This page here on WordPress is a vast compendium of a string of little essays crafted between mid-January to mid-February, 2011, and originally published serially in my Blogger site (without the accompanying images).
The Empress of the TARO
The Empress and The Emperor, the two Regals appearing in the early phase of the series (Atus III, IV), are, in a manner of speaking, the so-called ‘dichotomy’ between Nature and Human. The essential way to describe The Couple is that ‘She’ is That Which Happens, and ‘He’ is That Which Makes Happen.
In a certain traditionalized behavior with the ‘cards’, there are astrological symbol associations spread thru-out the ‘deck’. In the case of The Empress, she has the discrete association with the planet Venus.
When I describe the three ‘inner’ planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars, I choose to use the metaphors “Analytics, Aesthetics, and Athletics”. These reflect how those symbols coordinate with the Three Basic Functions of the Machine: Intellectual, Emotional, and Moving.
(By the way, The Emperor is associated with the symbol Aries, which is ‘ruled’ by the symbol Mars. But in incorporating the Astrological Symbol System into the structure of ‘the’ TARO, it was necessary, that ‘He’ is The Initiator of the Zodiacal Development Cycle.)
Why is ‘She’ associated with the symbol Venus?
a) “Venus” is ‘the Seductress’, the Allure of Something External. Your senses are grafted to a particular discreet event. The distraction from self is ‘pleasant’. (I think the emotional reaction has at its root, a sense of relaxation, even for a moment, from the otherwise ever-present sense of self-responsibility.)
b) “Venus” is ‘the Basic Aesthetic Behavior’ of the Machine. The satisfaction of that functional property is, at the root, the occurrence of so-called ‘Emotional Meaningfulness’.
There is something to how existential living can be described as both A Garden Of Delight and as A Prison Of Delusion. Yes, I’m well aware that the Goddess Maya is given those properties. ‘She’ is The Delightful Prison of External Events perpetually distracting Awareness ‘away from’ Self. This Panoramic Prison is so effective, because to Accept It (Belive In It) makes “Life” Easier. Self-Responsibility is eroded.
And the strange confusion between the Behavior of Self-Responsibility and the Emotional Function of the Machine, its Aesthetic Behavior, is that this Function is the ‘result’ of combining a discrete manifest-sentient-entity with the indiscrete Cosmic Process of “Enfolding” (which ‘General Relativity’ attempts to describe). The so-called Aesthetic Sensibility is entirely dependant on ‘external’ confluences. “Satisfaction” of this Function is, very basically, not ‘fullfill-able’ by Self. (Not yet considering TransPersonal Practices.)
That is why ‘the’ Model Agnostic Method is so insistent about the matter of Belief. The Practice of Belief derives initially from the Aesthetic Behavior of the Machine, AND THEN is “justified” by the Analytic Behavior of the Machine. The Practice of Belief is to Emotionally Accept as ‘certain’, either a Model provided by another (external), or a Model so-called ‘self-constructed’, or some strange admixture between those two extremes. “IT” feels ‘right’ — “and that’s good enough for me”.
What’s funny, is that if I attempt to walk thru a physical wall, then my fundamental ‘Belief Structure’ will definitely be ‘externally’ influenced — that simple; without philosophy, pontifications, and moralisms. And then I “justify” that Event into the Analytic Behavior of the Machine as “Not-Feel-Good”, whereby the Analytic Behavior coordinates with the Moving Behavior, to NOT reproduce said Movement.
There is a certain teaching about (so-called) ‘Free’ Will, Fate, and Accident, as a triad. The Realm of Accident, where Event(s)-Just-Happen, refers on the personal level to the comprehensive conditioning of “easing life” by simply letting events happen ‘within’ and ‘without’ (‘about’), Mechanically Reacting in definable, predictable, habitual methods. This Style of Living gives an ’emotional’ sense of “ease” — again, by “relief” from Self-Responsibility. There is no need for any ‘Conscious / Conscience’ Behavior, which requires some (if not all) practicing of so-called Self-Responsibility. Living in the Realm of Accident requires only a Minimal Level of Awareness — just enough to not critically collide, amidst all slight bumps and/or near-collisions.
In the Realm of Accident, of Event(s)-Just-Happen, there is No Effort. Atomic structures become, combine into Molecular structures, which then combine into Cellular structures, etc. — all without effort. Trees grow, clouds form, volcanoes erupt, without effort. (The “Effort” I refer to involves what can be called ‘deviation’ from What Just Happens.)
In the sequence of the TARO ‘trumps’, The Empress represents the Instruction to the Neophyte of one’s General Condition of Imprisonment in the Alluring Distraction of Ordinary Living — distracting one from ‘extraordinary doing’ (which requires ‘effort’ and ‘discomfort’) with the seductive sedative of ‘ease’ and ‘comfort’.
The Priestess (Atu II) can be considered the Initial Instruction to the Neophyte of the Principle of ‘Fate’. The Magus (Atu I) can be considered the Initial Instruction of the Potential of ‘Will’, a ‘promise’ of something beyond Ordinary Living, a potential of a New Way of Living. The Emperor represents the Second Instruction of the Potential of ‘Will’, the Specific Attitude of Escape from Imprisonment, by way of the Initial Desire to Make some Definite Effort to transcend ‘ordinary living’, to actually initiate some Extraordinary Doing (according to the Neophyte level).
The Priestess of the TARO
A classic comprehension of “Fate” has been trapped in mere dualistic contrast with so-called “Free Will” (which is also severely misconceived). When the student accepts that such simple dualism is conveyed by a polarity of so-called “Free Will” — which might be named Incident — in comparison with Accident (What Just Happens), then what is this concept of “Fate”?
Lets play with a set of primitive metaphors: as The Magus (Atu I) is the Needle which leads a Particular Thread into its place amidst A Tapestry, and The Empress (Atu III) is the actual Happening-Event of Weaving Thread(s) into A Tapestry, then consider The Priestess (Atu II) as the Confluent ‘Pattern’ which ‘surrounds, contains, and defines’ the combination of the Action(s) of the Needle and the Process of Weaving, whereby A Tapestry eventually manifests; and was — by a stretch of language — “pre-planned”.
Lets continue to play, with another set of primitive metaphors: the comprehensive condition of “Fate” in relation to any discrete manifest Entity-Event, is as a Line in relation to any specific Point ‘in’ that Line, as a Plane in relation to any specific Line ‘in’ that Plane, as a Solid in relation to any specific Plane ‘in’ that Solid, as a Space-Time Event Field in relation to any specific Moment ‘in’ that Momentum — etc., ad nauseum.
(I choke at using these sets of metaphors, but I acquiesce to their immediate convenience.)
The best portrait of The Priestess I’ve seen shows her casting forth a Net — rectilinear by default (classic associations), yet exhibiting simple curvature of the plane (implying spatial context). This is a decent beginner-level portrayal of The Goddess Of ALL (as The Magus is a beginner-level portrayal of The God Of Each). So much for primitive imagery. What becomes eventually confounding is when the Developing Adept is faced with what I call ‘The Multiverse’. The simplest way to describe the ‘fibres’ of this Net-Work is to say that at each moment in manifest-eventual existence, there are, not so-called ‘infinite possibilities’, but definitely X-possible tangents, many potential event-vectors, available. So-called “Fate” is the planting of those many potential event-vectors at that moment; and there is a definite selection of one of those many potentials at each moment. The selection at each moment occurs by either Accident or by so-called “Free Will” — most commonly by Accident (which is the terrible revelation to the Developing Adept).
“Fate” is commonly hallucinated as some ‘Certain Path’ (in the same simplistic manner as when so-called “Karma” is ‘translated’ with the cute novelty of “what goes around, comes around”, or “you get what you give”, or other similar childrens’ conceptual toys). This methodical mythography is based on our mundane addiction to predictability, to buffer the Fear of Uncertainty. “Fate” has nothing to do with so-called ‘Certainty’. The closest approximation to such a notion, is that “Fate” refines the otherwise overwhelming infinite possibilities of each moment, to merely many-yet-finite possibilities of each moment. Given any one definite manifest occurrence, there is a relatively definitive ‘web’ of event-vectors consonant with that manifestation — considerable as a kind of ‘homeostasis’ of the given Event-Field.
