Card of the Day: Four of Wands

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The Wild Unknown Tarot [/caption]

This is the only card I know of whose meaning does not change when it’s reversed. This is the radiating power of the Four of Wands—a card of celebration, communal pleasure, enjoyment and appreciation.

I was listening to an interview yesterday with Silvia Federici, author of Caliban and the Witch (among other works) about the connection between the persecution of witches and the rise of capitalism in medieval Europe. (Heartbreaking.) She spoke about how the enclosure of land in Europe coincided with the enclosure of the body. Women’s bodies in particular. Women’s reproduction, sexuality, and role as healers began to be enclosed (individualized) and criminalized, making them easier to control and defining their role to reproducers of a cheap labor force.

The power of the European peasantry—and its ability to resist for two centuries—came from the utterly communal nature of their life. (And yes, I understand that “communal” doesn’t mean utopian or idyllic.) Capitalism’s infiltration of every aspect of life and severance of people from their traditional sources of power and sustenance—nature, sexuality, land, community—is alive and well in our time and place. Its development and continuance relies on colonial violence, racism, sexism and individualism.

Individualism is a deadly story. Isolation is a disease. The only way we will survive climate catastrophe, pandemic, fascism and the rise of white nationalism is to turn to each other. Deeply. To take refuge in our communities and to understand how large that actually is and can be. To share our losses and griefs but also our joy and pleasure. The Four of Wands reminds us that true joy and celebration is communal.