TdM: dodalisque reads for Joan Marie

[Joan Marie]

Ok, so here we go!

Is it okay if I ask for a general reading and not provide a specific question this time?
If not just let me know. I gotta lotta irons in the fire now and I just can't decide which one to ask about and they are all inter-related anyway.

[dodalisque]

That's fine, Joan. It might take me a few days but I'll get back to you.

[dodalisque]

For your reading I have decided to use a very strange deck indeed, the Tarot of the III Millennium (Lo Scarabeo, 2000) by Iassen Ghiuselev, an award-winning Bulgarian illustrator of many classic stories including Pinnochio, Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist, and Orpheus and Eurydice. He is also the creator of the Leonardo da Vinci Tarot. I want to talk about the deck later, just to get it the damn thing out of my system, but for now I shall just press ahead with your reading. The top row shows cards from that deck and the bottom row, to put things into a more familiar TdM perspective, shows corresponding cards from the Ancient Tarot of Bologna (Lo Scarabeo, 2000), made by Giacomo Zoni in 1780. One feature of Ghiuselev's deck is that his minor cards incorporate small reproductions of cards from Zoni's deck. But that's just the beginning of the weirdness.

1) Distant past - Death (XIII)
2) Immediate past - Page of Swords
3) Present influences - King of Coins
4) Present obstacles - The Sun (XVIIII)
5) Present outlook - 6 of Coins
6) Future influences - 2 of Swords
7) Ultimate result - Devil (XV)

Because all I know about you is your work on this site and that you are an artist and a workaholic , I assume that this reading must be telling us something about your involvement with tarot and your heroic efforts to create a welcoming online community for tarot enthusiasts and deck creators at Cult of Tarot.

The first thing I notice is how, despite the elaborate instructions for shuffling and selecting the cards, their arrangement in the spread is rigidly symmetrical: Major, Swords, Coins, Major, Coins, Swords, Major. It's like a palindrome, the same forwards as backwards. So I think the overall message is that, even though on the surface your approach to creative projects seems to be eccentric and haphazard, under the surface there is tremendous order and discipline. The central card, The Sun (XIX), which features a perfectly precise abstract circle to represent the sun, seems to reinforce this notion of you as someone with a remorselessly tidy mind.

Death (XIII) in the "distant past" represents the desolate tarot landscape brought about by the demise of of Aeclectic Tarot. A mysterious deathlike force seemed to roam the land cutting down new tarot sites as soon as they had sprung up. Death is hooded because no-one has been able to identify a sensible explanation for this phenomenon. Death's familiar, the black crow, is the traditional carrier of messages from the higher worlds, and therefore a symbol for divination itself. In classical times, yes/no decisions, such as whether a gladiator should live or die in the arena, were often decided by drawing a small white or black stone from a jar full of black and white stones.

In the "immediate past", Joan as the plucky inexperienced Page of Swords, steps forward bravely to stop Death in its tracks, drawing her little sword to engage in a David and Goliath battle with the gigantic scythe wielded by the death force of indifference. The graphics in the background on the minor cards in this deck often don't seem particularly relevant to the card's meaning, but in this case we see that behind the tiny Page is the spirit of a powerful samurai warrior, who is staring Death in the face.

In the third card we see that Joan now has to assume the leadership role of the King of Coins, solely responsible for the funding and practical organisation of her new website, setting up the software, registering and advertising the site, and a thousand other details. The graphic on the card behind the King shows a bent, aged solitary figure, so physical fatigue is a factor here. The old priest/rabbi (?), is carefully counting the money in his treasure chest, so shortage of funds is a constant worry.

The 4th card, "present obstacles", features The Sun card (XIX). Your greatest obstacle seems to be your perfectionism and your impatience to have everything on Cult of Tarot absolutely complete like the mathematically drawn circle in the centre of the card. Your natural modesty and uncomplaining nature is expressed by the way in which the Apollonian central figure turns away from us and points at what he has created. You created the form, the site itself, the venue, and it is your contributors' job to fill this empty space with their colorful tarot insights. If the round object in the beak of Death's crow is a black "No", then the circle representing the Cult of Tarot website is a great white sunny "Yes".

