An Arab woman has started a Facebook page in which she encourages others to post a photo of themselves along with a statement that begins, ‘I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because…’ The aim is to create an online space where women – often isolated in their own communities – can exchange personal stories and debate issues. Thousands have flocked to post messages. Both men and women. Here are a few…
Post patriarchal depression. I don’t know if it’s a real syndrome. I just liked the phrase so much I wanted to include it in my blog post tonight.
According to an article in the New York Times (so it must be true) post-patriarchal depression is the reason white guys sometimes go on mass shooting sprees. What the? Sounds like an excuse for unexcusable behaviour to me. But I take the point. You can understand that it’s hard for young men to know how to be a man these days when many of their own father’s behaviours are no longer considered acceptable. The New York Times correspondent suggested that there is an entire generation of young men who hate themselves. Lost boys who don’t know their place in the world.
Which makes me think of this card…
I’ve been wanting to tackle this topic ever since the terrible tragedy in Newtown last week but have been wary as this is such an emotive issue. However Tarot does have something to say about the mania for gun ownership. So (deep breath) here goes…
I guess the easy thing to conclude is that The Devil in this scenario is the boy who shot all those poor children. Full stop. No need to look any further for a culprit. Yet anyone who performs such a heinous deed is clearly suffering from mental health issues. Which is not to absolve him. I’m big on accepting responsibility for your actions (as is Tarot). I just don’t believe anyone acts in isolation. We are all influenced by our environment (so says the Hierophant card.) And we have a responsibility as a society to examine what we are doing to contribute to the escalation of situations like this (Judgement). I’m not alone in thinking this. Even in the United States where the right to bear arms is enshrined like gospel in the Constitution voices of dissent are being raised.
Now. I have many beautiful American friends who love their guns who have been frantically protesting on social media how it’s not guns that kill, it’s people. That rather than getting rid of guns we should be handing them out like jellybeans to teachers for them to keep handy in their classrooms. And of course there is a logic to that argument. However there are so many arguments against.
First of all. There is no evidence to show that having a gun keeps you safe. Killers have the element of surprise on their side. Logic dictates that a teacher interrupted while reading a story to her class would not have the time to reach for the handgun in her desk drawer in the face of someone with a semi-automatic in their hand.
If the evidence shows anything it is that children are more likely to die when guns are kept nearby. Just by accident. A gun kept in the home is apparently ten times more likely to be used on a member of the household than an intruder.
The perpetrator in this situation had apparently been whipped into a state of stress by a mother who believed the apocalypse was coming. Imagine how different the outcome of his mental distress if he’d never been shown how to shoot a firearm. If they weren’t kept at hand in his home?
Then there’s the fact that if there are more guns around they are bound to be used more. The Harvard Injury Control Research Centre has found substantial evidence to indicate that more guns means more murders. This holds true whether you’re looking at different countries or different states.
In Australia where the right to bear arms does not play a big part in our national psyche we had our own debate about the whole gun ownership thing a few years back when a man (who I refuse to mention by name) went on a rampage in Tasmania killing 35 people. The upshot was our Prime Minister at the time instigated the biggest gun buyback in our history as well as tighter rules for licensing and safe storage of those firearms remaining in public hands. And he was a Conservative i.e. Like a Republican. This law did not end gun ownership in Australia but reduced the number in private hands by one-fifth especially the kinds most likely to be used in mass murder. In the 18 years before the law took effect Australia suffered 13 mass shootings but not one in the 14 years since. The murder rate with firearms has also dropped by more than 40 percent and the suicide rate by more than half.
So that’s the statistics as far as I know. But what does Tarot say?
Tarot says that when we make choices out of fear we are living in The Devil card. Most Americans own a gun for protection. Out of FEAR for their safety. In the aftermath of last week’s tragedy one American said, ‘Americans love their guns more than children.’ Of course that’s not true. But the fear of being assaulted seems to make them blind to every other consideration. And that is very much The Devil according to Tarot.
Do you think the U.S government should crack down on gun ownership?
The big news in Australia at the moment is about the Radio DJ prank that went horribly wrong. The story goes like this…
The Empress: Prince William’s wife Kate Middleton falls pregnant.
The Star: Unfortunately she suffers from a little known pregnancy condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum – otherwise known as ‘living hell’ to sufferers – that causes severe vomiting forcing her to be hospitalised for bed rest and rehydration.
The Magician: An Australian radio production team comes up with the bright idea to ring up the hospital where Kate is staying for a lark. The two DJs pretend (badly) to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
The Wheel Of Fortune: In an unexpected development the radio DJs are put through to Kate’s room by a nurse who was filling in on reception where they hear personal details about Kate’s condition. The radio station broadcasts the phone call.
