From Monarchy to Democracy and Beyond. Part 2
Well, the British Monarchy did just about enough to renew itself, courtesy of a large serving of High Christian ritual, the indomitable Lady Justice (aka Penny Mordaunt with sword), the Archbishop of Canterbury’s last minute discovery of energy and vitality and the musical genius of Handel’s Zadok the Priest (no longer just the Champions League theme music). But imagine what the ceremony could have been if they really went for it. Imagine the power that could have been generated if the monarch had been vigorous enough to rise from the chair by himself, unaided, and imagine the effect his words would have had if they had been memorised, then loudly and confidently declared, rather than mumbled from cue cards. As it was they did enough, but it was a missed opportunity to inject some spirit back into the nation. Nevertheless, it will not have hurt the public to have been exposed to such colour, ritual and ceremony, especially when most people’s lives have long ago been stripped of such things. Nor will it hurt to be reminded, by Rishi Sunak of all people, about the reality of good and evil,
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1: 16-17
‘Thrones or dominions or principalities or powers’ are biblical terms for the ways in which evil rules the world, and this verse is the Christian way of saying, quite correctly, that though the world is undoubtedly ruled by evil, there is a force above and beyond this evil, which must and will, eventually, prevail. Naturally the truth of this will have been lost on most of the attendees of the coronation, agents of evil that they are, as well as, sadly, many of those watching. More on that in Part 3, next time.
The high point for me was enjoying the fulfilment of the prophecy of my late teacher Arthur, which he gave adamantly in 1992 and again in 1997 (both times when the the future of the monarchy was in grave doubt) that Charles would, most definitely become King. I mention this because there is all the difference in the world between genuine prophecy, and the re-labelling of your own wishes as predictions, something which happens more and more in the so-called spiritual community. Anyway, did you notice the ceremony’s magical aspects? Although the procedure underwent considerable ‘modernisation’ I do think Charles has done enough to keep his show on the road, for now at least. He achieved cultural buy-in, the young were celebrated alongside the old, and there was a involvement from a wide cross-section of society. This speaks to the fact that the most enthusiastic supporters of royalty are not always indigenous White Brits, but are in fact, very often, people of South Asian and Caribbean descent. There is no question that Charles has always been committed to multiculturalism and plurality. The question is, now that the monarchy has been successfully rebooted can the same happen for the country? Or, are we going to continue to give airtime to all those dominated (note my use of that important word) by the vibrations of resentment, hatred and destruction, and as such accelerate from a literal United Kingdom, to a Fragmented Republic?
In order to answer this it’s time for a Tarot reading. The last time I attempted a detailed Tarot spread on the state of the nation was around the time of the Brexit referendum in 2016. Suffice to say that the cards, then, were unremittingly dire. But a lot has happened since, so let’s update and look ahead, particularly in light of last times blog, the part one to this sequel. I performed this spread on 4th April 2023, before the Coronation, and re-confirmed it straight afterwards on 6th May.
I used a 1971 Rider Waite pack and arranged them on a flag of the Union Jack. I have a number of flags which I use for such purposes whenever I want to see what’s going on somewhere in the world. It helps to set the scene and attunes me to the right energy. I had a few other accompaniments to help me but they must remain trade secrets for now. What I was after was general information, a flavour of the nation, not a detailed picture. I wanted the signal, not the noise.
So, resigned to becoming a hostage to fortune, I drew nineteen cards and arranged them thus. It was immediately clear, when 10 of those 19 appeared as Major cards, that big stuff was happening, and that I wasn’t looking at a business as usual situation.
In the central spine I asked about the reign of various monarchs and the state of the nation during their time.
