CONSPIRACY THEORY: Myth, Magic and the Murder of a President

Read on, read on! This one is better than any thriller and has as its ingredients: murder, genocide, witchcraft, coups, civil war, justice trampled on…and it all ends with a strong man fighting a lion!

I laid out the Conspiracy Theory spread:

1. What is known
2. What is not known
3. What is true
4. What is not true
5. Additional insight(s)
6. Conclusion

This is the conspiracy:

On the 6th April 1994, the plane carrying the Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda was shot down by a missile. This act set off the Rwandan genocide, which lasted three months during which Hutu extremist militias, parts of the Rwandan State army, and countless ordinary folk (teachers, doctors, peasants, nuns and priests, etc.) murdered 1 million mainly Tutsi Rwandans, and a number of moderate Hutus.

Habyrimana was travelling back from Tanzania, where he had just signed a pact of pace and power-sharing with the Tutsi rebels, the RPF, headed by Paul Kagame (the actual president of Rwanda). The Tutsi rebels were fighting 1) for the right for Tutsi refugees to return home, having been forced out by other massacres in 1961-2 they were never allowed back; and 2) to reclaim some of the Tutsi power and privilege that had been theirs under the Belgian colonialists.

The likeliest and best documented explanation is that it was shot down by Hutu extremists from Habyarimana's own regime, headed by Agathe, Habyarimana’s own wife, using technology the French had taught them to use, because these extremists thought he had betrayed them by signing peace with the Tutsi rebels. It is even possible that French special forces fired the actual missile. The shot down plane was the signal for the start of the genocide.

The other explanation is an even greater conspiracy theory: some say that Paul Kagame, gave the order to shoot down the plane, using technology the Americans had taught his troops to use. Knowing that the genocide was a likely result of the killing of the Hutu President at such a delicate moment, and wanting to provoke it for his own reasons (Government army too busy killing civilians to make war, giving him the chance to fight through and win; world sympathy for the Tutsis to give him leverage), he had the plane shot down and let the genocide against his fellow Tutsis and moderate Hutus happen.

Of course we can also see it as a catastrophic miscalculation – Kagame could have had the plane shot down to eliminate his rival, hoping to make the most of the confusion and lack of leadership ensuing, but the shot-down plane was the last act that provoked the genocide – or coincided with its projected date…

For those who have forgotten history, Kagame and the RPF won through and the Hutu leadership, the killing militia and army, and 2 million Hutu citizens were routed and fled into Congo and Tanzania (except some of the leadership that managed to get further afield, including Europe, from which they are slowly being extradited to face trial for genocide, including former First Lady Agathe).

(OK - nobody is going to be tested on all this – it took me years living and working in Rwanda and Congo, dealing with these issues, to know the little I do know!!)


I used the Mythic Tarot, based on the Greek myths, as being suitably bloody and full of strife and genocide, and because it is the deck I used quasi-daily when I was in Rwanda and Congo.

1. What is known – Ace of Wands– This shows Zeus standing, wearing the Golden Fleece – as initiator of the Golden Fleece adventure, holding a long pole that is burning like the tail of a rocket.
2. What is not known – Emperor. This shows Zeus on his throne, holding globe and lightning, with an eagle on his shoulder.
3. What is true – King of Wands – this shows Theseus, in a field near Athens, sitting and holding a torch.
4. What is not true – Justice – this shows Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, who, among other attributes, presided over justice: her attributes are a sword, scales and an owl, symbol of wisdom.
5. Additional insights: 9 of Wands – this shows the ship Argon nearing the shore, but she is close to the Clashing Rocks and might be shattered between them and founder at any moment.
6. Conclusion: Strength– this is the struggle between Herakles (Hercules) and the lion of Nemea.

We know Habyarimana’s plane was shot down by a missile. I have never seen such a clear portrayal of a missile in Tarot as the Ace of Wands of the Mythic Tarot!

What we don’t know is if there is an “Emperor” – a Chief God behind the firing of the missile. Candidates are:

a) France (under Mitterand but with current President Chirac as Prime Minister and majority leader of the Chamber of Deputies, my own personal villain because he has been up to so much sh*t in Africa; though Mitterand – and his son - had too), who has great interests in francophone Africa and was a long-term supporter of the Hutu regime; and
b) the United States (under Clinton) who were – still are (because it is a state thing, not a party thing) – backers of Kagame and the Tutsis.

