Experiments with "Eye Rhythms" in the Dodal

HerzogIsGod & I are embarking on an IDS of the Dodal and part of this IDS will involve just looking at the dynamics and interaction of 3 card spreads. These are not conventional readings, it is just a way for us to think about how cards might relate to one another, or echo one another. Here is an extract from the IDS pledge;

Le Fanu said:

We plan to think about Enrique Enriquez' "Eye Rhythms", which involves seeking out connections between cards; lines, similarities, echoes, symmetry. We will do small, three card spreads, what we plan to call "Scientific" spreads (just exercises in how to read the interaction between cards) and then more "Personal" spreads which will be based around questions and issues. The former will be an opportunity to think freely about the cards, the latter will be trying to make it relevant.

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I would like to start by posting some thoughts here. We will not be using this thread for interpretative, "personal" readings but simply as a way of looking at cards, merely a possible approach of how to look at cards, how to read Marseilles cards with the (Flornoy) Dodal as our focus, thinking about only what we see in front of us.

I confess, much as I love the historical/Marseilles decks, I have difficulty reading them spontaneously and I think I need to create a mindset which is free of all the occult theory and symbolism which is laid onto the cards, and think about how they might relate to one another aesthetically, just in terms of composition and the optical language. This is why we decided to do an IDS. I have no idea where this is going to take us and I begin this IDS with a certain amount of trepidation but thought I'd start anyway. So now's as good a time as any and I'm going to post first.

I just sat down with my Dodal, shuffled, laid out three cards which can be seen in the attachment below.

It is a very interesting combination!

We have the 3 of Swords, the Wheel of Fortune and the Ace of Swords. Quite a dramatic combination visually. The first thing which strikes me is the sense of rotation in the centre alongside the two red "stabilising" fixed pillars of the Swords images. Both outer cards seem to fix the rotation of the central wheel, which is ramified by the fact that both these fixed swords are red. This brings a certain harmony to the spread. I really do get a sense of central motion and outer fixity. I am not reading this as a conventional spread (it isn't a reading) but I begin to get an idea of how one might read it if it were a spread. Thinking about movement and fixity is an interesting starting point (remember, this is quite new to me, I'm just feeling my way!).

Also interesting is how the crossed points in the 3 of swords on the left echo the grasping hand of the Ace and the upper crown in the Ace. There is a sense of rhythms converging, which is further echoed by the creature at the apex (is that the correct word?) of the wheel who also - surprise, surprise - grasps a sword. I can definitely see the rhythm of Swords in this spread, tying up, balance and motion.

The more I look at it, the tidier it seems compositionally. Certainly colour is a way forward, seeing where parallels and echoes of colour appear but in this particular spread, I think the dynamics of movement/shape are actually stronger than colour.

The predominant shapes here are fascinating, we have an eliptical form (3 of Swords), a wheel, and a slicing, vertical line (Ace of Swords echoing the central Sword in the 3). Note also how the cuff on the Ace of Swords is like a continuation of the blue band which forms the floor beneath the wheel. Adds continuity like the sleeve of an outretched arm which grasps the sword. And the wheel rotates from right to left, that is, from the Ace towards the 3. Movement goes from right to left (whatever that might mean.)

I think there is also some echoing going on between the two beasts at the right & left of the wheel and the red (handles?) bits next to the numerals III on the 3 (don't know how to explain this, I can never make out where the swords are on sword pip cards) Also, I like the fluttering, cascading vines/leaves coming down from the crown. Everything here could mean something, but what strikes me is just how much action there is in three interconnected Marseilles cards! I feel there is enough there to analyse all night!

Just visually, I like these rhythms. Like I say, as we are beginning our IDS, I am not quite sure where this is going to take us. I just want to think about how to look at the patterns thrown up by Marseilles images. Later (and elsewhere, not here) we are going to think about how we might think about reading these forms.

Herzog (and anyone else who wants to participate) what are your thoughts?

