Tag: Major Arcana

Imbolc, Brigid, and Temperance

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, Wheel of the Year

February 1st or 2nd , depending on who you talk to, is the Festival of Imbolc, or first light. This is the time of year when we begin to notice that yes, indeed, the days are getting longer. Bulbs are beginning to push up green spikes, and the snowdrops are in full bloom. It is a time of anticipation, new beginnings, and inspiration. Imbolc probably derives from the Old Irish i mbolg “in the belly”, which refers to the fact that this is the start of lambing time in Ireland and the rest of Europe. It is also a perfect metaphor for the season. The year is pregnant with the coming of the sun, which brings new growth. At this festival pagans honor Brigid: goddess of water and fire, wells and forges, healing and inspiration, smith craft and childbirth. I see the angel on the Temperance tarot card as a perfect representation of Brigid. He/she stands between two opposing forces and works to reconcile them… Read More »

Strength and the Werewolf

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, Writing, Young Adult Fantasy

Whenever I read a story about werewolves, the lion on the Strength card roars in my head like the start of an old MGM movie. A tale about werewolves is always about the eternal struggle between our animal desires, instincts, and power and our logical, self-controlled, altruistic human side. At the end of the 2010 remake of the 1941 movie, The Wolf Man, the Wolf Man attacks his fiancée, forcing her to shoot him with a silver bullet. Her words, which end the movie, states the moral dilemma posed by Strength and the werewolf beautifully. “It is said there is no sin in killing a beast Only in killing a man But where does one begin and the other end?” In his latest book, The Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan’s line between man and beast is fairly clear and painfully raw. Jake is a werewolf from hell. A week before full moon the wulf, as he calls, it begins to mess with him. Phantom fangs and… Read More »

The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey: Temperance, Part IV

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

When Temperance appears in a reading, The querent is, was, or will be up to his ass in alligators and trying to remember to drain the swamp. If he doesn’t become gator chow first, the exercise will make him stronger, more flexible, and better able to cope with the next major glitch in his life. He has come to a point where he must combine, reconcile, or referee the opposing forces and people in his life. His wife and mother may be at each other’s throats. He may be dissatisfied with his job and trying to manifest a better one. He may be dealing with spending, eating, or other addictive disorders, or healing from a serious illness. Temperance reminds us that patience, open mindedness, strength, good management of time and resources, willingness to try and try again, and lots of prayer and help from the divine are necessary in resolving life’s problems. If the card is upright, it indicates that the querent has enough of… Read More »

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey: Temperance, Part III

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

Samekh is the Hebrew letter associated with Temperance. Most sources say that its original meaning is tent peg, or support. But the letter itself is round, in fact the cursive figure for samekh is a circle. It looks nothing like a tent peg.The Wikipedia article on Samekh points out that the Phonecian pictograph for Samekh looks a bit more like a tent peg and is probably derived from the Egyptian djed, the pillar shaped hieroglyph that means stability. So how is a circle like a tent peg? They didn’t just make this stuff up. Well, yeah, they did, but what was the method in their divine madness? The mystic interpretation of the letter samekh given by most sources is “the endless cycle”, which does match the shape of the letter. The endless cycle is something my pagan brain can grab onto. Pagans and Hebrews both see the universe as moving in circles. Black Elk, Oglala Lakota, 1863-1950 said it best: Everything the power of the… Read More »

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

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey, Writing

When Temperance appears in a reading it’s not uncommon for the querent to groan and say, “I’m not giving up alcohol!” I assure him that the tarot card has nothing to do with the Temperance Movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s, which eventually led to the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1919. The Amendment made consumption, possession, or manufacture of most alcoholic beverages illegal, except for medicinal purposes. The initial intent of the American Temperance Movement was to moderate the alarming increase in alcohol consumption that began after the Civil War—hence the name Temperance. But the movement eventually started advocating total abstinence as the more radical members seized control. Abstinence may also have been encouraged because, even back then, I have no doubt that reformers knew that it is impossible for alcoholics to moderate their drinking; they have to stop completely. And so “total abstinence from alcoholic beverages” is now the second or third definition of the word temperance, whose first definition… Read More »