Were one or other of them involved? That is what we don’t know! Both these candidates had given their favourite the technology and know-how to fire the sort of rocket-launched missile that downed Habyarimana’s plane.


Now the next card had me stumped for a while – who the &*ç§ is the King of Wands/Theseus? Then the penny dropped. Kagame. Of course. He is President, after many tribulations. A war leader, now a peace leader. He has managed by authoritarian means to establish stability in his country – at the cost of stability in neighbouring Congo, where he has been waging a war (of late behind the scenes) – for nearly a decade. Rwanda was attacked repeatedly between 1995-2000 by former Habyarimana men and genocide perpetrators (generally one and same). They were encamped in neighbouring Zaire – which took back its old name of Congo in 1997 after a Rwanda-and US-backed regime change – and launched attacks on Rwanda, Tutsi houses (to “finish off” the genocide), army camps, etc. I was in Rwanda at that time. Theseus also exported his political problems.

Furthermore Theseus led an expedition against the Amazons, for economic reasons, and abducted and married the Queen of the Amazons and had a son with her. Kagame’s army ravished the diamond mines and other goodies of the Kivu and Kisangani, in Congo…

Later Theseus abducted the twelve-year old Helen (she who was to be much ravished in her life!!). This was a mistake and led to a coup against him in Athens, and his exile and death.

We mustn’t forget, however, that Theseus stopped a genocide in Athens, before he became king, just as Kagame and his rebel army stopped the genocide against the Tutsis before he became President. Theseus went to kill the Minotaur, the bull-headed man whose father, Minos of Crete, demanded as yearly tribute from Athens, 100 young men and a 100 young girls to feed the Minotaur. It was during that expedition that Theseus used, seduced and abandoned Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, who helped him get in and out of the labyrinth wherein the Minotaur was kept. Just as Kagame used and dropped allies (including a great number of anti-genocide democratic hutus – many hutus also died in the genocide, killed by their own for helping their Tutsi relatives and neighbours).

Yet another interesting fact that links Kagame to Theseus: Theseus had taken part, before the Crete expedition, in Jason’s expedition on board the Argo, to find the Golden Fleece. Jason and the Argonauts, his companions, had to fight to eventually win the Fleece. This reminds me of Kagame, who together with a number of young Rwandan Tutsi exiles in Uganda, had helped the then Ugandan rebel Museveni wage his civil war against the dictator Obote (who followed upon Idi Amin). It is during and following the Ugandan war that Kagame and his compatriots learn their skills as soldiers, make connections in America and eventually – for Kagame and the other elite - are trained in an American military college. Like the Golden Fleece expedition, the war against Obote was successful and Museveni became president in 1986 (he still is - ).

OK – so what’s true? Kagame stopped the genocide. He made alliances that he later betrayed (inside and outside Rwanda) for state reasons, or personal power reasons. He participated in dangerous expeditions in his youth. His hold on power is getting increasingly dictatorial. He exports his internal problems. He had a former regime rebellion problem which he has largely dealt with.

This tells us nothing about his participation or no in Habyarimana’s death. Unless I am missing something. Habyarimana as the Minotaur??? But the genocide occurred after his death…so…After he returned from Crete and killing the Minotaur he fought and defeated his rival – which Kagame did too – but again – that was after the genocide and later than Habyarimana’s death…

There is a possibility:

It was an act of inadvertance! Theseus came back from killing the Minotaur. He had told his father Aegeus (whom he didn’t know as his father until long after the Argo expedition) that if he succeeded he would hoist a white sail on his ship. He forgot, and the ship came in view of Cape Sounion, from which Aegeus was anxiously watching the sea, with a black mainsail…Aegeus threw himself in the sea.

Likewise, it is possible Kagame had Habyarimana’s plane shot down, thinkgin it was a way to advance the Tutsi cause, but instead causing a catastrophe…but again, the genocide happened after the death of Habyrimana, and before the death of Aegeus – not quite there yet.

