OCCULT VIEW

Moon Struck Tower

We have another full moon earthquake. This is starting to become a regular event. Nobody seems to notice these full and new moon quakes, but I do. There was a full moon on June 26, 2010 at 11:31 GMT. In addition there was a partial lunar eclipse beginning from 1017 GMT and lasting for 3 hours.  54% of the moon was covered by the earth’s shadow at its peak at 1138 GMT.   And on June 26 at 05:30 GMT there was an earthquake which struck off the Solomon Islands. It was a powerful 6.7 magnitude quake.
Strong earthquake strikes off the Solomon Islands, no tsunami threat

The idea the moon has an influence over the earth is an old one.  One example is in a tarot card, The Moon.  The moon card shows the moon hovering above, and below are baying hounds and a crayfish crawling out of a pool of water.  In the background is a pair of towers.  The tarot’s moon card shows the moon having an esoteric impact on the world below. 

Outside the spiritual symbolism is also a curious symbolism suggesting the moon’s ability to cause earthquakes.  The towers in the background seem very similar to the destroyed tower in the tarot card titled the Tower, or the Lightning Struck Tower.

The Lightning Struck Tower appears to be struck down by lightning, but it is actually impacted by a force from the heavens.  Notice the only partly cloudy sky.  This mysterious force may be construed as the influence of the moon over its towers.  Observe the flame-like energies in both cards.  Did the tarot recognize a connection between the moon and the power of the moon to destroy towers?  Lightning would never topple a stone tower.  But an earthquake could, prodded by a power from the heavens…the moon!

Partial lunar eclipse to dominate sky June 26

There is an interesting article in the May 2010 issue of National Geographic magazine, titled “Mexico’s Shocking New Saints”.  The article deals with the cult of Santa Muerte, the saint named Holy Death.  La Santa Muerte takes the form of Death, the grim reaper, a skeleton draped in a shroud holding a scythe or a globe of the earth.  Here is the story:
Mexico’s Shocking New Saints

La Santa Muerte is a saint for outsiders, the poorest, the disenfranchised, and the criminal world of prostitutes, drug dealers, thieves and worse.  For those who face death in a hostile world, like taxi drivers or security guards.  I know nothing about this cult, but I do know something about people who live on the edge of existence.  I’ve had acquaintances that were lost souls, people in trouble, those who fell into trouble with the law.  These people are not necessarily evil, but mostly get into trouble because of poverty, stupidity, or substance abuse and addiction issues.

Regular Christians would consider the veneration of La Santa Muerte as devil worship.  Yet, I can sort of understand why the spiritually lost would be attracted to La Santa Muerte.  Ideally one could turn to any of the great spiritual traditions for salvation, so why embrace the grim reaper?  If the dominant culture does not accept you, what to do?  Invent your own spirituality. 

Dance Of Death

Followers of la Santa Muerte claim they had prayers answered in her name.  They actually believe in La Santa Muerte, it is not just a funky tattoo.  In my previous post I mentioned how there may be spiritual powers available, which we all have access to, if we follow the process.  These powers are neutral, available to any belief system.  And they can be used for both constructive and destructive means.

Yet these spiritual powers do not exist in a vacuum. There are other spiritual laws too, including something similar to karma.  What goes around comes around, and in the end we get what we deserve one way or another.  The problem with veneration of a saint of Holy Death is that life has so much more to offer. We don’t have to accept our fate as it is.  Any spiritual tradition can be positive or negative.  Christianity had the crusades and the inquisition, Islam had its jihads.  It seems like many people of faith throughout history worshiped Holy Death.

The image of Santa Muerte looks similar to the European version of the grim reaper.  The classic image of the grim reaper is in the tarot, card number 13.  Just like people would misinterpret the imagery of Santa Muerte, so would it be easy to misconstrue the meaning of tarot’s death card.  The death card can mean physical death.  But its real meaning is of the death of old ways, in other words…change.  Most people don’t like change, fear change, resist change but for good or bad change is inevitable.  And without change there cannot be renewal, rebirth and growth.  We need to be flexible in the face of changing circumstances and adapt.  That is the way of nature, of evolution.  Species that cannot adapt perish.  On a personal level, if we can’t adapt to a changing world, we falter.

