Tarot and fear

There is a lot of fear around at the moment- whether it is the coronavirus, global warming, politics….. turn on the news and we seem to live in dark times indeed.

What cards do I associate with fear in Tarot? And what have I learn from them?

The Moon.

Yes it can mean psychic awareness, spiritual development, dreams, hormones- and so many different things. But more than anything I see the Moon as clearly representing fear.

Alastair Waite who designed the deck described the Cray fish crawling out of the lake as “primal fears” When I connect to this card I imagine myself caught in a paralysed fear between the Cray fish and the hounds- who are enlarged by my fears, and the half light of the moon.

Even if I get through the beasts I am tempted to false security by the two Towers (hell one Tower is enough!) and the path leads ever on, and on, through false horizons and exhaustions.

An important point to note- the moon reflects the suns light. Light that is reflected is distorted, reversed- take a look at writing in a mirror. We are so used to our reflection we think that is how the world sees us!

There is an element with the moon card that you don’t have all the information, that your fear is made worse through lack of information, or perhaps through primal fears that are not actually a true reflection of the situation its self.

When the Moon figures prominently in a reading I often look to see where fear is clouding my client’s judgement.

The 9 of swords. The darkest card in the deck for me.

I see each sword stacked up above her as a worry, an anxiety, a thought incessantly running around her head. Round and round and round- until she can think of nothing else but her own worries- and each seems more desperate than the last.

Terrible things can happen to people- yet they seem to bounce back, and navigate them with ease. Yet sometimes the smallest of things can trigger this tsunami of anxiety- until life feels unliveable.

I find the key to this card is the quilt:

The red roses represent physical action. Get up- and do something. Ring the debt help line, clear the cutlery drawer, make a cup of tea, ask a loved one for a hug. You can not think your way out of this card- thought is what is trapping you.

The astrological glyphs- sometimes the only way to deal with anxiety is to just hold onto the belief that “this in time shall pass” to try to breathe, and eat, and live, and trust it will in time become something you can manage.

The Tower-

One those cards that some people just love (in a “bring it on” kind of adrenalin pumped way) and others switch off as soon as it turns up in a reading (“perhaps if I don’t look it won’t actually happen”)

Now I am not a “love and light” kind of person. Sometimes the Tower shows up to say life is going to get REAL tough, and in ways you just can’t imagine. And its meant that to me a fair number of times. Sometimes it is just about “change and growth”, sexual tension, inspiration, the clearing away of blocks- but all too too often it is just unexpected change.

Now the real trick with the Tower- just like with the Wheel of Fortune -often the change will leave us in a better place. Often its even change we really want to happen, its just maybe we didn’t want it this week. So carefully look at the cards after the Tower- look at where life leads you after this tumultuous change.

The Tower represents fear because it is change we can not control- and both change, and being out of control creates fear in a lot of people.

If you are in a fearful state right now? My best advice is avoid predictions, even avoid self reflections (hey if you know you are in a bad place- why torture yourself by seeing it clearly in the cards?) I would do three cards a day. Nice and simple “how do I deal with this” Ask your cards for simple, practical advice- you’d be amazed at how helpful they can be.

I've got a YouTube video demonstrating this simple- but so useful- spread right here.