And it was strangely perfect.

Yeah, this pretty much sums it up.

When the entire world seems turned upside down (see Tuesday’s card), then any trick to help you right the ship should be viewed with an open mind.

Like writing, Tarot divination brings dark echoes from the unconscious into the light of our conscious mind where they can finally be reckoned with. Tarot helps us to make sense of past events and understand the seeming randomness of life as connected to a greater story. Each Tarot card incorporates universal symbolism by painting a scene of common human situations, feelings, and archetypes. When a fog covers our mind and obscures the truth, a good Tarot reading reminds us that life is a dynamic unfolding, not a static idealization, and all that matters is how we act in this moment.

With that said, let the reading begin.

Monday (the day before the Election): The Six of Wands

Sixes deal with communication and turning points.

This card shows a victory parade, the leader crowned with a wreath, surrounded by seeming followers. Yet victory is immature: the leader has not yet reached their destination. There is the assumption of victory.

Interpretation: True, but exaggerated righteousness, and false optimism. The faces of many supposed supporters are obscured; the hero carries many symbols of justice, but is literally on a high horse, which itself seems unnatural, as if fake.

Tuesday (Election Day): The Wheel of Fortune, reversed

The Wheel of Fortune symbolizes the natural order of things. Being reversed, it implies the order of life has been upended. The wheel has been broken, or we are struggling to deal with change.

That’s not the devil: it’s Anubis, who brings once-dead spirits back to the land of the living.

Interpretation: Donald Trump as President, against all odds, means that ordinary life has been irreversibly changed. A deep struggle against this unwelcomed event is doomed as the Wheel has already been broken. A strange mix of feelings and visions.

Wednesday (the day after the Election): The Eight of Swords

(As a plug, and because it is so spot-on, for the next two days I’m going to quote from a book on Tarot, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack).

The Eights symbolize movement.

“Our clearest image yet of oppression. We see a person tied up, surrounded by swords with a castle — symbol of authority — behind her; she stands in the mud, an image of humiliation and shame. Notice, however, that the swords do not actually fence her in, and the ropes do not go around her legs. […] The blindfold symbolizes confusion, oppressive ideas, isolation from other people.”

Interpretation: Restriction of movement. Paralyzing fear and hopelessness. Assault and persecution by authority figures. Ability to move on, just barely.

Thursday: The Ten of Swords

The Tens symbolize completion.

“The Ten of Swords fills us with pain. Despite the extreme picture, the card does not represent death, or even especially violence. It signifies more of a reaction to problems than the problems themselves. […] The swords suggest hysteria, the attitude that ‘no one has ever suffered as much as me,’ and ‘life is over.’”

Interpretation: The blackest night, the completion of our grief, is over. Though wounded, we are guilty of some exaggeration. The dawn of a new sun promises to defeat the darkness. The situation is perhaps not as bad as it looks.

Friday: The Eight of Coins

Another Eight, symbolizing movement. Here we see a man, busy at work. The town implies a link between his busyness and the state of the world.

Interpretation: Throwing ourselves into work, both trying to get done what was neglected in the earlier days of the week when movement was restricted, and as an escape from the reality which is right behind us.

On Friday we needed a sense of control, to work on something real and tangible, unaffected by the upheaval of Tuesday. This card shows our happy place.

Saturday: The Eight of Wands

Another Eight! This one shows racing energies, the pinnacle of movement, combining both the fiery Wands and the Eights. Though trending downward, this is not necessarily good or bad. Most wands are in the air, but one is touching the Earth, and so the Wand’s energy seems focused on finding a grounding, lest it harm.

Interpretation: Saturday had a strange energy. Racing thoughts and heartbeats led to exhaustion from the week that could only cause a crash landing. Regardless of our movement, though, what we each need is to be grounded, to rest. Good luck with that.

Sunday: The Three of Wands

The Threes all symbolize a full expression of the element, as well as achievement.

This is a Wand, so the element is fire, passion, energy. The person is strong, but at rest, implying emotional maturity. The Wand’s eagerness does not vanish, but is show in a readiness, a sense that the real battle is to come.

Interpretation: Sunday was a day of contemplation. Surviving the first week was a real achievement, and we have once again found stability and what is worth fighting for. The sunset and leaving ships symbolize saying goodbye to what has been lost.

Greater Trends

Each Tarot card has a meaning, but there is also a higher meaning the appears when viewing the cards as a unit, in succession.

There is a clear parallel between the card of the first day and the card of the last day. Where the Six of Wands covered an entire horse with a green cloth, symbolizing righteousness, here the Three of Wands uses it has a shawl, meaning that though we are still cloaked in the truth, our idea of ourselves has been cut down to size. Similarly, where the Six of Wands wears a gaudy victory garland, the Three of Wands wears a simple golden band, symbolizing inner victories and strength of determination. The wands themselves seem rooted to the ground, meaning that we have narrowed down our concerns to a few bedrock principles that are worth fighting and dying for.

The Three of Wands on Sunday is especially fitting, because it reminds us that, though the Wheel may have been broken in a single night, the revolutions of that Wheel still take time to unfold. The world is not immediately going to end; like the lingering sunset, all transitions take time. There is much that can and should be done to set the right tone during these last few months of Obama’s presidency. Our character strikes a balance with his pose — thoughtful, cunning, composed, and patient — that we all can learn from.

Further, there were three Eights that appeared in only seven cards. This shows much more than mere movement: it symbolizes a hurricane that has blown through our lives, and how suddenly and drastically everything can change in our once-familiar worlds.

I hope that this post helped you process this whirlwind of a week, and I wish you best of luck in this upcoming week. Much love.

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