The World: The prank captures the attention of the world. British paparazzi are miffed that two obscure antipodean DJs got the scoop ahead of them. One of the DJs boasts on Twitter that he will never ever top this success in his future career.
Five Of Swords: We are far away in Australia and not as obsessed with the royal family as the British but it seems that the two nurses who spoke on the phone must have been put under enormous pressure either by their superiors or by the press. This is the only thing that can explain what occurred next.
Death: Unfortunately, tragically, one of the nurses who spoke on the phone is believed to have committed suicide. (Note: If you’re feeling emotionally fragile while reading this post please contact a health professional.)
Judgement: As a result the two DJs who performed this prank are themselves now under enormous pressure to explain themselves. Yet there are many people who contributed to this tragedy: The station manager/lawyers/owners. The press who whipped up the story. Those who passed it on.
What we all really need is…
Four Of Swords: Time out to reflect on the situation. The radio station that the DJs work for has released a statement saying that prank calls will cease immediately across all its networks while a comprehensive review takes place. It’s the least they can do in the circumstances.
Six Of Wands Reversed: There are no winners here. Kate’s privacy was invaded. Two nurses were humiliated in front of the world. Two young DJs are now being persecuted. And absolutely worst of all: A woman has died. My thoughts are with her husband and children at this time.
What are your thoughts on this terrible tragedy?
I hadn’t written a word about Temperance until yesterday and now here I am doing another post about it the very next day. That’s because once you start focusing on a Tarot card all these thoughts begin to rise to the surface. There’s so much to discover. As I’ve said before: Fifty shades in every card.
The Temperance card comes at the end of what I call the ‘adulthood’ section of Life Lessons Tarot (aka Major Arcana.) Straight after the Death card. Death represents major change like giving birth to a child, moving house, changing careers, getting old and, um, dying of course. After any life change there is a period of readjustment. This is the realm of the Temperance card.
For example, as I get older I find my feelings towards things changing. Like Christmas. As a young adult I was callous towards this significant event on the yearly calendar. Despite (or maybe because?) being raised Catholic. There was one year when I spent the day huddled beneath a rock in the Scottish Highlands eating tuna out of a can feeling very smug about the fact that unlike 99.9% of the Western World I didn’t feel the need to make a big deal out of the occasion. (Although smugness was the only warmth I felt that day. It was pretty lonely out on that mountain track.)
Over the years I’ve held onto my bah humbug attitude like a badge of pride. Not feeling the need to care about what happens come December 25. Proud of not being caught up in the madness. And then I gave birth to a child who cared like mad about Christmas. Still does. Who loves Santa even at 16. Who’s prepared to argue to the death re the finer details as to where she will sleep on Christmas Eve and dine Christmas day. And I learnt to bite my tongue so I wouldn’t spoil the occasion for her.
And now something strange has happened. I find myself indulging her wildest Christmas fantasies. Letting her loose to wrap the whole lounge room up in tinsel. Getting a real tree even though I’ll have to chop it up in the New Year to fit it in the bin (which always makes me feel like I’m killing Christmas.) Buying CDs and DVDs so we can soak up the atmosphere via song and screen. Without her even asking me to.
This then is Temperance. Your feelings and attitude and behavior shifting as you age. Often in unexpected ways. Some people become more difficult. But others soften.
Has the way you feel about Christmas changed over the years?
Temperance. To temper. Modify. Finely adjust. A process that occurs naturally as we age. Behaviour and expectations change to suit diminishing physical capabilities and altered desires.
Ah, middle age.
When a hot summer’s day doesn’t mean a trip to the beach but that you can get all the washing done.
When you want your kids to go out on a Saturday night (rather than go out yourself) so you can have the couch and TV remote all to yourself.
When you give up team sports to protect your back and knees so you can muck around with your kids because that’s more important than showing off on the football field.
Young people (i.e. my own children) think us middle agers have a sad life but in my humble opinion going out and getting wasted, random sex with strangers, sleeping in all day and partying all night, doesn’t come within cooee of the satisfaction you get from creating a life for your family. Or maybe it’s just that in middle age what you enjoy is different to what you enjoy when you’re young.
I’m all for embracing the changes that happen as I age. What about you?
Okay so I’m no animal lover. But before you switch over to someone else’s blog in protest at this disturbing information please know, I don’t hate them either. We just don’t share any special kind of connection. I’m more in synch with children than pets. This might have something to do with the fact I was raised by a parent terrified of getting animal hair on the furniture. Hence no pets that couldn’t be contained within a wire perimeter (and they’re not so much fun, are they?) But that doesn’t mean I’m unfamiliar with the ways of the animal kingdom.
For example. Today a friend of mine who is a massive animal lover shared this quote on her Facebook page: ‘If your dog doesn’t love someone maybe you shouldn’t either.’ And even though I’m no dog lady it makes sense to me. Dogs and cats just seem to know stuff. Like when thunderstorms or fires are coming. Like when their master or mistress is about to come home (my neighbour’s dog always barks at this hour.)
