Category Archives: The Fool

The Tarot of Prince Phillip’s Passing

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The death of Prince Phillip, consort to Queen Elizabeth, has made news around the world this week. Let’s dive into the Tarot of this a little bit, shall we?

With his passing, Britain has been plunged into this…

Five of Cups: Mourning

The British press has been united in lauding him…

Knight of Cups: The knight in shining armour

Even though they spent years doing this…

Five of Swords: Sticking in the knives

Prince Phillip was definitely…

The Emperor Reversed: A fallible man (aren’t we all?)

However, he was also…

King of Wands: A man of great achievements

I currently run a Duke of Edinburgh club at the school where I teach. Prince Phillip created this award scheme to encourage personal growth in young people. It has been incredibly successful in this endeavour for many decades, and I am proud to be a part of it.

But perhaps his greatest achievement was this…

The Lovers + Queen of Pentacles: Supporting his wife and queen

It wasn’t easy for him to always walk two steps behind the queen, but he did.

Judgement: Serving a higher good

He had to give up this completely…

The Fool: Freedom to do what he wanted when he wanted

His experience must have felt a lot like this at times…

The Devil: Willing enslavement

Vale Prince Phillip!

May he rest now in peace!

The Tarot of The Ship Stuck in Suez

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I love this David and Goliath image. Two men and a tractor turn up to dislodge the massive cargo ship currently stuck fast in the Suez Canal. It feels like a metaphor for these crazy times. There’s us with our little arsenal of tricks trying to deal with the overwhelming corruption and stupidity of the world.

The stuck ship is this…

Wheel of Fortune Reversed: Putting a hold on everyone’s plans

Those two men are this…

Seven of Pentacles: Wondering what the bleep they signed up for

The tractor is this…

Seven of Wands Reversed: Battling against overwhelming odds

The rest of us are this…

The Fool: Enjoying a bit of light-hearted relief on the internet for once

Of course, the blockage of one of the world’s largest shipping channels is no laughing matter. It is a very big, very expensive problem for companies which ship goods around the world. It will impose a cost that will eventually be passed down to us consumers.

But maybe, like Covid, it’s another sign from the universe that we all need to slow down and reflect on just where society is at in this moment.

Thoughts?

The Tarot of Bridgerton

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Like many others, I spent the Christmas-New Year period glued to Bridgerton on Netflix. An 8 part series produced by the wonderful Shonda Rhimes. Based on a series of Regency romances written by Julia Quinn in the noughties.

Let’s investigate the Tarot of Bridgerton, shall we?

Obviously, it falls under this category…

The Lovers: Romance

As is typical of this literary genre, the female protagonist Daphne is…

The Fool: A naive ingenue

And the male protagonist, the Duke of Hastings, is…

Knight of Wands + The Devil: Dashing and damaged

They both come from…

Ten of Wands: Wealthy families

The plot is centred around Daphne’s attempt to…

Four of Cups: Get married to another member of the ton – a word used to reflect a member of English high society during this period of history

In order to improve her chances of appearing desirable, and, so he can avoid appearing available, she and the Duke make a pact to…

The Lovers Reversed: Pretend to fall in love

And we all know what happens when characters pretend to be in love…

The Magician: They create that reality!

But before there is any chance of a happily ever after…

Seven of Wands: They must battle many obstacles…

Not least of which is…

The Moon: Their own personal faults

One of the things I love about this series is the rich array of supporting characters, whose own stories are explored in some depth.

There’s the eldest Bridgerton son, Anthony, head of Daphne’s family…

The Emperor Reversed: A dysfunctional autocrat

Daphne’s mother, who sometimes provides…

The High Priestess Reversed: Terrible counsel

My personal favourite is Eloise, Daphne’s slightly younger sister…

Seven of Wands + The Empress: A raging feminist

Also notable is Eloise’s best friend, Penelope Featherington…

Three of Cups Reversed: The wallflower at every ball

There’s also the mysterious Lady Whistledown, who provides biting commentary on the London season, without ever revealing her true identity…

Knight of Swords Reversed + Seven of Swords: A sneaky barbed wit

Bridgerton has been brilliantly created by Shonda’s protege, Chris Van Duesen, who is an absolute…

King of Wands: Master of his craft

The tone is…

Six of Cups: Hyper-reality

The books and the era have been…

Wheel of Fortune: Given a modern spin.