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

Posted C. LaVielle1 CommentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

One of my first tarot teachers was fond of saying, “Always remember that Temperance stands in between Death and The Devil.” That angel may look calm and serene, but he/she is struggling to reconcile opposites. He/she is a hermaphrodite, with one foot on stable land (consious mind) and the other in a pool of water (subconscious mind). On his/her breast is a triangle (creativity) inside a square (stability). On his/her left are two (polarity) irises. Iris is the Greek goddess of the rainbow, a symbol of promise and diversity. On his/her right is a single path to mountains topped with a golden crown, a symbol of success, but only if one keeps to that single path. The previous card is Death—transformation through letting go of the material world or the perceived status quo. The next card is The Devil—faith in materialism or the perceived status quo. The central image of the card is two cups. But they aren’t just sitting there being apart, aloof, or… Read More »

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey: Death, Part III

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

When Death appears in a tarot reading things suddenly get very serious. The querent’s warm, happy feelings about having someone tell him all about himself vanish and dread settles in. He reaches out and touches the card. “This doesn’t look good,” he says. The reader swoops in with the comforting words, “This card doesn’t actually mean death, it means transformation.” About thirty years ago, Death appeared as a future card in a friend’s reading. I reassured him that the card “just” meant that he would experience a life-altering transformation. A week later his father died. But this is the only time in all my years of reading tarot that Death has actually predicted a physical death—at least to my knowledge. I have no way of knowing what happened to the strangers I’ve read for who pulled Death. This is one reason I really like reading for people I don’t know. So, if it almost always signifies transformation and not physical death, why not call the… Read More »

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

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

JAMES BOND: What do you expect me to do, Goldfinger? GOLDFINGER: Why, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die. From Goldfinger screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn We are all expected to die. We don’t know when. We don’t know where. We don’t know how. And we don’t know what, if anything, will happen afterward. The only thing we know for certain is that it is the end of life on earth as we know it. So if it’s the end, why isn’t Death the last of the major arcana cards? If the card has a number, it is always 13, that most infamous of integers. Even today many buildings do not possess a thirteenth floor, and otherwise sane citizens look over their shoulders a bit more often whenever Friday the 13th rolls around. It’s not an auspicious number, but it’s not the last number, which is 21, The World, completion. According to the tarot, Death is not the end. Since the major arcana… Read More »

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey: The Hanged Man, Part III

Posted C. LaVielle3 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

Water is a mysterious substance. It expands when it becomes solid instead of contracting like any other self-respecting compound, and it contracts instead of expanding when it liquefies. It flows easily into any shape you choose, but no matter how hard you compress it, it won’t get any smaller. Without it life as we know it would be impossible, yet everything will eventually dissolve in its persistent caress, especially if you add a bit of salt and turn it to tears. It can be as gentle and refreshing as a warm summer rain or as dangerous and cruel as a raging sea. It is everywhere. 90 to 94 percent of the human body is water, and it covers two thirds of the earth. Swirling with opposites and contradictions, it is The Hanged Man’s element. Neptune, the planet of mysticism, spirituality, deception, and illusion, is also associated with The Hanged Man. Its Hebrew letter is Mem, which means water. In this case it refers to the… Read More »

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

Posted C. LaVielle18 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot

The Hanged Man is in search of enlightenment. But notice that he’s not having a cup of tea with Great Aunt Ethel. The knowledge he seeks can only be given to him by the gods, or for those with a more secular viewpoint, by his subconscious. This sort of knowledge is available to everyone; all we need to do is ask. It’s attainment is the selling point of the major religions and meditation techniques. The part that they sometimes don’t mention is that to receive the answer, you must go to a place where you can actually hear it, and then you must be very still.  It isn’t a physical place.  It exists where the world as we know it and the realm of the “other world” intersect.  It’s that ethereal, dusky place between the dark and the daylight.  Psychologist call it “liminal space” and define it as a place where borders meet and soften and become neither one nor the… Read More »