Phantasmagoric - Two of Coins

[Little Baron]

Todays draw is -

The Two of Coins

Now this is a pleasant card on first impression. Two coins hang from the window frame like the pieces of an abacus, ready to be counted. On the walls are hung many masks - some are laughing, some appear to be screaming. Some look sad.
The young man who inhabbits this room is bald. He looks quite endearing. He has what looks like a bar code across his face, is dressed in white and holds a mask, similar to the one that Polly wears. Is he putting the mask back into the box or is he taking it out. Whatever he is doing, masks seem to be a labor of love for him and I imagine that it is he that has crafted them for the theater. I also imagine that this has made him some money. Is he packing them away?

Graham Cameron says of this card -
"This is Felix who has been asked to move from his premises where he spends much of his time calving masks. Felix finds it easy to adapt for the nature of his work is flexible. Changing to a new environment is not difficult for him.
The Two of Coins represents relocation involving work. A transition.
The reversal is 'unhappy with change, obstinate'".

This definition from Cameron is a little on the short side and that is one problem that I have with some of the definitions in the LWB - I just want to know as much as possible about Felix and I am only given a small insight as to what is happening at that moment. It is up to us to fill in the blanks, I suppose.

So, guys and girls, what do we think about this one? Any ideas about this little fellow. He is one of the cuties in the deck, I add.

Best wishes

Yaboot

[galadrial]

Hey ho! I got the deck last night and have been going through it this morning, plus did my own reading with it- what fun:-)
But on to Felix. The literal meaning of Felix is happy, and he certainly looks it. His masks allow himself and others flexibility in trying on emotions and roles they might not otherwise. The ability to pinpoint his location, to identify and label him, is nonexistent. He is on the move and able to be many things to many people. His craft not only supplies others with masks, but he sets an example by remaining undefined himself. Maybe his face mark reflects how he got this way. Is it a bar code? Or a mark like they give to prisoners to identify them? Or, like Secret Agent Man, did they give him a number and take away his name? If so, he understands how dehumanizing and inflexible a label can be.

[Little Baron]

Interesting Galadrial.

Cameron does say that he thinks that everone is numbered when they are born so maybe this is a reflection of that.

Because he moves around a lot, I think that Felix understands how to adapt to all of the different masks that people wear. He also knows how to wear them too with different Phantasmagoric Theater members. Maybe it shows how we have to be different with different people for different purposes. It certainly hasn't affected him negatively. I think this little guy knows a lot about all kinds of human nature.

He can hang up a mask or pack it away. He understands all about change and the fickleness of others and the way they adopt different faces. He shows himself as he is and not through a mask. Not that many of them would fit his head!

Yaboot

[Little Baron]

Just thinking; also he doesn't feel he needs to hide that barcode. He is secure enough in himself to show the world who he really is.

Yaboot

[Little Baron]

Galadrial

How does it feel to have the deck in your hands? Any surprises? Anything that is different than you expected? Any fave cards that you havn't seen before?

Studying this deck daily has been really helpful to me. I found it difficult to remember names and stories from the book but as we go along at this pace, I can remember all the ones that we have studied so far - Hasan and Howie, Fizzy, Tom Tom, Ryan; how could I forget the blob!

Should be more fun for you now that you actually have it.

Best wishes

Yaboot

[Maan]

O i wish i was more like Felix. he does not mind change he welcomes it. While i 'change' in the cowardly lion everytime something changes in my life. Can you tell i pulled Felix alot ? ;)
I have a lot to learn from him.

The observations on the barcode are really insightful. I like the idea of him sowing his insight to the world!

Galadrial its so great that you got this deck too now.
Isn't it even more powerfull in real life? Enjoy!

Love
Maan

[Little Baron]

Our daily draws are going really well, don't you think? Really helping me to understand the Phantasmagoric. I was thinking also, that maybe we could have, lets say 10 or so, standard questions as well. For example, what detail is most prominant in this card and why? How does this relate to your personal day to day life? What mood do you get from this card? It might help me sometimes to have a promt. What do you think? Can you think of any questions?

