The Grateful Dead "Ripple" video and January 2021

On December 18, 2020, the Grateful Dead released a new video for their old song "Ripple." Two days later, on December 20, I was led to it by a completely random series of clicks. The video begins and ends with a spread of 13 Tarot cards. In the beginning, all the cards are face down, but we see enough to know that the card at the top is laid down first, then the others clockwise around the circle, and finally the one in the center. At the end of the video, we see the whole spread face up.

This is apparently a version of the "Year Ahead" spread, and since it was posted near the end of 2020, we might naturally interpret it as a year-ahead reading for 2021.

The cards themselves are based closely on the Rider-Waite deck, but with some perplexing differences. I might go through them all, one at a time, later if I feel so inclined, but for now I will focus on the one in the first position, corresponding to January. This is simply because I have a clear idea of "what happened" in January 2021. For the rest of the year so far, no notable month-specific events stand out, but January had two: the Worst Mostly Peaceful Protest Since the Civil War on the 6th, and the inauguration of Antipresident Biden on the 20th.

The "Ripple" video gives the January position to the World card. Here is how it compares to the Rider-Waite on which it is based.

The central figure is obviously copied exactly from the Rider-Waite. The artist must have had the Rider-Waite card in front of him as he drew, and therefore the differences must be deliberate.

The Rider-Waite, like the Marseille cards on which it is based, puts the Four Living Creatures in the four corners of the card. These represent, among other things, the fixed signs of the zodiac: Leo, Taurus, Aquarius (the man or angel), and Scorpio (the eagle). In the "Ripple" video, the angel is replaced with a black bird, and the golden eagle is changed to an American bald eagle. Looking at this now, in August 2021, I thought, "Hey, it's Jim Crow  and Jim Eagle!" And then, remembering that the pie is a bird closely related to the crow, I thought, "No, no, it's an American Eagle and American Pie!"

The two birds have been lowered down from the upper corners to the central part of the card. This was a very strange design choice, since it leaves lots of empty space in the upper corners. The only rationale I can think of is that the five heads (of the central figure and the four creatures) now form a pentagram arrangement that matches the traditional elemental pentagram.

Leo is a Fire sign, Taurus is Earth, Aquarius is (confusingly!) Air, and Scorpio is Water. If the woman in the center represents Spirit, the layout of the "Ripple" card matches the pentagram perfectly. The elemental correspondences have perhaps even been made a little stronger by replacing the Aquarius symbol with a bird and the land-based golden eagle with a species of sea eagle.

The fact that the birds have been moved down from their rightful place at the top of the World card made me think of the Patty Griffin song made famous by the Dixie Chicks (and recently featured on my friend S. K. Orr's blog).

Think I broke the wings off that little song bird

She's never gonna fly to the top of the world right now

So, how does all of this relate to the events of January 2021?

January 6 is only hinted at. On the Rider-Waite card, the wreath separates the woman within from the four creatures without, but on the "Ripple" card, this boundary has been breached, and the creatures have entered the inner sanctum.

Next we come to the inauguration, when Joe Biden was given the position that rightfully belonged to Donald Trump. This is almost too easy. The Rider-Waite World card features a blond-headed angel (we know it is an angel, not just a man, because of the corresponding figure on the Wheel of Fortune card, which has wings), and the "Ripple" card replaces this with a crow.

Since October 27, 2020, I have identified Trump with the blond-headed angel depicted on the Judgement card of the Rider-Waite deck, who is blowing a trump with a flag on it. (Donald Trump's birthday is Flag Day, June 14). Since the Judgement card is numbered 20, I had interpreted this as a prediction that Trump would win the '20 election.

But on the "Ripple" card, this symbol of Trump is conspicuous by its absence and has been replaced by a large, black bird. On October 24, 2020, just days before connecting the angel of Judgement with Trump, I wrote a post identifying Joe Biden with the Dr. Seuss character Slow Joe Crow. So, where we would expect to see Trump, we see Biden instead -- and both the presidency (the crow) and America itself (the bald eagle) have fallen down a notch from their former lofty positions. Sounds like January 2021 to me.

I've already mentioned in passing that the Rider-Waite deck connects the World card with the Wheel of Fortune. In fact, the central figure strongly resembles the goddess Fortuna.

On the "Ripple" card, as on its Rider-Waite predecessor, Fortuna's face is turned to the left side of the card, so Fortune is smiling on the Left. The creatures on the left are the crow and the bull. The crow represents Biden, by way of Slow Joe Crow. The bull or ox is the traditional symbol of the biblical Tribe of Joseph and thus also represents Joseph Biden. (Colloquially, of course, bull is also a synonym for malarkey.)

On the right of the card, Fortuna has turned her face away from the eagle and the lion. Can it be a coincidence that both of these animals have been used in Trump campaign logos? Both logos were (of course!) criticized in the press as racist dog whistles.

Of course, the thing about the Wheel of Fortune is that it turns. As Dylan put it, "Don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin, and . . . the loser now will be later to win." We might also note that Fortuna's body is facing the right, suggesting that she will shortly turn her face in that direction as well.