Alchemy Saturdays at The Surrealist Sportsmen's Club

After all, even insects are supposed, by some, to dream... Here's a few recurring images that seem to be stuck in my head. The first is from the Halloween Tarot, a pretty cool deck largely derivative of the Rider-Waite deck, like so many others out there. It's cute and in many cases funny, though. Can't say as I've used it, but have seen the images and the people who have have given it positive reviews. The second image is, as the name suggests, Death. This comes from the Vertigo Tarot, of which I am a big fan. It's a little on the dark and gloomy side, and puts one in mind of black-dyed hair, torn clothes and black lipstick, but apart from that is extremely effective at evoking an immediate and strong response. The card shows the comic book character (the deck is based on various comic books published under the Vertigo label) Death, a young, optimistic woman who is in fact Death, taking human form to walk among her (victims?) and remain grounded, so she doesn't lose touch with what it is to be human and mortal. She's actually a very heartwarming character, and though life and death pretty much continue on as usual, in some weird way you feel a little more optimistic. At any rate, this image depicts Death as the young woman she becomes in the comic book, holding a flower- you can't see the smile that's more than likely on her face, but her eyes seem to sparkle with some secret she's just itching to share, some wonderful truth, symbolized by her blue rose, which she holds like something precious. This is actually an interpretation of the Tarot card Death, which deals with change- could this change be something wonderful, and precious? Note that in the more traditional R-W deck, Death, shown by the armored figure on the 'pale horse' almost seems to be being welcomed by the clergyman standing before him, and we see on the ground kings and peasants falling before him, while Death rides like a conquerer, which I suppose is accurate. Death, and the change it represents (remember that there's not always a literal interpretation to the cards) can be a kind and wonderful thing, bringing us out of stagnation into a much-needed new paradigm.

The third picture is courtesy of Mike Davis, an artist with Metal Ink, a tattoo studio in Los Angeles. Not that I've ever been to LA, the closest I've been is Roseville, south of LA, but the picture is an interesting one. My random thought for today, notice that the structure of the skeleton is female. I read a lot of symbolism into this, mostly based on my own ideas. The skeleton has a birdhouse for a head- perhaps symbolizing (bad pun alert) flights of imagination, or perhaps a kind and giving nature- a birdhouse is an act of kindness, as no one really knows the character of the birds that will take up residence there- they could be the avian Manson family, for all we know. Nonetheless, there's an element of optimism in a birdhouse- that the birds will, by this act of kindness, have a great life. The skeleton leans on a crutch and has arrows stuck in its birdhouse, indicating that perhaps not everything always comes up roses- life shoots arrows at us sometimes. Wasn't it in Hamlet that Shakespeare wondered if it's better to suffer the arrows and slings of fate? Some words to that effect, at any rate. The skeleton wears a rather large watch, perhaps indicating that no one is immune to time, and all things are subject to change. This too, will pass, as I once read. There's a butterfly that the skeleton appears to be directing its attention towards, perhaps waving goodbye to. Down here in the south we get butterflies in droves- I can recall back in basic, pulling guard duty out on a field mission, sweaty, covered in dirt and generally not very comfortable, when a butterfly landed on my rifle barrel, not the least concerned. So I reached out and the butterfly hopped onto one finger, seemed to look at me for a while with interest, and then left. It was a moment to remember, if only for its odd simplicity. At any rate, I think the skeleton is having a similar "butterfly moment". It could be that the skeleton is trying to feed the butterfly to the snake wrapped around her arm, but I'd like to be a little more optimistic. Which brings us to the snake- what's the symbolism of that? It appears to be ready to strike, but at the same time, almost seems tame. Snakes, I've found, will wrap around anything warm (had to catch a couple now and then) because they like the warmth of human beings. So it could be that the snake is there because he enjoys the symbolic 'warmth' of this kind and gentle skeleton, yet like most of us, retains a dual nature- woe to he who trusts in the tameness of wolves, as I also once read. Yes, I know it's a snake, but you get the idea.
So what does all this relate to in a broader sense, these strange images? Well, apart from that they've been stuck in my head, they all seem to point to a common theme- Il est qu'il est- it is what it is. Life is what it is, which is what we make of it. Well, it made sense when I thought of it, anyway. Don't drink the Tenafly Viper, and remember, for better or worse life truly is what you make of it.