Taro by Ithell Colquhoun
Alta
Let's take for example olivia1's thread in Your Readings:
what is her problem?
Here are the cards that she drew:
4 wands+3 cups+ emperor & I understand there are no positional meanings.
I had scanned them from the Ithell Colquhoun deck below (note that she starts The Fool as 1 so that The Emperor is 5, not 4 & that the cards have their Golden Dawn titles. And it is 'titles', not 'names').
You quickly see elemental fire running through all three cards, even the middle which is (see the background) elementally water. In the Emperor, the fire element is both internal and forms an aggressive shell, but the violet containing wall is breached. In the last card, the 4 of wands, the fire element is predominant and yet seems soothed and partly contained by the water element. In the central card, the water element prevails but fire swirls through it.
So, her question was, more or less, why does this person who is not a part of my relationship seem to have such strong opinions about it and a wish to interfere?
The Emperor has a planetary association with Mars (red or scarlet), is associated with alchemical sulphur and is on Path 28 (Netzach/emerald to Yesod/violet). This is a strong energetic card and the influences show the will to power.
With the 4 of wands the fire element is overlaid with the colour of the fourth sephiroth Chesed (deep violet). The colour overlays and to an extent contains versus the Emperor where the element represented by scarlet surrounds and penetrates. Here the fire element is at least partly subdued by Chesed, Mercy.
In the central card, the 3 of cups, the water element prevails, but there is a strong influence of Mercury (words, thoughts) in Cancer (protecting what is 'yours') shown in the swirl of colour.
So, can these be read as true tarot. I think so. Back to the question 'what's her problem?'
She wants to be angry and has to stay (mostly) in control. There is anger at the situation both spilling out (at times as described in olivia1's post) but which she is also forced to contain. A great deal of anger and a desire to be forceful is constrained and held back, forced inaction (it isn't her relationship, she doesn't get the last word). So, she gossips and talks and contains her rage because she doesn't have enough power to take the decisive action she would like, i.e. end the relationship. However, she also has an influence of Chesed, Mercy, and perhaps olivia might try to understand that the other woman is not completely hostile and possibly just wants the best for her friend, the man in the question.
Well, that is the best that I can do and no doubt I got many things wrong.
Also of interest:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=10035
what is her problem?
Here are the cards that she drew:
4 wands+3 cups+ emperor & I understand there are no positional meanings.
I had scanned them from the Ithell Colquhoun deck below (note that she starts The Fool as 1 so that The Emperor is 5, not 4 & that the cards have their Golden Dawn titles. And it is 'titles', not 'names').
You quickly see elemental fire running through all three cards, even the middle which is (see the background) elementally water. In the Emperor, the fire element is both internal and forms an aggressive shell, but the violet containing wall is breached. In the last card, the 4 of wands, the fire element is predominant and yet seems soothed and partly contained by the water element. In the central card, the water element prevails but fire swirls through it.
So, her question was, more or less, why does this person who is not a part of my relationship seem to have such strong opinions about it and a wish to interfere?
The Emperor has a planetary association with Mars (red or scarlet), is associated with alchemical sulphur and is on Path 28 (Netzach/emerald to Yesod/violet). This is a strong energetic card and the influences show the will to power.
With the 4 of wands the fire element is overlaid with the colour of the fourth sephiroth Chesed (deep violet). The colour overlays and to an extent contains versus the Emperor where the element represented by scarlet surrounds and penetrates. Here the fire element is at least partly subdued by Chesed, Mercy.
In the central card, the 3 of cups, the water element prevails, but there is a strong influence of Mercury (words, thoughts) in Cancer (protecting what is 'yours') shown in the swirl of colour.
So, can these be read as true tarot. I think so. Back to the question 'what's her problem?'
She wants to be angry and has to stay (mostly) in control. There is anger at the situation both spilling out (at times as described in olivia1's post) but which she is also forced to contain. A great deal of anger and a desire to be forceful is constrained and held back, forced inaction (it isn't her relationship, she doesn't get the last word). So, she gossips and talks and contains her rage because she doesn't have enough power to take the decisive action she would like, i.e. end the relationship. However, she also has an influence of Chesed, Mercy, and perhaps olivia might try to understand that the other woman is not completely hostile and possibly just wants the best for her friend, the man in the question.
Well, that is the best that I can do and no doubt I got many things wrong.
Also of interest:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=10035
Alta
But you do read by correspondences. You see the image and you pull in both personal and wider and deeper correspondences. You don't stop at "I see a dove on that image', you then take the image and pull in conscious and unconscious correspondences and make it a reading, not just a card description.
gregory
... we need to have a very long chat, come May....
No - I see what you mean. Kinda. Not that I can do it with this deck.
Kissa
Just ignore...
trzes
I'll try not to turn this thread into a migraine self therapy circle. But the migraine aura example is rather interesting. Color flashes can induce migraines, and the beginning of a migraine can feel rather unreal, hypnotical or almost hallucinational from both my own experience and the experience of people I talked to. I never saw that as a possible source of epiphany before. I don't think this deck will induce migraines though, because it doesn't flash, the color contrast are (mostly) not too sharp and the patterns are too irrgeguar. Anyway, instead we all could consume certain chemicals before exploring the deck to see our form constants that way.
But my understanding of "correspondence" in the way Alta used the word is (although I am not sure at all if I fully understood what Alta was explaining): I can only gain access to what is already in my head. And as long as I never heard about the correspondences used by Ithell Colquhoun in this tarot I can have as many migraines as I like and eat as many magic mushrooms as I can cope with, it will not improve my insights into this tarot. Correct?
On the other hand, if I had some knowledge/memories/etc. about toth color schemes, then the intuitive or hallucinational approach could lift this to the surface. Perhaps, somebody who used the Crowley tarot for years has a kind of unconcious knowledge of that, because the colors already correspond to all sorts of meanings even if these correspondences might have never been mentioned anywhere directly.
Enough to think about and discuss for several own threads, I think.
But my understanding of "correspondence" in the way Alta used the word is (although I am not sure at all if I fully understood what Alta was explaining): I can only gain access to what is already in my head. And as long as I never heard about the correspondences used by Ithell Colquhoun in this tarot I can have as many migraines as I like and eat as many magic mushrooms as I can cope with, it will not improve my insights into this tarot. Correct?
On the other hand, if I had some knowledge/memories/etc. about toth color schemes, then the intuitive or hallucinational approach could lift this to the surface. Perhaps, somebody who used the Crowley tarot for years has a kind of unconcious knowledge of that, because the colors already correspond to all sorts of meanings even if these correspondences might have never been mentioned anywhere directly.
Enough to think about and discuss for several own threads, I think.
gregory
Martin Luther had migraines, I believe... Just saying.
I would HATE to think this deck had something to do with migraines - and the nausea would put me right off following that up, anyway...
I would HATE to think this deck had something to do with migraines - and the nausea would put me right off following that up, anyway...
vestalshaman
So did Hildegard of Bingen. It isn't the form constants resulting from phosphenes that are interesting in and of themselves, though; rather, it is the human way of finding meaning in those visions. And, that, it seems to me, is what might be interesting about this deck as well.
The Happy Squirrel
This looks so amazing.........
gregory
