Tarot University ArkLetters

NewMoon Tarotlogy - February 2012

By Christine Payne-Towler
NewMoon Tarotlogy
ArkLetter 84-- February 21, 2012   
For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62. Click the Master Tarotology Icon to the right for a BLANK tarotlogy chart (no dates) to work on for yourself. This month's chart icon and its corresponding reading is below.

The goal of these Tarotlogy articles is to translate the situation in the heavens at February's NewMoon into a Tarot report, using the astrological correspondences featured on the Tarot of the Holy Light.  I'm really enjoying 'wood shedding' with the THL Icon from month to month, rough as it still is, because doing so allows me to showcase ways to unpack the Doctrine of Correspondences that saturates the historical esoteric paradigm. The European magi since Lull have been working diligently to create a tool that would reflect all of the features of heaven and earth, that would be as flexible as all the moving parts of the Solar system are, and that could be consulted on the fly, without needing multiple volumes on hand to decode it.  With the Tarot it seems they hit the ball out of the park!

The best part of it all is that the Icon shows the translations between Astrology and Tarot without having to do any calculations. You can just copy today's planetary locations right out of your datebook or Moon calendar onto the circle of the Zodiac provided in the Icon. The Icon shows all of the unique categories of the year's progressive unfolding, dovetailing the cards into the Zodiac and its ancient rulership pattern.
 
The Tarot of the Holy Light carries the historical body of correspondences that would inherently associate with the Marseille-style packs due to their Trump numbers. This same esoteric architecture flowed into more modern form through (and around) the Etteilla packs, which were the first ones to show occult symbolism explicitly on their faces, and which drew a whole new audience to the Tarot at the beginning of the 1800's. More recently, this model (with small but significant changes) has informed the decks of the Modern Continental Tarot apologists Levi, Wirth, Papus, Hall, Tomberg and Sadhu. There are two modern packs that summarize this transmission, each one showing Egyptian-style art on their faces  -- the contemporary Ibis Tarot (representing the unchanged original Continental Trump order, matching the Marseilles pack and the THL) and the Tarot of the Ages (which follows the modern switch between the World and the Fool, attributed to Levi).

Last week I launched into a whole article about the European Doctrine of Correspondences, because it has become clear that Tarot historians have forgotten to include this widespread esoteric model when they form their opinions about how Tarot was viewed and used in past centuries. I wanted to post this article for you with this ArkLetter, but the article has gotten a little bit oversize and shaggy, so I can't quite release it yet. You'll see it as soon as I get it done, I promise!

Pisces NewMoon on February 21st, 2012

NewMoon in Pisces: Priestess and Fool in the realm of the Sun
    Activating the Knight, 10 and 9 of Cups
NewMoon conjunct Neptune (Death) and Mercury (Star)
    Activating 9 of Cups and the 7 of cups

Pisces brings the floods before spring, and this coming month should be a doozie. With the NewMoon landing in the early degrees of the traditional realm of endings and surrender, this is a time to celebrate being released from outworn roles, allowing the recycling of your stuck energies. Imagine the psychic deluge of Pisces as a giant cleansing event that washes away accumulated toxins and replenishes exhausted aquifers. Add in the trance-inducing, oceanic depth of Neptune, spiced with the quicksilver associations and piercing intelligence of Mercury, and we are all exposed to a new way of knowing, a new view on what is real and permanent, versus what can easily be dissolved back into the stream of time and forgotten.

After crossing the Saturnine step at the top of the Ladder of Lights (the signs Capricorn and Aquarius), we now begin to descend the ladder towards spring and summer. In Pisces we pass through the Jupiter step of the process, which challenges us to release every form of hypnosis, unconscious programming, pre-scripted reflex, or habitual and unthinking behavior that is holding our immediate self-definition in a frozen condition. The natural action of Jupiter releases growth potential that seeks to expand beyond the too-tight footprint of the past. Gratefully, the astral waters of Pisces will soften the glue that held our old image of ourselves together, letting us poke out new roots at the margins.

For the sake of our karma and the world going forward, we might also want to ensure that the downstream footprint of our immediate lives is one of fertility rather than toxicity.  We want to continue refining our lifestyles so that we become better at doing more with less.  In mathematics, this is called "elegance", and it has to do with condensing processes down to moves of greatest efficiency. This is a great month to revisit your dreams and fantasies -- you may be closer to their fulfillment than you think!

Venus and Uranus conjunct in Aries: Empress and Magus in the realm of the Hierophant
    Activating the Queen, Page, Ace and 2 of Wands

We continue to be catalyzed by the pulse of fresh energies coming from Uranus in Aries. This month the action is colored by the presence of Venus as well. We are all encouraged to reframe our definition of "the good, the true, and the beautiful", in order to scale our lofty ideals and expectations to fit inside our unique lives and circumstances. This being a Cardinal sign, thus associated with the Ace, 2, and 3 of the suit, there is a lot of energy for initiating changes and setting forth on new paths.  The secret to success however, is to name your target and locate the bull's-eye right at the outset. The rule is that you can't get what you want, till you know what you want! So get some focus for these energies -- name and visualize the situation or project that you wish to dedicate this month's life force towards.  This will instantly improve your productivity by orders of magnitude.

Also as you go along, look around to see what new lives and ventures you want to support with your attention and encouragement. Venus/Empress is the "light of Nature", she reveals the true essence of whatever she shines upon. Like a good mother, the Empress looks upon the world with the eye of love, and everything she beholds becomes more resonant, more coherent, and more sublime.  Practice loving the people and circumstances around you, and see what blooms as a result.  Don't forget to regard yourself in the very same compassionate and forgiving light!

Mars retrograde in Virgo:  Strength in the realm of the Wheel of Fortune
    Activating the Knight, 10 and 7 of Disks.

Here is a dynamic image, even despite the retrograde! Standing in for the Strength icon, we see Morley's amazing image of anima mundi, the World Soul, pouring forth all the energy it takes to activate the planet and move it through its paces.  Androgynous even in her lush femininity, Strength has the Sun and Moon for her eyes, and the whole landscape comes alive with her every mood-swing.  Her alchemical form is that of the winged lioness -- thus the alchemical lion at her feet is her spouse and partner.  Allow her to evoke a precedent-breaking and irresistible urge from your heart of hearts, and you will earn a spin on the Wheel of Fortune. Nobody can give you this opportunity; it is a product of your own belief in yourself and your place in the world.

The Knight of Disks lives to refine base matter into gold, so give him permission to transform the merely adequate into fertile fields for your future ambitions. It's all about turning what you have into what you need.  During this time of Mars' retrograde, willingly look over ground you thought you had covered before, knowing that the Devil is in the details.  Be patient, don't blame outside sources, just remember that your diligence in policing the territory under your jurisdiction will reward you later, by attracting more important assignments. Demonstrate the virtues of the wise husbandman, who can not only get a crop out of the land, but does this in such a way that he improves it's fertility in the process.

Jupiter in early Taurus:  Emperor in the realm of the Lovers
    Activating the King and 6 of Disks

We have been enjoying Jupiter in Taurus for a while now, though his retrograde has somewhat complicated the transit. Everything that has depended upon the Emperor's benevolence and natural tendency towards increase went into a slump since late August. But now the period of apparent reverse-motion is past, and the Emperor is switching gears and pushing ahead towards completion.  Taurus has the symbolism of being the sign of plowing and planting, thus the bull's-head glyph and the overt sexual symbolism on the card. In this last cycle of Jupiter, the Emperor needed to plow this field from three directions -- once to bust the sod, then to throw up the root balls that need to be removed (the retrograde), and now, finally, to add needed amendments and restore the soil to prime planting condition.  On this final pass through Taurus (which ends June 27th), we can feel secure that the new projects we start will be allowed to go forward without further interruption. Nature is now ready to support the dreams that we have been nurturing in our hearts over the long dark months that are even now just passing.

We should also remember that wherever Jupiter is transiting, that’s the arena of human experience where markets can be made or furthered. This is an excellent business climate for people to address basic human or planetary needs with simple, low-tech solutions that are scaled to the mom-and-pop level. It's time to trust the peasant-level creativity that weaves the ecological basket in which all civilizations are nurtured. "The People" love life, and they would love to discover a simpler way to get along with more local sustainability and fewer layers of expensive bureaucracy. The need of the people is acting like a magnet, pulling new appropriate-technology inventions and resource saving designs out of the collective unconscious, to meet the needs of the times.

Saturn retrograde in Libra:  Judgment in the realm of the Hanged Man
    Activating the Queen, Page and 3 of Swords

With this placement we are facing a bout of tough love, in the sense of needing to assimilate difficult truths. The primary difficult truth is to admit that our connection and integration with the larger social organism sometimes takes precedence over personal choices we might otherwise allow to dominate out time and energy. There are times we have to go along to get along, and it's actually not a bad thing. These two Trumps together can easily symbolize the left-right punch of social disapproval and internalized self-loathing that come with being too highly individuated. For karmic reasons, some people need to travel a hard road before they can arrive at tolerance, forgiveness, compassion and understanding, especially in relation to themselves.  The Judgment card exists to remind us that every soul receives a million chances to perfect itself across the broad road of time. Therefore our own human compassion needs to become equally generous and optimistic, before we let ourselves be tempted to pass judgment upon others.  If we can't keep our own counsel and refrain from feeling superior and entitled in the face of other's misfortunes, the 3 of swords will ensure that our own excess of criticism and lack of fellow feeling will come back around to haunt us.

Meanwhile, consider the experience of the person who is made the scapegoat, who is  "othered" by the superstitions and unexamined reflexes of those who think themselves righteous. In that situation, the only consolation is to relax and meditate, just fall into your center and wait it out. Be safe in the knowledge that you are paying off your debts while others are only increasing theirs. After you have been clapped into irons and set on display as a symbol of the problem, you are then marked as one who has atoned, and your dues have been paid.  Perhaps it is safer to wear the scars of one who is already punished. This makes you no longer interesting, no longer attractive even to hate. Also the interior drama and suffering is extinguished in the course of the ordeal, and never again can you be manipulated by shame in the same way. The collective attention sweeps away, looking for fresher thrills, while you are left with a brand-new perspective born of being upended, shook out and hung up to dry by the very people you used to identify with.

Pluto in early Capricorn:  World in the realm of the Tower
    Activating the Queen, Page, and Ace of Disks

In the oldest Tarots, the psychological depth charge currently associated with the recently discovered planet Pluto would have been assigned to the letter of heavenly Fire, Shin. Finding the World card occupied by this transcendent Fire might strike some as anomalous. But in fact, this idea refers back to some of the earliest thoughts of the Greek philosophers, who reasoned that it is the friction of change that creates heat and therefore pain in this world.  Friction causes the suffering of matter, brought about by the continuous fight against gravity and inertia. Our souls are Light incarnate, but the resulting heat of both excitation and irritation are the 'tax' we pay to maintain our existence in time and space.  Hence, everything you see going on around you demonstrates spirit dancing in the excited force field of matter's struggle with energy. It's not matter itself that constitutes Reality, but the Light, heat and energy saturating and driving the world of form from the invisible planes.

With that in mind, we can now envision the imposition of Divine Fire upon the fixed and crystallized form of the Tower, which is sometimes even named the Lightning-Struck Tower.  This seems to presage a bolt from out of the blue that's due to arrive at any moment, shattering the pre-existing order. Structures that are brittle by design, top-heavy or unbalanced will be the first to lose integrity and topple. The Tower is a strong signal to disengage from top-down control hierarchies.  Anything that is constructed has been imposed upon the landscape, rather than growing naturally from the landscape, and thus will distort the local flow of power-dynamics in the land. The Tower stands out as a garrison, sited to police the landscape, designed to challenge nature's wildness and control humanity's freedom of movement. For that reason it becomes a target for ungrounded energies, a lightning rod that attracts any disruptive discharge of ambient static. Nature arranges to pre-empt the heavy hand of human control structures by using forces beyond our control, in the meantime returning the natural order back to the ascendency again. This shows the Shin or Lightning, the Fire-force of Spirit to be a cleansing and revivifying force, however challenging it might be to endure in the short run.

Planetary figures in Tarot terms

First up, we have a tremendous flood of watery energy sluicing through Pisces, including Pisces Mercury opposite Mars in Virgo. This circumstance highlights the subtle benefit of having Mars retrograde right there. Take time this month to reset your intentions. Take your Strength from Virgo, the sign of digestion, assimilation and nourishment. Let the healing power of food be your doctor. Visit the antechamber of the imagination, where one can think through the future consequences of proposed actions, without evoking the karmas of having actually performed those actions yet.  This quality is called foresight, and practicing this virtue allows time for a change of plans if one is setting oneself up for potential negative consequences in the future. The Piscean intuition, which is currently hosting Neptune, the Moon and Mercury, should be able to zoom in on the negative probability-stream, sending a signal to Mars to make the necessary changes during his re-sweep of Virgo. Done right, the probability-stream is cleaned up, and negative scenarios are avoided without needing to be acted out

We also have a loose Grand Trine in the Earth Signs -- Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. This figure firms up on March 15th, at which point all three planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be at 9 degrees of each Earth sign, and Venus will be conjunct Jupiter.  Whatever you are working on, concentrating on, or planning will benefit tremendously from the substantiating power of this aspect.  This is the perfect climate for a launch of some type.

