What’s in the cards?
ILEARNED TO READ THE CARDS
in Mexico about 25 years ago – I would never have had the courage to do it in my hometown. I was afraid they would say, “Aiiii! Mire esa vieja - firs che godda be an enjarradora. Then she godda be una pintora, an’ che’s still not tired, che godda wride a book and spill the frijoles – and ‘ de bruja!”
But I got old and don’t care anymore, so I asked. “What is in store for Taos in 2021?”
The central card is the Two of Wands. We see a man looking at a globe as if he is trying to figure out where the tourists are going to come from. And he is facing the sea as if watching to see if his advertising ships are coming in. Wands talk about intuition. It’s almost if he were looking at a crystal ball to predict the future. Yup – that’s us.
But curiosity drove me on, and I got the Hanged Man on top, reversed. It means to pause, to re-group, re-think, wait for all the information to trickle in – and take an entirely new perspective.
To the right is the Six of Cups. Children in a garden. The emotional atmosphere here is about providing safe spaces for children, for imagination and play. Youth and children are among the hardest hit, psychologically, by the pandemic. The card I couldn’t resist pulling to get more information was the Ten of Wands, a man bent over under a burden of 10 wands. Ten ends the numbered series and begins the face cards, a transition that will be heavy (a lot of work) but work that ends, does not go on forever and involves, or is, for youth.
To the left we see the Page of Cups, and he too is young. Pages are mes
By Anita Rodriguez
hora anda
sengers and are sometimes about messaging itself – couched again in the language of emotions (Cups). Fish come out of the unconscious (the ocean behind) and the fish in this card is clearly talking. Woe is curiosity, I asked “What is the message?” – I got the Tower.
And the highest places of power have been struck by lightning, the pandemic is bringing down giants. The system itself was already broken. Immediately it comes to mind that far as Taos and tourism goes, Boeing is going broke, the fossil-fuel-based transportation industry is grinding down, and architects of the caliber that design hotels in Dubai are discussing the ethics of designing any more airports.
I interpret these six cards as systemic change is coming (that’s the message – Tower), and Taos will have to adapt. A radically new perspective is needed, 180 degrees (Hanged Man on top of the question about the tourists), and there is a lot of hard work ahead ( Ten of Wands). We are supposed to plan for our children (Six of Cups), generations ahead – and teach them how to work. Carry a load.