Natalia Lee

A nest of sorts

Encountering the Suits: Weight of Influence

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Animating the Tarot Pips

Spinning golden plates, that shimmer like a bull’s eye. If batons embody potential and power, coins denote power of a different kind. The power of acquisition and persuasion. Persuasion as a secondary to acquisition, in that through crafty words one can persuade the other on the value of a thing.

Not so long ago, actual coins where more of an active part of daily life, a tangible value system. Jangling in our pockets, the coins came with us wherever we went. We transacted with them, and often hid the excess from prying eyes. With these coins in our pockets, we invested in hopes of higher returns, and acquired things, re-positioning our place in society. Golden shiny and round, we kept them close to our bodies, held them in our hands, keeping them hot. In turn, these round pieces brought riches, and resources. In this way, coins mirror the cups, the more the merrier.

Image by katkaZV from Pixabay, Halic Castle.

A notable aspect of the coins suit is that they embody the potency they disseminate through the holder (the person that has many coins) and those that this person comes into contact with. In other words, the suit embodies both what we do with the coins, how we use them, and how they affect and effect our lives. To have many coins is to hold the potential to gain or take possession of. The weight of influence. Navigating in a sea of desires, we hone the ability to discern how much of these desires we are able to grasp, and how far we are able to go, it is in this milieu that we arrive at the weight of influence. We shift our material influence over the world around us in relation to the resources we hold in our hands. How much influence you or I carry depends largely on how much coin we each carry.

Some of the more subtle elements of the suit are comforts, luxuries, bookkeeping and accounting. It is good to note that this suit also denotes analytical articulations, deductions, and mercurial thinking.

The Spanish Tarot published by Heraclio Fournier, Spain.

One is a plate of opportunity, a chance at turning luck into profit or favor. Two is giving definite form to opportunity, by contract or agreement. Three is progression through the investment of time and resources. Working towards a goal with the aid of astute calculation. Four is building the funds. As always, fours denote what is foundational. Here we find that the weight of influence is established over matters. Moreover, a coat of arms is at the center of the four coins, the base upon which legacy is built. Five is a returning to our body, indulging in luxuries and what we covet. Five of coins holds the question of desire, what we want and how we can get it. Aspirations, fancies and indulgence reign.

The Spanish Tarot published by Heraclio Fournier, Spain.

The Six is when the flow of opportunity given, opens outward into different and varying routes, or paths. A good omen. Expansion and movement. Seven, as with all sevens, has us stuck, a plateau has been reached, an interruption perhaps, the entrepreneurial spirit is momentarily quelled. Division and strain divert cohesion.

Eight is reorganization. All the eight coins in perfect lines, equidistant and in equilibrium. After the pause, we reorganize, re-frame, and then keep going. Outside help and input is brought to bear here, fresh eyes to see what there is to see and where the potential for growth can be found. How much coin is available, and what can be achieved with this? Nine is fruitful, as the work put in in the previous phase generates its due promise. Ten is the culmination of all the work. Or it could just be a lot. There are many coins here, many spinning golden spheres. Fortune, and tangible prosperity.

All this talk of resources and money glosses over the details. These golden disks are more cunning than they let on. Fiery, mercurial and quick, like money, slippery if handled unwisely. It can be the cause of headaches and pain if avarice seizes the heart, or greed grips the fingertips. Coins are held close, and also exchange hands. Alluding to a cold (not close to the heart) and calculating fire, shrewd. We discern the value of a thing and how much in value translates into how many of coins.

A market, image by Chris Spencer-Payne from Pixabay.

I take my jangling bag of coins to the market and enter into the fray, holding the coin bag close to my body and piercing with my eyes into the value of things. Here I arrive at the crux of the coins. In essence, the suit elaborates on the material value of things vis à vis our desires. What we want, what we can get, and where within this tension we situate the value.

Mirror, mirror, which Trump do I see reflected in the suit of coins?

Sly and cunning, le bateleur skillfully negotiates possibilities with onlookers, the curious, the lost, and the wandering. Le bateleur applies with razor sharp wit the right words and actions that persuade. A masterful artist of calculations and expressions. This very bateleur knows just the right points to hit, revealing only what is necessary for the moment, and nothing more.

Here we can take a look at one of the traditional depictions of this character:

Left: Tarot de Marseille Jean Dodal reproduced by J.C. Flornoy, editions le-tarot.com, France, 2009. Right: Tarot de Marseille Jean Noblet, reproduced by J.C. Flornoy, editions le-tarot.com, France 2014.

The crafty bateleur stands at the table, tools displayed, one hand raised and the other lowered and close to the body. This person clearly reveals only what gives weight to his/her influence over others. Colorfully dressed, with an overly large hat to tip down and veil the eyes when the situation demands it, and an expression that lets nothing pass unnoticed. Then there are other alternate depictions:

Left: Pointner Tarot, Ferd. Piatnik & Söhne Wein, 1974. Right: Fantarocco di Franco Anichini, published by Modiano, Italy.

