Tarot Reading: Focus on Election 2016's Ramifications

I began reading tarot cards in my late teens, but didn't really feel proficient with them until my first pregnancy.  All those hormones unlocked my sense of intuition, but it wasn't until I got the first deck that really called to me that the readings became, well, oddly accurate.  I'm out of practice because the birth of my sons threw everything off, but I've been slowly getting the cards back out over the last year.   So after the election results came out I took several days to just get over feeling sick and betrayed, and then it occurred to me that a reading might help.  Cuz why not?  It couldn't make anything worse.  So...here's what the cards and I came up with.

Because my focus was on the election and its ramifications I used my Legend:  The Arthurian Tarot deck.  Its rich mythology correlates well with politics and the many, many people this election has affected.  Also, I'm using my own spread.  The one I made looks kind of like an eye with six cards on top and three on the bottom.  And anytime I have a question or need more information from one of those cards I lay three off of them.



In order of appearance I had the Queen of Swords, Five of Spears, Ace of Swords, Four of Cups, 0 The Fool, Eight of Spears, Ten of Cups, Four of Swords, and Six of Shields.  Now I don't assign any particular order other than I read the top six, left to right then go down to the bottom and read the last 3 left to right.

In this case I started with the first six and what stood out to me (other than my cat Calypso sneaking her way into my reading cuz her duplicate is sitting right there with Morgause) was that I wasn't sure what the Queen of Swords was standing for.  In this deck she's Morgause, who was a very smart, well read woman who made a bit political move for herself in the Arthurian legends.  So I laid three cards off of her to get:  the 4 of spears, the King of Cups, and the 5 of swords.  With the other three I was able to see Morgause represented Hillary Clinton and the Democratic era.  In this deck the 4 of spears shows the wedding celebration of La Cote Male Tail and Maledisant, the King of Cups is the Fisher King, and the Five of Swords is Gawain's Penance.



In putting these 4 cards together they said to me that Hillary had put a ton of effort most of her life into this moment, the 4 of Spears and Fisher King represent Obama's era (working with Hillary Clinton as well), and the 5 of swords is the beginning of the end of that era.

Moving on to the other cards we have the 5 of Spears which in this deck is the Pursuit of Igraine.  So for those of you who don't know, Igraine was King Arthur's mother, but he was conceived through deceit as Uther Pendragon had his army fight Igraine's husband's army while Uther had Merlin disguise him.  In other words, lots of work was put into this.  (It's a very integral part of the legend of King Arhur.)  In regards to the election it actually IS the election.  All the work that ALL the politicians and their teams put into the nasty election we had is right there.  The next card (Ace of Swords) also plays into this.  We all know the election was not pleasant, was sharp and could be compared to a sword or knife cut with all its stinging and swiping.

The 4 of Cups (Fading Fellowship) is the outward end of Camelot and Arthur's vision.  I literally felt the end of the Democratic era the evening of the election.  It damn near made me physically ill.  This card shows decay and ruin, disgust and disillusionment.

Going on to the next one we have 0 The Fool (played by Percivale in this deck.)  This is Donald Trump.  He doesn't know the first thing about running a country, didn't do any preparation, and is going to make a colossal mess of things.  He may gain some valuable knowledge, but we are going to have a shitty time while he's learning.

Next up is the 8 of Spears.  Now this one really jumped out because it's The White Hart which plays a big part in both Arthurian and Celtic mythology.  In Arthurian mythology the White Hart was considered a messenger of the Gods and ran into the banquet hall after the wedding of Arthur and Guinevere.  This caused a series of events to unfold that took a very long time to end.  Merlin advised the knights of Arthur's court that until the series of events were concluded the court wouldn't retain its honor.  Now, my understanding of the Celtic version is that the White Hart is the 'ideal goal' and that one will literally tear oneself to pieces trying to achieve it.  In the view of the election the White Hart represents the ideal goals of both major parties.  And if everyone is trying to gain their ideal goals it's going to create strife around the country.  Expect riots, more hate crimes, possibly a recession before this takes care of itself.  Best thing you can do is take care of yourself and do something if you see other people doing things they shouldn't be doing.  And don't ask me how long that's going to go on, because I have no idea.

