Templance

Templance XIV

Divinatory Meanings: Balance, Equilibrium. A drunken person. Becoming addicted. Addictions. A need for sobriety. Lack of sobriety. The beginning of sobriety.

Yes or No: No.

Numerical Value: 14.

So many people misunderstand the meaning of this card. I chose Alcoholics Anonymous so there absolutely no doubt as to what Templance means. The “angel” of Templance is there to remind us that we need help. The waters of life, blood, the source of our vitality, is draining constantly. We can either help ourselves to more life, or waste it away.

Addictions are innumerable. One of my favorite is television. Nobody really thinks about it, but every time we put ourselves at ease to watch some ridiculous program, we are actually wasting the only thing God gave us: time. We could have been praying, or doing service (SEVA) or playing with our kids or our pets. Instead, we chose to tune out.

Drugs, alcohol are very similar. Some times, a little lift-me up can be helpful to melt the ice. Go to a party, have a drink and you might find yourself confiding truths that you are too shy to share with others otherwise. In fact, the Romans were very well aware of this medical fact: In Vino Veritae. (wine is the elixir of truth!)

The Baccanalias of the Romans were necessary evils so that a sober and serious people could go about their boring lives without breaking down. Christianity put an end to all that and supplanted it with Holy Communion. Not a very fair deal if you ask me, but I’m a Tarot reader, so I’m supposed to say things like that.

The bottom line of this card is health. Do what is most healthy. Are you French and can’t stand dinner without a glass of wine to wash it down? FINE! Just don’t over do it. Joe Sixpack might spend more time with his kids playing football than watching it on t.v. Even Soccer Mom (that austere example of singularly healthy living) needs to lay off those Little Debbie devils-food cakes now and then.

Part of the trick of this card is recognizing that it’s a warning: we have an addiction and it has control over us.

Death

Death XIII

Divinatory Meanings: Death. The end of something.

Yes or No: No.

Numerical Value: 13.

There is very little I can add to this card.

The meaning is perfectly clear. Lets leave it at that.

The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man XII

Divinatory Meanings: Sacrifice. Sacrifice for others. Jesus. Jesus like-behavior. What would Jesus do?

Yes or No: Yes.

Numerical Value: 12.

Without a doubt, Jesus Christ is the most important historical figure of our times. Arguably, he is the most important historical figure of all times. No other message has captured the imagination of humanity and the proof is in the pudding: look at the numbers of the religious of man and you will find Christianity at the very top.

I read the Bible occasionally. Each time, I get something new. As a practitioner of something forbidden in the Bible, I try to be careful to keep my mind and heart open to the things spoken by Jesus and not become close-minded to the fact that those words might be true. There is, in the last book of the Bible a very strong admonition against “sorcery” or “Magic” … Divination (which is the school of magic that the Tarot belongs to) could be called a kind of sorcery.

None the less, I feel Jesus and his message are paramount in my own life. And when I try to consider the sum of Jesus’ message, I believe that it can be summed up by the meaning of this card: Sacrifice.

What is it about Sacrifice? What makes it so noble? So powerful is the idea of sacrificing oneself for the benefit of others! For a pseudo-Christian wannabe like myself, reading the Tarot is a kind of sacrifice. The Vedas call it Karma-Kanda, and literally, it means you absorb the Karma of another person. When you pull out the cards, you set them in front of your client to help them resolve their life issues, you are actually absorbing their pain. Who in their right mind would do that? Even for twenty bucks?

Who can argue with Jesus?

The Hanged Man image is common in historical religious belief: The Norse had Odin. The Egyptians Osiris (Osiris was not hanged, but he was torn into bits and brought back to life). But in my times, Jesus is the man. There is one Hanged Man! All others are posers!

Justice

Justice XI

Divinatory Meanings: Lawsuits. Facing a judge. Legal matters. Suing or being sued. Doing the right thing. Finding a just solution or encountering a lack of justice. Need for Justice means usually a lack thereof.

Yes or No: Yes.

Numerical Value: 11.

I chose the World Court in Brussels because it is my belief that until we have a One World Law, we live in a state of Lawlessness. This idea actually came from a fellow named Gary Davis who renounced his American Citizenship in order to become the first “World Citizen” of the United Nations. His quest, more than any other, opened the door for me to really begin to understand “Justice”. Usually, what passes for Law and Justice in our world is the abuse of weak by the strong. The defining element in so called “Justice” is money, and as we all know, money usually goes to the most ruthless. Hence, the state of “world law” is one of lawlessness and a kind of Social Darwinism. In short, a hellish situation.

In fact, Justice is divine. Only a supreme being could untangle the web of human injustices. Human efforts to bring “Justice” to disputes is imperfect at best. The clear indication of this imperfection in human “Justice” is war. Divine Justice means death for all. And death equalizes all debts. More on this later.

It is commonly said that Justice is blind. I disagree. I think Justice must be transparent, but it must also be all-seeing.

I feel sorry for those who are called upon to Judge. How dare they Judge anybody? How dare they put themselves above each individual with some archaic books that give them a so-called Law to Judge with? In a perfect world, each case would be individually Judged – Judged on the entire merits of the plaintiff and the defendant and not only on some obscure writing in some book. Even the Bible tells us: Judge not least you also be Judged. But we never learn, do we? Always we want to feel morally superior to those decadent, evil, wrongdoers and sinners. Only thus can our own actions be vindicated in the court of public opinion.

