Don't you love it? Not the face of my beloved Obatalah (Morgan Freeman, in the Voodoo Tarot)...but slow down anyway, and feel the grooviness of it all!
Don't you love it, how soppy songs like Norwegian Wood, that annoyed the crap out of you in Norway, cos that seemed the only one he could play on his guitar, suddenly make you homesick (like the clove-stuck Christmas oranges in High St)? Don't you love it, how the Beegees Spicks and Specks suddenly becomes an icon of the Sun reversed? ;-))

Woohoo! I find myself talking in quasi-pentecostal tongues again (Musical Tarot below), after my brush with the 10 of Swords at Centrelink ("don't worry, be happy", according to the Musical Tarot) ;-))
 

The Musical Tarot, compiled by Craig and me and other friends at art group

Major Arcana
Fool - Stuck in the Middle with you; Send in the clowns; Fool on the Hill; The Joker is Me (Shirley Bassey); Brain Damage (Pink Floyd).
Magician - Don't you know it's magic? Pinball Wizard (Tommy, The Who).
High Priestess - Suzanne (Leonard Cohen).
Empress - Let it be, or Lady Madonna (Beatles).
Emperor - Cat's in the Cradle (Harry Chapin); Father and Son (Cat Stevens); Santa Claus is coming to town (for the Whimsical Tarot only!).
Hierophant - Son of a Preacher Man.
Lovers - Torn between two Lovers (Mary McGregor).
Chariot - Born to be wild (Steppenwolf); We've gotta get out of this place (Animals); Wheels on Fire (Dylan).
Justice - Father, forgive them (Brian Cadd).
Strength - I am Woman (Helen Reddy).
Wheel - What goes up... (Blood, Sweat and Tears).
Hermit - Eleanor Rigby (Beatles); One is the loneliest number (John Farnham).
Hanged Man - "People are strange, when you're a stranger..." (Doors).
Death - This is the end (Doors); Nobody's Moggy (Eric Bogle); Dead Skunk in the middle of the road!
Temperance - "Trouble, move away..." (Cat Stevens, Harold and Maude).
Devil - Devil in Disguise (Elvis); Tom Waits, Heart Attack and Vine; Black Magic Woman; That Old Black Magic.
Tower - Tower of Song (Leonard Cohen); Edinburgh Castle (Waterboys); A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan).
Star - Star Man (David Bowie); When you wish upon a star; Swing on a Star; Ziggie Stardust?
Moon - Blue Moon; Moonshadow (Cat Stevens); Bad Moon Rising; The Whole of the Moon (Waterboys).
Sun - Here Comes the Sun; Silent Sunlight (Cat Stevens); Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy(John Denver); Sonny (Bobby Hebb) also must rate a mention...Sun reversed = Beegees, Spicks and Specks, she says in a moment of solar epiphany!!!!!
Judgement - It's the End of the World as we know it (REM).
World - "Now I know that the world is round..." (Beegees); The Carnival is Over (Seekers; especially with the Voodoo Tarot!).

Wands.
1 - A Little Ray of Sunshine (Axiom); When A Child is Born (Johnny Mathers); The Tiger (Finn Corey's William Blake project, at least with my Tarot!).
2 - What About Me? (Shannon Noel)
3 - Girl, I'm going to make you sweat (Inner Circle); Norwegian Wood (George Harrison).
4 - Obladi, oblada (Beatles); We'll build a world of our own (Seekers).
5 - Kung-fu fighting (Carl Fighting?); Saturday night's alright for fighting (Elton John).
6 - Yellow Brick Road (especially with the Whimsical); Country Road, Take Me Home (John Denver); Back in the U.S.S.R., if you feel really silly! lol
7 - Masters of War (Bob Dylan); Brick in the Wall, or One of My Turns (Pink Floyd); These Boots Are Made for Walking?
8 - Mr Postman (Carpenters).
9 - Hot Hot Hot (The Cure).
10 - Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash).
Princess - Voodoo Child (Black-Eyed Peas, especially with the Voodoo Tarot!).
Prince - Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis).
Queen - Hot Chilli Woman (Noiseworks); Falling in Love Again (Marlene Dietrich).
King - Circle of Life, Lion King (in honor of Shez above!)

Cups
1 - We've only just begun (Paul Williams); It's only the beginning (Debra Conway).
2 - Just an old-fashioned love song (Paul Williams); Falling in Love Again (Marlene Dietrich)? Or "drink to me only with thine eyes" (my Tarot!) ;-))
3 - Party on Wheels (Sweet and Sour, the Takeaways); World Party (Waterboys).
4 - It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to... (Leslie Gore).
5 - Song Sung Blue (Neil Diamond); Tomorrow's Party (Velvet Underground), or any good ole self-respecting blues tune!! (as per the advice of Neil Diamond) ;-))
6 - Come sail your ships around me (Nick Cave); love on the radio (Skyhooks) ; California Dreaming (Melanie Safka).
7 - Little Old Winedrinker Me (Dean Martin); Cheap wine and a 3-day growth (Cold Chisel), with a slim possibility of Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin).
8 - "Brother, my cup is empty..." (Nick Cave).
9 - "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" (New Seekers).
10 - My cup runneth over, or the 23rd psalm?
Princess - My Little Angel (William Shakespeare).
Prince - Come, said the boy... (Mondo Rock).
Queen - Searching for the dolphins (Tim Buckley).
King - From a Jack to a King (Ned Miller)?

Swords
1 - Blinded by the light (Manfred Mann; Bruce Springsteen); Claude on acid, "Manchester, England, England" (Hair), if feeling a bit silly! lol
2 - Happy Talk (South Pacific).
3 - Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell).
4 - I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones).
5 - One Tin Soldier (Buffy Ste Marie).
6 - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Beatles); I am Sailing (Rod Stewart).
7 - Mack the Knife; His Word is not his Bond (Waterboys).
8 - Jailhouse Rock (Elvis).
9 - Shivers (Nick Cave), or anything by Leonard Cohen, as in "music to slash your wrists by"?
10 - Don't worry, be happy; Red Rubber Ball (Seekers).
Princess - Don't Come Around Here No More (Tom Petty, at least the videoclip, for its references to Alice, and hence connected to my Tarot!).
Prince - Johnny Be Good;
Queen - Mrs Robinson (Simon and Garfunkel);
King - Paperback writer (Beatles).

Pentacles
1 - Big Spender (Shirley Bassey) - a "power song" and a half! ;-))
2- We're all going on a summer holiday (Cliff Richard); Oh, it's a lovely holiday with Mary (Mary Poppins).
3 - Help! or I get by with a little help from my friends (Beatles); Spiderman theme (Ramones).
4 - "Slow down, you move too fast...." (Simon and Garfunkel).
5 - In the Ghetto (Elvis); Love-child (Supremes).
6 - Sisters of Mercy (Leonard Cohen).
7 - Going to the Chapel (Dixiecups).
8 - Little Boxes (Pete Seeger).
9 - Material Girl (Madonna).
10 - When I'm 64 (Beatles, which, sadly, Paul McCartney seems no longer able to sing, as he approaches 64!).
Princess - Hey, there, little Red Riding Hood (with my Tarot), Princess in Rags (Gene Pitney).
Prince - Colorado Rocky Mountain High (John Denver, in the sense of an earth-based vision quest).
Queen - Me and Mrs Jones (Billy Paul)?
King - Dedicated Follower of Fashion (Kinks, underlining the essentially conservative, rather than innovative, nature of the earth-suit!).

No, Craig, I do not feel up to supplying "divinatory meanings" for all of these, but hopefully the songs themselves will suggest something of the divinatory meanings! lol

Don't you love it? Another "stick that in your pipe and smoke it", along with the 10 of Wands... OK, mystery solved - I had a 50c piece set apart, with B-E's name on it, so to speak, and the lousy phone card would not connect us, for some strange reason ;-P

>Subject: Le Manteau de rectitude et les Couleurs des Sephiroth par Jacobus Swart.

> Enfin, Malkhut, qui est blanche originellement était vue par Cordovéro comme comprenant toutes les couleurs, c'est-à-dire, toutes les Lumières dévivées des Sephiroth et qui se concentrent en Malkuth qui est tel un arc-en-ciel.
> Tout le monde les lira en accord avec ses propres perceptions. En vérité, chacun de nous perçoit le monde au travers de prismes « moi-colorés ».

