ArkLetter 52, June 22, 2009
World Server's Spread
For an introduction to the World Servers' Spread see ArkLetter 5
"I'm sick to death of this!" Everybody' has at least one area in life that feels this way. How many times have you heard yourself saying some version of this lately? It's a meme that offers itself from every corner of the collective mind. Some of us might be tempted to listen to it, repeat it, allow it to enter our regular patois and play on through their mind and mouth unnoticed. Such a world-weary, devitalized and curdled attitude is a dangerous companion on the path to consciousness; something the mythical Don Juan would call a "worthy adversary". When we find ourselves in the presence of such a thought-form, we need to snap awake, engage our defense mechanisms and cast it overboard as quickly as possible, before it gets its hooks very far into us.
This month at the nurturing NewMoon in Cancer, I'd like to request that the cards give us an insight we can use to process our internalized death-wish, so it isn't always offering itself as an option for consideration, growing like a weed through our subconscious dialogue. I'm also asking my readers to come out of denial enough to go with me on this: It's not a question of *whether* we have areas where we fantasize about non-existence, the question is *where* such ideas are hiding amidst all the other information that crosses our mental screen per day.
For this purpose intuition guides me to use the Universal Wirth Tarot.
World Position: 9 of Wands
Fool position: 4 of Cups
Magus position: The Moon
Oh my gosh, what a powerful augury! Folks, this one gave me goose bumps just to draw the cards. Do you see what I see?
As a preamble, let me offer a quote culled from Costantini's article about the Breton Tarot, taken from Versluis’ (et. al.) recent work, Esotericism, Art, and Imagination (enthusiastically reviewed in this month’s ArkLetter). This snip addresses the self-exploratory attitude I am advocating to friends and students going forward:
"Recent medical studies suggest that for some, recourse to the Tarot coincides with periods of crisis and anxiety. To sufferers of distress, the Tarot reflects a need to control fate not unlike the process of psychoanalysis. [footnote: Andre Breton, "On Surrealism in its Living Works," (1953) in Manifestos of Surrealism, (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1972), 304.]
Writing in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, Leah Davidson, M. D., observed "the cards somehow become a transitional phenomenon in the perceived accessing of a universal energy or life force." She refers to this belief structure in terms of a soteriology, "a philosophy or gnosis about one's ultimate meaning in life as a unique individual in relation to the cosmos." [footnote: Leah Davidson, M. D. "Foresight and Insight; the Art of the Ancient Tarot, " Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis 29 (2001) 3; 491-501.]
"These studies validate research into depth psychology by Freud and Jung that, at the beginning of the twentieth century, gave primacy to the unconscious. One aspect of depth psychology that reverberates with esoteric philosophy is Jung's theory of individuation, the process of achieving inner stability amidst emotional conflict that he wrote in 1916. This theory is especially relevant to the Surrealists for it emphasizes the importance of the imagination. Jung posited that a "transcendent function" stood in compensatory relationship to two irreconcilable opposites, the conscious and unconscious mind. He linked such a function archetypally to a new synthesis of universal meaning by way of Heraclitus, hermeticism and alchemy as a means to achieve psychological unity through a mystical union of the inner and outer world. The Surrealists' belief in the efficacy of creative activity echoed Jung's concept of the transcendent function of psychic integration by its emphasis on the active imagination 'the mother of all possibilities'." (p. 106)
I have a somewhat jaundiced attitude about Jung (or, at least, some of his exponents). Nevertheless I can't deny that this emphasis on psychic integration via the active imagination, using Tarot icons to bridge the gap between the conscious and unconscious mind, is a perfect fit for our topic today.
