Of cabbages and kings. Tarot, toilets, tantrums, and -oh yes- Boris and Brexit. An Update:

UPDATE  13. 06. 2019

Let’s just look again at that line of playing cards I posted 30. 05. 2019 when I was enquiring primarily about the outcome of the legal action being brought against Boris Johnson, but there was a sniff of a subtext in respect of the imminent leadership contest to decide the new PM.

Would BJ be found guilty on a charge of public misconduct?

3 Hearts, 4 Clubs, 4 Hearts, 5 Diamonds, Outcome Ace Clubs.

Translation of the outcome card The Ace of Clubs:

“The beginning of a new enterprise or business venture. Focus, direction and singleness of purpose, the exercise of will. Important papers to be signed, legal document, contract, mortgages, a legal will.  A building or institution – government, corporate, public, private, financial, educational, or penal. “

(Source: the excellent Kapherus- Art of Cartomancy)

We now know Boris Johnson was not required to appear before the Magistrate. The charge was dismissed as politically vexatious, and today Boris Johnson was one of the seven candidates selected in the final round for deciding the new PM.

Votes in alphabetical order.

Gove 37

Hancock 20

Harper 10

Hunt 43

Javid 23

Johnson 114  There goes the Ace of Clubs again. 

Leadsom 17

McVey 9

Raab 27

Stewart 19

It doesn’t mean it’s in the bag for Boris Johnson. Politics just isn’t working that way at the moment. But now the list is down to 7 candidates,  I’ll  take a fresh look over the coming days, go fishing in the ether and see what cards turn up, and with the legal fracas out of the way,  I might find it easier to see the wood for the trees. Back soon.

Read on for a reminder of the original post, 30.05. 2019.

8 swords gilded

The Eight of Swords from The Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti

This was my card of the day shared on twitter this morning. For anyone not familiar with Twitter, a tweet is a cryptic communication, limited to 240 characters.

card of the day. For precision, there needs to be a context. Without that, it’s plucking from the ether. 8 Swords. DRAMA . STRESS. A problem has me/you/us stuck. Refusal to look or move, awaiting rescue. 8 Swords also talks about plumbing AND sure enough, plumber coming.”

The drama and stress in the ether is Brexit. Of that there is no doubt.  The figure in the card stands for the mood of many in the UK, the fear, the anger, schadenfreude and finger-pointing that is happening all over the media. This is all of us, stuck, and unable or refusing to get to our feet, and walk out of the cage, picking our way through the gaps between those swords.

keep-calm-and-dont-kill-the-messenger

But I have also learned through practice, that the 8 of Swords may also be making an entirely immediate, practical and concrete reference to a very recent, current or imminent issue to do with drains, damp, plumbing and flooding – and it happens to be the case that a plumber is coming on Saturday to install a new loo and sink.

If you draw a card without the context of a question,  you’re going to access the Tarot’s mirror effect. It is like blindly extending an antenna.

Does the card you then get mean anything that is timely and specific enough in meaning to be more than simple coincidence?

Awww shaddap. What about Brexit and Boris?

These are interesting times, and I’m sure everyone hopes they’re not going to get more interesting. But the action of a crowd-funded private prosecutor, barrister Marcus Ball, in bringing Boris Johnson in front of a magistrate to face charges of misconduct in public office is simply too precisely timed not to smell well…..pre-meditated…fishy. Despite the fact that this action has been three years in preparation, according to Mr Ball, who says he is now going to go quiet while he gets on with this unavoidable service to the nation.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/national/17671394.who-is-private-prosecutor-marcus-ball/

Perhaps this funding should be further investigated on principle, in the interests of fair play not only being done, but being seen to be done, following the recent outcry in respect of crowdfunding of the Brexit Party, which has also declared a major private sponsor, Jeremy Hosking.

Question: Will Boris Johnson be convicted of professional misconduct in Public Office?

I looked in my playing cards yesterday, 29 May, and tweeted as follows:

“Interesting times. Dirtier by the day. Cartomancy re the BJ situation. Row of 5 cards. 3 H, 4 C, 4 H, 5 D, Outcome Ace Clubs. Ace is strongest card =no, indicating no criminal conviction. But ‘ties him up’. Ace Clubs = competition, business handshake and also – a cave.”

I was looking at a classic row of 5 cards.

3 Hearts, 4 Clubs, 4 Hearts, 5 Diamonds, Outcome Ace Clubs.

Three red suit cards and two black suit cards. This, in classic cartomancy would very likely be read as a yes, though a weak yes if I read it according to the colour method.

But I have read Tarot for many more years than I have read playing cards, and have learned through a recent reading on a football question, when I got it wrong using that classic counting method, that I am not necessarily a classical cartomancer, perhaps in consequence of this long Tarot training, and that in my readings, the final card can trump the preceding cards, depending on what that card is, and how powerful a card it is.

If I read this as an open question, that Ace of Clubs trumps the lot. And it says no conviction of Boris Johnson on grounds of public misconduct.

Ace clubs

The Aces are the most powerful cards in the deck. The Ace of Spades is the most powerful of all the Aces. It denotes years or even decades for something to happen. The Ace of Hearts denotes months or years, the Ace of Clubs denotes weeks or days, and the Ace of Diamonds days or even hours. Aces of Spades and Diamonds are the Aces that forecast in respect of legal matters, so if I had drawn the Ace of Diamonds, that would read as a yes in answer to the question as stated.

But here we have the Ace Clubs, a black suit card, indicating a final ‘no’, and since it is the last card in the row, I interpret this to mean there will probably not be a criminal conviction of Boris Johnson in line with the charge being brought. But it may hamper him for at least a few weeks, and perhaps that is the true objective.

The favourite rarely wins, historically, and some may rejoice at any spanner in his works, but they are not wise to do so, if it comes at such a cost as this precedent represents; regardless of whether one is a supporter of the Tory Party or Boris Johnson or not.

