Tarot Card Meditation Game

[Edward theurj Berge]

In our old Gaia forum I had a series called Daily Tarot Card Meditation Game. The idea was to choose a card for viewing and then for participants to freely associate anything that came up for them, anything at all. It could be related to the traditional meanings of the card or not. It was more an exercise in free-form meditation, of improvising a meaning on the spot as it bubbles up from our subconscious, creative wellspring. It was a fun, playful, shared activity and I'd like to reinvigorate it here. I won't post a card daily again but only when the muse strikes me. Anyone else though is free to post one with or without  their comments any time they wish. And since this is a creative activity I'll post it in this forum. Let the shared art begin!

 

Play with this:

 

[Balder]

Definitely there is a note of pining or longing in the picture -- a sense of looking out on opportunities lost.  On the other hand, when I first saw the image, I immediately viewed it through the lens of my current readings in Sloterdijk.  He is talking about the placenta as the soul-double that modern society tosses in the trash, but which former cultures recognized and venerated -- preserving or eating it, or burying it in the soil (in which a tree is also planted).  The tree comes to represent the tree-of-life as soul-double, as the intimate but semi-hidden or withdrawn other in company of which we come into our own as spheric beings.  Here, holding the sprouting tree, the man represents a denizen of the old world -- one who has not lost touch with his soul-double.  Those on the ships are those who have abandoned this ancient connection and left their soul-trees behind, in the modern quest for absolute self-sufficiency (and heroic narcissism).  They are on their way to build a new world on this dream -- but such a sphere won't hold, if indeed it fails to recognize the intimate-withdrawn other that beats at the heart of every spheric refuge or immunological space.

[Edward theurj Berge]

The ground he stands on does seems more like a rich clay, perhaps one recently implanted with placenta. Or even the placenta itself covering the surface, slimy and nutrient/waste-rich, from which spring the implanted trees. The ships could be hopes for his soul to take flight from such auspicious beginnings.

[Edward theurj Berge]

The following tarot card was selected by using a random number generator (it chose 1), which number I used to count cards in this layout (decided before the number generator). Look at it a minute and let any free associations play.

[Edward theurj Berge]

The first thing for me is the lemniscate above his head, since we were just discussing this symbol in the pattern dynamics thread. In the latter when enclosed it is his symbol for source. I don't like the enclosure so much, or I might like it better if it's boundaries were more porous as we've been discussing with suobjects in the OOO thread. In the card the symbol doesn't need a boundary around it, as infinity is open source, with all that entails within the (post)modern context of open source information and its P2P paradigm. Whereas the rigid boundary around source in Winton's version seems to suggest a kind of limiting or controlling of source through intellectual categorization, trying to 'tie it down.' There's a lot more going on in the card for me at the moment but that's a start.

[Edward theurj Berge]

The next association came from left field, or more accurately from the point guard. The headband and hair reminds me of Steve Nash, who plays that position with the Phoenix Suns. I've been an avid basketball fan since childhood, and a huge Suns fan when I lived in the Phoenix area (Tempe) for 18 years. His ball handling, dribbling and assists were truly magical to watch, often elevating a game to quite ethereal heights (grounded on the court) with his adroit manipulations. For the card is very much about skill and manipulation.

[Edward theurj Berge]

And of course the 4 elements on the table indicate the 4 basic levels in a developmental holoarchy: pentacle for body, cup for emotion, wand for passion and will, sword for mind. The table and its 4 legs could symbolize the 4 quadrants. The magician could be that individual consciousness, or rather OOO suobjectness, that distinguishes it from every other, yet is connected to its environment-source-plurality via the lemniscate, this singular-plurality being spirit.

We are spirits in the material world...

[Balder]

Um, are those datura flowers growing at his feet?

[Edward theurj Berge]

This magic moment...

[Edward theurj Berge]

[Edward theurj Berge]

First thing, the horse's body is completely covered by an ill-fitting garment making its shape seem grotesque. First impression is that the rider and spectators are celebrating some sort of victory, perhaps that over the bodily and emotional functions. They are all looking ahead to something else, not paying any heed to the horse, who looks sideways at us as if to say: "WTF, take off this silly and ugly overcoat and pay attention to me!"

[Edward theurj Berge]

Since I was reminded of this earlier, here's a card for play.

[Edward theurj Berge]

I've worked hard and my vines are ripe with fruit. I wonder what I'll buy when I sell it at market? First off I'll need some boot polish, as my right boot is filthy from the mud. Good thing I have at least one foot anchored in the mud because in my reverie I stepped into the turbulent stream and could be carried away to who knows where? And yeah, this overcast day after heavy rain made me realize money can't buy me love, so no matter how much I get for my fruit it won't impress Becky Sue, damn it.