True Tarot Tales

The Six of Swords, Ships of souls: Maritime Vision of The Post Brexit Voyage

Science, Ships and The Six of Swords

I follow Scientists for Britain on Twitter.

Back in April 2020 they tweeted:

“We are urging NHS Supply Chain to ignore the EU Public Procurement Directive during the current crisis ——— This EU rule applies in the UK until Dec 2020 ——— It is designed to create an EU-supervised supplies market but is an unnecessary bureaucratic obstacle ——— Please retweet.“

This tweet, as with anything else said, whispered or timidly squeaked in or about public life at present, drew some sharply critical comments asserting UK incompetence as the true root of the problem, plus a jot of jingoism.

Later 20 October, Scientists for Britain tweeted

“Retained EU law could cost our shipbuilding industry billions even after transition and MPs have NO plans to fix it.”

They better had.

Back to the Tarot. I drew a card in immediate response to this tweet and funnily enough, drew The Six of Swords though it is a mighty tiny maritime vessel, I grant you. It does two jobs here though. Of all the 78 cards in the Tarot deck, this is THE card capable of painting a future in respect of both the coronavirus problem and British maritime simultaneously.

It’s got a frog though, a lovely little frog…quite a big one actually. One wonders what it might possibly signify in this context (says this channel-going Francophile, though not all that struck with M Macron. )

‘M Macron is a sheeeet,’ said a beautiful young lady to me in 2017, working zero hours in a shoe shop in a tourist hot-spot…Rocamadour. ‘It is very bad here for young people. But the others, they were double sheeets.’

She was referring here to the two other chief contenders for the job.

Though M. Macron is entirely right to object as he is doing, and to take action to prevent more teachers being beheaded on the streets of Paris by murderous religious lunatics who don’t approve of the laws of the land or the state educational curriculum. Rip le pauvre M Samuel Paty.

France did not become a secular Republic overnight or for no reason. France has seen it all.

I remember objecting to certain things the C of E promoted in primary schools when my children attended those schools…not because we attended church ourselves, but because those were the only local state schools.

But a word or a note sufficed to voice my displeasure or concerns, and these were met with civility. A somewhat frosty civility, perhaps, but civility nonetheless, no reason to go home and get the chopper out.

Likewise, the school took no offence at child 1 when she said Jesus was Odd. He was Odd, the Son of God (don’t ask why, I don’t know how she arrived at that conclusion) Likewise they were only amused when Child 2 asserted that Jesus was a tortoise, and why? Because the Head, Mr R had told them so in Assembly.

He told them ‘Jesus taught us how to live in ‘harmileeeee’….which clearly demonstrated that he was a tortoise. ‘But they were mean to him,’ she said mournfully, ‘and put him on a log’.

I recounted this to the Head, Mr R, who laughed till he had a coughing fit and staggered off to the office to share it, then came back and said, ‘oh well, it’s good to know at least someone was listening.’

Nope, not a chopper in sight. Let’s see if the Archbishop of Canterbury comes after me for this…but I trust he won’t, or any of his congregation either. I really do. Though maybe once upon a time in these islands, such levity might have got me in a huge lot of trouble…four hundred years ago…

Good luck, all power to you, there, M. Macron, and all reasonable, civilized people in La Belle France and the whole world over.

LIBERTÉ.

I have made a bit of a detour here, but not entirely. We were talking about Ships and Science.

Looking just now I see the iconic Yard in Appledore in North Devon reopened in August after it closed in 2019. It has been bought by Harland and Wolff owner Infrastrata for £7 million with 350 jobs, and its special angle will be ‘Green’ shipping. Read more Here

Elements and Timing

The Six of Swords correlates with the element of Fixed Air- Intellect -and the Second Decan of Aquarius, dates 30 January- 8 February.

If during a personal reading someone asks me when? this should prove to be the window.

Maritime Britain has a lot of lost ground (water) to make up. It is by no stretch any longer one of the big boys, but slowly, surely we are and WILL be building more again, and hopefully this will mean more new fantastic STEM apprenticeship schemes for young people, while according to this article about Merseyside the lesson and the plan seems to be diversification.

Exploration and Recovery

This card of one the one had, exploration, and on the other hand, convalescence and recovery suggests small but clear small signs here and there, in terms of the SARS Covid nightmare penumbra, and concomitant economic recovery, dips and troughs, small signs intermittent at first, more visible after we pass, first Feb then early April, then the mid-year point.

Science should do well this coming decade. Science, Research and Development.

Maritime will slowly build back with the emphasis on innovation. The innovative specification of the new Sir David Attenborough shows just what amazing things are now being done.

Read here re the discovery of what could just possibly be the oldest boat-building yard in the world…a platform 8,000 years old off the Isle of Wight.

The Six of Swords correlates with the element of Fixed Air- Intellect -and the Second Decan of Aquarius, dates 30 January- 8 February

In general terms it is a solemn but positive card of moving away, moving on, charting a new course, entering uncharted waters.

It has a gravitas, solemnly she takes the helm alone, fixing her gaze ahead. She is the spirit of Britannia, born of many spirits and legends native to not only Britain, but of the Akkadians, Sumerians,Babylonians, Greeks; the Star goddess Astraea, and Dike, the Roman goddess of Justice.

