Rainring Masterclass 5 set 5 card 38: Desire

94stranger

38. Desire: group - Will (2 red)
http://www.rainringcards.com/Cards/Desire/38.aspx
The image

A young woman, whose appearance suggests that she may be from Central Asia, sits in an almost enclosed space. She wears a lot of red and looks towards us with a direct, sensual, challenging gaze. In her right hand she holds an open pomegranate, several seeds of which are also visible on the palm of her left hand. Behind her on a perch sits a bird of prey, perhaps a falcon, which looks at her with fierce eyes. She is leaning against a purple cushion.

The archetype Desire: the motive force and female pillar of life; the prime mover of being: e-motion = movement outwards. Just as the encounter of sperm and egg is at the origin of the new life of the child in the womb, so life in the manifest universe has its origins also in the meeting of two forces, the second and female of which is desire. Merriam-Webster defines it as a ‘conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment…’ The use of the verb - to desire ‘stresses the strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim’. Desire is a sine qua non of existence: it permeates every aspect of life and without it, there would be no life: we exist because we desire to do so. Desire is the power source for the Will, which expresses through emotion, meaning literally – movement outwards. Desire powers the Will to make space for the Creation. [1]

Divinatory meanings

I believe it was Freud who explained that without sublimating sexual desire (i.e. diverting it away into other channels) there would be no culture and civilisation. Perhaps, now that our ‘civilisation’ is visibly and rapidly destroying our planet, we will be less inclined to suppose automatically that if we were to - in the famous phrase - ‘make love, not war’, the human condition would be worse.


The female pole, the Will, is motivated by the drive towards sensory pleasures, the foremost of which is sex. The implications of this seem to be two-fold. First, the pursuit and fulfilment of sexual desire reverses the urge to fish constantly for inspiration in the Unconscious. The area of creativity is transferred from the search for contact with the Unconscious to the search for reciprocal contact in the world of consciousness – through the experience of transcendence in, rather than out of, the body.[2] Second, this fulfilment reverses the collective hyperactivity of the planet. Sensual pleasure in general, and sex in particular, function at other rhythms than that of the ‘civilised’ activities resulting from sublimation. They induce slowness. Speed is a balloon of tension; sensuality releases the tension, bursts the balloon and aborts the hurry – both in activity and in relationship.


The opposition to desire comes, ultimately, from the forces of introversion. Just as attaining ‘enlightenment’ is billed as a solitary activity, so all those who have problems making authentic, feeling contact with others will oppose desire and its drive towards contact and closeness. Equally, those whose self-image and status depend upon cerebral or indeed artistic activity of a solitary nature will be threatened.


Desire, to sum up, goes with forthright self-promotion; wallflowers and shrinking violets are disadvantaged. In a more than merely sexual sense, the pursuit of desire requires and stimulates the sense of self. All over the world, people’s desires are being controlled and manipulated by governments, corporations, the media, religions and so on. To know and pursue your own desires makes you an individualist – since no-one can do this effectively on your behalf.

Divination summary

urges, passions; going for what you want; abandon, sensuality, appetites; wilfulness; sensory stimulation; languor, satiety; play, ease, enjoyment, fulfilment, pleasure, release; intimacy; individuality, forthrightness, candour, idiosyncrasy, independence, charisma.

[1] Note that the whole ‘enlightenment’ circus, with its identification of desire as the enemy of ‘spiritual’ development, is a product of heavy male-sided denial of the feminine. Children, who incarnate desire in an intense form, have been and continue to be the most oppressed group on our planet.

[2] This is not, however, to do with tantra, since both traditional and modern tantric practices seem to aim to by-pass completely the emotional issues surrounding male-female interaction, hence making tantra fundamentally repressive of the female side of the psyche. It must be remembered that emotion is as integral to the Will as is desire.
 

ana luisa

This card was the one that took me the longest to figure out. At first, it looks very colorful and lively. The reds add a lot of vibrancy to it as well as the name. And yet, well, it is an anguished card. It does not mean I don't like it but it does not bring positive possibilities to me. It shows the querent fighting for understanding of his/her own desires. It could be a card about sex but it does not look like it. It it about anima more than anything. The lady has a languid look, her dress is beginning to open (to the world, or even to pleasures) but her mind is still tied. The scarf, although red, is keeping her hair hidden, is making sure she is still "safe" from her own impulses. Her hand is open and has some seeds which implies she is ready to grow and later bloom. However, the pomegranate is a symbol of righteousness (it is said to have 613 seeds corresponding to the 613 mitzvot or commandments of the Torah).The hawk reinforces this. It reminded me of trained hawks that wear a hood and have to come back to their masters at their command. In this card, SHE wears the hood is is not free yet. I wonder if she will ever be able to liberate herself. From her own self.