Anxiety and the Boston Marathon Explosions

Like all of us, I’ve been glued to the news today. I decided to ask tarot about the situation in Boston. Not, who did this? Not, why? But, what do we need to know about the energy of this situation, in terms of how we are all reacting? I used a two-card spread: the card on the left answers the question, “what do we need to be careful about as we react to this situation?” and the card on the right answers the question, “what do we need to strive for in terms of how we react?” I used the Pocket Tarot, but haven’t been able to scan those images (sorry!).

1. What do we need to be careful about as we react? 

Reversed Emperor: To me, the Emperor card is about control issues. And this is a situation that none of us can control. The whole point of terrorist activity is to make you feel out of control, panicky, afraid. Be careful about this. It’s easy for me to say, don’t worry about what you can’t control, but that is hard advice to take. Yet, it’s good advice. There is much that we CAN control in our lives. But sometimes we are caught up in our collective group karma as a people. And we have to let that play out and flow into our own lives, accepting that we can only control the parts that we can control. Focus on what you CAN do, not on what you can’t.

2. What do we need to strive for in our reactions?

Reversed Knight of Cups: Okay, this will sound political. But. This is not the Crusades and we are not in search for the Holy Grail. Sending out the troops, putting on our armor, racing around as fast as we can…I don’t see any of this helping. Letting our feelings flow out of us as if we were pouring a cup of water upside down onto the Earth — that’s what I see helping here. Being sensitive. Accepting our vulnerability and reacting with authentic feelings.

Two upside-down cards–this seems uniquely appropriate to me because this event has turned us all upside-down. But I also see upside-down cards as holding the potential to be turned right-side-up again. We can take control of our lives, like the Emperor. We can set new boundaries and patrol them in different ways, like a Knight. But if we focus on the issue of boundaries, I hope that we can send out our tender, sensitive Knights of Cups, who will apply love and intuition, to deal with this situation. Not our volatile Knights of Wands, who I think are all too ready for a fight.