This card may indicate funerals and obsequies in my experience. There may be grief attached. It is a card of loss and readjustment but still, with a gradual recovery of composure and with great Hopes for the Future.

2020 is a year of many losses and the end of the storm is not yet quite in sight. It’s certain to intensify in the next few weeks.

The Six of Swords however, while you can see for yourself this ain’t exactly a fun card, is a card of recovery in every sense of the word. If a loved one is sick, this is a welcome card, but its meaning goes further and wider.

The Major Arcana card for Aquarius is The Star, signifying equilibrium, independence and above all…a new vision. Following that star which shines out biggest and brightest in the firmament, needing no permission to be there and to shine, along with all the other stars, but this is the one we will follow.

The Six of Swords, both Air and Water, is associated with Mercury, governing all communications and trade (Think Hermes)

It is also the minor card par excellence of distance learning

And, visionary Science and R & D. This means UK Space Tech too.

Till next time.

I’ll leave you with this track from incomparable musician, poet and story-teller Mark Knopfler from the Album Get Lucky, video with thanks to Alec Beaton.

‘Bravely she rises to meet with the land’….

An elegy, but the past is never dead and gone for good, and now we are facing forward.

Kickass Candles in the Wind

Yesterday I drew just one card for Mr Trump and one card for Mr Biden, asking re their position come the day of the Inauguration, January 2020.

I have felt consistently drawn to feel the Democrats do not have this in the bag, whatever the polls say, while astrologers vary, but more Vedic astrologers seem to favour Mr T’s chances in November, while it is more variable, it seems to me, there is less consensus among Western astrologers.

It should be a clear line of sight. Why isn’t it, yet? Is my intellect at odds with my intuition? I have felt unsettled of late, and have been having a flare up of RA symptoms. Perhaps I am not on form.

The future both exists and does not exist. This is self-evident when one considers that Death is certain. It exists, guaranteed outcome, but not the how or when. So it can be with psychic prediction. Sometimes the ducks are pretty much lined up, and then it shines out and a forecast may be made, as if from the gut. Other times, it is morphing. Still nascent.

Perhaps it will come down to what is going down in the next two weeks. If there should be unrest on the streets of Portland etc at this critical point, this will be far more likely to increase Trump votes than decrease them, I feel, based on a previous appearance of The Ace of Swords as detailed on this blog in recent weeks, and this was a card which seemed to strengthen the position of Mr T rather than Mr B.

(Victory, Law and Order)

But yesterday I asked what was going to be the picture come Inauguration Day and I drew The Five of Cups for Mr T (disappointment) and for Mr B, I got the same card I drew before, the 10 of Cups.

The Legacy of the Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

See her drowning her sorrows in the 5 Cups. Though in fact, it would probably actually feel like something of a personal liberation for Mr T. to return to business.

Maybe Mr T will not prevail with the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court? Will hit some snag there. Or he will face a Dem opposition so numerically strong, his leeway will be further limited if he wins a second term

The puzzle is, the Ten of Cups is such a cozy card. Leadership? Not there. Not enough energy to heal and unite the nation, if less to divide, but inaction can also divide. It is a card of arrival at a cherished destination -yes- . Contentment. Home Sweet Home. It is a card of family life. It is not a card associated with public life.

In terms of particular dates, this card correlates with Pisces, and since it has turned up more than once in Mr Biden’s cards, it may be sensing some significant personal or family event for him in March 2021, and possibly there may be political effects.

Unless it is the Dems sticking together with the means to block the Amy Coney Barrett appointment? No. Says the 5 of Cups. Mr T won’t like that.

UPDATE Yesterday 22 October 2020: Source: Epoch Times

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Oct. 22 to advance Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate floor despite a boycott of the vote by Democrats on the panel.

The Republican-controlled committee voted 12–0 to recommend Barrett; no Democrats were present.

“That was their choice. It will be my choice to vote the nominee out of committee,” the committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Oct. 22. “We are not going to allow them to take over the committee. They made a choice not to participate.”

We’ll be watching that space.

Perhaps, if it turns out to be Mr B as the polls still indicate, however wrong they were in 2016, then the message of this 10 Cups shall be asking to be read as ‘Home and Dry’.

Or, another way of reading the cards might be to say, if Mr T gets a second term, there will be tears…(reach for that gin, Mama) and if Mr B gets in, things may gradually calm down. The Mr T effect, whatever its merits, do not include such imagery associations as peace and quiet, (‘sleepy Joe’) as relaxation and home sweet home (Alabama?)

I can only assume I have not decided what I feel is going to happen, except there are more surprises in store, before and after the election. Once I decide, my cards start to line up one way and stay that way.

This is how I know if I know.

In questions of public life, which are nothing to do with my daily work with the Tarot, one is dealing with mass variables where you must treat it as a murmuration of starlings.

Sometimes I feel I do know. I do with clients. I did with Brexit, and with the UK election of December 2019 fairly well ahead of time. But sometimes I don’t until almost the last minute. And then no gold star for moi. Or only this one….

The Tarot take away here is, it isn’t in the bag or all the cards would point one way, and wouldn’t shift over the course of a few readings, bar a wobble here and there.