Jupiter is finally leaving opposition with retrograde Saturn, which has happened while both were occupying signs that Venus rules. The only time an opposition is possible between these two signs is when something at the very beginning of Taurus is reflected by something at the very end of Libra, which is the condition we have been seeing lately. We may never learn all the negotiations that have been going on behind the scenes with respect the delicate and threatening times we are living in, but I am very glad that the civilizing influence of Venus has been hosting the conversation on both ends of the confrontation. Saturn and Jupiter tend to serve as left and right hands of human collective issues, because Jupiter (currently in Taurus) expands where Saturn (currently in Libra) contracts. I'm encouraged to see "the people's sign" Taurus being strongly represented by Jupiter, even as the "group mind" is undergoing a reframe from Saturn's retrograde. It's quite right that as a people we should be asking ourselves how we want our considerable resources administered.  Hopefully as this opposition dissolves, it will dispense blessings to the 99% and ask for more accountability from the 1%.

With Saturn/Judgment going retrograde while Mars/Strength and Jupiter/Emperor are forward moving, the Emperor is clearly favored by the in-pouring energy from the materializing Grand Earth Trine. Meanwhile Saturn is voluntarily facing and accepting necessary limitations in the sign of his exaltation, Libra. There will never be a better time or place for Saturn to go retrograde. He is helping everybody to cut back on our irrational expectations, wasted efforts and false fronts. We can all just gently relax our intensity and find simpler, less expensive, more grass-roots way to share and entertain ourselves together.  The heedless rush towards winning over all is slowing down, replaced by the life of the philosopher-king, who willingly chooses simple being over complicated doing.  Along with the necessary material downsizing that so many of us are doing, we are freeing up our minds and identifications as well. Who needs to worry about the big house, fancy car, and a life of posing and "appearing as if", when we can instead gear down into a life of authentic engagement with the few things that really matter? Saturn is the Time Lord, so he will reward those who don't waste their time with inessential distractions.  What we successfully detach from in the way of useless trappings, we will be rewarded for in the return of time and energy freed up for new uses.  Plus there's no telling what wonderful things can be accomplished when all that stuck energy is released and reassigned! 

In short form, let's try to use this month to preview our future path, so we won't have to wake up to a bunch of mistakes in mid-summer when it's too late to catch up with missed opportunities. Know what you want to achieve and narrow your sights to focus on that. Stay open for the blessings that are coming through coincidences brought about by the Earth signs -- Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. Remember that the bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Take advantage of retrograde Mars/Strength and Saturn/Judgment; use this time to consolidate your gains and ensure that the wake you leave takes care of everybody who is affected. Aggressively love your life and fiercely defend those parts that contain the magic. By knowing what you want to preserve, and holding on against the deluge, you can start the next cycle on your own high ground.

Enjoy the last month of winter, 2012. May it usher us all into a very fortunate, creative and transformative era.

ArkLetter 84, February 21, 2012
copyright christine payne-towler 2005-2012, all rights reserved

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NewMoon Tarotlogy - January 2012

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 83-- January 23, 2012    For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62.  Click the icon below for a blank tarotlogy chart to work on for yourself.

NewMoon Tarotlogy

I don't know about you, but since we have crossed the Solstice, the increase of the light in our southern Washington location has become palpable. Perhaps it's because I live so far north, but the joy of every day being longer than the last has been heartening. And now that the Sun has finished traversing Saturn's first of two contiguous signs, we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's by no means warm yet.  Weeds are sprouting in the soil of my greenhouse -- a sure sign of nature's quickening.

We are still enjoying the charmed moment before Mars goes retrograde for two more days. Since Jupiter straightened out on Christmas day, there have been four blessed weeks with not a single planet suffering from that bent-energy condition.  But on the 24th of January, Mars slips behind the Sun's aura, and then on February 7th Saturn follows suit, which reminds us again of that old familiar feeling of struggling uphill against gravity. I tend to think of planetary retrogrades the same way I think of reversed cards in the Tarot. The energies are presenting in a paradoxical and perhaps contrary way, but there is a lot to learn from going through the experience they are offering. For so many, our challenges are what make us strong and bold, canny and wise.  So let's get ready for a dose of training from Mars and Saturn!

Two New Reviews of Tarot of the Holy Light

Etteilla Fans Rejoice

I wanted to let my readers know that there is a forum over at Aeclectic Tarot Forum that is dedicated to making a translation of Etteilla's own writings, as well as comparing them to the works that his students wrote to accompany posthumous editions of his Tarot. The conversation can be found right here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=122602. The translation and collation is invaluable, and it's a privilege to be able to bring more attention to it. I would suggest that Etteilla lovers take the trouble to copy it out so they can have it at hand when they use their Etteilla cards. (I haven't tried to use it with Petite Oracle des Dames yet, but doubtless I'll extend whatever I learn to that pack and the others in my Etteilla collection as well.)

All in all I was impressed how well and truly Etteilla's students held to their teacher's own words and intentions, although it seems clear that Julia Orsini is the more psychological thinker, while D'Odoucet is the one with the focus on making the Masonic connection.  It is also clear to me that Papus prepared Etteilla's translation of Divinatory Tarot as a way of inserting some subtle "corrections" into the model, much the same way that Levi's translators took advantage or his death to insert their own teachings into his texts when they brought his works into English.  I find this trait of revisionism rather revolting, but there seems to be no way to get away from it. I’d better get used to the idea that when I'm gone, it will be said of me that I "rewrote history in my own image" as well. 

Oracle Decks Compatible with the Tarot of the Holy Light Icon

This month I'd like to point out two oracle packs that are compatible with, and literally hook directly into, the Tarot of the Holy Light Icon.  Our focus at this site is primarily on the formal Tarot, but the card pack format is so popular, and it has reached so far out into the historic divinatory stream, that now we have packs of cards that pick up where the Tarot leaves off. The two packs I'm going to mention expand the divinatory cosmos defined by the Tarot, while adding insight from their own independent realms.

One such pack is The 72 Names Cards.  This pack can comfortably cohabit with any 78-card Tarot pack, since it represents a circle of angels that spans the Zodiac, two angels for every decanate (thus two angels for every Pip from ace to 9 in the THL).  The root of all the Mysteries of the West is Astrology, which means that once one converts the Oracle in question back to its astrological basis, then it's not hard to figure out the connections between one tool and the other. This is how both of these Oracles make their linkage with the THL Icon.

The 72 Names are an ancient construct deduced by the alphabetarian magi of the Old Testament. These angels appear out of a special alignment of three contiguous chapters from the Book of Genesis, as spelled out in Hebrew. I have written about the larger phenomenon here: http://noreah.typepad.com/tarot_arkletters/2007/03/shem_angels.html.  These angels have been part of the magician's kit since St. Dionysius the Areopagite brought them into the Christian canon from their ancient Persian source.  There are a number of presentations that have been made about the 72 Names on the Internet, in book form and also in card pack form.   I have used these Angel Names for years as a part of my investigations into the root values associated with the cards, and to understand the thinking of the Tarot magicians who have associated their suit cards with these values.

Recently I was gifted with a pack created for these Names by Orna Ben-Shoshan. I don't think this pack is new; Ben-Shoshan is the creator of several fascinating and cunning oracles, including the King Solomon Cards and the Wheel of Wisdom. (Reviews of both to be found at http://bonniecehovet.wordpress.com/tag/orna-ben-shoshan/.)  What makes her work stand out is that she has steeped herself in the spiritual praxis of the Holy Land and the living presence of the Invisibles. Then she has very creatively brought these energies forward into modern dress for us to converse with.  I find her whimsical and evocative art style to be quite magical, while her analysis of the energies represented by the Angels is psychologically, emotionally and motivationally apt.

What Ben-Shoshan doesn't do is engage in any long drawn-out explanation of the Angels and their linguistic roots, nor does she catalogue all of the various correspondences they have accumulated over the centuries, nor the long florid lists including what they rule and can accomplish for humans. She also doesn't traffic in good ones and bad ones -- it seems that all these angles are moved by beneficent urges. (The traditional sources where this information can be found are in the above-mentioned article.) Where Ben-Shoshan excels is in creating a visual dreamscape for each Angel, and in suggesting approaches for bringing these energies into our daily lives through our attitudes and our intentions.  Using the interpretive frame of Perspective, Direction and Bottom Line to explain each Angel, Ben Shoshan nudges and supports her readers into making that next shift of angel-mediated consciousness.

I can tell you that every time I pull out these cards, I get a dynamite little reading, which I can use to investigate the degrees my Tarot cards represent and amplify what are telling me. Today’s 3-card draw accurately described a situation that was acted out in real-time just two hours later when the mail came.  This has been my experience every time I've shuffled this cunning little pack.  Ben-Shoshan's explanations are tight and focused, just like the angels themselves, who each represent 5 degrees of the zodiac.  It's quite easy to mark in the booklet those degrees ruled by each Angel, and in that way you can quickly tie these cards back to the THL Icon, or to any pack of Tarot cards that makes angelic connections.

Among the modern Tarots making use of the Shem angels, the more obvious examples are the Papus Tarot, Tavaglione's Stairs of Gold, the Kazanlar, and The Hermetic Tarot by Godfrey Dawson.  In effect, Ben-Shoshan's 72 Names oracle connects the user with a celestial ally to assist one's movement out from the Tarot reading into a personal world of vision. These angels aren't generally featured as part of the divinatory net that gives meaning to the cards, but they are often employed by occultists as operative influences to help empower theurgic and magical applications. We can think of them as allies, friends, and astral servants dedicated to assisting us in our spiritual evolution, just as our ancestors have for millennia.

The other pack that interlocks with the Tarot of the Holy Light (and all the oldest Tarots) is The Paracelsus Oracle Cards from Lo Scarabeo. These 32 allegories first emerged in a book of prophecy printed in Hamburg in 1536, five years before Paracelsus died. I have been turning this little oracle pack over in my mind for over a decade now. This pack manages to collate a number of different sets of esoteric symbols, but it's a challenge to cleanly delineate the logic for assembling the particular range of correspondences that converge on these cards. I haven't found all these ingredients together in any pre-modern source so far, so I can't say if these different symbol-sets originated from related roots, or whether they are originally separate and only appear here together due to a modern impulse.

My first resource for comparison was a Kessinger reprint called The Magic Figures of Paracelsus by Franz Hartmann. It's actually an extract from a larger book (with no context given), but it does have all the images in the right order with their correct quotations. Because there is quite a bit of white space around a very small bit of information per page, the best use for this slim volume is to provide a journal of sorts, upon which one can tabulate notes and discoveries made when digging out more information about these cards from other sources.

Recently I found the titles for these images, and also the full text of the book they were extracted from, over at http://www.rexresearch.com/paracpro/paracpro.htm. It's called The Prophecies of Paracelsus, in translation from the German by J. K., and published by William Ryder and Son in London, year 1915. The titles for the images are certainly evocative and therefore most helpful, but the explanatory text in which these images and remarks are couched (written by both Paracelsus and Eliphas Levi) requires quite a bit more specialized study before it's significance will be fully revealed. 

Traditional Geomancy, an ancient oracle system from pagan Europe, sheds light on a different part of the astrological model entirely. The sigils of Geomancy take their interpretations from the seasonal and elemental grid of the Zodiac, the cycles of the Planets and the agricultural year. These 32 cards make two recitations of the 16 figures of traditional Geomancy, half of them set against daytime scenes and the other half carrying a darker aspect. The listings of traditional significations for these sixteen sigils (which are repeated twice in tandem with Paracelsus' 32 unique images) reveals counsel for managing family and friendships, the fluctuations of work and financial challenges, Church affairs, travel for business and pleasure, romance and issues of mental and physical health. The Geomantic sigils are also given astrological houses in which they are most comfortable, as well as methods of permutation that create "daughters" from "mothers" and extend a single reading into multiple areas of life. Clearly Geomancy was a clever way of hiding formal Astrological values in low-tech, seemingly random and magical form. The Paracelsus Oracle offers a great little tool for manipulating this symbol-set both within it's traditional operations, and also in new contexts that the old book-based application couldn't enter.

To make sure I was dealing with a body of standard correspondences for the Geomantic sigils, instead of one person's eccentric interpretation, I also cross-compared the section of Book T that covers Geomantic Divination, with John Michael Greer's Earth Divination Earth Magic; A Practical Guide to Geomancy. On Greer's page 27, in Table 2-1, he gives the key to the astrological assignments of the 16 Geomantic Figures. These assignments are the classic and ancient Ladder of Lights arrangement, with the visible Planets assigned two signs each, while the Sun and Moon each own one sign.  We see this arrangement at the center of the Tarot of the Holy Light Icon, since it’s the guiding model for the whole scheme of Essential Dignities, anciently called the Stoicheon-Somata Schema.             

It's fascinating to see these 32 Magic Figures combined with the traditional geomantic sigils and their fundamental astrological cognates. The cards also show a set of "spirit signatures" that have traveled alongside the Shem angels through the centuries. These are said to refer to the "flip side" or demonic aspects of the Angels. (Hmmmm, that idea is worth a ponder itself!)  The LWB for the Paracelsus Oracle also gives us each card’s relevant upright angel-name from the Shem sequence, along with short remarks about the divinatory meaning of each card in the Paracelsus pack. Since there are only 32 cards in this little set, and we know there are 36 pairs of Angels whose sigils and/or names have appeared on the aforementioned packs, it seems clear that some angels will not be represented. Oh well! We must accept the pack at its face value and enjoy whatever benefits it can be seen to provide in practice.

