Tarot for Coronavirus—This Week‘s Collective Energy To Guide You Through The Covid-19 Pandemic


This Week’s Collective Internal Energy:

Eight of Cups—Letting Go

This week will be all about moving on, moving forward, and letting go. Collectively, I’m sensing that many of us already know what we no longer need, or are well aware of what often prevented us from moving forward, because this week we’re ready to take the necessary next steps. Even if circumstances in the external world make significant change challenging right now (for example, moving, getting married, starting a job, etc.) that doesn’t mean big things aren’t shifting inside. We’ve changed, folks. This experience has changed us in fundamental ways, like it or not, and this week we are determined to carry on with who we’re becoming. I’m also reading this is a new phase of acceptance. Perhaps any remaining manifestations of denial and bargaining are subsiding. As one giant collective soul, we are making peace with what is and accepting that things will never be quite the same. We are evolving. But, it’s not necessarily easy. There will be loss. There will be pain that comes with this collective metamorphosis.

The Tower, Reversed—We’re Turning The Corner

Tarot readers have varying styles and preferences, and I’ve always been on the fence about reversals. I tend to shuffle in one direction and therefore read the cards straight up most of the time. However, this significant major arcana card popped into my reading reversed today, and it’s so appropriate for these times that it brings me hope. Right side up, The Tower is a very disruptive card. I’m gross and refer to it as “the colon cleanse card.” I think it’s an apt description because most people absolutely DO NOT want to experience a colon cleanse, even if they need one. This is so very much The Tower, energy, my friends. It brings much of what we need for great personal and spiritual growth, but it has the ability to completely burn everything down in the process. It’s usually painful and full of lots of ugly crying. I often find it’s the last resort the universe takes with us when we refuse to heed signs of disaster approaching. Collectively, we had our chance to see this coming, and now here we are.

Onto the reversed aspect. We’ve moved through the worst of this Tower Energy, and this week I am hopeful we’ll see evidence of the light at the end of the tunnel. We’re still reading the internal collective here, so look for shifts within yourself or personal life and how you feel this week compared to the previous weeks. Think of it as coming out of the shock phase, post-trauma. You can feel and move your limbs again and can see a way forward. Even if it continues to be difficult, weird, and disruptive, are you learning to accept what is? Do you have a stronger footing this week? Recovery is on the horizon.

The Star—Hope (Yessss!)

Thanks, great spirit (or whatever we all call you) for a dose of good news this week. With The Star’s energy in the mix, we find more reasons to hope, more peace within. Trust that this collective experience will lead to renewal, healing, and personal growth. If you are able, pick a night to stargaze this week and take a moment to breathe deeply and be still under the night sky.

This Week’s Collective Energy: External

Five of Cups—Mourning

Collectively, we will experience (first-hand) or witness grief. We will mourn what has been lost. Lost lives—those we may have known or not— lost jobs, lost ways of life, and so on. This is a continuation of energies we’ve experienced (and Taroted about) for the last couple of weeks. I think this card, in particular, tells me we’ll be seeing more people come forward with stories of what they’ve lost, or fear they will lose, this week. Our collective loss may take a more defined shape allowing us to name, label, and understand it with more clarity. But, the Five of Cups also reminds us that not all is lost. Something remains. Perhaps this week we begin to understand and better distinguish what stands amongst the ashes.

Knight of Swords—Where did that come from?

Looks like we’re in for something a bit sudden or unexpected on the collective world stage. We may even see a leader respond to something that seems to come out of left field with decisive action. This isn’t necessarily negative energy. It’s like a sudden gust of wind that requires a decisive response to ensure it doesn’t blow something precious away (or, in a positive sense, a sail set in the right direction to allow the wind to carry you forward). Whatever it may be, we didn’t quite see it coming. Curious. Very curious.

The Hierophant (again).

We had the same card last week in the external collective. I suppose we’ll continue to see who our true leaders are this week. I’m sensing that some of the patterns we’re seeing in response to Covid-19 in terms of local governments, coordination between states, companies, and even other countries, combined with the leaders who appear to be emerging at this time, will be forming a kind of blueprint for the future. The present circumstances have shaken up the system, but what we’re seeing is actually a more traditional style of leadership emerge again. Maybe what we want is a steadier hand, and there’s a collective moving away from the sideshow version of leadership (one can hope). A new blueprint for leadership is being written, and it’s far more traditional. People will feel comforted by this.


The Curve:

In honor of our friend, The Curve, which we are all trying to flatten, here’s your  “curve” card this week: meditation inspiration or advice to help you flatten your own curve (i.e., internal obstacle).

Ten of Wands—A heavy load

Hang in there. You may be feeling heavy this week: fatigued, oppressed, or overwhelmed. If so, you are not alone. In the collective, we may be taking a lot on externally, internally, or both. Work may be incredibly stressful, or the prospect of caring for a family on a decreased income becomes a real obstacle. Others may be parenting and homeschooling, caring for someone who is ill, or trying desperately to keep a business afloat. Some of us may be financially okay through this but are experiencing guilt, grief, or depression. Everyone, take a break when you can this week for the sake of your health and sanity. While we can’t control external circumstances, we can take a break from the narrative in our own minds and practice some breathing and acceptance when we start to feel like we’re losing our ability to hold it all together. I suspect this will be a stressful week for many so be gentle and kind to yourself.


KJ Parish has been reading tarot cards for strangers for 15 years. While she believes we each play a vital role in shaping our lives, Tarot is exceptionally good as a reflective tool to provide guidance, insight, and different perspectives. This is a series of Tarot created specifically for coping during the global Covid-19 pandemic. May these readings bring you awareness and peace.

KJ Parish is a designer and the Art Director for Thought Catalog Books.

Keep up with KJ on Instagram and kjparish.com