This allows the series to have interesting conversations about…

The Empress + The World: The role of women in society

There is even more to Bridgerton that that.

Watch it for yourself and see!!!

Opening Old Wounds

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My eyes are red and swollen.

I couldn’t stop bawling yesterday.

A beloved character in a TV show died.

Clearly, an over-reaction.

So what happened exactly?

Despite terrible reviews, I’m a big fan of the apocalyptic Netflix show, ‘The Rain’. In the penultimate episode of the entire series, my favourite character, Martin, bit the dust.

He reminded me a lot of my last boyfriend.

Six of Cups: Remembering happy times

Only better!

Knight of Cups: The ideal man

However, my mini-breakdown wasn’t about the character on tv, or even the old boyfriend.

It was about this..

The Fool + Two of Cups: The possibility of relationship

I was distressed that his partner lost the chance to grow old with him.

Which was a reflection of my distress at not having a life partner like him myself.

This is a classic example of this card…

Three of Swords: Opening old wounds

For no good reason, I felt consumed by grief.

Five of Cups: Crying over what you’ve lost, despite the good things in your life

The Three of Swords comes up when you’re reminded of a loss.

Even though you’ve done this…

Eight of Cups: Well and truly moved on

In fact, you feel like this…

Nine of Pentacles: Very content with your life

We all carry wounds in our hearts.

The longer we’ve lived, the more knives to the chest we’ve experienced.

People we’ve loved and lost.

Times when we were hurt deeply.

The important thing is not to be over-whelmed by these injuries.

Not to do this…

King of Cups Reversed: Drown your sorrows

Or this…

Six of Cups Reversed: Lose yourself in nostalgia or fantasy

Or even this…

The Moon Reversed: Succumb to a drug fuelled haze.

We have to keep moving forwards.

Carrying our secret griefs.

Using them to remind us to do this..

Judgement: Show compassion to one another

Always!

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

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Easter is a time of hope. It therefore seems the perfect moment to explore the riveting survival tale of the Jewish man who tattoed prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War 2. His story has not come to light until now because of the incredible guilt he carried about what he was forced to do to his fellow prisoners.

Let’s explore his story shall we? No spoilers, I promise. Continue reading →

The Tarot of a Music Concert

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I was lucky enough to see Ed Sheeran in concert the other night, with the added bonus of one of my favourite Australian musical acts, Missy Higgins, thrown in. I bought the ticket a couple of hours beforehand on impulse. It was a beautiful Melbourne day, the concert had been getting rave reviews, and I have a soft spot for Missy (even more than Ed).

This led me to wonder about the Tarot of a Music Concert.

Let’s explore that, shall we? Continue reading →

Throwback Thursday: Tarot’s Holy Book Part 1

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I’ve written before about how Tarot contains a holy book that charts the journey of a human soul through all the stages and experiences of life. I call these cards Life Lessons Tarot. But they’re better known as the Major Arcana.

These lessons are divided into three parts.

The first volume covers childhood. As follows… Continue reading →

The Tarot of Marian Keyes’ The Break

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I’ve just finished reading Marian Keyes’ novel ‘The Break’. Most peeps who like to write like to read. And I am no exception. It’s always a bit of fun to investigate the Tarot of everyday life. So let’s dive deep into the Tarot of ‘The Break’. No spoilers, I promise. Continue reading →

Crying Wolf

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One of the most famous English folktales is ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’. The story goes that a young shepherd would trick his fellow villagers by shouting for help, pretending that wolves were attacking his sheep. Several times the villagers rushed to his aid, only to discover the shepherd laughing at them. Of course, when a wolf really did attack, no-one came to his aid.

This week local officials in my hometown pleaded for people to stop “crying wolf” because… Continue reading →