I bought a pack of Buffy themed Tarot cards in a book store today. They were so beautiful and perfect, I could not resist. Although I’m not a believer, I really like Tarot cards for their design and the arcane lore that goes with them. The designer of these Buffy cards, Karl James Mountford, has included pretty much all the major and minor characters from the show, and clearly had some fun matching them up with their appropriate cards. Xander, for example, is the Fool. Willow is the Magician, Giles is the Hierophant,. Willow and Tara are the Lovers. It comes with a really cool booklet too, detailing the history and lore of the cards, from the Major Arcana to the Minor Arcana. An extra bonus of having Tarot cards is you can use the Minor Arcana as playing cards, as they equate to a standard 52 card deck. The suits used in the Buffy deck, which are beautifully illustrated, are Stakes, Chalices, Scythes and Pentacles.
I had another look at my Buffy Tarot deck. Reading through the booklet it suggested I cleanse the deck by leaving it in the light of the full moon. It just so happened to be a full moon tonight, with a clear sky, so that’s exactly what I did. And just to make sure each card was cleansed, I shuffled through the entire pack, from Major to Minor Arcana, and exposed every card to the moon’s light. It was chilly out there, and I felt slightly ridiculous, but I got it done. I must admit, alcohol may have played a part in this.
I did some more reading about my Buffy Tarot deck. Each of the cards represents an idea or an attitude, or a way of looking at things, a suggested direction. It suggested some of the many Buffy-themed ‘spreads’ you could do for your Tarot readings with the deck, like ‘Five By Five’, and ‘A World Without Shrimp’ (a Buffy in-joke). I can feel myself getting sucked in to this. It reminds me of the I Ching and throwing the coins, which I have done, and which was inspired by my reading of Philip K Dick’s Man In the High Castle. I suppose a lot of people will think the Tarot is just unscientific hocus-pocus nonsense, but I think it’s not about belief, it’s about coming up with suggestions or directions you might not have thought about. It’s about loosening up your thought processes and making inspired connections.
I’m still making sense of my Buffy tarot cards, and it’s got me consulting some of the Tarot books I’ve amassed over the years (I’m an inveterate collector of these things). I have one that looks at it from the Jungian perspective, which is a handy thing to have. It’s called Discovering Yourself Through the Tarot: a Jungian Guide to Archetypes and Personality by Rose Gwain. I haven’t dipped into it yet, but Jung’s concepts of Archetypes and Synchronicity loom large in the Tarot landscape, offering as they do some much needed scientific credibility for its arcane practise. Another I have that I want to investigate is Tarot, Mirror of the Soul: Handbook For the Aleister Crowley Tarot by Gerd Zeigler. This looks at the Tarot particularly from Crowley’s Thoth tarot deck, and I’m sure I’m in for a good spooky time with it. Jimmy Page (a big fan Crowley’s) would be well pleased.
I’ve already made connection with the first card of the Major Arcana, the Fool. It’s actually a good card to draw, being about new beginnings and having an adventurous, even foolhardy spirit. It reminds me of when I went to Japan last year – that spirit of adventure. I definitely identify. When you decide to leave your comfort zone and do something potentially reckless like travel, I believe you’re invoking your Fool card.
I was reading through one of my Tarot books today, called The Tarot Directory by Annie Lionnet. It’s a beautiful ring-binder style book full of illustrations of the many amazing Tarot decks that are out there. I really want to get a Japanese Ukiyoe set, it looks amazing. The different sections are indexed according to Tarot Basics, Major Arcana, Minor Arcana, The Reading and Case Histories, which look at the different spreads. I’m up to the section on Preparing For a Reading. It’s all about setting the right mood, creating a ‘sacred space’. Choosing the right deck is important too. It must be one you feel a special affinity for. In my case, the Buffy deck I bought recently would definitely be the one. I’ve even ‘cleansed’ it by the light of the moon. It’s apparently a no-no to use someone else’s deck, because ‘It’s not possible to imprint your own psychic vibration on the cards and make them personal to you if someone else has already colored them with their own energetic imprint.’ Isn’t that great? This also means if you buy a second hand deck, you can admire the cards, but you wouldn’t use them for a reading.
