Reading for the Sphinx of Tanis

reine de saba

For the Sphinx of Tanis. Dating from 2600 BC
An image :
http://www.cineclubdecaen.com/peinture/peintres/egyptien/grandsphinx.htm

I had no plans to read for this sculpture, but once there, it just immediately called to me, and I nestled in a corner and started shuffling. Said shuffling created a LOT of reversals, all but two, but we’ll work with this –In Tarot Reversals, Mary Greer speaks of the possible meaning of reversals as shamanic or magical, which certainly suits the strange nature of the reading, for an object/ sentience, long removed from its original habitat and reason for being

1.What aspect of the Sphinx do you represent ? Lovers Rx
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/7

Something in which we do not have a choice, perhaps? Nothing is certain but Death- and the opposite of Eros is Thanatos. Rarely has a civilisation so beautifully worked with the intimate connection between the two as that of ancient Egypt. The Sphinx, Guardian of the Underworld, the contrary to the Libido of the Lovers ? There may also be in the card itself another sense of the processions that would pass before these creatures in the three pairs walking. Mary Geer Tarot for Yourself : intangible union, not on the physical plane.

2. Tell me something about you I wouldn’t know otherwise.Hermit Rx
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/10

What came to me is that it is not alone, but surrounded by people constantly, and yet isolated within that crowd. An interior search frustrated by the bustle of people not on that particular quest ? I could, however, have guessed this by myself.
Note that my Hermit is a Chronos hermit, with an hourglass- is this something about going back in time ? Combined with its extreme age, another aspect of the Hermit in general ?
M Geer in her Reversals has the Hermit Rx as Psychopomps, guide of souls- perhaps the sphinx still acts as such, no matter his denaturalized position. There was an effort on the part of the Museum to place it in the Entryway to the sacred collection, part of which is named « the temple ». (I think there may also be the sense of it measuring us and finding us lacking- it did though seem very happy to be read for)

3. What was your purpose when you were made ? 7 wands Rx
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/29

My Estensi image is not quite the average 7 wands, as can be seen. I would like to draw attention to the form of the dog next to the column. I have read that if 7/w generally can be standing ground, it can be tracing limits, M.Greer suggests then Rx as shamanic centeringg- so perhaps we can see, even, a setting off of a sacred space ? Entry to the underworld ?

4. What do you desire to bring about now ? Knight of Swords Rx.
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/62
? A statue as a the kinetic figure of the knight is odd enough. Is that the Rx ? Of swords ? If this were Greece, I’d think of its riddling, but this is Tanis, not Thebes. Is Kn/Sw rx one who neither speaks nor moves ? In Tarot Reversals, we find « At the shamanic and magical level, ..a spiritual warrior, battling in the upperworlds, …suggests psychic self-defense » : this fits with its former and present placement

5. How can I help you in this Queen of Coins, Reversed.
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/76
I was thinking that we are both uprooted creatures, but I couldn’t really get pastthat ? A pilgrimage ? A creating of some object ? but that doesn’t read the reversal, unless again, it is that shamanic sense, of a magical creation of some kind ? A magical groundedness ? I’m still not sure what it might like for me to do. M Greer speaks of one who leads a magical rite of passage. I suppose sharing these reading, asking for participation might fill the bill ?

6. What is your greatest memory ? Knight of Wands Rx
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/34
Again, in Reversals « pioneer explorer of inner plains, …how far sigils talismans and passwords will take them ». In this case, the sphinx would not so much be a knight but meet them at the border, as it were.

7. What lesson might you have for me ? World Rx
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/22
Underworld ?

8. What advice? 3 swords (upright) :
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/53
Empress in the Intellect : greater comprehension – of mourning, as per the traditional image, as seen here, thee is a marked bigilance about this man who has grasped whence come the swords and is Prepared.

9. What wisdom ? 5 coins Rx
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/68
I’ll go directly to the magical interpretation in Reversals : « depiction of how illness…. is, for a potential shaman, a starting point …in ceremonial magic the danger of working iwth lower entities » I have been very ill. Psychicly/physically. And it has been my point of entry into tarot, and more deeply exploring the capacities of the flipside of the psyche. No intentions of a mésalliance here or there, though

10. What secret ? Two of Coins, Upright
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/66
balance- perhaps between that and this ? the Here and the There, walking/dancing the tightrope between them, as with this series of readings ?

I’ll look forward to others’ interpretations – thanks everyone !

rwcarter

reine de saba said:
1.What aspect of the Sphinx do you represent ? Lovers Rx

Thanks for including images of the cards cause I'm not at all familiar with this deck. After looking at that version of the Lovers, there are a lot of people in that card. The Lovers can be about choice, but also about a connection to another person. Reversed, I could see the aspect being the loneliness of the Sphinx, the solitary nature of the Sphinx or even the Sphinx's sense of disconnection from its surroundings.

reine de saba said:
2. Tell me something about you I wouldn’t know otherwise.Hermit Rx
What came to me is that it is not alone, but surrounded by people constantly, and yet isolated within that crowd. An interior search frustrated by the bustle of people not on that particular quest ? I could, however, have guessed this by myself.