(from Kabbalah-concepts list)

Zombi

Yikes.com! I find this card way 'scarier' than yesterday's (twin) Towers, which did not eventuate, at least as far as I know. I do not find Death, the Devil etc. scary either, or even, now, with the Voodoo Tarot, any number of Sword cards, but this one fair dinkum gives me the shudders... What can possibly amount to the 'up side' of finding yourself in a critical stasis, drained, whether voluntary or not, of all will? Actually, there seems nothing 'voluntary' about the 'sacrifice' implicit in this card at all; I also don't like how the book talks about the "spider having lost its way in the web" (cf. the very spidery hanged one in the Whimsical!)... It just all cuts a little too close to the bone for this little arachnid heart...Ah! the clue seems in the lips sewn shut with another Simbi (snake) - I enforced this "silence" on myself in the Kabbalah-concepts group this morning ;-P

I obviously need to find those keys! “I have gone down into the nut garden.” The numerical interpretation reads: “This is the depth of the chariot (Merkabah); wyrd shit ;-))

Yikes.com! Not more Tower energy? But as long as my little piggy brick house continues to stand, despite the huffing and puffing of the big bad wolf! lol
I feel just glad to find myself back in the blogosphere, even with a disabled keyboard (now I know what it feels like) ;-P

HELP, PLEASE, SOMEONE OR SOMETHING SEEMS TRYING TO HIJACK MY BROWSER, AND I CANNOT ACCESS EMAIL, COMMENT ON BLOGS, OR ANYTHING NORMAL, OK? BEAR WITH ME... ;-P
After all the computer dramas last night (I copped a Trojan virus on the weekend, it seems, and what do a Trojan computer virus and a Trojan condom have in common?); they both seem ways of sneaking something seemingly inoffensive in there... I dreamt (Blue Lunar Night a good night for it, too, it seems) I found myself back in Norway, living with Bjorn Erik, but in his mother's house (!); I had to sleep in the lounge room, but I felt happy just to find myself there... He seemed out at a hospital appointment; some nurses or case-workers showed up at the house and, when I asked them if I did in fact amount to a "nobody", they answered rudely, "Yes", whereupon I let fly at them for speaking so rudely...!! ;-))

Yemaya (not La Siren!) and Yesod

Funny that one querent always focused on the foetus in this card, and that happened when she saw it in my Tarot (funny that my Tarot also picked up on the foetus idea, i.e. the fecundity of Yemaya; funny that Kabbalists see Yesod, represented by the 9s in the Tarot, as a male generative organ making fertile the earth of matter, i.e. the 'male moon', or the astral light of wishes and desires making itself manifest upon the 'female, material' plane of creation?) ;-))

"Teth, la neuvième [lettre], est l'archétype de toute énergie femelle, attirant
la vie du Heth et la construisant graduellement en structures." - Carlo Suares, "The Cipher of Genesis".

Redemption of the Shechinah

about the Shechinah and Eros

by

Rabbi Marc Gafni

In the Hebrew mysticism, Shechinah is the name for the feminine aspect of the Divine. Her name means Indwelling Presence, “the one who dwells in you.” She is presence, poetry, passion. She is the sustaining God force which runs through and wombs the world. She is the underlying erotic, sensual, and loving force that knows our name and nurtures all being.

Shechinah captures an experience, a way of being in the world, for which we do not yet have an English word. For this is a way of being which we in the West are hard pressed to articulate. It is the experience of waking up in the morning full of utter joy for the arrival of the day. It is weeping over the splendor of the sunset or the scent of the ocean or the fragility of a newborn. It is a way of living in love.

Our best move in language is to turn towards the term Plato introduced in the Symposium: Eros. For Plato “eros” is “love plus.” It is precisely the kind of fully charged life experience which is evoked by the Hebrew term Shechinah.

But over time the term “eros” has been so narrowed and limited that it has lost most of its original intention. Usually when we hear the word “erotic” it evokes only the sexual. And although the sexual is a part of eros, it is only a limited part. This narrowing of a term is an expression of a spiritual dynamic which the kabbalists called the exile of the Shechinah.

Now open your hearts and minds to hear the next sentence.

The exile of the Shechinah means no less than the exile of the erotic.

But where did it go? To where was eros exiled? The answer is that the exile of the Shechinah is the exile of the erotic into the sexual. That is to say, when the only place you access the core qualities of eros is in the sexual, then eros, or the Shechinah, is in exile. When intense desire is a feeling you touch only before exploding in orgasm, then your life is poor indeed. The Shechinah is exiled. Eros has fallen.

Eros Expanded

The redemption of the Shechinah from exile will come when we learn how to re-expand eros from the narrow confines of the sexual back into the road expanse of living. The goal of life is to live erotically in all facets of being.

One of the core qualities of the erotic is imagination. The Zohar, magnus opus of Hebrew mysticism says it explicitly in many places "Shechinah is imagination."

In popular understanding, the imagination is implicitly considered to be ‘unreal.’ Indeed “unreal” and “imaginary” are virtually synonyms in common usage. To undermine the reality of an antagonist’s claim we say it is “a figment of his imagination.” In marked contrast, the Hebrew mystics held imagination to be very real. Indeed it would not be unfair to say that they considered imagination to be “realer than real.”

The power of the imagination is its ability to give form to the deep truths and visions of the inner divine realm. Imagination gives expression to the higher visions of reality which derive from our divine selves. Language and rational thinking are generally unable to access this higher truth. The imagination is our prophet, bringing us the word of the divine that speaks both through us and from beyond us. We imagine God. That is what biblical mystic Hosea meant when he exclaimed the words of God, “By the hands of my prophets I [God] am imagined.”

But why don’t I feel like such a prophet, handily imagining God? Why don’t we have access to this experience of prophecy? Because the Shechinah is in exile. The erotics of imagination has been exiled into the sexual.

The simplest evidence of this exile is that we all have no problem accessing the power of imagination in the sexual. But we have enormous difficulty accessing that same faculty of erotic imagination, not only in a non-sexual visualization, but in all of our non-sexual lives. What that means is that this core erotic quality of imagination no longer plays in all the arenas of our lives where she is so desperately needed. For it is imagination which allows us to access the wisdom and vision we need to re-chart our lives.

This exile of the erotic Shechinah power of imagination is reflected both in our language as well as our most intimate experience. Our English word fantasy derives from the Greek word phantasi, a verb that means “to make visible, to reveal”. For the ancient Greeks, this fantasizing had nothing to do with sex. It meant “a making visible - through imagining - the world of the gods,” the realm of pure spirit and forms.

So why is it that in modern usage the word “fantasy” first and foremost conjures up images of the sexual? We very rarely talk about economic, political or social fantasies. We don’t even talk about food fantasies. We do talk about sexual fantasy.....all the time. Just like the adjective “erotic,” the verb “fantasize” has found itself relegated to the narrow confines of the merely sexual. The reason is clear. In modernity we have lost much of our ability to make visible, to imagine, the deeper visions of the spirit. It is mainly in the sexual where we use imagination to conjure up images of that which is hidden or not revealed. The limiting of erotic imagination to the sexual is the exile of the Shechinah.

So the goal of a truly erotic existence is to expand imagination beyond the merely sexual and invite it into all the other realms of our lives. This expanded and fully embracing form of imagination is no less than our greatest human birthright.

Bachelard was right when he wrote of the imagination, “More than any other power it is what distinguishes the human psyche.” Or listen to the twentieth century prophet of eros, Norman O. Brown: “Man makes himself, his own body, in the symbolic freedom of the imagination. The Eternal Body of Man is the Imagination.” Hebrew mystical master Nachman of Bratzlav writers: “It is for this reason that man was called Adam: He is formed of adama, the dust of the physical, yet he can ascend above the material world through the use of his imagination and reach the level of prophecy.” The Hebrew word ”I will imagine” is adameh.

For Nachman, the core human movement which gives birth to our spirit is the evolution (within the same root structure) from adama to adameh. Adamah is ground, earth, Gaia. Yet it can also be read as adameh, “I will imagine.” Man emerges from Nature to live what philosopher Joseph Soloveitchik called “a fantasy-aroused existence.”

Imagination is not a detail of our lives nor merely a methodological tool. It is the very essence of who we are. We generally regard ourselves as thinking animals, homo sapiens. Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” is hardwired into our cultural genes. Yet, biblical myth offers an alternative understanding of the concept of “humanness.” The closest Hebrew word to the English “human” or the Latin “homo” is “adam.” The word “Adam” derives from the Hebrew root meaning imagination (d’mayon). The stunning implication is that the human being is not primarily homo sapien, but what I will call “homo imaginus.”

At the very dawn of human existence, man is described as being created in the divine image. “Divine image” does not mean a fixed and idolatrous copy of divinity. God has no fixed form. God is, instead, the possibility of possibility. Consequently, the human being’s creation in the divine image needs to be understood in two ways. First, humanity is not so much “made in God’s image” as we are “made in God’s imagination, a product of the divine fantasy.” Second, as human beings we ourselves participates in divine imagination – homo imaginus.