Card 1 – Describe Queen Elizabeth II’s reign
KNIGHT OF WANDS REVERSED
I think this shows that there was a great deal of quarrelling and arguing in the Royal Family, behind the scenes, some of which we knew, much of which we did not. It seems to me that the late Queen spent a lot of her time managing petty rivalries, personality disputes and was constantly trying to reign in the more bolshy members of her family. All was not as smooth and sweatless as they liked to portray. I doubt the TV series The Crown even scratched the surface. A E Waite in his deck companion book, The Key to the Tarot (1910) suggested that this is a card of “rupture, division, interruption and discord”. Think about the troubles with Princess Margaret, Charles and Diana, Harry and Meghan and God know what Randy Andy got up to. Also think about Lord Mountbatten (mentor of King Charles) and his involvement in attempts to overthrow Harold Wilson’s government in the late 60’s and 70’s, and then his assassination by the IRA. All this occupied a great deal of her time and energy. And that’s just the stuff we know about! This tells me that King Charles’ desire to slim down the monarchy is not just a public relations exercise. Less snouts in the trough means less aggravation for him.
Card 2 – Describe the state of the nation during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign (1952-2022)
KNIGHT OF SWORDS REVERSED
This card shows immaturity and impatience, a country whose people wouldn’t listen and wouldn’t be told. This was the nation we became during those years, where we moved from deference to selfishness, from slow and steady to a thirst for immediacy. Please note, I’m not talking about what happened in any one community or family, I’m talking about the zeitgeist, a taste of the national consciousness. I was born into a country, in 1972, where people grumbled about authority but broadly did as they were told. For right or wrong, or maybe both, this is no longer the case. If Covid had happened in 1984 the anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine movement wouldn’t have been a movement at all. It would have been a handful of people in the pub.
We should additionally note here that the first two cards are both reversed Knights. Waite identifies this with “susceptibility”, another word for which is vulnerability. Both the monarchy, and the nation, throughout this time, were I feel, far weaker than they seemed. I reckon the late Queen was able to focus on little more than simply preserving the monarchy, which was, more than once during her reign, close to collapse. The nation itself stepped close to economic ruin and social disintegration on more than one occasion, during those years.
Card 3 – Describe King Charles III’s reign
FIVE OF SWORDS
Oh dear. Aleister Crowley called this the card of defeat, and associated it with weakness, sentimentality, pacificism and even treachery. He also drew parallels between this card and the collapse of virtue that took place as the Roman Empire degenerated. “Corruption disintegrated the Empire from within” he said in The Book of Thoth (1944). Indeed in Crowley’s own version of the cards the five swords are arranged in the shape of an upside down pentagram, the sign of evil and mal-intent. I actually don’t think this evil emanates from the man himself. His Destiny/Life Path is 2, and the Dark Side of 2 is not malice but weakness. I think he is fundamentally, like so many of today’s leaders, not evil as such, but spineless and without a centre, and these flaws expose him to people who do have genuine bad intentions. This card also suggests that Charles may have a short lived reign, with more than his fair share of trouble and strife. Samael Aun Weor in Tarot & Kabbalah (1978) associates this card with karma, which perhaps suggests that some of the many evils that lurk in the mud of the British monarchy are about to hatch out.
Card 4 – Describe the state of the nation during King Charles III’s reign
QUEEN OF PENTACLES REVERSED
Oh dear again. This is not a positive sign for women, for health or for money. Here the naturally strong and resilient feminine energy is weakened by its immersion in material concerns. The card is a classic indicator of poor health. In the upright position she is formidable, a force to be reckoned with. Here, not so much. This does not bode well for the condition of women, in general, in the coming years, nor for that matter everyone else who has to deal with the consequences of that. Problems with the NHS will probably intensify. If the card had been upright I would be thinking about the chance of future successful female Prime Ministers, but in the reversed position is looks like women will either get nowhere near power, or a la Liz Truss and Teresa May, make a mess of it when they do. Eden Gray in The Tarot Revealed (1960) also associated this card with “suspicion and mistrust.” We might hope that Charles’ reign is a short one.
Of course, this was a joint coronation, with the formal investiture of Queen Camilla, so perhaps the Queen of Pentacles reversed relates to her? Is she ill? Will she be Queen for very long? And if not then how badly will that affect Charles?
