Daily Draw (Dark Angels Tarot) – 10/30/12

Four of Wands

This follows the “when will my ships come in?” card of the Three of Wands – or “will my ships come in at all,” which is how the whole East Coast has been feeling in the grip of Hurricane Sandy. The 4 of Wands is generally celebratory in most decks; here it feels more like a sigh of relief, “things didn’t go great but we got through and can rest and rebuild.” The four wands are topped with skulls, but behind them are living figures and an intact building. The disaster has come but it’s also gone.

My family all got through the storm okay, and my house and my brother’s house weren’t damaged. We actually don’t know about our parents’ house (1 block from the ocean, 8 miles south of hard-hit Atlantic City) although our parents and their cats rode out the storm inland. If the house was damaged or even lost, at least they’re okay! And from photos of the city, it looks like their street is largely still standing – flooded but still standing. We’re concerned but our worst fears don’t seem to be realized.

Time to settle down for a while, wait for the island to reopen, then find out the real story. In the meantime, at least the wind and rain are gone and we can celebrate our family’s safety and unity.

Daily Draws (Dark Angels Tarot) – 10/27, 10/28, 10/29/12

I’ve been drawing cards but due to hurricane preparations haven’t had time to post. Now that we’re hunkering down and the office is closed, I am home all day and can catch up! (We are well-prepared, not terribly concerned about really severe damage, but we definitely could lose power or have ceiling and window leaks.)

Saturday ~ 8 of Cups

The card of loss-yet-moving-on; admitting there are things you can’t hang onto, can’t control, so you let go and move forward with a lesser burden. There is regret but also hope in this card for me. We have to determine what we most needed to preserve and put it all in the safest possible places, and not everything in the house fits into one windowless room or one ice chest! So there are things we could indeed lose to the storm, but we are making preparations. It would be worse NOT to face the reality of the storm and possibility of loss, to cling to everything and pretend it’s all going to be fine if we don’t prepare. Maybe it will be fine but we can’t assume that. So knowing what’s most important and looking clearly into the future are the most helpful things now.

Sunday ~ Lovers

The storm hits today; the mayor has declared a state of emergency to start at 5 p.m., and by 2 a.m. this morning all mass transit will be shut down and no one is supposed to be on the streets unless they’re driving an ambulance, police car, or fire engine. I don’t know if I’m reading the card correctly, but the feeling I get, with the angel presiding over the rather frightened-looking couple, is that the higher powers (both spiritual and literal, our angels and the city government) are in control and the public, including me and my family, should stay together and hold onto what’s really important (each other, mostly!). If the choice aspect of the card is considered, I again think that it’s about choosing what’s important … staying together, not running off and leaving the home/family behind to pursue something else while it’s dangerous out there.

Monday ~ 10 of Coins

Oh, I like this card here. We’re currently under the leading edge of the storm, with heavy rain and gusty wind, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better…still, the 10 of Coins is the “family unity” or “domestic tranquility” card in my mind, it seems to be saying that my family and I will stick together and be safe, and the damage to our homes from the storm will not be impossible to handle. This being the Dark Angels deck there IS some destruction implied but nothing that can’t be fixed when the storm has passed. We won’t lose everything (this is especially reassuring considering my parents have a house near the ocean! – they aren’t staying there though, they’re inland with my brother’s family). The best thing we can do, as all the previous cards this week have been saying, is count on each other, stay indoors, and know that we’ve build the strongest foundation we could.