How different is this understanding from the bleak depression of modern existential thinking! Our longing for the good is dismissed by Sartre as a “useless passion.” Human imagining, writes Camus, condemns us to misery, for it is absurd. We long for goodness, beauty, and kindness in a world perpetually marred by ugliness, evil, and injustice.

But for the biblical mystic, our erotic imaginings of a world of justice and peace marks the immanence of God in our lives. Our creative discontent, that which drives us to imagine an alternative reality, is the image/imagination of God, of Shechina, beating in our breast. The cosmos is pregnant with hints that guide our imaginings. We are called to heal the world in the image of our most beautiful imaginings. The eros of imagination is the elixir of God running through the universe.

"More than two thousand years ago, the great sage Confucius was sitting and talking to four young scholars about what would bring happiness to them. The first said that he would achieve happiness if he achieved the rank of Minister of Defence.
The second said that he would have ultimate joy if he became Minister of Finance.
The third said that he would reach the peak of human pleasure if he became the Emperor's Master of Ceremonies.
The fourth student was bored by the discussion. He played his lute.
Confucius said to him: 'Tseng Tien, I want you to answer the question.'
The young man said: 'Happiness is to be with a group of friends, bathing in the River Yi in late spring. A cooling breeze blows through the rain altars. We sing at the tops of our voices as we stroll home.'
Confucius said only Tien understood anything about happiness.

No wisdom has ever surpassed that of Confucius. But one who may have been equally wise was Lao Tzu, Blade of Grass. Two and a half milleniums ago, he said: 'He who is satisfied, is rich.'

(Some Gleanings of Ancient Chinese Wisdom by C. F. Wong, part 351)"

- from the Feng Shui Detective Goes South, by Nury Vittachi. I love this book, lent to me by mythos, for its wit and wisdom; however, I disagree profoundly with Wong that the Sydney Opera House amounts to the 'feng shui horror house from hell' (maybe, because, unlike him, I happen to find myself a native Aussie!). 'Water (dragon) building in a water environment': what could seem more awesome and spectacular as a national icon, and treasure? I agree with him about the Coathanger, though! lol

Ha! Now this one came very interestingly into Faye's Feng Shui reading today, as one of the things she already did do right: a cunningly placed little bagua mirror in her 'career' sector, i.e. facing front door, representing the element water, and keeping things moving and dynamic there; and it still seems "hot to trot"? Will this full moon never end (it seems the longest ever, lol!)? All good though, but tiring... it seems you can do almost anything with "smoke and mirrors" (or did I just channel Magician + Moon?) hehe

Mordechaï Gafni in Tikkun Magazine Jan. Fév. 2003.

Traduction Spartakus FreeMann, Nadir de Libertalia, novembre 2005 e.v.



La Shekhinah est la Divinité féminine. Son nom signifie Présence,
« celle qui réside en toi ». Elle est la présence, la poésie, la
passion. Elle est la force nourrissante de Dieu qui se meut de par le
monde. Elle est l'éros, la sensualité, la force d'amour sous-jacente
qui connaît nos noms et nourrit tous les êtres.


Les tragiques miroirs du Désir.

Le fantasme et l'imagination détiennent les clés de nombreuses portes,
la moindre n'étant pas celle de notre liberté.

Une histoire racontée par les maîtres de la sagesse suggère que c'est
l'imagination érotique des femmes juives en Égypte qui a produit le
mouvement de leur libération de l'esclavage.

Le Pharaon avait insisté pour que les esclaves mâles dorment dans un
champ séparés de leurs épouses. Les femmes, en contradiction avec le
décret de Pharaon, visitèrent leurs maris dans le champ. Leurs époux,
cependant, tombés sous l'oppression de l'esclavage, avaient perdu leur
pouvoir. En retour, les femmes trouvèrent des outils afin d'évoquer le
désir de leurs époux – des miroirs. Avec ceux-ci, elles excitèrent
l'imagination de leurs maris, même lorsque leur corps ne répondaient
pas. Les femmes, tenant les miroirs de manière à refléter leur beauté
physique, excitaient les hommes en disant « Regarde, je suis plus
belle que toi ».

Les miroirs augmentèrent le jeu sexuel car ils amplifient la qualité
de l'imagination. Tout comme avec l'imagination, le miroir nous offre
une image qui nous permet de voir d'une manière qui nous était
auparavant cachée. Tenez un miroir devant vous et vous verrez soudain
derrière vous.

Grâce aux miroirs de l'imagination des femmes, les hommes purent
retrouver leur vision, voir les images perdues de la beauté sexuelle
de leurs femmes que le fardeau oppresseur de l'esclavage avait rendu
invisible. Avec surprise, cependant, ce ne sont pas leurs propres
corps que les femmes montrèrent aux hommes, à la place, elles
reflétèrent le corps des hommes vers eux-mêmes, les obligeant à voir
leur propre beauté. « Regarde, je suis plus belle que toi ». Les
miroirs sont un outil de l'imagination car ils permettent de voir des
images de nous-mêmes qui seraient autrement inaccessibles.

Selon une tradition biblique, ce jeu érotique des miroirs était
lui-même le commencement de la libération. Dans le jeu érotique,
l'imagination est engagée. Une fois que les femmes enseignèrent aux
hommes à accéder à nouveau à leur imagination, les images de la
liberté ne furent pas longues à suivre. L'Exode de l'esclavage n'était
plus qu'une question de temps.

Une imagination sexuellement érotique fut donc le modèle et le
catalyseur d'une imagination politiquement érotique.. A ce sujet, le
Talmud dit : « Au mérite des femmes justes, les hébreux furent sauvés
d'Égypte ! » Lorsque nous pensons à un groupe typique de femmes
« justes », rarement imaginons-nous une troupe de femmes armées
d'objets sexuels s'en allant séduire leurs hommes dans les champs. Et
pourtant, c'est ce que le Talmud nous dit. Le fait que notre idée de
la justesse soit en contradiction avec la sexualité est un autre
triste exemple de l'exil de la Shekhinah.

Le grand Exode débuta par un homme qui fit un rêve. Il était connu
sous le nom de Nun, un esclave hébreu sous le loi d'Égypte. Un matin
il se réveilla, abasourdi par ses rêves de la nuit. Il avait rêvé ce
qui semblait inimaginable : il avait vu un temps où les hébreux
seraient libres! Plus que libres, ils étaient de courageux guerriers
responsables de la dignité de leur propre destinée. La nouvelle de ces
rêves se propagea. Il est dit que l'espoir enflammé par cette vision
déchaîna les dynamiques de la révolution qui mena enfin à la liberté.

Bien que cela puisse prendre de nombreuses années dans le monde de la
realpolitik, ce rêve fut le véritable commencement de l'Exode.
L'esclavage finit lorsque nous pouvons nous re-imaginer en tant que
personnes libres. Nun n'était autre que le père de Josué, le
successeur de Moïse qui mena le peuple vers la Terre Promise. Toute
liberté commence avec notre volonté de nous tenir debout et de dire
« J'ai un rêve ! » Et même si nous n'obtenons pas la Terre Promise,
nous pouvons mettre en mouvement les courants de la rédemption qui
guérira notre monde. Si nous n'arrivons pas là, nos enfants le feront.
La génération entière de Nun mourut avant d'atteindre Canaan.
Cependant tous leurs petits enfants grandirent dans la Terre Promise.


La Possibilité de la Possibilité.

Le prophète de l'imagination Nikos Kazantzakis écrit : « Vous avez vos
pinceaux et vos couleurs, peignez le paradis et allez-y ». C'est une
proche description de l'esprit qui anime le rituel biblique qui
célèbre chaque année l'Exode de l'Égypte. Chaque année à
l'anniversaire de l'Exode hébreu, les gens se rassemblent pour un
rituel mythique et biblique, la Pâques. Contrairement aux autres
commémorations, celle-ci évolue non autour du souvenir mais de
l'imagination.

Le principe de cette fête est « chaque personne est obligée de se voir
comme si elle quittait l'Égypte ». Cet épigramme talmudique, le mantra
guidant le rituel, est expliqué par les kabbalistes comme une
invitation à une re-imagination personnelle fantastique. Vous êtes en
Égypte – votre propre Égypte personnelles. L'Égypte, Mitsraïm en
hébreu, signifie littéralement « le lieu étroit », le passage étroit
du flux de notre vie. L'Égypte – signifie kabbalistiquement la gorge –
symbolise tous les mots qui restent en travers de notre gorge; les
mots que nous ne disons jamais. Les histoires de nos vies qui restent
non vécues, non-chantées, non imaginées.

