Swift Prudence in the Face of Oppression
A tarot reading to assist in navigating the Mars - Saturn/Neptune opposition as the warrior pulls on the galactic crossbow
Summer’s flashpoint. Mars is in the final degrees of Virgo, just a few degrees from the exact opposition to Saturn and Neptune in Aries. The tension is starting to ratchet up this first week of August, with a noticeable crank in intensity on August 6th when Mars enters the cardinal air of Libra, peaking the 8th - 11th, with another lightning bolt flash of change on the 9th with the Aquarian Full Moon. Also take a note on what gets triggered August 5th - 6th when Mars sits at 29º Virgo, as the wild Solar Eclipse on September 21st happens at this exact degree, so we may see a foreshadowing of what is coming to an end at that time.
Instinctive reactions to past revolutionary experiences are catalyzed, which will be seized upon by those that seek to establish and maintain their positions in social and/or global seats of power. Dirty tricks will be up some sleeves of deception for sure. Keep aware of ways that you may be harnessing this energy in ways that could betray or sabotage truer and wiser aspects of yourself. Fear is a potent tool to control social order. Feel where it still has access to your head and heart, reinforcing old stories of victimhood and disempowering actions, or non-action. Identities of a personal nature as well as social and collective ones will be shaken to their core. Our bones and blood carry ancient storylines of revolutionary change via conquest, destruction and suffering. This period of time will be bringing those epigenetic memories to the surface, triggering the body into stress responses that challenge ones daily experiences. One must keep remembering that this window of change is a necessary process and that it will pass, and we will be forever changed, there’s no escaping this truth. Neptune’s involvement will bring about a process of disillusionment that also destabilizes all one has known and held to be inherently true, there’s a sacrifice of personal willpower here to the source of creation (not to people or entities that have hijacked this energy) and its own process of evolution. So the question is how do we navigate these chaotic and potentially violent ethers with some semblance of grace? Let’s see what the cosmic language of the tarot brings forth ~
The central theme is the 8 of Disks, which has the energy of the Sun in Virgo. A deep taproot is key here, remembering the pragmatic practices and thought processes of our ancestors that have survived countless eras of suffering and change. Virgo is harvest season, storing away the fruits and meat of a productive summer season to have what one needs to survive the stillness and withdrawing energy of winter. There is security found in the changing seasons of time, so tuning into the larger cycles of time and eras of change will help to center your mind and body. There’s also a need to clarify and simplify ones needs, as anything superfluous will quickly fall away. Eat well, as your digestive system will be processing a giant load of physical, emotional and psychic energies. Or maybe food will even feel like it’s too much, and a gentle fast may help you in moving through this transition. Gentle being the key word, don’t do anything extreme as this will further throw things out of balance, losing the much needed center.
What brought us to this juncture is the 3 of Wands, with the Sun in Aries, which signifies the birth of a new life cycle. That’s pretty straight forward with Saturn and Neptune at this first degree of Aries anchoring the center of this kite formation / cosmic crossbow. This card is transforming ones integrity to be in alignment with the evolving wisdom of Spirit, and forming new channels of authentic expression that will be foundational in this launch of the new era.
The energies supporting this transition from above and below are also elemental fire cards, confirming the intensity of these experiences. The 10 of Wands, with Saturn in Sagittarius, signifies an ending of traditional and oppressive structures that have been middle men to peoples direct connection to Spirit / Source / God for millenia. This will be very unsettling for anyone that still has parts or all of their belief systems being held by external authorities. We’ll see how people unconsciously revert to being dictators in their own little worlds, projecting this into their relationships and communities, to maintain some sense of power and control as these energetic pillars burn to ash. Interestingly, the card below, the 8 of Wands which has Mercury in Sagittarius, is the liberator energy that is bringing about this upending of dogma and control. The arrow has been loosed and the multi-directional, multi-dimensional energies that are in motion cannot be put back into the genie lamp at this point. I hate to say that this brings a thread of hope into the field, but there is a bright note coming in under the surface of the destruction and suffering. These ideas of good and bad, positive or negative, are highly relative depending on ones position and perception, and in the larger universal picture these stories and meanings completely dissolve, all just is.
The is, is where we land with the 6 of Swords, Mercury in Aquarius. There’s an understanding of the divine order of the collective transformation underway, that brings us to a new level of being the detached witness while still being a soul playing its role in the evolution of life. We understand our role and discover a liberating freedom to play this part to its fullest, weirdest and most interesting potential. The energy of 6 provides a restful plateau for a period of time, allowing for a profound mental integration of everything that happened. Brilliant and exciting ideas may continue to reveal themselves as the divine geometry of creation clicks into place in your mind, clarifying your Self as a fractal part of this geodesic whole.