Mr T is not going to have it all his own way, that much looks definite here. And he’s got used to that. But he is lucky in general. The Wheel of Fortune came up in the last reading about this, and says he is lucky, whether or not he deserves to be, in whomever’s estimation. Luck and justice…do not always coincide.

I’ll look again before we get to 3 November. But the 2016 vote for Mr T happened for a reason, and if it was a protest vote, it’s no use, it doesn’t help, insulting the voters. Or saying their reasons were less valid than those who voted differently.

Elephant in the room. My bias? Is it getting in the way of my line of sight? Readers must be aware of their own blind spots. Well, I won’t be rejoicing or crying either way, I don’t think, come 4 November, though I may be perturbed. I am not massively emotionally invested but I have been alarmed and grieved at events in the US and also their effects in the UK. I’m a Brit, and I find Mr B more easily relatable, but I see where the Rep voters are coming from, and they had their reasons after 2 terms of a Dem President. Mr B is anti-Brexit and as a Brit I am anxious it will go as well as possible, and the Reps seem more helpfully disposed towards the UK at this juncture on the UK’s own journey than are the Dems, though I’m not buying the chicken, sorry, whether it’s the Reps or the Dems.

I’m buying local.

The breakdown of civility in public discourse as we have been seeing in the US has been a shocker, just as it has been here in the UK since 2016. Manners matter. They matter a lot. Manners Maketh Man. Once manners go, terrible things happen.

RIP Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Captain David Dorn.

I have a daughter Breonna’s age.

Photo by Kristina Paukshtite on Pexels.com

The election is happening in Scorpio season; Death, Transformation and Resurrection. This is Mr B’s own major card. I understand Mr B is a shadow dwelling, long game Scorpio subject with fiery Sagittarius rising… and Mr T is a communications, volatile Gemini with even more fiery Leo rising.

The Major cards are Death (Scorpio) versus The Lovers (Gemini)

The minor cards of fixed negative sign Scorpio are the 5, 6 and 7 of Cups…interesting. That card of disappointment is a Scorpio card.

Both candidates have their secrets.

The minor cards of mutable Gemini are 8, 9 and 10 Swords.

I will look again, but this was the snapshot draw today.

You can track the polls here, and they are updated every hour or more.

Back soon 🙂

Scorpio, slayer of Orion, the Stellar Scorpion

The season of the Scorpion is here once again.

Common Associations

Zodiac symbol

Dates: October 23 –November 22 (Western astrology)

Ruling planets: Co-ruled byMars and after its discovery in 1930, Pluto

Symbol: Scorpion, Eagle, (nearby constellation, Aquila, the Eagle) Also, the Phoenix

Zodiac element: Water

Zodiac quality: Fixed

Keyword: I desire. I transform

Colour: Dark red

Birthstone: Yellow Topaz, Opal, Aquamarine, Tourmaline.

Tree: Walnut. Hawthorn. Blackthorn

Tarot Card: Death, Transformation and Resurrection. Without Death there can be no Life. Without Death there can be no Individual. We chose the destiny of the Individual.

Astronomy

Scorpius , Latin for Scorpion, the constellation from which the zodiac sign of Scorpio gets its name, is a massive and spectacular j- shaped constellation in the southern hemisphere near the centre of the Milky Way. In the Northern hemisphere it can be seen in July and August, most visible in July at 9.00 PM. In the Southern hemisphere it is visible from March to October, looking like a faint band in the Milky Way overhead.

Its is one of the 48 constellations identified by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century but its story is far, far older.

Scorpius is the southernmost of all the constellations in the zodiac, and lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Its claws later became part of the newer constellation the Romans named Libra.

Its brightest star, one of the brightest of all in the night sky, is the ‘heart’ of the scorpion, Antares, meaning ‘rival of Ares’ (the Greek name for the Roman god of war, Mars) Like Mars it is bright reddish in colour, and Scorpio’s ruling planet was Mars until Pluto was discovered in 1930. Now it is considered co-ruled by both Mars (The Warrior) and Pluto (The Transformer)

Scorpius contains many bright stars, and some exo-planets. One is extremely old, and more than one is considered potentially habitable. The planet PSR B1620-26 b is sometimes nicknamed “Methuselah” being estimated at 12.7 billion years old. (The universe is about 13.7 billion years old.) Methuselah is vast, with a mass about twice that of Jupiter and it orbits around not one, but two stars.

Gliese 667Cc is a “super-Earth” about four times as massive as Earth. It orbits a red dwarf star, Gliese 667C; part of a three-star system only 22 light-years away from Earth. It’s considered potentially habitable and the same system contains two other potentially habitable planets: Gliese 667Ce and Gliese 667Cf – both are about 2.7 times the mass of Earth.

“Habitability” is defined as a rocky world that is close enough to its parent star for liquid water to exist on the surface, though other factors may later rule it out, such as the variability of its star, or the composition of the planet’s atmosphere.

Mythology and History

Nature, Religion and astrology were intertwined in the ancient world, and the scorpion has been here far longer than we have – hundreds of millions of years, more than 450 million, as compared with our six million or so.

