Meanings Can Be in the Details

Sometimes the relevance of a tarot card to a situation can be in the details. In fact there is a whole technique taught by the Tarot School of New York called The Voice in the Card. You let your eye wander over a card and fix on a detail, which is what the card has to say in that reading. It may have no relevance at all to the book meaning of the card!

Some examples of these details are the many details on the Rider Waite Smith deck which have been chewed over at length by the tarot community. In fact I have previously done a whole post on Hidden Mickeys in the deck.

 

The lizard on the King of Wands, the snail on the 9 of Pentacles, the rabbit on the Queen of Pentacles, and the red ticket in the pocket of the man on the right on the 6 of Pentacles.

Sometimes these meaning-supplying details are still something relevant to the design, such as the plan or mallet on the 3 of Pentacles, or the tents on the 7 of Swords.

And sometimes they can be details of the card which otherwise might be thought to function purely as part of Pam's setting of the scene, such as the wall in the 6 of Cups or the tree (look carefully, I promise it's there!) on the 4 of Pentacles:

In fact I find that tree particularly edifying, especially as the Golden Dawn title for the card is Lord of Earthly Power. The tree and the city in the background make me think of a politician sticking to his guns over preserving the environment for the benefit of the state. This meaning is literally miles from common interpretations of this card as meaning a tight wad, a stubborn bastard, medically suggesting constipation or blockages and in a love reading no chance of anal at all. It's interesting how the details make the card mean something else in these cases, whereas if you think about the plan on the 3 of Pentacles, it doesn't really change the normal textbook meaning.

Sometimes allowing details of a card to rise in your mind brings up things which aren't depicted on the card and arise purely from your connection with the card.

Forget the Fool's dog, this is all about the Hierophant's y-fronts. And they are literal y-fronts. Read into that what you will. And then there is the 9 of Pentacles lady's decree absolute which is of quite extraordinary importance to her even though you can't see it. She told me.

I might do a post of random details suggested to me by the cards and their characters but I fear it would be far too personally revealing....

Advanced Tarot Secrets

Periodically I get an urge to write a book about advanced tarot. In fact this blog was partly inspired by my frustration with the lack of advanced magic books, although I will never actually write this book - I mean, have you found a publisher that would commit commercial suicide by publishing the kind of autocratic opinionated stuff on this blog? - not just because I lack the application these days but I don't think it is possible.

There are only two sorts of magic books. You have the general introduction sort which clutter the shelves of Foyle's. In tarot terms these all without exception take you through the meaning of each card then talk about technique so they are all essentially the same book. The other is the advanced book and these are all (with a few exceptions) a detailed guide to a particular tradition. You find this for both magic books and tarot books. It can help to get the principles of a couple of magic or tarot trasitions under your belt but not helpful to keep on doing this. There are a few pagan authors who have made a writing career out of writing essentially the same book, just for different traditions as their interest moves.

There are just a few exceptions to these two sorts of books and they are written by genuine experts. The big secret is what makes them experts. Experts at tarot have moved beyond the basics and internalized tarot in a way which you can't from books. When you listen to them you will hear that they have actually entered the tradition in a very experiential way, complimented by book learning. Alejandro Jodorowsky actually describes doing this in The Way of Tarot, living within and communicating with tarot in a very personal way. Exactly like you would with any other magical tool.

Other examples would be Mary K Greer and Rachel Pollack. They all know a lot intellectually but have got inside the tarot in a way which is very personal. This also reminds me of Pamela Colman Smith's favoured tarot reading technique, of getting into the position of the characters on the card. Like that, you experience what they are experiencing and thus what the card is depicting.

This would mean that apart from a very detailed book about a whole tradition of magic or tarot it isn't possible to write an advanced 'textbook' because the advanced learning comes from the tradition. I am very aware that what I am saying is essentially the same thing as the Christian monastic tradition's 'Sit in your cell and it will teach you everything'. Or sit in your hedge, if you are a hedge witch.

I'm not even sure that specific techniques can necessarily be taught, as they can tend to be too directive and end up taking the student into one tradition again. I'm also very mindful (mindful, geddit?) that there is a significance to the sitting thing because of the Buddhist tradition of sitting meditation.

So I think you can rest assured you're spared the effect on my head of having a book published any time soon.

Hedge trimmer anyone?

The Rider Waite Trumps are Seen From Inside the Tree

I can't believe it has taken me over twenty years of studying and reading tarot but just this week I discovered that the Major Arcana in the Rider Waite tarot are designed as seen from the other side of the Tree of Life to the one we look at and only make sense when seen in mirror image (excellent background to the Qabalistic Tree of Life and tarot here).

The top of the Tree showing the top two pathways with their corresponding Trumps is shown above. I suppose I had probably thought the Fool and Magician looked slightly wrong imposed on the Tree (look, many magical men are gay for a reason) but then I read this:

'This iconic image of the Fool holds a number of hidden references to the Tree of Life. The white sun at the upper right refers to Kether, the first sephira. [...] The line of the image passes from the sun to the lower left, reflecting the Fool's path from an inside-the-Tree perspective.' T. Susan Chang and M.M. Meleen: Tarot Deciphered. Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury Minnesota, 2021, p.27.