This action will be damaging, not only to Boris Johnson, but to everyone really,  by contributing nothing constructive to a situation that is already way overheated, and poisoned with mistrust, which will only be stoked by the overtly strategic timing of this crowd-funded action.

Here is a characteristically forthright tweet from Old Holborn responding to a tweet from Andrew, Lord Adonis:

 12 hours ago

Once they start, they can’t stop. EVERYONE should expect a knock at the door at 3am.

 

Boris Johnson may still be selected as the new PM, I never say never. And he could move this whole situation forward. I’m not asking that question, but I’m not seeing it jumping out at me, looking between the lines as I’m asking about this legal situation.

 

 

 

The King of Wands Reversed. It’s standing for BJ. Maybe this card has come up in token of him being up-ended with a view to silencing him. Not with a view to Justice. Where is the Justice card? Where is Judgement?  The reader looks for the cards which do NOT appear as well as the cards that do. This card,  the King of Wands, flags up a great communicator, confident, often charismatic, with an instinct for money and business, and a firm thumb on the bottom line.

Astrologically speaking, this card denotes an fire sign king, where Boris is actually an air sign king;  super Gemini with his Sun in Gemini. Not only that but apparently he has Venus, Mars and Mercury in Gemini too.

This suggests an arch- communicator, tremendous charisma, widely inquiring, intensely curious, restless and fidgety, and yes, capable of duplicity, absolutely, quicksilver, and tricky as a bag of eels, though any politician who was not, could scarcely be expected to function effectively in key matters of state security or diplomacy either, and we’d be no more savvy than a babe in arms  to think so for one minute. The Gemini is archetypal of all of these qualities, but also extremely brave, physically and morally, and while they can be selfish, careless, immature and wasteful, sometimes they are exactly the right key to open a particular door. Gemini is the jester of the zodiac, but jesters could tell kings the truth like no one else, and still not lose their head.

If he got the job of PM. He probably could move Brexit forward to a clear conclusion,no matter what happened after that. Why do I say so? Well, because The World card is about the wider world and world trade (WTO?) but is ultimately a card that is all about completion.

The Two of Cups Reversed. Hinge moment of this legal action. Conversations were had over quiet drinks. They toasted on another. But the parties concerned may not be toasting the outcome.

The Sun reversed  A success blocked or delayed. The true objective may be achieved – to help assure BJ does not succeed in a bid to become PM. The Sun card is a moment in the sun. A crowning. But there will be no real winners. The Sun card reversed is a piece of burned toast; a cremation-  a pyrrhic victory.

The Five of Swords reversed  This card is a real stinker and never, but never, indicates a clear or conclusive outcome for whomever instigates the fight, except with a backlash that renders it…well, a pyrrhic outcome. When I am reading for a client, let’s say that client is considering mounting an attack or challenge, I have to warn them, it will drag on, and cost more than they think, and they will not obtain satisfaction, no matter what, even if they are in the right. And of course, everyone thinks they are in the right.

The Eight of Cups. The card at the bottom looks rather like a rear view of the man of the moment, the crowd funded private prosecutor, here to save the day. This card is about cutting one’s losses and moving on. and may also apply to Boris Johnson himself of course, which is why I’m not feeling he will be the next PM.

Politically, I’m sky blue pink with yellow dots. Sometimes I’m pale pink, other times, pale blue. I vote in line with my response to the prevailing issue as I see it, not along lines of party identification. I haven’t decided who I might want to be the new PM, but I can’t help feeling it would someone right if if he does win. Because of this new development. Or who will they come for next?

I looked recently and did not see there would be a second referendum. Or that Article 50 will be revoked. In terms of when the UK might leave, I can’t say. Although the King Of Wands suggests key developments during Leo (late July to late August) but maybe also …and if so, this would be after the UK should have left on 31 October….Sagittarius (late November to late December).

I’ll be looking again, naturally. It will take me too long to try and ID the front runner for PM at this stage. There are too many candidates still in the running.

Last time I looked, 3 days ago,  BJ was, despite this new hullabaloo, shining out somewhat ahead of Mr Gove, and roughly neck and neck with Mr Raab plus there is a ‘quiet man’ on the horizon…Steve Baker? (Update: I think actually this was not Steve Baker but Rory Stewart who has loomed suddenly large in terms of TV exposure) There is a female candidate popping up too, who might make the final three. The Queen of Hearts suggests fair haired and this could be either Ms McVey or Ms Leadsom.

This may all change of course. What the cards are doing here as of todays date is mirroring what I feel from the collective ether.

Pass the popcorn. Meanwhile, let’s all try to accord one another a little more civility, and a bit of charity and not choke. On bile, or chagrin, or indeed on popcorn.

Until next time 🙂

 

 

The Timeless Magic of Runes

 

Click below to read my latest article at AskAstrology.com

The Timeless Magic of Runes

 

See you again soon 🙂

Archetypal Tarot

The Tarot Talks Archetypes.

What is Yours?

Astrology and Tarot are separate artistic disciplines with distinct histories and traditions, but there are powerful connections between them, with many astrological archetypes embedded in the Tarot.

Zodiac Public Domain Book of Hours The Sky Order and Chaos Jean Pierre Verdet

Image: Public Domain from The Book of Hours, Jean Pierre Verdet

The 78 cards of a classic Tarot deck include 22 Major Arcana cards (Greater Secrets) and 56 Minor Arcana Cards (Lesser Secrets.)

The Major Arcana cards shine a light on life-changing situations and events, or draw attention to some crucial aspect of your own personality or behaviour, demanding attention at the time of the reading.

Each sign of the Zodiac is linked with a Tarot card from The Major Arcana. Your sun sign and your Major Arcana card represent key archetypes. But what exactly is an archetype?

