Now with the election over, the United States Supreme Court is the next area where major changes will take place - in that arcane branch of government that no one knows all that much about. But we do know that there are changes in the offing and George Walker Bush will be sending names to Congress for confirmation and the cards suggest three new Justices will take their places on the bench before all is said and done and The Court once again will shift its voting patterns.

All signs point to the Supreme Court reasserting itself as a strong branch of the government.

The Significator, this is what the Tarot reading speaks to: The Three of Wands is the Lord of Established Strength. Unlike the Two of Wands which dominated the President's tarot for the rest of the year, the three shows the figure in command and looking over the land, sea, and sky. Three - the third branch of the government. This card is usually associated with courage of conviction and thoughts turning into reality. The robed figure holds the wand of power.

Covering Card, this covers him: The Seven of Pentacles. Concern for the Harvest. This sometimes is the card called "resting on your laurels." As the Court ages, some of the Justices are starting to think about retirement and all have also started to question themselves and reflect on what their time on the court has meant. Hardly an activist Court - a term that would be anathema to most of them - yet they wonder if they have made any difference at all and if, in fact, The Court has lost some of its stature and the Justices may be realizing that a Conservative President, Conservative Congress, and Conservative Court may not be a good recipe. The figure leans on the staff. Read no further than historynet.com, "Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has just turned 80 and is in failing health, and senior Associate Justice John Paul Stevens is 84 -- virtually ensures that the president will be able to nominate at least two new justices during the four-year term that commences on January 20, 2005."

Crossing Card, behind the scenes - everything has a secret side: The Five of Cups, Despair and the Six of Cups Childhood. When two cards come (stuck) together during a "pull," the two cards are mean to be read together. This is a significant outcome. I see the Five of Cups being the Justices that rather consistently vote as a bloc. Three Justices will leave the Court during Bush's term - the three overturned cups that the figure in the black robe looks at. The two upright cups indicate that two of the appointments made during the next four years will be consistent with the bloc, but the third, as signified by the Six of Cups indicates a Justice who will be surprisingly independent and may end up swinging the court in leadership, not just votes. The Six of Cups does not mean that this third Justice is young in years as much as it means the Justice will be fresh in thought and not tied to old or set ways of thinking - and the President and the conservatives may be in for a surprise when The Court reasserts itself.

The Foundation, this is below him on which he stands: The Ace of Wands. Virility, fire, vitality. The Court is ready to be revitalized. The hand holds the staff - the same one in the Three of Wands, the Significator, and Seven of Pentacles, the Crossing Card. The Court's decisions have seemed ever more perfunctory, at least to the Justices, themselves. Reasserting itself as the third branch of the government will take more than a different voting pattern - it will take exciting the public's imagination - for better or worse.

Behind, this is finished business:The Hanged Man. Suspension of Progress. Yet again, a card that speaks to the perception of stagnation. The Court will be moving past this perception. The Court was put in place based on ideological litmus tests - left and right - and the Court is ready to start thinking for itself. It will be taking a less conservative stance on religion and also will rule more favorably, in aggregate, on the rights of privacy.

Above, what is hanging in the air: Queen of Cups. A Good Woman. In Bush's weekly tarot, this was Laura Bush, but in this case it may well be Sandra Day O'Connor. With two of the nine Justices, women, if either of the two female Justices steps down (O'Connor is 74 and Ginsberg is 71) there will be strong pressure on the Administration to keep at least two women Justices on the Court, if not three.

In Front, this is right in front. Six of Wands. The Conqueror's Triumph. This card is one of public acclaim. It is one of victory. It is a card of glory born of bold action. The laurel crown now hangs from the staff - no longer resting on the laurels, but wearing them, again.

The Outcome, the future: Eight of Cups. Continuation. The card shows the figure, still carrying the staff, moving on. The moon usually represents blockage, but the blockage has been broken and the old ways of doing things no longer work. The ideas that the Court has firmy held will begin to give way.

The Meaning

Unlike the President's tarot (through the end of the year) where swords predominated, the Court's tarot is one of wands and cups. The only pentacle that appears is the one having to do with concern about the harvest - meaning that the emotional capital is wasting away. And not one sword appears. This suggests that the battle won't be waged openly. but in a more gentle and subdued way, which will make it very effective.

The Higher Arcana cards do not appear, save for The Hanged Man. This is significant in that the Higher Arcana indicate more profound trends at work. My hunch is that this card represents the possibility that the Bush Court, even to his consternation, will be going away from the strict constructionist court. Less time will be spent reviewing what the founding fathers were thinking in 1789 (and after) and more time will be spent looking at what the words of the constitution mean to the Justices.

Before we get excited about this turning into another Warren Court, this probably won't happen - at least the cards aren't shouting that. What may happen is that Scalia my be counterbalanced in some way.

For some time, now, the Court has been somewhat narrow if not ideological. The Conservatives are feeling strong and with control of two branches of the government, the Bush legislative agenda may be rather vigorous. If we look back to the New Deal and Franklin D. Roosevelt, FDR, especially in the first term, Roosevelt's legislation sailed through Congress but faced a roadblock with the Court that said the legislation went too far and stepped on certain fundamental rights. New Deal programs were struck down to FDR's annoyance, prompting him to consider packing the Court- that is, increasing the number of Justices. That is not in the cards for Bush, but he may find that the Court will be less in his camp as the ideological legislation, especially over religion and privacy, if Congress goes too far, at least too far in the Court's view.

The Court may be sympathetic to conservatism, but at the same time they do not wish to be emasculated - as we saw with the Ace of Wands - and they are determined to be more than a perfunctory body.

Ironically, if the Congress and President put forth a wide range of conservative legislation, the Court may become the central branch of the next several years - even after Bush - as it determines which laws will be the law of the land and what legislation, for constitutional issues, they will in effect, veto.

Stay tuned!