A journey with the tarot

[Kate]

Bryn was saying that she likes the tarot so I thought I'd start a thread about the symbols and archetypes. Pictures are great for meditation, deciphering concepts and improving communication skills.

There are loads of different theories about how the tarot came about, one is that tarot it is derived from the Egyptian book of Thoth and it contains all wisdom and all concepts if we learn to understand.

Join in on this thread please, there's not much point in me having a one sided conversation. If nobody shows any interest that's fine, I'll stop after a few cards.

CARD 0
THE FOOL

... Tired and lame he dragged himself along the dusty road, across the deserted plain under the scorching rays of the sun. He glanced sidelong with foolish, staring eyes, a half smile, half leer on his face; he knew not where he went, but was absorbed in his chimerical dreams which ran constantly in the same circle. His fool's cap was put on wrong side front, his garments were torn in the back; a wild lynx with glowing eyes sprang upon him from behind a rock and buried her teeth in his flesh. He stumbled, nearly fell, but continued to drag himself along, all the time holding on his shoulder a bag containing useless things, which he, in his stupidity, carried wherever he went. Before him a crevice crossed the road and a deep precipice awaited the foolish wanderer. Then a huge crocodile with open mouth crawled out of the precipice. ...


"What has he in the bag?" I inquired, not knowing why I asked. And after a long silence the voice replied: "The four magic symbols, the sceptre, the cup, the sword and the pentacle. The fool always carries them, although he has long since forgotten what they mean. Nevertheless they belong to him, even though he does not know their use. The symbols have not lost their power, they retain it in themselves."

AIN

[SIZE=-1]AIN means in Hebrew "No Thing", for Hashem is beyond existence. AIN is neither below nor above; nor is it in movement or stillness. There is nowhere AIN is.[/SIZE]

... representing a possibility, any possibility, to be or not to be, sanity and order or insanity and chaos. "The Fool" is the symbolism for this, he can rise or founder, influence or remain passive, he incorporates all the faculties.

 

[lordmage]

kate tarot is a wide divers aspect of many things and designs i used to read the dragon style but have sience not felt the calling. and there the fool is akin to the second imagine where it could mean both the possibility of being fooled be the fool. or simple in a foolish situation. but keep em coming love to be reminded of my divinatation days (yes i am wiccan) not to be confusssed with witchcraft or demon worship

 

[Kate]

Thanks for joining me Mage, I love talking about tarot concepts with people who are interested. Wicca is a good philosophy, that's the one that says 'an' harm ye none do as ye will' isn't it? My main deck is the Thoth one but I sometimes look at the Haindl one when I feel like a change.

As you say, there is absolutely nothing bad with the tarot unless you choose to make it that way, no real energy of demons, devils or evil except what you create yourself. If that scares anyone or if you think this is somehow bad then please ignore this thread.

Divination isn't what I do, it confuses me to try to find spiritual messages or to try to see the future, things happen as and when they are ready and mundane forward planning is as much as I can be bothered with the future. I see tarot as a psychological tool that provokes consciousness and recognition of ideas in a sort of Jungian way.

I'm not going to randomly describe cards, I'm going to take them in order (or what's thought to be a correct order) and try to see if a path opens here or if it's not possible in this format. The story part was written by P.D.Ouspensky. I'm not going to post a link to the full story just yet unless anyone asks for a spoiler.

So be The Fool today.


YouTube - Tina Turner - We Don't Need Another Hero

We Don't Need Another Hero - Tina Turner

Out of the ruins
Out from the wreckage
Can’t make the same mistake this time
We are the children
The last generation
We are the ones they left behind
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change it
Living under the fear till nothing else remains

We don’t need another hero
We don’t need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the thunderdome

Looking for something we can rely on
There’s got to be something better out there
Love and compassion, their day is coming
All else are castles built in the air
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change it
Living under the fear till nothing else remains
All the children say

We don’t need another hero
We don’t need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the thunderdome

What do we do with our lives
We leave only a mark
Will our story shine like a life
Or end in the dark
Give it all or nothing​

Please feel free to add any kind of art to this thread that relates to The Fool for you

 

[Bryn]

This is so cool, Kate. I wasn't sure if anyone else would be interested. It's been a long while for me...since I moved to Arkansas then having to deal with loss of Shane over a year ago. I'd love to get back to Tarot.