Archetypes

The word derives from Ancient Greek and means a very typical example of something, like a model from which other copies are made; a prototype.

Arkhetupon ‘something moulded first as a model’, from arkhe-‘primitive’ + tupos ‘a model’.

The Oxford English Dictionary offers these  definitions

  • A very typical example of a certain person or thing.
  • Later, in Psychoanalysis (in Jungian theory) a primitive mental image inherited from the earliest human ancestors, and supposed to be present in the collective unconscious.
  • A recurrent symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology.
jung-quote-archetypes-complex-fate-jungcurrents

Archetypes are complexes of experience that come upon us like fate, and their effects are felt in our most personal life.

The ‘anima’ no longer crosses our path as a goddess, but, it may be, as an intimately personal misadventure, or perhaps as our best venture.

When, for instance, a highly esteemed professor in his seventies abandons his family and runs off with a young red-headed actress, we know that the gods have claimed another victim.

From Jung: Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Image: John Strudwick 1849-1937

The archetype represented by your Major Arcana card does not define you, of course, any more than your Sun sign does. You and I are unique. Every living thing is unique and yet-  it is also classifiable

The archetypes are classifications of behaviours and attributes, and in the Tarot, the Major Arcana chime with the signs of the zodiac.

There are two key archetypes in play in personal astrology; the archetype of your Sun sign, and then there is your ‘outward face’; a key aspect of the public persona, represented by your Rising Sign or Ascendant; the planet rising on the Eastern horizon at the time of your birth. It’s a good idea to read both when reading your horoscope.

If you know your time of birth, you can identify your rising sign via this link

Discover the Tarot’s Major Arcana card for your zodiac sign below.

Astro_signs

 

Aries (Mar 21-Apr 19)

Astrological archetype: The Ram. The Warrior.

Major Arcana card The Emperor – (energy, organisation, leadership)

Spring bursts forth after winter and so does the ram with the year’s first lambs, and so does The Emperor in you and me. The Emperor decrees we can’t just creep through Life. We need to push sometimes, and push hard or we would never get anywhere. The Emperor is fiery, energetic, driven and determined, good at delegating but controlling – some might even say bossy; A battering ‘ram’. The Emperor may be accident- prone due to general speed and haste. Male or female ‘he’ needs to learn how to take it easy, and slow down, to be more careful and patient, to stay curious and listen to the ideas of others. He’s not the only Emperor round here.

Taurus (Apr 20-May 20)

Astrological archetype: The Bull. The Artist. The Farmer.

Major Arcana card The Hierophant – (faith, study, tradition)

This card is about the power and wisdom of the written words and of tradition. Books, publishers, librarians, churches of all faiths, and universities are indicated by this same card. The High Priest (Hierophant) does things by the book, and has faith and trust in the old ways. He is all about standards. He is a protector, a gardener, a teacher, a mentor, a scholar, but the other message of this card is that change can be good, even necessary, wisdom is knowing when to bend with the wind, and that does not necessarily mean the same as throwing out any baby with the bathwater. 

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Astrological archetype: The Twins. The Jester. Mercury.

Your Major Arcana card is The Lovers – (choices, love, duality)

This card has another name: ‘The Decision.’ Gemini is quick-witted, but sometimes decisions need more care and time than mercurial Gemini gives them. There is an innate restlessness, Gemini can be quick to walk away, even when sometimes they might do better to stick at things, even if they are bored, or the going gets rough. Gemini is the archetype of the Jester, the one who can take any turn of fate with a laugh and makes sure we remember to enjoy ourselves. This is the wisdom of Gemini. We need to be able to laugh at ourselves in order to keep a healthy sense of perspective. Laughter is powerful medicine. What we can’t joke about, we can’t deal with..

Cancer (Jun 21-Jul 22)

Astrological archetype: The Crab. The Mother.

Major Arcana card The Chariot – (progress, effort, co-operation).

The Crab is famously gentle, home-loving, intuitive, private; even secretive, but just look again at this guy/girl. This is Cancer’s Tarot face. The Chariot carries the victorious on parade. The Chariot takes us places. This is a card of triumph through discipline and sustained effort; the harnessing of resources, the charioteer and the horses working as one. Choose your teams well, put in a sustained effort, you and they can do great things together.  The Crab may be the archetypal sign of motherhood where the Ram is fatherhood, but these are qualities, not identities, while a carer is not a servant, and the gentleness of Cancer does not make it a doormat. No way. Push too far they will withdraw.

Leo (Jul 23-Aug 22)

Dominant element: Fire.

Astrological archetype: The Lion. The King.

Major Arcana card Strength – (courage, willpower, fortitude)

Life demands courage to meet it head on. To learn new things you have to take chances and risk failure. But the fire of Leo demands control. The lady patiently restrains the lion. It shall not devour her. She shall not try to harm it. The lion represents the spirit of the Leo subject. There is natural courage and charisma, but the Lady represents strength with gentleness and restraint – moral courage. The lion does not want to be ruled, but nor does she wish to be devoured, power must be used wisely and tyranny is always to be resisted.

Virgo (Aug 23-Sep 22)

Dominant element: Earth

Astrological archetype: The Virgin. The Craftsman.

Major Arcana card The Hermit – (Self-sufficiency, connection to nature, analysis)

The Hermit often likes to walk alone, and this is usually by choice. Time alone, especially in quiet, wild, green places, is especially good for the Hermit, male or female, married, or single. People turn to the Hermit for wise advice. The Hermit knows how to listen and sees far more than he or she says. The Hermit shines a quiet light along his path and others may safely follow in times of need. Animals can trust to the hermit’s compassion. The Hermit is often a talented artist or crafts-person, slow, methodical and a perfectionist, so much so, that she never feelsthe work is good enough to sell, even when it is. Virgo’s challenge is to expedite..