Nous sommes des esclaves. L'esclavage pour le kabbaliste est
principalement une crise de l'imagination. Par conséquent, la guérison
de l'esclavage est un rituel de l'imagination. Pendant une soirée
entière, nous devenons dramaturges, chorégraphes et acteurs inspirés.
Nous re-imaginons nos vies comme premier pas de notre cheminement vers
la liberté. Comme Georges Bernard Shaw nous le rappelle :
« L'imagination est le commencement de la création. Vous imaginez ce
que vous désirez; vous désirez ce que vous imaginez; et enfin vous
créez ce que vous désirez ».

Dieu est la possibilité de la possibilité – l'imagination sans limite.

L'imagination n'est pas un jeu infantile. C'est une réalité
spirituelle invoquée par l'enfant sacré intérieur. Le Dieu que nous ne
créons pas n'existe pas. Oui, il y a une force divine qui existe
au-delà de nous. Cependant, il y a également une puissante
manifestation de la divinité qui est nourrie par notre être. Nous
sommes des miroirs érotiques de Dieu. Le premier ensemble de lettres
dans la Bible, « bereshit bara Elohim... » peut être relu comme
« b'roshi tbara elohim » - « en mon esprit Dieu est créé ».

Rebbe Mordechai - © 2003-2004 Tikkun Magazine.

Don't you love it? The god of the sea (Agwe, Poseidon, Neptune or whatever you want to call him) seems with me for tomorrow's Tarot Cafe readings... ;-))

Full moon, and a weird Voodoo dream: pots de tete?

Yikes.com! Speaking of spirit guides, this one just left his calling card, and in no uncertain terms, and in the Voodoo Tarot to boot... *I hear my beloved knocking, and I arise to answer with myrrh dripping off my fingers* (Song of Songs)... After a quite pleasant phone conversation with B-E (although he no longer regards Voodoo among his classification of "pure religions"), I went to bed and to sleep, woke up at about 2 am, noted full moon streaming in through window, could not get back to sleep for a while, so I 'pottered' (interesting word, in the context!) about in AT a bit, before returning to bed and sleep, with the strange 'head' sensation this time of the little balls that maintain balance rolling about in my inner ear, although I lay still...
In my dream, I had a doll which I cherished as if it equated to a real child (maybe on some level, it represents my 'spiritual child' self since recent initiation?). Only, not so much the head, as the plastic front part of the face (persona or mask?) kept falling off, and this odd, moulded clear plastic form kept popping out, kind of like one head on top of another, only also with folded wings in between, kind of like a totem pole (a model of the self/Higher Self relationship?). I kept popping it back in, and replacing the face. Later in the dream I also had another doll, smaller and darker, only it seemed just a head, that spoke to me... It seemed quite embarrassing when this happened in public, or in the presence of someone else (another woman, proprietress of the toy shop, i.e. Ayizan as guardian goddess of the marketplace, domain of women, and maintainer of hounfor proprieties? Interesting that, true to form, she remained more or less faceless, in my dream... Having just commented on her as such in AT on the thread of the Empress).
Woke up with the image of Rada Hounsis (Page or Princess of Swords) before my eyes, feeling somewhat intellectually challenged by all this, and definitely recalling my own Page image of little Alice recently promoted from pawn to queen on the chessboard: only this hounsis lovingly tends all the pots-de-tete in the hounfor, i.e. jars, or sometimes dolls' heads, protectively containing the "Ti Bon Anges" (Temperance angels or spirits) of the sorcerers as talismans, i.e. her particular temple function seems something of a sacristan, in Catholic terms. Must re-research this aspect of Voodooism. I have my own small jar, well-hidden, already, connecting me to this Tarot, and I think of it as my 'pot-de-tete', but I believe they do a lot of work, and art, with dolls' heads in particular, to preserve the spirits of the loa, as in bottles, i.e. real Voodoo art (and not, as everyone thinks from Hollywood, dolls of your enemies for sticking pins in, although that may relate to the 'lefthand side' of Voodooism as in the creation of Zombis for exploitative slave labour! i.e. When you see washed-up dead fugu, puffer fish, on St Kilda beach, think that a Zombi - will-less Hanged One - 'walks' somewhere? ;-P)
I believe I already used a doll's head ('found art') for this purpose in creating my mermaid (La Sirene, 7 of Cups, although I erroneously called her Yemaya (9 of Pentacles) at the time... but then, confusions can happen when in the watery 7 of Cups domain! lol I trust La Siren and Yemaya will both forgive me my ignorance and inexperience, and have a good laugh at my expense! lol
At its silliest, and most literal level, the 'Pope' made an appearance in the last act of Sister Act, in Gawith's "rich tapestry" today, perhaps by way of confirmation? ;-))

Don't you love it? The High Priestess herself (of New Orleans) seems with me now ;-)) 

King of Cups

The Three Fates spread, a popular way to gain insight into the past, present, and future. The Palladini Tarot plus Voodoo Tarot of New Orleans.
	The significator, Congo Houngan: This "guy" looks so feminine, s/he demanded a 3-card spread all his/her own. Generally passive, given to the imaginative imagery in poetry. Enthusiasm can easily fall away. Idealistic
	The left card represents an important element of the past. Petro Hounsis: The essence of fire behaving as earth, such as wood or coal: The surprising appearance of a new passion. An adventurer who blazes through life, acting as a catalyst that others may harness. Obviously someone really well-travelled (cf. "King" above), perhaps through many lifetimes! Emotions prone to rapid change. http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos/photo/165/149.jpg She stirs the pot (brule zin), and in a ritual makes Kanzo, demonstrating mastery over fire... A tasty meal, also for the loa! ;-))
	The middle card represents a deciding element of the present. Guedeh la Flambeau: Looks almost identical to the Page above, i.e. someone who has not aged much, really: moi? This life's journey involves trips to Norway: see Viking ship in background... and still homesick for it now... Power, strength, magnetism, also sexual. Possible arrogance. http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos/photo/165/133.jpg: love affair with the loa, leading to a possible 'marriage': courtship dance! ;-))
	The right card represents a critical element of the future. Olodumare: The seed of prosperity and material gain - perhaps as yet unseen. A new foundation from which to turn your dreams into reality. The need to focus on the practical and understand the dynamics of the natural world. May represent a gift, document, inheritance, or an unexpected opportunity for physical achievement... Woo hoo! Has come up for me a bit lately; looking forward to it... The presence of all material possibilities, from soaring wealth to crushing poverty http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos/photo/165/45.jpg;-))

Court cards and personality disorders

Imho, a must-read for all interested in the psychological dimension of Tarot cards!

http://ineureka.com/tarotreadings/writings/courtcards-personalitydisorders.html

King of Wands. 3. Forceful, charismatic, bold, communicates enthusiasm, seems to dominate the environment... not a quiet, passive observer... is never a wallflower [Bunning]. 4. ...dynamic... a source of ideas [Ops]. 5. Active, enthusiastic, source of ideas and leadership, strong willed, commanding, confident in his plans [Ops]. Masterminds new strategies [Bunning]

Hypomania. Note: Hypomania is not a personality disorder itself, merely a mood state present in some disorders. Hypomania is different than mania in that it is not as severe or lacks psychotic features. To me, the Wand King best matches this mood state, and not the accompanying personality disorders within which this mood state is found---i.e., the KoW might represent a hypomanic episode. Hypomania is a distinct period of elevated, expansive or irritable mood lasting throughout for a period of at least 4 days. During this time, the following is present: 1. Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity. 2. Decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep). 3. More talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking. 4. Flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing. 5. Increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation.

Actually, I relate to this as the more "fun" times in my life, one after a Tibetan Buddhist retreat, when I came to identify as some kind of bodhisattva, that episode lasting about three weeks, and one after a John of the Cross Lay Carmelite retreat, lasting four weeks, when, sad to say, I identified more with Jesus himself (although little kids loved me, as I got down on the floor to colour with them!): bugger food or sleep; I spent all night writing long discursive poems it would probably embarrass me to see now, and by day even the most mundane chores, like scrubbing the kitchen floor, seemed bliss itself! Actually I live for the recurrence of a "hypomanic" episode: it seemed the ultimate adventure/bliss/samadhi in life! I re-approached this state again in Norway, possibly on my "rebirth" as a neo-Mayan, but concurrent stressors and concerns somewhat mitigated the "bliss" aspect, to tell the truth ;-P In my own Tarot, I called this card "the real king of the jungle", featuring a laughing orang utan, wearing a jauntily lopsided crown, and, as a Monkey, I also love how the Voodoo Tarot calls the Fool the World-Egg (what can that suggest but Monkey, *born from a stone egg... irrepressible!*)

My depressive, at times suicidal, episodes seem a thing of the past, but in giving them up, I have unfortunately also given up the hypomania? Although at times I secretly wish it would come back... ;-))

Page of Wands: Bipolar II Disorder.

