Rosetta tarot - Adjustment VIII

[abacus]

Looking at this card I was struck by how much motion I perceive in it. Then I read in the LWB that there is a "constant motion to achieve stillness." Aha! Not only is this a great insight but the card conveys this concept so well. The famous Thai meditation master Ajahn Cha told a frustrated student that the reason the advice he was giving him often seemed contradictory was that sometimes he saw the student straying off the path to the right and would say "go left" and other times he would see him go off the path to the left and say "go right". I see this card as representing the middle path.

The same concept can also explain unbalanced perception. We might encounter someone once, say a rude waiter, and assume that they are a rude person but we really are only seeing a tiny slice of that person's being. This card is a time warp that shows a spiritually advanced being in their wholeness over time.

[Babalon Jones]

Here is a pic of the card. If anyone starts a study group thread and needs a picture added just let me know.

I like your very insightful interpretation, abacus

[frac_ture]

I agree with you, abacus, that the image in this card kind of tricks the eye at first into thinking everything is clear and still...but upon closer inspection, there's more going on, and there is a sense of motion. I like how this figure in the eighth trump has eight arms, and how choosing to focus on any one pair of those arms as the "primary" pair will slightly alter the feel of the image, and focusing on each of them in turn can add to that sense of motion.

I also really like how the card seems to display perfect symmetry if you divide it down the vertical center...but then more careful study will show that the symmetry isn't perfect after all (check, for instance, the sword hilt's design, or if you have the patience, go ahead and start counting the feathers on the figure's wings...). I think this is a terrific illustration of how a principle like Adjustment can act at multiple levels, and how its effects and characteristics can change in their details, while remaining essentially consistent overall.

Finally, I'm really taken with the way the alpha and the omega are in balance...this seems to suggest the concept of perpetuity to me, or a time loop of sorts, even: "the end is the beginning; the beginning is the end..."

[GoldenWolf]

The first thing I noticed about this card was the feather of Maat sticking out of the blue half mask. This is the first point of balance as you work down the card. The next are the sets of arms in various poses. frac-ture's insights about eight arms for the eighth trump and the feeling of motion is spot on.

Seeing how the figure balances on the sword on her toes makes me think of how there is a constant adjustment in order to balance, however slight it might appear outwardly, when you dance. It makes me think of the phrase, "the dance of life".

I notice that the top of the sword hilt is a solar symbol (circle with a dot in the middle) between the waxing and waning lunar crescents. Again another element of balance.