Return to the temple of Nature 🌱 Five of Pentacles

Tarot for the week of 09/01/2023 ❄Tackling inequality in the everyday

Jan 09, 2023

Hi Y’all.

How did the full moon treat you? I found myself on 6th January, cycling home from work singing at the top of my lungs. The deserted California streets lit by a Full Wolf moon. Mid-way back my partner met me on the bike path (I had completely forgotten he was cycling to meet me). It was a lovely surprise. As was how much more confident I am feeling on two wheels (bikes are one of my nemeses; I only have one kneecap left to crack, thank you very much).

The day of the full moon is also two years from the insurrection, the attempted coup in Washington DC by right-wing insurgents. At the time the point was made that if the people rioting were not white, not ‘right’, they wouldn’t have made it in the building (the white house). There would have been a lot more deaths of protesters. And two years on the limited repercussions speak to this lenience.

So under this full moon, I asked myself what has changed? How has the radicalisation of white cis-het men been countered? Mass shootings are still ongoing and the cops are still inflicting violence and death at an alarming rate. Biden got in and what? What changed? People protested less.

Ok, yes, this is a tarot newsletter. But it’s also my tarot newsletter. Rejecting the political from the spiritual is how you get the “reclamation of traditional culture” to be such a right-wing, xenophobic, excuse for violence that it has morphed into. That it has in some ways always been. In returning to 'the natural order of things' people fall back into patriarchal and exclusionary roles. The crunchy to alt-right pipeline is so very clear.

Tarot for the week of 09/01/23: Five of Pentacles

When we last encountered pentacles it was just after Christmas. In that listless liminal time before the new year, where rest and dreaming may in fact allow us to build the force needed for great change. The Four of Pentacles sat smugly, as strikes brought Britain to a standstill. Strikes which, though a fundamental right of democracy, are once again under threat.

Now comes the next logical step, the Five of Pentacles.

In this card two figures are seen, they are in tattered clothes and bare feet, even as the snow falls around them. While one figure is hunched the other looks up at the ornate stained glass window of a church. Depicting the financial, practical, tangible wealth they are lacking. The disparity between rich and poor is striking. Someone tell me this card isn’t ‘political’.

Various interpretations of this card often focus on its personal nature. The dark night of the soul it evokes. The financial loss, worry or insecurity. But under capitalism, all of those aspects of worry, the inability to afford necessities like heating or housing or food, are presented as moral failings. Not the failings of society. Or even more insidiously, the results of non-conformity. The very real consequences of people being unable to survive this soul-crushing system.

When viewed through this lens the Five of Pentacles shows the inequality present in capitalism. The inequality that must exist for this death train to keep on chugging. The people who have to lose out so that others can accrue more wealth than they could ever spend.

The fives in tarot often denote change; the suits they fall in influence how that change is tackled. They also present a chance to wrestle with morality. The earlier numbers are about finding partnerships, comrades, or a vocation. Then the fives come along and you’re asked how you might deal with a situation. Will you win at all costs (swords)? Will you practice with peers (wands)? Will you notice what remains in the face of destruction (cups)? Will you confront the inequality you see (pentacles)?

A wonderful interpretation of this card considers the earthly nature of pentacles. In finding desolation in the material/human world, one must return to the temple of nature. To the majesty so much bigger, bolder, more brilliant than just us. I like combining these interpretations. In nature, there is no waste, no hoarding, nothing spare. There is enough for all, no more no less. And each of us, be it non-human or human beings, has a niche they fill. Here is the message of the Five of Pentacles. To counter inequality, do as nature would, provide for each according to their needs. That and compost the rich.

Nathalie Robin Justice Gravel @welcomewords

If a monkey hoarded more bananas than it could eat, while most of the other monkeys starved, scientists would study that monkey to figure out what the heck was wrong with it. When humans do it, we put them on the cover of Forbes.

How do we do that? How do we counter the massive, purposeful inequality and inequity within society?

By reaching out. By getting to know your neighbours, and by providing the care that is needed. By assessing your own standing within society and sacrificing it for those without. By building groups of affinity, of purpose. By joining organisations already working hard to make viable changes. By supporting striking workers. By protesting. By resisting the urge to think this is just how things are. By calling out and calling in those you disagree with. By taking the burden of work off oppressed people, taking it squarely on yourself. By starting a garden. By building a bridge. By hoping. By returning to nature, moving from abundance and fighting like hell.

Journaling Prompts for 09/01/23

This week ask yourself:
Where do I see inequality? Where do I witness injustice? What measures can I take to counter this? What do I need to dismantle within myself to create more fairness and reciprocity? What systems of oppression do I perpetuate? How can I give up the privilege I have to help someone else? What is something I can do this week to build community resilience? What is something I can do this month?
Where in my own life am I feeling lack? Where am I feeling abundance? How can I find time to spend in nature? What systems within nature inspire me? What do I observe when I return to nature? How do I feel I am separate from nature? How do I feel I am one with it? Where can I bring abundance and care into my life? How can I bring it into the lives of others?

I think the questions from last week’s Knight of Wands can also be woven into this week. How can action be taken to bring about harmony? As always, I would love to hear what you think. How has this resonated with you? Where have you found it lacking?

Xandua Tarot

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