Debauch?

Jungle Rot

In my very first impression of this card I thought of "jungle rot," the kind of spiritual and moral decay that was the moral of Apocalypse Now, or Conrad's Heart of Darkness, where, in the movie adaptation, very distinguished military officers descended wholly into their Shadows, and the Shadow of such a man descends from discipline, honor, and purpose into simple bloodlust, only slightly removed from primal, animal existence. This would seem to be an extreme conclusion, and I wonder if the card itself really takes it quite this far, but it's not that difficult to imagine one slipping quietly into this quicksand without a conscious watching of one's self. It would seem that these officers and men, their personnae so identified with outside authority, journeyed entirely out of any sphere of that control, and had forgotten how to look internally for any moral compass, or, if they did, found nothing there. That heart of darkness probably lurks in all of us, as there is a strange fascination with life on that scale, or why would we pay to read about it, or see it played out on a screen?

brenmck

It does seem to point to jungle rot and puke and animalistic shadows of who we are and bedeviled temperance. It reminds me of Lord of the Flies and of Faust under the power of Mephistopheles. It says to us, "Look at the residual waste we leave behind. Outer nature needs cleaning up --So do we. But don't throw out all delight, pleasure, joy. Only the muck of immoderation." So, back to my red wine.

The card came into my mind last night when I was in a club. There was a girl there that I don't get on with. I had always been nice to her in the past but became tired of her poncing cigarettes and keep grabbing my drink to take a sip. Because I refused her once and said 'no', we have never got on since.

When I saw her last night someone brought her to the bar to get some water because she had been sitting on the dancefloor. I didn't recognise her at first because she had put a lot of weight on in her face, was quite spotty and had no make-up on. She tried to take some of my drink, and when I grabbed the glass back she poured as much of it into her mouth as possible. Looking at her, I thought of the card. I thought that this was when indulgence became ugly, because she truely looked like she had let herself go through drink and the like, parties and lifestyle. I know it sounds awful, but looking at her repulsed me in the same way as looking at the card. There was no balance within her. She appeared as quite a lifeless image, like the card.

Was interesting to connect it with her. Kind of gave it an extra layer and a look from a different angle.

LB