Have you ever look at your favorite cards just to mediate before going to sleep and images come to you in your dreams in positive way?

I have more time at nights. Be back!

 

[Kate]

Hi Bryn

I have meditated on tarot symbols but my decks have been in a drawer for about four or five years until today. I thought I'd get them out and see if I could remember anything.

This thread might not work out, I'm thinking of a particular sequence of symbols to tell a story but I don't know if I'm going to be any good at it. My hope is that you, Mage and anyone else interested will join in. Even though there are some serious subjects I think we could have a laugh.

 

[Caesarea]

YouTube - fool on the hill

A younger Paul McCartney doing a kind of Eric Morecambe act, which ties in quite well with the precipice angle.
Some people see the Fool as an archetypal hermit. Mhh, not sure.

C.

Words:
Day after day alone on the hill
The man with the foolish grin
is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him
They can see that he's just a fool
And he never gives an answer

But the fool on the hill
sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

Well on the way, his head in a cloud
The man of a thousand voices
is talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him
Or the sound he appears to make
And he never seems to notice

But the fool on the hill
sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

Oh, round, round, round, round, round
And nobody seems to like him
they can tell what he wants to do
And he never shows his feelings

But the fool on the hill
sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

Oh, round, round, round, round, round
And he never listens to them
He knows that they're the fools
But they don't like him

The fool on the hill
sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

Oh, round, round, round, round, round
oh

 

[Kate]

Hi C., thanks very much for joining in, great song for this symbol

The Hermit aspect of The Fool is a bit advanced for me, I haven't studied that yet. If you'd like to explain how that works feel free, I'd love to know.

It's the Qabalistic Zero, the equation of the Universe, initial and final balance of opposites. Vacuum.

This is gender neutral in the way a fertilised ovum is neutral initially in development.

Some identities attributed to this symbol are Dionysus/Bacchus, Zeus, Hoor-Pa-Kraat, Percivale, The Egyptian Crocodile god Sebek and The Green Man.

Creative Light.







YouTube - Pet Shop Boys - Absolutely Fabulous


Pet Shop Boys: Absolutely fabulous, We're absolutely fabulous

Patsy: darling?
Edina: Mmm?
P: You are a fabulous wonderful individual!
E: Oh, thank you, darling!
P: And remember, I've known you longer than your daughter.
E: Champer's alright for you, Pats? [champagne]
P: Lovely, sweetie!
E: Shall we finish off the beluga or shall we have some smoked salmon and nibbly things?
P: Oh, whatever, sweetie!
E: Alright, we'll finish off the beluga!

P: Dull, soulless dance music
E: Bip bip bip, bop bop bop
P: Dull, soulless dance music
E: Ride on time, ride on time
P: Techno, techno, bloody techno, darling!

PSB: Absolutely fabulous
E: That's fabulous, darling
PSB: We're absolutely fabulous
P: That's fabulous, good

E: Chanel, Dior, Lagerfield, Givenchy, Gaultier, darling names, names, names
P: Harpers, Tatler, English Vogue, American Vogue, French Vogue, Bloody Aby-bloody-ssinian bloody Vogue, darling!
E: Lacroix, sweetie, Lacroix Lacroix, sweetie, Lacroix
P: Sweetie! Sweetie! Sweetie! Sweetie!

PSB: Absolutely fabulous
E: Pump up the volume
PSB: We're absolutely fabulous
E: Just put the needle on the record
PSB: Absolutely fabulous
E: Pump up the volume
PSB: We're absolutely fabulous
E: You're ready for this, sweetie?

Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
I'm chanting as we speak, bye bye, darling

Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Sweetie! Sweetie! Sweetie! Sweetie!

Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
I'm chanting as we speak, bye bye, darling

Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Champer's alright for you, Pats?

