A 2022 U.S. Congressional Election “Majority” Forecast, Part 2
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here is the “tarot” segment of my two-part analysis of the 2022 Congressional mid-term election. It turned out to be a nuanced and tricky reading. (I apologize in advance for the seemingly gratuitous use of quotes and parenthetical asides, but they’re intended to season my rhetoric with anecdotal aptness.)
Full Disclosure: For most of my life I’ve been sharply critical of national politics in the United States with no tolerance for government overreach and a dim view of the elitist arrogation of power and privilege that has largely supplanted constitutional democracy at the federal level ever since the rise of “feather-bedding” career politicians with the persuasive power of the mainstream media behind them. I used to agree with Winston Churchill that “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried,” but now I’m not so sure and I doubt he would be either. It’s a noble premise that is entirely too vulnerable to the whims of the misinformed and the shrewdness of those who would manipulate it for personal gain. With few exceptions, first-timers who enter the political arena with relatively pure hearts exit (if they don’t die while still in office) as cynical shills with well-greased palms. (I know, chalk it up to the foibles of human nature!) Our sham elections are popularity contests, noisy pageants that serve as window-dressing for the thinly-veiled coronation of those who would rule in perpetuity rather than merely represent their constituents for a short time. Any legislative body that is allowed to vote on its own tenure and compensation (both salary and remunerative “perks”) is transparently beholden to no authority beyond itself.
For this prediction I chose the PostModern (“PoMo”) Tarot created by Brian Williams since it has proved to be exceptional for sociopolitical “world event” readings; I allowed for reversals. As I typically do with this spread when examining winner-and-loser scenarios, I selected the Chariot from the Thoth deck as the “Opportunity” (or Significator) card that best shows “triumph in material affairs.” Since they are the “sitting incumbents” presently in control of both Houses of Congress (the Vice-Presidential “tie-breaker” vote automatically gives them the “50–50” Senate in a Democratic administration), I awarded the top row to the Democrats and the bottom row to the Republican challengers. The three “quintessence” cards were also drawn from the Thoth Tarot. I find it remarkable that there isn’t a single instance of Earth in these twelve cards, suggesting that the whole political sideshow is a matter of illusory “smoke-and-mirrors,” with no sensitivity for the economic woes of the country at large despite lip-service to the contrary.
The other thing of note before getting into the detailed interpretation is that, with all the reversals, there seems to be great potential for mendacious “protestations of innocence” on both sides that are designed to deflect blame, and some evidence of shady “unsportsmanlike conduct” (no surprise given past episodes of “dirty tricks,” especially when so much power, prestige and money are at stake). As usual, the public will only be permitted to see the “tip of the iceberg” regarding the sheer depth of corruption in our political system (although we all know its there).
The first column shows the comparative “Strengths” of each antagonist. Brian Williams’ title for the 14th trump (aka Temperance) is “Neither Here Nor There,” which seems like a perfect expression of the Democrat’s strong suit; they will skillfully avoid being put in the cross-hairs of public disapproval by remaining elusive rather than squarely “stepping up to the plate,” and will try to “fly under the radar” of critical scrutiny by “tempering” their more liberal inclinations, at least for public consumption. If they can’t be pinned down and “put on the spot,” they can’t be targeted effectively. It does suggest a certain amount of uncomfortable squirming and dissembling.
For their part, the Republicans come up with “Bottle Boy” (Knight of Cups); when upright, this card can declare “what you see is what you get,” but the reversal mars that impression, lending it a somewhat “sleazy” character. The Republicans could try to insinuate themselves into the Democrats’ centrist posturing and discredit it through their own brand of moderate “soft-sell.” Typical campaigning “spin,” if you ask me. I would give the Democrats the advantage for sheer gall.
The second column portrays “Weaknesses.” The Democrats have the Magician (Williams’ “Expert”) reversed in that spot; with the reversal it suggests that nobody is going to buy the “snake oil “ without thinking twice this time around. The Republicans display the High Priestess (“Mona”), so they are likely to try — with a straight face no less — touting their “ideological purity of purpose.” With the demographic they are wooing, their weakness does seem slightly less daunting than that of the Democrats so I extend them the lead.
