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Mythblasts Category NewsBlast

The Thought of the World

“Till then, think of the world.” (Julius Caesar 2.2 line 319) As we turn to the closing of the year, it seems like that state of the world is the last thing we want to think about. And yet “the…

The Hermit and Reflection

My first favorite hermit was Obi-Wan Kenobi, who came to the big screen in the early summer of ’77. I suppose I was drawn to the whole package, the whole iconography of this unusual figure cloaked in a deep-hooded, earth-toned…

The Hermit: Lighting Our Way

As with many archetypal motifs the Hermit (tarot card IX) can present as both a higher and lower modality of itself. In its lower representation, the Hermit may seek withdrawal from society because they feel insecure within communal life or…

The Spirit Behind the Ghost

In 1862, John Henry “Professor” Pepper summoned a ghost in front of a live audience. Though the illusion he used dated back at least as far as 16th century Italy, this particular visitation was just in time for a renewed…

Seeing in the Dark

As nights lengthen in the Northern Hemisphere and envelop us in darkness, my introverted nature celebrates the invitation to turn inward. The absence of light reduces the frenetic movement of everyday life, a welcomed respite from the deluge of tasks…

Death and the Game of Life

I pulled the card, turned it over, and there it was…Death. My stomach turned at the sight of it. It was a sunny day in New Orleans and I was captured by the atmosphere of the city. Having my Tarot…

From Death to Grateful Dead

I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, And out of the caverns of rain, Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, I arise and unbuild it again. – Percy Shelley, The Cloud   October is…

Our Dance with Death

Some may think it presumptuous for a living person to write of death, and while I agree writers should save paper and time by sticking to what they’ve experienced, Death is a partner with whom I (and you) have already…

Barbigeddon

 “But the human being is the only animal capable of knowing death as the end inevitable for itself, and the span of old age for this human organism, consciously facing death is a period of years longer than the whole…

Towers: Managing One’s Falls and Renewals

The problem with towers is that they’re already high up. And then there’s this other problem called gravity, accompanied by its heavyweight siblings grave (as an adjective or as a noun) and gravitas—in short, all things down and that bring…

A Bolt from the Blue

Following my June contribution to JCF’s MythBlast essay series, a friend asked about Joseph Campbell’s personal experience with tarot. According to Campbell, his introduction to the tarot occurred in 1943, as friend and mentor Heinrich Zimmer discussed the symbolism of…

The Devil Is to Blame

A black and white drawing of a devil dancing

Once upon a time the devil was looking for the most effective weapon against God. The first demon proposed to tell people that there is no God. Another said it’s better to tell them there is no soul. The third…

Dynamics of the Diabolic

three horned devil

Our MythBlast essay series continues to explore the archetypal imagery of the tarot, focusing this month on Card XV in the major arcana: the Devil. For almost two thousand years those who practice the occult arts have been portrayed as…

What the Chariot Carries

A woman, in the desert, looking off into the distance. She appears to be on a journey.

“You’re going on a trip,” Great-Gramma Jennie told my mother. Mom was a child then, in the prewar years of the Great Depression. Grampa and my uncles left during the day for work and school, and Mom stayed home with…

How to Choose Directions in Life Wisely

The Chariot card is traditionally designed with the image of a strong male figure in a car conducted by two sphinx-like beasts; the dark one at the left side and a white one at the right side. The armored charioteer…

Chariot Reins and Skeleton Keys

The Chariot. A deity on a chariot with two sphinxes, one black and one white.

For the month of July we will be looking at what, in most tarot decks, is the seventh trump or major arcana card, the Chariot. In the tarot, the Chariot is largely about overcoming challenges, mastery of oneself and one’s…

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