94stranger
I asked the Rainring cards:
‘How would you describe the tarot?’
I used the octagon spread, which consists of 9 cards - eight around the outside: N,NE,E,SE,S,SW,W,NW,N and a ninth, summarising, at centre. I analyse the results below, with links to the cards involved. I should stress at once that my knowledge of the tarot is very limited, so that I am not able to judge whether what Rainring has to say about the tarot will strike chords with experienced and knowledgeable users of the tarot - please let me know your good or bad reactions!
Clockwise from north, here are the individual links to the cards in the spread above:
N - Unconscious aspect - Crossing: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Crossing/81.aspx
NE - Quest-ion? aspect (goals) - Flow:
http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Flow/18.aspx (reversed)
E - Spirit aspect (male pole – awareness, discrimination) - Attraction: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Attraction/65.aspx
SE - Conjugation aspect (male-female integration) -Expression: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Expression/56.aspx
S - Form aspect (material world) - Exhibition: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Exhibition/16.aspx
SW - Self aspect: Abandon: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Abandon/11.aspx
W - Will aspect (female pole – emotion) - Possession: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Possession/14.aspx
NW - Communication aspect - The Patriarch: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/The_Patriarch_/28.aspx
C - Heart aspect (centre - the heart of the matter) - Charisma: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Charisma/60.aspx (reversed)
[centre – supplementary card: Action: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Action/22.aspx
First, in asking the question ‘How would you describe the tarot?’ my intention was to ask about the tarot globally, rather than one particular interpretation. In fact what was really in my mind was the invention of the tarot – I wanted to find out what it was that its inventor was producing – what was driving the creation of this remarkable artefact. My question refers more, therefore, to an early pack like the Marseilles tarot, which was the only one I possessed for many years, than to any later ones, however charismatic and/or innovative they may be.
In this spread, known as the bipolar octagon, we use eight cards in an octagonal formation – positioning them at north, south, east, west, north-east and so on – and a ninth one at centre. Each position has a significance, which then attaches to the card placed in that position. Each position represents an aspect of the issue or question being examined, with the central one representing the summing up.
N - With this in mind, let me begin with the north, the position in the spread which represents the unconscious aspect of the matter. Here we have Crossing. This card is the last one of the 9-phase cycle. The eighth is Completion, the first Projection, and it is Crossing which takes us from one to the other. It represents loss, disorientation, ending and also passage – the necessary journey from the end of one cycle to the beginning of another. The unconscious character and influence of the tarot, then, is that of what mystics call the ‘dark night of the soul.’ It may well be that death is the most striking and visually powerful card in the pack (it certainly is in my Marseilles tarot), and death is a, if not the major form of Crossing.
S - Opposite, at South, is Form position, which corresponds to the material world, facts, daily life. Here we have Exhibition. I’m not very clear about this, but I wonder if it is intended to contrast the tarot with the other esoteric elements of mediaeval life, such as Freemasonry, the Templars and so on. These operated very much under cover, whereas the tarot was right out in the open – which is quite possibly why it began life, it would seem, as a game. It was, in other words, a religious and philosophical teaching masquerading as an entertainment.
W - West is the position of the Will aspect, the female pole essentially associated with emotion. Here we have Possession. Again, I have uncertainties. Possession, as the image demonstrates, refers to a psychic state in which one is invaded by unconscious contents, owing to lack of adequate boundaries in one’s personal psyche. One is ‘taken over’ by external influences. I take this to mean that the creator of the tarot was overwhelmed by female-side (emotional) influences which he(?) was not able to integrate satisfactorily. My conclusion would be that the female side influences in the tarot are not maturely digested, but have rather invaded it in an undisciplined way.
E - One other card supports this view, as we shall see next, and a further one, Attraction at East, in Spirit position, does not contradict it. Attraction refers to the magnetic pull between male and female. If you are reading this as a gay or lesbian, you would normally be able to identify that any partner you have will be of the opposite polarity: male-sided men with female-sided men and so on. The spirit of the tarot is characterised, according to Rainring, by a magnetism between male and female, or vice-versa if you prefer. If it’s creator was indeed a man, then its spirit is that of a male magnetically drawn to the female in the psyche.