As you can imagine, by the time the whole catalogue of influences is tallied, this little pack of 36 cards turns out to be a fairly power-packed little esoteric tool!  But for daily, practical use, probably the most accessible way to deploy the Paracelsus Oracle cards will be to pay attention to the Planetary Rulers, both on the Paracelsus Oracle cards, and on the Tarot of the Holy Light Icon. As I have said in other contexts, the Planets turn out to be the active ingredients, the knobs and dials (so to speak), of the whole esoteric paradigm, whether one thinks in terms of Hermeticism, Cabbalism, astrology, operative magic, sacred geometry, or Tarot. By re-attaching the Paracelsus Oracle card you have drawn to its Planetary Ruler, you can then watch that influence playing out across your Icon, both through the astrological transits overhead and from drawing cards from your various Continental decks.

The author of the Introduction, Gina di Roberto, has a very wise piece of advice for us when reading the upright cards versus their reversed aspect. I will share it in full here because it is so apt for using ANY oracle deck in ANY situation:  "If a card is upright, this means that the Querient is the 'driving force behind the action'; that is, he or she acts, whether good or bad, willingly. If a card is upside-down, this means that the Querient 'undergoes the action': that is, someone or something influences his life, acting in the way indicated in the figure."

Now we can see the similarities and differences between the 72 Names oracle and the Paracelsus Oracle. Once the foundation-ground is examined carefully, it is clear that each pack refers to the Angels, but each in their own way. The 72 Names illustrates and artfully suggests psychological, psychic and emotional states that are acknowledged and dealt with first in the inner life. Ben-Shoshan doesn't judge between good and bad, light and dark angels, giving each Angel the space to expand and demonstrate its own realm of action. The 72 Names cards encourage us to witness the angel's aid, understand how it applies, and move lightly through the resulting opening.  At least that's the way my psyche responds to the combination of image and text that Ben-Shoshan has created for us. 

The Paracelsus Oracle employs the same antique material (Shem Angels), but splits them down the middle; half the sequence comprises enlightened, helpful forms, whereas an equal and opposite set holds assumed difficult dark sides. This is quite likely our biggest clue that the collection of symbols on the Paracelsus Oracle reflects a more ambiguous and shades-of-grey approach to navigating through life. This pack acknowledges a "dark side", and it even details its denizens. It includes Geomantic Sigils that make reference to the Planets and Houses, which gives us a context for applying their energies to our daily circumstances and traditional realms of life. We also get a stern admonition from the allegories of the Magic Figures, which come to us as visual parables of Paracelsus’ magical thought-remedies.  In this sequence we are showed a range of more earthly and tangible influences, which exist in a reality further removed from the astral plane and more deeply affected by politics, personality, ego-contention, and material circumstance. 

I am tempted to say that Orna Ben-Shoshan's 72 Names Cards point the user into the Astral plane, where energies just a few frequencies above the human spectrum await our discovery of the angel host. Alternately, the Paracelsus Oracle Cards point into the elemental and material realms, where the ambivalent tailwinds of angels and demons contend in a world that fluctuates between dark and light, marked by regular cycles of expansion and contraction, waxing and waning. If you put your Tarot of the Holy Light (or any other Marseilles or Continental Tarot) in between these two Oracles, we begin to get a sense of the sophistication that an occultist or magician from the 1600's and 1700's could bring to their Tarot experiences.  All of these symbol-sets -- the Tarot, the Magic Figures, the Geomantic Sigils, the Planets and Houses, the pure Angels as well as traditional personifications of their benign and demonic aspects -- all of these ideas have been sharing space in the European Imaginal since the Renaissance. I love being able to shuffle these packs together and construct a collage for myself from the combination.  And once one's multi-modal magic collage is complete, it can all be recorded on the Icon, by making notes in the positions where their Angels (or Demons) would naturally fall around the Zodiac.

NewMoon Interpreted Through the Tarot of the Holy Light Icon

Click on the Tarotology icon to see this January 2012's NewMoon Tarotology chart  and follow along with the explanation below.

 I love the THL Icon! Every month new uses show themselves.  As you can see, above, it links into other mystical systems that are part of the larger tapestry of the magical transmission. It also explicates the traditional astrological universe to the world of Tarot. In the case of our NewMoon ArkLetter analysis, the Icon also allows us to differentiate between things that are moving so slowly that they have made virtually no change since last month, versus things that are climbing around the decanates fast enough to show up as a "new reading" from the Tarot of the Holy Light.

This month our Icon has registered a change in several areas. First, here's the list of NewMoon planetary positions, translated into Tarot cards:

NewMoon in early Aquarius = Priestess and Fool in the realm of The Moon, occupying the decanate of the 6 of Swords (ruled by Saturn). Neptune as cosmic Water/the Death card stands at the very last degrees of Aquarius as well; 5 of Swords, the same as last month.

Aquarius is the sign opposite the Sun's natural sign (Leo), so this month the Sun is "in its detriment".  This is obvious in the Northern Hemisphere, since we are currently still having much longer nights than days, and in the daytime the Sun is wan, thin and barely warming. However, our energy has to go somewhere, so while we might seem dormant regarding external activities, we are very busy in our imaginations. Aquarius is the time for making plans and outlining goals that will be lived out later in the year, when the energy for outward projects has returned. Right now these commitments are still in the realm of the ideal, but even now we had better be practical about exactly how much of ourselves we want to give away.  The battle between the Lion and the Eagle in the 6 of Wands can stand for the communitarian side of us (the Lion) lining up against the freedom-loving and highly individualistic side (the Eagle).  Don't promise now what you will resent having to deliver later!  Remember that the Death card is sitting at the end of this sign, meaning that both the Moon and then the Sun will have to cross the great Dissolver. Any goals or ideas that cannot pass under the Reaper's blade without being fatally edited will never see the light of spring anyway.

Another consideration comes because we have reached the point in the Zodiac where the temptation to enter the "wet way" comes upon us.  This goes back to the ancient myth of reincarnation. Imagine -- your disincarnated soul flies by our world, and thinks, "Doesn't that look interesting!"  It heads for a doorway marked with the sign for Aquarius, which is the entrance to this fun ride. This sign's ruler Saturn stamps your astral passport, and then you are whisked to the gateway of Jupiter (Pisces). And so it goes, each of the Planets in sequence gives you its mark, and your passport fills up. Mars (Aries), Venus (Taurus), Mercury (Gemini), and then you reach the sign of Cancer (Moon). This is the Gate of Birth, and here you are labored upon and then dumped into the world as we know it.  The marks on your astral passport translate into qualities and characteristics, karmas and lessons that need to be learned. You will now wander in the fun house until you can find the 'coin of the realm' to pay off your planetary sponsors, starting with the Sun (Leo), and rising back up the Ladder again; Mercury (Virgo), Venus (Libra), Mars (Scorpio), Jupiter (Sagittarius) and then finally Saturn again (Capricorn), who attends the Gate of Death. 

This second sequence from Leo to Capricorn is called the "dry way", and it represents the process of detaching from and becoming cured of the very attributes and characteristics we first accepted from the Planets when we entered into this world. The wet way engages the emotions and attachments, and the dry way disengages them again.  This is a very ancient teaching about the two sides of the Zodiac and why the Ladder of Lights system works the way it does. It also unveils the soul's dilemma in matter and the path to resolving it.  What we need to remember as we stand at the Aquarian entrance-gate is -- don't go down that road of relationship and enmeshment in the world and its struggles unless you are willing to give it your all!  Either hold back firmly or fully commit, because once the Wheel turns and we tumble from the heights of Aquarius down the slide into Pisces and beyond, there will be no stopping the chain of consequences and karmas, and it may take us years or eons to untangle ourselves again!

Mercury in late Capricorn = The Star in the land of the Tower, occupying the decanate of the 3 of Disks (ruled by Mercury). Pluto as cosmic Fire/The World occupies the first decanate of Capricorn as well; Ace of Disks, ruled by Saturn, the same as last month.

Here is a delicious visualization that rises naturally from these alchemical illustrations.  The Tower card shows the Alchemical furnace, with its suspended vessel raised high above the landscape, attracting and accumulating the forces of Sun, Moon and Stars. A special new substance/intelligence is culturing in that sealed womb, which has an opalescent glow and sheds a gentle light into the landscape. Nobody knows how long it has been collecting these celestial energies or what is culturing in the vessel, but everybody has an opinion, or has heard a story about it.  Demons and bug-a-boos of politics and partisan bickering fly around the Tower, attacking it with accusations and misrepresentation. These entities don't possess any special insight, but they are sure that they don't like what they see nonetheless. Others know the value of the substance in the vessel, and have stripped down to their loincloths to try and break into the Tower and steal the riches before the experiment is even completed.  When the consummate moment arrives, a bolt of Lightning rips through the firmament and shocks all the participants, sending the connivers and complainers flying, and toppling the crown of the Tower. A blazing Fire proceeds to melt the whole structure to the ground. When the heat dies down, and the curious come around to see what remains, what they see is the Mercurial figure of the Star holding a few magical pentacles she found buried in the ashes (the Ace and 3 of Disks). What of any value is left when all of the temporal aspects have been immolated by the fires of time? Whatever she's holding, you can take it to the bank!

Venus in mid-Pisces = Empress in the land of The Sun, occupying the 7 of Cups (ruled by Moon).

In antiquity, Venus was deemed to be exalted in the sign of Pisces, and we can see this in the sense of ease and relaxation that shines between these two Trumps. The Empress' creativity is unfettered here, and no Censor enters to disrupt the picture. Apollo has opened the gates to the walled garden, allowing all and sundry to explore the multiple options and aspects of reality. In mythology, Apollo's lyre allows him to walk through the land of the dead (passing through the "underworld" during our terrestrial night) and appear again the next day unscathed. This is the significance of the Sun in the sign of Pisces and the 12th astrological House, which is traditionally the realm of death and endings. Apollo announces the immortality of the Soul in time (the Zodiac), and highlights the spiritual freedom of those who have finally penetrated to the state of pure Being. Since Venus is traditionally associated with 'The Light of Nature', meaning the Intelligence shared by all sentient entities of whatever species, we have here a combination that has the potential to be both illuminating and inspiring. 

But first we have to win our consciousness back from the Hydra-headed attention-sapping chimera of distraction that our culture lays out before us! If each one of us just reclaimed one hour of our time and attention per day, and used it towards our own fondest wishes rather than letting it be consumed by the Hydra, then this time next year we'd be 365 creative hours farther along towards our visions and dreams.

Mars in late Virgo = Strength in the land of The Wheel; 8 of Disks (ruled by Venus).

Last month Mars was in the middle degrees of Virgo, which therefore evoked the scrutiny of Saturn. This month he's at the end of the sign, and now Venus permeates the atmosphere.  I'm glad to see this because Venus is the complement and spouse of Mars in the ancient Stoicheon-Somata schema. The hope would be that her moderating influence might allow the onset of Mars' retrograde period to happen more calmly and with less confrontation. In the course of the retrograde, Mars will penetrate back into the Saturn decanate again, but at least the moment of the turning is cushioned by Venus' softer attitude. Since the 8 of Disks is so often illustrated with the idea of "spending time at the workbench", this gives us a hint of the strategy to use as Mars turns on his heel in the exacting sign of Virgo.  Like a master carver or painter does, it will soon be time to go back over our recent labors and add another layer of polish and refinement to our projects. Patience and exacting attention to detail are the watchword of this coming time.

Jupiter in very early Taurus = The Emperor in the land of the Lovers; 6 of Disks (ruled by Venus).

Jupiter's time in Taurus has been complicated by his retrograde, but now that phase is done and he can proceed in a forward direction while appreciating the harmony of Venus' native domain.  Although Jupiter has stressed Venus with his touchy attitude over the last few months, the Emperor is now complimentary and gracious towards the well-appointed realm of the Lovers, replete with every pleasure. The Platonic Solids on display in the 6 of Disks give further testimony to the harmony and stability of Nature's building blocks, the numbers.  Here in the realm of the Good, the True and the Beautiful, the Emperor learns to fully appreciate the value of order, despite his tendency to attract "too much of a good thing" wherever he lingers. The balance and reciprocity with which she governs her realm allows for a fertile and diverse culture. But the Emperor must never forget that if he were to become aroused and start expanding as is his wont, he could crush and upend her domain as easily as if it were a gingerbread house, or the paper backdrop for a shadow-puppet show. Great self-control is required for him to stay appropriate and keep his insatiable nature contained.

At this very early point in Taurus, Jupiter is within just a few degrees of a perfect inconjunct with Saturn. We've seen these two engaging stressfully and taking each other to task since their approaching set of inconjuncts started in March 2009, so it's not entirely a surprise.  This is the final event of a two-year period during which they had an initial set of inconjuncts from Virgo to Pisces, then endured multiple oppositions across Aries and Libra, and now are finally exiting this dance with concluding inconjuncts between Taurus and Libra.  It's all but over now -- soon Jupiter will go rushing across Taurus on his way to Gemini, while Saturn is due for a long retrograde, retracing his steps across the second half of Libra. This episode is the final perfection of their conversation over the last few years, an exchange that has been marked by confrontation between the inspiration to expand (Jupiter) and the necessity to contract (Saturn). I'll say a few more things about this below, but right here it becomes clear that we must make our peace with the paradox of matter, because if we can't factor that contracting urge (Saturn) into our attraction for "more" (Jupiter), we will never make the needed compromises with Reality.

