So I thought I might as well give it a go at some point. I didn’t have anywhere really appropriate, like an altar or anything, but I do have a beautifully framed print of Caspar Friedrich’s “Tree of Crows” which I have yet to hang up, so I laid the cards upon the glass surface. I’m using a Rider-Waite deck, as it seems fairly synonymous – although I’d rather be using the Tarot of Marseille. And as I’m using the Rider-Waite I thought it only polite to use the Celtic Cross. What we have is A, over which B is crossed, then C, D, E, F, in the position of East, South, West, then North. G, H, I, J ascend from the bottom to the top to form a pillar to the East. The meanings of these positions becomes hazy and intuitive. An excellent explanation by Waite himself is worth reading. Anyway, here’s the reading:

A= Judgement

B= VI Cups

C= The Star

D= The Lovers

E= King of Cups

F= King of Wands

G= Page of Cups

H= The Tower

I= IV Pentacles

J= King of Cups

I thought I ought to ask myself the Prufrock Question, from the famous poem:

And here’s some of my thoughts on the results: Firstly, I screwed up. I ought to have picked for myself a Significator rather than have one accidentally turn up. But it works out well, being Judgement. It’s all transcendence into the divine or inner nature, and I suppose that was mostly my question. VI Cups is about the transitional nature of childhood, and as an obstacle I suppose that transcendence is being limited by frameworks which need to be revised; habits which need to change. The root of all this is The Star, which I read as a muse figure, translating the universe into life through her language. Supposedly this is my unconciousness, while my conciousness is the King of Cups, who represents creative intelligence. The past, which I should let go, is The Lovers, which I read to suggest that ideals must perish, that a loss of innocence must occur. The counterpoint, King of Wands, seems to be a guardian, cloaked in his beliefs, who communicates through his staff. He seems priestly, and like the Knights looks off into the distance, as though already elsewhere.

My present self, or possibility, is Page of Cups, of whom Waite’s description is so awesome it needs to be writ in full: “A fair, pleasing, somewhat effeminate page, of studious and intent aspect, contemplates a fish rising from a cup to look at him. It is the pictures of the mind taking form”. Yes. But the next card, representing how I am seen by others, is troubling. The Tower is generally an unhappy card. I reckon in this aspect, it’s an Icarus story. Waite quotes: “except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” Perhaps I am seen to be building a Tower of Babel while figuring myself to be building an Ark. Retribution will gather itself from accumulated failure in strike in some kind of embolism/mental breakdown and topple my Crown of Intellectual Thought and down will topple my twin selves of Artistic Judgement and Withered Humanity. In other words, it may be seen that I am being a dick. Moving on though: my Hopes and Fears, my Guidance, or possibly Overlooked Factor is represented by IV Pentacles. Seems to be a card of obsession. The guy is walking in Pentacles: is crowned by it and clings to it. Maybe I hope that I have a path; maybe I’m overlooking a certain inheritance, an obligation. But certainly I am focused.

The result of all this, the last card, is Knight of Cups. He carries his cup with unhurried dignity. What does this mean? Am I to be a bearer of a standard? Is this some kind of relay, passing along the cup to someone else? It is an obligation, and it is an obsession. He sits tall in his saddle with a surety of those who have decided upon a path, and decided that it is the only path worth walking. He is the bearer of a standard and this standard consumes him. It consumes his innocence and his humanity. The standard is the vessel which carries the stuff of life to that which needs to be born. The journey is a quest towards that muse, that one who can use the standard to actually manifest reality. Will it be me? Or will I die and pass it on to someone else?

Well that was fun!