SW – This takes me to Self position, where we have Abandon. This card is to do with loss of control. It belongs to the Will (red) group, which is the female pole. It is an imbalance card, involving the extraverted side of imbalance in the Will, the introverted, opposite, side being Control. Self is one’s own identity, so this card implies that the character of the tarot in and of itself is one of losing control of one’s emotions. I feel that this must be related to the card Possession (in the Will), which we discussed previously. My conclusion is that the tarot was created by a man who was overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings, lost control, and that this is reflected in the character of the tarot itself.
NW – This line of argument takes me to a consideration of the card at North-West, in the Communication position. Here we have the Patriarch, a card belonging to the Spirit (purple) group – the male pole. This card sits quite strangely with the previous one. In many ways, the tarot comes across as being very male-sided, with its Kings and Knights but only Queens, its male Pages, and - in my Marseilles tarot - its preponderance of male figures in the Major Arcana. (13 against 8 have solely a male, or a majority of male figures, with only the wheel of fortune being devoid of anthropomorphism (i.e. humanised figures) entirely. The Patriarch in Rainring is the pioneer in spirit – I think of Noah (of Noah’s ark fame) is being the prototype. Unquestionably, then, the tarot is a great work of the spirit, and with this card in Communication position, the tarot is portrayed as communicating above all a prophetic spiritual message. Are we to conclude that there is a degree of disjointedness in the tarot – male and female-side influences not thoroughly integrated and harmonised with each other?
SE – In conjugation position, we have Expression, yet another red card. Conjugation refers to the joining and balance of male and female elements – it can be physical, external or psychological, internal. This card sits well with Exhibition at South – reinforcing the picture of the tarot as an extravert influence. The imagery of the tarot has things to say (expression) about the relation of the male and female psyche. If we restrict ourselves to the full-card portraits of males and females in the Marseilles tarot major arcana, we find 6 of each which, in an age of such universal male chauvinism, is remarkable, even astonishing.
NE – The card in this position refers to aims or goals. Here we have Flow (reversed). Those not familiar with Rainring should have a look at Ebb, which is the twin of Flow, each helping to clarify the meaning of the other. The word on the card represents the position of consciousness. Flow in the world of consciousness – it is an imbalance card – involves doing lots of running around, whether or not like a headless chicken! The reverse is the opposite – retreating into the unconscious. The meaning here seems straightforward: the aim of the tarot is to create a mood of introspection in its users – to derail the busyness which is such a characteristic of life on this Earth plane, and perhaps never more so than in contemporary society, running as it does on non-stop stimulation.
C – The central position in this spread is generally taken by a card which refers to the ‘heart of the matter’ and is taken to be the summary of all the eight peripheral ones – eight aspects brought together in one summarising card. Here, this card is Charisma (reversed). It is important to realise that reversal in Rainring can refer not simply to the opposite of the main meaning, but may mean a ‘U’ turn, in the sense of doing something in a completely different way – at 180 degrees as it were – to the original form, method, approach etc. I took a supplementary card here, in order to check the meaning, and Action came up. The latter being a positive card, I conclude – as I strongly felt in any case – that it is not a negation of Charisma, but a radically new form which is involved here. In what sense can this be?
I find myself drawn back to earlier remarks: the tarot, it seems to me, is remarkable for having been able to flourish under the noses of the religious establishment of the day, without to my knowledge ever having been the object of a religious pogrom, or having caused any doctrinal wars and so on. In an age in which the unorthodox were wont to shut up or, like Galileo, had to face the consequences, the tarot – perhaps because of its seeming obscurity - was apparently able to exist and flourish without hindrance. Was The Church simply fooled by the Fool and his companions? This piece of harmless and amusing nonsense was neither harmless – from the point of view of the orthodox – nor nonsense. Perhaps this is mirrored in the effect that the tarot has upon its devotees: Charisma in the affairs of the external world (which the beginning reader of the cards knows something about how to handle) can be transmuted into a charismatic relation to one’s inner world. The tarot, the supplementary card Action tells us, DOES something. And the author of this article would do well to remember, right now, that actions speak louder than words!