One thing that troubles me: in one version of the Myth, Aegeus had a child with the sorceress Medea (who later married Jason and later still, killed their children when he tried to divorce her). She hated Theseus – knowing him to be Aegeus’ older child - and would do anything to separate the two and get rid of Theseus. She tried to poison him. She turned against Aegeus when he chose to side with Theseus, newly discovered to be his son. Likewise Habyarimana’s wife Agathe was an aristocratic Hutu extremist who had a powerful clan at her disposal and used strong witchcraft to get her own way (she is said to have used powerful witchcraft in “taming” her husband for years, and in manipulating her entire clan). In the possibility #1 of this Conspiracy Theory, she ordered the missile fired one her husband’s aircraft, because she regarded him as having sold out to the Tutsi rebels and being on too good terms with Kagame…

Some versions of the Theseus myth mention that Medea used black magic to make sure Theseus and his companions forgot to hoist the white sail, therefore causing the death of her husband Aegeus. If one comes back to pure Tarot – the King of Wands is capable of such an act – but he is not stealthy, he is straightforward (as was Theseus) even when he commits a crime. The attribute of this king is the ram, not known for its secretiveness. So if Kagame’s troops shot the missile, it was a fantastic miscalculation, which led to the death of 1 million of their own family, friends, etc. But what if Agathe used magic? OK I KNOW this sounds weird, but I have seen just as weird in Congo and Rwanda, where magic is routinely used, and there are some powerful magicians, practitioners of white and black magic…

This could be stranger than fiction.

Any other ideas, anyone?


What is not true is Justice: the act was neither just, nor has anyone even been brought to book for it. It was the start of the greatest racially-based genocide since the Shoah, and this too is being punished very slowly. Justice has not yet been served. I also think it could mean that the firing of the missile was not a well-thought out act: it was not wise.

Justice/Athena possesses cunning – therefore it is not true this act was cunning. This seems to argue against it being a long-planned act, whether by a Hutu clan or the Tutsi rebels. Habyarimana was travelling back from Tanzania, where he had just signed a pact of power-sharing with Kagame…It was the balance, the just compromise reached between the Tutsi rebels who had good cause to fight, and the Hutu president, who had good cause to keep Hutus involved in government. This compromise was shot down. So justice was not done there either.

Athena has so many myths associated to her I don’t know where to start. What is relevant to this situation? Athena loved a good hero. Athena is seen in the “not true” position. I would say that her hero was not involved. And who was her hero? Well, she liked heros like herself – cunning. Her favourite was Ulysses, the king of Ithaka, who was an exile for many years after her took part in the Trojan war, from his country and who fought countless enemies (not always straight) to win back. When he returned to Ithaka he found his wife Penelope beset with layabout suitors, and he shot them all down…

Kagame is cunning. His entire career shows it. And he did not hesitate to kill the “suitors” of Rwanda when he thought them a burden on the country and a block to his power. So it might be reasonable to deduce that Kagame is Ulysses, Athena’s favourite – the longtime exile who returned home to his bride (Penelope/Rwanda) and got rid of the suitors. And since Athena/Justice is in the not-true position, this would argue – to me – against Kagame having given the order to shoot that missile…


Additional insights: 9 of Wands – more wands. The Argo reaching the shore and nearing the Clashing Rocks. Jason and his Argonauts had to use cunning to get through those – the last gritty-teethed effort before the end of the adventure and the suit. On the shore, 9 Wands are burning.

I see this as Kagame’s army fighting through to win Rwanda and stop the genocide between April and July 1994. They had many setbacks – and did not manage to stop the killing before nigh on a million civilians had been killed. It also shows the isolation of the ship (or traditionally, the man in the 9 of wands) – just as Kagame and his men were isolated: no–one else stepped in to stop the genocide. The US pussyfooted around with the word “genocide” in the Security Council, France obstructed, and the three other permanent members just sat flaccidly wringing their hands while a million men women and children were killed on camera. The non-permanent members of the time were hardly more impressive.

I think, too, it shows Habyarimana coming back from Tanzania in his plane – and foundering.

But this is supposed to be insight, and I am just repeating known facts. So.

It could be Kagame/Theseus, as a last, desperate effort, shooting down the plane, before reaching home - Rwanda. Or Agathe and her clan, sensing they are loosing the battle to keep the Hutus sole masters of Rwanda, does one last thing – has Habyarimana’s plane downed…

In the myth, Jason was told to fly a bird between the Clashing Rocks to get them to clash over the bird, therefore allowing the Argo to pass in its wake unscathed. This is a bit like sending an innocent – dog, child, car – over a minefield or a mined road, in order to have the mines blow up allowing those behind to pass unscathed (unrelated note: the Iranians used young boys as mine-carrion during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war). What fits?

