On to America. John McCain may be heading for defeat, but it's not all over until the fat lady (or Sarah Palin, whoever is most available on the day) sings. I decided to look at whether he could yet pull it off, and have read for both him and Barack Obama.
I had some interesting readings for both McCain and Obama, so here is McCain's cards - while there is still a lot to play for.
1. Situation to begin with - QUEEN OF CUPS - "She is highly imaginative and artistically gifted, affectionate and romantic in outlook, and she creates an otherworldly atmosphere around herself. She is highly intuitive and her instincts can be trusted. She has an ethereal beauty which does not depend on external aids. She is easily influenced by events and the people she comes into contact with, and can become all things to all men. She evokes a happiness that is not dependent on earthly success."
McCain here is being the consummate politician, as this card also came up for Obama in this position. Both candidates are projecting an image they hope will appeal emotionally to voters and coming across as touchy-feely rather than hard or rational. McCain is defiant in Defiance (OH), and ripped up newspapers confidently declaring Obama the winner a week before America goes to the polls. Both candidates, despite the difference in their campaigns and polls, are starting from the same base and campaigning in the same underlying style, mindful of the need to appear more in tune with the voters than was previously the case.
2. Obstacles - QUEEN OF WANDS - "She is overbearing, matriarchal, unable to allow her loved ones independence of thought or action. She is vain and self-righteous, tending to take offence over imagined wrongs, and striking out at those who mean her no harm. She has a sharp tongue and a cruel wit."
This is probably Sarah Palin making her entrance - McCain thought he was getting a winning element but actually laid himself open to an ambitious and rather verbally profligate running mate who began to alienate and intimidate rather than boost McCain when he needed it most. The ill-dignified Queen of Wands in other areas suggests reactionary and over-sensitive action which leads to problems when the stakes become too high. Thus McCain's obstacle is his partner and perhaps an excessive resorting to spontaneity, which more often than not increases the likelihood of painful and dangerous gaffes.
3. Goals - EIGHT OF WANDS - "Hopeful change, movement, activity. The ending of delays and the speeding-up of all matters. Suggests a suitable time for taking the initiative, acting with courage and self-confidence, and grasping opportunities as they occur. A favourable omen for news and communications of all kinds, the promotion of understanding and co-operation. Important journeys are shown - particularly travel overseas or to a new country. This is not a card that indicates success in itself, but it suggests conditions which can lead to success."
It is unfortunate that McCain's partner showed such lack of political nous because McCain has plans for his presidency - but to get to this goal he needed someone to keep their mouth shut and out of trouble, and she didn't do that. However, perhaps McCain shows here that grand plans don't always equal success; this card can also indicate things going quite fast but not always hitting the target in the way that pays the actual dividends of political office.
4. Approach A - THE WORLD - "The final and successful completion of any matter in hand. The summing-up of a question or series of circumstances. A culmination of events. The ending of a cycle of destiny."
McCain needed to go for gold, to sweep all before him by being the only show in town. While that was difficult to do as Barack Obama's opponent, he tried to use Sarah Palin as a foil by using her gender as a match to Obama's race. Presenting the duo as the Republican answer to the Democrat ticket and establishing themselves as a match for Obama's camp would probably have seemed a good idea at the time - so long as Palin did not use that platform as her own trial run and made sure she harmonised her goals with McCain. Establishing themselves as more experienced and competent than Obama would have reduced his advantage considerably.
5. Result of Approach A - FIVE OF PENTACLES - "Poverty, destitution, material worries, unemployment, loss of security. This card warns of severe material adversities ahead, but suggests that this enforced restriction in one area of life may open up possibilities in others. Important bonds may be formed with those in similar circumstances, and avenues still remain to be explored. The message here is 'do not despair'."
Tarot books tend now to be focussed on advice rather than concrete outcomes, but the negative quality of this card suggests that the scenario in The World would not trump the kudos afforded the first black Presidential candidate with a chance of getting elected. This is not a satisfactory approach, and although the Five of Pentacles in an advisory role counsels the need not to succumb to despair, as a prediction it is not a favourable omen, nor does it suggest the right course of action in the first place when appearing as a potential outcome to a particular strategy. It is foolish for McCain and Palin to present themselves as the date with American destiny that no doubt influenced the choice of running mate.
6. Approach B - THE CHARIOT - "Success, triumph over the obstacles life throws in one's path. Secure progress, victory achieved through personal effort, the triumph of initiative. Not success which is inherited, or the product of fortune."
McCain and Palin need to display sheer bullish ignorance of the polls and push forward defiantly in order to have any hope of beating Obama. The Chariot is reckless and unbridled as a course of action, and some decks illustrate it with two horses pulling the cart apart in their efforts to get ahead. Palin and McCain have been charged with acting at cross purposes, so this would show that this is probably true and is more descriptive than prescriptive. Nevertheless, McCain and Palin cannot do much more than push forward and try their hardest to salvage something from this; Palin particularly as a fairly young politician will be looking to establish her own constituency for the next election or the one after that, and that could lead to the horses beginning to pull in opposite directions as polls begin to solidify into actual votes.
7. Outcome of Approach B - KNIGHT OF CUPS - "He is enthusiastic, amiable, open to new ideas. He is a bringer of ideas, offers and opportunities. He is artistic and refined, but easily bored and in need of constant stimulation. He has high principles, but is easily led."
In McCain's case this increasingly illusory momentum may not convince people that he and Palin are able to govern effectively, despite their age and experience in top-flight Washington politics. The Knight is always a follower, not a leader of events, and McCain and Palin are, arguably, into a damage limitation exercise from a Republican point of view. He needs to salvage what he can, but as the best possibility here it is still runner-up that he is looking at, barring unexpected events.
8. Direction of trend - THE HANGED MAN - "The ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Flexibility of mind. Willingness to submit oneself to the dictates of the inner self and cast aside practical considerations when the time is right. Wisdom and guidance from the unconscious."
McCain and Palin are probably in suspense now until the outcome of the election is clear. They cannot let up the pace but possibly realise that the suspension in which they find themselves means that it may not be their night on November 4. They are waiting to see what will happen now, and do not have the time to try and pull it back in their favour.
9. Outcome - QUEEN OF PENTACLES - "She is sensible, down-to-earth, wise and compassionate. She is a lover of comfort, splendour, ostentation, the grand occasion and the grand manner. She is lavish in her affection and her gifts, magnanimous and forgiving. She has a responsible attitude to her wealth, and uses it to support and advance those in her domain. She is not unduly intelligent or intuitive, but has a highly developed sense of feeling. She appreciates the good things of life."
This is an interesting card, and an enigma. It might not be as bad as predicted for the Republicans, and while no-one is really banking on a Republican victory, this card indicates that the Republican team emerge from this satiated and balanced rather than broken and bruised. Although it is a zero-sum game, unlike in Britain where fluctuating polls mean fluctuating majorities or lack thereof, and Obama is predicted to win (and my sixth sense has never let me down, even when I have been on the wrong side of the game), there might be something salvageable from the Republican camp to make sure that they emerge with experience, balance and perception rather than being utterly destroyed and bereft. The Queen is also a skilled administrator, so balance and focus on the real issues of management rather than wild claims, promises and hopes is presaged for McCain and Palin.