I also did a little study of the second card in the Major Arcana, The Magician card (I plan to study them all). According to the book it emphasises Guidance, New Opportunities and Creative Initiative. I was particularly struck by its association with creativity. It ‘acts as a mediator between the divine and human realms and symbolizes the link between the conscious and the unconscious mind’. In practical terms it invokes for me the energies I feel I have to muster when I’m beginning a creative project, even just in sitting down to write these humble Diary entries. The Magician card indicates ‘a huge reservoir of power and energy is available for both creative and intellectual pursuits’. Incidentally, I love this David Bowie Magician card I found on the net. So cool. Must check out the deck.
I read more about the Tarot from the Tarot Directory by Annie Lionnet. This time it was last section about Case Studies and the different spreads. These include the Celtic Cross, the three card spread, the Horoscope spread, the Triangle, the Star Spread and five-card Horseshoe spread. The three card spread might be a good one to start with, simply featuring as it does past, present and future. The readings for case histories featured seemed a little obvious but made their point of illustrating how readings of spreads can be applied to people’s situations. It doesn’t look easy. I also checked out the next card in the Major Arcana, The High Priestess card. This one’s about intuition and working with our subconscious drives. It inspires stillness and contemplation. It has a female power and is associated with the moon and dreams. I interpret it as the thing I’m looking for when I’m not sure about something or how to proceed, and I search for signs to show me the way.
I did more Tarot study today. This time it was the Major Arcana Empress card. Its signature qualities are Abundance, Fertility and Receptivity. It ‘may indicate the birth of a child or a new creative project. In both cases, devotion and careful nurturing are required to bring them to fruition.’ It also denotes a contentment with one’s position in life, making a good platform from which to embark on new projects with confidence. For all these reasons it’s thought the Empress may be a pregnant woman, though it’s not always clear from its image. My Buffy Tarot deck depicts vampire Drusilla as the Empress. A strange choice, considering most vampires cannot bear children (though Darla did – miraculously). I would’ve thought Buffy’s mom, Joyce Summers, would have been more appropriate. I definitely see the connection with this card to creativity. Starting a new project feels like having a new baby to pour your devotion and energies into.
Read more of my Tarot book. This time I looked at the Major Arcana Emperor card. Typical male energy representing the Yang, getting things done, sitting in judgement, suggestive of stability and security. A slightly boring card.
I started reading my Discovering Yourself Through Tarot book by Rose Gwain. The opening chapter was a difficult read. Her writing is so dense. Succeeding chapter got a bit clearer. The chapter on Laying Out a Tarot Spread has this gem: ‘…you’ll never be bored again after you’ve taken up the Tarot. The Tarot knows no time and space. Why not have a conversation with it (lay a spread) about Napoleon? Why did Atlantis disappear? What is the prognosis for our environment? What is the history of this house? That is after you get bored with the thousands of questions you might ask about yourself and those you know!’
Read about The Heirophant card in my Tarot book. He brings a spiritual connection and is about self-discovery and inner wisdom. An important card. The image on the card in the book, from the Pierpont Morgan Tarot, reminds me of my mate Josh, which makes sense. He’s all about the spiritual connection. Then read a couple chapters of
Discovering Yourself Through Tarot. Interesting passages about intuition/sensation, thinking/feeling personality types. I think I’m more intuition and thinking. Need to give this some thought.
Read more of Tarot book with Major Arcana card The Lovers. It’s all about choices, the wrong ones and the right ones. Sometimes it’s about sacrifice, or about integrating our shadow self in the shape of a partner. Then re-read the intuition/sensation chapter from Discovering Yourself Through Tarot, because it was so deep. Cups and Pentacles are female, and to do with water and earth, wands and swords are male and to do with air and fire.
Read more Tarot stuff. The Tarot Directory bit on Major Arcana card The Chariot. Steering a middle path through conflict, as represented by two horses. Also read a chapter of Discovering Yourself Through Tarot. It was the Court Card Quiz, and I took it. Turns out I’m an Intuitive Type, the King of Cups. Though I also scored high on the Sensation Type, the King of Pentacles. These are both the Perceiving//Gathering Data functions. This makes sense to me. Like, this whole site is about the way I perceive pop culture. It’s probably my number one activity in life: consuming pop culture. There’s also a part of me that does the Judging/Processing Data function, where I try to be critical and creative (the Archive section has a lot of examples of my efforts there). So, yeah, I try to be balanced, but I’m definitely more part of the passive, receiving, female function. Interesting Quiz. Some of the questions were pretty tricky just working out what they meant and how I was supposed to respond to them. I mean, how do your respond to the question ‘Do you possess wisdom?’ Then there were others where I knew exactly how to respond, like ‘Do you have difficulty understanding money?’ Hell yes! ‘Are you creative?’ I try to be – I like to think so.