Who is innocent in all this?

I thought the bird could be the missile, sent up by Kagame’s RPF to get through safely

But what if the bird was the entire Tutsi civilian population – innocents – and the Argonauts, the chancers - Kagame and the RPF, maybe – had deliberately sent that bird through the clashing rocks…? This is too awful to contemplate. One million innocents among their own people.

Then again, the Argonauts could be Agathe and her clan – sacrificing that one bird, her husband in his plane – in order to get home and dry. Things didn’t turn out as she planned, exactly – she lost power anyway and is now wanted for genocide…just as things didn’t go too well for Jason when he returned, and the Argonauts all quarrelled…

No closer


And now we reach Strength - Herakles fighting the Nemean lion, as outcome. This is a hero’s scene, not a scene about a stealthy murder at all. Hand-to-hand.

What might this tell us about who killed Habyarimana? Nothing that I can see – idea very welcome! But it does show something else, intimately related:

I read in the Mythic tarot book this sentence that the lion had depopulated the neighbourhood. This seems to point to genocide again. So Herakles could be Kagame and the RPF fighting those committing the genocide.

In the myth, Herakles killed the Lion and cut off its pelt, which he wore thereafter. He appropriated the strength of the Nemean Lion whom he had defeated in a desperate struggle. Just as Kagame appropriate the pelt and the Strength – the Rwandan State – of the lion he had defeated in a desperate struggle.


Herakles was successful for many years, and he was also fond of Amazons
But in the end he was defeated. Like the card of Theseus, I think this might be a warning to Kagame.


I could go on and on and on. Tarot, Myth and Central Africa - heady mixtures. So I shall murder my reading NOW.

(alternative readings, commentaries on this reading, agreements, disagreements, possible magic formulas used by Agathe, nice stories about puppies gladly welcome).

I have something weird to tell you, it is just 12.55 pm Monday here in New Zealand. I was reading through your thread, and I heard on our National Radio that two people are been tried in Belgium for the death of 50 thousand Tsutsi in Rwanda. Me- reading, Man speaking- I thought I was out of my head for a second- it was not the news. I stopped reading to listen and aside from the reasons for a trial in Belgium, and the worry about prosecution witness fear- it was mentioned that there is a feeling from some people that Belgium is too close to France and France is where there troubles started. I thought I would just pass that on- Very interesting thread and reading I have been enlightened about Rwanda as well, thank you. ~Rosanne

I forgot to say - anyone wanting to interpret this throw might want just to look at the cards and read the "conspiracy theory" bit in italics (for background). One reason I posted it is that I have living with these issues with years, I have my bias, though I tried to set it aside - and would welcome some objectivity and a fresh look!


Rosanne - Now that is what I call synchronicity!

Just a note on Belgium: it is the ex-colonial power in Rwanda, and had ties with the old hutu regime. A number of hutus who had blood on their hands - inlcuding several clerics (priests and nuns) took refuge there after their regime fell. They are now - at last - being tried for genocide in that country, unless there is an extradition mandate against them in the International Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha (Tanzania) which primes. Evidence is not always easy to gather, as you might imagine. Belgium lost some nationals in the genocide too.

I have not read the whole opening post, but rather stopped after the throw and the first sentence that describes the Ace of Wands as being visually reminiscent of a rocket.

I thought I would add a few impressions from the cards thrown, and then go back and read the whole reading.

• 1. What is known – Ace of Wands – This shows Zeus standing, wearing the Golden Fleece – as initiator of the Golden Fleece adventure, holding a long pole that is burning like the tail of a rocket.

Not a problem, and more a clear reference to the known rocket.

• 2. What is not known – Emperor. This shows Zeus on his throne, holding globe and lightning, with an eagle on his shoulder.

Zeus, holding globe (world) and lightning, with eagle, quite symbolically reminiscent of the US. However, as this is in what is not known, it seems a strange position to even suggest: does 'what is not known' imply what is actually at play but hidden, or what we need to drop amidst our considerations?

I would normally read this as suggesting that the Emperor was informed and kept in the picture, but perhaps not have participated.

