Literary Clue [27th Dec.] -Solved

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

jmd	26 Dec 2003
From my 1897 (first edition :D) copy of Annie Besant's The Ancient Wisdom: an outline of Theosophical Teachings, p 323: [font=papyrus] 'That which is true of the physical realm of law is true also of the moral and mental worlds, equally realms of law. Here also the ignorant is a slave, the sage is a monarch; here also the inviolability, the immutability, that were regarded as paralyzing, are found to be the necessary conditions of sure progress and of clear-sighted direction of the future. Man can become the master of his destiny only because that destiny lies in a realm of law, where knowlegde can build up the science of the soul, and place in the hands of man the power of controlling his future - of choosing alike his future character and his future circumstances. The knowledge of karma, that threatened to paralyze, becomes an inspiring, a supporting, an uplifting force.' [/font]

MattDouglas	26 Dec 2003
Sounds like The Hermit to me, with clear knowledge of the inner self and it's place in the cosmos.

jmd	26 Dec 2003
That is one card which certainly came to mind with one aspect of the quote... but when I reflected upon the whole passage, another became, in a general form, far more prominant to my imagination... :)

Simone	27 Dec 2003
4 of pentacles? because if you abide by natural laws, you can achieve everything but there is the danger of fanatism which will block... Light and love Simone

MattDouglas	27 Dec 2003
Justice!! Sounds harsh at first, but such law directs growth and development.

Jewel-ry	27 Dec 2003
Temperance, because much of physical law is alchemy and also because mans future lies in making the right choices, finding a middle road. J :)

Minderwiz	27 Dec 2003
The Emperor Wisdom and self control and direction based on Reason and the Law. Achievement through mind over matter

gloria	27 Dec 2003
4/Swords?

Scorpion	27 Dec 2003
The Devil?

jmd	27 Dec 2003
What responses... none are the main one I settled on, but each has made me think more deeply about both the cards and the quote. I personally especially like Simone's 4 Coins (the others too - but this is one I had certainly not thought of at all in this light). MattDouglas's and Minderwiz's suggestions (Justice and the Emperor), I do see as also embedded within the quote - but had not settled on them in the overall image which arose in my own reflections... The Devil and the four swords - suggested by Scorpion and gloria - I also tend to see as incorporated within parts of the quote... each related, to my mind, in the ways in which both the binding to natural law, and its release through the cutting realisation as to what is, can be represented by these cards. jewel-ry's suggestion of Temperance is so apt... yet I see it as simpler and more straightforward than this... Now of course, each may see the card I have in mind in quite different ways when we get to it :) Focussing more on the final two sentences especially may assist...

Agathe	27 Dec 2003
What about High Priestess?

gloria	27 Dec 2003
The Wheel.

Diana	27 Dec 2003
I've got it! I've got it! It's the Pope! :) (Great quote jmd. Thank you for sharing it with us.)

Bluemanticore	27 Dec 2003
Magician is my guess.

Kiama	27 Dec 2003
All my other guesses have been taken, so just in case they're not right, I'll go for the Hanged Man: that which once threatened to paralyze us, becomes inspirational to us. Kiama

Minderwiz	27 Dec 2003
I was thinking of the Magician as my second guess but as that's gone I'll try Ten of Pentacles - in the RWS deck, it forms the Tree of Life -kabbalistic knowledge gives 'control over his future', the magic is all around us and knowledge gives power but within the laws of the universe.

MattDouglas	27 Dec 2003
My next guess would have been the Hierophant, but Diana beat me to it. I was also thinking... The Star.... the beginning of the quote seemed like an expanded version of "As above, so below" which made me think of the stars above. Also the end talk about controlloing the future. This seems likea difficult tasks, but what is hope (The Star) if not the feeling that we had some control over our future.

jmd	27 Dec 2003
... with 'here knowlegde can build up the science of the soul', I too thought of the Popess/High Priestess; The Pope I again thought of as the guidance given in this whole quote - but I focussed on the content of the guidance, not the giving of it. The Hanged Man came to mind as I reflected that here what needed to be done, at times, was precisely to see and accept from an alternate point of view, a deepened understanding and sacrifice of the Self. The Star, likewise, came to mind especially as Divine Guidance... The Magician is certainly implied, for it is he which must become, to my mind, that which the quote guides to. The Ten Coins has a number of aspects which become relevant, not the least of which is the fullness of incarnation, in order for not only the spiritual laws to be accepted, but also their integration within spheres at times deemed more earthy. ... but [font=zapfino] Gloria [/font] has it! [font=papyrus] X the Wheel of Fortune [/font], at times even referred to as the card depicting Karma, and its inevitable laws which, if one observes them, one may learn to partake at any position of the spin - and remain there for any determined time - is the card which came to my reflection! Over to you gloria :):):)

gloria	28 Dec 2003
I am thrilled to win this JMD...Thankyou Trouble is...these are hard acts to follow...so please bear with me. Gloria.

Minderwiz	28 Dec 2003
Ccongratulations Gloria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agathe	28 Dec 2003
Yes Gloria...congrats :D

gloria	28 Dec 2003
To Minderwiz and Agathe........thank you. :)

The Literary Clue [27th Dec.] -Solved thread was originally posted on 26 Dec 2003 in the Tarot Games & Fun board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Games & Fun, or read more archived threads.