic and on a personal level. Ehwaz merkstave brings changes that could be sudden and unexpected. Obviously, these bring challenges, not least with periodic issues to do with trade and international travel in 2022.
It is only wise to be extra careful this January when it comes to vehicles, traffic, travel, and making big decisions just in general. Expect delays and hiccups.
Kenaz encourages curiosity but is opposed by Ehwaz reversed which is saying explore, inquire but do not force any issues. Possibly the timing isn’t right quite yet for you to make a move. January does not look like optimal timing in general for pushing an envelope, and not only because it is winter and nature in the north says, sleep, go slow.
But the birds of the north can’t rest, can they? They must feed or die. Norest for the wicked or the innocent either. We attend to the fundamentals, therefore, and coolly look about us meantime. The spirit of this coming year will make itself better known from March onward.
I drew a card and rune reading a few weeks ago, 10 November, asking in the most general way about forthcoming news or events in December.
Today I tweeted the same reading again but with a different interpretation in light of the news today, of the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Cards & runes first posted 10/11/21 asking ahead for news in December. Apropos of the passing of #ArchbishopTutu cards show a much loved church man- Hierophant. Runes SOWILO- after solstice, OTHALA Homeland grieves HAGALL blow, natural death, ING, inspiration, fire of creation
Did I see this death coming? No I absolutely did not. I was enquiring into December, looking and thinking in the most general terms, inquiring into the tides and winds, or the zeitgeist of December, simply to see what would come up.
And yet. And yet, it does often seem that the cards act as straws in the wind…it really does seem that there is a supra-personal collective knowingness held in the ether.
Maybe we are more hive-minded; more like bees and ants than we think. I think that we are, and that Tarot is just another of several means that helps us tap into this.
At the time the cards indicated to me in broad terms that the UK government (and very likely therefore, not only the UK government) would be struggling with awkward covid management decisions again in December, coming to a head after the solstice 21 December.
Well, one might reasonably it didn’t need a reading to tell us this given the way things are. But let’s hang fire on that a sec.
Firstly, how exactly did the cards suggest this?
Well, The Lovers card is about lovers, obviously. The card does what it says on the tin. This theme extends to all loved ones, lovers, family and friends. And by implication, socializing. But it also stands for choices and decisions, often very tricky one. And it stands for the zodiac sign of Gemini, and by that seasonal token, everything that is airborne, from the pollen and butterflies of late spring to aircraft to airborne contagions. The Lovers therefore covers travel, air travel in particular, and it describes trade.
The Hierophant or Pope shows a churchman. He could be any religion. But in wider terms it stands for the governance of church and state, governments anywhere, land, money, agriculture, and the status quo. Traditions and the usual order of things. The Hierophant can also be hospitals and universities. It is Taurean.
You can see here the reader has a pretty wide map to navigate in deciding which meaning to go with. One could say, well, anything might mean anything. Well, not quite. Each card in the deck does have its particular list of associated interpretations, not duplicated by any other card and there are 78 cards.
The reader has to consider how the cards fit together when sitting side by side. What seems the most likely synergy between them being presented here?
What does it MEAN for gawd’s sake? Meaning requires a context. But here, the question could not have been looser. ‘What’s the feeling I am getting for December 2021 ?’
We translate information in a given context. This context is likely shaped, if not by someone else’s question, then by our own interest or preoccupations in the moment of reading.
My first thought on 10 November was the government and covid. Meanwhile, the runes showed a blow-HAGALL is the rune that looks like a wonky capital ‘H’. This is the rune of hail. Hagall refers to an event that isn’t personal even if it feels extremely personal.
The interesting thing here, however, is that at the date of drawing these cards, 10 November, indicating a conundrum for the government, Omicron had not yet arrived in the UK.
But sometimes a reading can be very odd in the way keeps on giving. And when this morning I woke to learn of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and felt a small jolt, seeing again in my mind’s eye, The Hierophant, and my mind returning like a homing pigeon to that earlier reading. I’m posting it again, save you scrolling up.
That last rune bottom right is called ING- from which we got the word inglenook for a hearth place. ING is a fire rune. It is masculine in nature and it represents fertility.
I found myself drawn to the following quote rather than to his many, far more momentous sayings:-“When you sit in front of the fire in winter, you are just there in front of the fire. You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.”
This Hierophant, the Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, a great teacher, a school teacher once upon a time, and a natural born teacher always, was someone who warmed a lot of people.
True Tarot Tales 