Sometime around four thousand years ago the Babylonians looked up, discerned the brightly leaning J- shape in the summer stars and called this constellation MUL.GIR.TAB – the ‘Scorpion’, literally read as ‘the (creature with) a burning sting’.

The movements and relative positions of Scorpius were mapped by Babylonian magicians and astrologers, who left written records of the omens they observed.

“When a halo surrounds the Moon and Scorpio stands in it, it will cause men to marry princesses, (or) lions will die, and the traffic of the land will be hindered.”

A comet appearing in Scorpius was read as a warning of a plague, but when the Sun rose in Scorpius, alchemists saw their one chance for the transmutation of lead into gold.

In Greek mythology the scorpion refers to a story about Orion. According to one of these myths Orion boasted to his friend the goddess Artemis and her mother Leto that he would hunt and kill every animal on Earth.

Demeter, the goddess of Earth decided this was completely unacceptable behaviour.

Artemis was a great hunter herself, but still, Artemis did not kill for the sake of killing, and offered protection to all creaturesand stood for the principle of conservation. Demeter sent a scorpion to deal with Orion. He fought back, and according to some accounts he killed the scorpion, but whether or not Orion killed the scorpion, the scorpion killed Orion, and they are not seen together in the sky at the same time. Orion flees before the Scorpion.

Zeus was impressed by the scorpion’s battle spirit, and raised it to heaven, and at the request of Artemis; he did the same for Orion, who stands for our earliest selves, The Human as The Hunter.

It was the human as hunter that founded human society, not the human as forager or farmer. Hunting has high stakes – Life and death when the prey is powerful and dangerous, as with the auroch and the mammoth. It demands teamwork, absolute co-operation in a way that foraging does not.

Orion stands for the dawn of Mankind.

“We were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments? Or our treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom they may be played; our peaceful acres, however frequently they may be converted to battlefields; our dreams however rarely they may be accomplished. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by our poems, not our corpses.”- Robert Ardrey, African Genesis: A Personal Investigation into the Animal Origins and Nature of Man (1961)

Other Legends

In Indonesia Scorpio is the Banyakangrem – “the brooded swan,” or the Kalapa Doyong, meaning “the leaning coconut tree.” The tree is quite easy to see in that pattern of stars. In Hawaii, it is “The Fishhook” of the demi-god Maui.

In Chinese mythology, the constellation is part of the Azure Dragon.

And yet, there is consensus across not only continents but hemispheres. Thousands of years before the Greeks and Romans established their societies, the Australian Aboriginal people also saw the stars of Scorpius as a cosmic scorpion, as did the Aztecs of Central Mexico.

The Lowland Mayans had scorpion constellations. These may have matched up with the Scorpion of the zodiac, but there no clear proof. It is thought that the Mayans viewed the celestial scorpion as an eclipse-causing agent.

The arrival of Scorpio’s sign in the northern hemisphere coincides with the advent of mystery, the fast fading autumn light, and the ghosts, myths and superstitions of Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, hence its association with the Tarot’s Death Card.

Facts about scorpions

They are a truly ancient creature. The earliest evidence dates from the Silurian period 450 million years ago, when the first scorpion ancestors left the seas for the land. Fossils from the Carboniferous 300 million years ago indicate little change since then. Early scorpions may have had compound eyes.
They are arachnids: arachnida scorpiones, with a body in two sections, 2 pincers or pedi-palps, 8 legs like a spider, and an exo-skeleton made of chitin. But they are more closely related to Harvestmen than spiders.
They dance before mating, a stately promenade, and give birth to live young and carry them on their backs until the babies have their first moult when they disperse. The mothers may eat the young if resources really are desperately scarce.
They have a long life span compared with other arachnids, 2-3 years in the wild but can live up to 25 years in captivity. They eat insects, spiders, other scorpions and lizards. They also eat small mammals, such as mice. But they can go a year without food if they have to.
They glow in the dark unless they have newly moulted and scorpion fossils still fluoresce, after hundreds of millions of years embedded in rock.
They are famously venomous but of the nearly 2,000 known species of scorpions, only 25 are dangerous to an adult human. In the U.S., the Arizona bark scorpion, Centruroides sculpturatus, produces venom strong enough to kill a small child, but anti-venom means deaths are nowadays rare.

The Scorpio Archetype

All the zodiac signs are ‘psychic’ in their own ways, but like the other water signs, Cancer and Pisces, Scorpio is considered especially clairvoyant, or at least, keenly intuitive. But where Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and Pisces by Neptune, Scorpio is ruled by fiery Mars. It scalds. It is is water behaving as steam.

Co-ruled by Pluto, Scorpio rules Birth, Sex and Death. No wonder the subjects can be intense, but also possessed of great personal charisma.

They are watchful but keep their feelings hidden. Born investigators, spies or secret agents, they are shrewd judges of human nature, born detectives and good at covering their tracks, while less conscientious Scorpio subjects may consciously make use of this to their personal advantage.

But combined with their intense determination and loyalty where they decide to accord it, Scorpios can make great leaders, scientist, and devoted doctors and family people. They are quick learners, agile, often changing careers, going down new paths.

Scorpio is vengeful…and patient. But they never forget a kindness either.

And unpopular Pluto, Hades, lord of the Underworld has a compassion all his own. It is not Death that is the enemy of Life, but useless suffering, and the ‘Seasons Don’t Fear The Reaper’.

