"The word 'evil' doesn't even begin to aproach it." Noam Chomsky

TAROT: The Devil (XV) / LENORMAND: Whip, Anchor, Man / ADINKRA: Nea Onnim

I am not the kind of writer who suffers from writer’s block. For me, it is often the urge to say too much that I must temper. There is such a thing as a surfeit of words, just as there can be surfeits of emotions, of possessions, of opinions, of needs, of…anything. We often talk in terms of ‘an embarrassment of riches,’ because we instinctively understand that too much of something, even something that we consider positive, is exactly what it sounds like: overkill, excess, hyperbole, redundancy. When I find myself overwhelmed by words and feelings, I know that is the exact right time to step away from the public keyboard, the public screen, because such overwhelm inevitably results in spillage, and word salad can become vomit, and the vomit can become a projectile, and no reader wants to have to do that kind of Aisle 6 cleanup.

And yet: surfeit, excess, greed are what I am called to write about today. The cards make that very clear:

The Black Tarot, by Nyasha Williams, gives us the Devil (XV) as the subject of today’s article, so it seems that even if my intention was something other as I sat down to write, here we are. This may well end up feeling to you like too many words. I apologize in advance.

The Devil (XV) is the card for excess in all its iterations, and so of course, one of the first things that comes to mind is the Qatari gift of a tricked-out (probably in more ways than one) 747 to 47, and the thinking on the Republican side that this is just a lovely gesture of friendship between nations. Never mind the fact that this is a PERSONAL gift to 47, with all that that implies. Never mind the fact that in order to be an appropriate aircraft for a president’s use, we taxpayers would have to pay millions to have it refitted and then millions more for it to be refitted yet again for the trump library. Said presidential library will house who knows what: the plane, a bunch of gold painted stuff, and an upside down bible? We all know it’s grift and bribery and everything related, so let’s not spend a moment more on that, shall we? Except that, speaking of libraries, how about the fact that the Librarian of Congress just go fired for being Black? The good news is that she is being replaced by one of 47’s most loyal defense attorneys. How’s that for payment for services rendered?

Then there is the new book by CNN’s Jake Tapper, laying bare the details of what we also already know: that Joe Biden is and was and has been past his prime; that hubris and greed and arrogance kept him hanging on until a different outcome was impossible to salvage. I blame Jill. And Barack. And Chuck. And every single other Democrat who was too self-servingly scared to get the hook, pull the plug, draw back the curtain on the charade that old Uncle Joe was just fine and dandy. They are as much why we are where we are as anything else.

And there is plenty else:

That Minnesota woman who called a 5 year old Black child the N word and then raised over half a million dollars? What do you think that is about, except small dollar contributors feeling a kinship with a woman who did what they would love to do. They DID do it, by saying “NIGGER, NIGGER, NIGGER” with their money. Message received.

How about those new “refugees?” The white ones with the South African accents, who leapfrogged over everyone else being sent in the other direction, because these white ones will “assimilate easily.” That was a clear message, too, both to immigrants of color and to every Black American whom white America will always see as “other.”Some Democrats are labeling the whole thing as “baffling.” Really? Are you sure?

How about the fact that, once upon a time (like yesterday) you could go to the White House website and find a copy of the Constitution to read. Not today. Not anymore. What you will find is praise for the president who is doing his damndest to protect our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Well….not OUR right, of course. Yours if you are white and reading this. Because, of course.

And to round it all out, nazi-eyed Stephen Miller spoke the quiet part out loud about the administration’s attempt to eliminate the writ of Habeas Corpus, which is just the opening act for declaration of martial law. It’s coming. I guarantee it.

The Tarot Devil (XV) is an invitation for us to look at ourselves and everything around us that is ego-driven, chaotic, and toxic, in clear-eyed, unflinching ways. The words, “As Above, So Below,” make all the sense in the world. It is easy for us to look to national and international ugliness and shake our heads in dismay (talking about you, Israel, with your hospital bombing and starvation of Gaza because you are the Children of the Light, right?) But all that we see in the world is merely a reflection of our own egoism, cowardice, greed. Marching, may I suggest, is simply insufficient. And to my Black siblings, the advice is as it has been: stay home. Some readers are bound to write me asking for suggestions as to what more they can do beyond marching. In this modern era of the internet, may I suggest that suggestions abound and that research is required? It is the first step towards making the reading of articles like this catalytic rather than performative. Well, THAT came out a little more forcefully than I expected!

Lenormand comes with some tough love too, bringing Whip, Anchor, Young Man. The Whip is the card of discipline. Proclamations of bafflement are, at best, passe, and certainly do not advance us towards any good place or thing. The Whip asks us to do what Beyonce advises and “get in formation.” The Anchor insists that we stay that way, rather than get rocked back to sleep or rocked back on our heels or rocked back on our asses with each new demonic move by 47, Project 2025, etc. Being “baffled” is a choice. We need to make better choices. Our Young Man is the ultimate symbol for someone doing the research, keeping his hands busy so he has no time to wring them in bafflement or despair or resentment (perhaps even over articles such as this one.)

Look to the Episcopal Church, refusing to help settle the white apartheid ‘refugees.' Look to Harvard’s president taking a 25 percent pay cut to help offset the financial damage 47 has levied against the university. Look to the graduating seniors at Virginia Commonwealth University who protested their MAGA governor graduation speaker by walking out rather than walking across the stage to accept their diplomas. There are myriad ways to thwart the Devil in our selves and in our midst.

Adinkra gives us Nea Onnim, the symbol for lifelong learning. 47 has declared,

“America will be woke no more.”

A country asleep can learn neither itself nor its lessons. The same goes for each of us. The Tarot Devil (X) would have us believe we have a choice in the matter. And we do, of course. I make my choice every time I put my hands on this keyboard. Sleep is sweet, of course. Ask Dorothy and her three friends how that poppy-filled field felt -the one arranged for them by the Wicked Witch to keep them from getting to the Emerald City.

“Comfortable,” Dorothy would say.

“Soporifically seductive,” the Straw Man would say, wanting to sound intelligent.

Both of them would have been correct, but that poppy field could have been deadly, too, a fact of which the Wicked Witch and 47 are well aware. It is why Glinda the Good Witch sent down snow to awaken them from their stupor. Call me Glinda. Consider this article that sprinkling of snow. May we all stay awake and unbaffled.

Amen and Ase,

Erika

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