So if you take the white sun on the Fool as representing kether, it means the Fool is actually depicted from inside the Tree, the other direction from the one we normally see it. To make sense on the Tree as normally depicted it needs to be seen in left-to-right mirror image thus:

And suddenly it all starts to make sense! The sun clearly represents kether and is in the right place and both the Fool's trajectory and the line of the mountains match the angle of the pathway as seen on the Tree. They are even in the all important to the Golden Dawn exact shade of the pathway so clearly can only mean the pathway.

So the Rider Waite Smith tarot contains some allusions to the Tree of Life which aren't automatically apparent because they're depicted the wrong way round for the Tree as we normally look at it. I wonder if this was one of Waite's deliberate blinds? I've come across many of them but didn't even know about this one!

Unfortunately further down the Tree it doesn't work so well because the Trumps are less obviously directional (or maybe Waite ran out of inspiration LOL) but on the other side the Magician also perfectly fits the Tree when seen in mirror image:

Perfect! Left arm raised towards kether (above) and right lowered towards binah (below), again in the angle of the pathway coming out of kether.

I can't believe I have missed this all these years!

Incidentally, before I hit publish, apologies if this looks peculiar on your screen. Although I have so far escaped the current problems with Blogger when I tried to preview the post it really didn't like it so I have no idea what it will look like when published. 🫣

Bible Study on Abortion

How on earth has it happened that I have been at this blogging lark for nearly ten years? And still society hasn't had the sense to close me down! As it happens it has also been nearly ten years since my last bible study and it's high time I did another.

How is the Hound, as a witch, equipped to do a bible study, and what does it have to do with me, you may say. Well, all I can say is, witches meddle. And speaking truth to power is what witchcraft is all about. As for being equipped, I don't look as if I've got a degree in Christian theology, but I have. In fact I think I'm the only dog in history to come top of the class in Hebrew.

Anyway, this one is about what the bible actually says of immediate relevance to abortion. This will not cover such passages as 'you knit me together in my mother's womb' Ps 139:14, because that isn't about ending a pregnancy. It also will not talk about the commandment not to kill.

Why? You would think it is of relevance. It's because it does not mention a foetus. If you therefore approach that verse and assume it's about abortion you are reading something into it which isn't there. Doing this is so common that it actually has a name - it's called eisegesis. There are several other problem with applying that commandment and I would point anyone here for a discussion of the many things involved in applying the bible to killing or murder.

There are only two biblical passages which possibly refer directly to something happening to a foetus and most Christians will be horrified at what they actually say. But then most Christians have little to no idea of the contents of the bible.

Exactly what is going on in the first passage (from Numbers 5) is disputed in both Jewish and Christian tradition:

Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him 13 so that another man has sexual relations with her, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), 14 and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure— 15 then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder-offering to draw attention to wrongdoing.

16 “‘The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. 17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”

“‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.”

23 “‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her. 25 The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial offering and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. 27 If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse. 28 If, however, the woman has not made herself impure, but is clean, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.

29 “‘This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and makes herself impure while married to her husband, 30 or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. 31 The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.’”

Honestly I don't know why this one is disputed. Because this only happens if she's had sex with another man rather than just snogging or flirting, and because of something coming out of her womb - here the NIV helpfully even uses the word miscarry - it's blindingly obvious that she has got pregnant by a man who isn't her husband and the foetus is being aborted. 

That's right. God commands the woman to have the priest abort her foetus. You won't hear this in Sunday school or from Sr Mary Menopause.

The other passage also refers to a pregnancy being terminated, and comes in Exodus 21 among a number of regulations concerning when people are violent to each other:

22 “When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine. 23 If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

I would draw your attention to the fact that the miscarriage is treated differently to the harm the woman suffers. If she miscarries but does not suffer any other harm, the aggressor must pay compensation set by her husband. However, the aggressor must have the same harm inflicted on him that he has inflicted on the woman. The foetus is treated radically different from the woman, and you would expect that if in his revealed word God thought a foetus was a human life he would have commanded that the aggressor be put to death in line with his own ruling of stripe for stripe. 

That's right, God does not command a foetus to be treated with the same value as a human life, even that of a mere woman.

This is the biblical position which most Protestants rightly took, that abortion is just fine because a foetus is not a baby, until about twenty years ago when they switched to the Roman Catholic position.

It's just a pity you only hear this in a bible study with a witch....

And just in case there's anyone i haven't offended....

Agony Hound: 'Slept with my best mate - do we give things a go or leave it as a one-off?'

As always Coleen Nolan is a good source for problems for me to cast my witchy eye over.