Scorpio is also the fire-bird of resurrection, as new life rises from the ashes –The Phoenix.

Till next time…and for keen astronomers, I’ll leave you with this video via YouTube channel, Learn The Sky. You can support them by giving it a Like or Subscribing.

Libra The Celestial Scales- Weighing the Balance in the Stars

Read on for the story of Libra…

Common Associations

Symbol

Quality: Cardinal

Element: Air

Affirmation: I (seek to) Balance

Ruling planet: Venus

Body: Lower back, buttocks, kidneys

Colour: Indigo Blue

Flower: Rose, Hydrangea

Birthstones: Sapphire- September birthdays. Opal- October birthdays

Lucky Number: 6 (community, childhood)

Tarot card: Justice

Justice from The Legacy of The Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Astronomy

Libra (technically, it is correctly pronounced Ly-bra as in Library) is a small but distinct constellation, 29th in size of the 88 constellations, next door to the constellation Virgo. It’s been described as looking like a lop-sided diamond and is visible in the northern hemisphere between April and July.

Libra used to be regarded, not as a constellation in its own right, but as part of its neighbouring constellations Scorpio and Virgo. The stars representing the scales of Justice are the same stars representing the claws of the Scorpion.

Libra, like Cancer, is faint in comparison with other constellations, and contains no spectacular first magnitude stars, but contains a very old galaxy cluster, possibly around 10 billion years old, the same age as our own galaxy, The Milky Way.

There also is a red dwarf star Gliese 581 with three orbiting planets, two of which may possibly be suitable for life, about 20 light years from Earth.

The brightest star in Libra is a binary star about 77 light years from Earth. α Librae. or Zubenelgenubi, meaning “the Southern Claw” in Arabic.

The second-brightest star in the constellation of Libra is β Librae, or Zubeneschamali, from the Arabic for “The Northern Claw.”

Equilibrium and Equinox

Since 2002, the Sun has actually appeared in the constellation of Libra from October 31 to November 22.

This is different to the dates used for this sign in your media horoscope, which is based on modern western or tropical astrology, and says Libra begins around 23rd of September, coinciding with the autumn equinox (in the northern hemisphere).

But astronomy is not astrology, which is a symbolic language, and zodiac signs are not to be confused with the constellations after which they were named.

The Sun did indeed used to be in the sign Libra from the northern autumnal equinox (c. September 23) to on or about October 23, when the hours of night and daylight were the same- hence the Libra’s concept of natural balance.

The zodiac sign of Libra ceased to coincide with the actual placement of the constellation in AD 730 because of the wobble of the Earth, and the resulting effect known as precession – the movement of the equinoxes relative to Earth.

This fact of astronomy does not invalidate your horoscope. The astrological concept still stands, based on the arithmetic model of the zodiac as designed by the mathematician Ptolemy in the 2nd Century.

Mythology and History

We have the Romans to thank for the name of this constellation, as well as the sun sign or zodiac sign of Libra as we understand it today.

It is a complicated history. Libra began as part of Scorpio, and was known in Babylonian astronomy as MUL Zibanu (the “scales” or “balance”) but with an alternative name, the Claws of the Scorpion, while in ancient Greece Libra was also seen as the Scorpion’s Claws.

The scales were sacred to the Babylonian sun god Shamash, the patron of truth and justice, and ever since these very early times, Libra has been associated with law, fairness and civility.

Because 3000 years ago, the Sun entering Libra marked the equinox, when days and nights were of equal length, i.e. balanced, Roman astrologers considered that the constellation of Libra represented the principle of natural balance, equality, equilibrium and hence, justice.

In ancient Rome Libra was associated with the scales of justice held by the pre-Greek goddess Astraea, or her Roman counterpart Dike, although in Greek mythology she had always been associated with Virgo.

Claws, scales. Virgo, Scorpio. Confusing? Typically elusive Libra!

According to the Roman writer and poet Marcus Manilius, the best Roman judges were born under the sign of Libra. The Moon, which in astrology governs temperament, was said to be in Libra when Rome was founded, in a historical passage, which states “qua condita Roma.”

The early born Libra may therefore be expected to have much in common with Virgo and Astraea, but the later born Libra may be expected to have quite a lot of Scorpio going on.

This same principle applies to all the zodiac signs, of course, whether you were born early or late in your sign, but is particularly acute in the case of Libra, on account of its shared/borrowed stars and very particular history as a relative newcomer to the zodiac story in its own right.

The Libra Archetype

Libra is one of the three zodiac air signs, the others being Gemini and Aquarius.

Libra is the only zodiac sign that is not represented by a human or animal, but the scales signify the collective and enduring human hunger for justice, as well as Libra’s own especially keen personal need for balance, order, and equality.

Many astrologers view Libra as an especially lucky sign because it occurs during the peak of the year when the rewards of hard work are harvested.

Libra is suave, clever and extremely easy to like. The classic Libra subject has charm and can be a great listener with sharp observation skills and acute perception.

Because Venus, the goddess of love, rules Libra, as it also rules Taurus, the Libra subject is especially, even acutely sensitive to beauty in anything, whether it is a person, nature, art, or music.

