NewMoon Tarotlogy May 2nd-3rd, 2011

  By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 74, May 3, 2011

Here we are, having just crossed the cusp of May, with the celebrations of Easter and Beltane under our belts, and now bathing in the light of NewMoon in Taurus. The spring sense of arousal is palpable, and flowers are going off like fireworks, at least in my neighborhood.  When I step outside, there is a paradisal scent on the air.

We are in the thick of preparing the book that will support Michael Dowers' exquisite illustrations for The Tarot of the Holy Spirit, so please forgive my short shrift this month. For the next few ArkLetters, at least, I'll be reprising previous themes and pointing out important issues in preparation for what's coming. There are certain haunting melodies, sub-themes that interweave with the main information, that deserve a bit of repetition during this interval.  The following is one of them.

The Presence/Absence Dilemma

This theme was most thoroughly discussed in my article on Courtly Love http://www.tarotarkletters.com/2008/06/courtly-love-in.html

Scroll down through the book reviews and the chart (from Forbidden Faith), and you'll come to a section titled The Presence of Absence.  Read along till you come to the section called Tarot and the Mind of Magic.  The ideas broached in the interval are what I'd like to raise for consideration this month, since they directly touch on our "invisible" interaction with whatever canon of meaning we attribute to our cards. 

We have come at this topic from several angles while trying to talk about the invisible internal world of the magus.  See 'The Mind of the Magus' (http://noreah.typepad.com/tarot_arkletters/2006/04/magus_mind.html) for one approach to the operative beliefs of the theurgical practitioner.  Another essay, called 'The Psychocosm of the Renaissance,' takes us a little farther into the life experience of such a person (http://noreah.typepad.com/tarot_arkletters/2006/05/tarot_psychocos.html).  A very evocative accounting of some of the consequences of this paradigm can be found here (http://www.tarotarkletters.com/2009/07/world-servers-spread-july-2009.html).  I hope these reminders help to stimulate some creative experiments on my readers' part, because this invisible aspect of reality is where all of the mantic arts have their roots.

Readers of all stripes proceed as if there were something substantial from which the cards take their meanings and to which they refer. But where are the "things" in question located, since they are for all intents and purposes insubstantial, being collections of ideas rather than objects. So then, where are the tangible referents for these ideations? Of what do our Tarot-related "objects of thought" consist? There is "something" that guides the meanings that we seem to so easily find on the cards, but that "thing" issues forth from and describes an invisible web of energies, rather than any material structure or object. All this begs the question of who, or what, is the "invisible hand" that directs the cards when we shuffle up a question?

Now that Neptune has crossed over into Pluto, it's time to start meditating on the invisible Reality that exists on the 'other side of the veil'. Instead of thinking we can know anything about this realm through logic and discursive thinking, we have to fearlessly turn around in our own auras and explore the solid objects that exist in the Psyche, the Dreamtime, the inner world of Fantasia.  It is to this realm that the mystics and magi of every age turn when they realize that the outer world is too clumsy, thick, dense, slow and resistant to represent the world of causes.  Yes, we see the effects of past causes laying about everywhere, but the energies that imprinted those forms are now long gone.  The mystery of the magus is to get a grip on those invisible currents and threads that are strong enough to carry the interior Image over into materialization.  The realm of the imagination is the proper location for this research.

While poking around to find a place where I could send readers for a look at current astrological events, I found this site http://www.wallstreetweather.net.  I like the attitude and practical focus that this site takes, as well as the fact that there are weekly updates. The subtitle, "Interpreting the Atmospheric Conditions of Wall Street and the World" shows a fascinating approach; it looks like a site worth revisiting. Another blog I liked was http://astrologicalinvesting.blogspot.com.  Both of these sites post their new material at the NewMoon, and they look like sites where a person can do some learning too.  Enjoy!

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CURRENT STAGE OF THE MOON - May 3, 2011:

NewMoon at 12+ Taurus, across the midnight hour of Tuesday May 3rd 2:52 AM (EDT) / Monday May 2nd, at 11:52 PM (PDT).     From this moment, the Moon begins to wax, or increase.

FUTURE STAGES:

2nd Quarter, Waxing Half Moon at 19+ Leo on Tuesday May 10th at 4:34 PM (EDT) /1:34 PM  (PDT)

Full Moon at 26+ Scorpio, on Tuesday May 17th at 7:10 AM (EDT) / 4:10 AM (PDT).  From this moment, the Moon begins to wane, or decrease.

4th Quarter, Waning Half Moon at 3+ Pisces, on Tuesday May 24th at 2:53 PM (EDT) / 11:53  AM (PDT).

Next NewMoon will be accompanied by a eclipse at 11+ Gemini,  on Wednesday, June 1st at 5:04 PM EDT / 2:04 PM PDT    From this moment, the Moon begins to wax, or increase.

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ArkLetter 74
May 3, 2011
copyright christine payne-towler 2005-2011, all rights reserved

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Comments

[Christine Payne-Towler]

I thought I'd pass along another fine astrological site that publishes monthly reviews.
http://astrograph.com/free-horoscope/

How great it is to have such excellent resources right at the tips of our fingers!

[Christine Payne-Towler]

Here's another fascinating site -- astrology, metaphysics and science!

http://www.crystalinks.com/index.html

[Christine Payne]

Nobody has called me out on this, but what I meant to say was "Neptune has crossed over into Pisces".