Saturn in very late Libra - Judgment (or Resurrection) in the land of the Hanged Man; 3 of Swords (ruled by Mercury).

Saturn is exalted in Libra, but his annoyance with Jupiter is causing him to re-think his orientation towards the voluntary simplicity discussed last month.  The path that Jupiter took to arrive at this inconjunct could be seen by Saturn as self-serving and short-sighted, in that Jupiter has found excuses (his retrograde) that allow him to back out of a range of commitments that had previously seemed set in stone. This looks like situational relativism to Saturn, who won't take a position he isn't willing to hold for years, or even for a lifetime.  So now Saturn is stressed and irritated, and looks for sympathy to the NewMoon (which is also feeling stressed towards Jupiter by square). Perhaps Saturn wants to see the Lights render a Judgment against Jupiter's lack of predictability and follow-through, making an example of Jupiter "for the edification of the larger whole".

The Aquarian insight of both Sun and Moon will need to ponder over this appeal and find a wise course to walk between the extremes.  In fact, very soon now this whole dilemma will be dissolving, because Jupiter is picking up pace and will be moving briskly away from this aspect.  Meanwhile Saturn's upcoming retrograde will turn him into the one who is backing out of his stances and downsizing his expectations. What goes around comes around! The lesson is, don't get too righteous about other people's shortcuts or fudged promises. We all need the benefit of the doubt from time to time.  We mustn't become too outspoken about violations of our so-high standards in the presence of other's failings, lest we come to rue the day when we find ourselves judged and found wanting by the very same standards.  Saturn challenges us to remain fair and equitable under all conditions, so that we can rest secure in our expectation of being treated fairly when our own time of accountability comes along.

Uranus in early Aries = Cosmic Air/Magus in the land of the Hierophant; in the decanate of the Ace of Wands (ruled by Mars). This is just as it was last month, and will be for months to come.  I don't really favor using the concept of the Outer Planets for the three Alchemical Elements, so I'd rather say  "A breath of Cosmic Air is bringing a fresh awakening to the spring sign portrayed by the Hierophant". This points towards the global revival of the ancient yogic, spiritual and esoteric skills of the shaman. The THL Hierophant is being portrayed here as Hermes the Thrice Born (a Reincarnated Initiate).  His presence might presage a return to a do-it-yourself ethos that encourages us all to talk directly to Spirit without intermediaries. It might also be representative of shift in consciousness matching the geological and solar changes we are experiencing these days; it's all part of a new spiritual impulse that is sweeping human awareness.

The Hierophant points to the very ancient archetype of the self-initiated healer and spirit-walker, who finds his or her own way into relationship with the invisible, and doesn't need a teacher to make effective contact and bring back substantial remedies of one kind of another.  According to some legends, the Hierophant has reached the point where every incarnation sees this soul taking on the same works -- that of spiritual midwife to humanity.  There is no more trying-on of different identities, genders and roles from one lifetime to the next, but only an early calling, a powerful interior orientation that cannot be denied, and a return to the healing and priestly arts, again and again. This is called the Bodhisattva path, or the path of the Saints. With this Trump bringing a fresh upwelling of motivation to this Mars decanate of this Martian sign, there should be a great acceleration in the rate that people are coming awake to their higher senses, and beginning to receive direct messages from Spirit.

The governing figure of this NewMoon chart takes its base from the Jupiter/Saturn inconjunct, with NewMoon at the midpoint squared to Jupiter and trine to Saturn. This is one half of the action for the next month. The other half is a similar 3/4/5 triangle that uses the same Jupiter/Saturn base, but this time it has Pluto at the apex. This second triangle has its square side between Pluto and Saturn, and its trine side between Pluto and Jupiter.  There's a semi-sextile (30 degrees) between Pluto and NewMoon.

What this adds up to is a double-headed beast with NewMoon leading forward into Aquarius and beyond, while Pluto holds firm and presses his claim from Capricorn.  The Sun and Moon are the monthly pulse of Life and Light, while Pluto is the Lord of the Underworld.  It sounds to me like humanity owes a debt to the earth, which Pluto in Capricorn is not going to let us skip out on, no matter how fervently we want to slide away and head for the hope of better times ahead. As was mentioned above, Aquarius is the gateway into a fresh incarnation, traditionally speaking, whereas Capricorn offers  'get out of jail free card', the tantalizing possibility of moving beyond the world's claims and obligations.  Saturn is the ruler of both these signs, so he is the final judge of who shall pass and in which direction.  We are put in mind of the mill wheel of Time, the Wheel of Fortune.  Until Fortune smiles upon us, our fate is to be ground ever-finer between Saturn's great stones, to become flour for the bread of the heaven.

Given that this figure is grounded in a Jupiter/Saturn inconjunct, and Saturn coincidentally rules the signs where both "heads" of the figure reside, I think it would be wise for each of us to consult with our own conscience, the karma-lord within our consciousness. It's time to see if there is anything we can do to satisfy Pluto's sense of debt and obligation to the past. If we can determine where it is that we are wanting and attend to those issues straightforwardly, we give Pluto reason to release us into the hands of the NewMoon impulse. We want to use this coming month to win the karmic freedom to go forward confidently. We don't want to be dragging bits of unfinished business behind us that can pop out of nowhere sometime in the future and eat up our substance like hungry ghosts!

ArkLetter 83, January 23, 2012
copyright christine payne-towler 2005-2012, all rights reserved

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Tarot Interpretation & Charts
Tarot Reading text creation at Tarot.com 
Bishop, Gnostic Church of St. Mary Magdalene
Founder: Tarot University Online
Author: The Underground Stream

Anyone objecting to the use of their image in this free publication can have it removed immediately - Ed.

Christmas New Moon 2011, Tarotology Report

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 82-- December 24, 2011

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62.   Below is the Tarotlogy Map for the Christmas New Moon, December 24th, 2011 ( view a blank Tarotology Chart for your own use here)

On our Tarot of the Holy Light Icon this month we see a several strong themes at work. For one thing, four out of seven of the visible moving bodies (Sun, Moon, Venus and Jupiter -- the Lights, plus the greater and lesser Benifics) are positioned at the first few degrees of their signs. These Lights and planets are taken up with finding their stance in a new environment. Also, all three of the slow-moving, invisible outer planets are also in similar zones of transition (although in Neptune's case, and Saturn's too. Come to think of it, the position is just a few degrees behind the sign line, rather than being a few degrees past it.) It's as if the solar system is using this NewMoon to telegraph a major changing of the guard, from the model that governed the past, to a new and entirely different dispensation.

We also see that Saturn is the hands-down ruler of this chart.  Not only is he the ruler of the NewMoon sign, which is Capricorn, but Saturn also rules the degrees that NewMoon and several other planets are currently occupying (namely Venus and Mars, plus Pluto).  We are not including anything like an ascendant, because every reader is in a different time zone. But if you want to work up the chart in your own area, and note the point of the local Ascendant and MC on the Icon, there's a good chance that you could gain another layer of interpretive accuracy from the exercise.

Using the Tarot of the Holy Light Chart Icon

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 82, November 25, 2011

A TAROT READING EXAMPLE USING MY OWN CHART AND the TAROT OF THE HOLY LIGHT'S MASTER ICON.

The other day I threw out a spread about the progress of the Tarot of the Holy Light and the companion book that we are laboring to give birth to (and will be published soon!). The Tarot reading was so expressive of both my chart and the current Transits that it seemed a perfect exemplar, to show off the advantages of using the Icon and your own astrology with your spreads.

The cards as they were laid out (in my favorite version of the Celtic Spread) are:

• Self: Page of Disks (Winter)
• Situation: Strength (Mars)
• Challenge: 4 Disks reversed (11-20 degrees of Taurus, ruled by Mercury)
• Foundation: Ace of Wands: 1-10 degrees of Aries, ruled by Mars)
• Recent Past: Hanged Man reversed (sign of Libra)
• Higher Power: 7 Wands ( 11-20 Sagittarius, ruled by Mars)
• Near Future: 2 Disks (11-20 Capricorn, ruled by Venus)
• Blind Spot: Queen of Disks reversed (Capricorn)
• Allies: Emperor reversed (Jupiter)
• Advice:  Wheel reversed (Virgo)
• "Out" card: 3 Swords reversed (21-30 degrees of Libra)

Keep in mind what positions these cards fell in, because once they are transposed onto the Icon they all appear as if simultaneous, arranged around the cycle of the year, which is alternately the circle of the psyche.

As you can see, I have written my birth chart in green, the Tarot reading in blue, and the transits in pencil. I then outlined the coincidences,  where these different values intersect with each other and occupy the same degrees.  Putting everything together on the Icon facilitates harmonization between your inherent and innate design (the birthchart) and current events expressed as both transits and the cards in the spread.

The amazing part is when you see how the cards fall into the parts of my chart  being excited by  transits right now!  Here is a synopsis of themes that are highlighted by this lay of the cards:

1) The ongoing complication of my 2nd Saturn Return. The Hanged Man reversed points to the slow and steady grinding of Saturn's last retrograde, which crossed my Sun three times before it made an unambiguous return to it's natal location. That phase ended in June 2011 (the past). In the "out" card, weeks into the future still, the 3 of Swords reversed reminds me that Saturn's upcoming retrograde will send him back to the degrees of my Mercury and Neptune again, for one more time under Saturn's microscope. By the time Saturn finally moves into Scorpio (which so fittingly happens on my birthday in 2012), I will have been completely overhauled, inverted, wrung out and relieved of any misapprehensions about my capabilities or my contribution. Saturn will remodel me until he approves me, apparently. Fair warning!

2) Mars is highlighted all over this map. We see the Strength card in the Situation position, which corresponds to Mars.  The transiting Sun was just a few degrees past my birth Mars  (26+ Sagittarius) even as I was laying out the cards. The 7 of Wands  points to the decanate that holds my Midheaven, which is conjunct my natal Mars. (That's 19+ Sagittarius, also coincidentally ruled by Mars.) We also see the Wheel of Fortune,  corresponding  to Virgo, which is the sign that Mars is currently occupying. Also Uranus stands in the earliest degrees of Aries, the realm of the Ace of Wands where Mars is undisputed sovereign. Could this message be coming through any clearer? I'm getting all the help I could possibly ask for from the Heavens, what's required from me is to follow through as best I can. (And as quickly as I can, because Mars goes retrograde in the third week in January, to have his energies convoluted until the 14th of April, 2012)

3) This most recent retrograde of Jupiter is  featured through the appearance of the Emperor.  He's in a withholding mood right now, soI won't get to have my upcoming Jupiter Return until he makes his turn-around (on Christmas day no less!) and recovers all the degrees he 'lost' since August 30th, 2011. The bar will finally be lifted by the end of the degrees covered by the 4 of Discs, during the last full week in April.  I'm on notice to handle my natal retrograde Jupiter (who in classic 4 of Discs style, never feels quite ready, or finished, or complete) as best I can, because time waits for no woman!

4) A mystery influence comes in through the sign of Capricorn, where I have no particular natal influences to speak of. This energy is demonstrated by the Page and Queen of Disks, as well as the Deuce.  Venus and Pluto are currently resident in this sign as I write, having made a conjunction at 6+ degrees on the first day of December. This tells me that a trend or development that began at the first of the month has continued to mature as Venus has pushed across the sign, activating the potentials suggested by the Queen and the Page. The Deuce gives it's classic message, "wait for the other shoe to drop", which being the second decanate of Capricorn, indicates the first 10 days of the NewYear.   I wonder how that's going to manifest? It's always fascinating to see these 'invisible influences' on their way into manifestation!

These are just the highlights, I have not actually put a lot of energy into interpretations or rationalizing every card at this point. There's plenty more to learn from thinking more about the cards' positions in the spread, the implications of the reversals, and the details of the Tarot imagery that I haven't even mentioned. The goal in this little article is simply to show how the Tarot reflects the larger cosmos, and how those links can be exploited to give hints about timing and the psychological content of outer events. It's always best when we can ground our intuition in material circumstances; the predictability of the Planet's movements through the signs allows us to have greater security in our interpretations, since the report of our intuition will be tied to the known facts of the solar system's progress.

I can also take my chart out of the diagram and substituted Michael's chart,  in order to see how this spread about our co-creation affects him. Here is another advantage of this Icon -- it can show the ways the very same cards will effect two or more very different people. In a circumstance where a single reading is being made for a group of people, this process of reading the cards through the individual birthchart will allow each person to see the collective situation through the lens of their own unique nature.

I have been working by this technique for years,  laying out cards first "as themselves",  then examining them minutely for their astral implications. This type of investigation can take a long time if the deck isn't completely forthcoming with its astrological minutia, or if a person isn't fully comfortable about making these Tarot-to-Astrology conversions.   This is where a tool like the Icon comes in handy; it becomes much easier to map your Tarot spread into a similar frame as is used with the birth chart and current transits. Seeing these things all together in one sweep delivers the raw materials for a powerful real-time insight that ties together the inner and outer worlds.  An added benefit would be that your astrological acumen will improve alongside your Tarot skills! Learning to take notes like these on your spreads and chart readings will create a trail of fascinating, revealing insights that one can come back later and continue to learn from.  Especially as we are maturing, having evidence of our important turning-points and their accompanying astral circumstances helps us gain perspective on the longer, slower cycles of the social and cultural planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) as well as the super-slow, invisible planets at the outer edges of the Solar System (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto).

