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Edited on Sat Jun-03-06 01:37 AM by BlueIris
(I would have written this earlier, but my day started to get all weird and crazy not too long after I put this up; sorry. Also, this post will have to be short as I am ex-haus-ted by my day, so this might be a bit less thorough than my usual contributions here; again, apologies.)
Firstly, for those interested, the admittedly open-ended question I meditated on while reading the Thursday's news was basically: "What happens next in the United States, re: Bush, his wars, his economy, his stolen election and his corrupted White House?" And here's something else I just now realized: six out of ten cards in the spread were reversed, which both my pro Tarot readers would probably say means it was a "reversed" reading, which a) tends to happen when I ask the cards to give me information about people, places, events and ideas external to me and my life, and b) is an appropriate result, considering the nature of the subject I asked about (the Bush situation and its impact on the country in the relatively near future.) It's Bush-related. If reversals are all about the extreme, imbalanced, suppressed, secretive, denied, misdirected, misused, unconventional, magical or excessive variations of their upright meanings, well, those are the qualities that typify Bushworld (and our reactions to living in it), aren't they?
1. (Issue at hand) 5 of Wands: I read this as a depiction of the social/spiritual conflicts, adversity and pain this society is currently engaged in largely as a result of the destructive, divisive actions of the Bush regime. Curiously, it didn't occur to me until just now that this could reflect the ever-increasing discord we're seeing on the conservative side of the fence, not just what's happening in the Progressive world. It's invigorating conflict sometimes, and it might bring about productive solutions to the current crises long-term, but it's still conflict, frustrating and difficult. A random thought that popped into my brain a second ago, about this card: "Everybody wants something, badly, and no one's gotten it yet."
2. (What crosses the issue at hand) Justice: Not too tough. This card indicates the desire (mine, Progressives') to see some measure of justice, fairness and rightness cut through the foggy mess of Bushworld and all that is amoral and criminal about it.
3. (What underlies or is at the root of the issue at hand) 4 of Wands: I often see this card whenever I, (and in my view, the Progressive public) see a chance for the Democrats of other non-conservatives to win some kind of victory or even up the political, legal, and cultural score, then rejoice in our accomplishment. I saw it after I read that Kerry was about the filibuster the Alito nomination, on the first Fitzmas, and on the morning of January 6, 2005, when I thought there might be one last chance to stop Bush from getting his second term. I see this card as a nod toward Progressive in-roads, victories or at least non-losses during the last week or so, especially the RFK, Jr. article on election fraud.
4. (What is behind, or of decreasingly influence on major issue) Wheel of Fortune, Rx: I'm guessing that this simply signifies a change in the kind of "luck" that has felt as if it is governing a lot of the more horrible developments regarding the Admin's many evil acts. I think it's generally about an end to the run of extraordinarily bad luck (namely near-misses--or deliberate sabotage--of chances the Democrats and their supporters have had to stop various elements of the Bush agenda) we've been having these past two years especially. I'm thinking about Ted Kennedy not having died in a plane crash last week. Excellent. The reversal here also reminds me of the fact that while I don't think Karl Rove controls the whole universe, the "bad luck" we've sometimes fallen prey to has had more to due with the fact that the Republicans have more willing to lie, cheat, steal, and break every known formal and informal law, to win their battles--the card's reversal indicates that we didn't have bad luck so much as we got actively screwed by subversive forces. Maybe it also points to a future in which we, especially the Progressive 'we,' rely less on lucky breaks generally, and leave less up to chance. Because we have better control over the future, and are better organized and more cohesive in it.
5. (What is above or bearing down on main issue) Page of Cups, Rx: I admit that this one has me a little bit puzzled, but the best guess I have here is that this card conveys the group mindset, particularly the emotional side, of the American public, which I still think of as largely a page-like youngster, when it comes to Bush, especially in terms of what most comprehend about the damage he's done, which is little. As it is reversed, I read this card as showing the petulant, almost bitter attitude that Americans have toward government at this time, frightened, angry, untrusting, and often callous as a result.