An interesting component of the earlier versions of tarot’s death card is that it is shown not as a complete skeleton, but was a decaying cadaver.  There is still flesh on those bones.  The symbolism is clear…a state of transition is taking place.  Decay leads to rebirth.   The world is changing, adapt or perish.

The Catholic Church is in deep trouble with its priests’ sex scandals. It appears some church authorities tried to cover up clergy pedophilia to protect the church’s reputation, and the cover-up has reached the highest ranks of the Catholic Church. Which begs the question…why does the Church have this problem to begin with? How did this happen? Protestant churches have their share of sex scandals, but these usually involve pastors cheating on their wives, not molesting children.

Modern version of the Popess

The Tarot actually has something to say about the Catholic Church’s problem with sex. The Tarot of Marseilles is one of the oldest versions of the tarot, and it existed from at least the fifteenth century when the Catholic Church was both an overwhelming political and religious power. The imagery on the tarot clearly reflected their times, which included the Catholic world.

The Tarot of Marseilles’ viewpoint of the church is quite heretical. And it appears to have an opinion about sex and the Catholic Church. This is apparent from the infamous card number 2, the female Pope. Later versions of the tarot removed explicit Catholic imagery and transformed the Popess into the High Priestess. This is an appropriate reworking of the essence of the card’s meaning; the Popess/High Priestess represents alternative, nontraditional spirituality.

What does a tarot card about a female Pope suggest? It would be considered sacrilege, blasphemy, and heresy, anti-God. And exactly why is the idea of a female pope (or priest) so awful? That is a good question. I can’t think of a good reason. Sort of like the logic behind denying women the right to vote a century ago. What were they thinking back then?

Lining up the first six cards of the tarot in numerical order, we notice something interesting. Watch the eyes of the characters in the cards. Who is looking at whom? Compare card #1, the Juggler and card #2, the Lady Pope. The female Pope is looking intently, directly at the Juggler, who seems preoccupied at playing with his juggling. She is offering her Juggler the book she holds, the key to knowledge. Instead of learning to juggle, learn to read, and begin the journey towards enlightenment.

The next two cards are the Empress and the Emperor. The Empress gives a sly glance at the Emperor, but the Emperor’s full attention is directly focused on his Empress. This is the path of life, woman and man, wife and husband, the reason for our existence…the continuation of the human species. It is the natural order and cannot be denied.

The following two cards are card #5 the Pope, and card #6 the Lovers. Now this is an odd pair. The Pope is looking directly at the Lovers card, not at the pair of cardinals before him. What is up with that? I’d suggest that a celibate priesthood’s internal, subconscious focus would be on that which they don’t have…love, sex, and a relationship. The medieval Pope was the master of the Western world, above all kings and queens. But without love, what did it matter? The Pope gazes longingly at that which even he is denied. Or was he really denied? Hmmm.

This might explain something of the Catholic Church’s problem. Is it a surprise an institution that requires a celibate priesthood would have priests with sexual issues? Has any institution that denied human nature done so without consequences?

If we place the Popess and the Pope side by side, what do we see? One thing is obvious; they are NOT looking at each other, but are determinedly looking away from each other. They are not on the same page. The Popess is reading a book, and being an outcast her knowledge is self-learned. She does not depend on other’s interpretation of scripture, but decides for herself. She exists outside the traditional religious power structure. The Pope in the card is telling his bishops kneeling before him what to think.  Maybe what the Catholic Church needs is a woman’s touch, with women sharing leadership.  We need a woman pope.  Life requires balance, and the Church is unbalanced.  A female Pope is the Tarot’s answer to the church’s problems.

I am reviewing an old and unusual set of divinatory cards.  They are not tarot cards, nor do they belong to traditional cartomancy.  They are the Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards.  The Gypsy Witch cards have been around for a long time. They were first published in 1904 and have been around ever since, and predate many of our better known tarot decks such as the famous Rider-Waite deck which was first published in 1909.

