Exploring the Coronavirus with a 10-Card Reading – Part 7

Tarot cards are excellent tools for insight and revelation.  As a professional reader, I work with clients on a weekly basis, doing readings to help them navigate life.  With so much happening regarding the outbreak of COVID-19, I thought it would be helpful to do a tarot or oracle reading about COVID-19 for the Ask Astrology readership.

This is the seventh reading; Ask Astrology published the first one on March 9, 2020.

The Question, the Method, and the Spread

The question I keep asking is, “what do the visitors to Ask Astrology need to know about the COVID-19 coronavirus?”  I have over 75 decks in my tarot and oracle card collection and I chose to use the Halloween Oracle by Stacey DeMarco.   

When I do a reading for a client, I ask them questions for each card draw.  For this reading I decided to select 10 cards.  The layout I chose was the traditional Celtic Cross, shown below:

Source: Wikimedia

Question 1: What Does the Readership Need to Know Right Now

The card selected is Forgiveness: Reducing Burden

From the book that comes with the deck: “It is said that it takes a ‘big person to apologize’ but in many ways, it takes an even bigger person to forgive.  If you have chosen this card, think about who it is you could be forgiving – and that includes yourself.”  As we go deeper into the crisis, there will be plenty of opportunities to blame, and just as many to forgive.  If we can start to come together with an understanding that working together will help us all feel and be safer, we can move towards more forgiveness and less blame.

• Exploring the Coronavirus with a 10-Card Reading – Part 2

Question 2: What is the Challenge We Need to be Aware of?

The card selected is the Spider: Community and Web-Weaving

From the book that comes with the deck: “Spiders’ webs can be seen as a symbol of communication, not necessarily entrapment.  There is a fine line between a family or community supporting us and controlling us.  This card looks at this discernment.  It also suggests you review the way you communicate with the wider community, at work, or generally with others, and take steps to improve this interaction.”  We are all in this together, in a truly global and individual sense, more so each day as the virus spreads deeper and deeper into each nation. 

Question 3: What is Obvious?

The card selected is the Skeleton: Strength

From the book with the deck: “Should the Skeleton card bring itself to your attention, dare to show strength and vulnerability if that is what you really feel.  Shame, pride, grudges, or embarrassment are hefty burdens that need not be carried through the darkest of nights.”  We need to acknowledge that society must come together in ways that transcend racism, misogyny, and tribalism.  It is obvious we need the strength of the group, not the individual in these times.

• Exploring the Coronavirus with a 10-Card Reading – Part 3

Question 4: What is Hidden?

The card selected is the Skull of Flowers: Creating through the Ashes

From the book that comes with the deck: “This card illustrates that there is a sureness and yet a rawness to creating again, to starting afresh. Sometimes the universe gives us a blank slate to work from, so we can build what we really want, rather than settling for less.”  There are opportunities to build from the ground up entirely new solutions regarding education, the workday, service, and appreciation for our social and interactive lives.

Question 5: What Do We Need to Know from the Past to Help Us in the Present?

The card selected is Eternal Love: Love is Love and it Transcends Physical Death

From the book with the cards: “Should you choose this card, you are being reminded that love is the most powerful force in the universe.  It is more powerful than death itself. Love lingers.  It leaves its own legacy and we should be aware of this every day that we live.”  If we do look back in the past for answers, we need to remember the times when peace prevailed over war and love over hate.  Opening up grows humanity in ways that shutting down never will.

• Exploring the Coronavirus with a 10-Card Reading – Part 4

Question 6: What Do We Need to Know for Guidance Going Forward?

The card selected is the Skull of Stars: Infinite Possibilities

From the book with the deck: “This card indicates that you need to think bigger and more broadly about your future and what you would like to achieve.  Perhaps there are false beliefs, often old, that no longer serve you as you grow and change.”  We need visionary thinking of going towards a new future, not regressive thinking trying to bring back what was before.  It is nearly impossible to break long-standing habits and patterns, especially when the system is functioning, even at mediocre levels.

Question 7: What is Purpose of this Virus, Spiritually Speaking?

The card selected is Zombie: Control

From the book that comes with the cards: “Should the zombie step unsteadily into your life, it’s time to look at the concept of control.”  The virus is teaching some hard lessons about control and stability.  Our “controlled world” of commerce, education, and steady daily life have been thrown into chaos.  Leadership is grasping at ways to restore order and “regain control” or introduce new control solutions.  We are seeing a need to deal with “uncontrollable people” and implement a good deal more self-control.  The virus is cracking open the expectations and concepts of control that have been unchallenged for some time.

• Exploring the Coronavirus with a 10-Card Reading – Part 5

Question 8: How Do we Fulfill the Purpose Positively?

The card selected is Joy: Rejoicing in the Present

From the book with the cards: “It is time to find the joy in this moment and to find that joy more often.  Should this card come up in your divination, it heralds the arrival of more happiness and profound joy into your life.  Actively seek pleasure and build more of the things that give you personal joy and laughter in your life.”  Under these stressful and chaotic conditions, finding or creating joy in small ways can have a significant impact on your psyche, helping you to avoid slipping too far down the dark holes of depression and anxiety.

Question 9: What are our Hopes and Fears?

The card selected is Death: the Eternal Cycle Begins Here

From the book with the deck: “Do not be afraid if you pull the Death card as it simply means that something is falling away, or will do so, so you can begin strongly afresh.  There is great power in this clearing.”  In the case of a reading about a virus that is killing people, this card is actually about Death, not the softer “transformation, but not real death” interpretation.  Our literal hope is not to die and our literal fear is dying.  So how do we live with this “death in our faces” moment, which is creating a new reality right in front of us.

Question 10: What is an Action to Consider Taking at this Time?

The card selected is Ancestors: the Love and Legacy of our DNA

From the book with the deck: “Should the Ancestor card bring itself to your attention, know that you are ready and able to action your birthright of power.  You have the support of those who came before you.  There may be challenges or struggles but you have everything you need to overcome them.  You will prevail!”  More than ever, those who can network and support one another will have a better chance of surviving and maybe even thriving during this crisis.