‘How would you describe the tarot?’
I used the octagon spread, which consists of 9 cards - eight around the outside: N,NE,E,SE,S,SW,W,NW,N and a ninth, summarising, at centre. I analyse the results below, with links to the cards involved. I should stress at once that my knowledge of the tarot is very limited, so that I am not able to judge whether what Rainring has to say about the tarot will strike chords with experienced and knowledgeable users of the tarot - please let me know your good or bad reactions!
Clockwise from north, here are the individual links to the cards in the spread above:
N - Unconscious aspect - Crossing: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Crossing/81.aspx
NE - Quest-ion? aspect (goals) - Flow:
http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Flow/18.aspx (reversed)
E - Spirit aspect (male pole – awareness, discrimination) - Attraction: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Attraction/65.aspx
SE - Conjugation aspect (male-female integration) -Expression: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Expression/56.aspx
S - Form aspect (material world) - Exhibition: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Exhibition/16.aspx
SW - Self aspect: Abandon: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Abandon/11.aspx
W - Will aspect (female pole – emotion) - Possession: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Possession/14.aspx
NW - Communication aspect - The Patriarch: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/The_Patriarch_/28.aspx
C - Heart aspect (centre - the heart of the matter) - Charisma: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Charisma/60.aspx (reversed)
[centre – supplementary card: Action: http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Action/22.aspx
First, in asking the question ‘How would you describe the tarot?’ my intention was to ask about the tarot globally, rather than one particular interpretation. In fact what was really in my mind was the invention of the tarot – I wanted to find out what it was that its inventor was producing – what was driving the creation of this remarkable artefact. My question refers more, therefore, to an early pack like the Marseilles tarot, which was the only one I possessed for many years, than to any later ones, however charismatic and/or innovative they may be.
In this spread, known as the bipolar octagon, we use eight cards in an octagonal formation – positioning them at north, south, east, west, north-east and so on – and a ninth one at centre. Each position has a significance, which then attaches to the card placed in that position. Each position represents an aspect of the issue or question being examined, with the central one representing the summing up.
N - With this in mind, let me begin with the north, the position in the spread which represents the unconscious aspect of the matter. Here we have Crossing. This card is the last one of the 9-phase cycle. The eighth is Completion, the first Projection, and it is Crossing which takes us from one to the other. It represents loss, disorientation, ending and also passage – the necessary journey from the end of one cycle to the beginning of another. The unconscious character and influence of the tarot, then, is that of what mystics call the ‘dark night of the soul.’ It may well be that death is the most striking and visually powerful card in the pack (it certainly is in my Marseilles tarot), and death is a, if not the major form of Crossing.
S - Opposite, at South, is Form position, which corresponds to the material world, facts, daily life. Here we have Exhibition. I’m not very clear about this, but I wonder if it is intended to contrast the tarot with the other esoteric elements of mediaeval life, such as Freemasonry, the Templars and so on. These operated very much under cover, whereas the tarot was right out in the open – which is quite possibly why it began life, it would seem, as a game. It was, in other words, a religious and philosophical teaching masquerading as an entertainment.
W - West is the position of the Will aspect, the female pole essentially associated with emotion. Here we have Possession. Again, I have uncertainties. Possession, as the image demonstrates, refers to a psychic state in which one is invaded by unconscious contents, owing to lack of adequate boundaries in one’s personal psyche. One is ‘taken over’ by external influences. I take this to mean that the creator of the tarot was overwhelmed by female-side (emotional) influences which he(?) was not able to integrate satisfactorily. My conclusion would be that the female side influences in the tarot are not maturely digested, but have rather invaded it in an undisciplined way.
E - One other card supports this view, as we shall see next, and a further one, Attraction at East, in Spirit position, does not contradict it. Attraction refers to the magnetic pull between male and female. If you are reading this as a gay or lesbian, you would normally be able to identify that any partner you have will be of the opposite polarity: male-sided men with female-sided men and so on. The spirit of the tarot is characterised, according to Rainring, by a magnetism between male and female, or vice-versa if you prefer. If it’s creator was indeed a man, then its spirit is that of a male magnetically drawn to the female in the psyche.
