Some pics with a Medieval Theme & Tarot Meanings

April 27, 2024

I tweeted some pics I took today (Saturday 27 April, 2024) walking along the Hunter River bank near my home. I took the pictures in colour then I made them into two versions of black and white. I have included the original tweet and all the versions of the shots here. I like all three versions but I feel there’s something more in the black and white ones. Is it a more Gothic vibe? What do you think?

Below the photos I wrote about how I took this unusual occurrence as a sign, an omen & tried reading it through a Tarot prism.

A Tarot Reading of the Woman on the Steps

I was walking along the river bank like I do most days. Seen it all out there – water dragons, wood ducks, lizards, magpies, kookaburras, doves, egrets, goats, sparrows, cows, bulls, giant spiders, hovering dragon flies, even snakes sometimes. Yep! Brown snakes that slithered over my shoes but I stayed still and calm so they left me alone. Lots of people too. But this day was different.

This day there was a woman holding a lantern and a sword. Not something you see every day. Got me thinking it must be some kind of sign or omen.

Two cards from the Tarot deck came to mind when I saw her – the Ace of Swords and The Hermit. The sword she was holding and the light from the lantern. Simple symbols but saying something important. Swords mean thoughts and ideas. The Hermit walks alone with his lamp.

The sword is for new ideas, fresh thoughts cutting through. Like the sunrise over the hills I see on my walks. An idea planted itself in my mind that day – “psychic noir” is what I started calling it. Don’t know exactly what it means yet, but it was there taking shape.

Ideas are funny things. Sometimes they come when you’re just staring at a book. Other times you have to go off alone to figure them out right. This one is going to need some solitude.

I’ll take my walking stick and that worn old lantern. They’ve been with me through a lot of wanderings, searching for answers in the quiet places. The lantern casts just enough light to see what’s right in front of me. That’s all I need to know for now where this psychic noir idea is headed.

Up in the high cold lonesome places, that’s where I’ve found my way before when the fog set in. Had to shed a lot of distractions and false notions to keep climbing. The staff and lantern are hard-earned wisdom from those journeys.

It’s not an easy path going inward like that. You lose sight of everything else. Only the faintest voice left to tell you you’re headed the right way. You keep putting one foot in front of the other though, trusting that at some point you’ll break through to clarity again.

That’s what the woman with the lantern was telling me. When the world crowds in too much, I know where to go to listen to my soul’s truth. Just me, the staff, the glimmer of light in the darkness, and sooner or later an idea takes shape.

That’s the journey. Bright flashes of clarity like the Sword. Then the Hermit’s long, hard, lonely road to make them real. Not easy. But the only way to live that counts.

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Life – Backgammon or Chess?

April 20, 2024

Which game encapsulates our experience of life? Chess is a good game but backgammon is better. Backgammon has an element of chance like life itself. As the poet said, even the best plans can go wrong. A smart backgammon player thinks ahead about all the possible rolls of the dice. Which move gives the best position if the dice go this way or that? In backgammon, you battle against the randomness of the dice as much as your opponent.

Some think backgammon is just luck from one game to the next. But matches are many games long. With the doubling cube, the better player will win the match even after losing some single games. Like Napoleon beating a general despite losing some battles.

Life goes on like that. The dice won’t always roll your way. Make your plans knowing chance can disrupt them. Look at your position and the possibilities ahead – how the universe might mess with you next. Then make your moves. Even if you lose today, there’s another day to try again.

When facing the uncertainties of life, I often consult the I Ching. The ancient Book of Changes reveals insights through chance that crystallise into 64 hexagrams. I toss the coins or if I feel in a more meditative mood I shuffle the yarrow stalks. The resulting hexagram offers wisdom for my situation. If I’m sensitive enough to such meaningful coincidences, I may gain a more appropriate strategy. The I Ching helps prepare me for how fortune’s dice may tumble. I try to follow its advice to better navigate life’s changing tides.

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The Quest for Inspiration

April 18, 2024

The oppressive Australian heat bore down as I trudged along the endless road to the small Queensland town where my friends had once lived. Car after car whizzed past without stopping for the wayward traveler. After hours of walking under the relentless sun, I finally reached my destination only to find their house abandoned – they had moved on.