Read more Tarot. The Directory Major Arcana this time was Judgement, represented by a man or woman holding a sword in the right hand and scales in the left. Its main elements are balance, wisdom and fairness. It’s striking to me how much of this has been appropriated by mainstream society. It’s basically the symbol of the legal profession.
I’m still intrigued and enthralled by what I’m finding in the Discovering Yourself Through Tarot book. I’m working my way through a chapter called the Function Block Spread. The explanation for how to do this didn’t make much sense to me, but the stuff after it about integrating the so-called weak functions did. For example, if you’re a Thinking type, how do you integrate your opposite Feeling function? Some suggestions are to read poetry, appreciate art in a gallery, keep a journal of your feelings, take up painting, get in touch with your inner child by going to Disneyland. The basic idea is learn to express your feelings. This makes complete sense to me. The chapter continues on in like fashion for the other functions of Feeling, Intuition and Sensation. I focused on the one about integrating the thinking function, since I seem to be the Intuitive type, and therefore need to develop my Thinking Function. It’s something that I know I’m weak on, but I do tackle it from time to time. This was drawn out in some of the suggestions, such as learning a foreign language, writing a book, studying numerology or the I Ching, and playing chess or computer games. I’ve had a go at all these things and found them stimulating though challenging. I need to continue doing so. I’m loving this book!
I read up some more on Tarot. This time it was the important Major Arcana card The Hermit. He represents solitude, contemplation and wisdom and holds a staff and a lantern that reflects the inner light. I identify deeply with this archetype. I was a teenage hermit, always wagging school and hanging out alone down the local creek doing nothing but listening to music. I learned my solitude there, developed my ‘resources for solitude’, as Jane Austen would say. I was too young for the wisdom part though. Not sure if I even have it now. I’m the Hermit without much wisdom. Led Zeppelin fans might recognise him from the inner sleeve of Led Zep IV.
I read about some more of the Major Arcana cards from my Tarot Directory book (about time). This time it was Strength and The Hanged Man. Of the Hanged Man, the book says, ‘the concept of giving up all worldly possessions in order to follow a spiritual path is the central theme of this card’. This is clearly a card I should probably get every time I do a spread. The card, like the Death card, is nowhere near as sinister as it appears. The guy usually has a calm expression, and sometimes coins are seen falling out of his pockets, signifying the surrender of material things. It is a calm acceptance of the need to change.
I also read another chapter of my amazing Discovering Yourself Through the Tarot book. This one was Descriptions of the Court Cards. There are a lot of them, including Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings and four suits. Though the author includes an extra element called ‘Spirit’, which is all court characters combined. There’s a lot to unpack with the descriptions, but it makes a handy reference guide. It’s really interesting to me how the author incorporates elements of the I Ching into her analysis of the cards. Like, there actually is a correlation. An important originator of this connection was the notorious Alesteir Crowley, a person I first encountered through Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, who was a fan. Actually, the next Tarot book I’m reading will be Mirror of the Soul: Handbook for the Aleister Crowley Tarot.
Read some more of my Discovering Yourself Through the Tarot book. It was the chapter titled The Attitude, the Ego, and the Persona. The author lumps Attitude as a function of Extrovert and Introvert. Sometimes our identification with these is dependent on how we perceive others. Getting it right is important, and one of Tarot’s functions, that of divination, can obscure what it’s really about. I quote: ‘The true goal of Tarot is the true goal of all occultism: to assist the individual in dispelling illusion and learning to work more effectively with reality’ (p 83). I also read about the Major Arcana card, the Death Card, in the Tarot Directory. As expected, it’s about the end of things, but it’s also about renewal and a new start. So, not so scary. I guess the scary part is having to let go of whatever has ‘died’. It may be a person, it may be a path, a goal, a phase in your life, etc.
