Tarot for a Troubled Time River Rose

River is back after an unexpected hiatus. She shares how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her personally this winter, and she reviews the major events of the past three months. And then she asks the Tarot: what's important right now? When death is swirling around us and we may not have the energy to deal with all of our life's challenges, it's important to understand our priorities and to address them. Using a three-card, body/mind/spirit spread, River draws the Queen of Cups, the Nine of Cups, and the Four of Swords. These cards are asking us to pause, to open our minds,  to truly reflect on our most basic needs, to prioritize meeting those needs in whatever way makes sense for us, and to be grateful for what we do have.

To connect with River, follow her on Instagram (@callmeriverrose) or Twitter (@callmeriverrose) or send her an email at iamriverrose@gmail.com.

It's December. The moon is waning, we’re approaching the end of the year, and winter is also coming  here in the northern hemisphere. The ongoing strain of living through a pandemic, combined with all of these natural and temporal milestones, should perhaps motivate us to go inward, to truly think about the things that are no longer serving us, and to identify what we can release, let go, or move on from. With everything we have on our minds, River asks the Tarot: What should I release? And looks for what we should separate ourselves from that's weighing us down. In response, she draws the High Priestess reversed, and the Five of Pentacles. Focusing on the interplay between inner wisdom and social interaction, between abundance and scarcity, these cards suggest that what is weighing us down is inside of us, and what can cause us to rise up is outside of us.

For some added inspiration this week, River looks to Dorothy Hunt's poem, Peace is This Moment Without Judgment.

To connect with River, follow her on Instagram (@callmeriverrose) or Twitter (@callmeriverrose) or send her an email at iamriverrose@gmail.com.

This week, River confesses that she's not her best self right now, but she leans into the spirit of Thanksgiving in the hopes that a good dose of gratitude will cause a cosmic shift. She asks the Tarot, how can I give thanks? and in response, she gets the Ten of Swords, the Ten of Cups, and the Seven of Wands reversed. 

As we continue to deal with COVID-19, if an attitude of gratitude can trigger an upward spiral, finding the right way to express gratitude seems like a worthy endeavor.

Special thanks this week go out to fellow podcaster, Marco Timpano, without whom this podcast would likely not exist. Check out Marco's podcasts in your favorite podcast app: The Insomnia Project, Eat and Drink, Born on this Day, and Every Place is the Same. 

This week, River is contemplating the nature of truth, something that we think of as empirical, quantifiable, and verifiable, and yet that often we can't agree on. Since we can't always know exactly WHAT the truth is, River asks the Tarot, where's the truth? The cards that reveal themselves in response are the Two of Wands, the Hierophant, and the Nine of Wands reversed. While the Hierophant suggests that our current systems are asking us to defer to dogma and to block our ability to think critically, the Two of Wands reminds us that learning and thinking and contemplation can help us know the truth, but that we must get out into the wilderness of the Nine of Wands to truly find it  and defend it if we must.

In this episode, River relies on some words from the Buddha and Theodore Roosevelt.

To connect with River, follow her on Instagram (@callmeriverrose) or Twitter (@callmeriverrose) or send her an email at iamriverrose@gmail.com.

Since the last episode, the US presidential election has happened, and it looks as though Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been elected. With this apparent seismic shift in the political landscape, River wonders what will happen next. She asks the Tarot, "What now?", wondering how we should deal with this historic moment. In response, she draws the Knight of Wands reversed and the Four of Pentacles. These cards are indicating that there is tension between change and stability that needs to be navigated very carefully in this troubled time. As we continue to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises, the Tarot is asking us to pace ourselves and to work from our true intentions.

To connect with River, follow her on Instagram (@callmeriverrose) or Twitter (@callmeriverrose) or send her an email at iamriverrose@gmail.com.

This episode comes at a very important moment in time. We've just marked Halloween, Samhain, and the Day of the Dead. In the northern hemisphere, we're headed towards winter. And, in the United States, we're about to find out the results of the 2020 Presidential election. With all of this in mind, River asks the Tarot: where does it hurt? with the intention of discovering what most needs healing right now. In response, the Tarot deals the Hermit, the Tower, and the Seven of Swords -- all reversed. The cards remind us that in a moment of upheaval, we must re-examine our relationship with solitude, and remember that there are no shortcuts to creating a safer and more peaceful world.

This week, River recommends the Tara Brach podcast and references two poems: "What They Did Yesterday Afternoon" by Warsan Shire, and "No Man Is An Island" by John Donne.

To connect with River, follow her on Instagram (@callmeriverrose) or Twitter (@callmeriverrose) or send her an email at iamriverrose@gmail.com.