This is a curious deck of cards.  They claim to be based on ideas by the famed French cartomancer, Madam Lenormand.  There are numerous Lenormand style decks that make use of mnemonic images on the cards.   The images and their meanings don’t seem to correspond to the accepted meanings attributed to the suits or numerology.  The Lenormand style cards are unique in themselves, and today we’d call this style of deck oracle cards. 

The Gypsy Witch deck is a facsimile of the Lenormand decks that were developed after her death.  This Gypsy Witch deck is a standard deck of playing cards, but each card has an illustration and the meaning written down.  The illustrations are old Victorian style images.  This adds charm to the deck.  With the meanings of the cards written on each card, we’d think it would be easy to use.  There is nothing to memorize. I bought my deck out of curiosity long ago.  However, I rarely used these cards. Why?

I have issues with the Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Deck.  First, these cards have no relationship with traditional cartomancy or the tarot.  Cartomancy certainly has a wide variety of  interpretations towards any card’s meaning, but there are some simple “rules”.  One is the meaning of the suits.  The heart represents matters of the heart and emotion; the diamond represents matters of money and commerce, and so on.  With this deck, the pips and numbers have NO relationship with the meanings and imagery depicted. 

Comparing gypsy witch cards with tarot cards

Scary cards

Above is an example of their Aces compared to the same with the Rider-Waite deck.  Do the meanings written on the card have any relationship with the suits?  Expect for the Ace of Spades, no.  Which begs the question, is any correspondence necessary?  Are there really any rules when it comes to inspiring our intuition?  Is any system of symbolism only in our imagination?  Probably.  Intuition does not follow rules.   But I like to think there is some sort of system behind cartomancy.  If there is a system behind the Lenormand style decks, I don’t understand it. 

Another issue with these cards is their meaning is literally spelled out on each card. Reading people’s fortunes is not a game.  Many people take it quite seriously.  If a deck has written meanings that the participant can read along with the reader, it takes away from the reader their responsibility to “soften the blow” if something negative is seen.   Who knows if a reading will ever become reality?  And this deck has quite a few scary cards.  I have a pair of images to the left.  Imagine if someone saw these two in their layout…the 5 of Spades, with an image of a coffin, combined with the 10 of Diamonds, the Scythe, suggests an early death.  Spelled out right on the card.  Yikes!  That is way too literal.

One thing I like about this deck is its method of reading cards, which seems intriguing.  It could easily be used with tarot cards.  It uses a card to represent the participant in the center, and is surrounded by an inner square of eight cards, and an outer square of eight cards.  The inner square of cards shape the destiny of the participant, and the outer square of cards represent the forces surrounding him or her.    Below is a chart I made to show how it works. This type of layout has a lot of possibilities, and makes for a change from the typical Celtic Cross layout.

Print out these instructions, right click and print:

Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Instructions

The reverse side of the instruction booklet:

Instructions reverse side

James Bond Tarot

Movie Tarot Imagery

For something as intriguing as tarot cards, I’d imagine the tarot would be more recognized in our popular culture then it is.  I can’t think of many films where the tarot was involved.  One film is Woody Allen’s “Scoop” where tarot cards played a minor role. 

Perhaps the film that stands out using tarot cards as a significant plot device was the 1973 James Bond film “Live and Let Die”.  This was Roger Moore’s first time playing James Bond.   This is not a movie review, but a look at the use of tarot cards in film.

The deck created for ’Live and Let Die’ is called the “Tarot of the Witches” designed by Fergus Hall.  At the time the movie came out it was marketed as the James Bond 007 Tarot. The is not a typical deck.  The art is bold, colorful and surrealistic.  The characters have tiny little hands and feet. 

Otherwise the deck follows the standard tarot format.  I understand why the filmmakers would use such a colorful deck.   It stood out visually in the movie.  If you look carefully at the back of the cards you’ll see a stylized “007” pattern. 

