Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character.
But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.
General Norman SchwarzkopfNearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
Abraham Lincoln
This morning I did my usual Card of the Week preparations–rites that take me about twenty minutes of cleansing, smudging, clearing, invocation, and so on. Then a complicated shuffling system I have come to rely on because my deck is fifty-four years old and sometimes tends to cut at the same cards, which are probably slightly bent or frayed. I do all this to help ensure my thoughts and expectations are quiet; I simply move through my rituals, moving into stillness.
Still though, when this very persistent card came back AGAIN, I had a moment. I confess I thought about quietly sticking it back in the deck. Who would know?
Well, I would, for one. Not to mention all the guardians, guides, allies, and ancestors that I call in for my readings.
Still, though, I was upset enough that I cussed a bit (respectfully, but still…). And then I said, “Okay then. WTF is this about? Show me what we’re talking about here.” So, I shuffled, using the whole rigmarole again, and pulled a follow-up.
Alas, I am sorry, my friends, but here it is: this week we get a double whammy of the Seven of Wands again for the third time this Summer alone. And it is clarified or amplified by the Five of Swords.
Since the Seven just came calling a month ago, I am not going to repeat all the points I made then. If you want to review my thoughts about what he’s doing, why he’s wearing two kinds of shoes, whether he is defended by or defending against the Wands in the foreground, and so on, you might enjoy reading all about it here.
Also, if you dislike my discussions of the current state of my country and the world as we move through Year Two of the Convicted Felon, you might be happier popping back there.
This week’s post is going to tackle that topic without pulling punches. Because this repetition of cards (not to mention my decision to pull a clarification card) is unprecedented in the 1,195 Monday readings I have written for you.
And because I am convinced these matters are no longer about politics; they are about morality and the survival of civilized culture.
Why Is This Not Treason?
So, for starters, I am going to repeat something I wrote on a previous visit (yes, this card shows up a LOT). Referring to a June 2024 column by Heather Cox Richardson, I wrote:
You might recall that in 2020, there was no explicit GOP platform, just all-out loyalty to the orange fascist and his acolytes. There is now a methodical program shaping up, and it is headed by Russell Vought, a hard-right Christian nationalist. Ms. Richardson writes that he is, “a key player in the construction of Project 2025, the plan to gut the nonpartisan federal government and replace it with a dominant president and a team of loyalists who will impose religious rule on the United States.”
Yes. Read that again. That is the plan, not hidden, but waving in our faces like Alito’s upside-down flag.
And then, for the cherry on top, this from that paragon of human virtue (not!), Steve Bannon, who, “… recently praised Vought and his colleagues as ‘madmen’ who are going to destroy the U.S. government. ‘We’re going to rip and shred the federal government apart, and if you don’t like it, you can lump it,’ Bannon said.”
Nope, says the Seven of Wands…
Just say NO to lumping! Instead, we are called to take the high ground and step up. If the core values of a government of ALL the people, by ALL the people, for ALL the people matter to you, we must not back down.
We can’t simply float along and hope our vote in the November midterms will be enough. The stakes are too high, and those votes are not as sacrosanct as they were before this regime got hold of our rights.
Our full commitment, action, and dedication are needed now.
And with the Five of Swords accompanying this disheartening message, there is a warning that cheating and lies may be thwarting our efforts for now.
So What About the Five of Swords?
As I mentioned, the common ground here seems to be a focus on character. A popular definition of this word is, “The mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual or group.”
What would you say about the character of the person in the foreground of the Five of Swords? What does he seem to depict, in terms of mental and moral qualities?
As is the tendency of the Swords in the Tarot, and especially the Fives in all the suits, we are seeing some kind of imbalance or conflict to do with information, attitude, perceptions, or communication.
Even renowned Tarot legend, the late Rachel Pollack, calls this “one of the most difficult cards…one of the reasons some people find the Rider pack too negative.”
The sky is stormy, with jagged, threatening clouds. The man in the foreground gloats as the others retreat in defeat, perhaps even humiliation. At his feet are their two swords, the spoils of his victory. Yet he bears three already–an unfair advantage that tells us his victory is less than chivalrous.
The question is, who in this card do you identify with?
Surely you don’t identify with the laughing bully who has won (for now)?
But then, do you feel more like the two figures near the water, who have suffered a painful loss? Yes, they had more manpower. But the smirking winner was more heavily armed, perhaps due to some kind of trickery, almost certainly some unfair advantage.
Despite your best efforts, this card unpleasantly indicates that you may lose out to someone who opposes you. Have you been defeated or hoaxed by a wily and cunning opponent?
Someone is wielding their power like a bully. Any guesses who?
The Astrology, as Usual, Is in Sync
Our brilliant friend, astrologer and news expert Elisabeth Grace, writes that on Wednesday:
Moon in Taurus squares Pluto at 5:43 AM ET, then Jupiter at 12:33 PM ET. Watch for power plays, exaggeration, and self-righteous certainty in the early part of the day. Not every hill is worth dying on…but go figure.
