I really should have known better. I’ve been using this Healing Light tarot deck for three months now and I have yet to get a feel for it in a real way. And yet, it was the first one I thought to use for this week’s reading. One more chance to show me it’s themes and ideals before I give this deck a break for a bit. And what it gave me leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Once the cards came up I knew, the toxic masculine was coming through.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had these messages come through and it won’t be the last. But this deck, for better or for worse, is telling us that what we’re living through right now is the revenge of patriarchy.
Last week I said:
Yes, patriarchy is going through its own existential crisis right now. It is fighting for relevance in a world that has outgrown its lies. It’s fighting for attention in a world that has already exposed its tactics. It is fighting for obedience in a world too aware of its choices. And so, in its last gasp, it’s going to unleash its full wrath, the last of its reserve weaponry, the most sophisticated and dangerous of its tactics. It’s in emergency mode and it will try to bleed us dry of the rights and freedoms it has allowed us to have. And yet, we’re recognizing that the authority they’re trying to wield is false, sinister, and transparently desperate. It’s becoming easier to resist, easier to distinguish its lies from our conscience.”
Messages of Divine Love
And as we saw throughout the week as conservatives are shouting about drag queens and trans athletes, again we are seeing colonizer “one size fits all” types of rules making an ugly comeback. Using violence and legal restrictions to maintain a desperate, pathetic sense of control, we are seeing how quickly we are manipulated into conformity. Making the environment as hostile to vulnerability, integrity and accountability as possible is strategic. Making people feel unsafe to be themselves is one of their original tactics, the version 1.0 that brings us back aroundp to their entitlement over our bodies, our lives and even our souls.
Many more of us are actively resisting these tactics than when I first started this blog or even publishing these readings. But that doesn’t mean patriarchy won’t find a way to intimidate, coerce and force people back into the narrow boxes of mediocrity that made it thrive for so long. For if people are free, truly free, then they’re also free to call out the emperor for not wearing any clothes. The more educated, aware and connected we are, the less power patriarchy has.
For it is only in our lack, separation, fear and displaced anger that we align with the messages of patriarchy. “Survival of the fittest” is a patriarchal lie to to justify the domination of others through commerce, poverty, regulation or violence. When we look at our family histories, we begin to mourn the wisdom lost, the dreams that died on the vine, the promises of humanity’s uniqueness that was snuffed our, for no other reason than the greedy, compulsory pursuit of dominance.
We didn’t listen to folks with lived experience. Sure, some of us did, to some extent or another, otherwise we wouldn’t care about these issues. And while others of us have lived this in and out ourselves, we were reticent to share our stories, to make our voices heard. Well, now is the time. because the only way this gets turned around is if we let go of the pretense of niceness and acceptability and we get loud with our lived experience – creating a tidal wave of change that can finally dismantle patriarchy to the ground.
Which is why it won’t survive. When we are connected to our authentic selves we begin to see past the smoke & mirrors of patriarchy’s big lie: that one class of humans deserves to be dominated by another class. Pick your class, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or economic status, the lists go on. None of these deserve to be dominant or dominated. None of us have earned to right to control others in this dubious and unstable social construct.
To repeat myself from last week:
For when patriarchy requires our silence, our acquiescence, our conformity, they are trying to protect a fragile and corruptive structure. The world we are creating will no longer survive confined to neat little boxes of obedience that we’ve been taught to live in. No, we all are here, in this time and space to break out of the boxes, the cages, the bonds of patriarchy and create a wild new world of human ingenuity and divine balance.
This week’s reading echoes these themes, putting us on alert that patriarchy is going to try to tighten the screws, because it’s so limited, so impotent, so begrudgingly simple in its abuses that it’s become transparent, predictable and above all, embarrassing to watch. And the Healing Light tarot comes with a very important and poignant question: are we brave enough to choose a different outcome?
See more below…
Where we are this week
The Heirophant
It’s no surprise, after the Devil last week that we have the manufactured foe that created the Devil, patriarchy’s scapegoat, in the first place: the dogmatic, intractable beliefs of “spiritual authority”. The same “authorities” that stripped humanity of its feminine heroes, clerics and healers. The same ones that taught us to trust their word more than the spirit of the divine that speaks within all of us. The same authorities that used violence and coercion to command a narrow and unnatural faith structure. Where we are this week: examining our faith in old, irrelevant beliefs and the pitiful, hollow structures that support them.
Patriarchy personified.
