Wednesday 26 February 2014

Western Union calling?

CBD Tarot
I have quite ambivalent feelings about the Tarot de Marseilles. I know it's an important deck, historically, but I find it so strange and ugly that I rarely use it.

Here we have the Page of Wands (Valet de Baton) from the CBD (Conver-Ben Dov) Tarot de Marseilles. The first thing that catches my eye, after my usual squinting at the overly long back and short legs, spaced apart in a way that suggests no known structure of the human pelvis, is the arms. What the --? That arm in the blue sleeve is NOT coming from this dude's left shoulder. It seems to be growing out of his right rib cage. That's weird. Also, the 'batons' in the TdM are odd because they are bright green with red tips, like when the branch was cut from the tree it oozed blood. Plus, I can't help but saying, the red-tipped bits just remind me of penises. (Sorry!)

Anyway, ignoring the blue earth and yellow grass and white sky, the bleeding green penis tree and the Picasso arms, what does the Page of Wands mean for me today?

Mary K Greer's 'Tarot for Yourself' offers these questions to ponder: What new territories are you checking out? Who is calling you? Who is enthusiastic about your endeavors or looks up to you as a mature adult? What risky actions are you taking? What are you all fired up about?'

Well, I know the Page of Wands is traditionally seen as the bringer of messages, and is often interpreted as important phone calls or letters. In my mind, he's always been Bart Simpson, tearing about on his tricycle wreaking havoc, in a good-natured, high-spirited way. Freaky-arm dude here doesn't seem terribly high-spirited, but you never know, maybe that's how he dislocated his shoulder.

Maybe I'll get some sort of important communication today. Watching for it will keep the day interesting. :)


1 comment:

  1. Couldn't help but laugh at your comments on this truly ugly deck, with weird anatomy and colouration. Hope you had a high-spirited day, with interesting messages coming your way :)

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