Your "present outlook" is represented by the 6 of Coins, the card of generosity and balance. The six coins on the card are arranged as two triangles, one pointing up and other down. So there is a great deal of sharing and give and take on the website. The two triangles might even represent the back and forth exchange of readings and information between the members. Threes in the tarot are usually associated with the idea of creativity, and on this card there are two threes, suggesting the harmonisation of innovative work coming from above and below. But this is the suit of coins, so perhaps you need at some point to consider charging membership fees. In the graphic behind the card we see a dog and his master, so you shouldn't be afraid to be a true master and order us about when you feel it is necessary. Perhaps, as a free-thinking democrat, you don't feel comfortable having to act at times as the referee in disputes between members and being responsible for tough decisions.

Card 6, "future influences", the 2 of Swords, shows the flourishing of a beautiful flower in the open space created when two minds interact. This the ideal in the tarot world, the coming together of client and reader, of question and cards, of two tarot enthusiasts sharing a moment of poetry. The graphic behind the cards shows that the reality is often a lot messier than that, but the central Sun card has already identified you as an idealist, so that is the purity we must all strive toward.

The "ultimate result" is represented by the Devil (XV), and a very urbane suave Devil he looks too, gazing back fondly at his creation. He seems to have a five-pointed star, a pentacle, pinned to his chest like a medal, suggesting honor in the world of manifestation. This card usually shows a man and woman chained loosely to the Devil's throne, but here their images are fixed in the stone itself. The card usually addresses subjects such as pleasure and addiction, and I can't think of two better words to describe what the tarot grants its devotees. Having read some of your emails and readings, I should imagine you would feel quite pleased to be characterised by this particular Devil. The Devil's throne looks a little narrow and precarious, so maybe Cult of Tarot will not rule the world as we would all like it to, but the boss looks perfectly comfortable standing there in rakish ease.

The deck itself was released in 2000 to coincide with the beginning of the third millennium, and its primary thesis seems to be that mankind has not changed very much in the last 1000 years. The artist juxtaposes imagery from the brutal world of the Middle Ages with elements taken from our own contemporary technological culture. The tiny reproductions of TdM cards in the deck float between the two worlds, past and present, like space-ships capable of travelling through time. The artist is implying that the wisdom of tarot is as relevant today as it was 1000 years ago.

Ghiuselev re-interprets and re-imagines all the Major cards of the TdM in his own sardonically humorous fashion. If we assume the tarot tradition began in Italy around 1420 in the early Renaissance, then the artist's academically trained style of drawing seems perfectly appropriate to the task. The Majors are in black and white, to suggest the abstract nature of these archetypal forces, but the Court cards, which feature human beings, are in color, showing surreal scenes from a bygone age.

As well as the inserted reproductions of cards from the Zoni deck, the Court cards include internet web addresses. The Pages have a ".com" extension; the Knights ".mil", to suggest their military or security role; the Queens all have a ".net" extension to imply their custody of wisdom; the Kings have the suffix ".org" to indicate power and duty.

The pip cards show what look like portions of a larger picture drawn in black and white, and overlaid are graphics showing bar-codes, computer chips, electrical circuits, and radar screens. In fact the drawings actually are parts of larger pictures, and the suits make up elaborate jigsaw puzzles. This is quite ingenious since the cards overlap one another and often obscure large parts of the partially hidden cards underneath. A hand in a peculiar gesture, say, or part of a certain type of hat, which are common to two adjacent cards, are often the only clues to help us understand how the cards are meant to overlap. I am not sure technically how this was accomplished. The artist must have drawn several versions of the larger puzzle incorporating extra people and events in some of the versions.

If you own the deck or intend to buy it, this is a SPOILER ALERT, since I spent bloody hours trying to piece together the jigsaw puzzles and am posting them below. I think I managed to figure out the Aces - which seems to be a self-portrait of the artist himself - and the suits of Swords, Wands and Cups - showing respectively scenes of soldiers, businessmen and the clergy - but I failed to completely solve the jigsaw puzzle for the suit of Coins and the Court cards. Maybe someone can help me. Also I can't see a way of connecting up the separate puzzles into a single unifying image. The LWB is not particularly informative and I have unsuccessfully searched the Net for a painting by Ghiuselev that shows the completed picture.