Looking ahead further now…
Card 5 - Describe King William V’s reign
THE CHARIOT REVERSED
Will this even happen? I think it will, but whereas the card in the upright position would signify hard work and focus bringing victory and success, this is not so in the reversal. Papus, in The Tarot of the Bohemians (1889), reckoned that the Charioteer was wearing the breastplate of Moses, thereby signifying that he was in receipt of, or at least had access to, divine guidance. But in the reversal we see someone disconnected from God, who either doesn’t have a connection to, or doesn’t listen to, higher counsel. We also have recently seen an insight into William’s true nature, where he is much more aggressive and emotional than his image portrays. As a Destiny/Life Path 11 it is almost inconceivable that he would be the model of chilled out calmness. The balance and self-control that he projects and aspires to is not the full reality, and he is, I think, to a very large extent kept grounded by his wife Kate. Which brings us to Card 6.
Card 6 – Describe Kate’s role in William’s reign
THE STAR REVERSED
This one surprised me, but the cards don’t lie. This suggests, literally, that her star may be waning, or may in due course be tarnished, and that she may not be the positive force that many would want her to be. This is the card of mental health problems, indicating a tendency toward depression and low mood. Maybe this reveals simply her role in advocating for these causes, and perhaps that is her major contribution? Or it may mean that she herself, or someone close to her, suffers from these things. Either way, if you wanted the monarchy to be re-vivified once more after Charles then these two cards – Chariot reversed and Star reversed – are less than ideal. The magic of the coronation ceremony may have to be unleashed again, much more vigorously, very soon, if the monarchy is to continue. Kate is a Destiny/Life Path 3 so you can guarantee than she has, at some time or other, said something that she should not have said. Maybe Meghan Markle has a record of it.
Card 7 – Describe the state of the nation during Williams reign
STRENGTH REVERSED
The card Strength is often associated astrologically with the sign Leo, so let us make a side note here that Meghan Markle has the Sun, Mercury and her North Node all in Leo (more on her in a minute). Back to Strength reversed though. My late teacher Arthur used to attribute this card to a weakness of will, an inability (or refusal) to do what needs to be done, and with that a sense of drift. Also there is the suggestion of under-handedness which tells me that many more scandals and instances of corruption will be revealed (while new ones will be carried out in the shadows). This is not a positive indicator for the future of the nation, over the coming decades. But given the approaching Pluto Return of the UK in 2044 perhaps we ought not be too surprised.
Card 8 – Describe the role of Harry during Williams reign
THE HANGED MAN REVERSED
The classic card of selfishness and unwillingness to change, grow or learn. In the upright it can show beneficial self-sacrifice, but here in the reversal there is neither the desire, will nor courage to undertake any such act of service. This says to me that he won’t be involved at all and will continue to cloth himself in soft blankets as a protection against actually having to do anything meaningful in the world. As you can tell, I am not a fan, but I would have been more positive if the card had suggested such. Which brings us to…
Card 9 – Describe the role of Meghan Markle during Williams reign
TEMPERANCE
The first decent card and we should not be surprised that it is attributed to her, because Meghan Markle is, whether you like her or not, and I don’t much, a significant figure in world history. Her Life Path/Destiny 22 (just like Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Thatcher and Bill Gates) means that she cannot be ignored. PD Ouspenky in The Symbolism of the Tarot (1913) renamed this card as Time, reminding us that all good things come to those who wait, and that timing is crucial for success. So, Meghan Markle has barely begun. The time of her real impact is yet to come. As a strong Leo she fulfils my prophecy about the Dark Side of Aquarius. As the Age of Aquarius develops, and all the madness and cruelty of that sign comes to the fore, people will look more and more to its opposite, Leo, for rescue as well as for blame. She is perfectly poised to fulfil both those roles. With Temperance as a card of diplomacy and tact she might, possibly, if we felt positive, see her as a bridge between the monarchy and the outside world, or she might even be US President by the time William is King! All I know for sure is that in Meghan’s World there can be no Queen, no Ruler, no Monarch, but her. However, her time has not yet arrived, and like many 22’s, she still has a lot to learn. Though her potential is enormous she still inhabits the lower vibration of 4, and this is evidenced by what has to be one of the dumbest moves in all history, rejecting a lead role in the one of the oldest, most influential and revered institutions on the planet in favour of being just another California celebrity. This 4 energy, which she currently inhabits, is self-sabotaging and destructive. But, she won’t be in that energy forever. The card Temperance suggests that she will learn, just not yet.