The third column reflects which opponent has the “Edge” in the contest. Neither is in a strong position; with the 10 of Bottles reversed, it looks like the Democrats will have trouble convincing the “heartland” of their sincerity, while the Fool (“Idiot”) reversed for the Republicans reminds me of the old Firesign Theater album title: “We’re All Bozos on This Bus.” This one is a toss-up: do we want liars or clowns representing us (and I use the term “representing” very loosely)?
The fourth column is intended to describe the “Strength of Allies” in the fray. In this case I take it to mean the “money-men” who bankroll the candidates for office. The Democrats have “Gun Boy” (Knight of Wands) here, implying that they have the support of a host of youngish entrepreneurial “gunslingers.” The Republicans roll up with the more auspicious Wheel of Fortune, which has me thinking “Fortune 500” companies with deep pockets. As part of the vested business Establishment, and with the general meaning of the Wheel as “marginally positive change,” I will give the nod to the “Old Guard.”
The two “sub-quintessence” cards portray the “Chances” for winning in each case; this is done by determining which “quint” most strongly aligns with the first four cards in its row according to “dignity” (by element, number, rank, orientation, etc). The Democrats suffered Death reversed; upright it can be read definitively as “the end of the road” for their legislative supremacy, but the reversal could just mean they will be “nibbled at” and roughed up a bit where it hurts the most, perhaps in unexpected ways. This is a Water card that is elementally “unfriendly” to the two Fire cards (Temperance and the Knight of Wands), neutral to the Magician (Air), and entirely friendly to only one of the five, the 10 of Bottles (Water), which as we have seen might not endear them to a “middle-of-the-road” population. It is, however, more favorably attuned to the Chariot (Water) although the reversal weakens that link and makes the path to success more tenuous.
The Republicans exhibit the Fool, a card of new beginnings and self-reinvention; this is an Air card that is “friendly” with the preceding Fool (Air) and the Wheel of Fortune (Fire), and sympathetic to the pair of Water cards in its row, “Bottle Boy” and “Mona.” (We could say that the upright Fool theoretically mends the errors of the reversed one.) There is also a decent rapport between the Fool and the Chariot (Air and Water), although less pronounced than the Democrats’ Water-to-Water match. Of the Fool, Aleister Crowley said “it represents an original, subtle, sudden impulse or impact, coming from a completely strange quarter.” (I really hope the word “Trumps” at the bottom doesn’t literally mean “Trump,” which would be a colossal mistake for everyone.) On balance, I would say this gives the Republicans a slight edge based on the restless mood of the public, who may be willing to tolerate a new set of fools (after all, they have elected “bozos” many times in the past) more readily than incompetent, entrenched ones.
The “Grand Quintessence” card is read for affirmative accord between it and the two “sub-quints.” Death reversed is a reprise of the Democrat’s “sub-quint” but rather than offering twice the assurance of a less-damaging result, it may simply mean that they will be “doubly damned” by any radical retrenchment. Death is not foreign to the Republican’s Fool since both signify a new direction, one uncomplicated and the other much more profound. The most that can be said about it is that it portends dramatic change, which should benefit the Party that is presently out of power. But the reversal leaves some doubt that the contest will be decided on the day of the election.
Summary and Conclusion:
The Republicans received four out of five cards upright in the layout (although the Fool reversed delivers a decided “false note” — those “bozos” I mentioned), while the Democrats could garner only one out of five upright. Even though they may not be completely at fault, the Democrats might have “painted themselves into a corner” through enactment of policies and executive decisions that eroded the economy and set some potentially dangerous precedents (depressing domestic oil production and shutting off Canadian imports is a biggie). All-in-all, the public seems to be in the mood for a change and the Democrats should be exhibiting that anxious “deer-in-the-headlights” expression any time now. Until Congressional term limits are enacted (which won’t happen in my lifetime and probably not in yours) it seems we’re going to have to endure this farcical see-saw of power every two years.
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Note that I subtract the numerical value of any reversed cards in the series during the quintessence calculation; this can give me a reversed “quint” and also yield zero (the Fool), something normal arithmetic reduction can’t do. I always enumerate the unnumbered court cards as 11 through 14 and include them in the math.
Although Brian Williams intended the suit of TVs to represent Fire and the suit of Guns to convey Air, I feel that the discharge of gunpowder is more an expression of Fire, and the reception of electronic signals “over the airwaves” is best symbolized by TVs as Air, so I changed them for my own use. Bottles are obviously Cups and Money (surprisingly not present here) substitutes for Pentacles.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on September 11, 2022.