MAJOR ARCANA:

ACES:

SWORDS:

WANDS:

CUPS:

COINS:

COURTS:

[Joan Marie]

Because all I know about you is your work on this site and that you are an artist and a workaholic , I assume that this reading must be telling us something about your involvement with tarot and your heroic efforts to create a welcoming online community for tarot enthusiasts and deck creators at Cult of Tarot.

This is exactly what I was hoping you would read about, the forum, but I felt funny asking. So thanks.

The first thing I notice is how, despite the elaborate instructions for shuffling and selecting the cards, their arrangement in the spread is rigidly symmetrical: Major, Swords, Coins, Major, Coins, Swords, Major. It's like a palindrome, the same forwards as backwards. So I think the overall message is that, even though on the surface your approach to creative projects seems to be eccentric and haphazard, under the surface there is tremendous order and discipline. The central card, The Sun (XIX), which features a perfectly precise abstract circle to represent the sun, seems to reinforce this notion of you as someone with a remorselessly tidy mind.

I have tried my whole life to be more "organised" but I actually get a lot more done when I freestyle. I'm learning to embrace that and not see it as chaotic. It really is very organised but just not in a way that is compatible with traditional planning methods.

Death (XIII) in the "distant past" represents the desolate tarot landscape brought about by the demise of Aeclectic Tarot. A mysterious deathlike force seemed to roam the land cutting down new tarot sites as soon as they had sprung up. Death is hooded because no-one has been able to identify a sensible explanation for this phenomenon. Death's familiar, the black crow, is the traditional carrier of messages from the higher worlds, and therefore a symbol for divination itself. In classical times, yes/no decisions, such as whether a gladiator should live or die in the arena, were often decided by drawing a small white or black stone from a jar full of black and white stones.

It's funny the unexpected things that set one on one's path.
I have many many crows in my garden. I should listen closer to them because I could really use some messages from the higher worlds right about now.

This has been a tough nut to crack that's for sure. There's a lot of paddling going on and staying afloat, but I would really like to catch and ride a wave for a change. I am not sure how to read this crow's "no". I hope he's saying I should not die in the Arena.

In the "immediate past", Joan as the plucky inexperienced Page of Swords, steps forward bravely to stop Death in its tracks, drawing her little sword to engage in a David and Goliath battle with the gigantic scythe wielded by the death force of indifference. The graphics in the background on the minor cards in this deck often don't seem particularly relevant to the card's meaning, but in this case we see that behind the tiny Page is the spirit of a powerful samurai warrior, who is staring Death in the face.

Death force of indifference. That feels pretty accurate. I think of those Tibetan singing bowls and how you have to keep "stirring" or the vibration stops. And when it stops, some kind of momentum is lost.

In the third card we see that Joan now has to assume the leadership role of the King of Coins, solely responsible for the funding and practical organisation of her new website, setting up the software, registering and advertising the site, and a thousand other details. The graphic on the card behind the King shows a bent, aged solitary figure, so physical fatigue is a factor here. The old priest/rabbi (?), is carefully counting the money in his treasure chest, so shortage of funds is a constant worry.

When I look at the solitary figure there I see the aloneness of the work. Me and my laptop losing track of time.

There is so much more to this than I had anticipated. So much more. And nearly every bit of it I've had to figure out from scratch. When first building the site I even had to learn how to communicate with tech support, as in how to properly explain a problem so that they would actually help me. I learn new things every day.

I had a big moment of doubt just before I started when I asked myself why I was really doing this because I realised if I wasn't clear on that I might be setting myself up for some undue stress and burden. But I realised what it is. I like to work on things exactly like this. Things that are multi-faceted and challenge a wide range of abilities and talents. I like to solve problems and make things work. I like to take ideas and make them happen. This brings me real joy. Knowing that, being clear about that, has made every day working on this interesting and satisfying.

Except for one thing, which is that all this work has not yet generated any money. It's not paying for itself much less me and that does concern me on many levels.