Excellent observations, Le Fanu. I am interested in "eye rhymes" and simply describing what is seen in the combined images on cards. Reading a spread of cards as a whole, complete thought. Also, approaching each spread with an open mind, or the mind of a child. These ideas of course are well documented in the writing of Enrique Enriquez and others.

These are initial feelings... I will post much more in the hours and days before our next spread...

The progression of cards looks quite meaningful as we begin with Three Swords then move on to Three characters on the wheel -one of whom holds a red sword- and finally a single red sword and crown.

The Three of Swords in its entirety seems to rhyme or is even a streamlined representation of the Wheel. The characters on the wheel gaze toward the three of swords -or head in its direction- this connects the cards as well and one gets the feeling that perhaps they are looking back toward something significant in their relationship

It appears the little king on top of the Wheel is our main star. With his red sword and crown, he may be seen represented by the red sword and crown on the Ace... this suggests many things -leadership perhaps- and one could imagine an interpretation using this eye rhyme alone.

One may interpret the Ace as a stripped down version of the little King. I loved your interpretation of the blue cuff as an extension of the blue floor beneath the Wheel. I would add that the handle on the sword on the Ace rhymes with the handle of the Wheel.... this suggests to me that the little King turns the wheel. That he may in fact run the show and decides the fate of himself plus the other two characters.

What strikes me now is a feeling which goes from isolation to perhaps a kind of celebration. Following only the progression of swords we see a lone red sword which in the second picture is now held by a man wearing a crown, then finally in the last picture the same red sword piercing through the crown and how the crown explodes like a pinata sending all these goodies raining down. It's quite a release and may tie in with what this man -king- would need to accomplish were this an actual reading.

I must add also the directional movement of these three cards. The characters on the wheel move left, or toward the past while the hand on the ace thrusts forward explosively into the future. This looking into the past then triumphant move forward would certainly suggest something about our little king and his team were this an actual reading.


Will post more soon... I think we're off to a very good start

HerzogIsGod: The progression of cards looks quite meaningful as we begin with Three Swords then move on to Three characters on the wheel -one of whom holds a red sword- and finally a single red sword and crown.

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This was the first thing I also noticed

Great start! Will be watching to see how this developes


Bee

I like your observations. I think you see what I don't! I'm curious as to how you see the three cards; do you see them as a progression or even as past/present/future? or as a single snapshot of a process?

Because of the direction in which the central wheel turns, I cannot help thinking that we go from the Ace to the 3 rather than vice versa. the creatures on the wheel (especially the little blue one on the left) seem to move into the image of the 3 of Swords. His eyes really peer into the image as he veers towards it!

I agree with you, there is something about the little figure on the top of the wheel that makes it feel like an anchor to the whole spread. Swords are definitely where it's at in this spread.

HerzogIsGod said:

What strikes me now is a feeling which goes from isolation to perhaps a kind of celebration. Following only the progression of swords we see a lone red sword which in the second picture is now held by a man wearing a crown, then finally in the last picture the same red sword piercing through the crown and how the crown explodes like a pinata sending all these goodies raining down. It's quite a release and may tie in with what this man -king- would need to accomplish were this an actual reading.

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Yes.. I see that. However, if we take the way/direction the wheel turns it would be going from one to 3, from the Ace to the 3. I feel it is going from right to left (whatever that might mean) The more I look at it, the odder this spread seems. There seems to be so much happening. This is exactly the sensation I wanted to get from looking at a Marseilles deck; how, at first glance, there doesn't seem to be much to go on (I often felt this when trying to read with Marseilles decks) but there is so much stuff darting about between images! It is those energies, that sense of movement which we have to tune into. It is interesting to look at three images and see what things are subtracted or multiplied from one card to another. And this deck, the Dodal, is so sharp and concise in its lines and colouring I think it is a good deck to be analysing! All surplus blotches and muddiness is removed.