How realistic was tarot reading portrayed in the film?   The card reading character was a Bond Girl, aptly named Solitaire (played by Jane Seymour) who had the power of clairvoyance.  Her power was hereditary, passed down from her mother who had the same abilitiy. 

The villain in the film was Kananga and he used Solitaire’s clairvoyance for his own sinister purposes.  Implausibly, Solitaire’s clairvoyance was never wrong.   Yeah, that is pure fantasy.  The process of card reading involved elaborate costumes.  Otherwise, notice the Celtic Cross layout in one of the images.

A plot element was her clairvoyance existed only if Solitaire remained a virgin.  Her virginity (and her usefulness to the criminals) was obviously in jeopardy with Bond mulling around. 

When Bond first encounters Solitaire, she speaks to him while reading her cards.  She said, “I know who you are and what you are and why you come.  You made a mistake.  You will not succeed.  The cards have followed you for me.” 

Bond seems to believe in Solitaire’s abilities, but he is also  uninterested in her power.  If I were a secret agent and discovered someone with her amazing abilities, for sure I’d report her to intelligence.  Forget the bad guy.  Then again, maybe not.  Who would believe?  He really didn’t appreciate the significance.  The villain sure did.  In real life there are accounts of governments employing psychics and remote viewers.  But no.  Bond only wants to chase bad guys and have nookie with the girls.  

Bond cleverly uses Solitaire’s belief in the cards to his advantage, seducing her by using a stacked deck.  After sex, she tells Bond “The power…I’ve lost it. The High Priestess is wife to the Prince no longer of this world. The spiritual bridge to the secret church.  It was my fate.  By compelling me to earthly love, the cards themselves have taken away my powers.  It makes no difference. The physical violation cannot be undone. When he finds out I’ve lost my power…”

This is an odd statement.  Does it have any connection whatsoever with real-life spirituality?  What to make of the movie’s association of virginity with clairvoyance?  It’s only a plot contrivance.  I don’t know any authentic spiritual practice that requires virginity for spiritual development, outside the Catholic Church.  If anything, a card reader should have a full life experience.  It would aid in card reading, not inhibit it. 

The silliness aside, it is nice to see a movie with the tarot in full display, even if it is portrayed fantastically.  The presence of tarot imagery in popular culture is uncommon enough, that anytime I see it I think it is worth noting and recording.  Also noteworthy is another tarot deck featured in this movie, the famous Rider-Waite deck.  Can you spot all of them in the images?  There are quite a few.  The Rider-Waite deck is the real deal, not movie making.

Hex Sign on a barn

During the winter while on the road, I spotted some hex signs on a couple of barns.  I was exited to see them!  I rarely see these.  I took a few pictures (above).  Hex signs are really interesting.  I’m sure we’ve all seen smaller versions in craft shops for hanging at home.  However, they are not only decorative art.  There is quite a bit to them.

Most view hex signs as simply colorful decorations, as folk art.  Historically they served a specific purpose.  They were talismans used to protect the barn, the farm and the home from fire, theft, lightening and misfortune.  And to promote good fortune, prosperity and fertility.  What made them different from talismans was their generally public nature.  They were beautiful art while serving an esoteric purpose.  Their occult aspect was not too obvious.

Hex signs arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1800s, the tradition brought by immigrants from the Old World.  But these protective symbols are very old.  They have a long history that reaches far back into paganism.  Since hex signs were public, the esoteric symbolism was subtle.  If anyone put a talisman from the Keys of Solomon on their barn, it would probably invite a fire started by an offended neighbor instead of warding it off.

Double Star Hex Sign

The symbolism of the hex sign is interesting.  On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be all that much to them.  They are often only geometric shapes. It seems any meaning is in the eye of the beholder.  However, if we consider numerology and sacred geometry we can discern some of the esoteric meaning behind the hex sign.

These symbols were enclosed in circles.  Inside the circles were symbols such as a swastika/solar wheel, rosettes, double rosettes, pentagrams, double stars and triple stars.