If nothing else, it's a great way to have a table of all the THG values collated in one place.  One could also use it as a tool for selecting particular cards for use in a ritual situation, or while doing candle magic.  I'd also love to hear from others about how the Icon might be useful for them. Don't forget to go over to FaceBook where we have started a page for the Tarot of the Holy LIght. Michael mounted a colored version of our Icon there for our delectation.

blessings,

Christine

 

ArkLetter 82, December 24, 2011
copyright christine payne-towler 2005-2012, all rights reserved

Subscribe to the TAROT ARKLETTERS

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PHONE:       1-360-849-4857

TAROT ARKLETTERS and the TAROT OF THE HOLY LIGHT are published by Christine Payne-Towler and Noreah Press

Tarot Interpretation & Charts
Tarot Reading text creation at Tarot.com 
Bishop, Gnostic Church of St. Mary Magdalene
Founder: Tarot University Online
Author: The Underground Stream

Anyone objecting to the use of their image in this free publication can have it removed immediately - Ed.

 

Tarot ArkLetter's Tarotlogy Report - November 2011

New Moon Notes through the Tarotlogy Map - November, 2011

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 81-- November 24, 2011

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

And now, finally, we introduce the Tarotlogy Map for November 24th, 2011 ( view a blank Tarotlogy Chart here)

For this column I will just highlight the positions in our matrix where the NewMoon chart shows a planet. If you possess a copy of the Tarot of the Holy Light, or are working with any of the Continental Packs, you might at least experiment with this matrix and see if it speaks to you.  Also try to remember that, even as the map is laid out astrologically, the numbers, titles, and astrological correspondences also have a number of associations in other disciplines such as Kabala and Alchemy. Therefore my explanations for the Tarot cards symbolizing the action of NewMoon will carry remarks drawn from the wider body of connections that play through the Tarot cards.

New Moon Tarotology Report - October 2011

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 80   -- October 26, 2011

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

For an introduction to the Tarot of the Holy Light, visit ArkLetter 79

Wowee! Talk about the witching hour!  This Scorpio NewMoon before Halloween is showing some edge this year.  In my location, the NewMoon peaks right at the midheaven, and Pluto sits on the Ascendant. X-ray specs, anyone? In other places the orientation will of course be different, but with Jupiter opposing the Sun bundle from Taurus no matter where one lives, we should all be feeling a little bit "haunted" right now.  The sense of being stretched across widely diverging extremes is palpable. Lucky for us, we have the secret weapon of Tarot, so we can open up the issues beyond their either/or appearances.

But first let me give a little newsflash:  Responses to the Tarot of the Holy Light have been truly gratifying, in regards to both sales and reviews. We are still somewhat of a 'best kept secret', but it seems that mouth to ear is the auspicious advertising method of the moment. 

Bonnie Cehovet and Stefan Laluna have given us very kind reviews at their blogs and at Aeclectic Tarot, and also a thread has been launched at Aeclectic to talk about the deck. 

BONNIE CEHOVET INTERVIEWS WITH CHRISTINE:

• AECLECTIC, 2008 --  http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/interview_payne_towler.shtml
• AECLECTIC, 2011 -- http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/holy-light/review.shtml

BONNIE CEHOVET'S REVIEW OF THE TAROT OF THE HOLY LIGHT

• AECLECTIC, 2011 -- http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/holy-light/review.shtml

STEFAN LALUNA

Here's Stefan Laluna's blog review: http://mr-laluna.blogspot.com/2011/10/tarot-of-holy-light-by-christine-payne.html  Laluna has suggested that Tarot University’s old Yahoo group be revived as a locale for a community to form, and I'm all for that. So, bit-by-bit, we trickle out into the virtual world of Tarot...

 

ON THE CONTINENTAL ORDER OF TAROT

Allow me also to explain a few things for those who have this pack in their hands and are wondering what they are looking at. I'm also addressing those who are still wondering whether they could use The Tarot of the Holy Light the way they do their other Tarots. It is clear from the conversation at Aeclectic that some people are concerned that the Continental correspondences might be too foreign for them to grasp and use adequately. The full book is not out yet, but we have included enough details to the faces of the cards to stir up curiosity about the paradigm we are working in. So let's kick the tires for a minute and pore over the details of this little rig!

NewMoon Tarotlogy - the Holy Light Tarot - a Continental Tarot deck

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 79 -- September 27, 2011

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

Summer gave way to Fall on my riverbank in the most tender and sweet of hand-offs. I was not supposed to be home to experience it, being pledged to deliver the keynote speech at the Association of Tarot Studies conference in Ste. Suzanne, France last weekend.  But for reasons beyond my control, Nature and the Angels decided to leave me at home where I apparently belong. Because of that accident of fate, the presentation that was lovingly crafted for that event is soon to appear at this and other widely accessible locations.  So stay tuned, dear friends, it will all have been for a good end!

We finally took delivery of our 1200 copies of Tarot of the Holy Light a few days ago, and it is a tremendous feeling for me to lay eyes on this pile of Tarot cards sitting in the middle of my living room!  Michael and I have been doing low-key mumbo-jumbo over the cards ever since -- nothing fancy, just spontaneous joy and excitement spilling over them in waves from seeing our dream come true.

Readers of this site, who know how I can go on and on, might be surprised at the brevity of the LWB, both in the individual card meanings, and in the introductory matter.  I too was shocked that the main message would fit down into such a small space!  One would think that, after a lifetime of practicing Tarot, I'd find more to talk about upon the introduction of the deck. But that's what Tarot ArkLetters is for, a place where I can bloviate freely. People who share my long-winded temperament can come here and lose themselves in all of my winding thoughts and associations, and I do.

But I believe the Tarot of the Holy Light is strong enough visually, symbolically, psychologically and sensually to go out into the world without needing a big superstructure built around it, telling people what to think in advance of their own direct experiences. When I was first picking up Tarot decks in mid-1970, there was very sparse documentation to go with the pack in one's hand. We learned from the images, from any crumbs we could find about the symbols, and from growing our intuition when confronted with a human situation that needed decoding. Nowadays we are all so over determined, weighted down with so many different theories, styles and approaches, our bookshelves groaning with alternatives. We thought it might be refreshing for people to just experience the deck as itself in simplest terms, and save the esoterica for those who want to take that next step and buy the book.

In this little box, between the handmade LWB and the 78 cards, Michael and I have given you plenty of evocative imagery, accompanied by just enough esoterica to guide the beginner in learning both the divinatory meanings and the astrological references made by the cards. The justifications for the Trump correspondences come from Etteilla's teachings to his private students, and the Pips correspondences are literally as old as the hills, being related to the compass and the Zodiac.

This is a Continental Tarot. By that I mean that it represents the canon of esoteric values that a Renaissance magus from the time of Agrippa would attribute to the cards. This is easy enough to ascertain -- simply consulting Agrippa's Scales of the Numbers would reveal what all the pivotal numbers of the Tarot equation refer to.

The Tarot Equation, by the way, is the formula upon which Tarot is built: 

• The Trumps are [(7x3) +1], referring to the alphabet of magic (also 2 octaves and the final do), alternately 22/7, which is the ancient shorthand for pi, the radius of a circle.
• The Royals are (3x4) + (1x4), in keeping with the compass rose, or the zodiac and its cardinal points.
• The Pips are {[(3x3)+1] x4}, arrayed to hold the Shem angels of the four elements and their Grand Trines. Alternately, one can envision the Pips as (10x4) with a Kabala Tree in all four directions, or a Tetractys opening out in each direction like the petals of a flower.

All of these values are attributable to the cards through the basic architecture of Tarot, before one even begins to include any "face values" such as titles, images, numbers, or symbols. Simply based on the Tarot equation, inherent correspondences shine forth from the 78-card pack's constituent categories.  This same line of thinking prompts the suggestion that in a spread, the order in which the cards appear colors each card with its own numeric properties.

As I said in the Little White Book, "To get the most out of your Tarot spreads, consider transposing the same set of cards (in the same order) between several different spreads that have an equal or similar number of cards."  Doing so will help you understand the qualities of the individual numbers in a way no library full of number theory can do.  This will also help you to differentiate

            a) The part of your interpretation that comes from the card itself (upright or reversed),

            b) The part that is added from the card's order in the deal (since prior and subsequent help us locate ourselves in time and process), and

            c) The part of the interpretation that comes from its particular position in a particular spread.

There's always a choice about how complex one needs to make the process. Sometimes less is more.  I will often just grab a pack of cards, close my eyes and visualize some kind of geometric shape. Once that is clear then I can shuffle and throw the cards into that shape, working out the positional meanings as I go. Many of the shapes come from visionary art, the illustrations of magical treatises, or the formal diagrams of the esoteric disciplines.  But sometimes the situation right in front of me unfolds just like a Dr. Seuss story: if Thing 1 and Thing 2 collide, then Thing 3 is sure to follow, and the chain of consequences will run out as far as there is energy to continue.

Smaller groups of cards are more concise when a person is busy and just needs a report on current trends, but I suggested meanings for all the numbers out to 12. Those values are based on a compilation of Pythagorean numerology, the Celtic spread, the Tetractys, the Tree of Life, the 3x3 and 3x4 grid, the Cube of Space, the Hermetic Cosmos, and the 7 Planetary Governors.  Just like the Pips values, these attributions for the numbers are archetypal, known from the foundations of the western esoteric paradigm.

This pack is best learned alongside your birth chart, including present transits as well. Once one has begun to mentally tie the individual cards to their astrological values (including their season, element, mode, degrees, ruling planet, and whatever else seems relevant), then one can shift over to one's birth chart and follow up the Tarot's references to the planets, signs, and elements moving overhead and affecting your chart. The cards will tell you right where to look to see the action -- and frankly it's uncanny! Anyone can make up his or her birth chart for free over at astro.com, (the excellent site created by Liz Green, who incidentally created the Mythic Tarot). With that and an astrological datebook, you can have daily access to the very cosmos that the cards point towards, just like the professionals. I can't tell you how many unbelievable coincidences I have seen between the cards falling on my table and the action happening in my birth chart. Truly, over the years, it was because of the Tarot cards that I learned astrology, not the other way around. Don't ask me how transits moving overhead come to be reflected in the cards I have just shuffled, I just know it happens. You have to see it to believe it; really, the two are hand-in-glove in a manner that utterly defies the laws of averages

When using the cards as astrological tokens, my students and I notice that the upright cards most often point to present and near future planetary motions, while the reversed cards suggest scanning backwards in time across recently past transits for relevant aspects to your chart. This helps us to take the good/bad valence off the reversed cards, which frankly is too often overplayed.  I have given reversed meanings for every card, because that is part of the Continental tradition. But I have interpreted them in the spirit of the extremes of the upright meaning (either great excess or great lack), rather than making a complete departure from it. In any way a card might appear, up down or sideways, the card remains what it is -- being at some different tilt doesn't change its essential nature, or its natural correspondences. But just like yang means "the bright side of the hill" and yin means "the dark side of the hill", there are qualitative differences between one and the other, even if they are both the same hill.  The goal is not to become frozen in the presence of reversed cards, but to use them as a signal to look further into the card. Often revered cards will be the first cards I will examine for their astrological correspondence, since they present a kind of mystery that has to be unraveled before it can be fully appreciated.

This Pack takes its character from the Gnostic Sophianic Spirituality of the magical Christian Alchemists of the 16- and 1700's.  Therefore the characters of the Trumps have unique extra characteristics, granted by the slant of the philosophers who formulated Illuminism, the science of Enlightenment, for western esotericism.  Two very important characters in the quest for the Light are the Fool and the Priestess.  These two make a set of brackets around the Magus in a very significant way.

Those who have been reading this column for years learned to use a spread called the World Server's Spread, for which the positions were the World, the Fool, and the Magus. That spread welds the traditional end-cards of the Trump sequence to the Magus (or Mountebank) in the manner of the Oroborous, the serpent with its tail in its mouth.

But for the Tarot of the Holy Light, the more relevant trinity from which to make a similar "Alpha and Omega" statement would be the Fool, the Magus and the Priestess. These three Trumps between them express the situation of the soul in a body embedded in Sophia’s creation. These three values are stated under the numbers Zero (the un-manifest), the One (the ego), and the Two (the Holy Spirit).  Remembering that Pythagoras said 'One is the masculine and Two is the feminine", that allows us to read the Zero as the androgyne, the timeless and genderless angelic nature that stands behind any particular manifestation in time and space. These three Principles were often shown together in Alchemy as the Sun, Moon and (philosophical) Mercury, evoking all the archetypal symbolism of that discipline as well. When reading for myself especially, these are the first things I think of when I see these cards, although I'll also share a few other associations that I find particularly rich in this context.

  The Fool is the immortal soul in the mortal body. Given Etteilla's astrological correspondence of the Fool to the Sun, this Trump represents the innate spark of Light that enlivens the lifeless mud of Nature, making it get up and walk in human form.

Standing inside the band of the Zodiac, the Fool takes a contemplative posture, refusing to let the fiery chaos of unenlightened wrath of matter (below his feet) nor the barking dog of daily concerns distract his focus on the Sun and Moon of the inner life.  He is historically known as the Fool of God or Holy Fool, but he is just as easily seen as the Fool for Love, in the sense that he is naturally attracted to the Light of Nature. He is earnestly striving not to insert his will into events unfolding around him, but instead chooses to listen deeply to the inner Lights and only move when shown the path by Spirit.

