America After the Vote
Recognize the Feeling. Release the Illusion. Reconsider the Foundation.
Tarot Deck: Rider-Waite
Recognize: Ace of Cups
Release: Page of Cups
Redirect: The Tower
Lunar Overview
America has voted. But voting and reckoning are not the same thing.
As the nation moves beyond the November 3 midterm elections, the Scorpio New Moon invites us to examine something deeper than electoral victories, defeats, and political allegiances. It asks us to consider our emotional investment in the country, the stories we tell ourselves about power, and the institutions we depend upon to preserve our collective future.
Scorpio governs what lies beneath the surface: secrets, power, vulnerability, intimacy, shared resources, endings, regeneration, and transformation. Its energy is not particularly interested in appearances. It wants to know what is true, what has been concealed, and what must change. This is fertile ground for a national examination.
The midterms may change who occupies particular seats of power, but they do not automatically resolve the questions Americans carry about representation, economic security, justice, personal freedom, public trust, or the direction of the country. Those questions remain.
Our Rider-Waite spread presents a remarkable progression: the Ace of Cups, the Page of Cups, and The Tower.
Two Cups cards speak to the emotional undercurrents of the American experience. Then The Tower interrupts, introducing the question of structural stability. This is not a prediction of political collapse or a declaration about which party should govern. It is an invitation to consider the relationship between what Americans feel, what we believe, and what we are prepared to examine.
The central message of this Scorpio New Moon is clear: A change in leadership is not necessarily a change in consciousness. And meaningful transformation requires more than replacing the people at the top.
Recognize — Ace of Cups: What is ready to be seen differently?
Recognize the emotional investment beneath our political convictions.
In the Rider-Waite Ace of Cups, a hand emerges from a cloud holding a chalice overflowing with five streams of water. A dove descends toward the cup, and the water flows into a larger body beneath it.
The imagery speaks of emotional abundance, spiritual possibility, compassion, and the opening of the heart. But what happens when we apply this symbolism to an entire nation?
We begin by acknowledging that politics is never entirely intellectual.
People bring their histories, fears, aspirations, disappointments, and lived experiences into the voting booth. Political choices may reflect economic concerns, cultural values, questions of safety, personal identity, community obligations, or deeply held beliefs about the role of government.
The Ace of Cups invites us to recognize those emotional investments without assuming that everyone experiences the country in the same way. For some Americans, the election may bring relief. For others, disappointment or uncertainty. Still others may feel detached from a political process they believe does not adequately represent them. All of these responses deserve examination.
But recognition does not require agreement. Compassion does not demand that we overlook harmful actions, abandon our principles, or pretend that political decisions have equal consequences for everyone.
Instead, the Ace asks whether we can remain emotionally aware while exercising discernment. It also invites us to recognize something frequently obscured by partisan competition: Americans can disagree profoundly about public policy while sharing concerns about the well-being of their families, communities, and future generations. Those shared concerns do not erase meaningful differences. They provide a starting point for understanding them.
The Ace of Cups asks us to recognize that beneath the political argument is often a deeply human concern.
Reiki Reflection
Place one hand over your heart and the other over your solar plexus.
Allow Reiki to flow as you consider your response to the election.
Ask yourself:
What emotions arise when I think about the direction of this country?
Which of those feelings come from my direct experience, and which have been shaped by what I have been told?
Can I acknowledge another person's humanity without surrendering my own convictions?
Allow the answers to emerge without rushing to defend or correct them.
Release — Page of Cups: What is ready to be loosened, surrendered, or left behind?
Release the illusion that political promises, personalities, or victories can substitute for informed participation.
The Page of Cups stands holding a chalice from which a fish unexpectedly appears. It is an unusual image, even by Tarot standards.
The Page seems fascinated by what has emerged. The fish represents an unexpected message, intuition, imagination, or possibility. Yet the Page is still a student of the emotional realm, learning to distinguish inspiration from assumption.
In a collective reading, this card asks Americans to examine the stories we construct around political leadership.
We may become emotionally invested in a candidate's promises, a party's message, a movement's vision, or an interpretation of events that confirms what we already believe.
That investment can become so powerful that we stop asking difficult questions.