Libra (Sep 23-Oct 22)

Dominant element: Air.

Astrological archetype: The Scales. The Judge.

Major Arcana card Justice – (order, reason, restitution).

Libra combines analytical ability with intuition, and a natural grace and charm, with a talent for diplomacy. Justice is capable of severity, however, and can just now and again be overly keen to apply the letter of the law, forgetting the spirit. See the Sword in the hand of Justice. But the scales don’t stay still. They are rarely in perfect balance. They see-saw, like Libra’s moods and occasional indecision. Libra is changeable. It may be the only sign of the Zodiac represented by an inanimate object, and a Libra subject may be a born judge, but still, they are only human. But without Justice there would be chaos and misery, mature loose and running red in tooth and claw. There could be no society and no civilisation.

Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21)

Dominant element: Water.

Astrological archetype: The Scorpion. The Actor.

Major Arcana card Death – (endings, liberation, transformation)

There is no life without death. There can be nothing new without something else changing or ending. But just like the song, the seasons don’t fear the reaper. Death is not the enemy of Life. Scorpio understands this great mystery. Intuitive, subtle, often somewhat secretive, charismatic, intense, Scorpio is devoted to their loved ones, while with others they may be a true friend and powerful ally – or a vengeful enemy. Death has a long memory. He has seen it all before. Get in the way, and he may mow you down with that scythe. Sometimes it is better to walk away. Sometimes it is wiser to call it quits and call time on something that no longer serves you well.

Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21)

Dominant element: Fire.

Astrological archetype: The Archer. The Explorer.

Your Tarot archetype is Temperance – (moderation; timing, healing).

Temperance was regarded as an angel- a force for virtue at the time the Tarot was first in use. Temperance is about moderation, and self- control, and the avoidance of extremes. But Temperance has other meanings…alchemy, the fusing together of two elements, materials or qualities to make a new thing stronger than either individual element; Intellect and feeling, ability and ambition, one person and another, one people and another. This is a force for diplomacy, reconciliation of differences and also for physical healing after illness.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19)

Dominant element: Earth.

Astrological archetype: The Goat. The Builder.

Major Arcana card The Devil – (also Pan. Wildness, entrapment, liberation)

Powerful opposites meet in the Goat. Capricorn, thought to be named originally for the ibex which mated at this same time of year,  is the builder and the banker of the zodiac; hard working and solid yet agile, with an often understated glamour and a keen, if dry sense of humour. The Devil comes in many guises; often powerfully attractive. Or think of animal magnetism. That’s Pan for you. The Devil warns us to beware compulsion reminding us that we can get trapped by our own behaviour as much as by circumstance but we can choose to liberate ourselves by exercising the willpower sufficient to change the behaviour or the circumstance, bringing order out of chaos.

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18)

Dominant element: Air.  (Special note: Aquarius is sometimes mistakenly identified as a water sign because its symbol is the water carrier)

Astrological archetype: The Water Carrier. The Teacher.

Major Arcana card The Star – (hope, inspiration , humanitarianism).

The Star of hope has much in common with the imagery of the Aquarian Water Carrier. It shines its brightest, far-off light when everything else looks dark. The figure in the card has one foot in the water, symbolising her powers of intuition, and the other foot still on land, denotes her stability. Her knee is a bridge between elements. The stars symbolise the card’s over-arching message of guidance, hope and inspiration. Aquarius loves people as a general concept, but she is not one to blend in with the crowd, indicated by the biggest star above her head, which is bigger and set apart from the others.

Pisces (Feb 19-Mar 20)

Dominant element: Water.

Astrological archetype: The Fishes. The Seeker/Seer

Major Arcana card The Moon– (imagination, instinct, intuition)

Like Pisces, The Moon card is associated with the subconscious, and suggests that things are not always as they first appear. The Moon card also represents our secretive side or “shadow self”. The barking dog and the wolf in this card represent Pisces’ wild side sitting alongside its more domestic self. Pisces may seem gentle but the pull of the wild is strong, and so is the pull of the ocean’s tides. These people are deep. The crayfish crawling from the water represents “coming into consciousness” and the possession of psychic abilities, true of all the zodiac signs in their different ways, but especially archetypal of Pisces.

The archetypes are represented real things, real people. Who do we have here? The Magician? The Hermit? Herne? Cernunnos?

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Watch for the more everyday archetypes manifesting in real time all around you.

Until next time 🙂

.

Angels on our Shoulders

Photo by Brayden Law on Pexels.com

Some have called the Tarot ‘The Devil’s Picture book’, but what about the Tarot’s Angels?

Depending on the imagery of the deck, we might see the angel of Judgement. We might see the angel of Temperance,while in other decks the Christian figure of The Devil will be represented instead by the wild god, Pan.

Judgement Gilded Tarot
Judgement from The Gilded Tarot, permission of Ciro Marchetti

I do not necessarily see my card readings as overtly “spiritual” in nature or intention. I think that I am attempting divination – to divine what may be hidden or obscure- in communion with an ancient part of the mind- a part of my mind that is older than I am myself, and that this part of myself is communing with the ancient mind of the other person or the ancient communal understanding of a wider collective.

The reader often does not know what they will see in their cards until they look. Or at least, not consciously. They can only prepare to respond, and they could be asked about anything at all. And I do mean anything. I am often asked about relationships, of course, romantic relationships, family relationships, work relationships. I am asked a lot of ‘if’ and ‘when’ questions. When will I move job? When will I move house? Who will I meet and when and will it work out? I’m also asked a lot of business questions, by business owners, and the stakes have been very high indeed.

Once I was asked a truly oracular question, ‘how is my brother? Is he OK? How is he?’

Why was this oracular? Well, it was very sad. The lady’s brother was dead. He had killed himself. But now she wanted to know

Where was he?