ETA; gosh, yes, just reread your post. The most obvious thing; 3 Swords, 3 "beasts"! That's symmetry! I didn't make that connection! (duh)

Le Fanu said:

Because of the direction in which the central wheel turns, I cannot help thinking that we go from the Ace to the 3 rather than vice versa

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I see what you mean. Following gazes, left would be past and right, future. The hand/sword juts out from left to right. This to me suggests something about the character of the King. I try to connect the main elements, in this case Swords. Perhaps this Ace/Sword would suggest a new direction etc "going against the grain" of the what's expected -Wheel-

Side note: I'm heading out to see a special screening of 2001 A Space Odyssey. Couldn't help but make the connection between the Wheel of Fortune and the orbiting space station in the film

Some really nice and refreshing observations are coming out in these posts, its good to see what other people are seeing in the cards.

With the Marseilles decks particularly, I don't like set spreads with place meanings because the cards talk to each other and interact, so the snapshot process works for me.

Le Fanu said:

I like your observations. I think you see what I don't! I'm curious as to how you see the three cards; do you see them as a progression or even as past/present/future? or as a single snapshot of a process?

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I am seeing something rather intimate in the Three and Ace of Swords, and the Wheel seems to mixing up or combining the other two cards. Often, with three cards the central one will be pivotal in the spread and may see a bigger picture of what's happeding.

yes, I think it is a question of the interaction. Or like the grammar of a sentence that we fit together, piece by piece, to find a meaning (is that approach slightly Lenormand?). Looking for repeated rhythms or things pointing to and from different cards, or symbols "calling" to one another, echoing, or clues for which direction we should be reading in.

Oddly, I think these are not things which influence me when Im reading with Thoth or RWS, even though there is nothing to stop me doing so. I think having 3 of these cards as something "in continuum" makes sense to me. I just think there is something so striking about having a wheel as the central image though, it really does throw everything into flux, and makes nothing about the "snapshot" true or right because the wheel is turning and so there is no fixed snapshot. Who knows which direction we should be looking in?

And I can happily go with not having "set" positions with these cards. All cards are inter-related

Additional thoughts:

The three main characters on the wheel seem to be involved in a sort of power struggle. The character on his way down eyeballs those swords as if he's about to get his head chopped off. He looks nervous while the character on the right --on the way up-- appears oblivious. The King seems to be the one guiding this operation; maybe he's the one doing the head chopping The image of the Sword and Crown and all that "confetti" pouring down connects so strongly with the King. Riding the top of the wheel as he does, suggests the king may be the top dog in this scenario. The other two are almost puppet-like or weak willed.

Le Fanu, I agree with your observation about the two side characters "rhyming" with the red handle bits on the swords. The entire Three of Swords cards appears to be a stripped down version of the wheel. The red blade speaks volumes here, as we see it held by the little king and finally enlarged and up close in the Ace. I believe these "rhymes" would be highly meaningful in a reading

I like this thread!
I like historical decks, and I like 'eye rhymes'.

Here's my take:
In addition to the repeating red vertical sword, I see a repeating circular motif, becoming more refined as the cards progress.

In the 3 of swords, the circular shape is made by the converging of the outside swords.. it makes an opening, but it's not 'whole', because it's made of these two parts, and has corners as a result.
In the Wheel, we see that it has become round and one piece (evolved?), in the rim of the wheel itself. But it isn't stable, it's in constant motion, spinning. (Maybe this spinning chaos shows the process itself of going from the 3 to the 1)
On the Ace, we see the circular opening as a crown, which seems to me like a perfected, triumphant symbol. It's not made out of disparate parts like the pseudo-circle in the 3 (though the way it is drawn, it suggests the same shape!), it's not chaotically spinning and covered in clutter like the wheel, but has become a beautifully adorned, completed piece, even having risen to the top of the card, and flipped over horizontally so it can be stationary.

I'm not too good with eye rhymes, but on looking at the 3 cards (plus they interact) it seems to me that the Wheel is modified by the flanking cards. A stab in the dark = "Your fortune will depend on a very formal (or disiplined) approach. Observe the rules and you will meet with success".

As there are 'creatures' present, could be... = formal dinner party?

I can see Le Fanus' point about the turning direction of the Wheel.....


Bee