1. Presence (or history) of
one or more Major Depressive Episodes.

2. Presence (or history) of at
least one Hypomanic Episode.

3. There has never been a
Manic Episode or a Mixed Episode.

4. The mood episodes in
Criteria [1] and [2] are not
better accounted for by
Schizoaffective Disorder and
is not superimposed on
Schizophrenia,
Schizophreniform Disorder,
Delusional Disorder, or
Psychotic Disorder Not
Otherwise Specified.

Associated Features.

1. With hypomania, one may
experience increased
creativity... ideas pour in at
an incredible pace... speech
can be full of jokes, plays on
words and amusing
irrelevancies [Erika
Bukkfalvi Hillard]. Bipolar
creativity and verbal fluency
may be justifiably associated.
Emil Kraepelin (German
psychiatrist) first described
bipolar disorder and noticed
that his patients seemed to
delight in rhymes and puns.
His contemporaries echoed
this observation. [Carmen].

Yikes.com! I also qualified for this one, at least during my hypomanic episodes: hence my preferred clinical self-diagnosis "subclinical bipolar"? (How come poets, of all people with major creative outlets, seem to have the most "mental health issues"?) Mind you, I never found myself so much a rhyming poet, however; Bjorn Erik specialized in that with his deceptively simple, childlike, rhyming, Blakeian quatrains! lol Call this one my "James Joyce complex", i.e. I have occasionally 'channelled' James Joyce, as in Finnegan's Wake, not Ulysses, having read both, and to read Finnegan's Wake, in particular, seems to put your brain through a mental 'gym' of successively solving one cryptic crossword puzzle after another, which seems why most people don't bother! lol Ulysses seems just the mental 'warm-up' required, as we needed a Hayden mass to 'warm up' to approach the Mozart requiem in choral singing! lol I.e. I can even scare myself, at times! B-E seemed much more straightforward (although poetically subtler) when he channelled William Blake! lol But I also credit myself with the psychological/mental feat of having read the entire Blake corpus backwards, and frontwards, and not having them judge me clinically insane! lmao

Makes mental note to self: *stick to painting... Visual artists on the whole, even Vincent, seem to have far less hangups than poets* lol (although I will occasionally lapse into 'poetic mode', as on this blog! lol)

Maybe deep down, I adopt e-prime as a major defence against the "siren song" of this poetic madness? ;-P

Note to self and others: Plato did not like poets either, and wanted to ban them from his republic ;-P

Queen of Cups. 1. Very much affected by surrounding influences [Crowley]. Too much imagination [Ops]. Hypersensitive empath; empathy, (as opposed to sympathy), is more likely to cause a person to over relate events to themselves [Carmen]. 2. Gift of vision [Waite]. The QoC is frequently thought of as a psychic [Carmen]. Has a well-developed sixth sense, can have a telepathic bond with another, is a natural medium [Bunning]. 3. She is... dreamy, as one who sees a vision in a cup [Waite]. Waite's Cup Queen is identified with the Scarlet Woman in Revelation, who has a "golden cup in her hand full of abominations"---our Queen is pictured with a strange cup, a cup that is different from all the other cups in this suit. We might assume that she is seeing a vision, or even scrying [Hmm, yeh, Carmen, don't we all secretly have our Revelation-based delusions? But ssh, not too loud, the shrinks approach! lol]. 4. The Cup Queen may sign her emails with the stereotypical "Love & Light" :) [Thanks, Carmen, that rules this little Queen of Cups out as a stereotypical 'fluffy' New Ager! lol Call me old-fashioned, but I got put off such signatures, by my harsh Q of P's consistent "peace and love" signatures! lol]. 5. The Cup Queen is so hypersensitive to emotive stimuli that she may pick up on subtle emotive content that others do not and react to them, causing others to consider her emotional behavior as "inappropriate" [thanks for the emotional validation, Carmen! 1.Too much imagination [Ops]. Has a well-developed sixth sense, can have a telepathic bond with another, is a natural medium [Bunning]. 2. Gift of vision, she is... dreamy, as one who sees a vision in a cup [Waite]. Too much imagination [Ops].

Schizotypal Personality Disorder. 4. Odd thinking and speech (e.g., vague, circumstantial, metaphorical, overelaborate, or stereotyped).... Hmm, well that would seem a matter of literary opinion; see my poetry pages, and judge for yourself! lol Damn, and I always fancied the "schizotypal personality disorder" as my own; see Beatitudes of DSM-IV in my poetry pages, but I guess I seem more Wandsy (Moon and Mercury in Aries) than I thought (sidereal Pisces), and the Voodoo Tarot would also see my strength in either fire or earth, btw! ;-))

And I might have made a great Queen of Swords (i.e. major depressive disorder or PTSD, but see my Goddess cycle (in poetry pages), especially the ending... i.e. my natural feminism would not let me! lol

Knight of Swords. 1. Mercurial personality, erratic behavior [Ops]. Unstable of purpose, he slays as fast as he creates [Crowley] (important here because BPDs commonly hate today those they loved yesterday; it demonstrates "extremes of idealization and devaluation." As such, they commonly destroy the very relationships they "can't live without." -Carmen). Enmity, wrath, war [Waite]. Commands attention, forces a position on others [Bunning]. 7. In full course, as if scattering his enemies... defense, enmity, resistance [Waite] (all common response-behaviors to paranoid ideation [Carmen]). Is cold and aloof, is cut off from emotions [Bunning] (dissociative -Carmen). 1. Strength and dash of a young man, impetuous rush into the unknown without fear [Scapini]. 2. May defend ideas fanatically... brave, strong, fearless, skillful [Ops]. Elusive and elastic mind supporting various and contradictory opinions... a fanatic [Crowley]. Bravery, skill, capacity, heroic action... conceited fool [Scapini]. Believes he or she is always right, lacks tolerance of other viewpoints, is arrogant [Bunning].

Borderline Personality Disorder. 1. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation. 2. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self. 3. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., sex, substance abuse,). Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5. 4. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria [agitation disquiet, restlessness -Carmen], irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days). 5. Chronic feelings of emptiness. 6. Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights). 7. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms. Associated features. 1. Emotional equilibrium in constant jeopardy, unpredictable, impetuous, erratic, impulsive, aggressive, uses their abilities in destructive ways. 2. Borderline pathology can include lack of humility and a core of omnipotence, conceit, and self-righteousness [Akhtar].

Actually this sounds far more like Bjorn Erik than the King! ;-P

King of Pentacles = dipsomania, or alcohol abuse? Note: Waite's Pentacle King wears a robe decorated with bunches of grapes, which are a symbol of wine, intoxication, orgy and luxury. Fertility icons such as Bacchus (Roman) and Dionysus (Greek) have bunches of grapes as their symbols. Bacchanalia is the lascivious festival of Bacchus; the celebration became forbidden because of excessive drunkenness, sexual practices and criminality. The Pentacle King's throne is decorated with bull's heads, a male symbol of virility [Yeh, right, Carmen, and you know the real effects of alcohol on male sexual performance, in particular! They only wish they could , but can't get it up when the occasion arises; cf. Shakespeare, "(alcohol) increaseth the desire but taketh away the performance" ;-P] This ascription seems way off in my books, because, while a real King of Pentacles may well enjoy a little tipple, no way would s/he let it interfere with his/her social/work, not to mention sexual, performance! (In fact, as an aspiring King of Wands, I crave a King of Pentacles as the ideal lover... *sigh*) A highly superficial reading, imho, based solely on the spurious RW! lol "What does this mean? It means clearly that normal is not synonymous with "right" or "good". Fortunately, there are other models to choose from." My point exactly in the Beatitudes of DSM-IV poem ;-)) "The sociocultural theory calls to question current psychiatric practices... many of our best-known artists, writers and geniuses have been labeled 'abnormal'." All in all, please give me a jolly old King of Wands any day? (What would correspond to an appropriate AT avatar?) The Voodoo Tarot currently (correctly?) identifies me as a Petro Mambo (Queen of Wands), but I shyly, secretly and androgynously aspire to the Houngan... kissed by the bliss of the serpent kiss as the Mambo appears! lol OK, I know what I have to do, I have to seriously get into the drumming thing!! Since, as a Hermit (Beltane spread), I already "march to the beat of a different drum" anyway, and have already knocked one of its knockers off in the noble cause of a previous anti-war demonstration! lol

I begin my Voodoo journey with this card, "the little guardian angel" as opposed to the "big guardian angel" of the Sun: kind of takes me back to (Catholic) primary school and the little angel sitting on our shoulder, who writes all of our good deeds in gold on one side of a ledger, and all our bad deeds in black on the other side... It pays to stay in sweet with one's "little angel"; I wonder what sort of offering/sacrifice she would like?