We may interpret criticism as disloyalty, or accept a compelling narrative without examining the facts supporting it. And these tendencies are not exclusive to any political party.
The Page of Cups challenges us to recognize the difference between hope and wishful thinking.
Hope can inspire participation, cooperation, and meaningful change. Wishful thinking asks us to believe that change has already occurred simply because someone promised it.
The Scorpio New Moon encourages us to release the expectation that any election, candidate, or administration will relieve us of our responsibility to remain informed. It also asks us to examine the emotional satisfaction of being right.
Are we seeking understanding, or merely confirmation? Are we willing to reconsider a position when credible evidence challenges it? Can we acknowledge that a policy we support may have unintended consequences, or that someone with whom we disagree may raise a legitimate concern?
Releasing political naïveté does not require abandoning optimism. It requires giving optimism a foundation.
The Page of Cups reminds us that an appealing message is an invitation to investigate, not a reason to stop questioning.
Release Practice
Write two statements:
"What I hope this election will accomplish is..."
"What I can actually verify at this moment is..."
Read both statements carefully.
Notice where hope and evidence align, where they differ, and where more information is needed.
There is no need to extinguish hope. Simply stop asking it to perform the work of knowledge.
Redirect — The Tower: Where should the energy go now?
Redirect attention from the personalities occupying positions of power to the structures through which that power operates.
The Tower is the most provocative card in this spread.
In the Rider-Waite image, lightning strikes a tall structure. Its crown is dislodged, flames emerge, and two figures fall from its heights.
The symbolism is unmistakable: authority, security, and permanence are being challenged.
But The Tower is frequently misunderstood.
It does not necessarily announce catastrophe. Nor does its appearance establish that a particular institution is corrupt, doomed, or destined to collapse.
The Tower exposes our assumptions about stability. And in the context of American democracy, that distinction is important.
We often speak of political power through the individuals who possess it. Presidents, legislators, governors, judges, and other officials become the public faces of much larger systems.
Yet the structures themselves—constitutional authority, legislative procedures, judicial review, election administration, public oversight, and the mechanisms through which citizens exercise their rights—continue beyond individual officeholders.
The Tower asks us to examine those structures with greater attention.
How does power actually operate?
What safeguards exist to prevent its misuse?
Where are institutions functioning as intended, and where do documented problems warrant closer examination?
What forms of accountability are available to ordinary citizens?
These are not questions that Tarot can answer with factual certainty. They require evidence, civic education, public records, and informed discussion. But Tarot can help us recognize why we may resist asking them.
Sometimes we become so attached to a leader, institution, tradition, or political identity that questioning it feels like questioning ourselves.
The Tower challenges that attachment. Its falling crown is especially meaningful. A crown represents authority. It does not represent infallibility.
No individual becomes immune to scrutiny by winning an election. Likewise, an election loss does not erase the concerns or civic responsibilities of those whose preferred candidates were unsuccessful.
Under this Scorpio New Moon, The Tower encourages us to redirect emotional energy into constructive civic engagement. That may mean learning how a particular government agency functions, following legislation, attending a public meeting, contacting an elected representative, supporting a community initiative, or examining information from multiple credible sources.
The objective is not destruction for its own sake.
It is understanding what deserves preservation, what requires repair, and what may need to be reconsidered.
Reiki Direction
Place both hands over your solar plexus, the energetic center associated with personal agency, confidence, and purposeful action.
Allow Reiki to support steadiness rather than reactivity.
Offer this intention:
May I recognize power without surrendering my own.
May I question authority without abandoning discernment.
May I contribute to change with clarity, courage, and responsibility.
The Combined Message:
Ace of Cups → Page of Cups → The Tower
Feel. Discern. Rebuild.
The progression of these three cards reveals an important distinction between emotional reaction and conscious response.
The Ace of Cups begins with feeling.
The Page of Cups challenges the interpretations we attach to those feelings.
The Tower directs us toward an examination of the structures and assumptions that influence our collective lives.
Together, they suggest that the period following an election can become an opportunity for civic reflection rather than simply another chapter in an ongoing political contest.
The Ace reminds us that emotions contain information about what matters to us. The Page reminds us that emotions do not automatically establish what is true. The Tower reminds us that even deeply familiar institutions and assumptions deserve thoughtful examination.
