Showing posts with label tarot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tarot. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Cheeky Tarot

I forget sometimes how powerful and important the tarot can be in helping me take a good hard look at my life. This past weekend I had this really big question on my brain (not related to work) and I asked it, doing a full Celtic cross reading on it. The results were baffling... they made no sense!

...Until I realized that it had completely ignored my question and had gone straight ahead onto critiquing my work situation.

Sometimes I hate the tarot because it has that funny way of telling you what you really need to hear, rather than what you actually want to know. So I got a big fat kick in the ass, lots of hard love and a solid amount of chiding before I realized it was SO right. And I was forced to see what I had been turning a blind eye to for months.

It was only after I had properly digested this information that I decided not to let the tarot off the hook completely. I asked my original question and pulled a single card for an answer.

And I got it.

Cheeky tarot.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Hero and Your Journey - Part 3

[[This is part 3 of a series, please scroll down to read parts 1 & 2 first]]


You are now THE HANGED MAN, forced to sit with yourself until you find a way out of your current bind (pun intended). This is decision time. You could call for help, but your lover might find you first and require explanation. Or you could remain here. With the tree. Because you are too proud.

Eventually you begin to trust yourself and the universe and accept that there is a reason for the standstill - to force new movement where you have let yourself grow stagnant. You call out for help and are rescued. But not by your lover.

Your lover has met her DEATH*. In a way you, too, feel as though you have died. You spend much time trying to forget about her/him and forget about your quest. This is the ultimate test of your resolve. Can you mourn the loss and see it as opportunity for new creation? Can you accept such major changes and move on with your life?

*Please be clear that in a reading Death does not mean death to you or a loved one – but a time of great personal change, where you literally shed your old identity and move forward toward a new one.

You fall asleep and have a dream. You have a dream that you meet a witch who is pouring liquids together in a large cauldron. What is she making, what elixir is this? She pours in fire and water and the two mix together. The message is clear. Life and death, man and woman, all opposites can be merged with the right proportion in the right way. Much like the mixing of two colours to create a new one, you can master this ART. You can learn TEMPERANCE – and neutralize materials with their opposites.

When you awake you are holding the philosopher’s stone. The ability to turn ordinary metals into gold. You don’t know how it came to you, but you are now in possession of the grail you sought so long ago.

Its power intoxicates and becomes highly addictive. You begin to suspect it is the devil’s work. But it turns out that it is you who is THE DEVIL, when you are without moderation. The Devil is the lesson of moderation in the face of intoxication and addiction (whatever the nature).

You become paranoid that others might seek to take your stone from you, so you retreat to a large tower and climb to the top so that you might see enemies approaching from miles away.

As you spiral out of control so does your life – You are no longer in control of your emotions or your delusions. You have locked yourself up in your tower and are hiding from the world. But a fire threatens the tower, and as flames lick the sides of the building and burn up the stairs, you have no choice but to jump.

THE TOWER crumbles, until there is nothing left but rubble.

You survive the fall but the stone is lost in the rubble. You howl out to the world and cry and wail, but in doing so you release the emotion you have built up and failed to release earlier. Catharsis. You feel an inner thaw. The knock on your head did you some good and you finally see clearly.

The night falls over the rubble and you begin thinking about the things you have lost and the knowledge you have gained. You look up and notice THE STAR that will guide you home. Suddenly you find yourself overwhelmed with new hope. You will find your way again. All is not lost. You realize that you are ready to return, knowing that you no longer need for anything.

Following the star you travel through the night. THE MOON rises, illuminating a watery path. You begin to feel disoriented, as if walking in your sleep. You pass under the moon, between two pillars ancient and strange. Suddenly, you look around to find yourself in another world. This is the same world the High Priestess would not show you earlier. Here are the dark mysteries, ones that have to do with the most primal and ancient powers, powers of nature, not of civilization. It is a land poets, artists, musicians and madmen know well, a terrifying, alluring place, with very different rules. Wolves, howling in homage to the moon, run wild across this land, hunting along side maidens with bow and arrows; and creatures from childhood nightmares and fantasies peer from shadows.