Being spiritually androgynous, he does not polarize with others but instead chooses to find the "yes", the pivot-point of mutual affirmation and support. He steps out of the Nothing into the something, but with great sensitivity and reserve, providing a creative catalyst after all the pre-programmed forces have had their way and exhausted their momentum. In Boehme's understanding the Sun is the heart of the individual, and is here described as "holy, sober and resigned".

The Magus is the quicksilver-mutable, ultra-awakened body intelligence aroused by the element Air. The power of Aleph has been called chi, or Kundalini, with emphasis on the special intelligence, imagination and will power that become available when the metabolism is charged by sacred breath-work. Mytho-poetically, this is the magical awareness and aliveness that demonstrates humanity's special inheritance, marking us as "made in the image of God". This power of living awareness anchors into the body at the breastbone, wrapping around the heart and nestling between the shoulder blades. It is identified with the lungs and expresses as the voice, irrespective of what is being said or the language being spoken.

Through Aleph, the body resonates with the syntax of nature, the language of sound and the harmonic frequencies contained in the Divine Om or Holy Word. In particular, humanity's access to the three-octave scale of human hearing and vocalization is the gift of Aleph, and we see all the potentials of this correspondence exploited by the god Mercury/Hermes across multiple esoteric disciplines. Associated with the mother-letter Aleph, the Magus is specifically the consciousness awakened by and carried on the breath. Following on from that, this is the vitality of the will spurred on and fired up by the bellows of Air. Yogis, chanters, runners, dancers, wind instrument players, singers, athletes and orators must all learn to directly harness Aleph to master their art. The Renaissance magi aspired to reach this state through the pursuit of "exaltation", marshaling a combination of prayer, chant, dance, magical visualization, ceremony and talismanic magic, unleashed at specially propitious times indicated by astrology.

Modern people seek the same state through intense physical training, vegetarianism, meditation, yoga, immersion in the wilderness, and other forms of reaching for that "peak experience". This teaching about the magic of the breath is endemic to human culture as far back as we can trace it, since 'the cave of the lungs' has always been considered the abode of the ancestors. The voice thus symbolizes the speech of the ancestors, providing humanity's link to our origin and our destiny outside of time.  The Kabalists say that Aleph is the point of balance between the other two Mother Letters, which are Shin (in the third eye), emitting the critical flame of divine correction "from above", and Mem (in the pelvis between the two hip bones), releasing the compassionate fount of mercy and encouragement "from below". A person who is properly inspired by Aleph is neither crushed by the weight of Shin nor weakened by the sentimentality and pathos of Mem.

The Priestess is the Holy Spirit, Paraclete, divine advocate or helper, keyed to the Moon, and symbolizing the invisible companion, comforter and guide for the Magus (ego) in this world.  In the enlightened Gnosticism of these Sophianic Christians, it was understood that each incarnate soul has for its helpmeet a guardian angel, Spirit, or astral twin. Communion with this Spirit (one's own personal fragment of the Great Cosmic Goddess) grants a steady transmission of guidance, wisdom and understanding into the life of her follower, allowing for a more successful experience in this incarnation.

This is the Sophia that Solomon was lauding, "taking her as his wife" and "living with her all of his days". She is the author of the Wisdom Teachings, the sacred number-letters that communicate with the Cosmos through their frequencies and harmonics. That makes her the Mistress of the Library, Queen of Science, Astrology and Sacred Geometry, and this is why we find her most comfortable in the quiet of the cloister, the inner sanctum, and the back of the mind. In this form Sophia was carried from Old Testament times to the New Testament, as the patron saint of the scribes and translators of the Holy Book. She offered comfort in the sacred labor of transcription, assisting with the thorny task of carrying The Holy Word from one tongue to another without doing damage to the gnosis. 

The culture of Courtly Love was also based on this type of mystical communion with Spirit, found everywhere in Nature and symbolized in the feminine form. In terms of the Trump sequence, this is the individual's first encounter with Sophia, who gradually reveals herself across the Trumps until we see her in her fullness as the Virgin of the World. Here at the outset, she is scaled to fit the individual's current consciousness (similar to Tinkerbelle in the story 'Peter Pan'), playing with the Light inhabiting the altar-candles and nursing the soul with creative consciousness from her breast.

Typo Alert:  In the passionate drive to produce a Little White Book that is readable and easy on the eye (which was handmade here at home, while the cards were being made in China), the reversal interpretation of the Priestess went missing.  It was only a few words long, but somebody will miss it, so here's the scoop:  The Priestess reversed means "fear of emptiness and silence".  This is the sort of discomfort we have in a big empty building full of echoes, or the creeping fear we feel when our friend who is talking and driving at the same time suddenly cuts off and the line goes dead.  It's that writhing cringe we face when we wake up in the wee hours reviewing our sins, and can find no comfortable place to rest our minds.  Each one of us has our own description of it, but it’s the sense being all alone and helpless without the help of our compassionate forgiving Sophia, leaving us to face our darkest hour alone. Without her advocacy, we feel as naked as Adam and Eve under the judgmental eye of Jehovah. In such moments, our awareness of personal inadequacy can be crushing.

For the sake of the NewMoon, here are the planet/sign combinations illustrated in Trumps from The Tarot of the Holy Light, for your meditations. Just let them enter into consciousness visually, without too much extraneous thought, and see if their combinations suggest anything that you might want to do different or re-arrange in order to have your private house in order.

• NewMoon in Libra with Mercury, Venus and Saturn ==> Fool/Priestess in Hanged Man with Star, Empress and Judgment.
• Mars in Leo ==> Strength in the Hermit
• Jupiter in Taurus ==> Emperor in Lovers
• Uranus (Primal Air) in Aries ==> Magus in Hierophant
• Neptune (Primal Water) in Aquarius ==> Death in Moon
• Pluto (Primal Fire) in Capricorn ==> The World in Tower of Destruction

 

 

 

 

 

The Tarot of the Holy Light is now available to all! You can order your deck directly from us here: http://www.tarotuniversity.com/. 

 

 

NewMoon Tarotlogy - August, 2011

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 78-- August 28, 2011

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

This is a celebratory month for me, because with this ArkLetter we announce the publication of the Tarot of the Holy Light, made in collaboration with my partner Michael Dowers.  (The link to our new Tarot will be up shortly - in the meantime, sneakpeeks are in the images below!) If you would like to read the interview that Michael and I did with Bonnie Cehovet, go to http://bonniecehovet.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/interview-with-christine-payne-towler-part-i/. Watch that space because she's bringing it out in sections over the next week or so.

I'm having so much fun with my very own Tarot deck because this frees me from having to make mental conversions for one or more classes of cards within the pack I'm playing with. This so often happens because very few packs these days follow the model that the early esotericists of the Tarot would have derived from the resources circulating in the early 1400's. Even the Marseilles packs, which I love dearly, are obscure enough visually that one seldom escapes the need to dive into secondary sources necessary to explore the broader spectrum of correspondences (no, I don't have everything memorized -- that's why I had to make my AAN Table!) 

For ease of use, the Tarot of the Holy Light demonstrates the historically standard correspondences (the simple signs, planets, elements and decans) clearly spelled out on the faces of the cards. This makes it easy for a Continental Tarot enthusiast to move straightforwardly between the cards and the chart, as we'll do today.

We are using the NewMoon chart just the same way I advise my students to use their birth charts. Let's look at the Trumps that represent the visible Planets of the Solar System, and the signs they currently occupy, taken in Zodiac order:

• Jupiter in Taurus (about to go retrograde) = The Emperor (Jupiter) in the sign of the Lovers (Taurus)
• Mars in Cancer = Strength (Mars) in the sign of the Justice (Cancer)
• Mercury in Leo = Star (Mercury) in the sign of the Hermit (Leo)
• NewMoon in Virgo with Venus = Fool (Sun) and Priestess (Moon) plus Empress (Venus) in the sign of the Wheel (Virgo)
• Saturn in Libra = Judgment (Saturn) in the sign of the Hanged Man (Libra)

From the point of view of the Renaissance Magi, this adds up to six out of seven planets between Cancer and Libra, all balanced by Jupiter in Taurus, the singleton on the other side of the zodiac. This is the classic wedge chart, showing Jupiter at the thin edge and the Mars/Saturn arc as the wide end. This identifies Jupiter's issues this month as the 'cutting edge' -- all the rest of the visible Planets and Lights together only just balance out his influence. 


In the early Renaissance, nobody would have known about Uranus retrograde in early Aries, Neptune retrograde in late Aquarius, or Pluto retrograde in early Capricorn. For brevity we are going to let those go without comment this month. But if you want to complete the circle of the Zodiac and Planets for yourself, just look over at my AAN chart  and follow the row that is labeled "Old Alexandrian" (keyed to the Greek Alphabet Reform).  For the Tarot of the Holy Light, we use these correspondences, popularized by Etteilla. As far as I can tell, this is the usage that is traditional to Masonic, Rosicrucian and Martinist inner circles (demonstrably the system current in Europe in the 1400's). If the suspicions are correct that the Trumps are a recitation of the magical alphabet in Christianized dress, then Etteilla's correspondences show us how these things would have been viewed by the esotericists of the Tarot's earliest century. Truly, the apple didn't fall far from the tree!

Let me construct a few sentences per Planet or Light, along with the sign they are in, and let's see what can be gleaned from reading the chart as cards:

The Emperor/Lovers pair (Jupiter in Taurus) advises that we move through our lives passionately, following those attractions that put us in touch with a heroic dimension of engagement. If we aren't ready to fully enter into an available union and follow through with gusto, then we should be respectful and refrain from wasting the energy of those around us. 

A fertile and creative moment is at hand, so look around for the circumstance in which to consummate this potential through a team project that brings benefits to the whole realm. Since this Planet is our singleton this month, the importance of bringing full energy and enthusiasm to our daily activities cannot be overstated.

 

 

The Strength/Justice pair (Mars in Cancer) counsels deep meditation upon the potential consequences of current actions before any concrete steps are taken. The Strength image shows multiple streams of consequences arising from an act of personal will that will be irrevocable and potentially world changing.

One's only protection in a circumstance like this is careful prior analysis of the impinging considerations inherent in the situation from the outset. Justice weighs and measures all the constituents of the experiment and tests for purity before embarking into her combinations, so there will be fewer surprises as the experience unfolds.

 

The Star/Hermit pair (Mercury in Leo) reaches far beyond the plane of average consciousness, touching threads that are anchored deep into the past history of the soul and far into our future visions.

 

The Star card allows us to contemplate our true and original self, untouched by the contingencies of time and circumstances that have tended to distort our worldly self-perception.

Meanwhile the Hermit puts us in touch with the animating Spark of Light that each of us carries, our inherent resemblance to and inheritance from Eternity, which is our magical secret nature. We are advised to look beyond our mortal identifications for archetypal inspiration when the outer world seems flat or uninspired.

The Fool/Wheel pair (Sun in Virgo) is also an introspective suggestion, because this Fool is an initiate who has cultivated the alchemical Trinity reflected in the heart center, the root center, and the will center that stands between them.

By cultivating this subtle inward sensitivity the Fool can remain in harmony with the outworking of the Divine Plan around him or her. 

The Fool learns self-restraint, and is saved from acting out rashly, in unconsidered and feckless ways. Energy is conserved and peace is maintained until time and consciousness are ripe for right action.

The Priestess/Wheel pair (Moon in Virgo) advises us to study the mechanics of our astro-alpha-numeric correspondences, as these inhabit and inform the arts and sciences of the Renaissance Magi. The Priestess gives the Wisdom Teachings, the Theosophia, from the Inner Sanctum, and the Wheel plays out the seasonal cycles across the land and through history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Empress/Wheel pair (Venus in Virgo) emphasizes the Fertile Virgin within each human soul, no matter our gender or temporal circumstance. Each one of us is endowed with a pure sensitivity and empathy that allows us to resonate with may different life forms and situations across a full life of communications and exchanges.

The Empress stresses our affinity bond with All That Is, while the Wheel locates us in the seasons and cycles of Time. Together they emphasize the power of attraction that keeps us anchored in our bodies and attached to the unique situations of this incarnation, here and now.

The Judgment/Hanged Man pair (Saturn in Libra) are making an Annunciation into the sphere of the collective mind, challenging the individuated soul to differentiate itself from Matter without having to die to clarify the distinction.There is some kind of screening or sorting going on, which is meant to separate the sheep from the goats, so to speak. 

Those who can awaken are being invited to do so; those who have been making themselves available to the Light are bound receive it. The open and flexible soul that can endure the feeling of being suspended between worlds will come to know the reality beyond the world of appearances.

One who holds onto this world but lightly, remaining open to the upwelling of inspiration and the call of spirit, can slip beyond the boundaries of flesh and navigate through the interpenetrating worlds of the inner planes.

Remember as the month goes along that it's the Jupiter issues that will loom the largest. There is no time for insincerity, mixed motives or passive-aggressive strategies.  As my dearly departed Dad used to say, if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing right. Let's put our focus on the people, places and things that matter to us in the long run, and not just for selfish reasons.  We all need to take responsibility for the collective realm, demonstrating our values in action and actively sponsoring those trends that lead towards a healthy, happy future. We are each sovereign in our own bodies and lives, so let's use those awesome powers for the good of all!

*********************************************

CURRENT STAGE OF THE MOON - AUGUST 2011

NewMoon at 5+ Virgo, on Sunday August 28th, at 11:05 PM (EDT) / 8:05 P (PDT). From this moment, the Moon begins to wax, or increase. 