But what is most confusing to the Developing Adept, while assimilating this concept of “Fate” in concert with the process of the so-called Multiverse, is the awful ‘realization’ that at each moment, when a Definite Choice has been made (by either so-called “Free Will” or, more likely, by Accident) in one’s Definitive Universe, all the other options were enacted in Many Other Universes, each one definite for itself, invisible between each other — and yet all are transpersonally reflective-interactive with each other. The most apparent occurrences in-of One’s Universe are so-called ‘causal-linear’, but some sublime factors may be resonant to Parallel Universes derivative of a given moment.
Actually, the awful realization is not of The Multiverse and the implications thereof. The panorama of “Many-Me’s”, as voluminous the implication, brings me a certain sensation of “fulfillment” (if you will), whenever I may ‘trouble’ over what I may or may not have ‘done’ or ‘accomplished’ in my perceived life (my perceived Universe). The process-pattern of the so-called Multiverse ‘is’ the eventual actualization of All the possibilities ‘inherent’ with my existence-occurrence, for this my finite allotment of Volumn-Duration amidst the Space-Time Continuum — but this particular “Me”, writing this essay, only experiences a given portion of those possibilities consonant with this particular Apparent Manifesting Universe.
Rather, the awful realization is that, for bio-survival necessity of simplicity, we tend to ‘lock into’ an Universe of apparent causal-linear awareness, and to then reflect-remember only this particular event-vector, and never experience any of the other Universes. Those others can only, at best, be estimated (fantasized) in Imagination. And that is the other challenge.
The Priestess is associated with “delusion”, since ‘she’ touches the capacity to Imagination, and tickles the very notion that ‘there is a Process-Pattern, intimate to the individual’s life-path, but beyond personal control’; which common humans conceptually struggle with and then evoke the odd term “Fate”. That notion is “delusional” in that it is a desperate attempt to personalize “Fate”, to wring out of an essentially non-specific condition some derivation thereof, to justify the individual’s need to be of some value in “A Grand Plan” greater than the otherwise puny little self. Without this desperate “delusion” about personalizing “Fate”, the otherwise overwhelming evidence from genuine observation is that “Fate” doesn’t give a damn about any specific Part while conducting the concert of the comprehensive Whole.
The Magus is no less “delusional” with the Imagination that ‘he’ is some Needle definitely weaving a Thread into some Vast Tapestry that is dependent upon ‘his’ decisive action To Lead the Weave of ‘his’ Thread, which ‘he’ considers as an Integral Part of some transpersonal Matrix-Pattern, or “Grand Plan”; which common humans conceptually struggle with and then evoke the odd term “Free Will”.
The Magus and The Emperor of the TARO
It is all very well and fine to enter the trauma of Abandoning the Previous (Atu 0), but what is the succession? The Magus does not represent the lofty character so imagined in popular literature, because that popularized character is the portrait of someone who has done actual work and obtained some results. Atu I is a portrait of the Desire to Make Some Effort, by ‘seeing’ that there is some potential path, long before being exposed (taught) the various elements of that potential path. The image is rightly portrayed as ‘youthful’. There is only a sense of something that can be called a ‘direction’, a ‘tangent’ unique to the individual, but there is nothing yet of any definite Aim (which is introduced at Atu VI). This card is associated with the Astrological Symbol of Mercury, because at this stage the individual is only at best “A Messenger of the Gods”, sensing that s/he is merely some conduit of expressing something ‘beyond self’.
I bring both The Magus and The Emperor into this discussion because of their mutual indication regarding what is usually (mis)called “Free Will”, relative to The Priestess who is “Fate”, and The Empress who is “Accident”. Neither The Magus nor The Emperor portray so-called “Free Will”, which evolves much later in the Trump Sequence (in an odd manner). They are both still very much the String of Desires mis-identified with any consistent “Will”. The Magus portrays one precursor to “Will” by way of “the Will of Another”, which to the stumbling youth manifests as a rather random String of Desires with only a fleeting conception of ‘consistency’ — which is why he is wedded with “Fate”. The Emperor portrays another precursor to “Will” by way of a String of Desires which are at least tethered to some Definite Agenda, or at least the intent thereof — which is why he is wedded with “Accident”.
And in a strange twist of linguistics with these four figures, The Magus is rather as “Incident” relative to The Empress “Accident”, and The Emperor is rather as “Force” relative to The Priestess “Fate”.
The Emperor is still outside of any true “Will”-ful behavior, because he is still entrenched in the method of Habitual Behavior. The Empress portrays the entrenchment of the individual in Automatic Habitual Behaviors Reacting to the Happenings of Nature in general. The Emperor at least portrays the first evidence of “effort”, by creating a battery of Habitual Behaviors Reactive to the specifications of a Definite Agenda — which is rather a ‘disciplining’ of otherwise Automatic Reactive Habitual Behavior. This is truly a ‘first hope’ for the Evolving Magus.
For those curious about the trumps called The Hierophant and The Lovers, they are the bridge to the awful Adventure. The Hierophant is the Wisdom of Eld offered to the young upstart, to help him build the foundations of his new Empire; and The Lovers actually portray the Orientation of the young Emperor’s Arrow of Intent toward A Definite Aim.
The Hierophant and The Lovers of the TARO
The Hierophant is a rather ‘funny’ character, but he is at least identifiable as a ‘discrete entity’. The portrait of The Lovers, however, has been subject to some of the grossest misinterpretations (next to Atu XX, usually called “The Last Judgement”, which is not an inappropriate title, but has been even more grossly misinterpreted).
The Hierophant is a composite of what can be called “The Sagacity of The Elders”. Now, there is a confusion of legends, but basically there is a general pattern of distinguishing between the so-called Ancients and the so-called Elders. (Different cultures have given differing tags to these two classes of entity.) The general theme is that The Ancients preceded The Elders, and that The Elders ‘defeated’ (de-feet-ed) The Ancients. Put simply, the ‘Rule’ of The Ancients is represented with The Empress, and the ‘Rule’ of The Elders is represented with The Emperor. The Hierophant represents the Legacy of what was learned when The Elders ‘defeated’ The Ancients, and the tactics by which The Elder Class keeps The Ancient Class at bay. (I comprehend that this is a difficult pill to swallow.)
There was a fascinating story given the late-20th-century, early-21st-century human populace called “The Matrix”. In this story, the symbolic equivalents of The Ancients (the Machine World) followed the equivalents of The Elders (the Human World). Using this vast metaphor, the Machine World is portrayed by The Empress, where humans are unknowingly tethered to a control-network, to use their personal energy to power a system beyond their personal self. The Emperor represents the individual who suspects that there is an avenue beyond some strange suspicion of ‘life beyond this surrounding pattern’, and suspects that there is a way to transcend that ‘limitation’; but – damn it! – that individual doesn’t quite ‘know’ how. The Hierophant is one of those who were unplugged from “The Matrix”, knows what it is like to be unplugged, and is searching for those ready to be unplugged, and has the keys to help those others to become unplugged. The Hierophant bears the ‘knowledge’ whereby The Emperor can Unplug from “The Matrix”, and thus form ‘his’ Empire separate from the empire of “The Matrix”.
The best way to comprehend the portrait of The Lovers is to first comprehend the Hemespheric Nature of the so-called Complex Brain. There are Two Entities poised in what is classically observed as ‘a marriage’, with a Third Entity between them. That ‘Third Entity’ is definitely poised between the apparent Separate Two. In the better renderings of this portrait, this Third Entity has some iconograph of An Arrow set in A Definite Aim. This image still appears rather obscure until one sees a real portrait of Atu VIII, which is commonly mis-titled “Justice”, and is better titled “Adjustment”. The best primitive metaphor is of the Magnetic Needle. You cannot force that needle to point any other way than the magnetic orientation. So ‘the wizards’ need to set the ‘magnetic field’ so that the needle orients in the given direction. This is how the young candidate to The Alternate Life is ‘dependant’ upon the Wisdom of the Preceding Escapees. The Hierophant is the embodiment of A Figurehead who ‘knows’ how to change the field so that the needle of the young Initiate is Oriented Proper.