Libra intensely dislikes loud or sharp noises, cruelty, nastiness, and vulgarity, as they are naturally kindly and civilized people, and also, may we observe, a teensy bit delicate at times.

Born diplomats, but also anything for a quiet life, Libras try to co-operate and compromise with everyone around them. They can sometimes be a little tiring to be with as they are constantly re-assessing and adjusting their thinking, while remaining emotionally distant, or playing Devil’s advocate and this may be infuriating at times, or even seem to call their personal loyalties into question.

They are not averse to keeping secrets, and can be more changeable even than Gemini. Those Libran scales are after all, seeking balance, which is not the same as attaining it or maintaining it.

Botticelli: The Birth of Venus, ruler of Libra

Libra may not receive or handle criticism as dispassionately as they dispense it. They can show jealousy when they are not the centre of attention, and may at times be moody; a practitioner of passive aggression, or they may be something of an ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ – smoothly vengeful, or even ruthless.

But lovely Libra, charming, smiling, sophisticated, civilized. Sunny side up, what on earth’s not to like?

Till next time 🙂

Shine on, Harvest Moon in Aries

What is astrology and why do astrologers study the Moon?

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

Humans have been studying and recording the phases of the Moon for at least 25, 000 years as the closest celestial body to Earth, an average of 238,855 miles (384,400 km) away depending on its orbit.

The Moon provides not only a guide to the seasons, and a measure of predictability as to when certain things will happen, such as the migration of animals for hunting, but exerts visible effects on the tides and a lot more besides, for example, the spawning of corals, animal mating seasons, crop growth, hormonal cycles, and quite possibly human behaviour.

Mooning about, moon-struck, looney-tunes, lunatic. Words and sayings mean something and they come from somewhere.

October is going to be a busy month, moon-wise with two full moons starting tomorrow with a full Harvest Moon in the sign of Aries, and another in Taurus on Halloween last day of the month.

The Harvest Moon is the name given to the Full Moon closest to the September equinox which happens on the 22 or 23 September, and which marks the start of autumn/fall. The Harvest Moon occurs in September two years out of every three. However the astronomical seasons don’t match up with the lunar month and once every three years, as this year, the Harvest Moon occurs in October.

The Harvest Moon

For several days around the time of the full Harvest Moon, the Moon rises about 30 minutes later each night, and this extra light early in the evening is what makes this time of year especially atmospheric -weather permitting- and gave farmers extra light for harvesting after sunset.

This was the artistic terrain of one of my favourite painters, Samuel Palmer.

The 2020 Harvest Moon tomorrow will rise at 19.01 (UK) and set at 06.10 (UK) if only the skies will be clear enough to see it.

The major arcana Tarot card associated with Aries, the zodiac sign ruling this full moon is The Emperor.

The Emperor from the Legacy of the Divine tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Traditional meanings: rule, power, government and governance, authority, law and order, fatherhood, masculinity.

This Full moon can bring a short burst of vitality. Yippee. It’s spring again…well it is in the southern hemisphere, anyway. It can signify a restless, edgy, even sporty mood, classic Ram energy, with a burst that may be short-lived but that can get things done, especially short-term projects.

Aries is the sign of the First house of the zodiac, the Self. Me, Myself, I.

What can I do? Where does the buck stop with me and no-one else?

There could be some intense feelings and inner tension round this time, perhaps a spot of impetuosity, but by the same token, it’s a good time to clear the air, and it’s considered a lucky moon for taking chances; for example, launching a new idea, project or product, or if you’re going for a job interview.

Julius Caesar by the way, looking at the imagery of this card, although he certainly walked the walk of the Aries Emperor, and with too many bells on to count, was a Cancer subject, born 12 July 100 BC ,and Alexander the Great was also a Cancer subject, born 20 July 356 BC. Cleopatra was a Leo subject.

Hitler was born right on the cusp Aries/Taurus 20 April 1889, and Aries and Taurus folk have been known to fight over who doesn’t get to keep him.

Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor, unifier of most of western Europe, great king of the Franks, was an Aries subject, 2 April 742 , and so was Thomas Jefferson, “Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.”

Now that is definitely a hallmark statement of sturdy, sovereign Aries self reliance.

Happy Harvest Moon.

Till next time 🙂

President Pelosi? A 5 card reading using playing cards

There was much recent discussion on Twitter to the effect that if no clear winner were to be declared by 20 January 2021 after the upcoming US Elections 3 November, there is a constitutional provision that could make Speaker Nancy Pelosi President of the United States.

This arose in the wake of Mr Trump expressing a wish to delay the Election scheduled for 3 November 2020, an action for which I understand, there is no historical precedent.

I have done a reading on the forthcoming election, posted here a few days ago, and you can find it in the archives. Those cards indicated, perhaps counter-intuitively, that the recent civil unrest might actually work in favour of Mr T’s chances rather than against them, but the Joker turned up….oh, that Joker….

I may well do further readings before the election to see if that picture shifts, and to see how it shifts, but the appearance of the Joker card says surprises are in store.

Could this be the surprise? A President Pelosi?

I shuffle and draw 5 playing cards and read them left to right, paying attention to the rising, flattening or declining curve, the balance of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cards, and noting in particula the central card ad the last cards for an indicatio of future developments.

