Author: C. LaVielle

Two of the Worst Things That Could Happen Just Happened

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Getting Published

Thing 1: I received a very kind, but deadly letter from an agent. He had read the first two chapters and told me that he couldn’t connect with the concept and wasn’t interested in representing me. Standard. I’m used to this by now. But he continued with “A little friendly advice. My girlfriend, who is a novelist (she has a different agent—that would be weird), had a novel like this. After battling with it for a couple years, she moved on to a new idea, even thought it hurt to leave the old book behind. That new idea became her first published novel. I suggest you do the same.” Was the story that I had worked over five years to create substandard and doomed to failure? When in doubt run screaming to your editor. I took Jessica out to lunch and had her read the letter. She skimmed it, set it aside and got down to business. The story is fine, she said, but the… Read More »

Posted C. LaVielle9 CommentsPosted in The Hero's Journey

I lost a friend last weekend. He slipped away before I had a chance to say good bye. His dying left painful holes in social communities all around the city And an empty place in my heart that will always search for His bear-like presence His warm hugs. His off color puns And his impish “Oh! Did I say something wrong?” grin I will miss you, my friend.

The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey: The Hermit, Part II

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

When he appears in a tarot spread The Hermit, true to his Virgo associations, can give the reader a wealth of information. If the querent draws this card as a significator or its position in the spread suggests that The Hermit is the querent, the most obvious interpretation is solitude. When this will happen depends on its placement. Whether it will be a voluntary, pleasant, and productive solitude, or an aching loneliness that withers the soul and warps the spirit, or something in between depends on whether the card is upright or reversed, and what the cards around it say. It could also mean that this person is, was, or will be a seeker, the possessor of arcane knowledge, a teacher and guide for others, and/or ecstatically reunited with the Life Force. It may indicate the appearance of a teacher or someone with advice or a piece of information. If the card falls in the past, check the cards around it to see if the… Read More »

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey, The Hermit: Part I

Posted C. LaVielle12 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

A bearded man in gray robes stands on a snowy mountaintop holding up a lantern and gazing down at the rest of humanity below. Have you ever held a lantern at eye level on a dark night? That dude can’t see a thing. As Manfred Mann would say: He’s “Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce*, another runner in the night”. The light that is blinding him is a six pointed star, the symbol of the union of that which is above with that which is below; of plugging into the universal life force described by the Strength card and becoming one with it. In The Tarot, A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages, Paul Foster Case compares this experience to intensely satisfying sex, and defends his statement as follows: “Prudes may quarrel with this comparison. Let them read the Song of Solomon, the mystical poetry of Persian Sufis, or some of the narratives of Christian mystical experience, and they will learn… Read More »

Strength, Part II

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

A young woman closes the mouth of a lion that looks capable of tearing her limb from limb. The lion is, of course, shorthand for the Lion Serpent Sun energy I’ve been talking about. In some decks he’s even colored bright red to make the connection inescapably obvious. The woman has a figure eight above her head the same as The Magician, which is a broad hint that she shares many of his talents. She is the yin to the lion’s yang, and between the two of them, they create a functional whole. The esoteric meaning of Strength should now be clear: It is possible to consciously influence and call upon the vast forces of the universe. As evidenced by the relaxed gentleness of the maiden, this card is not about physical strength. The fact that it is a woman who closes (or, in some decks, opens) the lion’s mouth tells the reader that the key to these forces is the subconscious. This is the… Read More »

The Earth Serpent

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Synchronicity, Tarot

My husband is a geologist and a geotechnical engineer. Every day we sit together at our computers. I’m writing blogs and books and also bills for his consulting business. He’s writing reports and doing “research”. As he works, I hear the occasional mutter about “test boring 1” or “shear strain” or “pore pressure”. But the other day I heard “Amazing!” and “Just like a huge serpent moving through the earth!” “What?!” I yelped. I’d just finished the Lion Serpent Sun blog and had snakes on the brain. The Geomancer elucidated, and I will paraphrase his words: The Cascadia Subduction Zone runs offshore along the coasts of Northern Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island. It’s where the Pacific tectonic plate dives under the continental plate and causes earthquakes. No surprises here. Every first year geology student understands plate tectonics. Seismologists in the US and Canada have come together to form the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN). They’ve installed a vast array of sensors from northern California through… Read More »

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey: Strength, Part I

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

I once met a man named Lion Serpent Sun. He lived in Victoria, BC and was a good friend’s Wiccan High Priest. Len Olsen, a Pentecostal Preacher, appeared on a 1984 Victoria talk show called “100 Huntley Street” and claimed that Lion had attempted to sacrifice him and his wife in a Satanic ritual. Big Mistake. Lion sued Olsen and the talk show host all the way to the Supreme Court of British Columbia and won. “100 Huntley Street” wisely settled out of court. Don’t ever mess with a man named Lion Serpent Sun. The Lion, The Serpent, and The Sun are the three symbols of the Strength card. Leo is the astrological sign attributed to Strength. Everyone knows that The Lion is charismatic, powerful, egotistical, and loves to be in control. Leo is ruled by the Sun, the center of our solar system and the source of all its energy. The planets move around it like dancers around a campfire on a chilly night.… Read More »