• 3. What is true – King of Wands – this shows Theseus, in a field near Athens, sitting and holding a torch.

Here, the King, holding a torch ('liberty'?) seems to suggest that the French King was directly involved.

I simply cannot but see this card as symbolising France via this symbolic connection to the lit torch. Also, Theseus has a 'close' and indirect connection to Paris, for the latter marries Helen, that the former had earlier abducted.

• 4. What is not true – Justice – this shows Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, who, among other attributes, presided over justice: her attributes are a sword, scales and an owl, symbol of wisdom.

Quite literally, it seems: justice is not what is true in the event.

• 5. Additional insights: 9 of Wands – this shows the ship Argon nearing the shore, but she is close to the Clashing Rocks and might be shattered between them and founder at any moment.

Not sure about this one.

If the wand cards above indicate both the missile and the political power behind the firing of that same missile, than this card may also indicate that much more has been sent into the situation... but it also reminds me of the ships that Helen (again linking Paris and Theseus) sent to rescue her that caused the Trojan war.

Perhaps, then, all we are seeing here is that the original action, perhaps undertaken with intent to 'rescue a difficult situation' resulted in an unexpected prolonged war.

• 6. Conclusion: Strength– this is the struggle between Herakles (Hercules) and the lion of Nemea.

The struggle between Heracles and the Lion is also ever so reminiscent of a statue in Paris of the killing of the minotaur by Theseus... but what to make of it!?

Helvetica - a fascinating reading, full of positively Conradian resonance!
Makes me feel very ill-informed...can only comment on what I know, or what I suspect might be the case from the very detailed outline you have given...

1. What is known – Ace of Wands
Yes very clearly the rocket, but also the rocket signifying the catalyst for the genocide - "lighting up" an already explosive situation. Also, the Ace of Wands shows Zeus, who turns up again in the Emperor, so you could say that whoever we identify as the Emperor is the one who set the whole thing off...

2. What is not known – Emperor.
...but of course we don't know who he is. I agree with jmd that the imagery of the Emperor is remeniscent of the US - the Eagle, and the fact that he's holding the world in his hands. I would suspect that US interests were involved somewhere along the line....they have plenty of "form" for this sort of thing (in SE Asia, Central America etc etc) - and Central Africa is rich in resources - and whoever controls these controls "the world."

3. What is true – King of Wands
Yes I agree you could identify him as Kagame. Being a Wand king, which in this deck (and particularly this reading) is associated with Zeus, the Emperor, I wonder if this might suggest that, whoever the King of Wands is, he is subject to the ultimate authority of the Emperor's power....whoever he is!

4. What is not true – Justice
Athena is Zeus's daughter and, according to myth, presided over the first trial, of Orestes, when she had to judge between the Furies' right to revenge for matricide and Apollo's demand that Orestes murder his mother in revenge for the death of his father...Athena found a way of putting an end to the bloody revenge cycle that consumed the House of Atreus, managing to honour both the Furies and Apollo. And this is exactly what the people of Rwanda did not get...and are still not getting.


5. Additional insights: 9 of Wands
I wonder if this might indicate the parlous condition of the Rwandan state and its relations with neighbouring Congo...


6. Conclusion: Strength
Perhaps Hercules overcoming the lion indicates the Herculean task of the Rwandan leadership or government. Also, it could show what was needed in terms of outside intervention at the time of the genocide - which was not forthcoming - subduing the lion of passion and preventing this terrible violence from consuming all in it's path.

Very interesting interpretations, JMD and Leo! I appreciate you cutting through my musings. Fascinating what we can see when we look at Tarot and myths - as opposed to simply going round in circles with the political situation. Like in many Greek myths - and murder mysteries - many people had a motive to want Habyrimana out of the way - from those close up to those far away.

Zeus - the Emperor as the US. That is possible - though France has similar interests and a longer history in the region, so...But what I was thinking of today is that Zeus is far away. He only interferes when he has to, when his interests are threatened. Otherwise he lets the mortals get on with it, helping this one and hindering that one according to his whims (as did all gods). Therefore I would say his appearance here suggests that whoever The Emperor is (- but I must say that the US eagle link him holding the world in his hand are troubling signs), did not give the order for the missile to be shot. He simply let it happen - or let it be known he would not interfere when it happened. This scenario applies easily to the US or France. And indeed - neither the US nor France interfered to stop the genocide - until the middle of May (6 weeks into the genocide, when over half a million had already been killed) when France mounted an operation that served the double aim of rescuing a number of Tutsis and getting the bulk of the State army (including the authors of the genocide) and the killer Interahamwe militia out of the country into Congo.