Read some more about the Major Arcana from my Tarot Introduction book. This time I read about the Temperance card and the Devil card. Temperance is one of the four moral lessons symbolized in the Major Arcana, along with Strength, Justice and the Hermit. Ultimately, it’s about finding balance, as represented by the water that flows from the gold to the silver cup. The Devil card represents the wild and uncivilized aspects of our psyche that we often suppress. As Jung might say, it’s our Shadow, our darker side, whatever that may be. Recognising it within ourselves is important in owning up to who we are and not projecting bad feelings onto others. A good, if somewhat scary card.
Finished the Tarot Directory’s section on the Major Arcana. That took me through the final cards, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement and The World. One of my favourite things about Tarot has been the imagery, especially of the Major Arcana and the so-called Court Cards of the Minor Arcana. The Star card, which represents Hope, Good Fortune and Faith in a better future, is usually shown as a naked maiden who pours water onto the land creating five streams to represent the five senses. There is also usually a star above her head. Speaking of stars…the Sun, which represents Energy, Optimism, Joy and Confidence, is usually portrayed as a child, or children, in a beautiful garden with the sun overhead. The children represent wholeness or integration of the two sides of the psyche, and the sun the conscious mind. The Moon represents the unconscious mind, Uncertainty, Intuition and Illusion. Decks vary in their portrayal of the moon, but there’s usually at least a Moon there. Judgement, which represents Reward, Completion and New Lease of Life, is usually portrayed by the Archangel Michael blowing his or her horn summoning the dead to judgement. The last Major Arcana, the World, is Success, Achievement and Realisation of a Goal and features a person (often a hermaphrodite) standing surrounded by a circle of completion. Imagery of the four elements or seasons (often a bull, eagle, lion and man) are included. In a line that seems to sum up the main thrust of Tarot, the book says, ‘Like so many other Tarot cards, the World is all about change’.
I compared the cards to the ones I have in my Buffy, Anime and Star Trek collections. Some nice connections. It’s interesting how differently they’ve interpreted the symbolism to fit their themes. The Judgement card works well for Anya in the Buffy deck, standing at the counter of the Magic Box, looking stern. And Q is the perfect embodiment of Judgement in the Star Trek deck. The Buffy card for the Tower is, of course, the tower that Buffy jumps off of at the end of Season Five.
Actually the Tower seems to be coming up a lot for me lately. There’s that song The Tower by Angel that I’ve been listening to. But I’ve also been delving into the nature of Evil and how to stop it, and the tower has been coming up in my thinking about that. I think Evil hides in plain sight in the form of all those apartment and office tower blocks that litter every city skyline. They’re ostentatious representations of the greed and inequality and crime that goes on in society. So I like the Tower Tarot card, I like that it shows the tower being hit by lightning and on the verge of collapse, and represents upheaval and a new order. It is the revolutionary card. As my Tarot Directory points out, it is the only card that represents a man-made structure, an artificial construct designed to fence us in. It is up to us to break free from its influence.
Finally finished my Discovering Yourself Through the Tarot book and briefly went through the Alastair Crowley Tarot one, called Mirror of the Soul by Gerd Ziegler, as well. Have to say, after some brilliant early chapters that blew my mind, the Discovering book got a bit too esoteric for me. I basically just flicked through the Ziegler book, but I liked what I saw and read. Unlike the Discovering book, there were some clear descriptions. For example, its says ‘The Major Arcana cards give us answers or messages regarding the question or situation at hand. At the same time, they offer higher universal teachings based on Cosmic Law.’ And the Court Cards: ‘generally are related in some way to people who are important in our lives’. And the other Minor Arcana cards ‘concern the smaller, more direct lessons of life’. I thought it strange how Crowley’s Thoth deck uses in its Minor Arcana Wands, Cups, Swords and Disks. The first three are standard, but he’s substituted the traditional Pentacles for Disks here. I thought he’d be all over the Pentacles for their witchiness, if nothing else. The author relates how the cards were designed by Frieda Harris in consultation with Crowley not long before his death. Images of all of them are included, albeit in black and white. Some of the designs remind me of the paintings of William Blake. I wonder if he was an influence?