The Return of Daily Notes

Current events, "22," and closing out the month . . .

We have just five days (including this one) left in 2/2022.

Yes, I’m superstitious—in the sense of believing there are non-obvious, non-linear forces at work in the structures of “reality.” And I’ve fixed on the number 22 as one touchpoint in a world filled to the brim with signs and signals.

That’s a general statement. But something in particular has perked up my attention, and prompted me to plan a short series of daily notes. Here’s the something:

Two days ago, several television commentators noted the fact that President Biden began his remarks on the “Ukraine situation” at precisely 2:22 PM (Eastern time) on 2/22/2022. And last night, in his remarks to the the Russian people, Vladimir Putin made a point of saying he had made the decision to invade Ukraine on February 22.

I’d been looking forward to 2/22, as EP readers might have noticed—planning for a special day of Tarot focus. But on that Tuesday afternoon, I was overwhelmed with apprehension. Overwhelmed . . . .

I’m not going to say more about such experiences here. I’ll just highlight the intense convergence of global energies that has made the end of February, 2022, a crucial, perhaps pivotal moment in modern history.

One more thing: I can’t pretend to have a better idea of Putin’s thinking than our intelligence analysts. But I can say what happens if you assume that he is strongly affected by symbolic associations. You follow the date—February 22—to see what might have happened in the past that would be relevant.

And here’s what you find:

• On February 22, 1944, after a massive and prolonged battle, Russia’s Red Army finally captured the Nazi-occupied city of Krivoi Rog, a key location in central Ukraine. A celebratory 24-gun salute was fired in Moscow, and Krivoi Rog became a major mining and industrial center in the USSR.

• On February 22, 1946, George F. Kennan (a high-ranking American diplomat posted to Russia) sent by coded telegram a 5,000-word analysis of the Soviet threat. Known today as the “long telegram,” Kennan’s analysis introduced the term “containment”—and the policy he proposed contributed to the eventual downfall of the Soviet Union.

• On February 22, 2014, the Ukrainian parliament voted by a large majority to remove Putin-aligned Viktor Yanukovych from the presidency. Yanukovych relocated to Russia, and has become known in America for his ties to Trump supporter Paul Manafort.

Those facts seem worth noting.

So I decided to send out a Daily Note today, calling attention to the theme of 22 that has manifested in our current events. Perhaps it’s just a statistical fluke—but perhaps it’s a “meaningful co-incidence.”

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When I thought about sending one Daily Note, I noticed that we have only a few more days in February, and decided on a series. Events taking place in the world at this moment serve as a reminder of life’s uncertainty. And an encouragement to carry out plans, rather than merely collect them. So this seems like the right time to share some items from my list of planned stories.

Here are the items I have in mind for the remaining Daily Notes:

• A genre-wheel view of Tarot

• A photographic “Counterculture Tarot”

• An illustrated tour of “Tarot and the Poets”

• A practical commentary on Tarot and social media

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I’m thinking today of The Tower, The World, and The Emperor. Tarot includes symbols that can be used to tell any story, or describe any situation—even the darkest. That’s one of the reasons I take it so seriously.

Thanks for reading. C