The Line of Five

Well, the indications are not strong.

2 Spades in this context suggests the premise of the question: a scenario containing two ‘negative candidates’ drawn in a situation where one is not stronger than the other. The Tarot equivalent o this card would be the Two Of Swords which suggests a truce, a pause- or a stalemate. It is a no card.

This card gives me my benchmark. It is clearly relevant to the question being asked.

Jack Spades: bad news, a delay, a point of Law. It is also a no card.

Queen of Clubs: This central card surely denotes Ms Pelosi herself; a ‘dark’ lady with good social instincts and often business acumen. This could be either a yes or a no card.

10 Clubs: this is a very positive card of culmination, completion and it is the card of government. (It can also mean a bathtub, but that’s by the by) Reading this in context, this could be either a yes or a no card, but if it was an Ace Clubs, that would be more likely to represent a yes than the 10 of Clubs, representative of culminations rather than arrivals.

7 Hearts: this future card is all about uncertainty, romantic longing, daydreams, sweet dreams. It is a card of a possible but unstable yes.

This last card, taken with the others, is the only red suit (yes) card, but given the surrounding cards seems to be saying, ‘in your dreams.’

Here, kitty, kitty….

I understand that Speaker Pelosi is second in line to the succession of the Presidency after the Vice-President, but I’m in the UK and I don’t know too much about all this. Now that I’ve given my cards the first shout, let’s look at the info, to see where this story came from, and what the possibilities might be.

Source: The Hill

“When voters head to the polls in November to choose the path for the next four years in a deeply divided nation, they will choose between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

But in what has already been a one-of-a-kind 2020, an improbable figure could also become president.

The path for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is second in line of succession to the presidency, to succeed Trump is quite implausible. But it is not impossible.

The first step is a tie in the Electoral College. And that tie is indeed possible.

If Trump loses Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District to Biden and holds everything else he won in 2016, the two candidates would be deadlocked at 269 electoral votes a piece.

A few other results could also end in a tie, though perhaps they are even more unlikely.

A tie could result if Biden manages to win Arizona and Iowa, but loses Wisconsin and Michigan. Or if Biden rebuilds the northern Blue Wall, recapturing Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, but somehow manages to lose Colorado’s nine votes.

Click to read the rest of the article

The Two Spades is therefore spelling out in ‘the event of a tie….’

However, even given a deadlock scenario, and given the 20 Amendment, it does not automatically signify that the successor would be Speaker Pelosi-

SOURCE USA Today

“We rate the claim that Nancy Pelosi would become president should the 2020 election be postponed as FALSE because it was not supported by our research. Pelosi’s (own) term (of office) ends Jan. 3, and if no federal election takes place, she would have to leave office, just like the president and vice president. That would mean the president pro tempore of the Senate would assume office. Currently, that is Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, though a downsized Senate may swing in favor of Democrats, presenting them the opportunity to elect a new president pro tempore.”

Click to read the rest of the article.

Ain’t this going to be interesting

2020 is a little too interesting altogether, starting 26 January with a major conjunction of expansive Jupiter boiling up with restrictive Saturn, and another one coming, occurring 21 December 2020.

(Astrology did detect and forecast a possible pandemic specifically dated 2020/2021, notably a French astrologer writing in 2011; Andre Barbault)

2021 is also going to be quite interesting, from the point of view of the collective experience, but at least this second great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn comes to an end 3 April 2021.

Till next time 🙂

Cartomancy and a budding career question: a personal Demo reading

The junior sprog is a newly qualified primary school teacher, following three years of a dozen or so zero hours jobs after completing a drama honours degree.

The drama degree has proved very useful as a direct source of income at various times since graduation, Halloween jobs working as a scare actor, for instance. Christmas jobs working as a Santa’s Elf on the East Lancashire Railway, and there have been a few short film projects, besides jobs in retail and as a photographer at visitor attractions such as Blackpool Zoo and the Pleasure Beach.

Nothing’s wasted. But none of this helps a young person to afford their own place, no planning possible, no financial forecasting from one month to the next and nor does it pay towards a pension.

The teacher training was interrupted in April by the Coronavirus crisis, and she and the rest of her cohort were not able to work their third and final school placement that makes up the PGCE course. This shortfall in experience had to be made up with additional academic work, extra dissertations and so on. And again, nothing is wasted, but it is not a substitute for experience.

After she completed the course she signed on with a supply agency, and on 1 September had her ear bent by *cough* no-one I know, warning her to have her shoes shined and her bag ready to go with zero notice at any time.

The schools went back, a phased return starting 1 September, and nothing happened, but this Tuesday 22 September she got her first call from the agency.

It came at ten to nine in the morning, with the instruction to go 30 minutes up the road to a school needing Teaching Assistant cover because the incumbent TA had to take time off, after her child showed signs of a sniffle- or could it be Covid- 19.

Photo by Yaroslav Danylchenko on Pexels.com

Junior Sprog is trained as a teacher not a Teaching Assistant. The training is different, and she had been advised she may therefore not be offered such roles but never mind, no problem.

Straight out the door.

But how would it go? Would they ask her back next again?