However le bateleur is approached, this character cobbles for us worlds upon worlds of possibilities, pulling on desires and repositioning value accordingly. The suit of coins hold these same possibilities just there, at the beginning, will the bull’s eye of the Ace.

~~~

∆ If you’re catching this post series midway, Animating the Tarot Pips, the introduction along with a master list (with links) of the installments can be found here.

Animating The Tarot Pips by Natalia L Forty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at mistandether.wordpress.com
Of grief and love

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Musings

I’ve been silent for a while and I will now attempt to delve into the whys of my silence.

This has been a season of loss under overcast skies. One of walking a path overgrown with weeds and thickets, and I haven’t always had a machete handy to tame the way. As opposed to previous holidays, this one had a distinct Saturnine and constricting tone. And loss. Distilling my gains and losses.

While the suddenly hesitant sun hid behind clouds of rain, and grey skies, November became December, and I was weighed down by daily life, even as family demands typical of the holidays enlisted my attention. Adding to the mix that we were also amidst the process of moving. I navigated this landscape with a mixture of resistance and lethargy.

The peak of this gloomy descent arrived close to the eve of 2019, when I was informed that a very close friend, sister, and kindred, passed away. It felt like a clanging cymbal struck my heart, reverberating in ripples throughout. Needless to describe how this colored my transition into this new year. Loss, wrapped in the coverings of regret, sadness, and pain.

But, one continues and amends where possible. I frequently found myself shuffling the cards, searching for questions, and thinking about what do do with myself. I feel I’ve given this mourning both time and consideration, and now I’d like to indulge, just briefly, in showering my friend’s life, with fragrant rose petals in the wake of her passing.

She was a bright light, a beautiful poem, that wove itself in tendrils of wisdom. Of valiant heart, she was a well of love, compassion, and kindness. A true teacher and scholar, sagacious, patient, and inquisitive. Persisting with discipline and attention on that which fueled her passion and drove her onward. She was always an inspiration, and the first person I turned to for all my ideas and ramblings. I can only hope I was able to offer in return some of the immensity with which she showered me. In the years that I knew her, and the thousand upon thousand words we shared, she was, and continues to be, unparalleled. She has now become a bright star that shines upon other shores, and I cannot help but smile for she has become more than the sum of her self in life.

As I write these words, I think of love. Because one thing that has stayed with me throughout this ordeal is the recognition that love is what we have to hold us up together. Death is inevitable for all, it is assured and inescapable. But love, our connections with others, endures and often becomes the fuel which propels us onward, the fuel that ignites our mutual flourishing. Besides, life is fleeting, and the only certainty we have is the now. So as I look ahead, I’m reminded to keep my eyes trained on the now, to pay attention, to give love and compassion, to share and to continue writing. That even as I weave my story thinking of the future, I keep my eyes focused on the present, because that is the only certainty I have.

I hope as I close these reflections that my words serve to hearten us all as we keep going, moving, and doing.

Nearing the close of the month, I also hope to have finished editing the next Animating the Tarot Pips post, and sharing it with you all, and by next month my auguries will continue their monthly overviews.

I want to end with verses from a very remarkable hobbit, and they go as follows:

The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say. ⋅

The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet. ⋅

I invite you to visit the treasure trove that is my friend’s slice of the web: https://crowess.wordpress.com/

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, “A Long-expected Party”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, “Many Partings”
Bright candle in the dark

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Augury

I’m back again with this month’s augury. This one is extra something more, because as I am writing these words I’m considering for myself, the end of a decade and of a long and arduous year. Also, Jupiter just moved into Capricorn. All of his adds to the clanging bell quality of this transition point with the month of December. Nonetheless, let’s move forward with looking at the cards and staying with the moment.

Fantarocco di Franco Anichini, published by Modiano, Italy.

This is a month for seeing things as they are, for removing what is redundant, unneeded, and excessive. Stripping down to the core of what is important, what we want to carry with us moving forward. What is worthwhile for you and I? what is worthwhile for us? And I don’t mean worthwhile from a pragmatic point of view. I mean, those things, and facets of our lives that move each of us to invest time, effort, and devotion. There is also a particular spotlight in cultivating relationships with others that nourish these aspects in our lives, mutually. Forming bonds that cross over barriers to nourish each other and further our aims/goals/visions.

Fantarocco di Franco Anichini, published by Modiano, Italy.

The sun here shines a spotlight on our acts of reaching out, extending ourselves toward others in sympathy and camaraderie. There is a jovial quality to this but it is tempered by the spread in its totality, as if communicating to us that while we reach out in companionship to others, this should be in the spirit of sincerity. In other words, let us consider the people around us and how we each contribute to our mutual growth and well-being. Sometimes, there are areas of our lives where we put our passion and devotion that do not deserve our focus. This includes people and relationships. This is the month for looking into these affairs, surveying the lay of the land that envelops us, and pruning our external gardens.

~~~

I do hope that this month is one full of closeness, closeness with our selves, with our loved ones, and with the things that truly matter in our lives.
The Red Woman: an encounter

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Reviews

What follows is a book review through the lens of a poem.

