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 first chapter is a problem. It needs to be rewritten.

No, I didn’t start screaming, we were in a restaurant and I had to act like an adult.

She gave me a good idea about just how to do the rewrite. I’ve been playing with it for the past few days and I think it’s going to work.

She also strongly suggested that I:
 Publish my blog more frequently. Nothing big, just quick takes on Tarot and writing.
 Go to the young adult section of several bookstores and look at the books that are like mine—i.e. fantasy. The author usually credits his/her agent in the acknowledgements. Copy down the agent’s name, look them up on the internet, and send a query letter. I went to Powell’s Books today and spent a very instructive two hours looking at blurbs and copying down agent’s names. The books are shelved alphabetically by author’s name. I got to Cabot.
 Send out query letters in waves of 5 and 10. She suggested that I paste in the first few pages of the manuscript immediately following a query letter sent via e-mail. (after I get them revised, of course)
 Begin researching e-books, and looking for a marketer.
 Come to Summer in Words, 2011, June 24-26. This is a writers conference she’s organizing at Cannon Beach. It’s an opportunity to network, take workshops from some well-known Northwest writers, and get recharged. It will strain the finances a bit, but I’m going.


Stay tuned for Thing 2.

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

Ecstacy, Maxfield Parrish
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 querent accepted the teacher. If it is in the future and upright, encourage the client to do whatever it takes to learn from this person, and to heed his advice, no matter how crazy he seems. If the card is reversed, the teacher or the advice is unreliable.

Other meanings for this card are: analyzing a situation and proceeding with care, a journey, a vision quest, or the completion of a cycle.

My husband insists that this card reversed also means being trapped in an isolated and possibly dangerous situation of your own making.

The Hermit is a familiar character in the hero’s journey, but he’s usually not the hero–for obvious reasons. However, in his Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen R. Donaldson’s hero is a writer who has contracted leprosy and is deserted by his family and friends. When he is transported to a land of health and healing he refuses to believe in the very powers that healed him, thus alienating himself from everyone there as well. Thomas Covenant is that odd duck who is both a shadow hermit and a hero.

Silas Marner is a hero who begins George Eliot’s novel as a shadow hermit, a bitter miser whose gold is stolen. But he receives a gift more valuable than the gold he lost in the form of golden haired Eppie, whom he raises as his own. In the process he regains his happiness and the link with his community.

Babba Yagga is a main character who is wise and lives alone in her house on chicken legs surrounded by a fence of bones and skulls; but I can’t see her as a hero. She’s more of a shadow mentor. The heroes in her stories are the unfortunate people who come to her for help. Babba Yagga’s help is never pleasant.

The Hermit is usually a mentor.

Yoda, the Jedi master who trained Luke Skywalker, lived alone in the middle of a swamp.

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 that some of the best minds the human race has ever produced have not scrupled to employ intensely erotic imagery in their endeavors to describe the bliss of union with the ONE.”

Ecstacy of Saint Theresa, Bernini

The Hebrew letter associated with The Hermit is Yod, which means hand. It floats serenely, high above the baseline, and is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet; yet it is used to form all the other letters.

“The first dot with which the scribes first start writing a letter, or the last dot which gives the letter its final form….is a yod.” Lukutei Maharan.

Like the letter yod, the Universal Life Force, forms and resides in all things. And so the esoteric meaning of yod is the starting point of the presence of God or Life force in all things—the spark of the Spirit in everything. The mystery of yod is that we are always in union with this awesome power, we just don’t recognize it. But The Hermit does.

Virgo, the analyst, the logical, practical thinker; the sign that single-handedly keeps the self-help section of bookstores in business; is the astrological sign associated with The Hermit. It gives us a clue about how The Hermit got to the top of that mountain. The results of his journey may be ecstatic, but he got there because of his desire to improve himself, and his willingness to faithfully follow a practice designed to bring him into alignment, and eventually into reunion, with the life force. Many paths lead to this blissful reunion. It is the goal of every religion and magical practice that I know of. And each and every one of these paths requires dedication, devotion, and practice.

The years of practice and study are by necessity mostly solitary. Once he reaches his goal and reunites with the One he becomes the One and is yet again alone. When he tries to describe his mind-blowing experience, he finds that there are no words to describe it and most people think he’s crazy. The best he can do is hold up the promise of ecstatic reunion and hope someone will pick a path, any path, and climb up to him.

He is The Hermit.

*Deuce coup: a 1932 Ford that was frequently souped up into a hot rod.

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.

Durga, the Hindu goddess of power, tames a tiger instead of a lion.
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 part of our psyche that reaches down deep and connects with the vast energy that binds together and directs all parts of the cosmos.

For most of us, the subconscious is a mysterious, uncharted territory that occasionally burps up dreams and strangeness and things-that-go-bump-in-the-night. Not something to mess around with. Now we have the Strength card telling us that it’s not only really scary, but also really powerful. And it can never be completely controlled, only coaxed and nudged in the desired direction by images and emotions from the conscious mind. However, it is quite happy to take its cues from the conscious mind and responds with amazing quickness. But it doesn’t respond well to words and linear logic and what we view as common sense. This can be very frustrating and very dangerous.

Mickey Mouse battles the power of the subconscious in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."

If the images and patterns our subconscious receives from our conscious mind are faulty, confused, negative or fearful, the energy it throws back will be faulty, confused, negative or fearful. It can cause both physical and emotional trauma.

But if the images and patterns your subconscious receives are precise, courageous, and positive, your life will change for the better. This is more easily said than done, but isn’t it at least worth a try?