There is another detail worth considering.
Two Cups cards precede a single Major Arcana card.
In Tarot, the Minor Arcana frequently addresses the circumstances and experiences of everyday life, while the Major Arcana introduces broader developmental themes.
Here, the movement from Cups to The Tower suggests a symbolic transition from personal emotional experience to questions about larger structures. What begins within the individual expands into the collective. And that is an appropriate consideration following a national election.
Democracy is not experienced only in government buildings. It is experienced in households, workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, and communities.
Our public institutions influence those spaces, and our participation helps shape the institutions. The Scorpio New Moon invites us to examine that relationship without surrendering to either helplessness or the illusion of complete control.
We may not control the entire structure, but we remain responsible for how we participate within it.
Scorpio New Moon Questions for America
What has this election revealed about my hopes, fears, and expectations for the country?
Where have I allowed political loyalty or emotional attachment to replace independent examination?
What assumptions about leadership, power, or government am I willing to reconsider?
How can I distinguish documented institutional problems from rhetoric designed primarily to provoke an emotional response?
What responsibility am I prepared to accept between now and the next election?
Scorpio New Moon Ritual — The Cup, The Tower & The Common Good
This ritual combines the symbolism of our three-card spread with Reiki and a practical commitment to civic awareness.
You will need a cup or bowl of water, three small stones or stackable objects, paper, a pen, and a quiet space.
1. Recognize — The Cup
Place the water before you.
Rest your hands around the cup and offer Reiki for several minutes.
Consider what you are carrying emotionally following the election.
Name the feeling without judging it.
Say: I acknowledge what I feel. I honor what matters to me. I remain open to understanding what I do not yet know.
2. Release — The Page
On your paper, complete this sentence:
"One assumption I am willing to examine is..."
Choose something specific.
It might concern a political promise, an institution, a public policy, or your expectations about what an election can accomplish.
Do not force yourself to change your opinion. Commit instead to examining the evidence.
Fold the paper and place it beneath the cup.
3. Redirect — The Tower
Stack your three stones or objects into a small tower. Let each represent an element of civic life:
The foundation: Your values and responsibilities.
The middle: Your community and its institutions.
The top: Those entrusted with public authority.
Look at the structure. Then remove the top stone.
Notice that the other two remain.
Consider the symbolism: leadership can change while communities, responsibilities, and civic life continue.
Rebuild the tower deliberately, recognizing that each part has a role.
Now identify one constructive action you can take during the coming lunar cycle.
It may be learning more about an issue, attending a community meeting, reviewing an elected official's public record, or participating in a local service initiative.
4. Close with Reiki
Place your hands over your heart.
Offer Reiki for your own clarity and for the well-being of the communities affected by public decisions.
Say:
May wisdom inform our choices.
May compassion temper our disagreements.
May truth withstand examination.
May power remain accountable.
May we remember that our responsibility to one another does not end at the ballot box.
Return the water to the earth or use it to nourish a plant.
Keep your written commitment somewhere visible until the next lunar phase.
WULunar Guidance
Recognize the Feeling.
Release the Illusion.
Reconsider the Foundation.
The November 9 Scorpio New Moon arrives at a moment when Americans have an opportunity to reflect on what an election means beyond its immediate results.
The cards do not tell us which political vision will prevail or what events will unfold.
They offer a different kind of guidance.
The Ace of Cups asks us to acknowledge the human experiences beneath our convictions.
The Page of Cups asks us to examine the narratives through which we interpret those experiences.
The Tower asks us to consider how power operates, what supports our institutions, and what responsibilities remain ours regardless of who holds office.
An election can change the composition of government. It cannot, by itself, determine the quality of our public conversations, the depth of our civic understanding, or the degree to which we participate in community life. Those remain ongoing choices. And perhaps that is the most useful message of this Scorpio New Moon.
When the crown falls, do we rush to replace it—or finally examine the structure beneath it?
WULunar Pull & Forecast is a collective Tarot reflection offered by Rhonda Kuykendall-Jabari, Reiki Master Teacher and founder of Wellness Uprising. Tarot is used here as a symbolic tool for reflection, not as a source of factual election results or political predictions.
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Rhonda Kuykendall-Jabari
Wellness Uprising
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