By Adreanna

Today’s tarot spread was the Star, the Moon, and the Ten of Cups reversed. When I asked the deck to clarify, I pulled the Three of Swords. Then I asked what area of life this spread was pointing toward, and I drew the Nine of Pentacles, the Emperor, and the Page of Wands.

Now here’s the thing. I sat down just wanting to do a simple reflection spread, something quick for the blog. But right before I pulled cards, I was on Instagram.

First, I saw a post about how humanity has been conditioned to believe men are our natural leaders, when in reality in most ecosystems on earth, the females lead. That thought planted itself in my head, and suddenly the song Labour by Paris Paloma started looping in my mind.

Then, another scroll later, I saw a headline that a federal judge’s home was on fire. Not just any judge, but one who had recently blocked our president’s request to send the National Guard into another American city. People are drawing connections and speculating on if the current administration had anything to do with this. It’s giving Scandal.

I finished scrolling, put away my phone, did a few finishing touches on my work outfit before I chose a deck, sat down, said a prayer and pulled some cards. I really thought I had moved past those things before sitting down to pull cards, but now, looking at this spread, I’m not so sure. It feels like the cards are speaking less about me personally and more about the state of the world.

The first line of cards especially stands out. The Star is all about faith, hope, and renewal. The Moon, though, reminds me that faith and hope can be illusions, and that reflections aren’t always what they seem. When the waters of the Moon card settle and the image is stable, what it actually shows is brokenness beneath the surface. Then, with the Ten of Cups reversed, that fracture feels even sharper. Who or what this is pointing toward is still submerged, still obscured — but if I had to make a guess, it feels like it’s about the president and the current climate of the world.

And then there are those last three cards: the Nine of Pentacles, the Emperor, and the Page of Wands. Their energy mirrors him almost too perfectly. It has me thinking about narcissism.

That word is everywhere right now. My feed is full of it. People are labeling Gen X parents as narcissists, blaming them for the neglect or abuse they passed down to their millennial children. People are calling out their partners, especially men, for narcissistic behaviors in relationships. Everywhere you look, narcissism is the villain of the moment and the word of the day.

And yet, in the middle of all this calling out and naming and confronting, we elevated a narcissist to the highest seat of power in the country. It feels symbolic to me — like at the exact moment narcissists are being exposed and dragged into the light, one of them was lifted up above us all. A last-ditch attempt to control the narrative and preserve a place in society at the very moment when people are calling for its erasure. And not just here — narcissistic rulers exist on every continent.

Which makes me wonder: is this the final rise before the fall? The last gasp of narcissism before something new comes? They say an animal is most dangerous when it’s cornered.

This weekend I saw a video of Barack Obama at a dinner where he was roasting himself but also tossing some jabs at Donald Trump. The room was doubled over in laughter. But there sat Trump, stone-faced, angry, uncomfortable, visibly seething. Watching that clip made me think about him differently.

Despite all his money and ambition, he was never truly accepted by the upper crust of society. For decades, celebrities and the wealthy mocked him, dismissed him, laughed at his name. He was never really invited to their tables. The only people who seemed to embrace him were the fringes: Jeffrey Epstein, white nationalists, Elon Musk.

So when the bully finally forced his way to the table of power, is it really any surprise that he acts the way he does? Demanding respect, insisting people only speak about him positively, punishing his enemies, trying to silence critics. It’s the behavior of someone who spent a lifetime on the outside looking in, and finally clawed his way inside — not to belong, but to dominate.

What started as a simple tarot reflection ended up spiraling into bigger questions about power, narcissism, and the cycles we’re all living through. Maybe that’s the point, though. Tarot doesn’t just mirror back our private lives. Sometimes it reflects the larger truths swirling around us all.

What do I do with this information?

If this spread really is echoing everything I’ve been circling — the narcissism, the broken reflection, the bully at the table — then I’m left with a dozen messy questions and very few tidy answers. What does the continued rise look like? How bad could it get? How long is the “worse” period, and what does “better” actually look like when it arrives? What would an alternative world feel like — practically, day-to-day, structurally?

And the big one that keeps looping in my head: how do you beat a narcissist? How do you overthrow a person who seems set on becoming a dictator? Do the same old methods work when the opponent weaponizes chaos, outrage, and spectacle?

I don’t have answers. I don’t want to pretend I do. All I have are questions and the small, stubborn instincts of a person trying to stay sane in chaotic times. So here’s my messy inventory of thoughts — not advice, just what I’m sitting with:

• Maybe it starts with naming things honestly. Calling out narcissism, hypocrisy, cruelty — not to score points, but to make those behaviors visible so they can’t hide in plain sight.
• Maybe it’s also local: neighbors, mutual aid, building communities that can survive stress and shortages. When national systems fray, it’s the local ties that catch people.
• Maybe resistance isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it’s voting, showing up at meetings, donating time or money to organizations doing accountability work, protecting the vulnerable people around you. Small acts add up.
• Maybe we need clarity about boundaries — personal, political, social. Narcissists thrive on blurred lines. Drawing and enforcing clearer lines might not topple an empire overnight, but it slows the spread.
• And also — education. Stories and narratives shape people’s imaginations. If the culture keeps normalizing grandiosity and cruelty, nothing changes. If we tell different stories — about dignity, repair, mutual care — maybe that shifts the underpinning values.

None of this is neat. None of this is guaranteed. I’m not advocating for violence or chaos. I’m just trying to collect the possible ways forward that don’t feel like giving up or giving in. Sometimes the most radical thing feels like showing up for the small, unglamorous work: reminding a neighbor to vote, supporting a journalist, teaching a kid to think critically, sitting with someone who’s afraid.

I don’t know how long the “worse” will last. I don’t know if this is the final rise before a fall, or a cycle we’ll be in for a long time. Hell, I can’t even say definitely that the tarot was speaking to me about any of this in particular this morning. Maybe that spread isn’t about the world or politics at all. Only time will tell.

All I know is the questions are still sitting with me. And maybe for now, that’s enough.