FUTURE STAGES:  

2nd Quarter, Waxing Half Moon at 11+ Sagittarius on Sunday September 4th at 1:40 PM (EDT)/ 10:40AM (PDT). 

Full Moon at 19+ Pisces Monday September 12th at 5:28 AM (EDT) / 2:28 AM (PDT).  From this moment, the Moon begins to wane, or decrease.  

 

4th Quarter, Waning Half Moon at 27+ Gemini, on Tuesday September 20th at 9:40 AM (EDT) / 6:40 AM (PDT).  

Next NewMoon at 4+ Libra, Tuesday September 27th at 7:10 AM (EDT) / 4:10 AM (PDT). From this moment, the Moon begins to wax, or increase.

_______________________________

ArkLetter 78
August 28, 2011
copyright christine payne-towler 2005-2011, all rights reserved

 

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NewMoon Tarotlogy - July, too, 2011

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 77-- July 30, 2011

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

Sun, Moon and Venus in Leo. Following the students of Etteilla, who passed on the oldest complete body of Tarot correspondences we can currently document, this grouping would be represented as Fool, High Priestess and Empress in the Hermit's land.

Yes, that's right, the oldest Continental correspondence for the Sun is The Fool, Trump #0! I read this as the Fool for God, the wide-open mystic who is willing to go where the Divine Hand leads. We could also see him as a benign Pied Piper figure, leading the High Priestess and the Empress into the wilderness, into untrammeled and uncharted lands for refreshment and rejuvenation. Visiting the Hermit's virgin forest is like going back in time, back to a simpler but much more psychic and magical era. If the travelers are lucky they will be led to the Shaman's cave, there to be blessed, cleansed, healed and/or admonished, whatever he sees fit to share. Time to be exorcised, it seems!

Mercury 1st degree of Virgo (about to go retrograde from August 2 - 25) = Star in Wheel's land. This is a fascinating combination. Here we have the soul, divested of the burden of ego, spinning the Wheel of Destiny, Fate, or Karma. When Mercury goes retrograde, the Star (image of the soul) shifts its tone from the kind and tender personal muse to the impersonal, implacable and unreachable Ideal. From its frosty heights of perfection, the Ideal forever rebukes the merely real for its provincial, mortal limitations. This looks like it could get awkward for situations that have been coasting on unchecked assumptions for a little too long.

Mars in late Gemini (conjunct South Node) = Strength in Chariot's land. Here we have an image of Mars' drive and desire being granted a vehicle by which "he" can speed up the action and increase the scope of "his" impact. Most of the time this card will have a female figure heading it up -- though Etteilla did show Hercules in at least one of his packs. But always the card suggests an active force that is imposing its will on the landscape. This combination strongly suggests that one needs to speed up one's pace, take the necessary risks and arouse the courage to carry boldly forth.

Jupiter at ~9 degrees Taurus, who will go retrograde at the end of August = Emperor in The Lovers' land. This combination points to the dependence of the refined and uber-civilized aspects of modern humanity upon our rustic and natural roots. Our ancestral connection to the soil of Mother Earth is still being lived out every year by the faceless masses at the bottom of the social pyramid around the world. What would happen if that pyramid were upended? With this combination of symbols the 21st century "1st world" citizen will learn what peasants have always known about healthy living on the cheap, with low tech and low environmental impact. This is also where we start consulting Nature for solutions to civilization's problems.

Saturn at 12+ Libra = Judgment in Hanged Man's land. What can one say to this? Do everything within your power to pay back anybody whom you might have injured or to whom you are in debt. Help everybody that you can see is clearly unable to help himself or herself. Remember that "there but for the grace of God go I". Do unto others as you will be done to, because soon enough, you will be done to, too! Saturn is no respecter of individuals -- what one experiences, all will experience, though each will take it in their own way.

Uranus (primal Air) at 4+ Aries, newly retrograde = Magus in the Pope's land. Ahhh, here we have the primal dilemma! The Magus is the aboriginal consciousness of the individual, innately and naturally embedded in the Divine Mind and living out the One Life together with All-That-Is. On the other hand, the Pope or Hierophant is the head teacher in the sacred University, and his franchise depends upon serving up dependable, duplicable units of "knowledge" which may or may not have a thing to do with the directly experienced mythic universe of the Mage. So, there's a culture clash coming to a head. My prayer is that both sides will find value in the other and the resulting synthesis will lift the global noosphere.

Neptune (primal Water) in the first degree of Pisces, newly retrograde = Death in the realm of The Sun. Here we are in the grip of the Universal Solvent (a quote from Carl, below) while having a look into the final sign in the Zodiac, representing the end of the old cycle before the beginning of the new. The retrograde action will soon drag Neptune's visage back into Aquarius, which will bog down Neptune's energy between now and early February 2012. For the moment, this little turnaround at the first degree of Pisces is gives us a glimpse into the future that awaits early next year. But after August 6th, we'll be called back over the ground Neptune has already covered and make sure that we have absolutely no further unfinished business in Aquarius.

Pluto (primal Fire) at 5+ Capricorn, still retrograde = World in the realm of the Tower. What are we to make of this symbolism? The Primal Fire represented by Pluto is actually the power, glory and awesome intensity of the Divine pressing down into the material plane with such forcefulness that matter seethes with the increased frequency and leaps into the shape of the Divine Will. It seems that at this time, the Divine Will is to unleash the Lightning (one of the oldest names for this Trump) that will separate the quick from the dead. It behooves us all to become very practical and keep grounded at all times. The excessive, the inflated and the exaggerated are all marking themselves out as targets of this correcting bolt. The power is to be found at the grass-roots level, it is the last that shall be first after this turn-around

Another Astrological Blog You Might Benefit From:

A fascinating analysis of the August astrology is here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w7-rwE2p3Y&feature=youtu.be

It's pretty challenging to listen to, but the expert narrator, Carl Boudreau, is obviously well grounded in his intuitions. He's got an interesting technique that he's using: What he does, and I've never seen this done before, is to make a composite between the NewMoon and the FullMoon each month, rendering a chart showing the midpoint of each planets’ motion during the opening half of the cycle. It pictures forth the inherent "square of the Moon" against the backdrop of the dominant aspects prevailing across the surveyed period. This gives Carl a snapshot of the developmental crisis of the month. You will not recognize the chart as matching either the NewMoon or the FullMoon, because what he's working with is a derived average, the energetic middle ground of the two. Plus, his concept of aspects is very ancient, almost Babylonian or Vedic, because he sees things in terms of sign-to-sign relationships rather than degree-to-degree aspects. In all ways he's taking an archetypal, global approach that provides us an excellent view into the 'tenor of the times'.

Fair warning: In this video the host is being calmly dramatic, which might take some aback. What's true is, no astrologer can deny the structures he's pointing out. People might quibble about whether he leaves the orbs too wide, or they may take umbrage at the Koch houses or his decision to base his calculations on Greenwich Mean Time. But none of those things can undermine the point being made. He's detailing aspect structures that bathe the whole planet in a particular matrix of both supportive and conflicting energies, and he's trying to describe what types of events we can expect to see as a result. Plus, his remarks about August 2 in relation to Mercury and the Void of Course Moon are right to the point. I am passing this on with the understanding that Carl's method tends to focus on the "bleeding edge" of the month, and this would be true every month he views through this technique. That being said, I can find little to disagree with here, and quite a bit to think about. You can find more from this wise and compassionate man at http://carlboudreau.blogspot.com. Thank you so much for your generosity, Carl!

News On A More Personal Note:

Things are gearing up in relation to my trip to France this fall. It's been a tumultuous process, making the cards and the book that goes with them. As these things are coming into manifestation, I am having my 2nd Saturn Return, which has been a triple-header due to the retrograde cycle Saturn just completed. Anybody with significant planets between 10 and 20 degrees of Libra has been in Saturn's wringer this year, and he's been having his way with us. Luckily I saw this coming last year and began making the necessary adjustments. Saturn is my lifelong companion, as he appears with the Sun, Neptune and Mercury in my birth chart, between 12 and 22 degrees of Libra. There is a sense in which my entire life to date has been focused on this upcoming fall. And it just so happens that I'll be at the podium in France for the completion of Saturn's tour of my Sun bundle. He'll have a front-row seat for my coming-out party!

In case there's still someone out there who hasn't heard, I will be giving a Keynote Speech at the Association for Tarot Studies conference in France this fall, where I will launch the new Tarot of the Holy Light created by myself and my partner Michael Dowers. I believe there are still spaces open at the conference, so head on over to http://association.tarotstudies.org/2011convention.html and claim your spot at this unique and groundbreaking event! You will not believe the lineup, the people who are attending, the venue -- it’s going to offer superlative experiences for those lucky enough to be part of the fun. Truly, esoteric Tarot is coming of age!

In preparation, I have been making a set of webinars with Linda Marson at globalspiritualstudies.com, the first of which launched a week ago. It was entitled "The Cathedral In Tarot; Sacred Numerology", and it went splendidly with Linda's expert support and assistance. Check it out at http://globalspiritualstudies.com/shop/presentations/tarot/christine-payne-towler-number-theology-in-tarot/.

In the next two weeks, August 2nd and 9th (at 6:00 PM PDT) I'll be presenting a 2-part series called "The Coming of the Goddess To Tarot". Both of these short courses are/will be available for one-time viewing or can be purchased in DVD form for your permanent collection. DVD's will be available at the ATS Conference in France as well.

*********************

CURRENT STAGE OF THE MOON - JULY/AUGUST 2011:
NewMoon at 7+Leo on Saturday, July 30th, at 2:41 AM (EST) / 11:41 AM (PST). From this moment, the Moon begins to wax, or increase.

FUTURE STAGES:

2nd Quarter, Waxing Half Moon at 13+ Scorpio on Saturday August 6th at 7:09 AM (EDT) / 4:09 AM (PDT).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Full Moon at 20+ Aquarius Saturday August 13th at 2:59 PM (EDT) / 11:59 AM (PDT).  From this moment, the Moon begins to wane, or decrease.

4th Quarter, Waning Half Moon at 28+ Taurus, on Sunday August 21st at 5:56 PM (EDT) / 2:56 PM (PDT).

Next NewMoon at 5+ Virgo, on Monday August 29th, at 11:05 PM (EDT) / 8:05 P (PDT). From this moment, the Moon begins to wax, or increase.

_______________________________

ArkLetter 77
July 30, 2011
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ArkLetter 76

Tarot ArkLetter - http://www.tarotarkletters.com

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 76, July 1, 2011

IN THIS ISSUE:

 I. New Moon Tarotology -- July  2011 ...  Now that we have crossed the Solstice, and summer is truly with us,  our time in the sun has come.  This NewMoon in Cancer kicks off the 2-month period that is the high point of the Alchemical year.  If we take the stance that this is a natural development, then whatever we are currently busy with assumes that magical significance to the psyche.  This might be a great time to scan through your priorities and rescue any private goals or dreams that have been pushed out of view by the stark necessities of life. If you can name and highlight a heartfelt desire that really matters to you at this time, try granting yourself one or two slices of time every day to think only about that.  You may not be able to do anything specific about it right now, but if you can just devote some caring, love and vision to that desire,  the process of opening the way might just begin on its own..  ..http://www.tarotarkletters.com/2011/07/newmoon-tarotlogy-july-2011.html

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NewMoon Tarotlogy - July, 2011

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 76-- July 1, 2011

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

 Now that we have crossed the Solstice, and summer is truly with us,  our time in the sun has come.  This NewMoon in Cancer kicks off the 2-month period that is the high point of the Alchemical year.  If we take the stance that this is a natural development, then whatever we are currently busy with assumes that magical significance to the psyche.  This might be a great time to scan through your priorities and rescue any private goals or dreams that have been pushed out of view by the stark necessities of life. If you can name and highlight a heartfelt desire that really matters to you at this time, try granting yourself one or two slices of time every day to think only about that.  You may not be able to do anything specific about it right now, but if you can just devote some caring, love and vision to that desire,  the process of opening the way might just begin on its own.

Let's look at our Astrology-to-Tarot transpositions, and see what affirmations we can glean from the NewMoon chart.   We'll be following Etteilla's Trump correspondences, as unscrambled by his Italian students for the Cartomanzia Tarot, as this is the pattern Etteilla inherited from his Masonic and Martinist teachers.   That I know of, Etteilla didn't actually decorate his pips cards with astrological correspondences, and the system he taught to his students was complicated and somewhat counterintuitive. So if you don't mind, we'll just use my common-sense approach for the Pips card that become relevant to the divination. People who have the time who possess the Aeon Books translation of Papus' Divinatory Tarot can look up the Royals and Pips in that book and find the notes that are written in the margins of Papus' cards (which illustrate that text).  One of the listings will be a set of dates which, when translated back into zodiacal degrees, will indicate what Papus claims Etteilla was intending for his students to use.  I have found no other source to verify that these marginal notes are originally from Etteilla's system, rather than being add-ons that Papus included in his revision of Etteillas system 100 years after Etteilla's death.  No current Etteilla pack in print shows zodiac-degree associations with the Pips cards, and neither do any of the traditional LWB's from the Etteilla packs. So, for today's purposes we will follow simple standard  protocols derived from the elements and modes of astrology.

