After the depressing election results (or, to use a British English equivalent "bloody fucking grim"), I thought to do a little, light-hearted reading for both the U.S. and global situation; afterall, "every cloud has a silver lining", right. I thought "It can't be that bad." In case your Grim News Intake Limit happens to have reached its limit already, I suggest not reading this post further.
I decided to use the Godfather Tarot (Will Corona Pilgrim/Epic Ink 2022), because... well. It just seemed to fit the occasion.
Two cards for both the U.S. and Global situation; first card near future, second card distant future.
U.S. first.
Near future: 4 of Cups / "Boredom; Stasis"
Distant future: 5 of Swords / "Conflict"
I find the empty chair in the 4 of Cups quite telling. A quote from the Cambridge Dictionary: "to leave an empty seat to show that someone has refused to take part in a discussion: He failed to show up, so they empty-chaired him. to refuse to take part in a discussion: France was empty chairing the discussions, having criticized the treaty."
Also, the word "Stasis" brings to mind Rabbi Levi bar Ido's list for the 10 Qliphoth; for the shadow side of Malkuth he gives "Stasis"; standstill. Also, what I didn't know, was the word in political history refers to "a period of civil war within an ancient Greek city-state."
And now I can't help seeing the Orange Menace sitting under a tree, with three cups before him, and one being offered from a cloud, à la Waite-Smith tradition. Urgh.
However, "the Chair resigning"... now there's a thought. Wishful thinking, probably.
My nickname for the 5 of Swords is "Terrorist". To me it represents that aspect within ourselves, which chooses to obliterate an idea instead of negotiate with it. It's the part of our Shadow which pulls the rug under our feet, time and again; how we sabotage our lives (and those of others, sometimes!) by refusing to see something. Sword 5 is the Bully. In this case, the Orange Bully, probably. Also, what's staring at us from the image: a revolver cylinder. Gun control, or the lack of it. Gun violence. Gun deaths.
Then the Global situation.
Near future: 7 of Swords / "Theft"
Distant future: Knight of Swords / "Battles; An Opponent"
For the record, I did shuffle the deck thoroughly. I then cut the deck into four piles, roughly same size, and then chose one card from each pile. So, yes... that looks peachy. (Not.)
Three sword cards out of four. Emphasis on Air element, the most turbulent of the four suits.
7 of Swords can be very positive - if one wants to think in those terms, and here we are dealing with a predictive reading, so why not - symbolising a problem-solving mindset, an "active mind". However, the creator of this deck has wanted to emphasise the negative side of the card, which is to do with stealing and theft. Breaking locks. Illegal activities.
For me, all the four Knights are Air element. So the Sword Knight is "Air of Air", double Air. Hence the horse in the Waite-Smith deck not even touching the ground; everything is "up in the air". Funnily enough (or not, come to think), the 5 of Swords and the Knight of Swords are the only two cards in the RWS deck which feature stratus fractus, fast-moving clouds associated with stormy weather. More fun.
So... yeah. Jesus f*****g Christ. Honestly, I was expecting to see at least one "happy" card, something on the fluffy bunny side, you know. I guess not.
Within the U.S., the movement or progression is from 4 (of Cups) to 5 (of Swords), from the Emperor to the Hierophant, transferred into the Majors. That would be from personal power (King) to collective power (Church) - the Christian Right Wing? I can see the two indicating lots of resignations, sudden removals (interpret that as you will), leading into more drastic decisions coupled with increasing violence and turmoil. Probably no need to check any cards to see this happening for real.
For the global situation (that is, outside of the U.S.), I'm seeing in my mind's eye a pack of hyenas gathering (a "cackle of hyenas", in fact, the official term, cough), with promises broken, contracts cancelled, sudden "coups" taking place. International conflicts. In fact, the Sword Knight together with the Sword 7; I can hear Rachel say "It could be an assassin." Oh my. In any case there's speedy action involved, all things sudden, that's for sure.
As the Sword Knight happened to be the only court card in the reading, I thought to take an additional card for clarification. What's the framework of the Knight in question, to what does it pertain... I'll leave you with the result.
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