While I have been doing Readings for Humanity! on my page for a while now, these collective readings were more general energy readings. In my recent chat with Theresa Reed on the Tarot Bytes podcast, she asked me an amazing question: can we read for specific collective events? Yes, I answered. Today, I would like to put that theory into public practice. This is a reading for the disheartening and devastating fires ravaging the lungs of our planet, the Amazon forest. My dad is Amazonian. So this is very tender to my heart. I devised a little spread for us today.

I chose The Cosmic Tarot for this as it is PERFECT for this. This deck born out of the 80s exudes themes of global activism, environmental and political themes, all in the unique flavor of that time. It did not disappoint! I am also using Jean Huets’ superb book on the deck, The Cosmic Tarot Book.

The Matter: The World

Our world is interconnected, and nothing happens in one place that does not affect the other. Right now, we are witnessing the destruction that our actions as humanity has on other parts of the planet, and the interconnectedness of channels of information is showing us on a whole new level the effects that other parts of the planet have on us, wherever we may be. Our wounds are global, and collective. The World also heralds the conclusion of a cycle, and the results of our past actions. Our brutality and our selfishness are showing themselves manifest. The results of far-right governments in countries such as Brazil is showing its true face as care for the environment is put under the auspices of corporate farmers. It’s harvest time, but the harvest is an ugly one.

Underlying Causes: Eight of Pentacles

This deck doesn’t accept reversals, and the “shadow” meanings must be derived from the face of the upright card. Here, although a pleasant image is shown, The Cosmic ascribes as one of its meanings the word “greed.” The underlying cause of this terrifying destruction is greed that is so systemic that it corrodes an entire society on all levels, up and down. The person on the card looks upon the coins with expectation. Humanity looks upon Earth as though it were a commodity, an object to be extracted, a source of riches and no more. Humanity slashes and burns our home with its fiery gaze of consumption. Countless acres are destroyed so that people can have a steak for dinner. But the Earth is not ours to take. We share it with other sentient life. Conversely, this card also speaks of putting one’s own resources for the lifting up of the collective (this meaning was in The Cosmic Tarot book by J. Huets). It shows a sliver of home as we join together in calling for action, and in acting however we can.

Inspired Action: Judgement

We must as a collective look to our past and keep on reminding us all of the consequences of actions past. We have been through this before. We have awakened to ecological awareness, only to allow ourselves back into slumber by intentionally discarding any facts that are inconvenient to our lifestyle. We have allowed the same old unevolved forms of government to rise again. But we can’t hide from nature and its elements—they are bigger and stronger than us. As the blithe and destruction upon the world cannot be ignored, we come to a place of reckoning. This is a time to shout. This is the trumpet’s call to judgment. We call out the governmental and societal causes for the systemic sickness. We call in one another—even people close to us—for our participation in this. More importantly, we call one another into denouncing, and acting. If people can vote for the leadership that is responsible for the catastrophe going on in the Amazon, maybe they can withdraw it too. But maybe this is a point of no return. The card shows people rising up from the dirt, dusting themselves off. This state of ashes and dust is already here. Still, we rise into action, including with our voices in speaking the truth and in bringing the collective back into awareness. Judgement as our inspired action brings humanity into judgement of itself. It is our time to wake up! Again! We wake up first as individuals. And we make that wave of awakening reverberate throughout the collective.

Outcome: The Fool

The Fool is the card that comes after The World, the first card in this reading. The World closes a major cycle in human history, and The Fool begins a new one. We are in a big transitional time, humanity. There is no turning back now. Does The Fool tells us that we have reached a point in which we are forcing the dawn of a new era, but one guided by foolishness and ignorance? With a saddened heart, we may very well believe that we as a species are leaping off into a precipice, and taking so many other species with us. Or is this a veritable new start, a new chance, a fresh crack at living in alignment with our planet, in harmony with one another, in justice and fairness? It almost sounds like a pipe dream. But we have awakened before. True measures have been enacted before, or the world would be even a worst place right now. Maybe we can wake up again. Humanity is slumbering, will we shout so it will wake the fuck up? Will we do everything that is in our individual power to contribute to the wave of healing of the world? Or is it too little, too late? The Fool represents history’s impulse to go on. The end of this cycle brings about a new one. Whether utopia or dystopia, the new era has already begun.