Card 10 – Describe the reign of King George VII
THE WORLD REVERSED
Now we really are reaching here, looking to a future when – and if – William and Kate’s first son, George, becomes King. And what do we have here? One of the best cards, weakened and debilitated by its reversal. Whether this event will ever even happen will depend on one thing - the degree to which the monarchy are prepared to deploy their secret weapon, their magic. Joseph D’Agostino in Tarot: The Royal Path to Wisdom (1976) reckoned this card related to “stagnation and inaction, disappointments and sorrows”. Arthur said it was all about the failure to complete a cycle, a missed opportunity for an ending, so if the monarchy does limp on under George VII then it seems like it will be a much slimmed down institution, ceremonial only, stripped of all its ancient magic, or rocked somehow by events. A reversal of the World card might also mean the abandonment of the last vestiges of imperial and colonial rule. This process has been ongoing for a long while of course, but by then maybe even the Commonwealth might have collapsed, with even places like the Falkland Islands ceasing to be Royal-affiliated. Anything is possible. Maybe this is when the UK loses its seat in the G7 and on the UN Security Council and finally, once and for all, ceases to be a military or economic player on the world stage? Maybe he will be King of a Fortress Britain, a nation that, in response to unmanageable global crises, pulls up the drawbridge and retreats from the world. That’s what Nostradamus reckoned would happen. George as a Destiny/Life Path 8 (and additionally born on the 22nd) is not weak like his grandfather, so maybe he will be able to chart a different course, but perhaps it’s too early to say for sure. The card may also indicated problems or dangers with travel, either for the man himself, or for his subjects.
Card 11 – Describe the state of the nation during the reign of George VII
THE SUN (dignified, NOT reversed)
Well, well, well. At last something positive. So, I reckon we start to thrive after our Pluto Return in 2044 (see previous blog, Part One, and next one, Part 3). The Sun is a card of self-sufficiency and independence, and by that time the nation may well have been reduced in all sorts of ways, burnt out even, maybe a shell of what it once was. But the slimmed down nation will be fit and healthy in a way that it hasn’t been for a long time. This is a good sign indeed and a reason for much hope, though the path there may well be tortuous. We might also remember here another one of Nostradamus’s prophecies that Britain would sit out World War Three. I admit that doesn’t seem very likely, right now. But everything will be up for grabs in the coming decades, in the run up to that Pluto Return, so this card enables me to continue to be short-term pessimistic, long-term optimistic.
Card 12 – Describe what comes after that
THE LOVERS
The Lovers is numbered 6 in the pack, the energy of community, tribe and togetherness. Where 1 is the number is ‘me’, 6 is the number of ‘we’, suggesting that although it has taken a long time to get there, and much has been lost on the way, we do eventually, finally, become some kind of harmonious community. In its most positive form, 6 is the number of caring for and connecting with others, and it is a strong advocate of everyone pulling together. But it’s even more than that. In Esoteric Numerology where 4 is the number of matter (4 seasons, 4 directions, 4 elements) and 5 is the number of the complete human (4 elements plus a soul at the centre), 6 is the number of the ensouled human (5) in connection with God. The late Sir George Trevelyan (1906-1996), education reformer, maverick and mystic, always reckoned that the New Age, the age of love, light and togetherness, would begin in Britain. I have long believed this to be true, it’s just that all the toxins have to be sweated out first. No trend or change of any significance was ever foreseen by the masses so the harder this idea is mocked the more I know that it is likely to be true. Britain can be the birthplace of a genuinely new direction for humanity. The seeds have already been planted, but they will take decades to grow and may not sprout even before the end of the century. What has to happen for us to get there? Almost complete breakdown, probably. Only then, once karma is paid and lessons learned might the people be ready and willing to play their part in the building of a true community of nations, one that isn’t based on low vibrations like fear and greed, and certainly one that doesn’t worship false gods like progress (see Part One if you still think progress is a good thing).