Tarot offered me such an answer to this question, it was fit to make my hair stand on end, but in such a  wonderful way, that if the Tarot is the  “Devil’s picture book”, then the Devil is a whole lot kinder and compassionate than we give him credit for, and he’s overdue a major reassessment.

The Tarot “showed” me via The Sun card that this lady’s poor dead brother was a small boy again, still alive in his own mind, but lost in a timeless moment, happily splashing about in a puddle. I was told he didn’t remember his death, or what had driven him to it. Not a thing.

But …but

I got the feeling this poor soul was coming back again very soon. He was already on his way back to Earth, ready to try this thing called Life again, and he might even land again close by. Then I received a message the following week, very happy and excited, a bit tearful, to the effect that the client’s sister had just found out she was expecting a baby, and maybe…what if….

What if indeed. Maybe this was a reincarnation. Maybe it was something else I picked up along the way while investigating the stated question. It was and is, beyond me to issue any definitive proposition as to which, but it wasn’t me. Not the everyday me.

The promise of a new arrival had come via The Sun card. Meanings: the sun, birth, childhood, happiness, innocence, animals, healing.

sun card

The Sun card from The Golden Tarot, by Kat Black

I cannot prepare for a reading. I can only prepare to respond. I tidy the bathroom, I fill the kettle, I prepare the room, the reading table, and I try to settle my mind, and to get ready to point into whatever wind I’m about to feel on my face.

Readings work on flow. I need to make myself as inconsequential as possible, and take myself out of the equation, so, spiritually or non- spiritually, I don’t worry which, kicking the whole thing ‘upstairs’, and saying to myself while getting ready,

“Great angels of the elements, please help me to help (person’s name)

Uriel, great angel of the North

Gabriel, great angel of the West

Michael, great angel of the South

Raphael, great angel of the East.

Earth and Water, Fire and Air

Please help me to see what most needs to be seen

Please help me to say what most needs to be said

For the highest good and harming none

Amen.”

Uriel represents the north and the element of Earth, and Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn

Gabriel represents the west and the element of Water, and Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio

Michael represents the south and the element of Fire, and Aries, Leo and Sagittarius

Raphael represents the east and the element of Air, and Aquarius, Gemini and Libra

The Tarot, whatever else one thinks it is or isn’t, is a cultural, artistic artefact, and so are angels as depicted in art and literature through the ages.

Uriel, ‘Flame of God,’ angel of earth and the north is the colours of red, gold and amber.

Uriel, angel of self-trust – and therefore, wisdom of decision-making. He ‘stands at the Gate of Eden (Nature) with a fiery sword,’ as pitiless as nature, ‘red in tooth and claw.’ He guards the gates of Tartarus, battling the very baddest of all things bad, though probably some get out again anyway. Uriel needs to be tough, but he is also the archangel of salvation, and opens the gates of Life to let the dead pass safely out and onward, no waylaying by ‘evil nasties’, and he is working alongside the archangel Michael on this job. Uriel is also a culture vulture, depicted as the angel of poetry and patron of the arts, often shown carrying a book or a papyrus scroll representing wisdom. His Tarot card is the Ace of Pentacles/Coins/Earth.

‘Pennies from heaven.’

uriel
The Ace of Pentacles, The Gilded Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Uriel, Wikipedia and The Ace of Pentacles from The Gilded Tarot, permission of Ciro Marchetti

Gabriel, ‘Strength of God,’ is the angel of water and the west, and is the colours of white and silver.

Gabriel is one of the two archangels specifically named in the Bible in both the Old and New Testament, the other being Michael. S/he is God’s messenger, often portrayed as female, she may be holding a trumpet and is the patron of communications, helping writers, teachers, journalists and artists to convey their message, to find motivation and confidence, and to market their skills. S/he helps in overcoming fear and procrastination in all difficult communication, and in areas related to children, during conception, pregnancy, childbirth and child rearing.

‘The Chalice.’

Gabriel Hubert_van_Eyck_010.jpg
ace cups gilded

Gabriel by Van Eyck: The Ace of Cups, The Gilded Tarot, permission of Ciro Marchetti

Michael, ‘Who is like the Lord,’ angel of fire and the south  is all colours of blue.

This might seem out of keeping, but his fire is blue lightning, and his angelic legions wore armour of blue lightning, both in fighting fallen angels, and cutting free trapped human souls who hadn’t managed to rise upon death, and were vulnerable to attack, drifting loose in the ether, stuck by their own weight in Purgatory. Michael figured as the greatest and most revered of angels in many scriptures and spiritual traditions. In Muslim lore, he is the angel of nature who provides both food and knowledge to man. Michael is the protector of police officers, patron of police departments and law enforcement agencies around the world.

‘The Divine Spark’

Coventry_Cathedral_-_Epstein's_sculpture_of_St.Michael_and_Lucifer.jpg
legacy of divine tarot ace of wands

Wikimedia: Epstein’s Michael and Satan, Coventry Cathedral and The Ace of Wands, Legacy of the Divine Tarot, permission of Ciro Marchetti

Raphael, ‘Healing of God,’ archangel of air and of the east is all colours of green. 

Archangel Raphael is the angel of truth, wholeness, healing, body, mind and spirit. Raphael is the rain-man, responsible for precipitation, medicine, also science, mathematics- and music. Many hospitals are named after Raphael in Latin speaking countries today. Pray for help then watch out for clues, ideas and inspiration. Raphael will not intervene to prevent a timely death,’ his war is against prolonged suffering of pain. Raphael is very curious, fascinated by humanity’s innovations, rather like Odin in Norse lore, and like Odin, likes to mingle with Man, travelling earthbound in disguise. He is reputedly the most approachable of the archangels, and is the angel to apply to for protection during travel.

‘The Sword of Truth’

250px-Saint_Raphael
ace swords legacy

Source: Wikimedia Commons: Raphael, and the Ace of Swords, The Legacy of The Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

May your angel stay close.