The Chariot and (the) Adjustment of the TARO
These are the first portraits of The Somatic Vehicle and of The Psychetic Vehicle. One must consider that at the time of the original crafting of the TARO series, the two facets were separately portrayed. It is now more common to consider the composite PsycheSomatic Vehicle. These two images are considerably the first direct portrayal of the PsycheSomatic Vehicle, preceding the formal working.
The image of The Chariot has a rather interesting interpretation attached to it. Of course the vehicle itself is The Body, and the Charioteer is of course The Pilot. The odd teaching is that The Beasts ‘pulling’ the chariot are considered the Emotional component, and The Reigns Harnessing the beasts are considered the Mental component. So in the primitive portrayal, the so-called Pilot is considered “The Self”. In the instruction, it is told that The Pilot is usually called the so-called “Will”, but it is also taught that this so-called “Will” is, at this stage, no more than a series of ‘willy-nilly’ Desires, hallucinated as a ‘consistent Will’. The most entertaining part of the mythography is that The Pilot imagines ‘control’ of the reigns, while rather the Reigned Beasts control the reigns. This is a disturbing revelation to the Evolving Magus. The common person much rather believes that “The Pilot” is “in control”, and finds this lesson so offensive to the delusion of “self-efficiency” — but this is the terrible slap-in-the-face that the Evolving Magus must face. In the best ‘occult’ portrayal of this image, the Harnessed Beasts are not definite animals (usually horses), but are four-by-four amalgams. And better yet, the Harness rather appears as a Steering Wheel, which is rather a spiral radiating from ‘the belly’ of The Pilot. This is a direct symbolism of the very Visceral Nature of this portrait.
The trump usually called “Justice”, and better called “Adjustment“, is a beautiful portrait of the Basic Psychetic Vehicle. But this image only makes sense when you cognize The Central Needle. This is the very Orienting Device. In the classic images, the pans of the scale were emphasized, and the sword was some side-side novelty. Here was a great deception. The pans of the scale are rather the side-players in the drama. In Atu VI there is an indication of an Orientation of an Aim. In Atu VIII, there is the direct presentation of that Orienter. This is how the Evolving Magus cognizes What Has Been Oriented. In this particular case, notice that she holds the point of the sword downward. This is a direct indicator of the very nature of this portrait; it is a very indicator of the ‘terrestrial’ nature of this portrayal of The Psychetic Form.
The Hermit and (the) Fortune of the TARO
There are two basic dynamics to consider here: The Vortex and The Torrent.
Classic consideration speaks of some “inward” and some “outward” spiraling. What is rather described by these two portraits is of An “Enfolding” and An “Unfolding”. These basic dynamics of ‘the universe’ were described by the classic Chinese phrases of Yin and Yang.
I’m going to attempt a strange description, and I hope it makes sense. If I get the very essence of so-called General Relativity, as described by the ‘master crafter’ himself: then if someone is in a vehicle, and it decelerates and they ‘fall forward’, or if the vehicle accelerates, and they ‘fall backward’, then is it unreasonable to ask if some “gravitational field” is not generated in those circumstances? That was rather brilliant. So then, there is the general consideration of a so-called “gravitational field” Enfolding into the ‘centralization’ of a massive object. Is this “gravitational field” not a Vortex? And is such a “gravitational” Vortex not pulling ‘energy’ into a ‘centralized’ condition?
And then I’ll push the metaphor even further: if such ‘energy’ is forced by a “gravitational” Vortex into such ‘centralization’, would not its ‘natural reaction’ be to “explode” from said ‘centralization’? Such a process would be utterly consistent with “cause-and-effect” dynamics of what we perceive in this Happenstance ‘Reality’.
But what is this Enfolding and Unfolding of so-called ‘energy’? This is the tricky question. And the strange mystery is that The Enfolding portrayed by The Hermit is related to the mystery of The Magus, and The Unfolding portrayed by Fortune is related to the mystery of The Priestess.
When the TARO was crafted, there was still an imagination of some Central Essence, which the classic Hindu method was to call it “Atman”. The central devastating message by ‘The Buddha’ was to tell his fellows that ‘the Atman’ did not exist. That was the essence of “Anatman”. That message shattered their ‘reality’, and all they thought they longed to find. In a round-about way, ‘The Nazarene’ attempted to describe the same profound, devastating revelation when he attempted to describe The Formula of Love — but it didn’t quite translate in the same way. Then various perverts proceeded to use the metaphor of The Christos, and hoisted that myth of some Central Essence back into prominence, despite ‘The Nazarene’s effort.
Given this apparent confusion: What Is This Central Essence portrayed by The Hermit image? Even though it is not some ‘thing’ that is so-called ‘real’, “it” has a definite affect upon the surrounding conditions. This situation can scramble the poor ‘brain’ of the Evolving Magus, since it does seem that s/he is rather the hub of a round of relatively repeating events. I suspect that when ‘The Buddha’ spoke of The Samsara, a transpersonal rounding of repetitions, that it has no relation to the pseudo-philosophers’ comprehension of “reincarnation”.
Because of the nature of our thinking process, it can be said that there are “two” fundamental distractions of our awareness. The most obvious is the various distractions surrounding us. And the most distracting are those events which we get used to by repetition, and become matter-of-fact and ‘ordinary’, so their distractive property is rather insidious. Our perception is highly dependant upon event-repetition. Our senses depend upon repetition for their very functioning. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, are learned in order to be useful in our sensory experience of the surrounding world. The other insidious distraction is the sensations of what is ‘going on “inside” of our self’. That class of distraction is also due to repetition. Both of these classes of distraction, which are rather one comprehensive distraction, compose the Dreamscape which keeps us Asleep. The nature of this Sleep is that events are ‘learned’ to be predictable, because we hone our awareness to an ‘ordinary’; and that sense of ‘ordinary, predictable’ brings a soothing comfort. Any event which is “strange”, outside of “the prediction”, tends to be discomforting to the perceiving entity who has ‘fallen’ into the Sleep of The Ordinary.
Lust and The Hanged Man of the TARO
Desire is rather a ‘willy-nilly’ property. It is a momentary satisfaction, so to speak. We bounce from desire-to-desire, and imagine this to be some consistent “Will”. Then there is a property we may call A Passion. Lets call this some Overwhelming Desire which transcends the moment-to-moment process.
I’m not going to make any lengthy comment on what is called The Body of Desire, a name used for a property of the Emotional Function (in comparison to what is called The Body of Light, a name used for a property of the Intellectual Function which is commonly called the Astral Body). But this so-called Desire Body is the basis for the continuity of a Passion.
So, The Emperor evokes some Desire To Make Happen. Then The Hierophant teaches The Emperor How To Make Happen, and then the Young Candidate is armed with an Arrow of Aim. Then s/he is taught the “secret” of The Chariot, of Adjustment, of The Hermit, and of Fortune. Armed with these basic tools, the Evolving Magus must find in hirself The Passion to use these provided tools, and Do Work.
Then the Candidate passionately attaches hir own Body to the Frame-Pattern of a Program constituting The Great Work of an Adept. There are many parallels to this legend: Odin crucifying himself on the World-Tree Yggdrassil and thereby ‘discovering’ the Nordic Runes (an obvious favorite of mine); ‘The Nazarene’ willingly allowing the Romans to crucify him, taking on the role of The Sacrificial Lamb, and the act is called The Passion; ‘The Buddha’ setting himself immovable at the Boddhi Tree until his Hit with Nirvana, which utterly abolished the conventional notions of “enlightenment”. In each of those examples, there was that initial ‘sacrifice’ of the individual to “something greater”. And in each case, the Candidate Passionately gave up “self” to The Greater Working; and this only appears as some “Sacrifice of Self” to outside observers.