Now a few words about each of the four nations of the UK.
Card 13 – Describe the state of Scotland during this time
SEVEN OF CUPS
For the following four cards, in hindsight I wasn’t sure whether ‘this time’ meant right now, or for the duration of this reading. But either way the card is easy to read. It talks about the delusions and fantasies of Scottish independence that suck up all the vital energy of that country, while all the time the daily condition of its people worsens. It’’s a grim card actually, much worse than it seems. Often astrologically matched up with Venus in Scorpio, Lon Milo Duquette in Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot (2003) reminds us that this is the card of debauchery, where we go too far, want too much and lose control. It’s a mess of a card. Pray for Scotland. Please note, this spread was done before the ruling Scottish Nationalist Party imploded in scandal. Also please note, I am quite sure that the Scots could survive, even thrive, as an independent nation. But what they cannot survive is the sheer hypocrisy and mendacity of their politicians. This is a problem they share with their brothers and sisters south of the border.
Card 14 - Describe the state of Northern Ireland during this time
TWO OF CUPS REVERSED
“Strained relationships”, said Arthur. “Instability” said Eden Gray. Uh oh. The Troubles 2.0 here we come. Well, maybe not quite that bad. In its upright position we see the chance for union, agreement and harmony, but in its reversal none of this is apparent. It’s not an outright conflict card in the same way as say, the Five of Wands, but it’s a sign of emotional discontent, which can bubble over and bring ill effects if not watched.
Card 15 - Describe the state of England during this time
6 OF WANDS REVERSED
According to Arthur this suggests “disloyalty and bad faith. A back stabber.” Certainly here we have hopes misplaced, and leaders who don’t deliver, who in fact sell their country out for personal gain. When will we learn? Note: King Charles is a Life Path/Destiny 2. So was Gordon Brown. So was Tony Blair. So is Keir Starmer. A Labour government can solve nothing, for their very existence, just like the Conservatives, is part of the problem,
Card 16 - Describe the state of Wales during this time
8 OF SWORDS
Crises and internal problems, possibly with health or welfare, or maybe through some natural disaster, together with an inability to solve those problems on its own. Crowley identified a lack of persistence and weakness of will with this card, a theme that we have seen throughout the reading.
Well, by this stage the overall picture seemed less than joyful, so I decided to pull two more cards, one for Where is the Hope, and one for Where is the Danger?
Card 17 – Where is the hope during this time?
THE MOON
Where the Sun is masculine the Moon is feminine. So this suggests that the hope for the nation, in spite of the troubles that they will face short term, is to be found in women. But what is a woman? It’s certainly not something that you can be just because you say so. The great spiritual teachers, Girls Aloud, knew the score when they told us, “you can’t mistake my biology.” As I have mentioned elsewhere, the more women become like men, and men become like women, the more miserable both will become for they will have abandoned their very essence and discarded their innate magical power. Eden Gray thought this card indicative of deception and illusion, but also of imagination and intuition. According to Homer and Harriette Curtiss in The Key of Destiny (1919), the 19th century French occultist Eliphas Levi connected this card to all things magical. The Curtiss’s themselves proceeded to describe it as the card of the Second Initiation, a magical rebirth where all that has been learned from the trials and tests of recent times is put into practice in order to start a new cycle of destiny. In the image of this card we often see many ‘noises off’, many things that would distract us from our path, a path which we must walk, alone. Britain (or maybe just England) will eventually have to forge its own path in the world, alone, in a way that it hasn’t done for a very, very long time. This card seems to confirm what the others have suggested, that what’s left of the nation carves its own way, writes its own laws, and withdraws from its international entanglements. This is already happening and although the great and the good will wail and moan, there is actually nothing to fear.
Card 18 – What is the danger during this time?
