One of my fave thinkers, Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat), wrote that “We are the ‘Grasshopper Generation,’ eating through the prosperity that was bequeathed us like hungry locusts. Now, we and our kids together need to be ‘The Regeneration’ – the generation that renews, refreshes, re-energizes and rebuilds America for the 21st century.”

Yes, yes, yes.  Recently, I led a Voyager workshop on the “Renewal of America.”  It’s a five-card reading of how America can regenerate!  This event was edited down to an hour and is on a DVD.  It’s got some surprising cards and insights.  Order it now if you want some inspiration for “re-ing” yourself and your country. Go to www.voyagertarot.com (Store – Multi-Media) and get it for half price ($10).

James Wanless, creator of the Voyager Tarot, discusses “2010: The Year of the Empress”

The Empress (Mother Life), in her unconditional love and nurturing compassion, creates and mothers all life into maturation and flowering.

Look at the Empress and all of her #3 Minor Arcana Attributes.

1) CREATIVITY (3 of Crystals)
2) LOVE (3 of Cups)
3) NURTURING (3 of Worlds)
4) COMPASSION (3 of Wands)
5) EMPRESS GUARDIAN

James Wanless, creator of the Voyager Tarot, discusses “2010: The Year of the Empress”

The Empress (Mother Life), in her unconditional love and nurturing compassion, creates and mothers all life into maturation and flowering.

Look at the Empress and all of her #3 Minor Arcana Attributes.

1) CREATIVITY (3 of Crystals)
2) LOVE (3 of Cups)
3) NURTURING (3 of Worlds)
4) COMPASSION (3 of Wands)
5) EMPRESS GUARDIAN

On an intuitive whim, I decided like a Fool Child to just jump onto YouTube with a presentation (under 10 minutes) about the “Year of the Priestess.”  This “talking head” kind of exposition went OK and my intuition gave me all kinds of green lights to go forward with more.

So as Obama was being sworn in during his Inauguration, I picked a Card to see what kind of Priestess he is.  The Card that came up was the “Guardian” Woman of Crystals, who is THE embodiment of the Priestess archetype.  Wow!  Synchronicity strikes again.  (Know that any Card in Voyager that has a clear blue, reflective, contemplative quality is associated with the Priestess).

Upon that aha!, I decided to YouTube about Obama the Priestess Guardian.  Check it out.

Now I will preview for you the next YouTube offering by me.  Again it’s about Obama and the Priestess.  Why again?  Because I wanted to know Obama’s “Life Cards,” which are determined by adding up his birth numbers. (see the Voyager Guidebook that comes with the Cards)  Obama was born August 4, 1961.  Add that up to a single digit and, lo and behold, it’s number two, the Priestess!

One attribute about the Priestess that I will reference is her wise ability using the qualities of the number two Minor Cards (Equanimity, Equilibrium, Reflection and Purity).  This means that Obama The Priestess sees thing with diamond clarity and dives deep within under surface apparency to discover the real truth.

As synchronicity would have it, I heard from a friend about a Newsweek article (Feb. 2, 2009) about the art of surviving and even being lucky!  I saw it as I was buying my broccoli and avocados.  I couldn’t get to it fast enough.  Before plunging into the article, I read, which I normally do not, the Editor’s initial writeup about the issue.  The first line from editor, Jon Meacham, is: “Barack Obama sees the world more or less as it is, and seems less susceptible to self-deception and self-delusion than most of us.”  He goes on to describe Obama as “cool, sober, reflective and pragmatic.”  Pure Priestess/Guardian.

Meacham then quotes a part of Obama’s accceptance speech: “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real.  They are serious and they are many.  They will not be met easily or in a short span of time.”  If ever a Priestess has become President, Obama is clearly it.  Let me introduce to you President and Priestess Obama.

As I got into the article by Ben Sherwood, “What It Takes to Survive,” it goes into research about being lucky, which is not just a random thing, but in fact mostly created by a lucky mindset (This is great stuff for enhancing your understanding of the Fortune archetype Card).  According to the research by Richard Wiseman (interesting name), who is quoted in the article, there are four main reasons people bring good fortune to them.  The second reason is:  “Lucky people listen to their hunches and made good decisions without really knowing why.  Lucky people’s gut feeling and hunches tended to pay off time and time again.  In contrast, unlucky people often ignore their intuition and regret their decision.  In survival, this kind of instinct can make all the difference.”  (Remember, the Priestess and her Guardian human personification are the “intuitives” in the Tarot’s archetypal map of the human psyche).

The moral of all this, particularly in these difficult, yet times of opportunity, is to be a realist Priestess and let this be reflected in intuitive action with firmness and resolve.