You are standing hip-deep in a stream, feeling the powerful pull of its ebb and flow. There is, on the nearby shore, a small boat, but it has no rudder, nor paddles. You have only two choices. You can lose yourself in this desolate, primal land of madness and illusion, howl with the wolves, be hunted down, or get into the boat, and trust the moon. As you begin to trust the Moon and the powers of the unconscious, creativity, inspiration, visions, genius, reward you. This is the real boon you sought.

As the moon sets and THE SUN rises, you feel immense happiness. Not just from the fact that you made it out of the tricky otherworld but because you now trust in yourself and the universe. This happiness radiates from your insides until you are the Sun. You feel like a child again.

Your boat finds shore and you find your land legs.


You make it back to your village but you find that you have been gone much longer than you thought. In fact, you can’t believe that not a single person even knows you anymore and the village itself is barely recognizable. Is it in fact the same place you left? You soon realize that it is not the place that has changed, but you. You have entered a new era, a new AEON. And as you let all childhood attachments go, the village embraces you.

You have no holy grail, no magic elixir, no philosopher’s stone. But you have many many stories to tell the children of the village. Many wisdoms to share. And those who will know you will love you for bringing them THE WORLD. For you are now the sum of all parts, the totality of completion, you are THE UNIVERSE in all of its forms. You are complete.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The Hero and Your Journey - Part 2

[[This is part 2 of a series - please scroll down and read part 1 first]]

You head toward the second castle. It is a dome. It has not a single pointy edge. Inside the sphere, the EMPRESS rules. She is the ultimate mother archetype. She nutures everyone and everything, including you when you pop in for a visit. As she plants seeds and tends to her luscious gardens, she reminds you that it is necessary to allow ideas to germinate, allow room for things to grow. You need to be patient with your plans and yourself. Everything needs space and time to grow.

You're confused. To go ahead, or to stay. You can't decide. You need help. Maybe a shrink or a priest to tell you what to do. You seek out the HIEROPHANT. This wise counsellor is a bit of a stodge-podge, but he tells you what you need to hear and you decide to move forward after all.

You're walking toward your chariot when you fall head over heels in love. You can't help yourself. You've met your perfect match. They are absolutely everything you have been looking for in a mate. Your soul mate. True love has found you - but you're on the move. So as LOVERS, you both hop on the CHARIOT and continue on.

The CHARIOT is swift - it carries you much further down the path than you might have gotten otherwise. While you ride it you can think only of what you want - which is the holy grail. But this is the first time you have realized that perhaps it is not the grail that you seek, but something more profound. You get your first little bit of insight into yourself.

Life on the road (as any rock star will tell you) brings a few insights. One of which is that your life is not nearly as balanced as it should be. It's a good time to weigh your priorities (inspired by the scales of JUSTICE). I guess you could also say it's a great period of ADJUSTMENT (Crowley Tarot).

The nights on the road grow colder and you're starting to doubt yourself and your chosen path. You are no longer desiring the grail, but rather something more intangible. You find a place to stop and tuck your love in for the night while you wander into the woods. With only the light of your lantern you have a good long think about the nature of your life, your spirituality and your desire. You are no longer the Fool. You have now become THE HERMIT.

Suddenly life, the universe and everything in it is starting to make more sense. The cyclical nature of everything, the ebb and flow of your desires and your FORTUNE. You begin to see that destiny is much more complicated and beautiful than you had dreamt about in your philosophy. You begin to understand that this journey has been about karma. As has your life. You begin to understand the cycle of rebirth and the means through which you might escape it.

