Longas semanas

I picked up a Steampunk Tarot deck a while ago. Usually, I read with a Waite-Smith deck, and I wanted to shake up my perspectives some. I’m still getting used to the Steampunk deck, and while I’m not sure I agree with many of the interpretations in the accompanying book, I keep being surprised by the artwork and the cards themselves.

So: Here’s Trump 5, the Hierophant. He often represents customs, traditions, established cultural structures, societal mores, et cetera. This card governs the day I was born and I’ve been at odds with it for a while. I’m not what you’d call a subscriber to organized religion, and the symbols of authority in the Waite-Smith illustration (on the left) usually put me off. Unfortunately, I’ve attached a lot of my personal hang-ups to Mr. Hierophant, and he’s usually hard for me to work with when he shows up in a spread.

But the first time he made an appearance in his Steampunk form (on the right), the light bulb fizzled from dim to overloaded. Here, he’s a teacher. A freakin teacher! A guardian of knowledge and common sense who is accessible while at work in the world. This I understand and can relate to. And while I won’t ever know everything about this card, I found a way into it. I can get over myself a bit and start to build a better relationship with the ideas and archetypes it represents.

I picked up a Steampunk Tarot deck a while ago. Usually, I read with a Waite-Smith deck, and I wanted to shake up my perspectives some. I’m still getting used to the Steampunk deck, and while I’m not sure I agree with many of the interpretations in the accompanying book, I keep being surprised by the artwork and the cards themselves.

So: Here’s Trump 5, the Hierophant. He often represents customs, traditions, established cultural structures, societal mores, et cetera. This card governs the day I was born and I’ve been at odds with it for a while. I’m not what you’d call a subscriber to organized religion, and the symbols of authority in the Waite-Smith illustration (on the left) usually put me off. Unfortunately, I’ve attached a lot of my personal hang-ups to Mr. Hierophant, and he’s usually hard for me to work with when he shows up in a spread.

But the first time he made an appearance in his Steampunk form (on the right), the light bulb fizzled from dim to overloaded. Here, he’s a teacher. A freakin teacher! A guardian of knowledge and common sense who is accessible while at work in the world. This I understand and can relate to. And while I won’t ever know everything about this card, I found a way into it. I can get over myself a bit and start to build a better relationship with the ideas and archetypes it represents.

Nguyen Thanh Nam Monk

Vietnam, 1971

Nun reading about the shooting of the Pope on a New York subway. 1981