World position: 9 of Wands
In the first position, the 9 of Wands shows us a smoldering Aladdin's Lamp inside a square niche defined by four wands, above which hangs a pentagram of wands that is blazing with fire. All of this appears against a backdrop of wispy clouds in a summery blue sky. The lamp has astrological symbols on it -- Aries, Leo and Scorpio. This is perhaps a mistake, since it seems the third symbol should be the third fire sign, Sagittarius. But then again, the Scorpio sign can refer to its traditional ruler Mars, certainly a fiery symbol in its own right. Whatever these glyphs are meant to mean (and the LWB doesn't explain anything), we can see from the flaming pentagram that the action of the element is peaking.
Consultation with traditional sources support this idea, but with a caveat. The bursting forth of the pentagram is balanced by the sequestered fire of the lamp -- one is blatant and threatening to set fire to its surroundings, the other is inward and contained, evident only from its smoke and perhaps a little glow in the niche. So the message seems to be about committing a slim majority of one's resources to full-bore intensity, but holding back a generous minority of energy for private, internal, off-hours functions.
Without some kind of balance being skillfully imposed and enforced, this magical and magnetic pentagram could hypnotize one into allowing it to run rampant and consume everything, all nine wands. Thus, the lamp in the niche stands for areas where we are rationing our expenditures, damping down the flash and craziness, specifically shifting our nervous systems into rest-and-digest mode. If we want to be able to sustain the blazing pentagram for any length of time, we have to learn how to modulate ourselves, including knowing when to say no and tune out the world for a while. The 5/4 split being illustrated shows how often we can say "yes, let's do it!" versus saying "not now, thank you". Getting too far away from this proportion risks either loss of momentum or hyperactive flameout.
This 9 of Wands appearing in the World position makes a very strong statement, spiritually speaking. Aladdin's Lamp is a symbol for the realm of the imagination, the inter-world between matter and spirit, also known as the Astral Plane. The message of this illustration is that energy cultivated in an interior manner, meaning work done in the imagination, precedes and underpins every outer manifestation. The lamp represents the hidden spark that can bring forth spontaneous new forms. These forms might seem to arise "out of thin air", but are in truth evoked through the invisible but purposeful actions of the visionary individual.
Fool position: 4 of Cups
In the second position, the Four of Cups gives us an eagle hatching, marked with the sign of Gemini and surrounded by the growth of late spring. This image is part of the legacy of Eudes Picard, whose suit-card designs have persisted among the Spanish-influenced packs of the 20th century (El Gran Tarot Esoterico, Balbi, and the Universal Waite). I love this image, especially compared to the more popular depictions of a lachrymose dreamer stuck in fantasy and indecision, always waiting for outside influences rather than becoming the actor in his or her own story. There's also the variation (found in many of the Continental packs) of having been thrust into a position of responsibility before one's time, therefore always feeling haunted by inadequacy and unreadiness. There is danger of unwittingly inheriting the vices and weaknesses of previous generations (sops for the insecurity, presumably), even as one is granted the mantle of power unearned.
For our purposes, the image of the developing eagle provides us with a very inspiring and arousing message. To quote from J. E. Cirlot's Dictionary of Symbols (Philosophical Library, 1962):
"From the Far East to Northern Europe, the eagle is the bird associated with the gods of power and war. It is the equivalent in the air of the lion on earth; hence it is sometimes depicted with a lion's head (cf. the excavations at Tello). According to Vedic tradition, it is also important as a messenger, being the bearer of the soma from Indra. In Sarmatian art, the eagle is the emblem of the thunderbolt and of warlike endeavor . . . In pre-Columbian America, the eagle had a similar symbolism, signifying the struggle between the spiritual and celestial principle and the lower world. This symbolism occurs also in Romanesque art. In ancient Syria, in an identification rite, the eagle with human arms symbolized sun-worship. It also conducted souls to immortality. Similarly, in Christianity, the eagle plays the role of a messenger from heaven. Theodoret compared the eagle to the spirit of prophecy; in general it has also been identified (or, more exactly, the eagle's flight, because of its swiftness, rather than the bird itself) with prayer rising to the Lord, and grace descending upon mortal man. According to St. Jerome, the eagle is the emblem of the Ascension and of prayer . . . it was believed to fly higher than any other bird, and hence was regarded as the most apt expression of divine majesty. The connection between the eagle and the thunderbolt, already mentioned above, is confirmed in Macedonian coinage and in the Roman signum. The ability to fly and fulminate, to rise so as to dominate and destroy baser forces, is doubtless the essential characteristic of all eagle-symbolism. As Jupiter's bird it is the theriomorphic storm, the 'storm bird' of remotest antiquity, deriving from Mesopotamia and then spreading through Asia Minor . . . Its fundamental significance does not vary in alchemy, it merely acquires a new set of terms applicable to the alchemic mystique: it becomes the symbol of volitalization. An eagle devouring a lion is the symbol of the volatilization of the fixed by the volatile (i.e. according to alchemical equations: wings = spirit; flight = imagination, or the victory of spiritualizing and sublimating activity over involutive, materializing tendencies). Like other animals, when in the sign of the Gemini, the eagle undergoes total or partial duplication. Thus arises the two-headed eagle (related to the Janus symbol)..." (Pp 87-88, paragraphs mine.)