10 of Cups:

If you have found your holy grail when the 2 become 1, "when 1 becomes 2, what will you do?"(gospel of Thomas). You cannot step in the same river twice: PANTA RHEI, "everything flows" (Heraclites). By the willows and many waters of Babylon, we hung up our harps on the branches of the willow and refuse to sing another song of the Lord "in terra aliena" (Psalm 78, the captives' psalm). As long as we find ourselves in mortal exile here, our souls still thirst for freedom, thirst for water to become wine, until the Day of Days when it arrives at last, even as we continue to walk "by still waters, in pastures green" (Psalm 23), shepherded by the goddesses Nemi and Freyja. And so our souls taste of a Blakeian resurrection even here, as we feel ourselves freed from the bonds of Tirzah, our earthly mother: "then, woman, what have I to do with thee?" In my end seems my beginning; in my beginning (genesis) seems the seed of my end (apocalypse). The Voodoo Tarot emphasizes for some reason the trees of the forest (and their lord, Gran Bois): "just like a tree planted by the waterside, we shall not be moved" ;-))

A Whimsical Tarot story, as posted on AT

Missed out on ringing B-E on his birthday tonight (stupid phone card would not work, on either this phone or the one at the 7/11); hopefully he waits as patiently as this card describes ...

King of Cups http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos/photo/105/127.jpg
5 of Pentacles http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos/photo/105/109.jpg
7 of Swords http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos/photo/105/85.jpg

He stands all alone on the wind-swept shore, asking the sky why his cup seems suddenly empty. He strains to listen, but hears only the gusts of the wind, and the rhythmic plashing of the waves, that echoes the wave-pattern around the hem of his own tunic.

Who stole the wine? That seems the problem, on which this holistic Dirk Gently must use his best detective abilities in this long dark cocktail hour of the soul, when he can no longer kid himself that the cup still seems at least half-full, because someone has stolen all the wine from his cellars, leaving not so much as a Guinness to accompany his fish and chips! He scries into the lees left inside the cup, and thinks immediately of that dastardly rogue, Captain Hook, last seen sailing off in the moonlight under his Jolly Roger flag, swearing vengeance (and treason) on the king! You cur, you swine, you... you.... you dastardly rogue, cad, and bounder, he thinks, and raises his own fist, swearing revenge in turn.

People always did call him 'paranoid', but how can you not feel paranoid, when you saw the villain's own son, disguised as the Knave of Hearts at a festive occasion, sneak up to the window of the kitchen where the cook had set out some tarts to cool, and steal them brazenly, in full daylight? Not only does Captain Hook seem a right villain, but he also brings up the younger generation in his own thieving ways... *grrr!* "I'll get you, Captain Hook," he swears.

And a haiku, also for B-E:

Quote:

Originally Posted by starsongs chalice gently holds rivers of inspiration molding rocky gorge

He stands all alone
on the wind-swept shore, asking
for rain to fill cup

Today's Tarot: - Ace of Swords: Kether of air

"Know that a great light, Excalibur, has come into the world, the power of prayer, a brilliant idea, or the Tarot itself, to light your way; know that you yourself amount to the Light which has come into this world, "and the darkness comprehended/grasped it not." " I don't know, but my old interpretation just does not seem to fit, with this new image from the Voodoo Deck of New Orleans: perhaps it has something to do with the serpent (Danballah) who really did equate to the first light- or gnosis-bringer, and did not muck around around when he said: "Eat of the fruit of this tree, for on the day you eat, you shall not die, but your eyes shall open, and you will become like gods, knowing good and evil." Perhaps see "my poetry pages" in blogroll in sidebar, for a couple of great poems (if I say so myself, with absolutely no false modesty whatsoever!): Midrash Hevae (or the reflective paraphrase of Eve, on Genesis) and Who Are You, Snake Woman? For, while Danballah the serpent amounts to a god in the Voodoo pantheon, his consort Ayida Wedo seems implied in the name of this card, i.e. the 2 have truly become 1, as indistinguishable as the rainbow (Wedo) and serpent (Danballah) in the rainbow serpent... I think the Voodoo Tarot here hints at mysteries of kundalini and the chakras... You could also see him as the qabbalistic 'lightning-flash' descending through the spheres on the Tree of Life... Perhaps I should expect (third) eye-opening revelations? ;-))

Diverse Tarots, and a Mexican slideshow

Wow! the Fairytale Tarot (http://www.fairytaletarot.com/Foreword.htm) looks nice (although I would find the stories more obscure than the Whimsical to actually use in readings), the Tarot of Prague (http://www.tarotofprague.com/c_majors.htm) looks even more splendid, in its Baroque magnificence, but in my books the Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot (http://www.bohemian-cats.com/tarot/home.htm) takes the guernsey, for anyone who likes fairytales, a touch of the whimsy, the surreal, the Baroque, and, of course, cats, cats and more cats! lol

And while we still find ourselves in this month of the Dead, why not enjoy Joaquin Flavio's slideshow of rural Mexican "dias de los muertos"? Relax and enjoy: it seems almost as good as finding yourself there! http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=hiabqcn.7zt9tnf&Uy=z11r0l&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

This also equates to a major bedtime image, so how come I don't want to sleep?

OK, guess I feel like the little kid, curling up, thumb-sucking, ready to sleep, after full-on, in-depth session with mythos the therapist?

Apollonia/Amanda's Whimsical reading

Apollonia/Amanda in AT did me a lovely reading with the Whimsical Tarot http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos/album/105; this equates to my "Body" card, in her Body/Mind/Spirit/Spiritual Blessing reading ;-))

Mind card, from the Whimsical Tarot ;-))

Spirit card from the Whimsical Tarot

Actually, the more I look at this card, especially as a "Spirit" card, the more I feel struck by the big gust of spirit/wind issuing from the wolf's mouth, and also by the fact that, no matter how much the "big, bad wolf" (of fate and karma) has "huffed and puffed" in my life, still my little brick house (of my marriage to and love of Bjorn Erik) stands firm! Perhaps because of all my "hanging in there" (see Arachne the Spider Goddess below, hanging from her own web) ;-))

Blessing card, from the Whimsical Tarot

what goes up, must come down...spinning wheel, spin around...talk about your troubles, it's a crying sin...ride a painted pony, let the spinning wheel spin!

John Howard...suspected of seriously un-Australian activities? "Presumption of innocence" in relation to trials, Johnny? Call me old-fashioned... ;-P

It seems amazing how close this Agwe seems to my own 4 of Swords...and I still want to sample that spirit in the Tarot cafe!

Biting the bullet: reading re Australia's proposed new IR legislation

Voodoo Tarot of New Orleans
	The significator, not shown is the card you have chosen to embody your presence and the focus of the reading. Petro Mambo (Queen of Wands): The essence of fire behaving as water, such as a rainbow: The natural embodiment of passion and sensuality, who is always the center of attention. One who reflects the desires and ambitions of others, and ignites them. A radiantly vital person, cocky and charismatic, who sees what she wants and goes after it, i.e. all oppositional forces, as a whole ;-))
	The card at the top left represents how you see yourself. Damballah Wedo (Ace of Swords): The seed of victory - perhaps as yet unseen. A challenge to be met and solved through the invocation of force. An opportunity to bring reason and intelligence to bear in the pursuit of justice and truth. An excessive power that must not be abused. May suggest new ideas or information that can reveal a solution to the problem at hand; also invoking 'light', aid and insight from the Tarot itself!
	The card at the top right represents how you see your partner. Petro Houngan (King of Wands): The essence of fire behaving as air, such as lightning: A great and daring leader who inspires others to rise to challenges alongside him. An artist who can take hold of an idea and make it a reality through bold action. One who is forceful, charismatic, and honest, leading by example, but unafraid to invest authority in others. A dashing and magnetic personality, carrying authority naturally, and striking at the world with swiftness and grace. Trade union movement mobilising...
	The card in the center left represents how you feel about your partner. Ti Bon Ange (Temperance): Calm and restraint. Self-control, patience and tact in handling situations. The act of applying balanced spiritual and psychic forces to physical life.
	The card in the center right represents what stands between you and your partner. Eleggua (Six of Discs): A time of prosperity and profit. Success and generosity in material things. Workers divided by "individual contracts", and also the fact that management has thrown many on to the "scrapheap", i.e. dole. It seems basically a "boss's market".
	The card in the lower left represents how your partner sees you. Les Morts (Death): A major change or transformation, possibly traumatic and unexpected. Freedom from the shackles of the past. A new beginning. Death coupled with rebirth, usually related to consciousness and lifestyle, i.e. differing perspective from the ranks of the long-term unemployed, and "working for the dole".
	The card in the lower right represents what your partner feels about you. Legba La Flambeau (Six of Wands): A sense of honor and satisfaction at the resolution of an important matter. Triumph after great struggle. Jubilation at the hearing of good news. The realization of hopes and desires. We can all work together, i.e. employed, unemployed and under-employed alike?
	The card in the center represents the present status or challenge of the relationship. Simbi (Eight of Swords): Criticism, censure, and the imposition of external restrictions (the so-called 'anti-terror' laws don't help; here we see the interface between the two, and why they appear concurrently). We all seem equally targets and scapegoats of the media. Look out for vicious smear campaigns to play out there, so stay tuned, and responsive, to this, for a change! Confusion leading to powerlessness? Being hamstrung by a past failure or humiliation, or even hamstrung to the point of not seeming able to achieve victories as in the past, e.g. 8-day?