Then by definition that can't be the answer, cause the answer should be something you wouldn't otherwise know.

I can't tell from the image if the grains of sand in the hourglass are visible in the card. If so that might factor into the interpretation. The reversal might also indicate an interruption of the Hermit's journey, but you would probably expect that too. Maybe you were on the right track with your original answer - maybe what the Sphinx was saying is that it LIKES being surrounded by other people, which would be rather surprising since at least I consider it to be a very solitary creature....

reine de saba said:
3. What was your purpose when you were made ? 7 wands Rx

The dog's posture is quite similar to that of the Sphinx's. Between the dog, the man and the 7 Wands, I get the impression of being on guard duty/guarding something precious, important, etc. But the dog is in a relaxed position and the man isn't holding any of the swords. So they're not quite ready for guard duty.

If asking about the original Sphinx in Egypt, I believe one theory as to its purpose was as a guardian of the Great Pyramids. If asking about the statue's purpose when it was made, then maybe the 7 is an indication that it was made to help spread out the work of the Sphinx. But of course, the card is reversed, so maybe it's more a case of cloning than dividing. Instead of dividing the work between the original Sphinx and all its representations, maybe it's a case of each representation being able to add to the main Sphinx's abilities? I'm not sure if I've expressed myself correctly cause I'm not sure exactly what I'm trying to say....

reine de saba said:
4. What do you desire to bring about now ? Knight of Swords Rx.

To rest for awhile?

reine de saba said:
5. How can I help you in this Queen of Coins, Reversed.

I can't be of any help to you with this one.

reine de saba said:
6. What is your greatest memory ? Knight of Wands Rx

The court cards in this deck really don't speak to me for some reason....

reine de saba said:
7. What lesson might you have for me ? World Rx

You may think you're on top of the World/ have the World at your feet, but you don't. Alternately, the World can represent completion and integration, so reversed the message might be that you're not at that place yet.

reine de saba said:
8. What advice? 3 swords (upright)

Stand tall in the face of an attack, but don't retaliate until you're in immediate danger (the swords really didn't come close to the man) cause this may be more of a test than an attack.

reine de saba said:
9. What wisdom ? 5 coins Rx

Your interpretation was quite personal and therefore the most correct one. Only thing I can add is that maybe since the card is reversed, it's suggesting that the hardship depicted by the card is necessary as a stepping stone to something else. (The man's foot on the pentacle says stepping stone to me for some reason.)

reine de saba said:
10. What secret ? Two of Coins, Upright

I'm not quite sure what the card is depicting, but it looks to me like the figure on the right is holding out some kind of bowl from which the figure on the left is taking something. So maybe the secret is that the Sphinx has given you something and that you'll figure out what it is when the time is right.

Rodney

dinah1

How fascinating - but I wonder... it seems the Sphinx is still not prepared to give away her secrets...yet... and anything she does say might be misleading due to her very nature?

Saba it would be great if you could add an overview of the whole reading ie how you felt about it afterwards, with no reference to specific cards - just a general gut feeling about the whole session

rwcarter

dinah1 said:
How fascinating - but I wonder... it seems the Sphinx is still not prepared to give away her secrets...yet... and anything she does say might be misleading due to her very nature?

Good point dinah1! The Sphinx was usually the one asking the questions, not answering them, so I'm not sure how direct its answers would be. Questions asked by the Sphinx were riddles, so why wouldn't answers given be as cryptic?

Rodney

reine de saba

The experience as such?
To refer back to our discussion in Spreads:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=99745, I can't say as there were any special tinglies or fleeting images, or anything of that nature. The circumstances didn' lend themselves to anything like that with the stream of girlfriend glam shots and video cams. I was reminded of Acacia's words of a Sekhmet statue being more or less "activated" versus "dormant or contained." Once drawing the cards it was much as Rodney thought. Though I tried to contemplate them, with some small success, largely the throughway that the room was distracted me from being able to spend much meditative time really.

All those disclaimers aside, however, what was extraordinary was this: How entirely pulled in and aside I was by that Sphinx. As I said, it was no longer a question of asking for an audience, but of obeying a summons.

Note too, that this was far from the first time I had seen the creature, and had not at all had with it that immediate love-at-first-sight experience that I'd had with the Horus statue. And I was still fully expecting to read for him, intending to do that first, perhaps even only. And then passing through this room that leads to all the larger sacred sculpture, I was just pulled aside. Magneticly. Like when you are draw to pull a certain card from the stack.

And if the reading of the cards was frustrating, well, I spent a much longer time shuffling than usual and felt a sort of privileged relationship creating itself with the creature, in my corner, gazing at it.