Justice - Leo, thanks for the reminder about the trial of Orestes! Indeed Justice was not done. Kagame and his army, now new government of Rwanda, reached a similar Catch-22: but special interests - French and American - in the region and the desire for revenge by the Tutsis and exiled moderate hutus who had lost a million of their own - ensured that no Athena found a way through it. The second sacrifice in this story, after the million Rwandese dead, has been Congo, with it 3 million dead since 1997, in the war waged there by Rwanda.

My view is that The Emperor - whoever he might be - tinkered at the edges for years, but did manage a few pulbic relations coups. Justice fled.

Jmd - interesting link to France for the King of Wands, via the torch of liberty and Paris...! I hadn't seen that at all, but it is possible.

I am still troubled by that 9 of Wands. See it large (state of Rwanda and Congo) or see it narrow (defensive action against an enemy that turned out all wrong), it is a difficult card to interpret here. But JMD, to quote you: "Perhaps, then, all we are seeing here is that the original action, perhaps undertaken with intent to 'rescue a difficult situation' resulted in an unexpected prolonged war." That is possible: if that is the case, both Kagame and Agathe had reasons to "rescue a difficult situation".

And remember this: Agathe and her gang of extremist Hutus had a very-well planned genocide about to start. One hour after Habyrimina's plane was shot down, the first genocide road-blocks went up. Like you I think that in this reading, the Ace of Wands signalled the missile - therefore the endgame, the 9 of Wands, was the end the genocide and Kagame's difficult victory. It is not a 10 of Wands - why? because in the mind of the genocide perpetrators, their work was not done, and many Tutsis were attacked and died in the two years that followed - as did many Hutus in pure acts of revenge. It becamse a heavy 10 of Wands situation - which eventually spilled over into a new war, in a neighbouring country (another cycle, began in November 1996).

To me, the appearance of the Ace of Wands at the beginning of the reading and the Nine of Wands at the end seems to argue that the people who fired the missile were the people who committed the genocide. The missile, the Ace - was the beginning of their terrifying action.

The 9 of Wands, then, might show Kagame battling through with his army, triumphant but truculant, ready to fight another day, which indeed he did - in Rwanda against the remains of the genocidal militia and army, and in Congo.

And the King of Wands in all that? If the Wands suit show the genocide, then the King of Wands must be a party to it. In my first reading I equalled Kagame with Theseus, for his intelligence and ruthlessness. But what about Agathe, the Hutu aristocrat, wife of Habyarimana. What if she is the King of Wands? She is at least as clever and as ruthless as Kagame - possibly more. And Agathe had the support of France, who got her out of the country 6 days after the start of the genocide, along with her suite - all people now wanted for genocide (as is Agathe herself, of course). This would support your linking of the King of Wands to France, JMD. Why see the King of Wands/Theseus as a man at all?


Re: Strength - Leo, Kagame and the Rwandan government do have a Herculean task. They must manage a poor country where one part of the population massacred another part in a very organised and broadly successful genocide (80% of Rwandans Tutsis who lived in the country were killed, and practically all the declared moderate Hutus). It must subdue the beast of revenge cycles and impunity. I find it interesting that this Strength card shows the old Hercules image, rather than the lady with the lion - this is a task which in Rwanda today is done with force - forcefulness, even. Kagame has regimented his country, just as his predecessor had done - though hopefully the result will not be another well-organised genocide. But I like your opening up the outcome to sweep the post-genocide situation in Rwanda. From that perspective the passions are being held very very tightly. Will it last?

Helvetica said:

1. What is known – Ace of Wands– This shows Zeus standing, wearing the Golden Fleece – as initiator of the Golden Fleece adventure, holding a long pole that is burning like the tail of a rocket.
2. What is not known – Emperor. This shows Zeus on his throne, holding globe and lightning, with an eagle on his shoulder.
3. What is true – King of Wands – this shows Theseus, in a field near Athens, sitting and holding a torch.
4. What is not true – Justice – this shows Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, who, among other attributes, presided over justice: her attributes are a sword, scales and an owl, symbol of wisdom.
5. Additional insights: 9 of Wands – this shows the ship Argon nearing the shore, but she is close to the Clashing Rocks and might be shattered between them and founder at any moment.
6. Conclusion: Strength– this is the struggle between Herakles (Hercules) and the lion of Nemea.