Dear Coleen,

I’m a woman aged 27 and recently after a night out with my close group of friends, I slept with one of my best mates.

He’s single and so am I, but I don’t know how to play this.

I suppose if I’m honest I’ve always fancied him a bit – he’s funny and good-looking, and we just click – but being a couple has never really occurred to me because he’s either had a girlfriend or I’ve had a boyfriend.

We laughed about it the next morning, but it was a bit awkward as you would imagine. The sex was really good – the best I’ve had in a long time – so I don’t regret that.

But I’m conscious that starting some kind of romance could ruin our friendship and also make things awkward in our group if things didn’t work out.

He’s invited me out – just the two of us – but I don’t know whether it’s because he wants to give dating a go or to tell me that he thinks us sleeping together was a big mistake.

We’ve texted each other quite a bit since that night and the messages have been really nice and a little flirty.

Can romance work with a mate?

Coleen says,

Yes, I think it can. The dilemma is always can you go back to being mates if a romance doesn’t work out – that’s the risk you take.

If it turns out that one of you has stronger feelings than the other, then I think it’s hard to go back to having the same friendship as you did before.

I would just bite the bullet and say to him, “What are we going to do?” It sounds a bit like you’re waiting for him to give you a decision.

What I’d advise against is falling into a friends with benefits arrangement because I believe someone always gets hurt.

So if it was just about good sex, then look at it as a one-off – don’t do it again and just be friends.

The Hound says:

I've picked this problem because it's so sweet.

You have actually answered your own question when you say that you and your friend have always just clicked. You are clearly describing a possible relationship here.

What's confusing you is that our society has this bizarre idea that romantic or sexual relationships have to be found differently, and in a way where you go out to seek the love of your life. This is capitalism's version of dating - you put yourself on display as if for sale then have this huge wedding as if you're in a Disney film. 

There really isn't a reason why a friendship can't turn into a relationship! I think the situation you're describing is a much better approach - you've already got to know each other and the relationship has gone there on its own.

My advice would be to go out with him and see what he has to say. I disagree with Coleen's advice about friends with benefits if you think you can do it. You'll know you can't if either party starts wanting more or getting jealous, but it's possible to have sexual relationships that have a genuine intimacy without the exclusivity of a relationship. I also disagree personally with Coleen's advice about looking on the sex as a one off and carrying on being friends - some people find that very difficult to do and if you find that your one off sex ends your friendship, please don't feel you've failed or done the wrong thing.

That said my prediction is you'll be together very shortly. 😎

May is Masturbation Month

What on earth am I playing at? We're four days into masturbation month and I haven't posted about it yet.

Without the blog getting an adult content warning screen which I don't want it to get, I think I've said all I have to say about masturbation. This is a family blog, even if the family in question is the Manson family or even the cult called The Family which gained new adherents by sex. 

Anyway, even if I'm unusually speechless have a song to celebrate the month. It's from the Jim Davidson pantomime Boobs in the Woods.

When to Obtain Another Tarot Deck

I can't find the quote but somewhere Terry Pratchett describes the things which make up witchcraft and far more of them are domestic than magical. With that in mind this was going to be the Hound's top money saving tips but you can get those from the lovely Martin Lewis so I will confine myself to one of the magical aspects of economy.

We have all come across tarot collectors online, with their endless videos of unboxings for more tarot decks than you can ever hope to get a relationship with. There is one collector in particular who does videos comparing minute differences of different printings of a deck and it's all just too much. 

Personally I have basically stopped buying any more decks purely for the reason that I have half a dozen permanently in my collection, that's the maximum I can deal with, and there is no point buying more because there is no guarantee I can read with them. I also don't have the money to throw around any more. The card which illustrates this post is from the Light and Shadow tarot which is one I have previously owned. I love linocut art and thought I would love the art. Unfortunately as soon as I got it, it brought up a sense of distaste, very far from being able to connect it. This is why online reviews are of limited use in buying magical tools since it is about the magical relationship.

So what are the 'right' reasons to obtain another deck without it sitting unwanted in a drawer? These ways are intended to encourage treating a deck as a magical entity in its own right, which must be approached as such.

1. If it draws your attention to it by dreaming or by stalking you. If a deck keeps drawing your attention to you or otherwise gets inside you that's a good sign.

2. If it's given to you. This is of course the traditional way to obtain a deck and personifies the deck coming to you as a friend.

3. If it fits into a specific objective in your path. For example I have been coveting the forthcoming Golden Dawn Tarot from Aeon publishers for ages. Unfortunately now it's available and I've seen some scans of cards, I am not going to buy it. Even though it fits in with my objective of learning tarot in the Golden Dawn tradition I have found the available pictures off-putting and just know that it would not be a good fit with me. Therefore lacking the artistic ability to make my own deck following the descriptions in Book T, which is the actual way the members of the order obtained a deck, I am going to stick to the Ciceros' Golden Dawn deck.

4. If you inherit it, especially from an initiator or magical teacher. The most powerful way.