P: Oh, he was just a windscreen washer I picked up at the traffic lights.
E: Ah!
P: Bum's so tight he was bouncing off the walls.
E: Bye, Pats! Lacroix, sweetie, Lacroix, sweetie Lacroix, sweetie, La-la-la-lacroix

PSB: Absolutely fabulous
E: Let the music lift you up, darling
PSB: We're absolutely fabulous
P: Dull, soulless dance music
PSB: Absolutely fabulous
E: It's the bloody pet shop boys, sweetie!
PSB: We're absolutely fabulous
E: Are you ready for this sweetie?

Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
I'm chanting as we speak, bye bye, darling

Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Ong plonk kerplinky plong
Sweetie! Sweetie! Sweetie! Sweetie!

P: It's fabulous!
E: Good. thank you!

 

[Caesarea]

Fool's Walk - The Fool - Tarot Major Arcana

The superscript underlines what you say.


No, I'm no expert in tarot. You guys and gals can teach me as from the basics.

I guess the Hermit is somehow just as isolated and often on the mountain top and as a Holy Fool there is to me anyway a tie in, though hard to be sure.

http://www.tarotteachings.com/hermit-tarot-card-meanings.html


C.

 

[Kate]

Well, unless we get trolled or lose interest I was planning on going through the whole of the major arcana ... not in numerical order but following a path I've read about that I think might be interesting. There might be a twist at the end of the story, I don't know myself how it will turn out apart from the probable sequence of symbols.

The Hermit might become clearer when we get to him/her. I read something about connections with zero/AIN but can't remember at the moment. It's something to do with the secrets s/he keeps and creation of life.

 

[Caesarea]

Well, unless we get trolled or lose interest I was planning on going through the whole of the major arcana ... not in numerical order but following a path I've read about that I think might be interesting. There might be a twist at the end of the story, I don't know myself how it will turn out apart from the probable sequence of symbols.

The Hermit might become clearer when we get to him/her. I read something about connections with zero/AIN but can't remember at the moment. It's something to do with the secrets s/he keeps and creation of life.

Aye, all things in the order you show us...there is no rush at all.

C.

 

[Kate]

I have a feeling The Hermit knows something about parthenogenesis but it's really advanced and I'm not familiar with the science:

Parthenogenesis (from the Greek παρθένος parthenos, "virgin", + γένεσις genesis, "creation") is an asexual form of reproduction found in females where growth and development of embryos occurs without fertilization by a male. In plants, parthenogenesis means development of an embryo from an unfertilized egg cell, and is a component process of apomixis. The offspring produced by parthenogenesis are always female in species that use the XY sex-determination system.

Parthenogenesis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It might be that the xy chromosome in humans is a mutation and the original pattern was xx. Probably too controversial so it's become occult knowledge.

 

[Bryn]

The Cat's Eye Tarot is by a feline veterinarian, a person very familiar with cats, their habits and personalities. These cats are very natural and real, and yet have been beautifully adapted to Tarot cards. Unfortunately the deck is still in progress and is not yet available.

By Debra M. Givin
Tarot Deck - 78 Cards

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am looking forward to when this deck comes out! I love The Fool one as well as Temperance. Black and White kitties in Temperance look like Ceiling Cat and Basement Cat. Temperance stands for balance (water, air, earth & fire) if memory serves. It's been so long time for me. We can all start all over learning and have fun plus include lol kitties.

Does anyone recall the 007 movie, Let Live, Let Die? A tarot card reader turns up the Fool card for Bond and tells him "You are an adventurer". So our adventure beings in this forum. Come on everyone...take a leap!

I am going to stay with the Fool until I am ready to move on to next card.

 

[bigeyes]

Delighted to see this thread in a mostly scientific forum.

Tarot is what I do for a living since it is something you can do from home, and with a chronic illness it's easy to set yourself up from various websites, plus my private clients come to my home. If I'm sick, I don't work. No employer is going to give me that.

To me the fool is endless possibilities, enthusiasm, fearlessness, and in very rare instances it has actually symbolized foolish actions. It often comes up when people are starting a new phase of their life, such as their first job after finishing college, or moving out of their parents' home, divorcing, a career change, etc.

The little dog symbolizes protection, if nobody has mentioned that yet. Think of the old adage God protects fools and drunks.

