94stranger
This is my entry for the 7th willowtree tarot carnival continuing the previous one. To view the card mentioned, the individual card links are in Part 1, otherwise, click on the rainringcards link below, then visual directory/cards: the grid & gateway, then on the individual cards' names
http://www.rainringcards.com
‘How would Rainring cards describe systems such as the tarot, I Ching and Rainring itself?’
This is the question I asked the cards last week. This question was sub-divided into two: What is the view from a) the unconscious; b) consciousness?
The view from consciousness.
This is the most straightforward, so let’s take it first. This is what we might expect by reflecting on the subject, so there is nothing strange or problematic in the verdict.
Let’s begin at bottom left with the unconscious component. The meaning here is that, when I work with any of these systems, I am going to be unconsciously influenced by the vision of the artist or creator of the system. The artist belongs to the communication group, and it is what the author of the system and the visual artist who has produced the images are expressing which forms the substrate of the work, and acts on me unconsciously. The corrective to this individualisation, if you like, is that if the work does not tap into the collective or universal unconscious, then it will resonate only with people who share in some degree the psychological profile of the creator(s). People in general will not be drawn to it.
At bottom right we have bittersweet as the conscious component. This seems straightforward, describing the mixture of excitement or anticipation and trepidation, anxiety with which we submit ourselves to the verdict of the Unconscious. The latter, after all, does not engage in the niceties of diplomatic language, white lies, ego-massage etc – typically, we both yearn for and dread this kind of feedback.
At apex, in the interface position, we have Play of Love reversed. Play of Love refers to the push-pull, to and fro interaction between the male and female elements in the psyche. the image on Play of Love is a merry-go-round, which can be a synonym for repetition. The reversal here indicates, I think, that the insight of the artist combines with the mood of the querant (reader of the cards) to derail this habitual argy-bargy between the male and female side, producing instead a mood of objectivity and harmonisation.
The final, central card seems to suggest a strong endorsement of these systems: that they are able to situate themselves on the same wavelength as those who ask them questions. Like the artist, resonance belongs to the blue – communication – group. This refers not to sensual or to emotional communication, but corresponds to the throat chakra, therefore refers to sound. These systems ‘speak’ to us, offering us the opportunity to communicate with a ‘kindred spirit’, if you like.
The view from the unconscious
At bottom left, in the unconscious position, we have Flow-Singer. This card is the central card of the grid, geographically-speaking. It summarises the psyche, since it incorporates acausality (synchronicity – i.e. meaningful coincidence) and causality (time i.e. cause and effect). The Unconscious’ view of the cards, then, is that they come up out of their roots in the unconscious. We infer that the girl standing in the river has a lower body – not because we perceive it directly with our senses, but because her upper body implies it. In the same way, we know the (collective) unconscious only in so far as it manifests itself in ways accessible to consciousness – in art, in dreams, in visions, in card and equivalent systems.
At bottom right we have Sensuality reversed. The card Sensuality should be extended from the erotic element to include sense perception in general. The Unconscious is therefore suggesting that when we approach the cards we are moving out of the area of ourselves associated with the realm of the immediate senses – touch, taste, sight and so on. The expression ‘second sight’ rather evokes this phenomenon of another way of ‘seeing’, a departure from typical sense-perception. We could describe it as night vision, rather than that of the daylight world.
At the apex we have Spirit Denial. I have to admit to having had a long discussion – altercation might be more accurate – with my partner Hacina about this one! It was entirely unexpected and I have to admit difficult for me to take this on board, as it seemed to clearly imply that even systems such as the tarot and I Ching, which I regard as very male-sided, are seen by the Unconscious as denying the spirit. However, this denial may be taking the form of over-, not under-estimating the Unconscious - because of the central card.
At centre we have Deflation – the pin-prick to the balloon of the ego, and it is crystal clear that the two cards are linked. Deflation belongs to the purple (spirit) group, and indicates introvert spirit imbalance. Effectively, the person who says ‘I am absolutely extraordinary’ and the person who says ‘I am utterly useless’ are guilty of the same indulgence – exaggeration, going to far, imbalance.
In order to try and get a better handle on this card Spirit Denial, I took advantage of having access to the hard copy of the cards to ask for a supplementary card to elucidate the meaning. I got Projection, which in this context means replacing the reality of something by the idea one has about it. This confirms the impression I had concerning Spirit Denial. The Unconscious is saying that, from its viewpoint, the I Ching, tarot and Rainring do not give it its correct value or weight, because they replace the reality of it by an idea of it, that idea involving denial. This denial seems to involve over-valuing the Unconscious, such that the querant’s conscious response is to experience a sense of deflation. I believe that the unconscious is saying that we undervalue consciousness, giving it too little weight in the totality of the psyche.
I want to leave the reading at this point. For myself, or anyone else working with any of these systems, it would be necessary to divinate further from here, in order to penetrate more deeply into this issue of spirit denial – what, precisely, is being denied? I won’t do so now, because I think this reading has already achieved what it set out to do - to give a glimpse into this matter of how the Unconscious reads the content of Rainring and its predecessors, in general terms. It remains, in the next and last article (Pt 3) of this mini-series, to return to the question – can we differentiate between Rainring, tarot and tea leaves?
http://www.rainringcards.com
‘How would Rainring cards describe systems such as the tarot, I Ching and Rainring itself?’