A circle enclosing geometric shapes is suggestive of the magic circles of ceremonial magic.  The ceremonial magician would evoke celestial/spiritual powers while he remained in the magic circle’s protection.  The magic circle is a cornerstone of magical practice.

Lets consider a common symbol, the Star.  If we compare the hex sign’s typical “star” with some of the talismanic imagery contained in the old grimoires, they look  familiar.  Take away the cryptic script and you could easily have a hex sign.

The number of points on the star has significance.  Five points, the pentagram, has obvious occult meaning.  Four points represents our physical world, symbolized by the four points of the compass.  A double star adds four more points to what is symbolized as the material world.   This reflects the attempt to protect and bless this physical world, our farm and home, with celestial aid.

Tart Card the Star

In the tarot card the Star; we have a star that looks just like a hex sign.  Just draw a circle around it!  It represents the actual stars above, but the Star is also a metaphor for a metaphysical force.  Astrology is suggestive of the influence of these “stars”.  The Star symbolizes the spiritual Universe and the Astral Powers Above.  The meaning of the Star card is about harmony between the Heavens and the Earth, the Spirit and the Individual.  As is above, so below.  As the woman pours water into the pond, she reflects what is going on at a higher level, as the Spirit pours its essence into the world.

The star in a circle, as seen with ceremonial magic’s circle, and with classical talismans and hex signs, represents our attempt to capture celestial influence for our benefit.   And keep it in our circle!

Suits of Cartomancy

There is a difference between tarot reading and cartomancy.  Tarot cards have become so popular that the art of cartomancy has somewhat fallen out of favor.  Cartomancy is divination with playing cards.  Skill with cartomancy is still an important ability when reading tarot cards if we include the minor arcana in the deck with a reading.  A deck like the Rider-Waite has unique images for every card of the minor arcana, so that makes it easy.  But with many other decks…all we have to go by are the suits and the number of pips.

The symbolism of the major arcana is fairly standard.  I have not seen any real standard meanings for the minor arcana.  The way I look at them, we are pretty much on our own when it comes to determining their meaning in divination.  We still need some guidance, so I combine numerology along with the recognized meanings behind the suits.  A problem is that numerology also doesn’t have any rock solid meanings either.  However, we may be able to cobble together some basic ideas.

First are the meanings of the suits.  The heart represents the feminine principle, emotions and matters of relationships and the family.  In the tarot the cup symbolizes it.  The club (tarot’s literal club) represents the masculine principle, of labor and effort and non-emotional pursuits.  The diamond (tarot’s coin) obviously represents money and matters of money and wealth.  And finally the spade (tarot’s sword) represents strife and conflict of one sort or another.

When we combine these basic core concepts with a number, we can sort of figure out what is going on.  Below are some generally accepted ideas about the symbolism with numbers:

ONE:  Unity.
This would be the pure essence of a thing without balance.   An Ace of Hearts could symbolize unconditional love…or an unrequited fatal attraction!

TWO:  Duality.
This symbolizes two opposites, the ying and yang, which may not be in balance.  The two sides of a coin that don’t connect.

THREE:  Spirit.
Where the number 1 is a point, and 2 cannot form a shape, 3 can now create the first geometric shape…the triangle.   Unity and Duality combined into manifesting reality in 3 dimensions.  And when a couple gives birth to a child, two now becomes three and that is the start of society and the continuation of life.

FOUR:  Physical matter.
The square, and the material world, the 4 corners of the compass, the 4 classic elements, the 4 seasons of nature define the number.

FIVE:  The Body.
5 points create the Pentagram or Pentagon.  This represents the human body.  Now the 4 points of matter and physicality are ruled over by the 5th point of the brain-spirit.  The 5 points symbolize the human body, the arms and legs and head, with the head ruling over all of them.  This also symbolizes the power of humanity to control matter and nature in general.

SIX:  Balance and Harmony.
Six points creates the Hexagram or Hexagon.  This is a special number, the first perfect number.  1+2+3 = 6, and 1×2x3=6.  It is the union of two triangles upwards and downwards merged together in unity.  Unlike the number two which can be unbalanced, here is balance achieved.  It is the combination of forces…like the male and female principles or sky and earth.