Until next time 🙂

Updated: Brexit Boo/Brouhaha/Boo-hoo

Update on a reading initially posted May 2019. Read on…

Tweeted 20  August
#Cartomancy Will UK leave EU by/before 31 Oct 2019? Chance is higher than 3/5. Read L-R. 8 Spades, stuck state. Joker Rx, ie, new PM. (Gemini) Crux card= 9 Hearts. Red suit indicates yes. King D and 9 D. Money talks last minute. Ace Clubs. A deal. New start. GE?

Halloween Brexit twitter

So then, what does it look like? Will there be a No Deal Brexit, ie, an exit on WTO terms?

This is, by this time, the preferred option of many, though by no means all Leave voters, whether these are Labour voters or Tory voters. Meanwhile the Brexit Party has demonstrated its muscle, not only in the EU Elections, but in the UK sufficient that, although the Leave vote was split in Radnorshire, the very splitting of that vote also demonstrated the power of the Brexit party, even though this worked against both the Tory Party and the Brexit Party, such that the Lib Dem candidate was selected.

Be that as it may, what cards do we get?

Will it be a No Deal Brexit 22 August

Does this look like a No Deal Brexit?

Not really. This is not looking like a straight WTO exit. Or if it is, there is also some kind of a special trade deal with the EU.

I read the cards left-right. This is a storyboard. For a yes or no, my system is the classic colour system that says more reds than blacks = a yes answer. More blacks than red = a no answer.

How and why is this the case? It’s a convention. I could do it the other way around and that would work just as well. But this is how I have programmed myself to read them, and with much repetition, like learning to play an instrument, this is how it actually starts to work. Perhaps one builds new synapses or something.

So what have we got?

1 red suit card

1 Joker

3 black suit cards

The short answer is, cartomancy suggests there will very likely be at least some kind of trade deal with the EU, so that it will not be a complete WTO exit.

Does that mean that it’s going to be the Withdrawal Agreement then, presumably minus the Irish Backstop? BRINO? Brexit in Name only?

No, it doesn’t look like that either.

This looks like a trade- only deal, so far as I can see, possibly because the Backstop issue is resolved adequately for Parliament(just) and Mrs Merkel feels she has obtained for EU members some adequate measure of economic surety.

Let’s look at the individual cards.

That one red suit card, the 8 of Hearts, is representing the status quo, and the power of the Remain lobby in Parliament.

The Joker– cue the catcalls here from those out of accord with the new PM, (says a former Labour voter)- but this is a destiny card, and does not simply describe an actual Joker or clown or buffoon. But if it did, then take another look at the Joker. See the smile. Watch the eyes. They are serious. So is the skill. As an opponent, he is not to be underestimated.

The Joker is a card of surprises. It is astrologically, the card of Boris Johnson, a Gemini subject three times over. It suggests he is completely in earnest  when he says he wants us out. And he is not afraid of the EU, unlike Mrs May, but he is intellectually and politically agile, and not averse to sleight of hand. He needs to be cunning. Some might all it strategic.

Then we have the 2 Spades. Split. Severance. Divorce. This is a Brexit divorce, so if there is an element of ‘fudge’ or compromise, it may not be as significant, or be the trickery into indefinite entrapment that Leavers fear.

This is reinforced by the next card, the 3 Swords. This is in itself a deeply negative card with grief and mourning attached. Our family of nations is unhappy, angry and uneasy. But here, it is also a 3 way plan and again, it signifies a parting of the ways enacted in law. I feel it represents Mr Johnson, Mrs Merkel and M Macron today, and that Mrs Merkel and M Macron will not be in accord re the best way to proceed. The news media suggests this is probably the case even as we speak.

The outcome card, the 5 Clubs…so what does that mean? Clubs is the suit of government and business. 5 is the number of change…and also conflict. This change is uncomfortable.

But as you see, red suit cards translate as yes in cartomancy, black suit cards translate as no, so my cards, rightly or wrongly, have produced that same card as I drew in May, suggesting some kind of trade deal with the EU either before we leave, or immediately upon exiting.

The central card is key, so I use it as my start point for drawing a new line of enquiry reading top to bottom now, asking, well, if it’s not a straight WTO Exit, what will it look like?

The 7 Swords is negotiation and intense effort. It is the card of the ‘workaholic.’

There seems to be a story line here of Mrs Merkel saying in so many words, we can’t risk the No Deal scenario, this would be crazy. (Joker Reversed) The risk has to be detected as real enough and actually, it is. It looks as though Mrs Merkel will say this if she decides Mr Johnson is not bluffing. And I don’t feel he is. But if he could offer something to reassure the Remain MP’s, he may take a pragmatic view on that, or cynical as some might say. To get the thing over the line.

That 5 Clubs card is also a reminder that the UK is the 5th largest economy in the world. Mrs Merkel is naturally, acutely aware of this, and she does not let personal pride or vanity get in the way of her judgement.

This last comment is based on the cards. Mrs Merkel is being shown to me as the eminently pragmatic and shrewd Queen of Diamonds, and the 9 Diamonds says…money talks.

Incidentally, Diamonds is the suit of electricity, and may sometimes suggest a health problem of nervous origin. Nervous as in , signals misfiring in the body, such as with Parkinson’s.

OK, let’s try out a pendulum divination, ie; asking my central nervous system to use a movement to indicate its non-verbal response to a verbalised question. On what basis does this hocus-pocus work?

It ain’t hocus-pocus. It works on the basis that the mind does not reside entire within the brain, and we know things at a deeper level than language, so the challenge is to distract the conscious mind, notice body cues from the CNS, and turn those into language. This language is of necessity, restricted to yes, no or maybe, in varying degrees of emphasis or intensity, depending on the size of the swing, and the speed of rotation of the swing.