I will knock up an example for todays card in a second while I finish my cigarette!

Tell me what you think?

Yabby

[Little Baron]

TWO OF COINS FELIX

What is the general atmosphere of this card?
I see a happiness in this card; a looking forward. The colours are not as bold as in some of the others so it translates as quite a calm transition that Felix is making.

What does this card 'mean' to you?
Felix seems content around his belongings and he holds the white mask out to me. Is he packing it away for his travels or is he offering it to me as a gift? Maybe he is showing me so that he can share his experiences. This does look like his most prized possession from all of the masks he has created. There is a feeling of sharing; maybe that is the two's influence. Because Felix is a traveller, he shares and interacts with a lot of people. Maybe he is sharing his knowledge with us, as a friend, in this card.

What aspect stands out in this card and why?
The barcode and Felix's eyes. Even though Cameron states that Felix is adaptable, there is an element of loneliness in his eyes; also, vulnerability. Is he lacking love? The barcode makes me think that he is just an ordinary guy that works hard ... just like everyone else but there is a lack of emotion and intimacy in him. I want to squeeze him onto that sofa with the friends in the 3 of Cups. He'd fit on wouldn't he? Someone fetch a cup and a straw!!!

Is there any aspect of this card that makes you uncomfortable?
The green mask with teeth is a bit scary. Not to keen on the orange laughing one either. I think they represent people using different 'masks' to hide their insecurities; not letting others see how you are really feeling inside.


This is just a few prompt questions to get the idea over. If you think this might help, post up some other questions and I'll put them into tomorrows draw.

Best wishes

Yaboot

[Maan]

Good idea!:D
Maybe a question like" What aspect of your life does this card remind you of?"

And something about personal experiences you had with this card...?

Just some random thoughts

Love
Maan

[Little Baron]

Good ideas Maan. I'll put them in tomorrows. We can always adapt, lose and add questions as we go along.

Cheers for replying.

Yaboot

[Molly]

Hi Yaboot,

I want to join in, I just noticed this study group today... I have had this deck for a while and I would like to use it more... I also will benefit from studying a deck, as I don't really notice details on the cards yet, on my own.

I notice the peaceful smile on Felix's face. I think that is significant because packing up and moving on can be a very stressful time. There is obviously a lot going into this move, and he just doesn't seem to mind at all.

What I don't understand is if he does use these masks himself or just sells them to others... do you think perhaps he started off needing masks, to cover his mark... and then as time went on he became at peace with himself? So he understands the need for masks, but doesn't need them anymore himself? I looked to see if any at all would fit him... I think they are all too small..

I don't know though. I wonder if we are on the right track. There are many people who struggle with maintaining a double life... is there any significance to the particular mask he is holding? Does he gain his strength and flexibility from a secret... the knowledge he can put on the mask at any time and become a new person?

Just wondering....

[Little Baron]

Firstly, Molly ... yes, yes, join in with us. We are all having a ball with this deck. It seemed such a lonely expedition at first. Maan had already tried to get some study going before, I think. Now, since we have been talking about it more, Freesiaskye, Melvis and Galadrial are on board. Hedera and Rostie as well.

Speaking for myself, I always found the Phantasmagoric facinating but didn't know how to read with it, which after reading her posts, was why I contacted Maan. Now, however, doing the daily draws like this is a lot of fun ... and finally I AM getting to know the characters - we are on first name aquaintance now! It was so hard to memorise the LWB but this has proved very useful as a study method. It might seem to some to be a lot to absorb when you are meeting a new character each day and with some decks I would say it is. With this one however, it seems right for me. It's enough time to read everyones views and short enough that you don't forget the essences of the card when you have moved on to the next one. I have been printing out the threads as we have been going along so that I have a journal of all the thoughts and opinions given to refer to at another time. It's more of a BBB (Big Black Book) than a Little White one.

