What Will Be On the Other Side of This:

We know from the first two parts of the reading, that Australia does not just coast through this global upheaval with a brave ‘She’ll be right mate’ and come out the other side unscathed. We know that there will be a collective suffering that will change us forever as a country. What we also know though is that this nation does have a core energetic response to crisis that will help us all. This nation is not naive. It is both ancient and young. After the worst passes and we begin to find our feet again, much will have changed for us on an individual, social and collective level.

We left part two of the reading with the pensive energy of the 7 of Pentacles. The enforced slowdown, probably lock down (not called at the time of writing) will have sent us all inward, to have a long hard look at life and how we live, what is important and what needs to be left behind.

The third part of the reading begins with the 6 of Cups. We have moved from the earlier confusion, mistrust and complex emotional responses of the 7 of Cups, through the experience and the sorrow and we have had a chance to reflect. The 6 of Cups is a nostalgic card, taking us back to earlier times, when life was simpler, where the cups contained daisies, symbols of innocence and not the nightmarish creatures of the 7 of Cups we began with. As the waters in the canals of Venice were able to settle and the silt sink and clarity return without the relentless movement of humans consuming experiences, so too is it with our emotions. We might realise how much we took for granted, how many things we believed to be important that actually were not.

Next to this card is the 4 of Pentacles. We began with nostalgia, the ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’ hindsight of the 6 of Cups. We will also have lived through some quite significant financial shock as our day to day, week to week existence threw our nonchalant ways in our faces. The 4 of Pentacles I sometimes see as a miserly energy; someone holds his or her wealth with a tight grip, feet planted on two coins, one over the heart and the other over the head and this certainly is one way to read this card here.

We know from history that experiences like the Great Depression of the 1920s leaves a collective psychic imprint of lack, to which we might respond by hoarding and holding tight to ‘stuff’ but the feeling I get from this card, is that we are going to know what we need to support ourselves, (coins under the feet) and we are going to know what true treasure is, (coin over the heart) and what is of real value (coin on our heads). I can’t help but smile, thinking that ‘corona’ means crown.

The following two cards are extremely positive. Wands is the suit of fire, of passion and life force. 6 is the number of success, communication, cooperation and harmony.

‘We are all in this together’ was our global hashtag reminder of solidarity and connection as artificial divisions crumbled under the relentless energy of the virus.

The final card is the 3 of Cups. Cups, in the element of water, relates to emotions and relationships while the number three relates to collaborative and creative growth. We will have learned a better way to relate to each other.

I think the hierarchical and patriarchal energies will have collapsed to be replaced with a very different way of being with each other. I certainly hope this is so.

So there it is, a tale of pain and change. I for one look forward to the new society that we create together.