Mythblasts Category NewsBlast

“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…

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…

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…

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…

When I began structuring this essay in my mind, trying to make a rational attempt to contemplate the meaning of the hermit’s card (number 9), a song spontaneously took over and started resonating in my heart. Initially, I tried to…

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…

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…

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…

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…

 “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…

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…

September smuggles us across the Equinox, the border between Summer and The Fall. That phrase, The Fall, does a lot of work when you’re talking about a blasted Tower. And it’s important to consider that borders, all borders, are overseen…

In the intricate tapestry of the Tarot, the sixteenth card stands as a potent symbol of upheaval and transformation, the tumultuous nature of the human journey. This card, known as The Tower, resonates deeply with the wisdom of mythologist Joseph…

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…

According to the anonymous author of Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism, the fifteenth Arcanum of the Tarot introduces us to the “intoxication of counter-inspiration” (p. 401). Throughout this year’s MythBlast series focusing on the Tarot, the…

The cards haven’t changed as much as we have.  Back in the day, the owners of the tarot decks tended to be royalty and nobility; indeed, the first tangible evidence of their use dates from 1392 when a French painter…

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…

Some tarot cards conjure dread in folks who have just a passing understanding of them. Either the image itself or the card’s name can be enough to evoke negative associations. In the major arcana, for example, the Tower and Death…

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…

Like all the tarot cards, the Chariot contains a complexity of sub-images and details. We can safely assume that each sub-image is not merely a random or decorative item and that there’s a purposeful and organic relationship between them all.…

“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…

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…

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…