Jump in with us as we are moving along, but if you want, the threads go back to the 27th so you can pop in those and learn if you want to; you havn't missed much. The one on Tom Tom (The Knight of swords was a particularly interesting one - Freesiaskye gave him a gardening job).

I agree with you about the mask and how Felix doesn't need it anymore. It's like working in a pub and not feeling the need to drink. He seems pretty confident with his 'set up' and looks forward to the move, I think. If Maan does get to interview Graham Cameron then we'll have to get her to ask him about Felix's barcode! Oh yes, and the blob!!!! Ask him about the blob Maan!!!!! You know how obsessed I have gotten with that!!!! Does the blob have a name????!!! Ask him Maan, pleeeeassseee!!!!! Is it Bob the Blob????????

Hope you enjoy this group Molly ... you are most welcome. Look forward to your posts!

Yaboot

[darwinia]

n = 0

[galadrial]

I think the most interesting thing about this deck so far is that normally, in fact I can't think of an exception, I know that the cards are talking to me and I know when a card's energy is referring to me and sometimes I feel like I could get along really well with the people in the cards, but I don't see myself in the cards. But in this deck I actually see myself. I was Fizzy, and I was sitting in the desert with my friends in the 3 of Cups and today, in my own draw (3 card), I was in all three cards. I thought, since Graham has given us such a personal deck, that it would be harder to get "into" it, instead, it has become a very personal deck to me. This is way cool and unique and comes as a welcome surprise.
As to fave cards, that is hard to say. For instance, I wouldn't have picked the 5 of Coins, just to look at. But it fit in so perfectly in my reading today that I laughed out loud. I have a feeling a lot of cards that don't mean much now are going to endear themselves to me as I draw them.
I see Felix as using the masks himself, but not in a hiding, I'm afraid to show my true self, way. I was thinking that it would give him the freedom to try out things that he hadn't formerly associtated with himself. Put a scary mask on, and maybe you can suddenly articulate your anger. Put a girl mask on, and maybe you can transcend your conditioning of "guy" behavior. I think our own labels (I'm a tough guy who never loses his temper) can be the most limiting of all, and Felix is commited to attaining a flexible personality that encompases the whole of being human. This, in turn, gives him greater flexibility of what he can manifest (getting back to this being a coins card:-) So, his masks cover the gamut- something for every part of every act on the stage. He can imagine it because he has experienced it within himself. I think you are on to something, though, that the downside to this could be not identifying enough with any fixed role to reap the benefit of longtime associations- the same house, town and friends. Some roles are more fun the longer you're in them; something you don't find out if you're always "moving (on), gotta keep movin' on" (gads, another Tom Petty attack; freesiaskye and I are prone to them) .

Edited to add: I think the blob is a Pooka, so I've given mine an "H" name, a la Harvey: Huddle.

[Little Baron]

I quite like 'Bubba' actually.

I'll never chain you down Freesiaskye! Is that possible? LOL

I will use the prompts where necessary to help myself and anybody else can use them if they want.

You can grow up and out in any direction you like, mate.

Take care and happy dreams. Yabby is putting on his 'time to go to sleep mask' since it's gone 2am in England.

Yaboot

[Melvis]

My thoughts on Felix run along the lines of Galadrial's.

I think Felix is proud of himself, that he is in touch with so many facets of himself, via the masks. As he packs the masks he sees the progress he's made since he was just a drone barcode like all the other barcodes. And he's excited for his next venture, which will bring out even more facets of his nature.

So that's my take on our little barcoded friend!

Peace,

Melvis
:TSTRE

[Maan]

Nice to see you here Molly ( your the molly of LJ aren't you?)

About the blob thingie...am i the only one who considers it female?
BTW the blob is present on some other cards....would that mean something too?

Love
Maan

[darwinia]

Originally posted by Maan


About the blob thingie...am i the only one who considers it female?
BTW the blob is present on some other cards....would that mean something too?