Dowsing board

Will the UK leave the EU on No Deal/WTO terms?

The pendulum moves to YES, wobbles a while then moves towards NO and starts swinging rapidly back and forth.

Will the UK leave the EU on what some call BRINO terms (Brexit in Name Only?) 

Again, the pendulum moves to YES, wobbles there awhile, then moves towards NO and starts swinging rapidly back and forth.

OK. So that Ace of Clubs card. A new business agreement. A new Government. A General Election. Will there be a General Election before the UK leaves?

It is swinging to NO almost immediately

When will Brexit be declared as having occurred?

The pendulum is swinging between Scorpio-early Sagittarius

Corresponding dates 22 October-21 December

But the arc stops well short of the later end of this date range.

We’re all watching this space.

Back soon with more cartomancy   🙂

Until next time!

Original Post, May 2019

Brexit, hey? Where next? Your guess is as good as mine but let’s take another look at it through the lens of my playing cards, drawn three nights ago, May 4.

Will there be a second referendum, as called for by Labour, The Lib Dems, and a number of high profile campaign groups?

Or will we leave without a second referendum and if so, what does it look like from here?

Brexit May 4 2019

reads the rows of cards left to right & also sometimes top to bottom, noting the ratio of red: black cards before looking at the individual meanings of the cards containing extra comments.

ROW 1 Will there be a 2nd referendum?

Probably not. There is a ‘new’ king about to come into play. This is not Mr Corbyn. This is a king of Diamonds, an electric communicator with acute money sense and I always draw Mr Corbyn as a King of Hearts. So, is this is a candidate to replace Mrs May as PM, or it is Mr Farage and any effect of the new Brexit Party, or is both these things, and the same card is standing for two significant (new) figures coming into play (again).

I suspect so.  A second referendum would kill Brexit, which would be the aim, and this would be achieved by the ballot design, which would be designed to split the Leave vote as per an idea currently under discussion, but that 8 Spades is a pretty conclusive ‘no’ card.

ROW 2 Will we leave following a successful fourth attempt by TM to push through the deal already rejected on three previous occasions? After all, time and energy are not inexhaustible. Note the Queen of Spades which is clearly here representing Theresa May; a woman consulting  the ‘legalese’.

Well, based on these cards, and however crazy it might seem,  a deal is still looking possible, and is looking more likely at this point in time than NO Deal; and perhaps this is hardly surprising, since the No Deal negotiating option removed from Mrs May’s tool box.

But WHAT deal? The four of Spades is a tomb, a rout, a retreat. This prospective fourth deal or new deal is not Mrs May’s.

Those Nines surrounding the Queen of Spades represent both the failure of completion on 29 March, and Mrs May’s intense desire to get this deal passed. The 9 Hearts is the ‘heartfelt wishes’ card.

The cards indicate that Mrs May sincerely wants to find a way to (or to be seen to at least) to bring the UK out of the EU (not Europe) but the terms of course, are the issue, as we all know, except for those for whom it is not a question of the terms, but more the determination to see Article 50 Revoked altogether, and the whole thing put back in its box, and the lid slammed shut never to be re-opened. The threat of this seems very real right now, or the hope of this, depending on how you feel about it. But it doesn’t look to me as though it will happen.

ROW 3:  A second Referendum?

This threat or hope notwithstanding, the cards indicated there will not be a second referendum, although this may not be necessary for the revoking of Article 50.  And I don’t see that, so it look as though we will leave, but when? Is there an underlying sense of what it will look like?

If Theresa May should present the exact same deal to Parliament (shown as the 10 Diamonds) a fourth time, this will jam up the works, suggests the appearance of the 4 Spades. It won’t pass, plus, she may then quit as PM, and a new PM will come in (King Diamonds?) This could happen this summer, suggests the second column as I read it top to bottom like so:

6 Clubs ( within 6 weeks from the date of this reading, or, this is a summer card.

In Summary

What is absent from this spread is the single clean strike of the Ace of Spades, that would say a less equivocal OUT on WTO terms.

Other readers and astrologers are confident in expressing their forecasts of a clean WTO Brexit, even now.

I am probably struggling more than they to see past the noise, but I draw another cards and get the Ace of Clubs. This is BRAND NEW BUSINESS with a broad geographical horizon, but lacks that more black and white binary quality of the Ace of Swords

The Ace of Clubs has another quality to it, transcending matters of business….it’s equivalent to the Tarot’s Ace of Wands. Ignition. Birth, Almost like a rebirth.

So what does this mean in plain English? Well, this cloud is still morphing, but it’s looking like a WTO exit BUT with a ‘special European add-on.’

Or it is a whole New Deal.

For the sake of transparency,  I should say that while I would perfectly calmly have accepted a remain vote in 2016, I feel the original mandate should be honoured as a point of principle, according to the self same terms in which it was clearly presented by the government in the run up to the referendum.

Execution of detail follows direction which follows principle.

However, as always, the risk in consulting with any kind of oracle is that the reader will not see what they personally may hope to see, and they may equally see precisely what they do not want to see.

I want to see that I will get outta this wheelchair and walk again one day. So, do I see that in my cards?

No.

I could be wrong, and I never say never, but meanwhile I am living with the fact that I do not see in my cards what I wish to see for myself.

You take my point. The reader asks a question. S/he may have personal ‘skin in the game ‘or not, but either way s/he shuffles and picks the cards blindly, and s/he may misinterpret, and be especially at risk of doing so if reading from a position of bias or prejudice,  but s/he cannot fudge the reds and blacks  except by doing so deliberately, and what the heck would be the point of that, when time will tell us all what’s what in due course?

Il Matrimonio, bless his ecologically right-on size 11 breathable bamboo socks, says he no longer cares one way or another. He just wants it all to stop, and he doesn’t mind how. And he’d quite like me to shut up with even trying to forecast about it.