A mob gets together and writes a few clever things on some “sacred” papers, be it a constitution or a Holy Book… Then the mob calls this “The Law” and then the terror begins. Woe to those who break the taboo of the land. Of course, taboos change from country to country and Nation to Nation. But behind every Nation there is always a group of men who consider themselves above the Law of another Nation. Thus we have a worldwide state of chaos which lends itself to devils’ play in the guise of Law.

Perhaps one day we will all be protected from each other by a true form of Justice. Perhaps? Is that not the promice of the Bible, the Koran and the Vedas?

The Wheel

The Wheel X.

Divinatory Meanings: Going around in circles. Starting at the same destination as the end. Not learning from past mistakes. The wheel of Karma. Recycling. Trusting too much on Fortune. The need to break from ordinary patterns of behavior.

Yes or No: No.

Numerical Value: 10.

I really can’t stand Car Racing. I abhor SUVs. I don’t like driving. I barely stand the rules of the road. I’ll never learn. But then, that’s Karma. Being attached or repulsed by stuff. Thinking that it “somehow” matters. (burp).

No matter how much we try, there are some things that win over our desire. Death comes to mind. Dishonor … Disaster. And yet, when it’s done, after we have paid the ultimate price, we go again at it with wild abandon.

Besides money, I can’t think of a more sinister adversary to human well-being than the automobile. And yet, given the chance, I would probably buy myself a white Cargo Van, probably a Toyota, although I’d rather drive a WV. Something about going around in circles for things we absolutely do not need or really “desire” once we get out of our egos.

I didn’t show the devil , the dog and the sphinx this time. That would be too easy. That would be making the symbol of the wheel cheap. (burp). Instead, I give you the ultimate in ego masturbation: Nascar. When will mankind learn to go back to God? When they stop running around in circles. Will they?

Of course not!

The Hermit

The Hermit IX.

Divinatory Meanings: Solitude. Loneliness. Strength in purpose. Celibacy. Saying no to a relationship. Triumph, success. It’s lonely at the top.

Yes or No: No.

Numerical Value: 9.

Illuminated by his own light, the Hermit does not need anybody to get to his destination, and in that is perhaps closest to the fool, but unlike the fool, the Hermit has a direction: He goes to the Beloved.

I choose this Sadhu because he is alone. You can see him in the eyes and see it. Nobody really can tell him how to smoke his light. But he brings a light, undoubtedly, he needs nobody to understand him. He is nameless and yet he has a name. He is nobody and yet he is everybody. He carries a watch. He needs to be somewhere on time.

I have met many a Hermits on the road. Perhaps even more than Fools. They’re alright.

The Hermit is no medicine man. He has no time to cure folks. He is on a path to purify himself.

Nuff said.

Strength

STRENGTH VIII

Divinatory meanings: Good choices, making the right decision, controlling the wild beast inside your own heart, a good woman, morality. Ethics. Truth.

Yes or No: Yes.

Numerical Value: 8

I really went out on a limb here and did not choose the ordinary symbols used in most decks for this card. I should have, by all accounts, a woman dominating a wild beast. Instead, I have the Governator with a sword. But actually, the symbols still apply: Arnold is in drag, and his sword is the beast!

Why?

Because in California, it’s the Gay folks who rule (not implying anything about Arnold, just about his attractiveness to other men) and the sword is the beast. The beast of violence and destruction represented by an implement created solely for war. What beast could be worse than man? Interestingly, Arnold has the sword pointed “up” which means aggression.

Conan the Barbarian is now a fully developed human being with a balance between his male and female parts fully awakened. A holy Hermaphrodite that has the strength to fully condone the beast without giving it room to destroy, maul and murder.

I wanted to choose somebody who is impeccable. Arnold came to mind. I wanted to choose someone who represents the strength of body and spirit. Again, the Governator was the man. Especially the young Arnold, who comes from Germany to the USA a nobody and in a small time, builds himself to be one of the most important people around.

His lesson to all of us: You too can be like me! All you need to do is to control the wild beast of the id and clamp down on your negative instincts, to build a better person each day.

The Chariot

The Chariot. VII – Divinatory meanings: Travel, going somewhere. A trip. Leaving a place. Moving into a new place. A vacation. A leader.

Yes or No: Yes.

Numerical Value: 7.

Fly me to the Moon! There is a car and there is a driver’s seat. You can’t really navigate without some kind of control, but when you figure it out, the trip is less trippy. Some folks never leave the comfort of the Hermit’s Cave. They must wait another lifetime to reach to the stars.

Any starship needs a Captain. But it is not just leading that get us there. Sometimes, you need to allow yourself to be led too. The twin engines of the Space Shuttle are nothing without the big booster. And none of these combined gets anywhere fast without the folks inside the little cabin.

Oftentimes, we forget we are in a spaceship. Mother Earth, when looked from above, is nothing more than a little sphere, floating in space, “seemingly” without rhyme or reason. But at least we know now. We can tell. We are willing to go there, and see it all for what it really is: a journey.

Do not confuse the Chariot with the wheel. The Chariot is dynamic, powerful, awesome. It gets things done. It makes it so. It makes beauty possible. The only cost is leaving the past behind. There are no safety nets for the Charioteer. Once you start your engines, it’s really up to you to get to the finish-line, and there is no guarantee that there even is a finish-line.

What is the ultimate goal of the Chariot?

To Boldly Go Where Nobody has Gone Before. Why? Because the Chariot is the leader of the pack. The Charioteer breaks ground for the foot-soldiers. He is the scout. The Ranger. You must trust your wheels.