Referring to the story called “The Matrix”, when Morpheus offers the option of either The Blue Pill or The Red Pill, it was a very Lust-Passion to “know the truth” that swayed Neo to choose The Red Pill, cognizing that the choice would utterly change his future — but he had no clue as to how his life would change, and could not have any genuine preconception of that change. And only after he made that choice did the Awful Truth become revealed, that he was Bound to a system surrounding him that had kept him Asleep in a Dreamscape of Deception that ‘told’ him he was ‘awake and freely functioning’. He was made aware that he was in fact ‘crucified’ upon an Artificial Pattern, that was stealing his personal energy for a purpose that had no relation to his personal ‘evolution’.
By the way, Morpheus is the equivalent to The Hierophant, one who has already escaped the prison, and then periodically sneaks back into the prison to provide the ‘key’ to help other prisoners escape as well. Similarly, the Buddhist Boddhisatva rejects the permanent liberation of Nirvana, ‘falling’ back into the body-prison, until all others have achieved Nirvana as well.
The most difficult revelation is that Awakening is Against Nature. It is better for The Accidental Realm of “Just Happens” that we remain Asleep, and continue to Mechanically React to our Surroundings; so that we continue to be merely a component of What Just Happens.
Death and Art of the TARO
Atu 14 has been conventionally titled “Temperance”. Crowley renamed this card “Art” when he designed his Tarot Deck.
Again referring to the story called “The Matrix”: when Neo awakens from his up-to-then life-long Sleep in the Dreamscape Deception, all of his connections to the system were ripped from his body, and he was cast out of (stripped of) his protective pod and into the sewer-pit. He was ‘trashed’ by The Matrix because he was of no more use to ‘them’. He was quite literally Dead to the system.
At the initial Abandonment of the Previous (Atu 0), the Candidate is still rather clothed in hir ‘natural form’. The Death card portrays a second phase of the Abandonment of the Previous, much more severe you might say. The Evolving Magus is now completely “dead” to what s/he “was” — not only to the surrounding audience of hir “was-ness”, but also according to hir own conception of hir “was-ness”. The surrounding ‘flesh’ is now a ‘rotting corpse’, and is wantonly Stripped Off by the Adept, leaving only the most Essential ‘bare-bones’ Structure of hir “Is-ness”.
In comparison to the Utter Stripping portrayed in Atu XIII, Atu XIV portrays a Re-Clothing. Now, there is rather some interesting legends attached to this phase, and they (unfortunately) reek of ‘occultism’. Crowley used the metaphor of “Knowledge and Conversation with one’s Holy Guardian Angel”. (He comprehended the absurdity of that phrase, yet he also testified that the absurdity had a kind of tactical value to it.) Others used a similar metaphor of the “Descent of the Higher Genius unto the Initiate”, or some similar language.
Let’s again refer to “The Matrix” story: when Neo is rescued from the sewer-pit by The Awakened Ones, the first thing they do some stimulative BodyWork, since his musculature and sensory apparati were utterly atrophied from complete non-use. Then they loaded his PsycheSomatic Machine with various Programs to make him ExtraOrdinary beyond his previous Ordinary State of Being. He was very much ‘Re-Clothed’ after being ‘stripped’ from his previous shell. This facet of the story is a fine ‘non-occult’ metaphor.
There is something else to consider in this matter of the Re-Clothing. There is a certain cafe-style speak of “Stilling The Mind” associated with the so-called ‘higher’ yogic method. It is best for the student who wants any description of such to examine Crowley’s “Book Four – Part 1”, and his later, more cynical lectures called “Yoga for Yahoos” and “Yoga for Yellowbellies”, to get the testimony of someone who actually did such working. But otherwise the common practitioner can get rather frustrated with not achieving this mythic state. There is an alternate method of describing this “Stilling of The Mind” also called “Stopping Thought”.
Gurdjieff was quite correct in accusing the Common Machine of not fully Perceiving What Is of the Here-Now. He tirelessly explained the Blockade produced by Imagination. While the eyes ‘see’ and the ears ‘hear’ the various incoming signals generated by the surroundings, Imagination(s) are also capitalizing on the energy-reserve of “awareness”. Thus the very simple Process of Perception is robbed of the full potential capacity of functionality. If the ghosts of Imagination(s) of “things not actually there” are suspended, even for a brief moment, the Process of Perception is allowed full access to the energy-reserve. Now the eyes ‘see’ more light-signals, and the ears ‘hear’ more sound-waves. This is truly the most interesting sensation, after having been trapped in the prison of letting Imagination(s) capitalize on the energy-reserves. Sensory experience, simple itself, becomes more ‘vivid’ — and you don’t need psychedelics to experience this.
The usual cute little sound-bite is “Change Your Mind”. I would rather say that the cute little sound-bite should be “Change Your Method”.
The Five Preceding Epochs of the TARO
Atu XV “The Devil“: Pantheism/Paganism
Atu XVI “The Tower“: Monotheism
Atu XVII “The Star“: Stellarism — Star Deification
Atu XVIII “The Moon“: Lunarism — Moon Deification
Atu XIX “The Sun“: Solarism — Sun Deification
It should be pointed out that in Crowley’s design of the cards, Atu XV is very obviously the penis entering the vagina, and then by relation, Atu XVI is very obviously the act of ejaculation. By further relation, what’s not as obvious is that Atu XVII portrays the Sperm Approaching the Ovum. From there, Atu XVIII is The Gestation Period, and Atu XIX is The Birth.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I’ll go on with my rant.
Atu XV: “The Beautiful World Surrounding Us”
Soon after the Hybrid Slave-Class was abandoned on this planet-island, the earliest Human Ground-Dwellers grew increasingly fascinated with the Inherent Life-Forms indigenous to their surrounding prison. There was a latent memory of their trans-terrestrial origin, and a kind of “deification”-mentality seems to have arisen. The fascination with the Indigenous Life-Forms got ‘confused’ with this tendency to “deification”. That is rather a cynical portrayal. It may be better to say that a ‘respect’ for Life by these Abandoned Ones arose. Nevertheless, there was an apparent “deification” of the Indigenous Life-Forms of this Planet by the Abandoned Ones; and it has been “honored” as a metaphor of Respect For Life. So-called ‘evolved’ Humans much after this epoch have accused these Early Humans of ‘Deifying’ Natural Phenomena.
A further facet of this epoch was the visceral discovery of a certain “ecstasy” ‘in’ what is otherwise a basic procreative biologic. This definitely lended to the “deification” tendency: there was now some hint to Escape From The Prison.
Atu XVI: “The Angry God(s) From Above”
Sometimes the elements of this planet-prison generate the phenomenon of what we call Lightning-Thunder. The Thunderous Sound is so comprehensive, that the ground-dwellers with ears-to-hear can’t quite discern a ‘direction’, so it is perceived as if “all about”. The ground-dwellers with eyes-to see generally perceive a Flash of Discrete Fire which occurs ‘from the sky to the ground’. (Yes, sometimes this Flash of Fire moves somewhat ‘across’ the sky, but to the ground-dwellers it still appears to ‘come from above’.) Now, this was enough to generate an impression which the ground-dwellers could easily interpret as “A Fire-Force From Above”. Given the devastation of Fire that can happen upon the very ground-level of living, this must have had a ‘devastating’ impression. What was the change of cognition, was that there was the perception of the ‘direction’ of this phenomenon, and then the resultant Imagination(s).
But there was another phenomenon associated with such events. The very Objects of Nature, which were revered with dignification, could be Blasted to Oblivion by such Fire-Flashes from the sky. Now there was the Destruction, the ‘Death’ of the Dignified Object by this Fire-Flash From Above. In the habit of the ground-dwellers to Deify Natural Phenomena, this type of event took on a definite quality. The usual perception of one life-form killing another life-form had the appearance of “anger” from the killer to the killed.
It was only much later that ‘The Sages’ decided to use this metaphor to describe The Destruction of The Temple by “The Fire From Above” (or rather, ‘from “Beyond”‘). The strange quirk in this metaphor was described by Crowley as “Enflame Thyself In Prayer”.