Apparently you are the only one who considers it female Maan. When I see him, he's got a bit of the "lounge lizard' appearance about him, all that falsely hearty bonhomie that doctors exhibit, like when they tell you that you'll never perform "Last Train to Clarksville" again because of those nasty nodes on your throat.

The Blob gets around because he's the doctor, so naturally he has to be on the scene in many instances. He's an onstage kind of guy, and plus he gets to bill more for out-of-office visits. Doctor Burford Boobles takes his responsibilities seriously.

And Yab can call him "Bubba" if he wants--the Doc gave special permission, but his name IS Burford. He told me and I always do what I'm told.

Nark, nark, nark (in my best Three Stooges voice.)

[darwinia]

My take on Felix, is that his Mom and Dad were really hoping for a kitten, but instead he was born. So they called him Felix anyway and then had the barcode of a kitten tattooed on his forehead so they could get a lot of laughs from him at the checkout counter and maybe the store wouldn't notice their abysmal credit rating.

When that didn't work, they apprenticed him to a carver at a young age, a nice gentleman who didn't laugh at children and preferred to mentor them and encourage their creative abilities, and that's how Felix got started on learning carving. He went to art college and was given a scholarship to travel around the world researching and creating facsimiles of carved masks from different countries, and while he was doing that he decided to continue on and take a regular university degree in anthropology as well as his art degree.

Now he owns his own business, and remains cheerful and flexible when working on commissions for clients. The Smithsonian bought his entire collection of world masks for a rotating exhibit last year, and they will be looked after and archived for posterity, as will his published thesis on the A-Droit tribe of Papua New Guinea. Felix is always aware of the balance needed in life between humour and seriousness, and remains well grounded despite his success.

He was sad to learn that his parents were electrocuted last year trying to run a barcode scan on each other while in the bath drinking martinis. (This barcode craze really meant a lot to them, they were crazier about barcodes than they ever were about Felix.) So he used his inheritance to start an after school club for children whose parents barcoded them for fun. They are learning calligraphy, collage, and how to make stranded necklaces with round nose pliers and crimp beads. They've already started a co-operative to sell their art and will be using the profits to build a new clubhouse with a machine and woodworking shop. Felix is donating one of his better masks for a silent auction to raise funds for the project.

Felix recently saw an interesting thing online about the history of the barcode.
http://www.basics.ie/History.htm

Now he's building an oscilloscope.

Never stop learning and moving onward Felix!!

[galadrial]

My blob (Huddle) is a Pooka. A Pooka is (to quote the movie) "From old Celtic mythology, a fairy spirit in animal form, always very large (Harvey is a 6' 5" rabbit). The Pooka appears here and there, now and then, to this one and that one. A benign but mischievous creature very fond of rumpots, crackpots, and..." (the actress is interrupted as she reads the definintion of "Pooka" from a book). He is hanging around with Elwood P. Dowd in the movie, apparently because Dowd used to be a brusque modern man with a get ahead attitude, but is now a laid back tippler with a big heart and scads of friends (albeit not the cream of society). At one point in the movie, Dowd says "I've been smart and I've been kind, and kind is better." In the 10 of Wands, I see Huddle as hanging around with Axle because Axle took on a bit more than he'd imagined; which maybe wasn't smart, but it was kind. I think Huddle may work a little Pooka magic and that in a moment a bunch of folks will come along and grab those flyers and get all excited at the prospect of a circus.

[spoonbender]

Felix (http://tarotkorea.new21.net/deck/Phantasmagoric/Coins02.jpg) stands in a circular room with a bunch of masks hanging on the wall. None of them looks the same: they have different colours, different shapes and different facial expressions, ranging from frightening and sad to surprised and cheerful. According to Graham, Felix carved these himself. And now he has a whole assortment to choose from for every occasion.

A large window gives a view on the village (there are some roofs visible from houses nearby). Hmm. Is there anyone else that gets the feeling Felix likes to know what is going on around him? That he finds it very important to see the big picture? Maybe that’s how he decides what mask to wear, what the best attitude towards others is.