The 4th card, "present obstacles", features The Sun card (XIX). Your greatest obstacle seems to be your perfectionism and your impatience to have everything on Cult of Tarot absolutely complete like the mathematically drawn circle in the centre of the card. Your natural modesty and uncomplaining nature is expressed by the way in which the Apollonian central figure turns away from us and points at what he has created. You created the form, the site itself, the venue, and it is your contributors' job to fill this empty space with their colorful tarot insights. If the round object in the beak of Death's crow is a black "No", then the circle representing the Cult of Tarot website is a great white sunny "Yes".

Thank you for this.

Your "present outlook" is represented by the 6 of Coins, the card of generosity and balance. The six coins on the card are arranged as two triangles, one pointing up and other down. So there is a great deal of sharing and give and take on the website. The two triangles might even represent the back and forth exchange of readings and information between the members. Threes in the tarot are usually associated with the idea of creativity, and on this card there are two threes, suggesting the harmonisation of innovative work coming from above and below. But this is the suit of coins, so perhaps you need at some point to consider charging membership fees. In the graphic behind the card we see a dog and his master, so you shouldn't be afraid to be a true master and order us about when you feel it is necessary. Perhaps, as a free-thinking democrat, you don't feel comfortable having to act at times as the referee in disputes between members and being responsible for tough decisions.

It's true, I believe in letting people sort themselves as much as possible. But, if I feel I need to step in, I keep it off the public forum. Though it may look like there's no moderation, there is, it's just handled with respect for the individuals and done privately. I've intentionally kept moderation invisible. I never liked that feeling of "cops" everywhere on a forum.

You are right, I don't feel comfortable doing it, but I think only a true scold would.

Fortunately I have not been faced with more than a couple of what I would consider tough "decisions" that I needed to make in order to maintain a certain kind of atmosphere on the forum, people who meant well but were just going the wrong direction for here.

Card 6, "future influences", the 2 of Swords, shows the flourishing of a beautiful flower in the open space created when two minds interact. This the ideal in the tarot world, the coming together of client and reader, of question and cards, of two tarot enthusiasts sharing a moment of poetry. The graphic behind the cards shows that the reality is often a lot messier than that, but the central Sun card has already identified you as an idealist, so that is the purity we must all strive toward.

I really love that, sharing a moment of poetry. That is what brings me the most joy here is when I see that. And I see it a lot.

The "ultimate result" is represented by the Devil (XV), and a very urbane suave Devil he looks too, gazing back fondly at his creation. He seems to have a five-pointed star, a pentacle, pinned to his chest like a medal, suggesting honor in the world of manifestation. This card usually shows a man and woman chained loosely to the Devil's throne, but here their images are fixed in the stone itself. The card usually addresses subjects such as pleasure and addiction, and I can't think of two better words to describe what the tarot grants its devotees. Having read some of your emails and readings, I should imagine you would feel quite pleased to be characterised by this particular Devil. The Devil's throne looks a little narrow and precarious, so maybe Cult of Tarot will not rule the world as we would all like it to, but the boss looks perfectly comfortable standing there in rakish ease.

Thank you so much for this beautiful reading. This deck is so gorgeous and strange. Thank you for choosing it.

[dodalisque]

Thanks, Joan. I had no idea it was the Ist anniversary of Cult of Tarot today. Cool that the site itself turned out to be the subject of the reading. I certainly had not intended to do that. It just came out of the cards. You really do have a gift for making everyone welcome. Your energy and commitment amazes me. I hope you are getting as much out of this as your members. I've learned more about readings cards and about tarot in the past two months than I have working alone by myself in the past 5 years. I hope you can keep the site going and continuing to grow over the next year and beyond. At a certain point, surely, staying power itself will be enough to win the confidence and attract the attention of greater numbers of the tarot community.

[Joan Marie]

I hope you can keep the site going and continuing to grow over the next year and beyond.

I absolutely will as long as people keep contributing and participating and subscribing. I do my best to build a fun and welcoming place for all these discussions and activities. But it's everybody else that keep it alive and growing.
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