SEVEN:   Good Fortune.
Seven is a prime number and the seven points create the Heptagon or Heptagram.  This is considered to be a lucky number.  It is the sum of 3 (spirit) and 4 (matter).   This combination of spirit and matter means we will get what we seek.  It can create two heptagrams and the second is called the Fairy Star and imbued with special importance in some traditions.

Eight:   Material Concerns.
The two squares of matter are combined into one.  This is not about material objects itself but about our relationship to material matters.  It is the complexity of material existence.  The eight points creates the Octagon and Octagram.  This number is often thought of as symbolizing success.

NINE:  Chaos
This number is considered a negative number.  I think because it is a chaotic number.  Nine points can suddenly take many geometric shapes; meaning order is giving away to chaos.  Chaos does not have to be bad, but it opens up the door to chance and randomness.

TEN:   Completion
Ten is the number of completion.   Mathematics is based on 10.

Now if we have a suit card, we can come up with some idea what it might represent without having to remember each card’s meaning.  A nine of spades would be a bad card…chaos and conflict.   But a ten of spades could represent success from a conflict.  The real trick is how each card relates to others in a layout, and modifies their meaning.  It really becomes an intuitive exercise.  I find pondering a card layout is a lot like playing chess…a lot of thinking is going on.  It’s like trying to fit the pieces of a puzzle together.  Except chess has clear rules!

I am not the biggest fan of concept tarot cards.  These are tarot cards that are totally redesigned to fit some niche category.  They can be fun and really interesting, but I don’t use them for readings.  I suppose I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to my tarot cards.  I imagine there is a higher wisdom in the original designs, which can get lost in translation to other formats.  Then again, what really matters is how we respond to the cards since they spark our intuition. 

A concept deck I own is the Da Vinci Enigma Tarot. These tarot cards are based on the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, which I enjoy.  Do they translate well as tarot cards?  Some do, most don’t.  I see the deck to be enjoyed as a Da Vinci fan and not for divination.  After all, Da Vinci himself was not a superstitious man, but a humanist.

Da Vinci was a true genius, both as a scientist and an artist. What makes Da Vinci unique was the variety of his interests.  There are different types of intellect.  There is the standard IQ, which measure reasoning ability.  In addition there are intelligences that are not measured by tests.  Outside of math smarts, there are many other types of intelligence…artistic and creative intelligence, social intelligence, and even athletic intelligence. Few people have all types.  The socially inept professor or the artist who can’t handle math are examples.  This may be related to the differences between the left side and right side of our brain.  Each side has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Da Vinci seemed to have both sides of his brain working at full capacity.  He was an artist and scientist, an engineer and inventor, mathematician, sculptor, musician and whatever  else he put his mind to.  Do we have such mental giants around today?  I think so, but today, fame does not go to the brightest, but the flashiest.  Or the richest.  We have short attention spans.

If there are different types of  intelligence, is there such a thing as spiritual intelligence?  How would we even begin to classify that?  Spiritual perception is neither science nor art.  How can anyone have a special intelligence with something that is not visible?  Would this only be skill at speculation? 

I think some people are born with a “spiritual intelligence”.  I think this skill is like a heightened intuition or insight, the  ability to understand things, to see deeper.  The Buddha had this, Jesus had this.  Some are able to perceive things most people cannot.   This might also include what is called psychic ability, or second sight, or witchery.   Shamans were said to have this talent.   It seems to include the ability to straddle both the physical and spiritual dimensions.

Where are  today’s spiritual giants?  Do  Da Vinci’s of spiritual intelligence walk the world?   Or do they exist only in the past?  Who would you classify as your own personal spiritual giant?

High Priestess

Are women more spiritual then men? On the surface, it would seem to be. Think of all the people you know. It seems women, regardless of their faith, are more into daily spirituality then men. But it is really so? Women pray more, are usually the ones who have to gather the family for church or handle the religious chores.  Guys would rather play golf on Sunday.

