The hot, languid days of summer Have shortened to cool and restless. But it’s not quite autumn yet; Even though we can smell it in the air And see it in the first golden leaves of the ash trees. We pace at a tipping point Ready to fall into winter. All nature hovers in a still, trembling moment of… Anticipation
The Judgement key is an obvious depiction of Judgement Day. The Hierophant and perhaps The Devil are the other blatantly Catholic major arcana, although most of the keys have a Catholic feel to them. If you lived in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries when tarot decks were becoming popular you were either Catholic or you were in trouble. The Church had zero tolerance for heretics, and Jews and Muslims were treated like dirt. This was also the time of the infamous European Witch Hunts. So it is not surprising that, even though their message is universal, the designers of the early tarot decks used a Christian theme to make their work more widely accessible. (See previous post on tarot origins) The death, redemption, and rebirth into a blessed afterlife concept lies at the heart of nearly every religion. It reminds the faithful that there is more to this world than what meets the untrained eye and challenges us to let go of our… Read More »
The concept of Judgement is not confined to Christianity. For example, when an ancient Egyptian died he expected to journey through Duat, the kingdom of Osiris. He would undergo many tests and trials and hopefully arrive at the place of judgement where Anubis would weigh his heart against the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. If his heart was heavier or lighter than the feather his soul was thrown to Ammit, the Devourer of Souls, but if it was in balance with the feather his soul continued to paradise and eternal life. But the Judgement key is a depiction of the Christian Judgement Day. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, 5:16, the Apostle Paul describes Judgement Day: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be… Read More »
Christopher Vogler wrote a book called The Writer’s Journey, Mythic Structure for Writers (first printing, 1998). Borrowing heavily from Joseph Campbell’s landmark book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), and the work of Carl Jung, he was the first to describe The Hero’s Journey as a template for stories. I used to wonder why he called it The Writer’s Journey instead of The Hero’s Journey, but over the years I’ve come to understand. Vogler wrote his book for writers, and learning to write is a true Hero’s Journey. But unlike a story, which has a beginning, middle, and end, the writer’s journey never ends. It’s not a circle; it’s a spiral. Each turn takes you deeper into the mystery of how to create a story. The stages and archetypes that Vogler describes remain the same, but they are portrayed by different events and people with each turn. At the start of my journey: The Ordinary World was my life experience: family and friends, the… Read More »
A Library is a magical place: all those books jammed together, whispering and daring each other to grab the attention of unsuspecting patrons and teach them a thing or three. I am certain I was the subject of just such a conspiracy. I had chosen my stack of books and was ambling contentedly toward the checkout machines when I made an unplanned right hand turn toward the mystery section. Maybe just one more, I thought. A mystery. Haven’t read a good murder mystery in awhile. My eyes skimmed the titles and immediately lit on an ornate font that hinted at a medieval murder mystery, my favorite. I plucked the book from the shelves and sure enough, it was The Song of the Nightingale, one of the Hawkenlye Mysteries by Alys Clare, set in early 13th century southern England. In retrospect, I’m sure I heard a triumphant “Gotcha!” as I added the book to my stack. I enjoyed the book mostly because of its view into… Read More »
This weekend my husband and I are headed out to the Coast Range for a Journey to the Sun, a neoshamanic pathworking by Lupa, a shaman who works with the animal powers. I am looking forward to spending time with friends; welcoming The Sun in his greatest glory and becoming even more in touch with my animal guides. These spirits are a great help and blessing to me in my everyday work as a massage therapist, offering suggestions and their own marvelous healing energy.
If you want to make even the most seasoned writer tremble whisper the words “query letter” in his ear. The dreaded query letter is the inescapable bane of every writer’s existence—at least every writer that is looking for an agent. There are blogs with ominous names like Query Shark whose sole purpose is to help writers navigate these dangerous waters. Not only is the required format rigidly precise, it is also subject to change at a moment’s notice. Author Sean M. Chandler comments that he knows several agents who won’t read a query letter if the writer’s contact information appears at the start of the query. According to some agents, it’s now supposed to appear at the end of the letter below the closing. I was also told several years ago that in a pitch or query the writer should always reveal how the story ends. Now we’re supposed to keep the agent guessing. The list of conflicting information goes on and on, but the… Read More »
Resh is the Hebrew letter that corresponds to The Sun. It means head, chief, total, and first. These are all things that we associate with The Sun. But resh also means grieved, poor, poverty, afraid, and last. These are not bright, strong sun words, What are they doing here? The quick and easy answer is that the Hebrew letters have many other uses besides tarot correspondence and we shouldn’t expect perfect matches all the time. However, resh is the only Hebrew letter that has such strong dual meanings, and I think this is a clue. The Sun is all about unifying dualities into a functional, integrated whole (see The Sun I). Like, what is between the first thing and the last thing? Everything, that’s what. Even the symbol of the Sun suggests wholeness and unity. When I was growing up, whenever my expectations were too high my mother would accuse me of “wanting the world with a fence around it.” That image always comes to… Read More »
Sorry this is so late. I think the sun has addled my poor northwestern brain. This year Craig and I ventured into the Columbia Gorge with a few friends to celebrate The May. We toasted summer in with libations of wine and a lovely lunch, but we were also there to stalk the wild and wonderful Lewisia rediviva. And we did indeed find it. More abundant than we’d ever seen it before. I love this flower because it is so exquisitely beautiful and so ephemeral and so impossible. It blooms out of the basalt bones of the gorge, opens its pink petals to the sun for a few short days, and disappears. Amazing.
After the destruction of The Tower the hero, if he perseveres, will always find The Star, the bright spot in the nighttime that gives him hope, inspiration and the courage to travel the realms of The Moon and learn her secrets. Then and only then can he understand the true nature of reality. It becomes plain as day. The Sun reveals all. Unlike The Moon key, he shows not just a profile, but his full face. He still casts shadows, but unlike moon shadows that conceal, frighten, and mystify, sun shadows add dimension and interest. Sunlight shows everything in its true form. All mysteries are revealed in its warm, nourishing light. The Sun is everything to us. We are truly solar powered beings. His dazzling rays power the earth, bringing us food, warmth, weather, and life itself. His overwhelming presence attracts us and keeps us on our cyclic path. Sunlight also nourishes our spirits. As the days grow longer and warmer our souls blossom with… Read More »