"Adaptation and transition," Graham says, but I can’t help but wonder why Felix thinks he needs masks. I mean, why does he feel he can’t be himself in front of others??? Is he afraid to open up and show his true, unique self? (Felix even has his very own barcode written across his face, so he definitely is unique.)

Originally posted by Molly
What I don't understand is if he does use these masks himself or just sells them to others... do you think perhaps he started off needing masks, to cover his mark... and then as time went on he became at peace with himself? So he understands the need for masks, but doesn't need them anymore himself? I looked to see if any at all would fit him... I think they are all too small..
That seems very apt, Molly! Maybe they don’t fit him anymore because he’s grown so much, and now realises that although we all wear many masks during our lives, trying to fit in, in the end, all that matters is what’s inside.

Spoon

PS: Darwinia, your story cracked me up :D!

PPS: I miss all you guys – I wish I had this deck back when you were getting to know it together :(.

[darwinia]

Originally posted by spoonbender
PS: Darwinia, your story cracked me up :D!

Thanks, I do feel this deck brought out some crazy off-the-cuff stories in me. I look back on some of them and am amazed I really wrote them. It's a great deck, one of my favourites.

I notice this with each tarot deck, they all have their little ways of inspiring some project or other, whether related to writing or art.

PPS: I miss all you guys – I wish I had this deck back when you were getting to know it together :(.

It is kind of sad. I notice this in groups though, there will be a pinnacle, a shining moment when people jive together and do great things. It always seems to pass, but the threads are still here, which is nice.

My theory is that much like in our personal lives, group dynamics involve a bit of down time too before the next resurgence of collective madness and creative energy. It isn't something we can sustain; I think this sort of energy would kill you literally if you tried to keep it up.

So we rest and then...FLASH...inspiration and the feeling that you can work with a group almost effortlessly occurs again.

That's pretty nice, isn't it? It seems a spontaneous thing to me, you can't force it and you can't hand pick the mix of people that makes it happen, it's a random pleasure not seen too often.

Magic. I had two graphic groups at various times that were like this. It spilled out of us and we went on tangents and one person's picture or comment sent the others off in some crazy, inspirational riff of pure magic that went on and on and snowballed into more energy.

I find groups often cruel and unrelenting in their squelching of individualism. It's a rare group that has the courage to allow the individual to shine, very rare. But it is THE essential ingredient to doing great things. I have observed this several times, so I feel it a sound theory.

[spoonbender]

Hi Darwinia! Thank you for replying.

Originally posted by darwinia
It always seems to pass, but the threads are still here, which is nice.
It's very nice to be able to read these threads! It has been a great aid in getting to know the cards, and the threads give me a lot to think about. In fact, the reason I keep on replying to these threads - even though hardly anyone responds - is because I hope they will help someone one day, just like all these old threads have helped me.

My theory is that much like in our personal lives, group dynamics involve a bit of down time too before the next resurgence of collective madness and creative energy. It isn't something we can sustain; I think this sort of energy would kill you literally if you tried to keep it up.
I realize this and have seen it too. I just hope there will be a renewed interest in the Phantasmagoric soon.

Warm regards,
Spoon

[Fulgour]

I just hope there will be a renewed interest in
the Phantasmagoric soon. Warm regards, SpoonHey Spoon ~ What's the new Daily Draw! ...? :)

[darwinia]

The hijackers have been thwarted in their nefarious plot to keep this phantabulistic deck from the viewing public. Whew, it was touch and go there for a while, but I think the kidnappers got sick of babysitting Tom-Tom and decided to dump him back here.

I would SINCERELY like to thank those responsible for bringing this back to the public side. I am truly grateful to see it again.

I've got the urge to build an oscilloscope. I might have a quick hunt around for Doc Boobles and see if he can arrange to help me move it out of my studio. Lately he's been busy having several discussions with Doctor Locke about whether Christ was homoousious or not. It's always good to see discussions of substance in the theatre.