Click to expand...

Ace of wands-male domination, trechery, power plays and yes, the rocket itself. Aces mark new beginning, but not always are they something we look foreward to.

The Clinton era was by far more political than people realize (I was only 12-13 at the time), if we were to have gotten involved, would Clinton have been re-elected? The Emporers' Eagle's presence here is quite accurate, but is it an American Bald Eagle or is there more of a Europe-based influence?

King of wands-I like what you have to say about the practicioners of the various crafts of the Congo, Helvetica, but more accurately to the reading both this King and the Emporer are associated with Aries, the Sign the sun was in during this disaster. The moon was in pisces, and thus a waning gibbeous which did not provide support to tolerence of various beliefs and cultures.

Justice-There was a lack of Libra influence to counter the blazing Aries sun, (although Asteroid America was libra-retrograde, like it is now) and thus nothing to keep the male vs. male attacks from taking place.

9 of wands-this situaiton couldn't be apprached without political suicide, or corporate scandal. Hence why so little information was provided to the public, those in power will do anything to maintain their power, even allow genocydal activities to reign terror.

Strength-associated with Leo, the sign of Bill Clinton, the genocyide could have been prevented from going as far as it did (more than likely something still would have gone badly) if more 'world powers' were actually interested in preventing this kind of atrocity. The truth of the matter is, that the Thoth keyword of Lust (as in lust for power) would be appropriate here, as there was plenty of power to lust over.

paradoxx - that was an interesting angle to use the astrological correspondences. I'm afraid you are all too right on all this. I like the "Aries, the Sign the sun was in during this disaster. The moon was in pisces, and thus a waning gibbeous which did not provide support to tolerance". Maybe among the cast of characters is an Aries? Kagame isn't (Scorpio), nor Mitterand (ditto) nor Clinton. I don't know about the others in Rwanda - I can see if I can find out.

We still have no certainty about who the Emperor is! If we were to go on the type of eagle Zeus bears, I'd have to say - presumably - whatever eagle is found around Mt Olympus, which doesn't get us far. I still think the Emperor let things happen, or manipulated things, rather than ordered the missile be shot, because of how Zeus usually operates.

To avoid the confusion of an excess of conscious information other than in attempting to ascertain the birth dates of the major "players", I focus squarely on the cards. Not very familiar with the state of affairs in Rwanda then or now, but did have certain impressions upon hearing the news of the plane crash (which amended upon viewing these cards). At that time, there were no details. The following the impressions loosely based on the card images & the individual card energetic patterns.


1. What is known – Ace of Wands: What is known is that a missile launched at the plane carrying the Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda & Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira became the catalyst & the signal for the Killing Ground to follow, marking forever Rwanda's history.

The act an ambitious plot carried out by parties with an interest in eliminating Habyarimana & any attempt at reconciliation between the two most volatile factions in Rwanda: the Tutsi supremacy by the colonial endowment & the Hutu, the majority populace. A restoration of balance not the interest because of the intent to further a different agenda--that of acquiring more power & influence in not only Rwanda, but in the continent & eventually to reach a world leader/power status.

Note the imagery of the man with the firey Wand--not President Juvénal Habyarimana (March 8, 1937; who not the "real" power behind his office) but that of one acting in such a capacity with license from *an initial source of inspiration*--as represented by the Ace of Wands--& which also suited the personal ambition of this particular man.

Hence, shades of The Man Who Would Be "King": Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, Minister of Defense (August 16, 1941); however, *Ace of Wands representative of the "First Lady"*. She alone possessed the access & the means to put into place or motion the events which followed. Therefore, Bagosora acted as "consort" to the "Queen", *in collusion with Agathe Habyarimana, the real architect as the Ace of Wands who conceived the genocide & its dissemination by cohorts*.