I love the 2 of Swords, no matter how many times it turns up! (Not so happy about the back-handed Ace of Pentacles, though!) lol
Plus daily card from the Voodoo Tarot of New Orleans:

Santero (King of Discs): i.e. "grounded shaman" - time to do the Middle Pillar ritual again? The essence of earth behaving as air, such as a diamond: A true businessman, with a gift for identifying opportunities and taking advantage of them. A person well informed about the world, skilled in all things physical, and eager to encourage others. A pillar of practicality and dependability, embracing tried and tested methods, and possessing an innate understanding of the material reality. A philanthropist and devotee of both luxury and hard work, whose word is as good as gold.

And if you find yourself at all interested in how we "create our day" as per What the Bleep?, check out http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/07/15/is_dna_hypercommunication_a_native_internet.htm

gaia I: earth hallow

As in the Celtic Trinity icon, here Africa seems a virgin giving birth to a new earth. "What goes around, comes around" equates to the law of karma, also materially. "As you give, so you receive", also in terms of consciousness, to the world. The Goddess loves a strong and beautiful giver, who gives to one as strong and beautiful as herself! We comprise Ourobouros, the serpent girdling the world: eternity seems in love with the deeds and karma of time. Africa's love bathes the whole world in rays of love, her soul black as "caffa", and as beautiful!

Justice: The spider's comfort

The vindication of the just and the punishment of the unjust. Rule of reason. Balance of power (=karma). "Worry no more, you soldier's son / Just walk on by, and you'll be fine" (Finn Corey's William Blake project).
The yin-yang of opposing complementarities bound together in the spider's web of life, threads of fate and karma binding each to the other - the red and the green - Martian militancy and Venutian harmony reconciled in fairness at last - this seems what I would truly call a miracle, a "win-win" situation, as per A Course in Miracles! Behind thyself (TVAT TVAM ASI), in each facet of Grandmother Spider's web to which she has bound you, even the jewelled prismatic eyes of flies that the spider will eat for breakfast tomorrow - in this wondrous web of interrelationship, even the spider and the fly become one, for the spider only eats itself, whatever it eats! And Johnny Howard always did remind me of Louie the Fly (in the old Mortein ad), I have even caricatured him as such, so take this as a warning, Louie: you WILL make some spider a nice breakfast, some day! Yes, this card does feel like "the spider's comfort" after devastating reading below (somebody just shoot me, if I ever want to do a facade.com reading again?) lol

Even the ABC news leads me to suspect there may exist some justice in the universe, after all, and despite the worst efforts of the Howard regime! ;-))

Deep Space, Inner Space, and reading re so-called 'anti-terror' laws

I can thoroughly recommend this exhibition by Judy Racz, on at St Francis' Pastoral Centre, in the city (next to the church) until the 12th November. Unfortunately, imho, her website http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/judy_racz/index.html fails to do justice to it, because it does not include such mindblowing and breathtaking works as Artist Contemplating Pegasus in the Horsehead Nebula, Earth and Sky, Cartwheel Galaxy, Starbirth in the Eagle Nebula, Rosette Nebula, Clouds of Stardust (Antares in Scorpius with Nebula), Listening to the Limitless Sky, and last but certainly not least, the Elemental Embrace of Chaos and Cosmos; get on down there, cosmology lovers!
Inspired by my evening meditation with the Secret Dakini Oracle last night (World, i.e. "act locally, think globally", + 5 of Swords: Kali - *these boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do/one of these days these boots are going to walk all over you.... Are you ready, boots? Start walking!*) I took to the streets today with 'a few' other Melburnians, to protest Howard's proposed new so-called 'anti-terror' laws, even more Draconian than the American Patriot Act apparently, because unprotected by constitutional guarantees... Here follows my facade.com take on whether this amounts to their beginning, or their end (not to mention Howard's):

The Celtic Cross spread seems one of the most popular Tarot spreads, and the Rider Waite Tarot the most widely recognized Tarot deck, the first deck published in the 20th century, created by members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
	The card not shown but at the center of the cross, represents the atmosphere surrounding the central issue. Four of Pentacles (Power): Cleaving to earthly power in the desperate fear that it will be lost. Making yourself an obstacle to progress due to lack of originality and a desperate fear of change. Believing that security and identity are based primarily on the possession of material things. Coveting things and people. Living in a cloud of suspicion and prejudice. Yep, sounds like "our Johnny", under whose simultaneously proposed IR legislation, workers could not even campaign for the 8-hour day, as they did 150 years ago, so far back has he set us!
	The card visible at the center of the cross represents the obstacle that stands in your way - it may even represent something that sounds good but does not actually work to your benefit. Queen of Wands: The essence of fire behaving as water, such as a rainbow: our rainbow flag? The natural embodiment of passion and sensuality, always the center of attention. Incendiary, cocky and charismatic socialist splinter-groups?
	The card at the top of the cross represents your goal, or the best you can achieve without a dramatic change of priorities. Six of Cups (Pleasure): Remembering our democracy and civil rights fondly but nostalgically as a thing of the past? I shall tell any unborn future grandchildren: "I remember when...they allowed us to march peacefully through the streets, and voice our displeasure, without locking us up"?
	The card at the bottom of the cross represents the foundation on which the situation is based. Queen of Pentacles: Economic so-called 'rationalism', and US imperialism, which nevertheless fails to deliver economically to those at the bottom of the social order.
	The card at the left of the cross represents a passing influence or something to be released. Page of Cups: the importance of personal relationships in business and material affairs. Unborn generations.
	The card at the right of the cross represents an approaching influence or something to be embraced. Judgement: A swift and conclusive decision. The resolution of a matter long unanswered. A change in point of view, most frequently towards greater enlightenment (but in reality even George Orwell turns in his grave?). Final balancing of karma.
	The card at the base of the staff represents your role or attitude. Five of Swords (Defeat): marching with Kali , to the beat of a different drum - cannot hope to win? i.e. even the Trojan war pitted various gods and goddesses against each other; when each side has a god or goddess on its side, who can win?
	The card second from the bottom of the staff represents your environment and the people you are interacting with. Seven of Swords (Futility): An opportunity to withdraw from a hopeless situation and fight another day. Disengagement from a struggle you should never have been involved in. A desperate attempt to resolve a matter without conflict. The use of cleverness to turn the tide in your favor. Lack of trust and basic paranoia, i.e. how do we know the person marching beside us, or taking photos, does not represent an ASIO spy? ;-P
	The card second from the top of the staff represents your hopes, fears, or an unexpected element that will come into play. Nine of Swords (Cruelty): Debilitating mental anguish, depression. Catastrophic loss. How can anyone sleep while our bed (of democracy and civil rights) burns? Whatever happened to the "power and the passion"? Stumpfsinn, apathy, on the faces of the onlookers.... or smirking derision ;-P
	The card at the top of the staff represents the ultimate outcome should you continue on this course. Five of Cups (Disappointment): Suffering a loss and wishing for what might have been. Being crippled by sadness, grief, and vain regret.... Speaks for itself. Would it help for us all to write to our MPs, at this point?

Three of Swords: A mother's heart

... yikes.com! (the standard initial 'knee-jerk' response, lol!) : sing out, little heart, for this time you seem pierced not by the grail-spear (5 of wounds), but by the grail-swords! Only the Holy Mother knew this, as prophesied by Simeon, and "therefore all generations shall call me blessed"? Break into song and sing your own Magnificat now, for the Lord has truly blessed you, in this rending and piercing. If you like, you may offer some prayers to the Virgin-Mother-Crone Mary as well (see http://www.geocities.com/nemisogg/mafsela_index.html - warning: material may offend some, if not most, viewers!), and preferably do so in song (because it hurts less that way, no matter how sad the song!) ;-P This seems especially harsh in conjunction with the rune Hagal, but for that very reason I suspect it has something to do with Bjorn Erik's mother (the mother and mother-in-law from hell, because she, if anyone, deserves it, as the classic schizophrenogenic mother?)... *have just updated Bjorn Erik's blog, bjornerik.blogspot.com, right now, on the strength of this* ;-))

Poems to chant at the feet of La Santa Muerta

The cult of La Santa Muerta seems exactly the kind of religion we need in the chaotic world in which we live (see post and comments below): picture courtesy of Flavio, El Intuitivo, again... I now have my own Mexican La Senora Muerta enthroned on my altar; unfortunately I cannot scan her, or I would ;-))

"I am of the family of the universe, and with all of us together I do not fear being alone; I can reach out and touch a rock or a hand or dip my feet in water. Always there is some body close by, and when I speak I am answered by a plane's roar or the bird's whistling or the voices of others in conversation far apart from me. When I lie down to sleep, I am in the company of the dark and the stars.
"Breathe to me, sheep in the meadow. Sun and moon, my father and my father's brother, kiss me on the brow with your light. My sister, earth, holds me up to be kissed. Sun and moon, I smile at your light and spread my arms in affection and lay myself down at full length for the earth to know I love it too and am never to be separated from it. In no way shall death part us."
- David Ignatow

"Sensuous during life
do not deny me in death!

