WILL BORIS JOHNSON STAND BY HIS MANIFESTO PLEDGES ON THE NHS?

The Emperor card is certainly a person who has 'taken back control', and is his own man. In a way, BoJo has been in thrall to wings of the party that he had to lie with to get what he wanted. The big question has been, what will he do if he gets into the position that this card represents?

I sense that he is very aware of where his power comes from. He made a point to say in his first speech outside the steps of 10 Downing St. that he is aware he has borrowed votes. This card is of a figure who has power but also is aware that he must work to maintain it. That is a two-fold task, to confound rivals and to secure his power-base. I think he knows that the NHS is very important and is often downgraded by other Tories, he knows not to make that mistake.

I see nothing here to suggest that there is some kind of immanent abandonment of this promise. We do not have a guarantee, after all his task is about maintaining power not necessarily keeping a pledge. Pledges are kept because they maintain him in power. What matters in this card is rulership. This is the motivation so as long as the public hold his feet to the fire, and he knows this, then he will act to consolidate that support by being seen to uphold his election promises.

WILL THE TORIES WIN A MAJORITY IN THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTION?

Using the RWS cards designed by Pamela Colman-Smith and using a two-card spread for this one.

1st card - The Tarot's take on the situation.
2nd card - The Tarot's counsel (its take on the outcome).

Keeping it nice and simple as it is quite a simple question. Perhaps not surprising given the importance of a General Election generally and this election specifically we have two cards from the Major arcana. The cards of the Major arcana indicate 'powerful outside forces' acting upon this question and its outcome.

The first card is number 15 The Devil. Turning over this card it was one of those moments when I thought "But of course!" However, it can also be taken as an example that perhaps the feelings of the reader affects the cards drawn. What Jung called synchronicity, a coincidence of inner meaning with outer physical circumstances. It certainly reflects a feeling I have about where we are right now politically and I know that I'm not alone. However, if I were a Tory voter (for thought experimental purposes only mind you... ), then what would I have turned over? Of course, such questions are not statistically relevant as subjective experiences are a once-only event never to be repeated (can't step into the same river twice sort of thing).

So, traditionally, this card indicates dark passions, impulsive or addictive behaviour, trickster behaviour, enslavement - particularly by ones own passions, oppression and subterfuge. I guess you can take your pick really!

What is also of interest, at least to me, is that the RWS pack has baked into it astrological symbolism and this card represents the 'Old Goat-Head' Capricorn which is ruled by Saturn the planet of restriction. Capricorn is conservative by nature, tied to tradition because of his association with time and season. Saturn was originally an agricultural deity who was old and lame, representing the end of the cycle as his sign covers the end of the year. His festival was the Saturnalia, celebrated around the Winter Solstice, the darkest time of the year and thus he is old and can appear as much as the Grim Reaper as in his alter ego Old Father Time.

So my interpretation of this is two-fold. On the surface we have a party that appeals to impulse rather than reason, that has a hidden agenda, that does not bode will for the 'gens' who in this picture are Adam and Eve tied by chains, but in a way it is an enslavement that could be averted, those chains are quite loose and could be slipped out of with little effort. The problem is that they do not realise it and have given up in the face of a sense of doom a fateful resignation.

The second interpretation is to see what is happening as a sign of the times and thus this is symptomatic of deeper forces connected to cycles of time at work in the present moment.

The second card is The Emperor. He sits on a throne ornamented with rams heads showing the alignment of this card with the zodiacal sign of Aries. The Emperor is one who rules alone. In his benign persona he is a just ruler, who takes council before making decisions in his malefic persona he is a dictator and subject to paranoia as many tyrants are. The sign of Aries covers Spring time, which is ruled by Mars who governs the will. His is the planet of conflict, territorial and combative. This sign signals a new beginning which can be either for good or evil. This is dependent on what motivates him.

In answer to our question, we have a victory for the Tory party, I think this is pretty clear. It aligns with the polls at the moment, although they are predictably closing the gap between Conservative and Labour, which is a usual effect in the days leading up to the GE.

So there you have it... my prediction for Boris to be PM on Friday morning with enough numbers on his team to push his agenda through. Depending on your allegiances this may be music to your ears or the bell, ask not for whom it tolls for it tolls for thee... !

Keeping on this astrological theme, Austin Coppick informs that we have Saturn in Capricorn conjunct with Pluto (gate to the underworld), with Jupiter (Emperor of the gods), also just having entered the same sign. I guess we can expect quite a few sharp intakes of breath in the coming month.