Dear Readers,
For this month’s Tarot Reading for the Collective I am using Women of Science Tarot by Nadja Oertelt, Matteo Farinella & Allan Lasser. Released in 2019, this unique tarot deck was gifted to me last week by my friends Siri & Casey. As soon as I laid my hands on it, I knew that I would be using it for the Collective Reading for March!
In the short time I have been getting to know this deck, I have enjoyed how it makes my brain work differently. The suits have been renamed to Nano (Cups), Micro (Wands), Macro (Pentacles) & Astro (Swords), and all the Minor Arcana cards feature a woman representing the sciences in some way. I expect that as I get to know all the women of this deck, it will be clearer as to why they were matched with their particular tarot card.
Already I can see the wisdom in pairing Ursula Le Guin (a tarot deck with the extraordinary, much-loved sci-fi writer Le Guin in it? What a wonderful and heart warming surprise!) with the Page of Astro (Swords). She was certainly a revolutionary in the way she wrote, the ideas she presented and the worlds she created for our imaginations. I have included her card at the end of this reading, seeing as she didn’t come up in the reading!
It was wonderful to receive this deck so close to International Womens Day. I recommend this deck to everyone, even if you only want to learn more about women of science!
This month’s questions are:
What will keep us calm?
What will fire us up?
Where do we need to stand our ground?
What do we need to open up to?
Let’s begin.
What will keep us calm?
10 of Micro (Wands) ~ Helen Rodríguez Trías
What can keep us calm is the knowledge that there is community all around us, and within that, people willing to support us. Let rigid notions of individualism and nuclear family dissolve. Notice that there are already countless examples of people aligning and supporting each other with the principles of love, compassion, celebration, dignity and creativity.
Helen Rodríguez Trías was a paediatrician and women’s rights activist who dedicated her life to fighting for the medical rights of marginalised people. She was the first Latina president of the American Public Health Association. In the 1980s, she advocated on behalf of poor people suffering from HIV/AIDS.
What will fire us up?
2 of Macro (Pentacles) ~ Alice Wilson
Maintaining a steady, grounded balance will fire us up. If we can keep our minds firm we can act for change more assertively. If we can be persistent in our advocacy for common sense, we can be more efficient in what we give powerful energy to. The long steady haul keeps us fired up, not the sudden lightning strike. Steer clear of short-lived promises: get fired up about long term sustainability, sensible observation and comprehension of patterns.
Alice Wilson was the first female geologist hired by the Geological Survey of Canada. She was forbidden from working at remote field sites with her male colleagues, so she made the case that she work alone in the nearby St. Lawrence Valley. Throughout her long career she was a leading authority on local fossils and rocks. When she retired, five people had to be hired to replace her.
Where do we need to stand our ground?
The Devil
[Again! The Devil showed up in last month’s Collective reading too!]
We need to stand our ground with those who ask us to give too much of ourselves for too little reward. We need to question why lower income earners are asked to adhere to austerity measures while billionaires continue to be… billionaires. We could stand our ground on any amazing, creative, life-affirming ideas, on solutions that centre community, environment, and collective healing. By doing this we could resist believing the lie that we are all alone, and that no one wants to help us. Although at times we may find ourselves without the support we want or need, that is a long stretch from meaning that no one cares. Stand your ground against anyone who tries to separate you from community and from self-love.
[as this is a Major Arcana card, there is no marvellous Woman of Science for you to learn about for this one. Instead, it is just The Devil!]
What do we need to open up to?
Queen of Astro ~ Annie Easley
We need to open up to bigger ideas that may seem impossible to conceive, but are actually viable and powerful if we build them part by part. We need to open up to systems of powerful wisdom that have been in place for countless years, but have been studiously ignored by institutions that feel threatened by sound judgement. Be open to combined strength, inspired support and elegant systems of perception. Be ready to open up to ways of thinking that encourage magnificent discourse.
Annie Easley worked at NASA for 34 years, first as a human computer, then as a programmer and software developer. She contributed to the development of alternative energy, such as the batteries used in hybrid cars today.
And as promised, here is the wonderful and sadly departed Ursula Le Guin, as the Page of Astro (Swords). 
Ursula, O Ursula!
© Sarah Barry ~ Tarot Readings with Psychic Sarah 2020
This Tarot Reading for the Collective was done with the Women of Science Tarot by Nadja Oertelt, Matteo Farinella & Allan Lasser. You can find out more about this amazing tarot deck at massivesci.com/tarot/.
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Women of Science Tarot by Nadja Oertelt, Matteo Farinella & Allan Lasser