Fortune's Wheelhouse

Few rejoice to see the 3 of Swords, Lord of Sorrow in his rainy palace, yet in its depths lie jewels. Saturn governs the middle decan of Libra. He grinds the harvest of late September, the burden of his inevitability heavy on our hearts.  We seek Justice yet carry the weight of the World. Here are contracts, chains, heartbreaks, the Queen of Swords, Binah in Yetzirah, the 7 sorrows of Mary, the womb of Chaos; the Pythian oracle, the Buddha's enlightenment, the cracked heart that lets in light and rain.

The 2 of Swords is the Lord of Peace or Peace Restored. What is Peace doing in the suit of warfare? What intellectual capacities aid Peace? The Moon rules this first decan of the Scales, lending her resilience to the avatar of Justice. We consider the conflicted mind, restorative justice, and the uses of silence, silence, chastity, the numbers 2 and 11, the goddess Ma'at, the feather of truth, the Erinyes, Athena, blindfolds, hoodwinks, veils, stages, angels, daggers, rapiers... and spiraling pinwheels.

With a crack of thunder and a whoosh of air, the Ace of Swords cuts through the clouds! Here in tarot's most turbulent suit, geniuses and madmen reside. Swords represent our own human minds: they govern thoughts, conflicts, and words. Dual in nature, they cut both ways, for good and evil.  Discussed on the way: elemental Air and the Fool, magic, the letter Vav and world of Yetzirah, invoked vs. natural power, will and desire, crowns, symbols, serpents, knights errant, thelema, agape, numbers 6 and 93.

The Page or Princess of Cups is the world's dreamer, and her air of distant rapture belies her power. The earthy part of water, she is a scryer, an oracle, and a romantic. As Jung did with his Red Book, she grounds her dreams in this world's reality. Also: meditation, sacrifice, and redemption, desire and illusion, the fish, the lotus, tortoises, swans, the geomantic figure Via, hexagram 41 ("Decrease"), plague and chivalry, the myth of Paris, falling in love with love, and the active imagination.

The Knight or Prince of Cups is a subtle, secretive and magnetic creature;  fall for his charisma if you dare!  The airy part of water, he is a bridge from emotion to intellect.  A consummate storyteller; his words weave spells and snares for the heart, mingling truth and fiction. Here are Truce, Disappointment, and Pleasure; Death and Justice, desire and sacrifice, the sorcerer Nectanebo, the fiery star Antares, flying fish, hexagram 62, feathered serpents, eagles, scorpions, windfalls and reversals.

Mystic, empath, archetypal anima - here is the Queen of Cups.  Most sensitive of queens, the watery part of water, the Moon governs her tides. She is by nature nurturing and compassionate - mostly.  Here are sacrificial maidens and femmes fatales - Circe, Helen of Troy, Delilah, Princess Diana, the Lady of the Lake, the myth of Judith and Holofernes. Also: blonde bombshells, magic mirrors, the world of dreams, the Beehive Cluster, the ibis, heron, and stork, desire, memory, purity, patience.

Here is the Lord of the Waves and Waters! the King of Cups (RWS) - or Knight of Cups (Thoth). The 'fiery' part of water, his is an ephemeral and brilliant nature.  What is the nature of his mystical quest?  Here we consider his relationship to the 7 of Swords, the 8 and 9 of Cups, The Star and the Moon.  We consider the will to dream, the gifts of poetry, the call to chivalry, gurus, diplomats, peacocks, snakes, Charlemagne and the Suicide King, fishy feet and wavy crowns, and Grail quests.

The 10 of Cups (Lord of "Satiety" or "Perfected Success") - it's even more special than you think. Fiery Mars rules over this watery final decan of the zodiacal year. Where fire and water meet, we find rainbows are strange combinations of desire and dissolution, the powerful drives of the hungry god foundering in the mystic seas of the cosmic fish! We consider the poppy as oblivion and beauty, morbid hunger, false hopes, foreboding, lust of result, pipe dreams, the magical backstage and the final bow.

The 9 of Cups is the Lord of Happiness or "card of wishes" - a card so delightful you just want to bask in its good fortune.  Jupiter brings double blessings to this card in magical ways - as you would expect of a card whose associated major arcana are the Wheel of Fortune and the Moon. We discuss the geomantic figure Laetitia, the Holy Grail, thunderstorms, Ganymede, Falstaff, the trickster daemon Dolos, Truth and Falsehood, the wishbone, talking fishes... and the wishes they grant.

Abandon success all ye who enter here!  It is the 8 of Cups, the becalmed and benighted Lord of Indolence. Lead-footed Saturn governs the first decan of Pisces; dark clouds and eclipses rule the sky.  In this dark night of the soul a journey towards redemption begins. We encounter the deadly sea, the collective unconscious, the lighthouse in an angry sea.  We wander the garden of Kundry, hearing out the tale of the ancient mariner and, at last, running aground on the shores of sleep.

The 7 of Cups, Lord of Debauch or Illusionary Success, is a hologram, a trick of the light, a mirage.  Here Venus rules the 2nd decan of Scorpio - potent yet in detriment as she passes through the house of Mars with her magic mirror.  This is the card of the artist:  When Death meets the Maiden, expect secret corruption, glamor and fairy gold. We speak of the peacock's tail, the memento mori, will o' the wisps, psychedelics and hangovers, Circe, Miss Havisham, Indiana Jones and ...Kubla Khan.

This week, we explore the 6 of Cups, a doubly solar card - Pleasure in the heart of Death!  This is a sacred sacrifice, where in the dying glow of yesterday the Sun bargains for tomorrow.  The glint of light on water offers a promise of redemption, but also a guarantee of change. Here the spirit is freed to roam the isles of the blessed. We explore the concept of saudade, solar twins, nostalgia, serpents, scorpions, eagles, consciousness, the Ode to Joy, Elysium, and waters both shallow and deep. 

Disappointment and Loss in Pleasure! In this first decan of Scorpio, Mars rules thrice over. His fiery ferocity unleashes a searing wind over the watery suit of cups. The Tower meets Death, and devastation ensues. Here we consider the phases of death. the five rivers of Hades, the thinning of the veil, emotional severity. Marriages, hungry ghosts, mourning, love and loss, fish, pentagrams, and the geomantic figure Rubeus. It is a perilous journey! but we're right there with you all the way.

Here we look at the super-lunar 4 of Cups, where the moon wanes and waxes to the full.  A high tide of luxury washes into shore, while "seeds of decay in the fruit of pleasure" are the grit that causes the pearl to form. Here we consider blue nuns and vehicles of conveyance, emotional peaks, the sea as nurturer and destroyer.  We consider First World Problems, dissatisfaction and adequacy, crabs and camels, lotuses and waves... and what on earth a 'celhafe' could be.

In the abundant 3 of Cups, the messenger god brings his quicksilver tongue to the world of emotions.  Mercury rules this second decan of Cancer; festivities and games preside over the hour, and all good things.  Yet there is an undercurrent of danger; the most tempting fruits may be those that are forbidden. Here are Demeter and Persephone, Mercury as psychopomp, Dionysus, the threefold nature of women...Grapes, pomegranates, grains, gourds, the layered protection of eggs and walled gardens.