Requiem for The Devil

I think the following T.S. Eliot poem 'The Hollow Men' brilliantly encapsulates the card of The Devil:

We are the hollow men

We are the stuffed men

Leaning together

Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!                                     

  Our dried voices, when

  We whisper together

   Are quiet and meaningless

   As wind in dry grass

 Or rats’ feet over broken glass

In our dry cellar

       Shape without form, shade without colour,

         Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

    Those who have crossed

         With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom

        Remember us – if at all – not as lost

    Violent souls, but only

    As the hollow men

    The stuffed men.

It is not The Devil we should be afraid of but ourselves. We are the hollow men. Paralysed, unable to move. Not lost (because we chose to be in this dark place) or violent (violence is the prerogative of The Tower card).

A perfect example of The Devil card is when you borrow a lot of money to buy the house/lifestyle of your dreams and then have to work long hours to pay it off and have no time to do the things you really want to do.

It's when you choose comfort over authenticity.

We are the ones who place the chains around our necks by out thoughts, our actions, by who we choose to associate with.

And we are the ones who can set ourselves free.

(Always waaaaay easier said than done. Have I told you about my addiction to frothy milk? Not good for me but oh so delicious.)

Please share poems or sayings that bring to mind The Devil card for you.

The Holy Book - Volume 1

The Major Arcana cards read like a book that follows the journey of a human soul through life.

The first volume covers childhood:

The Fool - The soul waiting to be born

The Magician - The newborn who seems perfect in every way and has so much potential.

The High Priestess - The baby living off instinct in those first few months.

The Empress - The child playing

The Emperor - The child being disciplined

The Hierophant - The school child forming ideas about the world

The Lovers - The teenager beginning to make choices about what they want and who they want to be with.

The Chariot - The young adult striving to be successful.

That's one way of looking at it anyway. There are many more. That's the beautiful confusing thing about Tarot. It's like a diamond. Every time you turn it around in your hand you see another side.

What about you? What's your take on the first 8 cards of the Big Book of Tarot?

Tea And Tarot

I've been thinking all day about what topic to discuss next e.g. Tarot: The 22 Steps to Happiness or The Magician: Why I think he's overrated. But I've decided to go with whatever's in my heart the moment my fingers hit the keypad and today - voila - Tea And Tarot sprung from my fingertips.

Most people tend to fall into two categories: coffee drinkers or tea drinkers. I myself have had a lifelong love affair with tea. It began in my teens when I made milky cups of Lipton's in the lime green and bright yellow plastic 70s kitchen of my childhood home. There was something about pouring boiling water from the kettle that made me feel like a grown up for the first time. Drinking caffeine is one of those rituals that initiate you into adulthood, yes? I progressed from Lipton's into a 20 year relationship with Earl Grey. Possibly the longest I've had to date. (Does that sound sad to you? I hope not. I'm not sad.) Early Grey is one of those love 'em or hate 'em brands. I have known pregnant women who would vomit at the mere sniff of the stuff. Whereas I was addicted. Always milky. Always weak. Then a couple of years ago just after I gave up my pathetic attempts to be a coffee drinker as well (I used to ask for a cappuccino so weak my barista called it coffee flavored milk) I switched allegiance to chai. Not sure how this came about. It certainly couldn't have been due to my experience of those disgusting powdered chai lattes they sell in cafes. I vaguely remember a hippy mate brewing up a batch for me. And suddenly I was in love again and my new mistress was chai tea. My body seems to feel healthier after drinking the stuff. All those nourishing spices counteract the nutrient stripping element of caffeine. In the process of pursuing this affair I have invented a new drink. Being a frothy milk lover from way back I top my brewed chai tea with the same and have named it the chaiccino. It is my steady companion. Although, I am also partial to a bit of lemongrass and ginger at the end of the day. I'm drinking the old herbal now in a china cup. It is mind-blowing how much better tea tastes in china. I didn't work this out until my forties (cough, splutter, that's giving a lady's game away, what?) but I'm passing this lesson onto you now so you can learn from my youthful folly.

Anyway, to get to the point: A cup of tea goes with Tarot cards like Fred Astaire goes with Ginger Rogers or Toast with Vegemite. Gypsy fortunetellers in the movies always have a cup of tea at hand in the back of their wagon when they're reading someone's cards. (Although, maybe that's in case they need to read the tea leaves as a back-up?)

What about you? What is your drink of choice when reading the cards? Or even, when not...

The Fool

I stopped writing this blog because in a way I didn't know where to start when it comes to Tarot. There is so much to say. But someone reminded me yesterday that the key when it comes to writing is simplicity. So I am going to give this blog another shot keeping in mind the wonderful KISS principle: Keep It Simple Stupid (in this case, the stoo-ped is clearly me).

We're going to take a walk through the Major Arcana which are the heavyweight cards of the Tarot pack beginning with The Fool pictured below.

Things that come to mind when I think of The Fool:

Fear

Excitement

Meeting people for the first time

Doing something for the first time

Possibility

The moment before something begins

Can anyone add any others?