As an experienced Tarot Reader, years of practice have helped me ground myself. The Pandemic has been different things for different people. For some, it has been a time of deep reflection and going within much like the card of the Hermit. For others, it has been a period of sacrificing for the communal good, by living in lockdowns as indicated by The Hanged Man. The world is interconnected, and we all have family and friends in different countries. Consequently, many of us have not seen family members for a long time now, which just adds to covid fatigue.
Lockdowns and Quarantine Orders are the markers of this era. Practising the Tarot has aided me, as a skilled Tarot Reader, to access my inner strength and keep my balance. The world is going through an awakening and awakenings are not really butterflies and unicorns. Even the cherished birth of a child is accompanied by blood and needs cleansing. Political and Social Unrest, Covid Fatigue, Guilt at being away from home, worry about loved ones, and anxiety over jobs, are just some of the things that people are collectively dealing with.
The Tarot is the Spiritual practice, and the foundation of my, an avid Tarot Reader's, well-being. It is a manner to connect to the divine. Knowing that the tarot cards that are drawn, carry wisdom, which is the need of the hour is very reassuring. The ability to have a visual guide or map of one's situation can be very informative. The Tarot is a diagnostic tool that helps one prepare for what's coming up. In addition, the tarot also advises one about the duration of the challenge. Hope is the biggest gift the Tarot brings to one's life.
In March 2020, when Covid was just beginning to spread around the world, my younger child, had his school shut down a couple of days earlier than the designated date since it was identified as a COVID cluster. As a result, the responsible thing to do was go into a self-imposed lockdown, just in case we had been exposed. The school was fantastic about keeping us updated on how many Stay-Home-Notices were served, and how many year groups moved into Quarantine. While it was a stressful time, it was not so hard on us. I knew my cards would have the answer for me, someone that many can describe as a Tarot Reader with an emotional attachment to her cards! For the first two days that followed, I was extremely anxious, more so since this was when Covid was still being called "the novel coronavirus". On the third day following yet another positive covid case, in the school cluster, I finally was ready to face up to our situation and ask the Tarot whether it foresaw us having to go to the hospital. My younger child was 6 years old at that time, and we were worried about him, should he need to quarantine. The Tarot knew more than I did, at that time. It forecasted a period of retreating from the world and being busy with children, but joyfully so as shown by The Sun. I was sure that my son would be okay, and for the rest of the 2 weeks, we spent time at home, playing board games and reading books. Thus the Tarot helped me as a forecasting tool, and as an instrument of divine knowing.
(Alexey Solodovnikov (Idea, Producer, CG, Editor), Valeria Arkhipova (Scientific Сonsultant), CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
Tarot and the world in 2020.-Covid 19.
The day we finished our "two-week period" Singapore started the Circuit Breaker (7 April - June 1). This meant weeks of isolation, and suddenly the rest of the cards from my initial reading made sense. Because of reading the Tarot for myself, I had almost no anxiety, which I know a few people went through. My friends who have strong religious faith had the same mindset. Thus, the Tarot has been a tool of meditation and focus, helping me to ground myself.
We, then, entered HBL or Home Based Learning. On a daily basis, I would make sure that I followed my practice. Any dedicated Tarot Reader, like myself, always reads the cards for the following day so that they know their challenges, lessons, strengths and general theme of the upcoming day; rituals like this build me into the devoted, eager, and passionate Tarot Reader that I am. Using a concept that any expert Tarot Reader would be familiar with (called Tarot forecasting) on my children during Home Based Learning, I was able to help them achieve maximum progress and accelerate in areas that they needed to work on. Without a doubt, this made my Home Based Learning (as not just a Tarot Reader, but a mother with two absolutely crazy children!) feature a lot fewer grey hairs! In its capacity as a tool of psychological evaluation, the Tarot has been very useful.
As someone who has not shown any interest in my journey as a Tarot Reader (with the exception of indulgently buying me decks on Book Depository), my husband has begun to humour himself with a daily reading too, during this time. While the cards have always been a friend, I do depend more heavily on them when the going gets tough. The Tarot helps me balance my life by letting me know what I need to tune into so that I can be my best self. Sometimes that advice is "this too shall pass", and at other times a gentle or not so gentle - (since the cards can really stalk you) reminder that I need to "balance work and play". Over my decades as a Tarot Reader, I have a mantra associated with each card, and that leads me to mantra meditations that my guides know I need at the moment.
An often repeated mantra during Home Based Learning or HBL was " live in the moment", and "your breakthrough is almost here" -and that breakthrough did arrive- remember to "build habits which become a legacy" and to "make memories".
In June 2021, with the arrival of the Delta Variant, I crossed paths with someone who had COVID
and thus was served a Quarantine Order at home. As the wise say, you live and you learn. For me, the quarantine was a stark reminder of how we are all connected and how, despite all one's precautions and adherence to the rules, there are many factors that we simply cannot predict. We are all one and invisible strings bind us. We can only be free when we are all free. We can only beat this pandemic when we unite.
Locked into a room by myself. No company. I pull out Tarot Deck after Tarot Deck from a seemingly bottomless velvet pouch. Just as I begin to relax with a Tarot Card and coffee cup in hand, I realize: being a Tarot Reader has given me opportunities that have opened up my world- and perspective. I ponder over cards from Indian Mysticism, Greek, Ancient Egyptian and Norse Mythology. Eliphas Levi, the occultist, referred to the Tarot as a wise guide and said, “A prisoner devoid of books, had he only a Tarot of which he knew how to make use, could in a few years acquire a universal science, and converse with an unequalled doctrine and inexhaustible eloquence.“ It was ten blissful days of my life reacquainting with the works of Shakespeare- as I read with my Shakespearean Tarot with a frequent call of reassurance from friends and family, not without a "You will be fine" here and there. I am so grateful for "my village"- the people that I need in my life.
At the end of the day, I know this too shall pass, but whilst it goes on, we can show compassion to each other, send out love, and know that the universe has our best interest at its heart. I would like to close this with a heartfelt quote from a wise and knowing man that we know as children's author, Doctor Seuss: Be kind in your mind and all that you do and you'll find that mankind can be kind to you too.
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Images Used on The Site. Illustrations from the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, known also as the Rider Tarot and the Waite Tarot, reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902. c. 1971 by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. The Rider-Waite Tarot deck is a registered trademark of U.S. Games Systems, Inc
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