This is the question I asked the cards last week. This question was sub-divided into two: What is the view from a) the unconscious; b) consciousness?
The view from consciousness.
This is the most straightforward, so let’s take it first. This is what we might expect by reflecting on the subject, so there is nothing strange or problematic in the verdict.
Let’s begin at bottom left with the unconscious component. The meaning here is that, when I work with any of these systems, I am going to be unconsciously influenced by the vision of the artist or creator of the system. The artist belongs to the communication group, and it is what the author of the system and the visual artist who has produced the images are expressing which forms the substrate of the work, and acts on me unconsciously. The corrective to this individualisation, if you like, is that if the work does not tap into the collective or universal unconscious, then it will resonate only with people who share in some degree the psychological profile of the creator(s). People in general will not be drawn to it.
At bottom right we have bittersweet as the conscious component. This seems straightforward, describing the mixture of excitement or anticipation and trepidation, anxiety with which we submit ourselves to the verdict of the Unconscious. The latter, after all, does not engage in the niceties of diplomatic language, white lies, ego-massage etc – typically, we both yearn for and dread this kind of feedback.
At apex, in the interface position, we have Play of Love reversed. Play of Love refers to the push-pull, to and fro interaction between the male and female elements in the psyche. the image on Play of Love is a merry-go-round, which can be a synonym for repetition. The reversal here indicates, I think, that the insight of the artist combines with the mood of the querant (reader of the cards) to derail this habitual argy-bargy between the male and female side, producing instead a mood of objectivity and harmonisation.
The final, central card seems to suggest a strong endorsement of these systems: that they are able to situate themselves on the same wavelength as those who ask them questions. Like the artist, resonance belongs to the blue – communication – group. This refers not to sensual or to emotional communication, but corresponds to the throat chakra, therefore refers to sound. These systems ‘speak’ to us, offering us the opportunity to communicate with a ‘kindred spirit’, if you like.
The view from the unconscious
At bottom left, in the unconscious position, we have Flow-Singer. This card is the central card of the grid, geographically-speaking. It summarises the psyche, since it incorporates acausality (synchronicity – i.e. meaningful coincidence) and causality (time i.e. cause and effect). The Unconscious’ view of the cards, then, is that they come up out of their roots in the unconscious. We infer that the girl standing in the river has a lower body – not because we perceive it directly with our senses, but because her upper body implies it. In the same way, we know the (collective) unconscious only in so far as it manifests itself in ways accessible to consciousness – in art, in dreams, in visions, in card and equivalent systems.
At bottom right we have Sensuality reversed. The card Sensuality should be extended from the erotic element to include sense perception in general. The Unconscious is therefore suggesting that when we approach the cards we are moving out of the area of ourselves associated with the realm of the immediate senses – touch, taste, sight and so on. The expression ‘second sight’ rather evokes this phenomenon of another way of ‘seeing’, a departure from typical sense-perception. We could describe it as night vision, rather than that of the daylight world.
At the apex we have Spirit Denial. I have to admit to having had a long discussion – altercation might be more accurate – with my partner Hacina about this one! It was entirely unexpected and I have to admit difficult for me to take this on board, as it seemed to clearly imply that even systems such as the tarot and I Ching, which I regard as very male-sided, are seen by the Unconscious as denying the spirit. However, this denial may be taking the form of over-, not under-estimating the Unconscious - because of the central card.
At centre we have Deflation – the pin-prick to the balloon of the ego, and it is crystal clear that the two cards are linked. Deflation belongs to the purple (spirit) group, and indicates introvert spirit imbalance. Effectively, the person who says ‘I am absolutely extraordinary’ and the person who says ‘I am utterly useless’ are guilty of the same indulgence – exaggeration, going to far, imbalance.
In order to try and get a better handle on this card Spirit Denial, I took advantage of having access to the hard copy of the cards to ask for a supplementary card to elucidate the meaning. I got Projection, which in this context means replacing the reality of something by the idea one has about it. This confirms the impression I had concerning Spirit Denial. The Unconscious is saying that, from its viewpoint, the I Ching, tarot and Rainring do not give it its correct value or weight, because they replace the reality of it by an idea of it, that idea involving denial. This denial seems to involve over-valuing the Unconscious, such that the querant’s conscious response is to experience a sense of deflation. I believe that the unconscious is saying that we undervalue consciousness, giving it too little weight in the totality of the psyche.
I want to leave the reading at this point. For myself, or anyone else working with any of these systems, it would be necessary to divinate further from here, in order to penetrate more deeply into this issue of spirit denial – what, precisely, is being denied? I won’t do so now, because I think this reading has already achieved what it set out to do - to give a glimpse into this matter of how the Unconscious reads the content of Rainring and its predecessors, in general terms. It remains, in the next and last article (Pt 3) of this mini-series, to return to the question – can we differentiate between Rainring, tarot and tea leaves?