I knew a psychologist who was into tarot and the whole Jungian concept. There are so many interesting ways to use it that don't involve divination, but it's intriguing to me how you can get a group of people together, some of whom claim to be intuitive, some who don't, yet they will all come up with similar interpretations from different methods.

It's a fascinating tool, however you use it.

 

[Kate]

Those cards are lovely Bryn, thanks for showing us them. I looked them up on the interwebz and managed to copy all of the major arcana ones for us

Welcome to BigEyes, it's great to hear from you and thanks very much for clarifying how you see The Fool.

There are a lot of ways to approach the tarot and a combination of different views makes a bigger, more complete picture for us to share. This is a bit of an avant garde trial, I'm just making it up as I go along and I'm hoping that collaboration will work well for all of us.

I wasn't feeling very well yesterday, I was anxious and a bit paranoid about some things and it stressed me a bit that I'd start this thread and everybody would think I was just being daft, lol.

Now that some great people have joined in I feel a lot better, thanks.

Please keep on sharing your ideas about The Fool. I was thinking of moving at a symbol per day but this one seems to need a little more time. There isn't any rush anyway, the aim isn't to finish the story, it's to enjoy the journey.

YouTube - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Little Miss S

Little Miss S. - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

Shooting up junk in the bathroom
Makin' it with punks on the floor
livin' the scene out of her limousine
Little Miss S. in a mini dress
living it up to die
in a blink of the public eye

Day-glo paint on an electric chair
electric dye in her lover's hair
a pretty sight in the middle of the night
made up for everyone to see
swingin' on the branch of a broken family tree

You got a lot of livin' to do without life

The village idiots in her bed
never cared that her eyes were red
never cared that her brain was dead
in the hours that her face was alive
it was the thing just to be by her side

You got a lot of living to do without life

Okay -- Alright

YouTube - Kitteh meets garbage can...



Some other associations with zero/AIN/The Fool:

Hermaphrodite
Innocent
Ecstasy
Madness
Semi-Consciousness
Irresponsibility
Air
Nuit
Intoxication
Silence

 

[bigeyes]

Wanted to add, I love the way you write.

I used to get a daily email from a woman who wrote about cards but she seems to have stopped. You have a similar style, covering every detail in the card. Nice.

 

[Bryn]

Got it in color, Thank you, BigEyes!

This card is my favorite Fool. From Robin Wood deck. When I first meditated on this card I started to "hear" the flute and music. (I am totally deaf.) That's why he's my favorite Fool.

0 - The Fool​

This card shows a young blond man dressed as a harlequin. He is playing the flute, and dancing near the edge of a precipice. Near his feet is a little dog.​

Key - Pay Attention.​

The meaning of this card is thoughtless innocence, and lighthearted folly. A lack of discipline. A lack of experience that can be dangerous. Great freedom, although with a connotation of foolishness. Idealistic youth, creativity. Seeing only the goal, and not possible difficulties along the way.​

I dressed the fool as a harlequin to show that he is a lover, with sharp wits, although he may also be somewhat of a buffoon, and liable to be hurt in the end. I gave him a white shirt to show his purity. His vest is yellow and blue to show sun and shadow, light and dark. His moods may be mercurial, and vary between these extremes at the drop of a hat.​

He wears red and white on his left leg for the Lord and purity. Red is often a color associated with the Lord, the God of the Hunt, and squares are also often symbolic of masculinity or rigidity. On his right leg are the green and white stripes of the Lady. Green and white are her colors for a good part of the year. But usually the right, active side is seen as masculine, and the left, intuitive side as feminine. He has them reversed to show that although he is aware of the forms, he doesn't really understand. Or perhaps he flaunts the convention in an act of youthful rebellion, to assert his freedom and independence!​

He dances, carefree, to the sounds of a pipe. In many decks, he is carrying a staff which symbolizes the wand of will and life (we'll get more into that in the chapter about the suit of Wands.) In my deck, I decided to transform the wand into a pipe, because I see him as playing with his will and life; having fun, and making pretty tunes with them, but in a larger sense doing just as he wants with them, with little regard for the consequences. Far from a staff to steady his steps, he has made them into a flute to dance to! And dancing on the edge is very dangerous.​

