What is ahead for our Nation?

We are going through major upheaval as a country, as a nation, as inhabitants of Earth and sometimes, the uncertainty is very difficult to deal with. This second reading hopefully, will help us to prepare for what is ahead.

For those of you who have not read part 1 of this reading, I strongly suggest you do, so that you are more prepared to read this. Here is the link:

https://www.taraacie.com/four-energies-tarot-reading-for-australia-02042020/

Before I go into this reading, I want to remind you of that at our very heart, Australia as a nation will not become victims to fear and all the chaos that fear creates. We have had our problems. The initial fear and shock brought out the dark angel in many, causing a bizarre raid on our supermarkets and stores in a fear induced coma of self preservation that left all of us stunned.

However, we are better than that and there will be stories of kindness and compassion emerging from these days that we can be much happier with.

We are going to need to find our better angels in the days weeks, perhaps even months ahead. We are going to need to find compassion for each other. We are going to need to be strong and find resilience. Remember, always remember, that no matter how rough the waters get around us, we can find and access the place of stillness within, the peace that bypasses all our human understanding. We have the fearlessness of the Fool and we are going to need it.

If Spirit uses hashtags they would be #weareallinthistogether and #thereisenough and possibly #focusiseverything.

The cards drawn are all swords. Swords are the element of air and relate closely to thoughts and communication.

The first is 2 of Swords. Blindfolded and with swords crossed against the body, the figure represents the situation we are now in. The blindfold suggests to me that we need to take our focus off the unfolding and relentless barrage of bad news. We all know how the media operates. Drama creates ratings but it also creates overwhelm and even despair if we take it in day after day. We have emergency alerts and daily updates. That actually is enough.

This situation is going to be a turning point for the media worldwide I feel, and it will be a very different entity as we emerge on the other side of this. But for now, turn off your televisions, disengage from social media, at least for part of each day. With that blindfold on, we can go inside ourselves and find a quiet place in which we can settle our minds. ‘Hold steady’ is the message I am hearing very clearly. It is not foolish to take your eyes off the horror. You know when you hear an emergency siren and you automatically find yourself looking? Don’t. Just don’t.

Two is the number for balance and harmony. See the way the figure is protecting itself in this posture? We too need to take the protective measures that have been brought in, seriously. Please do not fall prey to the ‘police state’ narrative. Write your own. If the term ‘lockdown’ frightens you, change it. Call your time at home a Staycation. Call it Safe Sanctuary. Write your own script. Protect yourself and do not be frightened.

The second card is one I am coming to think of as the ‘quarantine’ card! Four is the number of structure, stability and foundation.

Here the figure needs to retreat and to rest in order to be restored to strength. See also the swords are still there, but hanging in a row. They have been put down. Again, I hear the message to lay our our own swords (thoughts) down. Disengage and rest. Know this: in spite of all you see hear and feel, it is ok to rest, to turn off, tune out of the trauma frequency and to sleep. See the position of the hands? In the yogic tradition it is the Anjali Mudra, a direct way to take us into our hearts and out of our minds and to centre ourselves. How beautiful!

We need to engage in this self care. That the cards answering my question begin with the need to protect ourselves, to centre ourselves, to quarantine ourselves in our safe sanctuaries is important. I know the cards well and hear the message that I will not sugar coat. I say this with love and I say it with tenderness, but we need to realise that not all of us will come out of this alive, so live intentionally; keep bringing yourself out of your mind and back into your hearts.

The third card in this conversation is the 6 of Swords. Remembering that I am reading for Australia as a collective and not for individuals I see what lies ahead with an aching heart. The 6 of Swords is a tender card. The boat is leaving the shore. The figures sitting on the boat are bowed. The sorrow is palpable. Sorrow is part of the human experience. It comes to us all, one way or another. The swords point down in the boat are there as an acknowledgment of the deep sorrow that has been experienced. Deep sorrow becomes part of the very fabric of who we are. It gives us depth. This card appears when a person, or in this case, a nation has to finally move on from some loss or hurt that is still deeply felt but new shores call. Not all of us will be in this position. If we are not, then we can be the third figure in the image, the ferryman. We need to not only hold steady through this event, we have to be ready to help those who need us to keep the boat moving when they can not. This card always acknowledges the reality of suffering and the beginning of a new and better stage of this journey of life. We need to hold the vision and the destination and make sure that destination is reached safely. There will be much rebuilding to do.

The fourth card is 9 of Swords. We probably have all experienced this on an individual level some time in our lives; this tormented sleep, this constant replaying in our exhausted minds. Remember though, that 9 indicates the ending of a cycle. Our dear nation is not going to get through this unscathed. But the nightmare will end. Remember that.

The final card in this second part of the reading represents a deep reflection on all the practical aspects of the nation’s life. Pentacles is the element of earth. It concerns itself with all those important everyday aspects of life: our work, our finances, where and how we live. It is intensely practical.

Life post Covid 19 will not return to how it was before. We will not have endured it for nothing. Everything now is up for review and re-creation. And the character in this card has a gentle, thoughtful smile on his face. I do not think the fast paced, frenetic pace pre virus is one we will return to.

We will have learned to much.

I am reminded of the saying ‘Change happens for two reasons: either we learn so much that we want to, or we hurt too much not to.’