Having this 4 of cups appear in the Fool position makes a strong case for reaching inside one's store of untapped potential and calling forth the over comer within. We have all had fantasies of our Clark Kent mask falling off and our Superman side stepping out of his newsman suit. But we forget that Superboy had to undergo years of training to learn to contain himself into Clark's greatly reduced profile, so he could "pass" in human society. What if, during all those years in the closet, the super side kind of got buried under the Kent identity? This is the circumstance being described by this image. Essentially this card is saying, "Let this be the year when I learn to leave those misgivings and inhibitions behind, unleash my true Eagle nature and soar. No more holding myself down to dovish standards!" Let us also note the linkage of the Eagle and the spirit of prophecy. This implies that if the Eagle has hatched within us, the cause would be the need for souls of this caliber in the times ahead.
Magus position: The Moon
In the third position, the Moon, Trump 18 says -- detach, disconnect, and retract all your projections. Nothing is as it seems! This is the illusory, high-tide state of a NewMoon Solar Eclipse, where the Moon stands between the Earth and the Sun. Sometimes called The Eclipse of Reason, this illustration portrays the moment when instincts and intuitions pierce the mask of rationality we normally wear, revealing a dreamscape in which every element is charged with an unknown force.
The mini-essay about the Moon card in Carlota is worth quoting, as it seems to say nearly everything we need to understand of this symbol:
"It is a scene which illustrates the strength and the dangers of the world of appearances and the imagination. The visionary sees things in a lunar light. The crab, like the Egyptian scarab, has as its function that of devouring what is transitory -- the volatile element in alchemy -- and of contributing to moral and physical regeneration. The watchdogs are a warning to the moon to stay away from the realm of the sun (the logos); the towers, on the other hand, rise up as a warning that the approach to the domain of the moon is beset by very real dangers (the 'perils of the soul' of primitive man). As Wirth describes it, behind the towers is a steppe-land, and behind that, a wood (the 'forest' as it appears in legends and folktale) full of ghosts. Beyond that there is a mountain (Schneider’s 'twin-peaked mountain') and a precipice bordering a stream of purifying water. This seems to suggest the route followed by the shamans on their ecstatic journeys.
Some call the Moon card the Final Initiation, because the Trumps after this point (Sun, Judgment, World) show the Initiate enjoying expanding octaves of realization following upon liberation from illusion. The Moon, remember, is the ring-pass-not of Earth. According to the ancient view of things, the soul cannot travel beyond the Moon while still tied to a body, still embedded in an incarnation. This is the basis for Cirlot's reference above to the harpist representing the death wish that rises at NewMoon. The high tides of NewMoon offer the childlike and regressive temptation of giving up, surrendering this unique individuality to the great ocean of being, allowing the sweet seduction of oblivion to sweep us away and erase our tracks forever. The Gnostic interpretation would be to say the Moon raises our nostalgia for the return to the Pleroma, the home of the Archons from which our Creation is storied to have fallen (symbolized by the three days per cycle that the Moon is invisible in the sky). If we can resist the siren song of this harpist (harpy?), and keep from succumbing to gravity's constant undertow, which ceaselessly pulls us towards the grave, then we can awaken to the force within us that makes us immortal (spiritually speaking, I mean). This awakening is Gnosis, and once that is gained, the divine Spark of Light in the soul is permanently restored and fear of the dark is forever left behind.
