You Never Know
Aquarius 2 & 3 // on being a little bit Foolish
I’m sneaking in this Aquarius post right on the cusp of jumping into Pisces season. This has been a whirlwind week, after a long weekend, after a week of solo-parenting so we’ll see how my disjointed thoughts come together. But last weekend on my walk around the block I heard pairs of birds calling to each other across the street - a pair of jays (raucous), a pair of cardinals (melodic). Take heart! Spring is on the way!
We are covering two decans this week because Writing has been my fickle friend recently. The sign above my proverbial door has been: Out for lunch - be back soon. So many things have been pulling for my time and attention, leaving less open time for dreaming and writing. And my inner voice just refuses to be put on a schedule.
The card for last week was the 6 of Swords and I felt like the boatman out searching for refuge. The week was filled with gray upon gray days, kids underfoot, a spouse traveling for work. It was also the bleed week of my cycle which meant I went to bed early every night and just did less. The soft animal of me knew what she wanted: toast, warm blankets, Louis Armstrong, and apparently not writing.
In the meantime, we welcome the 7 of Swords. As soon as I saw this card a certain Republican candidate came to mind. This card often comes up for me to validate my bullshit detector. It has come up in moments of conflict when I’m feeling insecure and wondering, Can I really trust my gut about this person or situation? Are these red flags? The answer is a resounding YES.
This card stands out among the suit of swords - it is bright and playful and colorful. But its’ playfulness belies the sneakier, darker energy of this card. As Susan Chang notes, “Everything about this guy screams - funny business afoot!”
The Trickster1 in this card is an archetype that we see through countless myths. He is like Odysseus and his Trojan horse, or the tailors who trick an Emperor into wearing no clothes. He says, if I wear this silly fur hat and skip around on tip-toe maybe you won’t even notice that I’m stealing your swords.
A more ominous version of this story could be a former president who lies, steals, and cheats his way to another presidential nomination. He could shoot someone and not lose votes. He could swindle money and abuse women left and right, but still tip-toe across our screens with a smug smile on his face.
In the latin Picatrix, an ancient book of astrology dated back to the 11th century, this third decan of Aquarius was said to signify “the accomplishing of will, and the giving of offense.” It all feels a bit hopeless, doesn’t it? When the offense is so clear, so obvious. When the trickster shamelessly brings his trickery out into the light of day but people still refuse to see - or care. What can be done?
Maybe the answer is another trickster of the tarot - the Fool card.
The Fool is the cosmic voyager through the major arcana. Their journey walks through the 21 major cards from birth to death. The Fool is numbered zero because they show up in every card of the journey and they represent freedom and unlimited potential! I love this painting2 and it reminds me of the Fool leaping off the cliff full of trust and joy.
The Fool shares some similarities with the Trickster in the 7 Swords. They share creativity, outside-the-box thinking and playfulness. Both figures are usually depicted as skipping. One dancing as a means of distraction, the other dancing as an expression of joy.
Yesterday I met up with my second grader and her class for swim lessons. As I stood in the lobby waiting for her bus to arrive, the air thick with chlorine and humidity, I overheard some employees chatting with a man coming into the gym. One woman was talking about Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan, and enthusiastically praising her work and leadership. I instinctively felt my body tense up. Just hearing someone broach the topic of politics in public put me on edge. But her optimism was palpable. As the man finished signing in, he put up his hands in a shrug and said, “Well, I guess I shouldn’t call her Gretchen Hitler then.” The woman just smiled and said, “No, sir. She is the sort of grounded leadership this country needs.”
The thing that struck me about this conversation was my own reaction. At the first sign of potential disagreement my whole body tensed. But this woman was all Fool - calm, confident, optimistic, jumping right off that cliff. She didn’t succumb to the fear that conflict is inevitable, or some other grim prediction about our “polarized” country. She didn’t even care that he may not agree.
Regardless of his opinions, she brought compassion to the conversation. In her own small joyful way, she said what was true for her. She talked about her needs. She didn’t criticize or argue and it disarmed the people around her3. Including me.
Maybe acting the Fool can jolt us out of our habitual fear-minds. Thinking like a trickster can break us out of our self-imposed rules4. Maybe we can find more joy when we smile at a neighbor, when we remember most people just want their needs met (not a fight), when we enjoy the company of the humans in our right-now world instead of giving all our attention to the virtual world.
In the face of political uncertainty, joy looks foolish.
In the face of division, compassion looks foolish.
In the face of climate crisis5, hope looks foolish.
I read a wonderful piece about Writing this week by
and this bit makes me smile like a Fool, because it’s about writing but of course it’s also about life. “It means there’s always some mad new experiment for you to try, the outcome of which will be forever unpredictable to you. It means that when everything feels stressful, you’re not facing a grimly deterministic future where all is predestined to be lost. It means the game is still and always afoot - and your job is to keep rolling the dice with all of your creative energy, because you never know. You never know.”There are a lot of tricksters out there (and remember, you can trust your bullshit-radar) but you don’t have to play their games.
There are many indigenous stories that include the trickster archetype. I just finished the Moon of the Crusted Snow, (thanks
) and in it a grandfather shares a trickster story and I’ll paraphrase it here. The trickster did not prepare for winter and so he decides he must trick a flock of geese or he will starve. After he kills and piles up the geese he begins roasting one, but instructs his butt to wake him up before the goose burns (many trickster stories include butts and defecating, lol!) but of course he oversleeps. When he wakes up to find the goose burned to ash and his other food stolen, he punishes his own ass by sticking it in the fire! As you watch some of the political shenanigans unfold on TV you sort of see where this is going…I saved this image a few weeks ago and accidentally deleted the artist’s link! If you recognize it, please help me credit the artist.
Please don’t hear this story as prescriptive. We don’t all have the capacity or personality to engage in political discussions with strangers. This story was a lesson to me in being brave enough to choose the Third Way. (thanks Courtnay Martin)
It challenged me to question my gut reactions about people and to entertain the possibility of “you never know.”
Give your heart a valentine and listen to this wonderful conversation on how to grow your capacious heart in times of uncertainty // Inner Nature: Erin Geesaman Rabke and Leilani Navar
I loved the story of the woman talking about Gov. Whitmer! As a Michigander, I have appreciated her work in this state. And I loved the way you connected this to the Fool archetype!
I was feeling like a fool today, over the writing I’m working on. Some inner (outer?) voice reminding me that people (patriarchy) like women small and conventional, and I was *almost* winning at patriarchy 10 years ago so WTF am I doing now?
I’m being the fool 🙃