Days of Future Present

AUTHOR’S NOTE: For my header I’ve borrowed and adapted the title from the old Moody Blues prog-rock album Days of Future Passed to acknowledge that many tarot readers believe the cards can only speak effectively to present conditions and not to future occurrences. I might even hint at the Jethro Tull lyrics “It was a new day yesterday/ But it’s an old day now.”

In expounding upon Boethius in The Discarded Image, C.S. Lewis proposes that the future is merely an infinite multiplication of “presents,” and one’s individual future is only a discrete area of the “Infinite Now” that is cordoned off by our unique perception of impending developments. At the archetypal (I hesitate to say “Divine”) level, even though our quotidian experience of day and night lulls us into thinking otherwise, there is no lockstep progression of circumstances in a “past/present/future” sense.

The past and future collide in the present, making it possible to absolve ourselves of previous indiscretions on one hand and to admonish ourselves about the risk of further imprudence on the other. In asking whether it is even possible to acquire foreknowledge of the indeterminate, Lewis alludes to the fact that for most people each day is only an approximation of its predecessor and is always susceptible to free will, throwing a curve-ball into predictability that divination is supposed to sort out.

I can appreciate this point of view if we assume that we all maintain control over our own destiny by setting ourselves up in the present to capitalize on any future advantages that may arise (or that we are able to set in motion) and escape the consequences of any emerging disadvantages. I laid this out in some detail in my reconfiguration of the fifth position of the Celtic Cross spread as “The Present:”

“Card 5 — the ‘crowning’ card at the top — shows the ‘present,’ which is the realm of possibilities and opportunities where emerging trends and the range of available options first become visible.”

I expanded this in the “Supplemental Meanings” section:

“Developing trends; the realm of possibilities and opportunities; options available to move the matter forward; a chance to seize the initiative, gaining traction and momentum toward resolution; dawning realization about what may soon occur.” (I’ve also characterized it as “where the rubber meets the road” and “there’s no time like the present.”)

My personal approach to future considerations when reading the cards is that they will only identify trends, tendencies, potentials and possibilities without putting too fine a point on the accuracy of any predicted events. I keep it situational and circumstantial rather than particular, which gives the querent leeway in deciding how to react. Action in the present then becomes a matter of aligning with favorable forecasts or distancing oneself from less agreeable portents by taking a suitable anticipatory stance.

This is the “forewarned is forearmed” mentality that fuels empowerment in the handling our affairs. If in the end the matter didn’t play out exactly as predicted, there was no harm in being ready for it as long as it didn’t cost anything to plan a response that was either confidently optimistic or cautiously poised for difficulty. The future-oriented advice of any reading is to remain alert for signs of how and when one or the other is likely to manifest.

I think stating bluntly that “The tarot can’t predict the future” (or shouldn’t be used for that purpose) is wrong-headed given the subtlety of expression that is available to the diviner, ranging from largely psychological (the moods and attitudes of oneself or another) at one extreme to purely pragmatic (forthcoming events and circumstances) at the other. In my own work I seek the uninflected middle ground that offers the flexibility to take either one in stride, and will shift gears accordingly during a reading.

Tarot author Anthony Louis also considers the fifth card to describe the “Present” (although I think I beat him to it by several decades), and sees it as “setting the stage” for arrival of the “Near Future” in Card #6. My point in bringing this up is that the narrative doesn’t have to end with the current scenario but can and should extend into “what if” territory. We can then act in ways that are most conducive to an agreeable outcome, many of which could not have reached fruition in the here-and-now.

Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on December 8, 2024.