6. (What is approaching; the near future) 3 of Wands, Rx: I wish I could claim that I felt the reversal of this card meant that the pain, torment and suffering of the Bush years were about to abate. Maybe it will abate slightly, or a great deal, possibly as the result of at least one major, tangible piece of proof about Bush's crimes, but any sense of happiness, relief, satisfaction, or safety any of us feel will be bittersweet and fleeting. It's kind of hard for me to imagine feeling all that much better about anything, even in the wake of total vindication of Progressive perspectives and subsequent steps toward the formation of a sane America (more Plame indictments, formal end to Iraq, purging of Abramoff conspirators from Congress, Dem landslides in November) when we would still be left with so much ruin despite the improvement. I'll also take a guess here and say that this, to me, suggests that anything which occurs to make things marginally better for us--even an actual Bush removal--may not fully be recognized by the media, the minds of most or even half the populace, or the world.
7. (Normally, self, but in this case, I think of that as the collective self that is America, Americans) 7 of Pentacles, Rx: To me, this is about Americans...sort of recognizing, because they're slowly being forced to, that Bush's strategies have yielded a woefully insufficient, unstable, inadequate "harvest." An economy that isn't serving the vast majority of them, not providing them with the material things they need. If I were to be less literal, I would say that I think this card shows Americans feeling a major letdown about what they don't possess at this time, and that being Americans, the disappointment over this lack, which is emotional, intellectual, and spiritual, is conceptualized via the pentacle, symbol of material, prosperity and substance. Sadly, I think this reversal indicates that most don't connect this strife directly with Bush, or any choices they made to support his economic policies through actual votes for him, or temporary benefits to the madness of those policies that they foolishly took advantage of. Not surprisingly, I'm thinking about all the folks who are upset about the tough situation they're in this year as the result of getting a house with an ARM in 2004 or 2005.
8. (Environmental and external influences) Knight of Wands, Rx: I look at this card and see (literally) RFK, Jr. (and those backing him and his recent crusading), as well as (less literally) equally zealous, if immature and unwise "crusaders" for the Progressive front. Not going to mention any names. None of these people are bad or behaving (entirely) disingenuously in my view. I just think that their wild, daring, sporadic and almost out-of-control activities of late haven't been that well thought out, have resulted in some real "mis-fires" in their attempts to damage Bush & Co., and may have an enduring resonance...just not exactly the kind we on the left, or America generally, need or want.
9. (Hopes, aspirations and fears) Magician, Rx: Most in this country want an end to illusion, delusion, smoke and mirrors, trickery and deceit. They want the magician "overturned," the veils dropped, the performance ended. Less spin, more answers. Egh. The reversal of this one makes me think we might not be able to end it quite yet, or in the way we want. I'm also wondering if this card represents a widespread social discontent with the media--which I think of as the great magician--and all it is refusing to provide the truth about.
10. (Outcome of issue addressed by card 1) Queen of Cups: I can't pin this down to one literal event of a specific significance (at least not yet). As I wrote earlier, I see this as a great "watershed" of truth, change, and recognition of the need to cleanse and restore our brutalized land in the wake of Bush. The nurturing energies this Queen exudes should help with that, which will be handy, as the ocean of her impact could be overwhelming, perhaps appearing to do more harm than good at first. Maybe she is--or is symbolized by--one woman who brings in the proverbial tide of exposure and validation for us and our messages. Maybe it's a lot of women who do that. Maybe it's someone or a group of someones who they public sees as the powerful, but sensitive and empathetic, as this Queen is, and use their empathetic natures to persuade en mass. Maybe she embodies what our society will seem like in the wake of a Bush collapse. That would be helpful, in my eyes, considering how miserable see people, and not just those in the reality-based community, feeling now, which is how I think the Queen connects to the Page in this spread. She's coming to destroy, but also to heal.
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