COVID: What does the Tarot say?

So, I’ve been doing a lot of Tarot reading lately. I used to read way back in my twenties, but went on a long hiatus, and then started back up again recently when I started collecting Tarot decks again. And naturally, I began reading again. And I am feeling rusty, so I’ve been doing a lot of practicing. And I wanted to incorporate a short, simple Tarot ritual into my every day life. So I’ve been doing Daily Draws — and that’s exactly what it sounds like. You draw one card for your day — in my case, for guidance or advice — and make a note. I have a planner that I make my notes in. I try not to look up the standard meanings and try to interpret the cards in my own way. You’re not really supposed to rely on the standard meanings, anyway, technically. But you totally can if you want — there’s no wrong way to read the Tarot.

I’ve been pulling cards for other reasons as well, for advice on various things, for writing questions, etc. I did a reading with a brand new, very artsy deck to figure out the ending of The Vanishing, Reaper Girl Chronicles #3, which I am revising. As per my usual process, I didn’t actually write the ending because I did not know it. Which is why I did the reading. It was very, very insightful and quite awesome.

The Tarot, at least for me, has been very accurate as of late. The day before our state went into lockdown, I got The Tower card — big, unexpected, catastrophic changes. Around the time when our car broke down, I got The Chariot card, which pointed to, predictably, our car. When our cat was sick, I got the Three of Swords — the card of heartbreak. Lately I’ve been working long hours with very little off time and I keep getting the 10 of Wands, the card of overburden and exhaustion. Recently, I got The Moon card two days in a row. If you figure the odds, 1 in 78, it’s pretty crazy to get the same card. Unless I didn’t shuffle as well as I thought I did, but if you believe that the universe is controlling what comes up….that doesn’t matter, right? The Moon is an interesting card because it points to several different things: things in flux, a time of uncertainty, mental illness, women’s issues, illusion, secrets, what’s hidden. So that could be anything, and I still haven’t figured out what that one means.

Today’s card was the 5 of Wands, which was what gave me the idea for this post. People working against each other, unable to come to a resolution. Does that sound familiar? It sounds a bit like how things are right now with regard to COVID. At least in my state, anyway. We’re in our second wave right now, and things aren’t looking too good.

So I decided to do a Tarot reading to look ahead to the next few months. I’m not going to ask a specific question. We’ll leave it general.

And, because I’m all about The Fluff, I’ll use my Cat Tarot deck, which is the cutest deck I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

Ace of Pentacles – Aces are new beginnings, and Pentacles are usually money or work-related, sometimes education. On this card, a hand is reaching out to give the cat a gift and the cat doesn’t look too pleased with it. I see this as an attempt (or numerous attempts) at a possible vaccine that won’t be successful.

10 of Wands – The overburdened/exhaustion card. There are toys around the cat, and the cat just isn’t interested. I see this as everyone just plain tired because of how long this has gone on and the stress it has caused. They want to get back to normal life, but they can’t.

The Star – A cat is tipping over a glass of milk. This is traditionally a positive card, one of the most positive cards in the deck. And I am feeling like it is positive here, too. I believe it is saying we will come out of this. It might take awhile, but the light is shining at the end of the tunnel.

I also pulled what I call a “shadow card” which shows us what’s hidden. It comes from the very bottom of the deck.

5 of Pentacles – This shows two cats nose to nose with a few treats between them. They seem friendly, maybe even more so. I am reading this as our country (my state?) “kissing and making up” at some point and maybe beginning to work towards the common goal of containing the virus. Maybe. It’s also possible there could be five vaccine attempts before the one that works is discovered (because Pentacles are money/work/education). And the cats are “kissing” because people can be in close proximity again.

So, in summary: we’ll have some vaccine attempts (maybe five) that won’t be successful, people will be tired and stressed out and just done, there is hope for better in our future, and the right vaccine might be on the horizon.

So overall, fairly positive. 🙂 And no, I did not read it positive just to be positive, either. I truly read what I saw.

Anyway, so you heard it here first. There’s hope. Don’t give up. The light is there. We’re going to be okay. Eventually.