Tarot themes and poetry

Inspired partly by the Emily Dickinson thread but also from a long standing interest in the connections between poetic vision and Tarot, I thought it might be good to have a thread of poems that Aeclectic members associate with the imagery and meaning of Tarot.

Phew..... that was a long sentence!

It would nice to have a collection for people to browse through.

If you do post here, please include your poem and a few words explaining the connection for you between the poem and the Tarot.

Hope peole enjoy this thread and keep it going.

Moongold

The first - High Priestess, none less.

You who never arrived

You who never arrived
in my arms, Beloved, who were lost
from the start,
I don't even know what songs
would please you. I have given up trying
to recognize you in the surging wave of the next
moment. All the immense
images in me-- the far-off, deeply-felt landscape,
cities, towers, and bridges, and unsuspected
turns in the path,
and those powerful lands that were once
pulsing with the life of the gods-
all rise within me to mean
you, who forever elude me.

You, Beloved, who are all
the gardens I have ever gazed at,
longing. An open window
in a country house--, and you almost
stepped out, pensive, to meet me.
Streets that I chanced upon,--
you had just walked down them and vanished.
And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors
were still dizzy with your presence and, startled,
gave back my too-sudden image. Who knows?
perhaps the same bird echoed through both of us
yesterday, separate, in the evening...

Rilke

There is something haunting about this poem which captures the mystery of the High Priestess.

It is sacred poetry of longing, in the tradition of the Song of Songs and the poetry of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross who often spoke of God as the beloved

This poem speaks to me of longing for understanding and knowledge, all of which I associate with the High Priestess, who is the receiver of the Word and the Keeper of Mysteries.

And next - the Fool![b]Juggler, Magician, Fool [/b]

Juggler, Magician, Fool



You mysterious jongleur, abstracted, absorbed, you slowly pace the street.
You stare, detached, through a curtain: silver balls in the air.

You slowly pace the street, tossing coins, cups, scarves,
silver balls in the air, making a skydance ---

tossing coins, cups, scarves, each in their separate paths,
making a skydance, chaotic, hypnotic;

each in their separate paths, dancing
(chaotic, hypnotic) the random paths of stars;

dancing through and around;
the random paths of stars, moons, comets, and the sudden flare-fade streak

through and around everything, the mystical hands tossing destinies;
moons, comets, and the sudden flare-fade streak of your hands ordering

everything. The mystical hands tossing destinies --- the feel
of your hands ordering the planets to dance.

The feel of chaos put in order. Tell
the planets to dance on your palm.

Of chaos put in order, tell the stars in their places in the lines
on your palm. Whirl

the stars in their places in the lines. You stare, detached, through a curtain.
Whirl, you mysterious jongleur, abstracted, absorbed.


A pantoum by Peter Schaeffer

This piece always reminds me of the Fool. It speaks of mysteries far beyond our understanding. I always think of the Fool as God’s beloved on the road to discovery of the Soul’s true purpose. In our earthly presence we have sometimes just a glimpse of that, but this is the Soul at play, full of grace and joy, beloved of God and showing what can be.

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

-Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley


Big on Tower symbolism for me; the egoistic assuredness that existed before, and the wasteland that is after. The bigger you puff yourself up, the harder you fall, neh?

Illy

Can it be lyrics or anything verse?

Song lyrics are often poetic, rainwolf, so they would be fine, I reckon

There's a rather interesting song (that actually I quote in my signature at the bottom!) from Cirque du Soliel, called Let me Fall. Really a beautiful song I think. The lyrics, actually, remind me (among other things) of one side of the Hanged Man, often unseen.

Let me fall
Let me climb
There’s a moment
When fear and dreams must collide

Someone I am
Is waiting for courage
The one I want
The one I will become
Will catch me

So let me fall
If I must fall
I won’t heed your warnings
I won’t hear them

Let me fall
If I fall
Though the phoenix may
Or may not rise

I will dance so freely
Holding on to no one
You can hold me only
If you too will fall
Away from all these
Useless fears and chains

Someone I am
Is waiting for my courage
The one I want
The one I will become
Will catch me

So let me fall
If I must fall
I won’t heed your warnings
I won’t hear

Let me fall
If I fall
There’s no reason
To miss this one chance
This perfect moment
Just let me fall

I suppose it can be interpreted as to show other cards, but it makes me think of the Hanged Man. Sacrifice for knowledge or sacrifice for anything at all, actually. Sacrifice for freedom. Letting go so that you can grasp more then you ever could while holding on. It echoes essence of Hanged Man. Whenever I read this card, I now think of this song.

~Fairawen~

That is such a beautiful song. Having seen Cirque de Soleil I can see how it fits but your connection with the Hanged Man is quite beautiful too.

Hi Moongold,
Can it be something that you've written yourself that was inspired by another poet/writer?

Blessings
Elven x

Of course, Elven.

Thei idea was simply to see capture people's own experience of the connections between poetic vision and the Tarot. That makes the poetry Tarot related and the thread relevant to this forum.

It would be great to see something you have written.