SW – This takes me to Self position, where we have Abandon. This card is to do with loss of control. It belongs to the Will (red) group, which is the female pole. It is an imbalance card, involving the extraverted side of imbalance in the Will, the introverted, opposite, side being Control. Self is one’s own identity, so this card implies that the character of the tarot in and of itself is one of losing control of one’s emotions. I feel that this must be related to the card Possession (in the Will), which we discussed previously. My conclusion is that the tarot was created by a man who was overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings, lost control, and that this is reflected in the character of the tarot itself.
NW – This line of argument takes me to a consideration of the card at North-West, in the Communication position. Here we have the Patriarch, a card belonging to the Spirit (purple) group – the male pole. This card sits quite strangely with the previous one. In many ways, the tarot comes across as being very male-sided, with its Kings and Knights but only Queens, its male Pages, and - in my Marseilles tarot - its preponderance of male figures in the Major Arcana. (13 against 8 have solely a male, or a majority of male figures, with only the wheel of fortune being devoid of anthropomorphism (i.e. humanised figures) entirely. The Patriarch in Rainring is the pioneer in spirit – I think of Noah (of Noah’s ark fame) is being the prototype. Unquestionably, then, the tarot is a great work of the spirit, and with this card in Communication position, the tarot is portrayed as communicating above all a prophetic spiritual message. Are we to conclude that there is a degree of disjointedness in the tarot – male and female-side influences not thoroughly integrated and harmonised with each other?
SE – In conjugation position, we have Expression, yet another red card. Conjugation refers to the joining and balance of male and female elements – it can be physical, external or psychological, internal. This card sits well with Exhibition at South – reinforcing the picture of the tarot as an extravert influence. The imagery of the tarot has things to say (expression) about the relation of the male and female psyche. If we restrict ourselves to the full-card portraits of males and females in the Marseilles tarot major arcana, we find 6 of each which, in an age of such universal male chauvinism, is remarkable, even astonishing.
NE – The card in this position refers to aims or goals. Here we have Flow (reversed). Those not familiar with Rainring should have a look at Ebb, which is the twin of Flow, each helping to clarify the meaning of the other. The word on the card represents the position of consciousness. Flow in the world of consciousness – it is an imbalance card – involves doing lots of running around, whether or not like a headless chicken! The reverse is the opposite – retreating into the unconscious. The meaning here seems straightforward: the aim of the tarot is to create a mood of introspection in its users – to derail the busyness which is such a characteristic of life on this Earth plane, and perhaps never more so than in contemporary society, running as it does on non-stop stimulation.
C – The central position in this spread is generally taken by a card which refers to the ‘heart of the matter’ and is taken to be the summary of all the eight peripheral ones – eight aspects brought together in one summarising card. Here, this card is Charisma (reversed). It is important to realise that reversal in Rainring can refer not simply to the opposite of the main meaning, but may mean a ‘U’ turn, in the sense of doing something in a completely different way – at 180 degrees as it were – to the original form, method, approach etc. I took a supplementary card here, in order to check the meaning, and Action came up. The latter being a positive card, I conclude – as I strongly felt in any case – that it is not a negation of Charisma, but a radically new form which is involved here. In what sense can this be?
I find myself drawn back to earlier remarks: the tarot, it seems to me, is remarkable for having been able to flourish under the noses of the religious establishment of the day, without to my knowledge ever having been the object of a religious pogrom, or having caused any doctrinal wars and so on. In an age in which the unorthodox were wont to shut up or, like Galileo, had to face the consequences, the tarot – perhaps because of its seeming obscurity - was apparently able to exist and flourish without hindrance. Was The Church simply fooled by the Fool and his companions? This piece of harmless and amusing nonsense was neither harmless – from the point of view of the orthodox – nor nonsense. Perhaps this is mirrored in the effect that the tarot has upon its devotees: Charisma in the affairs of the external world (which the beginning reader of the cards knows something about how to handle) can be transmuted into a charismatic relation to one’s inner world. The tarot, the supplementary card Action tells us, DOES something. And the author of this article would do well to remember, right now, that actions speak louder than words!