Recently, well, a couple months back now, I received and devoured Scarlet Imprint’s summer publication, The Brazen Vessel†. It is a collection of essays that gathers 10 years of work from both Alkistis Dimech and Peter Grey, ranging from unpublished essays, to presentations. I am reviewing the standard paperback edition.

The book is a hefty tome coming in at 431 pages total. It has a two-fold softcover made of sturdy cardboard, with a card stock quality to it. The layout of the words and the pages are pleasing to the eyes with comfortably spaced font, and ample space around the text for notes. After each essay there is a bibliography of the works cited in the text, which I really appreciated since this makes it easy to refer back to when one is researching specific lines and trajectories beyond the essay itself. There are a total of 35 essays, with a couple lyrical works included in the mix. They are in general chronological order, from the early years of Scarlet Imprint onward. This allows the reader to witness the expansion, complexity, and growth of both Alkistis and Peter as practitioners of the craft and as artists. I was pleasantly surprised to find images as well, black and white, all contextualizing or elaborating on the text wherein they are embedded.

Moving on from the technicalities, The Brazen Vessel is a book meant to be experienced, to be savored, and pondered on. It is a disclosure on a living devotion. A book that birthed in me as a reader, feelings of euphoria, love, fascination, anger, inspiration, discomfort, ecstasy, and pleasure. Just as these feelings arose, so they de-materialized like mist. For the book is meant to be experienced fully in the moment, then retaken anew to allow for new revelations to arise to the surface. It meets the reader on equal ground, bearing its secret, reddened contents unashamed. What stayed with me throughout my experience of reading it, and has reached beyond the last page is how it has put my own practice into perspective. Namely, what does it mean for me to embody my work (Work) daily, to live it in the flesh? What does devotion and relationship (beyond the skin on skin relationship) mean to me and how does it take form in my life, in my living experience? How do I as a living body relate to the living animate place in which I practice my craft?

Sitting with these questions energized me in refreshing and enlivening ways. Some essays stood out more than others for myself, which I’m sure will change as I change over time, and with more re-reads. It is interesting to note that when I began reading the book, it was from a more reverent stance, fearful of marking it or dirtying the pages. Midway, I found myself incapable of resisting the urge to mark it up, to underline, and add my own comments and words to the pages. I began to carry it around, to let it sit with me in different places throughout my daily routines. It now has a subtle wine stain in a couple of the end pages, markings, and additional thoughts of my own. It has become a part of my experience.

The Brazen Vessel, published by Scarlet Imprint, 2018.

Needless to say I recommend the book, especially if you are magically inclined, a witch, a magician, etc. Admittedly, I’m biased as I purchased the book already having had a taste of Scarlet Imprint’s work. I got the book expecting to enjoy it, and I did, but I was also gifted more than enjoyment. In the end, the best way to encapsulate my encounter with the book is through an inspired poem I created while reading it.

The Red Woman

I am the bedecked red woman, cloaked in splendor, covered in jewels. Bright gifts of the dark womb of earth.

I am the old hag, bent and steady, that lives under the mountain’s shadow, the blood-drinker and the flesh-eater. My hair is knotted like the roots of an old tree, a tangle of defiance and rebellion.

I am the story keeper of mothers and grandmothers, of the sleeping matri-lineal lines.

I am youth unbounded, unbridled eroticism. The ecstasy of newfound contact. My skin is like silk, soft and supple to the touch. I thrive in the body, in movement and feeling, kinesthetic energy.

I am the librarian, guardian of books and container of words. Utterance. Verbose dexterity, mental acuity, and discernment are I. Standing ‘midst the written words of centuries, holding unbounded, unspoken more.

I am the raging armored warrior, thriving in bloodlust, wielding weapons of terror and violence.

I am the whispered stories, the unrecognized bodies, the caretakers, healers, makers, weavers, overflowing with love.

I am the sweet one, the bright one, shape-shifter, young one, wrinkled, timeless, old, dweller of wells, wanderer of forested paths, of the hearth, of the circle, tender one, ecstatic one, sensual, clean one, defiled one.

I am called by many names, inhabit many bodies, I am the mother line, the cauldron, unquenched fire, and the deep dark secrets of the land.

I am cavernous and moist, circuitous and winding.

I am she who stands outside and beyond the megalomaniac emanation on the throne. I spit on that steel throne and curse the boundaries of categorizations. I abhor that which disregards me in all my forms, I am kaleidoscope. A labyrinth of multi-valence.

I am she who grasps the bloody cup, and with trembling limbs straddles the lion.

I am the titillating topography of undulating valleys, and the rippling waves of the ocean breaking the stillness.

I am the deep and the night draped in the nocturnal chorus.

I am Temperance, but also Justice.

I am the poisoner and the deceitful one, the virility that engenders, and the creator that forms; the aleatory cycles of movement, song, and presence.

I am not done, but ever-becoming.

~~~

† Link will lead to a presentation by Alkisits on the launch of the book.

-The Brazen Vessel can be purchased here: Scarlet Imprint Publications.