Folks, this entire essay has been led by intuition. The topic came from conversations going on around me. A suggestion that appeared in the back of my head while I was paying bills dictated the pack. The choice to consult Cirlot was from long habit, because he has proved trustworthy in every case over decades. Yet there was no way I could have known that this question, these cards, and a trusted voice from mid-1900's Spain would produce such a profound result!
My synthesis of these themes is as follows: The 9 of Wands counsels that we should only expend 5/9th of our substance on "outer" activities and accomplishments. The other 4/9ths is reserved for private, interior work. This is not a judgment against exteriority -- those 5 wands are blazing quite cheerfully and enthusiastically! No, this is a matter of personal priorities, applying discipline to the exuberance of the moment so that there is something left over for the morrow.
The 4 of cups extends this thought of "cultivating something special in the private sphere", and not just because we have another square of elemental symbols (crystal cups with butterfly decorations) framing another potent image. Here we see that eggs have hatched, the grain is filled out, cherries are ripe on the branch and all of nature is rushing towards the day when the pictured eagle will fledge. The implication is that we have been incubating something noble and mighty, something that has needed peace, protection, plus a lot of our psychic and emotional attention over the spring season. Right now the juvenile eagle symbolizes mostly the promise inherent in its future potential. But once it is fully matured, it will take its rightful place in the food chain, as royalty among the raptors. This is to remind us that we, too, are a predator species -- we are not the wimps that our society and times have neutered us down to. It is unquestionable that we have each been given some quotient of deadly magnificence to enhance our viability in this world. In times like these, we would all be wise to re-awaken our eagle-eyed and farsighted, power stroking dinosaur-brained aptitudes. And make no apologies -- it's just our nature, coming through for us!
Finally, the Moon card slaps us upside the head with the reality that everything is subject to change. You have to allow your preconceptions to melt and flow away. You might know this landscape very well under the light of the Sun (ego's reasoning), but under this Eclipse the entire tableaux begins to mutate and take on hallucinatory shapes that could be emotionally disturbing and painfully revealing. The crab is rising from the deep to cut us off from false identifications and nip away the residue of the past clinging to our auras. Once this happens we are unveiled, naked to ourselves, exposed to the ever-present astral reality of constant tidal and gravitational forces buffeting us this way and that. It is hard to say what is more disorienting -- the distorted light of the Moon blocking out the Sun, or the shocking effect of looking at reality without our protective blinders! The mind reels -- does this mean that all my cherished reasoning, believing, faith and surrender have not bought me immunity from the Eclipse?
In truth and fact, we are all always alone with our fantasies and hallucinations; that is because our nervous system constantly carries on a very sophisticated act of legerdemain in order to interpret a stable "reality" out of the barrage of stimuli it is dealing with from minute to minute. Every one of us is skating on thin ice all the time, but a lot of the time the ice holds and we feel fine about it. What if, one day, we aren't so lucky anymore? This month we are admonished to awaken from the illusions of safety, normalcy and complacency that are blinding us from seeing the true lay of the land. Better we should examine our premises closely right now, while we still have time to raise our wings and fly, than to discover too late that we have placed our trust in the untrustworthy. Now is the time to turn inward and turn on your own light. This is not about withholding your light from the world, but it does require that you awaken to your inborn capacity for self-orientation.
ArkLetter 52
June 22, 2009
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