4 OF SWORDS
It seems to me that there is a clear and present danger of the people of Britain sinking into a slew of despond, a state that isn’t comfortable enough for them to be happy, but isn’t hard enough, for enough of them, to rebel. A kind of stereotypical middle classness, a stagnation and loss of energy which comes from endless compromise, that is the enemy now. This card shows the force that tells us to lay down and just accept what others want us to do, rather than striking out boldly into a new future. Brits are accustomed to ‘making the best of things’ and just ‘getting on with it’ but when nothing around you works and everything in your society is broken than ‘getting on with it’ is no longer a sane response. Waite didn’t like this card, calling it outright “bad”. D’Agostino was more optimistic, associating it with “contentment” but the challenge remains. Are we are going to continue to unsuccessfully appease a thousand and one incompatible interests, or are we going to find a new direction for ourselves, and consequently, perhaps, the world?
The matter was still unclear to me, so I drew one final card.
Card 19 – What’s the overall message here, and what can be done?
THE MAGICIAN
The message here was immediately obvious; if you don’t like it, change it. The nation is crying out for leadership. I don’t mean a new assistant manager at the head of the table. I mean genuine visionary leadership, where someone – or more likely multiple someone’s from different parts of society – begin to set forward new visions and start to take action to steer the ship in ways that have not been seen before. It may be that their efforts will not bear fruit in their lifetime, but without them things are destined to get much worse, until then one day, because the wheel always turns eventually, they are suddenly better again. But without the presence of the Magician the arrival of good times is not in your control and the joys of life, because they were not earned or fought for, will be tasteless. A completely new direction and a new story are needed for the nation, and the Magician is the one who will bring it. New doesn’t mean old, reheated. If the New Way has anything to do with marxism, socialism, conservatism, liberalism, worship of the welfare state, or even monarchy then it ain’t new and won’t work..
The Tarot shows us what will happen if we let it happen like that. Actions to change the future can, and according to the Magician should, be made. The information laid out here and in the previous Part One describe where the ancient and once highly influential people on these islands might be going. And none of it ought to come as any surprise, if you have been keeping your eyes open. Things have been on the slide here for a long time now, and it’s only the progressive delusion which claims otherwise. If you are awake you will not be fooled by shiny new railway stations and public buildings adorned with flags. Everybody with any brain knows that life here is much more difficult than it used to be, and is only getting harsher and more brutal every day. And this reading and the other things I’ve mentioned, suggest that the slide is no where near over and has much further to run. Charles has successfully rebooted the monarchy, but as a nation we are descending into a place that no one thought we could possibly go to, a place past generations would simply not believe. Just as the Fall of the Roman Empire was a long drawn out affair that took centuries, so the Fall of the British Empire, though well advanced, is not yet complete and has decades left to run.
It is part of human nature to hope for the best. But it is a characteristic of the wise to temper hope with reality, to dare to look at the flip side, to consider how things might not work out as we wish. Optimism is cowardice. We must see the condition of things today in context with yesterday and tomorrow. Only then can we act. I know that there are many who cannot stand to look upon reality – or worse still insist that they can create their own bubble of it – but that’s a character flaw, because it is always what you don’t know that gets you. We have to see where we are heading, because that’s the only way that changes can be made. And this reading tells us that if you wait for those at the helm of powerful institutions to make those changes then you will wait for a long time. Without new people, with new ideas, matters in this nation will drift on, unresolved. The NHS will totter from crisis to crisis until it is either dismantled or simply collapses under the weight of its own contradictions. Roads will continue to disintegrate, the cost of living will escalate, jobs will become even more precarious, pensions will not pay out, politics will get more and more febrile and politicians will promise more and more, while delivering less and less. It won’t all go down in a straight line, but the trend will be decline, until, in the end, it will only be by the actions of Magicians, by which I mean independent, self-starters, confident people with vision and energy (in partnership with actual occultists) who will rescue things. Raise your hand if you fancy yourself as one of those people.
Feel free, in the comments below, to let me know how you see these cards and where you reckon things are headed. But beware the prophet’s curse. Prophecy involves seeing, not wishing.