Another odd thing to note: how simply good it felt. Light. In both senses. Totally unexpected as we don't generally think of the Sphinx as all about warm fuzzies, far from it. But I just got a nice happy feeling. I found myself smiling while shuffling, and I have to say here, that I was though once a very smiling kind of person -and still am in company- I have mentioned being in a state of severe depression, and when alone do so so rarely that when it happens, I can feel those unused muscles round my mouth coming into play, both strange and pleasant. This was one of those times.

Strange strange indeed

-saba

(more later)

dinah1

reine de saba said:
All those disclaimers aside, however, what was extraordinary was this: How entirely pulled in and aside I was by that Sphinx. As I said, it was no longer a question of asking for an audience, but of obeying a summons...

...Another odd thing to note: how simply good it felt. Light. In both senses. Totally unexpected as we don't generally think of the Sphinx as all about warm fuzzies, far from it. But I just got a nice happy feeling. I found myself smiling while shuffling, and I have to say here, that I was though once a very smiling kind of person -and still am in company- I have mentioned being in a state of severe depression, and when alone do so so rarely that when it happens, I can feel those unused muscles round my mouth coming into play, both strange and pleasant. This was one of those times.

Strange strange indeed

-saba

(more later)

This is so interesting, as the Sphinx is of course a guardian and gatekeeper so it makes sense that you would have to get past her. She is often referred to as 'inscrutable':

(INSCRUTABLE adjective: enigmatic, mysterious, unreadable, inexplicable, unexplainable, incomprehensible, impenetrable, unfathomable, unknowable; opaque, abstruse, arcane, obscure, cryptic.)

It seems to me that the light and happy feeling you experienced suggests you have passed her test and will be welcome to proceed on what will surely be a fascinating and, I think, a healing journey.

It will be interesting to see who calls next if you proceed, and it may be fun to go in with no preconceived notions of who to read for - let them come to you. Maybe prepare some general questions for your next visit?

If you want Howie with you, he always will be, no need to ask - he loves journeys such as this. I hope you are keeping a journal!

reine de saba

I like Dinah1's take as well concerning the mysterious sphinx whose wisdom will come clear in time -or not. I suppose I ought to be ready to blind myself just in case.

(I owe you a pm about Howie-by the bye, who was a love)

but there too is the rub- were Egyptian sphinxes riddlers as well? Of the three volumes of Egyptian art and culture, each one a good 500 pages, the only sure thing I could get on this subject is the caveat not to confuse the Greek sphinx with the Egyptian. That's what I was getting at (none to clearly) when confronted with the Kn/Swords reversed, saying this was Tanis, not Thebes. If an Egyptian sphinx is also a poser of enigmas, then it seems to me that card could be read in that sense, a frustrated desire to question those seeking some answer.

But I'd need someone who knows Egyptian culture better than I do.

I like to think it's smiling with me when I see it- and I wouldn't be surprised that gate keeper at least, that is precisely why it pulled me aside (as though I were the card to be interpreted of the deck of tourists), -the following rooms are called Entering the temple.

I felt the same pull to the ram-headed Amoun-Ra (and drew the Ace of Cups), though not so much the Sekhmet. As my third reading though, with all the duplicates of her, and denied my Horus, perhaps this was to be expected. And didn't feel the same in front of a lovely Isis and Nephtys, or a little Bast. You'd think.

I could post the others if interest warrants.

I do journal at least all my readings. For the moment, my neurons are limping along too slowly (I swear I used to be well-written, though you'd never guess) to write in any more in-depth fashion. Were it otherwise I'd be writing my dissertation rather than throwing cards, so I suppose everything has its upside, no?

(did you know that scry in French is scruter, and much less "arcane" as verbs go?)

warm thoughts to all

saba

rwcarter

reine de saba said:
but there too is the rub- were Egyptian sphinxes riddlers as well? Of the three volumes of Egyptian art and culture, each one a good 500 pages, the only sure thing I could get on this subject is the caveat not to confuse the Greek sphinx with the Egyptian.

saba

Yes, I probably did make the mistake of confusing the Greek and Egyptian Sphinxes. My bad.

The Egyptian Sphinx was at least a guide and a guardian. And in the legend of Thutmoses IV (? I may have the wrong Pharaoh) the Sphinx either had the power of prescience or could actually affect the future. As a young prince, Thutmoses wandered into the desert by himself and came upon the Sphinx, which was mostly buried in the sand. In a vision, the Sphinx told him that if he unburied it, he would become Pharaoh. My memory is a little fuzzy here, but I don't believe Thutmoses was next in line. He had at least one or two brothers who were ahead of him in the line of succession, but he freed the Sphinx from its sandy prison and did become Pharaoh.

Hope that helps some,
Rodney

Reading for the Sphinx of Tanis

reine de saba

rwcarter

dinah1

rwcarter

reine de saba

dinah1

reine de saba

rwcarter