2. What is not known – Emperor: What is not known perhaps is a political agenda of imperialism to which other countries contributed, either by design &/or inadvertently through their past benevolence towards factions in the Rwandan nation:

A. The Belgian-French/European connection--represented by The Emperor, a symbol of monarchy. Belgium led by a hereditary monarchy. Though France no longer a monarchy, the old associations arise within the context of this inquiry; however, not necessarily an indication of their direct involvement but of the indirect such as alludes to the historical thorugh the present day influences which form the supportive political framework of the Rwandan government.

B. The United States--represented by the eagle though more as an observer--as in "looking over the shoulder" of the international & intelligence contacts; receiving reports rather than involvement by direct action. Possible reluctance to show a definitive presence due to past ill-fated excursions into areas of chaos.

This also a clear reference to the United Nations, representative of the world community at large. A mere "figurehead" here, however, as a largely ineffective entity marked by its non-presence & non-action. In addition, the globe representative of the global community, apparently also non-present &/or unwilling to show a hand. By the U.N. & the rest of the world figuratively sitting back, the lack of action renders them as accessories after the fact in the mass murders of all those sympathetic to the Tutsi, the moderate & all those metaphorically in the way.

Again: The Man Who Would Be "King": Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, Minister of Defense--albeit *not acting alone* but with an official sanction nonetheless.


3. What is true – King of Wands: What is true is that Colonel Theoneste Bagosora carried out the assassination plot under the direction of the Ace of Wands/First Lady, Agathe Habyarimana.


4. What is not true – Justice: What is not true is that Paul Kagame (October 23, 1957) orchestrated the assassination nor its ensuing genocide.

An intellectual prone to planning & organization in the interest of control. A foreward thinker, his ambitions lead him yet cunning to hold his secrets close, to be cautious. Nevertheless prey to the corruption nigh absolute power generates. An idealism expressive of both the personal intellectual interests & the ambitious agendas with the capacity to see the ends justified by the means. Hence, the continued currying of favouritism with the historical allies with the means to support the future endeavours but not so unmindful as to blindly align the self with the radical nor the uncontrollable elements.

Ensuing events however inadvertently, provided Paul Kagame & laterally, the Tutsi with an edge in political power.

The wave of protracted violence in part attributable to the extreme elements of the time. The downing of the aircraft unleashed the years of repression, fear & mutual animosity where the voices of the moderate lost in the mass hysteria promoted by both the design & the inadvertent contributing to the loss of all rational thought.


5. Additional insights: 9 of Wands: Rwanda a wary nation of the war-weary & the disenfranchised. Within its borders resides yet an excess of the volatile elements defying complete stabilization. Watchful for the outside intrusions &/or interference into its affairs, it seeketh to separate itself from those interests not commisserate with its own. Hence, still a powerkeg whose fuse needeth little to ignite.

Suggestive of the stealthy amassing of the militaristic.

A hint of exporting its problems outside of the nation to eliminate as much as possible in order "to reconstruct government" & moreover, to serve as a smokescreen, drawing attention away from the internal problems.


6. Conclusion: Strength: Again the associative element of Fire--which indicates those original forces or influences still present but perhaps held at bay for a time via the use of brute force & cunning.

Issues of morality & balance awaiteth an accounting. A possibility for the past history to repeat itself as the lessons of balance & morality apparently not learned.

Mee Wah - I have just reread your interpretation: I am impressed by the link you made between Agathe and Bagosora, the (then) Minister of Defence and king in waiting. I also like it that you, like paradoxx, used astrological correspondences to help cut through some of the muddle. I am not very knowledgeable about those but I know the Mythic deck is stuffed with them.

The Ace of Wands reminds me very much of the torch that lit the genocide.

It is held by Zeus - therefore the Zeus in the Ace might be thought to be the Zeus in the Emperor, no? It is the French that taught the ex Hutu regime to use missiles, and sold some to President Habyarimana - therefore if we see Agathe as the one that launched that Ace, it follows the French are the ones to have handed the Ace to Agathe, which she and Bagosora lauched at her husband' plane (I think the French acted unwittingly, given their support to President Habyarimana). It also follows that if we decide Agathe is behind the Ace of Wands, then I believe the Emperor shows the French.

The Ace of Wands can show a link to magic: and we know Agathe H. was an adept of the dark arts.

9 of Wands - amassing of the militaristic: yes, they are - have been for 10 years. And were under the Hutu regime too - this really leads us into your reading of Strength as the possibility of history repeating itself.