When strength appears in a reading the querent is, was, or will be asked to do the impossible. At least it will seem that way to him. The only way to accomplish this is to tap into the powerful Lion Serpent Sun energy and hang on. This energy that rages within all of us is so awesome that when/if we become aware of it we often cringe in fear and call it evil. But it isn’t. It’s just power, like fire or electricity. It’s the way we use it that produces either helpful or hurtful results. The card’s position, whether it’s upright or reversed, and which cards are around it tell the reader if the querent will be able or willing to tap into this energy. And if he does, will the power unleashed work the hoped for miracle, or will it muck it up even more?

Strength can also be read as exuberance and intensity, the driving will and courage to survive and overcome. This is why some decks call this card Lust.

In the hero’s journey, Strength is often portrayed as some obstacle or force, usually originating within the hero. The character overcomes it by reaching deep within herself, coming to grips with what she perceives as dangerous, bad, or useless, and transforming the beast into an ally. Or maybe she just recognizes the beast for what it really is: power.

By the time they had attained their goal, these characters had discovered that strength within in the form of brains, the ability to return home, courage, and heart.

It can also be a force outside of a character that makes him reach within and find the strength to overcome it. It is neither good nor evil. It is power.

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 Vancouver Island that measure the deep tremors caused by the collision of these two plates. The vibrations are deep and very slight, but some people do feel them.

The Network has noticed that every twelve to fourteen months for the past ten years the number of seismic events peaks for a month or so. The blogs of the grad students (OK, I don’t know for sure, but I bet they’re grad students) monitoring last August’s event sound like they are tracing the undulations of a giant serpent writhing beneath the earth:
“# Aug 19, 2010 – The tremor continues to slowly move north with the leading edge in the middle of the Straits….
# Aug 20, 2010 – Watch out Candians, the tremor is now on your door step. Several wech-o-meter locations this evening are just outside Victoria harbor. By tomorrow Dr. “ETS” Dragert will have them under his garage.
“# Aug 21, 2010 – The main ETS tremor is now located in the middle of the Straits of Juan de Fuca with the leading edge under Victoria. The Canadians must be happy now. There also continues to be a separate persistent patch of tremor near Olympia that seems to be slowly spreading south with its leading edge near Centralia. Do we have a double ETS this time? Time will tell.”

An old post card of Serpent Mound

Other people besides my husband have keyed into the earth’s serpent energy. An ancient civilization located in what is now southern Ohio built the mysterious and powerful Great Serpent Mound there nearly three thousand years ago.

When Apollo was only four years old he went to Delphi to kill the Python, an Earth Serpent who lived there and protected the navel of the earth. It had tried to attack his mother. Does this sound like a Freudian wet dream or what?

Amphitheater and Temple of Apollo at Delphi

There was already a temple to the Titan earth goddess Gaia there and an oracle as well. Apollo got his revenge and took over the oracle, and the Greeks built an even bigger temple to him near the oracle.

The ancient Greeks wrote that the Pythia, the priestess who was the oracle, sat on a three-legged stool that straddled a fissure that cut deep into the earth. She sniffed the sweet smelling mists that wafted up from the earth and raved. The priests translated her ravings into advice couched in neat hexameters.

A research team, led by Jelle Z. de Boer of Wesleyan University, examined pieces of travertine—a limestone stalactite deposited by an ancient spring—from the rock at Delphi to see what gases they might have trapped. They found ethylene, which has anaesthetic properties, produces euphoria, and excites the nervous system. It is sweet smelling.

Two major fault lines run through Delphi, and Greece sits on the edge of a subduction zone.

But I digress.

The Rainbow Serpent is a common figure in the myths of Australian aborigines from all across the continent. It is described as “a snake of some enormous size often living within the deepest waterholes of many of Australia’s waterways; descended from that larger being visible as a dark streak in the Milky Way, it reveals itself to people in this world as a rainbow as it moves through water and rain, shaping landscapes, naming and singing of places, swallowing and sometimes drowning people; strengthening the knowledgeable with rainmaking and healing powers; blighting others with sores, weakness, illness, and death.” Wikipedia.

The Earth Serpent is everywhere.

Orphic Egg

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.

Teth or Tet is the Hebrew letter attributed to Strength. It means serpent. The glyphs for Teth and Leo even look like snakes. Mythologies from all over the world equate the serpent with hidden, mysterious power.

kundalini Yoga works with the serpent energy that sleeps coiled three-and-a-half times around the sacrum at the back of our root chakra. When awakened, it rises through the body like liquid fire, energizing and bringing psychic awareness. When it moves out the crown chakra, it brings god-consciousness, or nirvana.

The serpents that twine up the caduceus symbolize this same energy.

Tatoo by NickShev
The Ouroboros, the serpent biting its tail represents the process of the first law of thermodynamics: The amount of energy in the universe remains the same, it can be neither created nor destroyed; but exists in a constant state of transformation. It describes the cyclic path of serpent power through the universe. Birth, Life, Death, and Rebirth.

The Theosophists call this serpent power Fohat, a Tibetan term meaning the ever-present electrical energy, the ceaseless destructive and formative power that drives the manifested universe. Fohat, in its various forms, is the mysterious link between Mind and Matter, the animating principle electrifying every atom into life. Theosophy, Vol 51, No 7, “Messenger of Divine Light”

Aleister Crowley was invoking Fohat during the air invocation in “Liber Samech: “O Sun IAF! O Lion-Serpent Sun, The Beast that whirlest forth, a thunder- bolt, begetter of Life!” And again at the end: “O Lion Serpent Sun Self! We are One, We are None: We are ALL! It is done.”

Dylan Thomas was talking about Fohat when he wrote:
“The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever……”

by Gail Prentice

Other decks call the Strength card Force. I think this is a better name, because it says exactly what the card means: The Universal force (because The Lion symbolizes this world; The Serpent, the underworld; and The Sun, the heavens) that drives the previous card,The Chariot.

To be continued….