Atu XVII: “The Visitors From The Stars”
So the Abandoned Ones have a legacy of looking to the stars for their ‘ancestry’. Plus there is the gravitational factor of the planet-prison, so of course the Starry Night Sky would be associated with some vaguely comprehended AntiGravitational factor.
It is said that The Star portrayed in the card is that of Sirius. I am relatively acquainted with various metaphors regarding an Intimate Connection To Sirius — much of which has no relation to conventional conceptions of so-called ‘extraterrestrial craft’. All that is not as ‘important’ as seeing that Sirius (one of the brightest stars, by the way) is right next to a Constellation of Stars which Describe a Pattern which was immediately deciphered by even the earliest star-gazers. The Constellation “Orion” describes an Image of A Man, and its configuration tends that Image to appear as if Running or Jumping Unto The Night Sky, to the very Stars, of which ‘he’ himself is composed. ‘He’ is the very portrait of an AntiGravitational Man — and further then, the very portrait of the Prison Break.
But then there is the other factor that we Terrestrials get ‘visited’ by extraterrestrials. So any evidence that we Terrestrial Prisoners are ‘impossibly trapped’ is utterly out-the-window. (I will not get into how some ‘extraterrestrial’ life-form(s) are also trapped into their Tunnel Reality.)
And then, the so-called Modern Human has actually achieved Putting People Into Space. Technically, it means putting them Outside A Gravity Well, or at least unto the weakest periphery to such a Field. There have been some fascinating findings about how The Human Body adapts to Extraterrestrial Living. Similar Alterations have been found in those humans who experiment with psychedelics.
Atu XVIII: “Oh Shit, Where Am I?”
I’m not going to bother with all the nuances of The Lunar Cults.
What’s ‘important’ is what may be called The Mystery Factor.
During the ‘New Moon’ phase, nothing at night is observable, the sense of sight is wiped out. Under those conditions, you are forced to ‘magnify’ the other senses. There are many humans born with a loss of one sensory apparatus; they are born to immediately magnify the other sensory apparati. Some lose one sensory apparatus during the ‘living thing’, and have a somewhat harder learning curve on ‘magnifying’ the other sensory apparati. Now to the Extreme: if you lost all sensory input whatsoever, how do you think you might react?
Even with the ‘Full Moon’ phase, the environment appears very different from its Sunlit phase. Now this is only an alteration, but the mind projects a model that This Is An Alteration.
What is happening, is generally there is an Enforced Alteration from what is imagined as some Ordinary Generality, or Predictability.
One of the best metaphors for this stage is called “The Abyss”. My personal experience is best described as Complete Divorce From Any Preconception(s), and Complete Incapacity To Formulate Patterning. “Everything was utter nonsense, and there was no hope of ‘reconstructing’.” Then, after passing perpendicular to an ‘electric-blue grid’ that spanned infinitely horizontal, there was the ‘sensation’ of a Comprehensive Sea.
In such an “abysmal” state you have to ‘give-up’ all that you “knew” you were. If you do not — well I have heard the legends. But if you do — well all the legends tell me I was rather ‘successful’.
Atu XIX: “Holy Shit, Hear I Am!”
I’m not going to bother with all the nuances of The Solar Cults.
I will continue with my personal experience: when the ‘sensation’ of a Comprehensive Sea arose, at least the Utter Terror of “The Abyss” was gone, but any Sense of Self was still absent. Then I got a sense that there was a very, very little “boat” (a veritable ‘dust-speck’) floating amidst the Vast Sea. I remember as if “moving toward” – or rather “honing in” – this “boat”. Once I “boarded” this “boat”, a certain Sense of Self returned: I was ‘both’ The Center Of All and also merely an insignificant speck in the Vast Sea.
Think of The Sun portrayed in this card as the so-called Fuel-Source for the SpaceTime Vessel that the Evolving Magus is inheriting. This is rather a portrait of “The Christos” — and for the literalists who insist on the translation “Anointing”, that is not incorrect, as well.
It is the Blazing Glory of Birth unto being Yet Another Star of Cosmos, but without the “Its All About You” factor. There is a Nexus of Countless Energy Vectors. This card ‘reeks’ of Astrology: but unlike the conventional interpretation that the Zodiacal Signs are as Colored Glass to the Light of The Sun, rather think of the Zodiacal Symbols as tendencies of the Energy-Vectors mutually intersecting to form the Nexus of The Sun. The Method of Astrology as we ‘know’ it works just fine with Us Imprisoned On This Planet. This is how Our Own Star is ‘formed’ here in this prison, with these tendencies.
The Pilot and The Navigator of the TARO
I have taken it upon myself to rename these last two Trumps of the Series. Atu XX has been classically titled “The Last Judgement” or more simply “Judgement” — and then Crowley gave it the title “The Aeon”. Atu XXI has been consistently titled “The Universe”, or alternately “The World”.
There is a classic mythograph that so-called “Spiritual” Evolution of The Self (that is key), involves the so-called Mind (somehow ‘separate’ from the body). Gurdjieff was right on the money when he emphasized that The Great Work is definitely Body-Related. There is plenty of evidence of that ‘knowledge’ preceding him.
The Pilot MUST ‘know’ how to Pilot The Ship. This requires that you ‘know’ how Your Body will Pilot the Surrounding Ship. The Great Work is rather the Training of the Body to become the most efficient Pilot of the New Surrounding Ship.
Crowley’s version of the card — yes, I ‘know’ that it shows a developing fetus — shows A Schematic of the Structure of The Ship, or rather The Vessel that Is Piloted. It is almost quite incorrect to say that this is “A New Vessel” — except that it is ‘new’ to the otherwise ignorant. At this stage in the series of Trumps, the Evolving Magus is made aware to this Space-Time Ship, but also comprehends why it is not ‘seen’ by those who are still Asleep.
The ‘walls’ of the Vessel are of the Very Body Of The Goddess. The God, set at the feet of The Pilot, is like a ‘contact ring’ which attaches the Vessel to the SpaceTime Tether Unique to the Individual Occupant of the SpaceTime Continuum.
In even the ‘classical’ renderings of Atu XXI there is at least a hint of the figure called “Vesica Piscis” framing the portrait. (In geometry: the intersection area of two non-coincident circles overlapping.) What I find humorous is that if you can recall “being born”, pushing through the vaginal cavity, and being there at the moment when the vaginal lips open up for you, and — BAM — There’s The Outer World!
I call Atu XXI “The Navigator” because I see this card as the very portrait of The Window Of Navigation for the Piloted Ship.
The portrayal of the beautiful young woman dancing with the snake, despite all kinds of ‘occult’ interpretation, is simply an Icon of Fascination & Undulation.
The Four “Suites” of the TARO 
There is much made of ‘the meaning’ of each of the Four Elements. What is entirely missed is that The Suite of Wands is rather the ‘very architecture’ to then comprehend the other Suites. Using the Wand cards in a reading is rather problematic.
Gurdjieff easily spoke of “The Emotional Function”, “The Intellectual Function”, and “The Moving Function”; and was quite correct to place emphasis on Observation of those Three Discrete Functions of The Human Machine. And it is quite able to read the Cups, Swords, and Discs with such a model.
What is rather baffling is that he attempted to explain a fourth “Instinctual Function”, and there might be an attempt by the ‘Tarot Freaks’ to somehow associate The Wand Cards to that function of The Machine. There is some basis for that practice, but attempting to equate The Wand Cards with The Instinctual Function opens up a “can of worms” that some might not want to wander into. The Instinctive Function is intimately tied to the Very Biology of The Machine. The Wand Cards are intimately tied to the Geometry of the other Suites. There is no direct association of The Wand Cards with The Instinctive Function of The Machine; unlike some ‘direct associations’ of the other Functions of The Machine with the other Suites of the TARO.