You notice something in the trees - how long have you been here? Something stirs. It is a lion. The lion turns into a beautiful naked person (of the gender of your choice). Overcome with LUST (according to the Crowley Tarot), you give in. By giving in, you admit that you are not above your "baser instincts" but that they are a part of you that you might master and later channel as power. This gives you STRENGTH (according to other tarot decks)

But like all good one-night stands, you wake up in the morning hand-cuffed to the tree. Naked.

[To be continued...]

Monday, September 10, 2007

The Hero and Your Journey - Part 1


**Note: this is such a big entry, I have to do it in parts - you can thank me later ;)**

I had a professor in university who had the nasty habit of pointing out just how easily Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" could be applied to everything. For those of you unfamiliar, Campbell basically studied all of the major stories that have shaped our world as we know it (the Christ story, the Grail quest, Buddha, you name it.) and set out to map the road all heroes travel, whether it be in literature (everything from the bible to Harlequin follows the same basic structure), in film, in television
or otherwise. In fact, I recall that he offered up $50 to any student who could find a film that did not follow Joseph Campbell's structure. I believe he never paid out.

During this same semester, I was trying to learn the tarot. Not just for the sake of doing readings for myself and friends (although that's always educational), but to understand why and how it was possible to self-diagnose with the tarot.

Not I know there are those who are able to use the tarot to different ends, perhaps to trigger intuition about those they are reading for, or to perform magick. But me? Little old me? Ah, I just use it to figure out where my head is.

And believe me, when used properly, the tarot is a really great tool for self-diagnosing. In attempting to 'read' the cards for yourself, you're forced to take some hard looks at your current state. I always say that the tarot will never tell you anything you don't already know, but it might tell you some things you don't want to admit.

Anyway, so here I am studying Joseph Campbell and tarot at the same time. And I realized that like everything else (it seems), the major Arcana, from The Fool to the Universe (or the World, depending on your deck) seemed to be following the hero's journey. Here's the Coles' Notes version.

1. A call to adventure, which the hero has to accept or decline
2. A road of trials, regarding which the hero succeeds or fails
3. Achieving the goal or "boon," which often results in important self-knowledge
4. A return to the ordinary world, again as to which the hero can succeed or fail
5. Application of the boon, in which what the hero has gained can be used to improve the world

Or to quote Campbell himself:

³A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."


I won't pretend I'm any kind of expert (I am a jack of all trades, master of few - and Tarot isn't one of them) - so bear with me ... Here's a crash course on how to 'read' the story of the tarot (remember, YOU are the hero in this particular journey). Look at it as a really good way to navigate your way through the big players of the tarot, if you're a beginner or just interested.


***

You (the FOOL) embark on a journey to find the holy grail. You are naïve and have little sense of the danger that lies ahead.

You encounter a MAGICIAN (the Magus/Magician) who gives you a really good pep talk and some magic potion. You feel invigorated, ready to take on the world, but it's dark, you're lost and you forgot to ask for a map or a flashlight.

A light comes out of the darkness, it's an ethereal being, a PRIESTESS. She guards a doorway to another world, a very secret world that holds many wonders. But she's not going to let you through. You haven't earned it. Instead she offers you something else, a glimpse perhaps, enough to whet your appetite anyway. She also tells you where you are so that you may find your bearings, but she does not tell you where you need to go. You realize that you are lost.

You have been walking all night through the forest. Finally, after dawn, you spot two castles in the distance.

The first is ruled by the EMPEROR. It is perfectly square, surrounded by a mote and enclosed by huge towering walls that keep everything belonging to the Emperor inside the castle grounds. You seek counsel with the Emperor. He is a good ruler but he only understand things so long as they are ordered, logical, and builds walls to keep close the people and things he holds dear. You ask him where you should go to learn more about your true nature. He urges you to not forge ahead but instead to plant your feet and build some structure around yourself. He tells you that structure, family ties and roots are where you will find your treasure.

But you're not quite ready to plant roots. You have other plans.

**to be continued tomorrow**