Friday, June 21, 2024

THE REST IN MUSIC OF "THE HANGED MAN"

HOLD ON A MINUTE! BREAK TIME!
TREE OF LIFE DIAGRAM
SEE ANY SIMILARITIES? 
DA DA DA DA REST! DA DA DA DA

If you're no stranger to the Tarot cards, you probably already know that THE HANGED MAN is not a card to be feared, in fact it is a very positive card, a card of spirituality. I liken it to a rest in music. A man is walking along his journey, he stops and hangs himself upside down on a tree to gain further illumination on the spiritual plane. When he is finished he will continue along his journey. By being a living entitiy and hanging himself upside down, he literally represents life being suspended while the illumination takes place. 

ILLUMINATION- (Merrium-Webster dictionary) 
The action of illuminating or state of being illuminated as in-
A. Spiritual or intellectual enlightenment 
B. Lighting up or lighting effects
C. Decoration by the art of illuminating 

The Golden Dawn correspondence for the card is water and it's name is The Spirit Of The Mighty Waters. In this context, the card represents a kind of baptism in water. It is a kind of trance-state, or suspended animation. It is a state of meditation which is deeply self-examining. It is a process of self-crucifixion and an essentially intellectual experience that is crucial to anyone desiring to aspire to the higher realms of spirituality. 

When it shows up in a spread, besides all the aforementioned, it can also indicate punishment, loss, and general suffering but all to the betterment of the individual. 

Monday, June 17, 2024

What the SEVEN's Mean

DISILLUSIONMENT OF CHOICES
SUCCESS NOT YET FULFILLED
UNSTABLE THOUGHTS
TRYING TO STAY ON TOP OF THE HILL

In the Tarot seven is a number of odd and usually uncertain dynamics. It typically combines both positive and negative attributes but an overall place of imbalance. Robert Wang says "the sevens show a force transcending the material plane, similar to a crown which is indeed powerful but requires one capable of wearing it." They show a positive result which is dependent on the action then taken and depend much on the element they are associated with. 

Contrast and balance-seeking is the order of the day with the seven's. In the Swords card (called "unstable effort" by the Golden Dawn,) feelings and instinct attempt to be reconciled with the intellect. In the Wands card known as "valor," the undifferentiated attempts to be reconciled with the individual. In the Cup's card, the group mind with the individual mind, and in the Pentacles the immaterial with the material. 

Faith in what we can't see is emphasized while it can not be manifested without solid footing in the reality. It's like the old joke about the fighter in the ring whose mom is in the audience. The fighter is getting the crap kicked out of him and his mom says to a priest sitting next to her, "Father, will you please pray for my son, he's getting killed up there." The priest says, "Well, of course I'll pray for him, but you know, it would help if he could punch." Sevens are always positive but reliant on the choices available. 

George Harrison said it best - Here comes THE SUN !

THAT SPECIAL PLACE YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE
MAYBE YOU'RE THERE NOW? 

THE SUN is a card that has a variety of meanings and is very broad in it's application. The first thing and most important is that it's an extremely positive card. It may be one of the few cards in the deck that it's almost impossible to find any negative aspect. I always like to describe it as that special place you've always wanted to be, and I have found from experience that here in the desert, it often represents the desert cause a lot of us love to live and be here. 

The baby, the horse, and four sunflowers (which are a subtle reflection of the four elements, or kinds of astrological signs) all can not exist without the power of the Sun. The scene is grey cause it takes place in the astral realm. The banner is there as a matter of pride. How often have we used the expression, "Just another day in paradise"? 

The Sun is the center of our world and the giver of light, but too much Sun can be too harmful, so steady as she goes, yes? Other meanings in a spread are glory, riches, gain, and display. 

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