So after that doozy the next card was the 10 of Cups which made no sense.  I couldn't see how the hell we got from chaos to the successful completion of a long term goal with nothing in between, so I laid three cards off of it.  The resulting three cards were 1 The Magician, the 6 of Spears, and 9 The Hermit.



So seeing two major arcana cards in those three means something big is taking place.  In this deck The Magician is represented by Merlin, who we've seen influencing other cards in this spread.  Merlin was the ultimate adviser to King Arthur and was also a powerful Druid with mystical powers.  The 6 of Spears is the Return of Ambrosius or commitment to change for the better and gaining control of a worrisome situation.  Followed by that is The Hermit which is Lancelot in Exile or the almighty self-care card after you've been through a horrible time.  When I first laid these three down I thought it was pointing to an actual person, but the more I think about it I think it's an overall movement.  Or the work of several advisers working together.  It signifies once we're through this hell hole we're in right now things will get better, but it's going to take a lot of work and recuperation later.

The 4 of Swords is next which is Isolt of the White Hands and is all about recuperation and healing.  I think this is just reinforcing the message of The Hermit.  It's not going to be an easy time, but healing will take place eventually.

Last card is the 6 of Shields which is the only shield card in this spread and stands for the Castle of Maidens in this deck.  In the Arthurian mythology Galahad frees many women from the enforced prostitution they'd been enduring, then proceeds to give the castle back to the daughter of the old lord of the castle.  Its meaning is receiving help from others, receiving a gift, and an improvement in circumstances.

Here's what the spread looked like when it was finished:



So there's that.  I'm still not sure if The Magician is representing a single adviser or a group of them, but it's clear there will be a big influence either way.  We're going to have to deal with some nasty crap before we get clear of all this, but it will eventually come to an end.

Aftermath

The evening of the election my intuition spiked and gave me a feeling something horrible was going to happen.  Sometimes it really sucks to be right.  Anyway, now that Trump was given the election by the electoral college rather than the popular vote, change is going to happen.  But I seriously doubt it's going to be the type of change most of his voters are looking for.  Keep in mind this is a man who showed a marked lack of empathy during his campaign.  To expect him to take responsibility for his actions and decry the hateful rhetoric that he inflamed and used during his campaign to the point that nobody should be surprised hateful rhetoric is sweeping the United States right now that many people are enduring on a daily basis is to expect Trump to be a man he simply isn't.  Minority communities are facing hate crimes all over the country and unfortunately that isn't going to stop anytime soon.  When Trump goes back on most of his campaign promises expect his more fervent followers to act out.  This is only the beginning and now we just have to get through it.

Things you can do to help those besieged by hate right now might be uncomfortable, but we should still do them.  Talk to your friends and family members about this ongoing spewing of hateful bias and ask them how they plan to make victims feel safe.  If you see hateful bias happening in front of you, don't just stand there do something.  Go and stand with the person being bullied.  Tell the person doing the bullying to go home.  Offer comfort both to yourself and to the people who are being actively bullied.  If you hear a coworker talking in a hateful or racist way, confront them.  This is a problem on a national level and hoping it will go away on its own isn't going to cut it.

There are many calls for unity by politicians on media right now, but that's just not going to work.  The United States is a festering wound right now, and putting a band aid on it just isn't going to help.  People are genuinely frightened that terrible things are going to happen to them, and telling them to shut up and color demeans what they're going through.

Other things that are probably going to be a concern in the next four years include trade embargos going down the toilet.  Prices will go up and many people are not going to be able to afford the same things they're purchasing now.  I'm currently tossing anything we don't need to gain more storage space for non-perishable food items like rice, beans, and peanut butter.  If you're not the gardening type get to know someone who is because fresh fruits and vegetables are going to get more expensive.  Economically we may experience a higher unemployment rating during the next 4 years.  Here's hoping the economy won't tank into a recession, but I wouldn't count it out.

Friendships may change and family relationships are going to be difficult.  There are going to be people who just want to fall in line and let the world pass them by.  I've never been one who can stand by and watch anyone be bullied or pushed around.  I fully expect some people to stop talking to me when I encourage them to stop being complicit in hateful bias, but I'm not going to stop.  To do nothing in the face of such behaviors would invalidate everything I have ever stood for.

That's all I've got for now.  Take care of yourselves as best as you can and know that there's light at the end of the tunnel.  We will get through this.