Wash me with the scent of apple blossom.

Anoint me with the essence of lilac.

Fill my veins with honeysuckle nectar.

Sprinkle me with the perfume of purple violets.

Envelop me in shroud saturated with fragrance of freshly mown meadow hay.

Rest me in moss velvet earth.

Cover me with soil exuding flavor of maple and oak leaves.

Command a white birch to stand guard!"
- Lois Wickenhauser
(both poems from Earth Prayers)

Speaking of Death, this White Spectral Death day...

We can now add to the list of victims the retired 77 yr. old TCU professor from Ft Worth whose body was found last week in Oklahoma --and the 11 yr. old in Sarasota , FL. Because of these recent abductions in daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation...

1 . Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide in New Orleans . If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you.... AND RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If he throws you into the boot of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit, doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON'T DO THIS! This amounts to the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.


5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
a.) look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat.
b.) If you have parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women attempt to get into their cars.
c.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male sits alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY (and better paranoid than dead?)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells seem horrible places to find yourself alone, and the perfect crime spot. This seems especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun and does not have you under his control, RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times, and even then, it most likely WILL NOT hit a vital organ. RUN, preferably in a zig -zag pattern!

8. As women, we always try to show sympathy: STOP! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, seemed good-looking, well educated, and ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked "for help" into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because of the late hour, and she thought it weird. The police told her, "Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door."

She worried that the baby would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, "We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door." He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they find themselves home alone at night.

You should probably take this e-mail seriously because they mentioned the Crying Baby theory on America's Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana.

Today's Tarot: The Sun, from the Cosmic Tribe Tarot: Love Oracle

The mystery of love seems unsolvable; a crossword puzzle with no clues, no answers. Make the words your own.

Jesus seems alive and well...

...and they have spotted him making an appearance at the Mexican "Dias de los Muertes"? This blog seems rapidly becoming a procession in honour of this, this month of the dead, courtesy of Flavio's blog ;-))

La Santa Muerta would make a great Despedida card in herself...

...note rosaries around neck and hand, also linking him to the Empress, as Virgin Mary, and the way he holds the orb also suggests, to me, the Venus or women-symbol... and maybe even a great Chaos magick servitor to infiltrate the system of Frankston hospital to expedite the long-delayed operation of Ken? ;-))

Eviva la lucha de las mujeres!

This one from Flavio certainly links the idea of the Empress to the idea of Death; see the feminist symbol also as the Venus symbol on the Empress card (RW); at this angle, the concentric circles appear more like a spiral labyrinth, which could apply equally well to either the Empress or Death? The Spanish slogan above seems one of the few bits of Spanish I can recall from my very political Nicaraguan-revolutionary days (in Germany!) ;-))

From Flavio's "El Intuitivo" blog

I especially like the "Flavio" head: what have they made him of, and what does this mean, exactly? (Pity I cannot read the Spanish, to get the full gist, although I can kind of guess, perhaps!) And it might seem really strange putting these pictures of Flavio's "ofrenda" in the context of an "Empress" day, but there does seem a direct line of connection between the Empress and Death, in that the Great Mother who gives birth, also ipso facto gives the fact of death, a correspondence stunningly highlighted in the Voodoo tradition, in which Baron Samedi (Lord of Death, or Yum Cimi to the Mayans) appears also as the consort of Ezili Freda, the Goddess of Love... Think about it, but I cannot but hint at the mystical implications: eros and thanatos deeply intertwined (perhaps you need to think like a Scorpio here, i.e. 'sex, death and the occult', as opposed to the Piscean 'sex, drugs and rock and roll', to begin to get the gist! ;-))

ofrenda 2005, picture courtesy of Flavio

Here, in this warm, mellow and glowing ambience, you get an idea of the context of the "Flavio" head, which in my understanding (from the Secret Dakini Oracle) suggests something like "The Last Laugh" of Death as ultimately everybody's future, so ultimately Death will have "the last laugh" at all our expense, and "graveyard humor" seems the only true humor? Correct me if I have made an error, here, Flavio! ;-))

The Great Mother, or Empress:

the great Love of the Father, for truly it seems not us the Father loves, but Her; "little children, be on guard against false gods", and goddesses, i.e. those plaster Virgin Maries weeping tears of so-called blood - there seems nothing false about Her blood, that lines the juicy walls of her endometrium with capsicum red, nor about the juicy capsicum red of her vagina polycarpa, seemingly dentata, with its little rows of capsicum-seeds - nor about the horns of a bull to draw down the moon - the delicate hormonal interplays within everywoman that walks as a goddess in flesh and blood - she resembles a woman you could meet on any street, just as her consort, Pan, the Emperor, seems also a 'regular bloke' you could meet on any street - but have you looked into her face, and beheld the "ancient face" (Mike Scott) of the Great Mother? Sometimes I just don't like the mealy-mouthed, "butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth" the Rider Waite Tarot gives her (as it also gives the Magician, by the way); to me, her essence fairly reeks of idolatry and sacred pornography - Woo hoo! I seem about to have an "Empress" day at long last? ;-))

Spicks and Specks

Omg, you gotta love the original '60's videoclip of Spicks and Specks, featuring the Beegees in a Beatles-esque romp, shot at Essendon airport, just shown on Spicks and Specks! *I wish my brother Craig were here!* ;-))

This powerful month kicks off with a NEW MOON in LIBRA in conjunction with the Libra Sun. Over the next month to six weeks, we'll seek truth in all of our relationships.

Virgo Aug 22 -- Sept 22

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Most of all you take on this month deals with relationships of every nature. Whether personal, professional or romantic, you feel the stresses of all this incredible planetary action. Mercury retrograde, Uranus and Saturn going direct could alter how you perceive others. And the only way to change your perspective seems to open up and talk to them, and with them about your feelings, and what you want and need, for you. Some may understand, and some may not. However, what is most important now is that you at least open up to others, fostering ongoing communication that allows fair treatment for all concerned. Now does not support control and power plays, and you will rally against those who try to assert their power over you. Relax and know that in stating what you want, and sticking to it, lies your truth. Spiritual Blessing: The greatest rewards of life come from choosing to Live Well.

Libra (or Libra rising)

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Happy Birthday!! Monetary concerns change for the better mid-month when you get a nice surprise in a career related situation, a bonus or a raise. Whatever the financial situation, it will reward you, and you will feel happy about your opportunities from the experience. Family and friends may also have a delightful impact on your psyche when you learn that someone whom you thought perhaps didn't care about you at all, actually admires and could even love you! Greater clarity comes from understanding what and whom is priority in your life and disallowing stress, strife and dissonance to take place in areas that seem already very good. Spiritual Blessing: Practice diplomacy and remember balance in every area of your life, striving for compromise.

Lunatic Tarot

Wow! You gotta love this Lunatic Tarot - funny that it came up straight away for me at www.tarotgarden.com, without my having to search for it (there seems a message in that for all of us!) lol The Magician as 'Mad Hatter' looks awesome, I love how the Sun represents a female, and me as either the Queen of Cups or Justice...now would that not look great at the next Tarot Cafe? lol And maybe Sebi could turn up as the Mad Hatter, if he promises to behave (now when did the Mad Hatter ever behave himself, except at his own 'tea party'?) lol

Not the 2 of Swords again, by any other name (this time as per the William Blake Tarot)...A rose by any other name...*peace, is up to you* raps on the radio, as I type this! lol

Very cool illusion, by the way: http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/cool/cool_illusion.html
Go on, check it out, I dare you; you know you want to! lol

More visual mind games, for your enjoyment: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mind/games.html#

Flavio's Mexican altar this Day of the Dead (picture courtesy of Flavio, El Intuitivo) ...and it does seem worth checking out the link to the rest of the altar pictures on his blog, in this comment box ;-))