The Suite of Cups easily maps The Emotional Function. The Suite of Swords easily maps The Intellectual Function. And with some observation, The Suite of Discs easily maps The Moving Function. The Moving Function of The Machine is entirely based on Acquired Habits of Behavior of Movement of The Machine with its Surrounding Environment. The fascinating property of these Three Functions of The Machine, are that they are entirely Acquired.
The Instinctive Function is entirely Inherent to The Machine.
The Suite of Discs intrinsically portrays various ‘inherent’ properties of The Physical Plane. They can be translated to properties of The Moving Function by association. In a reading, it is quite often advantageous to begin with the ‘inherent’ Physical Plane reference, and then decipher the Moving Function equivalent during the interview. Sometimes the Moving Function equivalent can be ‘obvious’ in the card’s relative placement in a complex spread.
In another sense, the Suite of Wands also intrinsically portrays the same various ‘inherent’ properties of The Physical Plane. The student of TARO would benefit greatly by placing the Number Cards of The Wands and The Discs side-by-side in a “Study Spread”, and see the parallels. For example, The Eight Wands portrays the very nature of ‘The Electron’ of Atomic Structure, and The Eight Discs portrays ‘The Octave Property’ of ‘Electron Behavior’ of Atomic Structuring. The Seven Wands portrays the ‘congealment’ of Energy into a Mass-ive State, and the Seven Discs is the very portrait of ‘The Property of Inertia’. The Six Wands portrays a definite Matrix Field of various Intersecting Force-Vectors, and The Six Discs is the very portrait of Atomic Structure.
Dealing with the Court Cards of each Suite, is best left to the simple parameters of ‘The Spirit’, ‘The Soul’, ‘The Mind’, and ‘The Body’, if you will. (I rather choke at saying this.) Keep in mind, when dealing with The Crowley Deck, he changed the ‘family structure’ from the perversion of the medieval decks. The Knight is not merely some servile to the King, but is the very Defender of The Realm, the ‘Father’ and Husband to The Queen. The ‘King’ has been replaced with the ‘Prince’, and ‘he’ is merely “the Secretary of State” or rather “the City Planner” if you will. “The Page” as the simple servile to The Knight, was change into The Princess of The Kingdom, but is no less a simple servile.But she is the very line-of-inheritance of The Kingdom.
In the simplest terms: The Knight is ‘The Dynamism’, The Queen is ‘The Centralism’, The Prince is ‘The Coordination’, and The Princess is ‘The Foundation’.
I have seen some of the stupidest interpretations of The Court Cards. With initial interpretation of The Cup Queen, you need not go beyond “The Reflectivity of Water” until you get in-depth in the interview with the reading client. The Wand Knight is a simple portrait of “The Force of Fire” or “A Conflagration”. The Disc Prince is clearly a portrait of “A Physical Architect”, and then the ‘reason’ it occurs in the reading is revealed during the interview.
The Mystery of the Two and Three of the TARO
First of all, before dealing with the 2’s and 3’s, lets touch on the 1’s, the so-called “Aces“. In my deck of cards, I have isolated Atu 0 and The Aces from occurring in any reading. I use a certain complex spread where I use Atu 0 and The Aces as “anchor points” in the spread of the cards. Atu 0 and The Aces are relatively ‘useless’ in a reading of the cards. The Aces portray the “summit” of their respective ‘element’, in the same way as Atu 0 portrays the “summit” of the Trump Series. The “Ideal” of The Aces is ‘untouchable’ within the parameter of ‘common living’. But the 2’s and 3’s can have some affect.
However, the 2’s and 3’s touch on properties which push the parameters of “ordinary living”. It requires a rather ‘unordinary mind’ to comprehend the 2’s and 3’s of each Suite. The 2’s are rather not so difficult, but to appreciate their full value, the corresponding 3’s must be comprehended, and they are not so ‘easy’. For instance, The Two Discs simply portrays a fundamental Symmetry between two ‘separate’ particles, but then The Three Discs portrays the fundamental transphysical ‘geometry’ which defines such symmetry. The Two Wands clearly portrays a discrete Nexus of Energy-Vectors, and then The Three Wands merely implies an ‘extension’ of that Nexus of Energy unto some “Time-Vector”. The Two Swords portrays the very Neural Interaction, and The Three Swords portrays the Colloidal Gel which surrounds and contains The Neural Network, and ‘contains’ the ‘Memory’ of Neural Interactions. And to really push the conceptual parameter, The Two Cups is titled “Love“, the bonding of Two Discretes unto One Similitude, and then The Three Cups is titled “Abundance“, the bonding of Many Discretes unto One Similitude.
To use a simple metaphor, for ease of decipher, consider the 2’s as referring to very-very ‘microscopic’ phenomenon, and the 3’s as referring to very-very ‘macroscopic’ phenomena, relative to the human observer. In ‘occult’ terminology, the 2’s are related to The God, and the 3’s are related to The Goddess.
The Two Discs portrays the intimate association between ‘separate’ particles of matter.
The Three Discs portrays what can be called (at least) the 4-dimesional ‘geometry’ of an event, of which our limited perception observes as ‘an object in motion’.
The Two Swords portrays the intimate interaction between discrete neurons.
The Three Swords is rather more than just the actual colloidal gel, because that discrete substance is rather confluenced by fields far ‘wider’ than the confines of the particular skull-cavity. Further, The Two Swords can be said to portray a Discrete Percept, and then The Three Swords can be said to portray a Comprehensive Concept — an assembly of many Percepts which are then ‘colored’ by Imagination.
The Two Wands portrays a Discrete Event, and then The Three Wands portrays how such a Discrete Event ‘unfolds’ unto a Comprehensive Event. Using simple physical metaphoring, The Two Wands portrays the Nexus-Event of ‘particalization’, and then The Three Wands portrays the ‘trans-instant’ “geometry” whereby our limited perception observes an Event “occurring in Space and ‘moving’ in Time”.
There might be a confusion with The Two Cups being discretely labeled “Love“. In ‘the big picture’, both The Two and Three Cups are a portrait of “Love“. The most critical component of The Message of ‘The Nazarene’ was The Method of Love. ‘He’ desperately tried to teach that this was the summit of communicating with “The Father”. (‘He’ unfortunately was addicted to considering The ALL as some “Father-Figure”, consistent with ‘his’ immediate cultural surrounding.) The Suite of Cups deals with the Emotional Function of The Machine. This Function is rather the ‘strangest’ of the Functions. There is no ‘logic’ to its operation. But the very Virtual Particles which combine into the very Atomic Elements which form ‘Atomic Structure’, and then all the following combinations unto the Very Structure of the Physical Plane, “Love” one another, and thereby such combinations, extend their initial Virtual Occurrence unto a Continuous Occurrence, “extending their existence into Time” if you will.
The Four, Five, and Six of the TARO
Long before dealing with the more practical aspects of The Number Cards, it would benefit to consider these “in-betweens”. These numbers consider what might be called “a first layer of practical concern”. In the ‘occult’ language, they are “below The Abyss”. That would not make any sense to someone who has not “passed The Abyss”, and is not necessary to ‘Common Comprehension’. This is not some dismissive. It is rather OK that one has not gone through that traumatic experience. I would not wish that on anyone who wants “an ordinary life”. And that maybe is not such a ‘bad thing’. I went through that Traumatic Experience, and I comprehend the personal benefit — and we’ll leave it at that.
In this section, you will notice double entries. The second entries come from an undated assemblage, which were headlined with the following: “I have found the 4-5-6 of Swords to be most helpful in comprehending the general 4-5-6 Portion of the given Symbol System. This Portion of the Symbol System portrays The Best Manifestation of the Subject. [The 7-8-9 Portion portrays properties that are to be noticed in the Manifest Subject; they may be considered “problems”, but are otherwise properties that must be acknowledged in Complete Observation of the Manifest Subject.]”
The best way I can describe the 4’s, 5’s, and 6’s is in the general terms of Consonance, Dissonance, andResonance.
The 4’s involve a type of Fundamentation.
The Four Discs portrays a coordination of elements into some type of structure. Here is ‘a first solidification’.