But the Seven of Wands figure seems to have found exactly the hill he is willing to defend at all costs, doesn’t he? In addition:
At 10:51 PM ET, the Third Quarter Moon finds Sun and Moon squaring off in stubborn Leo and Taurus. The phrase that comes to mind is “loyalty test.” A Leo king may demand one. Taurus Moon gets to decide whether maintaining the status quo out of comfort or habit is still worth the price.
Which do you think the Seven is defending? And to what extent is the Five of Swords warning us that this fight is rigged?
There may be good news from the stars, however. Elisabeth tells us that Thursday is —
A banner day, perhaps–for those behind the wheel of the bus. Taurus Moon has all the patience and stamina in the world to build an everlasting structure–and it’s not inclined to rock the boat. It travels without interference all day, pausing only to relay an intuitive hit on home and/or homeland security around 7:24 PM ET, as it sextiles Mercury. You could take the rest of the night off, as the Moon goes void for the next seven hours.
Meanwhile, matters of women, money, the arts, and all that we hold dear are at a crisis point of discernment. Why? Venus is at the very end of perfection-seeking Virgo–and any planet at that point can’t help but make some noise. At 3:12 PM ET, however, Venus changes for the better–huzzah–when she enters Libra, one of the signs she rules…
However –
Finally, at 10:44 PM ET, the Leo Sun trines Saturn in “because I said so” Saturn. This easy flow between willpower and authority could reflect a culmination and/or a consolidation of power that generates little resistance. You are more personally affected if you have planets around 14 degrees of just about any sign, but especially the cardinal ones — Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Off the top of my head that includes the US, NATO, Elon Musk, and Steve Bannon.
There’s Bannon again. Neither he nor Musk is a trustworthy character that deserves any position of power or authority to do with governance.
Bottom Line
I would say with these two cards combined with the astrology this week, it’s time for “shields up and roots down,” as we like to say in our magical practices.
Protect yourself. Know who’s got your back. Keep your eyes open, and if there is a setback or even a difficult defeat, all is not lost.
The Seven of Wands says it’s time to be ready and steady for the long haul.
And the Five of Swords always points toward how, even when the battle seems lost, the war can still be ours as long as our cause is noble.
Ultimately, the common thread that guides us to final success is more than cleverness, strategy, or even accumulated power. It is the strength of our character.
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The thing that gives me hope is that the defender has the high ground, and if those lower staves are coming from the abusive energy of the Five of Swords, perhaps the good will yet prevail.
I believe it will, Jacqueline. But the need is urgent, and we must not keep hitting the snooze bar. And truly, I believe we must not indulge in despair or apathy.
I know that I feel more courage knowing you and I are side by side and we are not the Lone Ranger of the Seven.
My immediate thought in response to this combination of cards was that a strong defense is not enough against an opponent with no scruples, and that it will all end in the despair of the figures in the background. I love Jacqueline’s much more optimistic take on it.
Or perhaps the Five of Swords strengthens the resolve of the figure in the Seven of Wands, reminding us that we absolutely cannot give up because the consequences of giving up are unacceptable. Maybe the frequent reappearance of the Seven of Wands is because we are at a point in history where we need it hammered into us just how important it is to continue the good fight.
I think that’s exactly right. My feeling about the Five of Swords is rooted in the message of ALL the Fives: you are only halfway there.
When opponents are defeated because of trickery or betrayal, do you think that is ever the end of it? Never. Sooner or later they regroup and come back harder, because now Justice is on their side. They have been handed the exact high ground that the Seven defends.
And that is the gift in this message, I think. We know we are all being cheated. Are we going to just roll over?
I think we are being pressed forward to really stand up and defend the heart and soul of our identity. 💚
I did a reading for myself for this season of the first harvest, and I’m finding the microcosm to be like the macrocosm. I’m harvesting some victory that I have fought hard for, and through good leadership, dependable help is on the way. But I’ve been dealing with a seemingly impossible situation, and there are hidden foes around me. Sounds familiar! I have to say that I’m feeling pretty tired. But needs must, and I’ll keep my staff close to hand.
That is a brilliant observation, Tanaria. Each of us is a piece of the fractal multiverse, so yes, in many ways, we do echo and reflect what is happening in the macrocosm. Because we are one and the same.
Stay strong, even though it may feel impossible. Your struggle is hard, but its outcome matters to us all, in the same way we are all there for you in spirit.
Blessings and wishing the very best of good fortune to you! 🙏🏼✨🙏🏼
While I think we have every reason to believe the Five of Swords energy will be showing its face in the outside world – I mean, when is it not? – I always think of the internalised Five of Swords energy so many of us carry from childhood and from other times when we have been unable to protect ourselves from people and systems that sought to harm and belittle us.
In that sense, I think this combination of cards may be exhorting us not just to stand firm in our convictions of goodness against the outside forces that seek to undermine it at any cost, but also against the internal collapse that can happen when those old wounds of helplessness get triggered.