You can have a go at this yourself with an ordinary deck of playing cards. Shuffle while you ask your question, and then you lay out a line of five cards. It could be three or seven, the point being it is an odd number.

The story is read from left to right and the central card is the key card. I also look at the balance of the suits for my answer. How many red cards (yes) How many black suit cards, and specifically, which are they?

If you get mostly Spades, you answer is a probable no. If you get all Diamonds and Hearts, it’s a probable yes. Clubs may be a yes or no, depending on whether they are mixed with Spades or Hearts and Diamonds. You can weigh up the mix by the look and feel of the thing, even if you don’t know the meanings of the cards.

The ‘Line of Five’

So what have we here?

The Ace of Diamonds sudden news, a phone call new job or other source of money. Well, that could not be more apposite.

8 Clubs: a stable card denoting business, study or gatherings such as a meeting, a conference and in this case it describes a classroom.

4 Hearts: a happy environment. I was mightily relieved to see this card sitting centrally. Junior Sprog had a horrible time, in one of her two school placements in a school dominated, if not terrorized by a toxic headteacher. It was a shocker, and the only good thing one could say was, it did not defeat her, and she faced it down and passed the placement despite that headteacher’s expressed determination from the outset, from the very second day, that Junior Sprog would fail the placement.

7 Clubs: this is going to be hard work. This is the card of the workaholic and also house clearing and yard work; sweeping, cleaning, that kind of thing.

2 Clubs: this is the card of contracts and the number 2 indicated she would either be called in again the next day, or be called back to this school at a future date.

Outcome

Junior Sprog really liked the school, though she said she was exhausted from running round after the children. ‘Big deal’ was all the sympathy she got, till she explained that the school has a big outdoor area for play time exercise. The school supplies wellies, she was helping the little ones in the reception class, and had to help pull on and remove 28 pairs of tiny wellies and waterproof trousers, on and off, on and off multiple times during the day.

The little ones were adorable but being so little, a lot of them did not yet know their left foot from their right foot. Some struggled to pull up their trousers.

She went in for a second day yesterday and then the regular Teaching Assistant returned with the Covid testing issue sorted out, and Junior Sprog completed the day in a support role.

So yes, it was two days, and I feel she may go back again if further cover is needed.

Junior Sprog is however working again today, at a different school, her second school in three days, deployed this time as a one- to- one assistant, supporting a pupil with special needs.

She says the Head is amazing at this school; she really likes this school, and this makes me happy because this was the school where she was supposed to go for her final term’s placement before the Covid-19 crisis fully kicked in and shut the schools at Easter.

She jokes that that her little charge is a ‘psycho’, and that he has been known to hit and kick people (staff) on purpose because he can’t control his temper, but that he knocked her arm accidentally earlier this morning and apologized.

Though he still had to go to the time out room at one point, where she sat with him and so did the Head teacher.

Now, depending how this goes, this could be where a young teacher’s scare acting skills could come in useful.

Till next time 🙂

Equinox, and the Tarot says Equipoise

Friday 23 September marks the the first day of astronomical autumn/fall in the Northern Hemisphere. and spring in the southern hemisphere, when day and night are nearly equal. In the United Kingdom the equinox will be 02:03 AM

Entering Libra

From The Gilded Tarot Royale, Ciro Marchetti

This is the day when we enter the zodiac air sign of Libra, and the Tarot cards specifically associated with 23 September are Justice and the Two of Swords, belonging to the first decan of Libra.

You will notice a striking similarity between this card and the Tarot’s Justice card, its major arcana counterpart.

The Two of Swords is blind like Justice. Wilfully blind, and for a purpose, either for tactical reasons, or because this decision simply cannot be rushed. Here, the wings serving as a blindfold denote the element of air, and impartiality, the use of cool, calm intellect brought to bear on a tricky situation.

If the card comes out upside down, then someone is being a refusenik. A decision must be taken but they are procrastinating.

The Two of Swords can describe a see-saw, and is reflecting what we all know, that internationally and domestically October looks like another tense month of watching, waiting, diplomatic stand-offs and tensions.

Mercury goes direct again 2 October, possibly smoothing certain communications, but October 2022 is going to be anything but a mild news month, and we don’t need the Tarot to see that.

I’ll be watching the first ten days or so of October when we are in Three of Swords territory. Meaning? Severance. Putin is a second decan Libra, which has all manner of wonderful qualities. But his personal chart features a difficult fixed star; born with his natal sun conjunct the ‘rapacious and fiendish’ Algorab, the right wing of the Crow in the constellation of Corvus the Crow.

The Two of Swords is difficult at times. It may suggest indecision, a delay, or a truce, a stand-off, a stalemate. Libra will see-saw in seeking to achieve an equilibrium. It may see-saw rather a lot.

On a personal level, more than once the Two of Swords has alerted me to the fact that a client has been experiencing headaches, possibly migraines. These have often been attributed to stress. Or they have been to see the optician, or have just scheduled a visit to see the optician. The Two of Swords may mean eyes-or teeth. This card may be talking, entirely literally, about needing to see the dentist.

Tarot can be literal like that. Rightly so. The reader is working in the real world. No, it isn’t always fun.

But the world keeps turning, and with it, the wonders of the wheel of the seasons.