Bat Chicken
MiShell said:
Are you ever away from the Divine? Yes and No.
I am not sure it is the body's fault as Christian dogma suggests, but we can remove ourselves mentally from the Divine. I think the 5's are that moment when we feel, think, express that disconnection from the divine/ourselves. That is not to say the Divine is far away because as you (MiShell) said already, it is our own Soul - always there - always us, even if we fail to experience it. This deck seems to be a visual expression of the paths to it and from it and the cycle of the whole - the EXPERIENCE of BEING - Qabalah in short.
Your suggestion that the 5's are the center of the two extremes is interesting though. I might suggest that it is, in fact, the opposite. The one's and ten's are closer together than the 5's. The fives are the edge of the sphere so to speak.The horsemen simply are the end of the cycle. The end sits next to and is the beginning.
After all, we live in linear time even if we can conceive it to be otherwise, we perceive and experience it largely as linear (ETA - or circular if you like - either way it is a path). Even the exceptions (I know what you're thinking MiShell!
) are still the exception no the rule, so to speak. The wise will say that after the vision, you must collect water, cook food and clean the house, etc. I know I have the quote way wrong, but you get the idea...That battle cry is against a narrow minded Christian Church dogma. I would disagree that is is a blanket statement on Christianity. Let's be careful not to toss the baby out with the bathwater.
Love this! Yes!!
I completely disagree with the idea that it is unMARY EL. The Vision Quest is pretty Thoth based as with much of the Mary El, so I can see why the comparison.
That waterfall has split in three and looks like the waterfall behind the Fool, materially evolved. I say materially for obvious reasons! Take a closer look at the the Fool. Do you see it? That wispy, misty landscape... It's perfect. After all we are following a progression - a linear expression of an indescribable whole. I have other thoughts on that but I'd just be repeating my post in the Study Group for the 3 of Cups.
What are you saying with that last statement?
I can see that if you reject the dualist experience as a way of understanding unity it would be difficult to use personally. But that cannot be an overarching criticism of the deck, nor does it condemn those that find it useful as missing the point or being limited by it. It is presenting one theory to illuminate the same one you live by. If you perceive limits, that IS personal. And that's fine! We are all entitled....
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Looking at the overall question this thread raised about the importance of the Mary El - well - time will tell. But I think it is a magnificent synthesis of the common threads of the big "3", presented in powerful visionary art. Like LeFanu says, we always hope for the artist/poet greater than Shakespeare. In the end they are all saying the same thing. It is all about how well the story is told. In that sense the Mary El is in the highest class.