What is happening in the world now is blatant abuse – the systems created by patriarchy, like patriarchy itself, are fundamentally abusive. The great trick of people and systems that want power they don’t deserve has been to convince us that they will always be bigger and stronger than us, and they’ve used every form of violence to convince us of the ‘truth’ of their story that resistance is futile.
But let us remember that the Swords are about beliefs and not reality. May the fire of the Seven of Wands cleanse any doubt about what’s true and liberate us from the lies inherent in all abusiveness.
And let us remember too that the Seven of Wands comes after the Six and before the Eight – or vice versa if you like. Either way, I think there’s an element of passing through the darkness of The Moon en route to the liberation of The Sun: trials must be undergone, what’s in the shadow must be brought to awareness, and all of that can be frightening and unsettling, but success is assured – reaching the light is a question of when, not if.
I believe we’re in the final battle with the abusive patriarchal system that knows its time has come, and I think we can relish the opportunity to hold fast to the truth of our fundamental goodness in the face of its Five of Swords lies ❤️
Well Said!
Oh YES! This gave me chills, Amy! Especially:
“…not just to stand firm in our convictions of goodness against the outside forces that seek to undermine it at any cost, but also against the internal collapse that can happen when those old wounds of helplessness get triggered.”
That is exactly what has kept the whole system in play, hasn’t it? And you are so right – the whole system is not just rigged, it is pure abuse and it has got to go and go NOW. In our lifetimes, not some vague later date.
Thank you for this absolutely marvelous manifesto! Brava! 👏🏼
Thank you for sharing Mary Oliver’s poem.
Here’s my favorite Lughnasadh poem by Alice C. Henderson:
The silver rain, the shining sun,
the fields where scarlet poppies run,
and all the ripples of the wheat
are in the bread that I do eat.
So when I sit at every meal
with grateful heart I always feel
that I am eating rain and sun,
and fields where scarlet poppies run.
Be well, sistah. We’ve GOT to keep the faith!
Ooohhh.. Chillbumps, Kate. I have never heard this one, but not only does it seem a beautiful grace for the bread of the harvest, it evokes (at least for me) a prayer for the soldiers lost in war (the poppies). A complex gratitude indeed.
Thank you.
Thank you for your honesty and insight, Beth. The buzzy anxiety I get when something big is coming is upon me for almost a week now. Shields up! Defend our hill. The circle is drawn-
Yes, I do, too. Which is what really prompted me to break 23 years of precedent and pull a second card. Let us hold tight to one another, whatever may come. Keep the faith, steady as she goes…
Oh, Beth — being honest is just one of the reasons you are beloved, and this is definitely the time for that.
I pulled cards for a friend Sunday night and the Five of Swords unfortunately came up in the “Outlook” / final position in the Celtic Cross spread. The whole reading was negative. She lives overseas and I usually pull the cards and then interpret them in an email. I am seriously thinking of a reshuffle but after your experience I’m guessing the results will be nearly the same….
PIxie’s “stage” setting on that card gives me the slight hope that the curtain WILL soon fall on the Felon’s constant dramas. It’s two against one in this scene, more blue sky than grey — some rays of hope. Still, I see myself as the crying soul at the edge of the water, but I refuse to jump in and end it all.
In the early days when I was first teaching myself the cards (the hard way, for sure!), I tried “cheating” and going for best two out of three when I didn’t like the answers.
And I can tell you that while, yes, sometimes they’ll come back with the same answers, when they come back with what you wished for, at least for me, it is the most hollow answer of all. It, itself, is a very Five of Swords-y thing to do and, as I told Dancing Owl, cheating to get what you want always contaminates whatever victory you achieve PLUS almost always guarantees ultimate failure because you have lost your good graces.
So, you are honor-bound to tell the truth when you read for other people. You cannot truly know how vital that information might be for their ultimate success.
Like the dangers of “helping” butterflies emerge from their chrysalis.
I don’t consider it cheating. Asking for clarification, asking for a bit more. “More, please “ you asked and confirmation was given. The Goddess always says yes. 🙏
Oh, yes! I really do agree with you!
My idea of “cheating,” at least when I was in my very baby beginnings, was when I would stick the cards back in the deck and pretend they never came up, and then try again. And again. And also, it really was my intention to think I could trick the Universe into giving me what I wanted.
🤔 ISTR a certain guy, roommate of my best friend, who didn’t know I existed (and who turned out to be not so nice) .. I learned that the Tarot has about 78 to the 78th power ways of saying NO! ☺️
But you are so right! Asking for clarification and elaboration is fine, as long as you don’t keep doing it to the extent that the answers get muddled.
LOL I completely get that!
Thanks so much for that great advice, Beth. 🤗 I wasn’t even following your lead…. 😔 Lesson learned.
Reading for other people is trickier than it may seem. I totally understand how hard it can be sometimes, especially when it is someone dear to us. Big hugs, Joanie. I am sure you did an excellent job. xoxo