The Four Discs: Simple Compounding
Several Virtual Elements collect to form an Actual Compound, which has some ‘endurance in Time’. This compound ‘itself’ is, however, in a rather tenuous state, unless ‘it’ can find others, as an element, to then combine unto a ‘further’ Actual Compound, and thereby ‘endure in Time’ even further.
The Four Swords is the most fundamental Semantic Coordination between separate minds.
The Four Swords: Community
Four Minds conjoin to a mutual juncture, to form a Common Semantic System for basic communication. They agree to a common language on the most fundamental functional level, so they can get along with each other.
The Four Wands may be considered a HyperEmphasis of the Nexus of Energy, whereby the Virtual Nature of a Particle transforms unto “actuality”, and dares to ‘endure in Time’ so to speak. “It” has now the capacity to combine, and thereby ensure ‘its’ endurance ‘in Time’.
The Four Wands: Potential Energy
The coincidence of many Force Vectors ‘wherein’ an Actual Energy Potential ‘exists’. Here is the Essence of Being [the Two Wands precedes this].
The Four Cups has the odd property of “Love” described by the phrase “where three or more are gathered, There Am I”. But since there is a fourth property involved, there is a more ‘definite presence’. These Cups are filled to overflowing.
The Four Cups: Sympathy
A pair of cups receive water from The All by a fount specific, and then a second pair of cups receive water from the first pair, to then spill back unto The All in general.
I guess the best way to describe the 5’s is as a property ‘hidden behind’ the Fundamentation.
The Five Discs portrays the “hidden dynamism” latent within the Atomic Structure. It is the latent “volcanism” lying beneath each land-plate of this planet-prison.
The Five Discs: Decomposing
If the still-tenuous Simple Compound does not further assimilate unto further compounding, the Virtual Nature of its elements will eventually destroy the existence of the Compound. Here is the Lava resident ‘underneath’, waiting to break to the surface given the right push.
The Five Swords is the potential of Disconsent inherent with any Compartment of Consent, the tendency to Miscomprehension amidst any Collection of imagined Comprehension.
The Five Swords: Confusion
Even after ‘separate’ Minds have agreed on a Common Semantic System, there can still be “misunderstanding” between them. Here is where the Mind overlays Personal Experience upon the Terms of the Common Semantic System. And since no one Mind-Entity has the same exact Experience of Existence as any one other Mind-Entity, there is a given factor of “misalignment”.
But this separateness offers to The Growing Mind the opportunity to expand their definition of any given Semantic Element beyond mere Personal Experience.
The Five Wands is the first demonstration of a primitive Energy Matrix, but the two definite Nexi of Energy are still rather divorced.
The Five Wands: Kinetic Energy
Here is the Essence of Going [the Three Wands precedes this].
When any two particles become proximate (rather, momentarily conjoin then separate in SpaceTime), a “Tether” is established between them.
The essence of this portrait is Displacement in SpaceTime.
The Five Cups portrays the cups as completely empty, incapable of containing any water. There is, so to speak, a rather Emotional Voidness.
The Five Cups: Apathy
Specifically this image is the direct complement to the Four Cups: here is the act of turning away from any Sympathetic Vibrations, and the emptying of the vessel(s) of any previous influence. This is a Dissociation in the same manner as that of the Five Swords. Such a purging of the contents of the Cup allows it to now receive New Impressions without being tainted by Old Impressions.
Sympathy & Apathy are Twin Children. Any ‘conscious’ person ‘knows’ of the swayings of “I do give-a-damn” to “I don’t give-a-damn”. Imaginations of “Good” and “Bad” are just so much garbage.
Apathy and Sympathy must be balanced for the very “health” of the so-called “Soul”. “The Soul” can become too muddy (Seven Cups), and “a dumping” might be necessary. If we’re lucky, we might even access a ‘bidet’ to spit the finality of filth away.
Apathy is An Exercise of Separation, which acts very similar to the Reset Button of your computer — if done properly! If not done properly, the first simple manifestation is “Confusion”. Those experienced with “Violation of Reality” are the best who avoid this problem. Apathy is “the secret ingredient” to become a so-called OnGoing Agnostic. The other term is Model Agnostic.
Sympathy is itself a really groovy experience. Apathy is like a stop-check on that behavior. Apathy is an actual practice that one must acquire to counter-balance “The Loveliness of Sympathy”.
Apathy is The Turning of The Cup ‘upside-down’. Varying degrees of deviation from ‘upward’ are allowable measures of one’s ability to Apathy. A completely overturn Cup is as a comprehensive purge of What You Believe. Lesser degrees of deviation only spill so much of the Old Water; greater degrees of deviation, more Old Water is spilled out. We allow more-or-less varying degrees of Violation of Previous Belief; and if we do, we grow. Belief as a Basic Function of the Human Machine is a fine function on the pragmatic level. But that function can get out-of-hand. Belief — a property of The Feeling Function of the Machine — can interfere with the Thinking and Moving Functions of the Machine, if allowed to become ‘a controlling monster’.
The various 6’s describe a first tangible ‘actualization’ of the respective ‘element’.
So with The Six Wands, there is a definite Complex Matrix of Energy, and the Many Nexi have ‘definite occurrence’.
Compare this with The Six Discs, a definite portrait of Atomic Structure. The six discs are the ‘surrounding electrons’, the very keys of combination between atoms.
The Six Discs: Complex Compounding — Atomic Structure
Here is the first occurrence of Complex Elements collecting into forming an even more Complex Compound, which ‘itself’ has the potential to be a Complex Element to an even further Complex Compound.
The Six Swords portrays a collection of minds that coordinate to define a Symbol System which can transcend the limitations of local language.
The Six Swords: Coordination
Several ‘separate’ Minds, each from a Semantic Community different from any other, all gather to construct a Semantic System, a Language, that transcends the various Local Semantic Maps, Local Languages, so that they may more efficiently communicate. Mathematics is a good example. Diagramming is another good example.
This is also the Personal Mind assimilating the many Simple Semantic Concepts, derived directly from necessity to communicate, and formulating Complex Semantic Concepts, which have no relation to the need for Proximate Communication. Many would tag this “Personal Ideas” or “Personal Ideals”, or other such ‘personal’ hallucinations. The Key is The Compounding.
The best way to describe The Six Cups is to say that an immediate collective chooses to Resonate with one another. Unfortunately, for common human behavior, this tends to involve “belief”. Fortunately, for common animal behavior, this tends to involve “pack” behavior. Birds fly and fish swim as if in tandem. Watch a collection of gnats, and notice in their collective behavior how they seem to ‘answer’ to a definite field which might be here, and then might be there.
The Six Cups: Harmony / Synchronicity
Each Cup holds its given portion of water, which ‘by itself’, in a vessel, has a Resident Vibration Intrinsic (‘tidal fluctuation’, if you will) to it.
All the Cups gathered in this portrait have accumulated into a Field of Resonance, whereby the Intrinsic Vibration of each Cup now generally Resonates with the other Cups in the field.
On the so-called Level of “The Soul”, this is a Harmony, Harmonic, Orchestral (if you will).
Here is the Discrete Field of a Gathering of Gnats, that choose to play and dance and weave, but within an apparent field of activity, for that period of time. Here is the Flock of Birds / School of Fish, the Field of Coordination, as they collectively bob-n-weave-n-cycle ‘in’ the air / water. Here is the ‘resonance’ between molecules which, with their unique construction determining combinability, “finds” other combinables, and they then dance into the symphony which eventuates A Cell. And, of course as you ‘know’, the Levels of Resonant Combination increase from there.
The classic imagery portrays the Group of Cups in a very Localized Field of Proximity — they are “close together” in so-called ‘actual SpaceTime’ as ‘Events’. From the SubAtomic Level and thereon, it appears that the very construction of Physical Phenomena is dependant on a Close-Proximity Field for the Elements to Resonate unto Compounds.
