BTW 47: 5 of Pentacles – Real Gods Require Blood with guest Thea Wirsching

Speaking on the truth of suffering and fear, Zora Neale Hurston said that, only "half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.” The Five of Pentacles is not a comfortable card. It speaks of pain and privation, the moments that bring us to our knees. But, as Amanda and her guest Dr. Thea Wirsching discuss in this episode, those moments are also invitations from the real and often blood thirsty gods to wrestle with the angels of our history.

5s are ruled by the hierophant. The priest, the Pope, the card in the major arcana that connects us with our spiritual traditions; in some decks it is called, "Ancestor." The 5 of Pentacles demands our humility. It is an invitation to love life in it all its blizzards and madness and freezing winds. We discuss the Little Match Girl; the 4 Noble Truths of Buddhism; African American literature of the 19th century; The Wedding Crashers; how religion can offer salvation... and be a bunch of bullshit; Mercury in Taurus; and where to find refuge.

Our guest is Thea Wirsching is an Evolutionary astrologer and has been practicing astrology for almost two decades.  Her counseling business, The Pluto Babe, helps guide her clients in the process of releasing shame. She received her PhD from UCLA, and her dissertation focused on the history and literature of American occultism.  Much of this original research appears in her forthcoming publication, The American Renaissance Tarot (2021).  As a Tarot reader, Thea emphasizes the healing power of narrative and the cards’ facility to write a new story.

This episode is sponsored by a new film from The Theatre Company in Portland, Oregon: Claire Willett's The Broken Heart Spread.