He wears the white roses of freedom in a wreath around his head. There are five of them, to symbolize the five elements; earth, air, fire, water and spirit. He knows of all of them, which gives him freedom in each. But the knowledge is still only at his head level. It has not penetrated to his heart, and he isn't paying attention to any of it!​

Stuck into the wreath is a long red feather, symbolizing his courage. He is brave, even if it's mostly the bravery of ignorance. (He isn't afraid, because he has no idea how badly he can be hurt.)​

He wears a pack on his back, strapped on with the white ribbons of guilelessness. In it he carries all the things he needs to get along in the world. But they are strapped down behind him, and not really accessible. I gave him five ribbons for the five senses. They are what he has bound his life up with. When he reaches for something he needs, he hits them first, and is usually distracted by their beauty.​

He dances on bright spring grass, to show this is a youthful thing. The grass is strewn with pairs of red and white flowers for fearlessness and innocence. His eyes are on the distant vista of the mountains, which stand for knowledge and enlightenment. That may be a good thing, but in this case it means that he is completely unaware that he is about to dance right off the edge of a cliff!​

A little white dog, which symbolizes his friends, or his own unconscious mind, is trying desperately to warn him of the danger. But so far he is not paying any attention. Sometimes, when this card comes up in a reading, the little dog looks like it's just dancing along with him, aware of the brink, but unwilling to disturb it's master. In that case, I read it as people who are so enamored of his charisma that they are sure that he does really know what he is doing, all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. If he is going to go over, then that must be the right thing to do, and they'll go right over with him!​

Below him is the valley which symbolizes the deeper parts of his own soul, with the stream of his unconscious running through and watering it. In a very real way, it's the depths within himself that he is about to tumble into.​

Three trees grow up from the valley to the level where he walks. These symbolize his body, mind, and soul. They are the parts of which he is made, which rise from his inner self until they are seen by all, although their roots remain hidden.​

As he dances, three butterflies flit around him. Butterflies in the Tarot stand for transformation. If he doesn't watch out, he is going to have a transformative event! (Oh please, Gods, not another learning experience!) I gave him three to show the future, which is rosy; the present, which is a blank sheet; and the past, which is golden. He is facing the future, but the past and present are both behind him, and he isn't looking at them at all. In other words, he is paying very little attention to where he is now.​

The sun shines brightly on him, and there are no clouds in his sky.​

 

[bigeyes]

Robin wood tarot image by mas_tarot2 on Photobucket

 

[Kate]

No Fear.

Silence

... of all the magical and mystical virtues, of all the graces of the soul, of all the attainments of the spirit, none has been so misunderstood, even when at all apprehended, as silence. ... to think of it at all is in itself an error; for its nature is pure being, that is to say, nothing, so that it is beyond all intellection or intuition. ...

... [this] nature is by no means that negative and passive silence which the word commonly connotes; for he is the All-Wandering Spirit, the Pure and Perfect Knight-Errant, who answers all the Enigmas ...

... Silence is the equilibrium of perfection ... the universal key to every mystery soever.

... the root of moral responsibility, on which man stupidly prides himself as distinguishing him from the other animals, is restriction, which is the word of sin. ...

"What is my true will?" ... until we become innocent, we are certain to try to judge our will from the outside, whereas true will should spring, a fountain of light from within and flow unchecked, seething with love into the ocean of life.

This is the true idea of silence; it is our will which issues, perfectly elastic, sublimely protean, to fill every interstice of the universe of manifestation which it meets in its course... It fits itself with perfect precision to every need; its fluidity is the warrant of its fidelity. Its form is always varied by that of the particular imperfection which it encounters; its essence is identical in every event. Always the effect of its action is perfection, that is silence; and this perfection is ever the same, being perfect; yet ever different, because each case presents its own peculiar quantity and quality.

 

[Bryn]

Robin wood tarot image by mas_tarot2 on Photobucket

I got it! Edited my post to add one in color. Thank you!

 

[bigeyes]

You're welcome