What will happen will happen, he says.

Sure.

I have to give this forecasting thing a go, though, because divination is my line of work, and whether I get it right, or I get it wrong, so that I have to go back and figure out how and why I got it wrong with the benefit of hindsight – still, I will learn something, even if I have to fall flat on my face. So what? Life is short and…

fall flat on your face

I have done a number of readings around Brexit. I’m not being shown a clear No Deal exit, and yet, I see no sign of Remaining either. It is not going to be business as before, however this works out. The UK will not revert to the previous status quo.

We will all find out, *ahem* soon enough, won’t we?

And let us trust, it will be before each and every one of us is rendered utterly and completely….

William-Cheselden-Osteographia-or-The-anatomy-of-the-bones-London-1733-Courtesy-of

Image: Public Domain Review: William Cheselden, 1733, courtesy of the National Library of Medicine.

Cartomancy Cat-Speak

Let’s talk cats and cartomancy.

I ought to be writing up my latest look at Brexit but I’m too tired and lazy today. We’re still out so far as I can see, despite the persistent groundswell for a second referendum, but how ‘hard’ a Brexit? The cards detect and reflect events in progress, and there is so much happening, I need to look again at this and the timings. I have posted a number of readings on this subject here if you visit the archives.

Craig Hamilton Parker and Jessica Adams still predict a Hard Brexit, posting and broadcasting in recent days. Jessica Adams is an astrologer, and she suggests a series of stages running all the way through to December 2019. I feel no reason to disagree. The Devil card turned up in this context (Capricorn) but I will look again at the timings.

But for now, let’s do a small demonstration of an ordinary deck of playing cards, having fun with telepathy. Here the cards are acting simply as a mirror; reflecting events in progress as they occur.

Il Matrimonio fetched out his Hornby Dublo and laid out a simple track in the sitting room. Placed a couple of stations. Fetched out his three engines; Titch, Diane and The Duchess of Atholl and one by one gave them a whizz round the track.

It was his father’s, bought in Singapore in 1952. Il Matrimonio got into trouble if he ran two of the engines at the same time, but never asked his Dad why this was a problem and never found out why.

His father was a Royal engineer, a road and bridge builder, and was 19 when he sailed to N Africa in 1940 for the desert war against Rommel.

So presumably he had his reasons for not wanting the two engines running at once. I said to Il Matrimonio, run two then, and see what happens.

So he did and they stopped. Insufficient power. So now he knows.That wasn’t so difficult, was it?

The engines whizzed round and round. Here goes ‘Titch’, watched by a giant monster cat. Jessicat. (The little purple thing is her bird toy, stuffed with cat nip.)

Look at that fatty-puss pantherette. What a Daddy’s girl.

Jess and ‘Titch’

I asked the cards, what’s Jess thinking? What’s she making of it? Tell me the story as you see it.

I shuffled

And drew the following four cards:

King of Spades. Wow. This is Il Matrimonio, a Libra subject. His astrological card is indeed The King Of Spades, equivalent to the Tarot’s King of Swords.

Translation: I am with my Daddy.

Jack of Diamonds: Translation. ‘This is exciting. Small things, new things, quick things’. The cat’s assessment of Titch and the rest of the train set. No arguing with that. The set is not new but she has never seen it before.

This card also refers specifically to the engines as objects. (mini-fire) ‘Titch’ et al.

The Queen of Diamonds. Wow again. Translation. ‘Her.’ This was me, a Taurus ‘queen’, equivalent to the Queen of Pentacles in Tarot, in the cat’s peripheral vision as I watched from the sitting room doorway.

The 8 of Clubs is equivalent to the Tarot’s 8 of Wands and translates as ‘quick, quick, hurry, hurry.’ It is a card of emails, phone calls, hustle and bustle.

Well done my little card-stock friends. That was the cat’s whiskers.

Jessicat’s to be exact.

Look atta Daddy’s girl.

Until next time 🙂

Tarot Says Miaow: A Tale of Two Kitties

Katie-Ellen's avatarTrue Tarot Tales

A tale of two cats ( and there’s another Miaow Tarot Tale  or two in the archives.)  Daughter Numera Una, an Animal Care Assistant, and a brill one; rang one evening, ‘we have lost Elsa- cat. Will you look in your cards about it? We’ve been searching and calling for the last three hours.’

She had recently moved address and had two cats, both girls, Elsa and Salem. Elsa was very gentle, borderline dozy, Salem’s practically a genius. Here they are. Elsa top, Salem below with RT. You might be forgiven for wondering which one is the thickie and vice- versa. All I can say is, Salem was being seriously disrespected, being made to wear that pink combo which was actually Elsa’s.

Elsa Cat

Arti and Salem

Where might Elsa be? Let me say loud and clear I had no idea, how would I?

I drew the Moon card first, look at the picture, and put it to my…

View original post 421 more words

This year’s star: The pig

The Pig is the salt of the earth, says a Water Rabbit/Korean Cat.

thebowesmuseum's avatarThe Bowes Museum's Blog

The New Chinese Year starts today represented by the year off the Pig. The Pig is one of the 12 animals that won ‘The Great Race’ set by the Jade Emperor, in Ancient China. It came last, because it stopped for food and a nap, but as a reward for finishing the race, had the 12th year of the zodiac named after him. So the legend says. It is said that its characteristics are conscientiousness, generosity, calm, compassion but it can also be gullible and quiet.

ant-238 Pigs by T. Horsley, oil on canvas, 1807

But how is the pig seen in other cultures? And what symbolism does it have in art?

In biblical or Islamic texts the pig is perceived as an unclean creature. In Christianity is associated with violence, cruelty, lust and gluttony. In Buddhist illustrations the pig or wild boar is at the center of the Samsara Wheel…

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