In my newspaper today the resident astrologer, Jonathan Cainer, shared a letter he’d received from a reader:
‘My mother died in a nursing home. Before she passed the hospice informed me she probably wouldn’t last many more days, and to start planning her funeral. That night I was in bed when my cat jumped on my chest and took its two front paws to cradle my face and gaze into my eyes. Seconds later the nursing home rang to say my mother had just passed away sooner than expected. To this day I’m convinced that somehow my mother was able to say she loved me and to say goodbye through the cat.’
Jonathan has shared many such stories this week. About how pets have woken their owners from sleep just before the alarms went off or when the owner had been wanting to get up. About how a squirrel would come and feed out of a reader’s hand every day precisely at the hour she nominated.
I had a budgie when I was growing up (feathers conveniently molt inside a cage.) Imaginatively named: ‘Budgie’. One night I dreamt he died and when I came down in the morning he had indeed passed away. Yet he hadn’t even looked sick the evening before.
When we don’t know how. When we don’t know why. When we experience something that is outside the realm of human understanding we are in the realm of the High Priestess card.
Have you had an experience like this with a pet? Please share.
The Eight cards in Tarot signal a shift in the journey through each suit. They ask that you dig deeper inside yourself than you ever have before. They ask you to be brave. To face challenging situations full-on. Take a look…
Eight of Wands: Being rewarded for the effort you’ve put in and now having to step up to the plate in some new aspect of your career/life e.g. A bank finally gives you that mortgage you were after and now you’re going to commit yourself to actually buying a house. Yikes!
Eight of Cups: Leaving behind a relationship/career/home to search for something better. It’s never easy to let go of something, no matter how unsatisfying it may be, when you have nothing in particular to replace it with.
Eight of Swords: Fighting your own negative self-beliefs. The hardest critic to ignore is the one who lives inside your own head.
Eight of Pentacles: Working harder than you’ve ever worked before. Because you’re committed to some goal you want to achieve and nothing is more important than that. As my new favourite saying goes: You don’t get what you wish for. You get what you work for!
Even in Life Lesson Tarot the number eight signifies a deepening of the Tarot journey. It’s the step from childhood into adulthood.
Strength: Standing up for yourself.
So if you get a number eight card be brave. It won’t be easy. But know that Tarot wouldn’t give you this card if it didn’t think you were up to the challenge. And the reward is a significant one. Inner strength. Empowerment. Feeling like a proper grown-up in other words. In charge of your life. A fully fledged adult!
I do a special Tarot card spread on my birthday each year. It gives me three Tarot cards to represent each month of the following year and three to represent my year as a whole. I don’t particularly like knowing my future (because it can look depressing) but I usually can’t resist having a peek and I find it a great way to deepen my understanding of the cards.
The three cards I got for this month are as follows:
Two Of Swords: The ‘leave me the hell alone’ card.
Check.
I often get over-stimulated and overwhelmed at this crazy time of year and feel the need to stay at home for long spells of what I call ‘dark cupboard time’.
The Empress. A lady of leisure and pleasure.
Double check.
As you know I spent a ridiculous amount of money updating my DVD collection on the weekend without bothering to see if I could actually afford it (doh!) I’ve booked a full body massage for later this week. Something I always want but rarely do. Not to mention I’m spending a great deal of my time at the moment lolling around on my bed reading novels. And I thought I wasn’t in touch with my inner Empress, ha!
But here’s where we come a cropper…
Eight of Swords: Over-thinking something. Feeling trapped, powerless, under pressure to hold your tongue, anxious about your next step. A victim. Unable to see a way forward.
Um, no.
Even though it’s now confirmed that I have to move into a new position at my workplace next year I don’t feel scared about that. I would have last year. Maybe even six months ago. But now I feel more like this…
The Fool: Open to the possibility it could be a good move for me.
So what I’m wondering is: Can you change your Tarot future? (Or is the Eight of Swords going to rear it’s ugly head in a different way over the next couple of weeks?) I guess I believe that you can. That we have free will and the potential to change our destinies no matter what the cards say. And I think the further Tarot tries to predict into the future the less reliable it gets.
But what do you think? Especially those of you with experience of the cards. Please share.
Yep. I had a bingle in my car this evening. First one ever in over 20 years of driving. Knock on wood. Guess I’m getting old. My sense of space isn’t what it used to be (kinda like my memory for spelling, lol.) It wasn’t a major accident. I just scrapped the side of my neighbour as I reversed out of a car space. But it got me thinking about the Tarot of bingling your car. You know, once I’d recovered from the shock and annoyance.
These two cards pretty much sum it up: Continue reading
The Tarot Teaclub 