2 November 18: Five of Swords

Nobody wins. It’s every man for himself at this point. Don’t hate the game, hate the player.

This is one of those cards that make you wince when you turn it over. The uneven, restless, unresolved number 5 itself is a hint at what this card is about. 5 can only be 3+2 or 4+1 or 5+0 and it’s early and I hate math anyway so if there’s more combinations  whatever, but you get the idea. One side of the scale is going to be heavier than the other no matter what the hell we do with this card.

This sucks, it really does. There is no common consensus possible here, only conflict. This is a card of bitter failure and defeat, but also a card of ‘pseudo winning’.

The scene on this unwelcome card of the Minor Arcana representing the suit of Air (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius) is tense and uncomfortable. In the foreground is a human in a billowing, black hooded robe, face obscured, shouldering 2 swords with his left hand and one more in his right watching 2 other humans retreat, having tossed their own swords at his feet. One is even on his knees in prayer: get me the hell away from him. Take anything you want, just leave us alone. The angry red sun is halfway down over an angry red sea, they’ve wasted half the day on this unwinnable war. All we can see under the bully’s hoodie is a sly smile, and the sky over his or her head is a bright, sunny yellow. At least somebody’s happy here. This is a person who wants to win for the sake of winning, at any and all costs. He already has 3 swords, why does he need the others as well? He may win, but probably won’t find anyone who will want to celebrate with him. This is a bitter victory, if you can even call it that. These people didn’t even fight back, How could they? He has more swords.

Here is the origin of the term ‘every man for himself’ from the Urban Dictionary:

“British military origin. In Armed Forces terms, this formal order is a specific command sometimes issued in a case where the strategic situation has become hopeless, the collapse of a force is imminent, and there is no chance of relief. Once given, the order suspends certain aspects of military discipline, allowing each individual to surrender, flee, or continue fighting independently according to their individual circumstances, without regard to previous battle orders.”

As I said, 5 is never going to be a nice, even, balanced 4 or 6, so it’s already a losing battle for both sides. Sharp, ‘cross’ words – the surrendered swords lie on the ground forming a cross – everyone is at ‘cross-purposes’ here.

We don’t know the story behind all this mess. This card can and sometimes does point out to us a need to put ourselves first and not concern ourselves so much with the needs of others. When you are told to put your mask on first in case of an in-flight emergency before helping others, you are not being an air hog, you’re simply no good to anyone if you’re not breathing . This is that.

This is like being the sole survivor of a plane crash.

Not really anything to celebrate.

 

 

29 October 18: The Emperor, reversed

Good Dad/Bad Dad: The almighty Emperor and #4 of the Major Arcana is the Father Figure of the Tarot. He is the very embodiment of stability, control, power and authority. He represents the suit of Fire: Leo, Sagittarius and especially Aries.

I so dislike this card reversed it’s hard for me to even give him the time it takes to write about him, but here he is (the card is well described in the WordPress archives). An Emperor is  humanly endowed with supreme earthly authority and dominance. Of course he gets and enjoys a lot of attention. Reversed, he needs it for all the wrong reasons. He’s a tyrant, a bully, and a bastard. This could be someone about to be busted down a rank or lose their job altogether, so have hope.

Today, though, this card is all about Dad. You as a Dad, your Dad, her Dad, and how that relationship  ‘imprint’ manifests in your life. Your relationship to your own father or, as a father, your relationship to your own children: are you exercising too much or too little authority? Are you being too strict or controlling? Too lax? Do you or did you have a difficult relationship with your own father, who may have shown more affection to his dog, or did Dad leave everything to Mom the Boss?

If this description fits someone who is using you for whatever he thinks he can get out of you, run. He’s all about him. Shouldn’t you should be the boss?

This has everything do with our relationship to authority or imposed structure in any form, but anarchy and rebellion for its own sake will eventually leave you with nowhere left to go.

Not everybody’s your bad Dad.

“What are you rebelling against?”

“What do you got?” – James Dean, Rebel Without A Cause