I think men are not more or less spiritual, but are spiritual in a different way. It comes down to the basic difference in the way men and women think. Men are mostly left brain types, thinking more logically and that everything has to have a purpose. Women tend to be more right brain, thinking more emotionally and with intuition. It seems that spiritually of any stripe would be primarily a right-brain inspired function. Men mostly approach spirituality with their left-brain logic, which can lead to problems. The masculine left-brain approach to spirituality focuses on dogma, theology, and power.

Hierophant

If women are generally more spiritually oriented then men, why do men call all the shots and make all the rules with religion? It’s not even close to 50/50 where half of the religious leadership is male, half female. Religion is a male dominated arena. Pastors, priests, patriarchs, evangelists, popes, preachers, rabbis and mullahs are virtually all male. Men are in charge because our testosterone makes us more aggressive then women, and that is the bottom line. In life victory goes to the most aggressive, not the most gentle, and that includes matters of religion. With the male left-brain approach to spirit we focus on theology over love.

An example of masculine spirituality was in the news recently: Pakistan has approved Islamic law in Pakistan’s Swat Valley in a peace accord with the Taliban. I watched the news footage showing bearded Taliban dudes practicing their version of Islamic law by whipping a guy accused of homosexuality and a woman of adultery. I thought to myself, if women were in charge it would be a different world.

There are new frontiers of spirituality that place power with women in equal measure with men. These frontiers are our pagan and Wiccan communities. Paganism is unique with their idea of the Goddess. Their beliefs focus more on personal experience and interaction then adhering to some rigid dogmas. So far I have not heard of any fundamentalist pagans, but if guys ever take over paganism, for sure that would happen next!

Papess

Looking at the oldest versions of the Tarot cards, there is a strange card, number 2, the Papess, the female Pope. Later it was redesigned to be the High Priestess. There is the legend of Pope Joan who was supposed to rule as Pope for three years in the 800’s. Disguised as a man she became pope until she got pregnant. There is no proof of a female pope but what is important was that it was widely believed long ago. What makes the story and card remarkable is how out of place she was. What is this card saying? Maybe that spirituality should not be male dominated. Tarot cards are wonderful in putting equal emphasis on both the male and female duality.

The High Priestess card is a call to equality in Spirit.

A few years ago I had the chance to travel to Eastern Europe.  I was there for a short time, but it felt like I really was a world away from the United States where I live.  The culture, the lifestyle is so different.  In the U.S. everybody drives everywhere and we really don’t see people walking on the streets.  In Europe…everybody is walking.  It feels like a more social society and not so isolated like life in the U.S. can seem. 

While I walking the streets of Sofia, Bulgaria I would pass many different little shops.   I would wander in and check out what they had, and I did not recognize most of the brand names.  In one interesting little shop I came across a deck of tarot cards.  Of course I had to buy it!   The cards are by artist Dora Gadzhova, called the Durer Tarot, made it in Bulgaria.  It is a beautiful deck in a style that I find engaging.  The symbolism of this deck is inspired by Albrecht Durer in its own unique way.  I have not seen anything about this deck anywhere.  There must be all types of unique tarot decks created around the world that we never get a chance to consider. 

The very first deck of tarot cards I bought when I was a teenager was the 1JJ Swiss Tarot.  At the time I bought it because I thought it was attractive.  I knew nothing about the symbolism at the time.  But the cards appealed to me.  In the years since I explored the symbolism of the tarot, I found this 1JJ Swiss deck was lacking in the intense symbolism of the Marseilles cards.  Yet I still own this very first deck of mine.  I have used it more then any other and I have developed something of a bond with these cards.  They have shared a lot of my life with me.

Now…I am thinking of putting aside my old (worn out) deck and start using this new Bulgarian deck.  I find these cards combine a more complex symbolism along with attractive imagery.   What do you think?   Should we stick with our old deck we have used for years?  Should we alternate between decks?   Personally, I think we develop a bond with our cards…emotional, intellectual or spiritual.   Yet, change is also good.  We need to stimulate our imagination with such changes.   Stick with an old friend…or go for the new deck in town?