Feeling lost and alone, I sank onto the front step, uncertain of my next move. That’s when the wizened old man appeared, his weathered face seeming to defy the laws of age itself. He fixed me with an inscrutable stare for a long moment before speaking.

“Your mates are gone. But you’re in luck I’m still around.”

His humble shack was a one-room timber structure that emanated an odd warmth, the air carrying the scent of freshly-hewn wood. We sat on tree stump stools as he poured our drinks. I explained that I had come to Queensland seeking inspiration to work on my thesis about the mystical poetry of William Blake. His response took me by surprise.

“Ah, Blake could perceive the hidden truths, my friend. The rest of us are blind to such mysteries.”

This peculiar old man had me rapt as he delved into the sacred geometries, the mystic language of numbers, and how words and logic obscure the greater realities. His words wove together theosophical concepts and Pythagorean numerology.

“Within these corporeal shells, we are mere observers,” he proclaimed. “Catching fleeting glimpses of the vastness through sensory keyholes.”

I could only listen in silence as he added with a sage nod, “Having nothing to say may be your salvation.”

As I bid farewell to the enigmatic stranger, stepping out into the crisp air, the world itself seemed transformed around me. The return journey, hitching rides and passing through landscapes both familiar and foreign, carried an ineffable sense that I had been granted a glimpse into something far greater than myself.

With each passing car and transient vista, I felt I was traversing the synapses of some vast cosmic mind, every experience and perception flickering like synaptic connections within the neural network of a greater consciousness. Finally arriving home, I marveled at the profound interconnectedness of it all. I could taste the words Blake had penned in “Auguries of Innocence“:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour

What once seemed an impossible task no longer felt so hopeless. The thesis that had tormented me for so long now carried the promise of insight and meaning.

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The above event demonstrates for me the ideas of synchronicity and hyparxis. Below is a schematic diagram of a “MOMENT”. It shows 3 dimensions of the ‘moment in time’ – Serial Time, Spatial Time and Timeless Time. This diagram is based on J G Bennett’s ‘Dramatic Universe‘ where he explores these issues of Time. Yes, it’s my hand drawn version!

2 Comments | consciousness, fiction, numerology, philosophy, poetry, Pythagoras, symbolism, William Blake, writing | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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Some Secrets Are Best Left Undisturbed.

April 8, 2024

There were no rainbow hues crowning the dilapidated house across the asphalt. A lone weed struggled through the crack in the cement to greet the constant passersby. She could empathize with the weed, “What’s a weed but a plant discarded from the mob?” she thought.

Her hair, from a distance, looked like a lion’s mane. Up close, what you thought was hair was clusters of thin lines of flame with light blue ends. Was she an angel? A messenger of fire descended into this neighborhood? Just an illusion to occupy a mind that’s locked into a cube space? Could she be both? Like a profile that is a vase from one view or two faces turned inwards from another. How long she has been watching is anyone’s guess.

Detective Claire Harper parked her car across the street from the dilapidated house. She had been assigned to investigate a series of mysterious fires that had plagued the neighborhood in recent weeks. Each blaze seemed to erupt without warning, leaving behind a trail of destruction and confusion.

As she stepped out of her car, Claire couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. She scanned the area but saw no one except for a woman standing near the weed-infested sidewalk. The woman’s fiery hair caught her attention, and Claire approached cautiously.

“Excuse me, miss,” Claire called out, “I’m Detective Harper. I’m here to investigate the fires in the area. Have you seen anything unusual?”

The woman turned to face Claire, her eyes burning with intensity. “I’ve seen everything,” she replied cryptically.

Claire raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the woman’s response. “Can you tell me what you’ve seen?” she asked, taking out her notebook.

The woman hesitated for a moment before speaking. “I’ve seen flames dancing in the night, consuming everything in their path. But I’ve also seen something else, something darker lurking in the shadows.”

Claire furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of the woman’s words. “Do you have any idea who might be responsible for these fires?” she pressed.

The woman shook her head. “I cannot say for certain,” she replied, her voice trailing off. “But beware, Detective Harper. Not everything is as it seems.”

With that cryptic warning, the woman turned and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Claire standing alone on the sidewalk.

As Claire continued her investigation, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the mysterious fires than met the eye. And as she delved deeper into the case, she would soon discover that some secrets were best left undisturbed.

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