The Key to ‘the magick’ of this card lies in the Definition of “Locality” with regard to the basic formula of Localized Proximity. When a person sitting in a comfortable livingroom, watching their TV-land, happens upon a commercial appealing for money to help a poor starving child — “oh, wait, holy shit, they live in THAT” — and immediately runs for the checkbook; they have definitely Resonated with That Event Field, which does not require a very tight Field of Proximity with respect to the Earth. (But of course, from the perspective of the vastness of All Physical Manifestation, that Grand Personal Event was less than ‘a blip’.)
The strange twist with the SubAtomic Layer of Physical Manifestation, is that when a particle forms, it is in a highly Virtual State. If it does not immediately combine with Resonant Others to “form An Atom”, it will very quickly vaporize back unto nothingness.
The Key to all the Sixes is A TransPersonal Communion.
The Six Swords and Six Discs describe the direct PsycheSomatic Properties of The Machine. The Six Cups describes a Confluencial Field which can affect an influence upon the ‘tides and currents’ of the workings of the Machine; the effect of which is the Machine adjusting its Working Rhythm into ‘conformity’ with the Confluencial Field, to become part of the orchestra.
The Seven, Eight, and Nine of the TARO
The 7’s, 8’s, and 9’s portray the various tangible properties of the ‘actualization’ portrayed by the 6’s.
To comprehend The Wands, you need go no further than the formula E=mc2, which was a derivation from P=mv2.
The Seven Wands portrays Energy in A Mass-ive State. The collection of Many ‘Little’ Energy Nexi portrayed in The Six of Wands are now considerably One ‘Big’ Energy “Solidification”. In the Atomic Structure occurs ‘the proton’.
The Eight Wands is the very portrait of Velocity. Now, ‘the electron’ is not quite ‘moving’ at the speed of light, but is rather damned close.
Then, as ‘occult’ as this may sound, The Nine Wands is the very portrait of The Energy Matrix become A ‘Solid’ Force — but there is still some ‘flexibility’; unlike The Ten Wands wherein that matrix is rather now ‘the imprisonment’ of the Energy.
The Seven Discs is the very portrait of Inertia. The modern language uses the term “Rest Energy”. And in the Atomic Structure, regard this as a portrait of ‘the neutron’, but rather more so ‘the nucleus’, which is ‘the gravitational center’ “binding” ‘the electrons’ into the Atomic Structure.
The Eight Discs is considerably a portrait of ‘the mysterious’ tendency ‘surrounding’ the behavior of ‘the electrons’ in Atomic Structuring, and is called An Octave Property. This is a tendency not observable in any specific atom, but only observable by comparing many atoms.
The Nine Discs portrays the behavior called Covalent Bonding, whereby Atomic Structures combine unto Meta-Atomic Structures; and then combinations unto Molecular Structuring, and then unto Cellular Structuring, and so on and so on, unto the cascade of The Physical Plane.
A way of describing The Seven Swords is to say that Many Little Minds converge to produce One Big Mind. So ‘concept A’ comes from ‘there’, and ‘concept B’ comes from another ‘there’, and ‘concept C’ and ‘concept D’ come from other ‘theres’, and the Central Recipient of all those various ‘concepts’ assembles them into One’s Own Comprehensive Concept.
The Eight Swords is rather a mimic of ‘a Railway’. The mainrails are The Individual Mind, and the crossing trellises are Cultural Confluences. In any given setting, the individual mind is rather ‘forced’ to accommodate to The General Mental Set, to at least appear to not be “insane”.
The Nine Swords is a portrait of “Obsession”. The mind is rather “enraptured” with “something”. All the mental faculties are ‘focussed’ on some given agenda, and that agenda is focussing the mind further into some prison.
This may appear rather strange, but the best way to describe The Seven Cups and The Eight Cups is by the Wave Properties called Compression and Attenuation.
The Seven Cups rather portrays a Thickening of The Fluid. A Congealment. It is as A Compression of The Fluidity, if you will. Lets call it ‘a muddification’. It is as a ‘thickening’ of The Emotional Function. ‘Emotions’ seem as if ‘heavy’. There is as if ‘a weight’ to it.
The Eight Cups portrays the opposite quality. There is rather a stagnation of the pool of water. Instead of a thick morass, full of festering and ‘choking’, there is rather ‘an absence’. The cups are broken and incapable of holding any water. This is different from The Five of Cups, which are merely ‘downward’. There is here an inherent ‘discapacitation’. There is no ‘flow’ of the water. The festering is due to a ‘thinness’.
What I find most offensive about the entitlement of The Nine Cups as “Happiness” is that it is rather the fullness of falsity. It is the stepping stone to The Prison. The ‘happiness’ is rather the brief comfort of having dodged a bullet, after the panic of hearing the shot, and desperately soothing oneself with the hope that the firing range has ceased. There is no ‘permanence’ with this ‘happiness’; it can be destroyed with any fleeting disturbance. For ordinary living, such moments are healthy reliefs to what would otherwise be perpetual anxiety — without them, the machine would blow up, die from exhausting overwork.
The Terrible Ten of the TARO
What can be most discomforting about the 10’s is that in all cases they describe the Conditions of The Prison. The Prison is best described as a Self-Entrapment. But to describe The Prison to ‘the common mind’, we tend to resort to metaphors of Confluence. We tend to think that “imprisonment” is something imposed on ‘ourself’ by something ‘outside ourself’. This is rather a left-over of being Abandoned on this Planet-Prison. But let’s get this out of the way. The Prison is a Self-Composed Confinement. We create the Bars of The Prison; we are solely responsible for ‘its’ construction. “Belief” is a major component. Also the ‘necessity’ of Associations requisite in ‘creating’ some Sanity and Stability in an otherwise Insane and Unstable Condition. The desperate struggle for ‘Predictability’. We want ‘to know’, and we desperately create Models of Predictability. Before we broke the atomic nucleus, we were ‘certain’ that we had observed a continuous occurrence. Then when we broke it, and watched the separated components “dance unto oblivion”, that very essential ‘sense of certainty’ was crushed into dust.
My favorite illustration is The Ten Swords. At the very center, a heart is shattered. The surrounding swords shattering that heart are various icons of Religion, Science, and The Military. At the top is an icon of Government, mutually involved in the shattering of the heart.
We allow others to define our Mental Construction. It is ‘easy’ to let others define our Mental Construction. But by the same, it is not “Our Own Mental Construction”. It is ‘their’ Mental Construction “in ourself”. We allow others to define “what is real”.
The most disturbing is The Ten Cups. The Emotional Function of The Machine has become “enclosed”. The so-called “Love” property has become rather ‘incestuous’. Now, this is not an error with regard to The Prison, and The Prison rather prefers this condition. But this is very much a problem for one who wants to Escape The Prison.
But what really messes with the head, is that The Ten Discs is the very Completion of The Physical Plane. There is no ‘error’ with this phase. The many various elements and compounds have culminated in the various complex structures, and are happily enjoying each others coordination, to the mutual satisfaction of each others’ endurance ‘in’ SpaceTime. For as happy as the elements of the Physical Plane are with this condition, entrapped as they are in The Realm of Accident, of “Things Just Happen” — this is not so groovy for the Evolving Magus.
Then place The Ten Wands side-by-side with The Ten Discs, and see how it is the very portrait of The Gates of The Prison. The “Will” has been utterly Confined. “Desire” is now utterly imprisoned in “Things Just Happen”. So-called Purpose of Existence is now trapped in The Realm of Accident. The Ten of Wands appearing in the reading is not such an easy exposure. It is rather like being offered The Two Pills. It is the awful exposure that You Are In A Prison. And you have to make the choice: The Blue Pill? or The Red Pill?
Years ago, a friend kept a group of Finches in a Large Cage. Every morning we listened to the “jeebee-jeebee” concert. Then it came time for him to move out of the apartment. We turned the cage toward the open window, opened the cage, and pounded on the sides, ‘scaring’ the birds out of their cage. Others called us ‘heartless’, because we had now exposed those ‘defenseless creatures’ to ‘the ravages of the wild’. We felt fine with our decision, because they were now “free”, even if “in danger” of “the wild”.
O-A-Hum
OPD
OPD Tarot 