Messages from our Guides
Eight of Swords (R)
We feel powerless right now – Victimized and left behind by those we trusted. But that doesn’t have to be our fate. We feel anger that we were betrayed, shame that we didn’t see it coming sooner to stop it. But we also have a choice in how we deal with it. Will we wallow in self-defeat or choose to rise up and do something about it? With the seven of swords last week, this is a natural progression. But it matters that we recognize that we can always, always take our power back – not by hurting those who hurt us, but by creating a new way – a way of equality, accountability and honesty.
None of us are free until all of us are free.
Messages from Lady Gaia
Ace of Cups (R)
We are warned to be mindful of our emotional energy right now – to not pour ourselves out on the small and empty details. Avoid draining ourselves for the invincibly ignorant – some arguments are designed to rob of us of our energy. Be aware of who drains our life and who replenishes it. Start minimizing our contact with the former and start encouraging deeper connections to the latter. It doesn’t mean we have to silence or exclude, but rather distance ourselves and observe. “Boundaries are the distance at which you and I can love each other safely.” Be very mindful to reserve our emotional energy for those who truly deserve us.
Preserve our energy.
Messages from our Ancestors
Five of Wands
Have we ever examined why we are so driven to be “the best” at anything? Why do we fiercely compete over jobs, relationships, even family status? What is winning worth to us? How far will we go to achieve it? This card can be both the good and the bad of competitiveness and combat all at once. And here it is our ancestors asking us whether we’re really competing for the right reasons. Are we going to win at all costs, no matter how many friend we lose or people we alienate? Or are we trying to be the best we can be for ourselves and are willing and able to celebrate the best in others too?
Are we doing it for the right reasons?
Messages from our Future Selves
Emperor
A new form of masculinity is in our future. We can choose today what kind of human leadership we need next. Do we need the conquering minds of naked emperors standing on others’ necks or will we choose something more balanced and genuinely empowering? What kind of leader let’s their people suffer needlessly? What kind of leader would rather see people die than admit he was wrong. We have had some piss poor examples of masculine leadership lately. Fortunately, I see a rise of the divine masculine, but only if we wholly choose a new way of living, a new priority for our socio-political organization and new goals for human ingenuity with a more equitably prosperous economy.
A new, healthier masculine power is rising.
Message from Mother Mary
King of Cups
Mother Mary gives us a sketch of the kind of leader we need these days with this card. The king of Cups isn’t afraid of his emotions, isn’t afraid of sitting with ours either. He makes room for new voices to rise, he mentors upcoming leaders to improve upon his works. He recognizes his role and doesn’t abuse his power. He speaks with integrity and loves with passion. But more than anything, he feels a keen and genuine empathy for his people. We need to stop idolizing the tiny kings of their tiny little molehills of accumulated wealth and instead start celebrating those new forms of leadership (including trauma-informed, heart-centered leaders) we need today.
Embracing new leadership models.
Extra Card
Hanged Man (R)
No matter what we think we know, no matter how we think we’ve changed we have further to go. Often this card speaks of sacrifice, sacrificing old ideals, outdated dreams, but especially the justifications and assumptions we make about our world and especially each other. How often do we need to find our world is topsy-turvy before we choose to finally let go of our illusions and excuses. The structures we once thought we’re safe, the justice we once thought was assured is out of reach until we let go of our attachment to the way things were.
Real perspective shift requires we sacrifice our old beliefs to embrace the new.
Undercurrents & Final advice
The Sun
All will be well.
Five of Swords
Let them have this round.
I know we’re feeling down and discouraged but the Sun in the undercurrent here is bringing nothing but unbridled hope. It promises that if we continue to shine, to lovingly share our gifts with the world, we will see amazing outcomes in the end. But this isn’t immediate – we have to persevere and hold the course to get there.
Let patriarchy think it has this victory, because as usual with every bully, they are weakest when flush gloating arrogance. While they keep trying to herd the cats that the divine feminine let loose, we can building new structures, new strategies, new ideas for extricating humanity from these cycles of shame. We first need to practice walking away from battles that aren’t worth it. Walking away from those who want to sow doubt. Our message has to be stronger and deeper than that. Only give ourselves to the battles that will get us closer to a better world….and then act accordingly. For none of it matters if we’re going to act with the same domineering agenda as patriarchy.
Blessing
As we collectively struggle under renewed attempts to control and contain us, may we find the strength to choose a new way, to tell a new story about the radiant possibility of humanity. May we find comfort in one another and develop the empathetic l alders hip the world needs most from us right now. May we share our energy with those people and causes that help all of us rise together.
I am with you always in love 💖
So may it be.
La Madonna Rosa 