NewMoon Tarotlogy - June, 2011

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 75 -- June 1, 2011

Tarotlogy -- Seismic Tremors

Although I am still in the caldera of this book project, boiling in my own magma, I have not forgotten you, dear readers!  This month I'd like to share a technique that I use in my meditations whenever I'm trying to get some context on "the tenor of the times".

There's no drawing up the chart or pulling cards from any particular pack this month, though you can do this at home if you like. We're just opening up the ephemeris page of an astrological datebook and reading off the line for June 1st, the day of NewMoon. Next we consult the AAN chart that I assembled years ago to make sense of all the different (formal, coherent) Tarot correspondence systems around.  We'll look at this month's NewMoon placements while keeping the Continental Tarot correspondences taught by Etteilla and Blavatsky in mind. Let's see what comes into focus, shall we?

NewMoon Tarotlogy May 2nd-3rd, 2011

  By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 74, May 3, 2011

Here we are, having just crossed the cusp of May, with the celebrations of Easter and Beltane under our belts, and now bathing in the light of NewMoon in Taurus. The spring sense of arousal is palpable, and flowers are going off like fireworks, at least in my neighborhood.  When I step outside, there is a paradisal scent on the air.

We are in the thick of preparing the book that will support Michael Dowers' exquisite illustrations for The Tarot of the Holy Spirit, so please forgive my short shrift this month. For the next few ArkLetters, at least, I'll be reprising previous themes and pointing out important issues in preparation for what's coming. There are certain haunting melodies, sub-themes that interweave with the main information, that deserve a bit of repetition during this interval.  The following is one of them.

The Presence/Absence Dilemma

This theme was most thoroughly discussed in my article on Courtly Love http://www.tarotarkletters.com/2008/06/courtly-love-in.html

Scroll down through the book reviews and the chart (from Forbidden Faith), and you'll come to a section titled The Presence of Absence.  Read along till you come to the section called Tarot and the Mind of Magic.  The ideas broached in the interval are what I'd like to raise for consideration this month, since they directly touch on our "invisible" interaction with whatever canon of meaning we attribute to our cards. 

New Moon Tarotlogy - The Master Key of Esotericism

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 73, April 3, 2011

Let's start with some news about the Association of Tarot Studies conference. I'm very excited about giving a keynote speech! I'll be presenting my latest research in a talk called Alchemy, TheoSophia and Tarot.  I will also be using the occasion to unveil the first Continental Tarot deck of the 21st Century, and its accompanying book, entitled The Tarot of the Holy Light. Both have been created by and with my partner Michael Dowers.
It's getting to be time for folks to make their arrangements if they are interested in attending:

http://association.tarotstudies.org/2011convention.html

Attendance is limited by the size of the venue so don't delay!

The Master Key of Esotericism

I had a conversation last week that informed me in no uncertain terms that when I talk about Tarot Esotericism, there is a continental-sized gap between what I am referring to and what the average Tarot-interested listener might imagine.  The casual and generic way that the word "esoteric" is being used in common parlance seems to be the source of the disconnect. These days the word 'esoteric' seems to function as a placeholder or cipher, like an empty vase, rather than a knowledge-filled category pregnant with meaning. For so many, 'esoteric' is a fig-leaf concept used to cover up things that they would simply rather not think deeply about.

NewMoon Tarotlogy Reading - March 2011

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 72, March 4, 2011 

 
The Steele Wizard Tarot

Pamela Steele has recently gifted me with a copy of the very unique Steele Wizard Tarot, and it has been a pleasure to experiment with it on behalf of my readers.  Let me say right up front that the presentation is maximally classy, with every detail attended to, from this sturdy "vault" of a two-part box to the beautiful ribbon-trimmed bookmark in the square-bound accompanying booklet.  Steele accomplished every step of this creation herself, making this pack a true labor of love and homage to the Art of Tarot.

This pack reminds me very much of the Cary-Yale Visconti set, in that this Tarot has an extra course of Royals (known as Maidens) and six additional Trumps (called Weaver, Universe, Truth, Evolution, Soul Twins, and I AM), adding up to a pack of 88 cards.  The pack is also oversized in card weight, height and width, making it quite a handful to manipulate.

The heavy cardstock forces the user into a modified shuffle, which Steel kindly describes in her booklet. Once that adjustment is made, the deep gloss on the cards allow them to 'handle' quite nicely -- although, truth be told, I have large hands and am used to oversized packs. 

The substantiality and heft of the individual cards with their deep dark borders and super-shiny surfaces means that each card has the impact of an icon. The images are strong enough, both physically and artistically, to stand alone on one's altar or bedside table, speaking directly into the unconscious in the manner of a "visual spell". 

New Moon Astrology, Tarot, and Maslow

...Using the esoteric arts to chart a course for development of the self
For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

TAROT ARKLETTERS GUEST-AUTHOR ARTICLE

by Toni Gilbert, RN, MA, HN

The Innate Call to Development

Like all of Nature, humans develop according to universal patterns. Theoretically, physis, a Greek name given to an archetypal force, is one cosmic power behind the material world. We know physis as the urge toward growth. As complex material and spiritual beings that urge takes place, not only at the material level, as we grow into adulthood, but also at the mental and spiritual levels. To say it another way, growth of the mind, body and spirit is a natural unfolding of our potential.

There are many ways that our nature unfolds. Two cosmic forces that help us grow are the large archetypes of Chaos and Grace. The Grace archetype dominates when one commits to higher values in their living. The archetype of Grace gives us feelings of peace and harmony with our surroundings. If you are in a state of Grace, good things happen to you and you feel blessed. You notice that the flow of your life is easier and you may experience lucky events. Grace in our personality expresses itself with an easy style because we are comfortable with ourselves and we enjoy life. The Grace-filled life is healthy and satisfying.  

NewMoon Tarotlogy - January, 2011

Tarotlogy by Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 70, January 4, 2011

For an introduction to the World Servers' Spread see ArkLetter 5
For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

Welcome to 2011, dear ones!  This year has already come in with a bang, at least in my own life, so I'm confident that you too are beginning to get a grip on the new context. But don't get too comfortable!  More and stranger changes are just around the corner, so let's enjoy this New Year by celebrating flexibility, imagination, daring and the art of tempting fate.

New Moon Tarotlogy - December 2010

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 69, December 2010 

For an introduction to the World Servers' Spread see ArkLetter 5
For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

I've got a "new" book by Papus in my lap, and I'm wondering how many folks have seen it? Titled Occultism, Reincarnation and Tarot, it is a Kessinger reprint of three important works by Papus. First comes a treatise called What is Occultism? (written in1913), followed by a shorter piece called  Reincarnation; Physical Astral & Spiritual Evolution (no date given).  This hefty tome ends with a reprint of Papus' famous The Tarot of the Bohemians. 

Republished in 2005, this compilation provides a generous immersion into the major thought-streams of Western Esotericism, written about a century before the topic was taken up as a university study.  Papus’ expositions regarding Occultism and Reincarnation offer a rich array of the teachings that have been interwoven with Tarot since at least the 19th century. This little collection puts more meat on the bones of themes introduced in his two major works on Tarot -- Tarot of the Bohemians and The Divinatory Tarot. 

NewMoon Tarotlogy - November 6, 2010

p>By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 68, November 5-6th, 2010 

For an introduction to the World Servers' Spread see ArkLetter 5
For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

Nov 5th, 2010 Tarotlogy

Newsflash:  For those of you to whom it might apply, I'm holding down a Tarot table at the Astoria Holiday Market, which is held every Saturday and Sunday between this weekend and December 18th-19th at the 14th St. Pilot Station (4175 14th, on the marina).  This is my first time at this very charming little weekend market, but as it's so close to my home, and has such civilized hours (11:00 am - 4:00 pm), I'm taking advantage and hoping to support some of this growing community's metaphysical needs. Dates aren't officially fixed yet, but it'll be at least one day out of every weekend. Enquire if you would like specifics.

NewMoon Tarotlogy - October 7, 2010

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 67, October 7th, 2010 @ 11:46 am

For an introduction to the World Servers' Spread see ArkLetter 5
For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

This is my season for musing about a life lived practicing the divinatory arts. The curve of time seems so easy to see from the perspective of the Libra Equinox. Looking back six months shows us how the Aries start-gun set the trajectory for all the action that has since emerged. Looking ahead six months illuminates the path we'll walk to align with that rebirth moment again.  From this point in the cycle, we can see very clearly that time and human consciousness curve into themselves like the Wheel of Fortune.

Divination is based on pattern-recognition.  Each system has a limited number of moving parts in its model  -- e.g. 78 cards of Tarot; 64 hexagrams of I Ching; 12 Signs and 7 Planets of ancient Astrology, 16 figures of Geomancy; 22 Runes, and so on. Those moving parts each have fixed and standard meanings. Those meanings flex and shade as the parts interact with each other, but the individual widgets never completely depart from their essential natures however they might recombine. A sensitive person who is willing to watch these patterns go through their paces over time begins to get a feel for the way they "come to significance" together. Despite the kaleidoscopic variety one sees through the viewing window, the mechanism boils down to a set number of multicolored moving pieces being reflected in a circle of mirrors.  It's not rocket science, nor is it utterly random either!

New Moon Tarotlogy - September, 2010

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 66, September, 2010

For an introduction to the World Servers' Spread see ArkLetter 5
For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

NewMoon in Virgo, how soon you have caught up with us!  It seems only yesterday that we were dancing around the midnight fires in the heat of summer's harvest.  But now there's no denying the rapid cooling of the evenings, the longer nights and weaker sun.  Time rules us all, and the Virgo NewMoon is here to remind us of that.

Our NewMoon chart basically comprises two clumps of moving bodies -- the planets clustered around the Autumn Equinox (Mercury, Sun, Moon, Saturn, Mars and Venus) and the planets in the Winter Signs (Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and North Node).   The pictured angles don't matter to our interpretation, being determined by where one is living at the time of exactitude. Absent a focus on horizon or meridian, what is notable is that nine out of ten moving bodies appear to the winter side of the Virgo-to-Pisces axis.

NewMoon Tarotlogy - August 9, 2010

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 65, August 9, 2010

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

This is quite a focused chart we have today, so I'm going to try to be focused while reporting on it. We are currently navigating the stressful Cardinal Challenge in the heavens: Pluto in Capricorn squaring both Uranus/Jupiter in Aries and the opposing Saturn/Mars/Venus in Libra.  In some ways it is a relief to finally be passing through this time, instead of just watching the setup in wonderment. In other ways, there's a feeling of dancing below hanging swords suspended on inadequate threads -- hoping not to get snagged, pinned or skewered in the process.

Looking at the chart as a whole, it is bright with yellow, orange and red colors.  Those represent divisions of the circle by one (yellow), two (orange), four and eight (red).  All three of these types of aspect partake in the nature of fire:  yellow for "light", orange for "heat", red for "adrenal overdrive". 

Tarotlogy - History is Destiny

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 64, July 11, 2010

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62

Here we are dear friends, in the thick of the issues that this year’s cosmic alignments have been inexorably driving us towards. The FullMoon Eclipse of late June provided a perfect trigger for the abrupt and intense lock-up that is now hardening around us like plaster in the sun. 

My prayer is that we’ve individually been making every effort to create lives that reward us and nurture us above and beyond our bottom-line economic situation. There has never been a better moment than now to unhook from the rat race and peel off, at least in your own mind, from the herd hypnosis that beams out at us from all directions via our mass media sources.

 Attentive readers will note a continuing change in my tone and the references I am making. There is no doubt that I am personally engaged with the energetic shifts that are breaking around us from multiple fronts.  Speaking as a pattern-recognition person, times like these are hypnotically arresting and demand attention no matter what grid or scale of measure a person is using.

As an astrologer, an esoteric psychologist, a magician and an historian, I can’t help but stand in awe of the converging pressures that are defining our collective moment. Furthermore, as a spiritual alchemist, it seems to be my duty to undergo whatever I am analyzing, and analyze whatever I am undergoing. 

The Personal, Collective, Cosmic: a three-level analysis in Tarotlogy

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 63, June 12, 2010

This month we will be looking into our new Tarotlogy spread using the fascinating three-level analysis that comes forward from at least the time of Ficino (the early Italian Renaissance), and quite likely much earlier (Pseudo-Dionysius, c. AD 500; Meister Eckhart, AD 1260-1328).  By this I mean the analysis of reality in three scales; the personal, the collective, and the cosmic.

When we started our World Server’s series, we suggested a number of threesomes that are classic to the Tarot.  For the sake of our new Tarotlogy approach, our focus is now bending towards a triplicity of socio- economic considerations, giving us a glimpse into our own private lives, the business/investment world, and the Archetype level from which all these developments emanate.

Tarotlogy

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 62, May 13, 2010

Without burdening you with all the whys and wherefores, this column announces a change in our program. Tarot University is shifting, moving to the next stage of our development. The pack of cards I am making with partner Michael Dowers is nearly complete, which will lift us to a new plane of functionality here at the site. 

New research in the history in the Continental Esoteric Tarot is pouring in thick and fast as well.  I promise you, the best is yet to come, dear readers!  We have faithfully wrestled our demon-lover through the long dark night; now the dawn is currently and unmistakably breaking, and the adversary stands revealed as a shining Angel of Light!   

In the meanwhile, looking outward to the world at large, it seems the energy-body of Earth is both causing and reflecting distress from increasing dysfunction, tension and depletion. Each of us has to be feeling some part of this in the microcosm of our own bodies.