Ditesco Maero

I met the ghost of Stephen Foster at the Hotel Paradise,

And this is what I told him as I gazed into his eyes-

'Rooms were made for carpets,

Towers made for spires

Ships were made for cannonades to fire off from inside them!'

-Jim Mathus, The Ghost of Stephen Foster

For those of you not as well-versed (read: dorky) as your humble narrator is in romantic languages, the title of this entry is Latin for 'sorrow Enriches Me'. The picture is excerpted from a pretty good read, The Club Dumas, by Arturo Perez-Reverte. It also was the basis for the movie The Ninth Gate- personally I liked the book better, but the movie was really good too. At any rate, this has always been one of my favorite illustrations from the book, and, like many of the other illustrations, has some fun little occult symbolism. The figure is a close resemblance to The Hermit, though this Hermit would have been created by Pamela Coleman-Smith quite a few years later, after the book this illustration came from was purported to be written- the book in the story, I'm not sure when the story itself was published. The Hermit holds two keys, a symbol shown earlier on the Hierophant card of the same deck, and the symbol relates back to the Bible, in which Jesus mentions to Peter how the 'keys to the kingdom' were given to him. At any rate, this is an interesting analogy, though perhaps one more avid readers of the Bible may not like. The reason being that this can be interpreted as a much more Gnostic version of Jesus, a bringer of secret wisdom to mankind, the enlightened sage bringing new learning to men, for the purpose of instruction, and ultimately making them like himself. But at any rate, that's neither here nor there at this point. There is a prominent figure of a dog in the picture, though curiously the dog is black rather than white. The Fool is accompanied by a white dog, symbolizing his intuition and clear mind- the dog acts as his good counsel and common sense- preventing him from walking over the cliff he's oblivious to, and in some cases acting as a hindrance for things the Fool wishes to accomplish.

The lantern is a symbol associated also with the Hermit, here indicating illumination, discovering with the rational and conscious mind things that were previously tucked away in the subconscious, now brought to the mind of the Hermit through self-examination.

So at any rate, I did a reading again today, kind of to touch base with myself, see which way the wind blows, all those good cliches.It was a regular old run of the mill 14-card spread, and the results are here:

The first card was The Lovers, indicating at the present a sense of unity and balance- not so much within myself, but rather finding partnership and meaning with another person. Do I need to belabor the obvious at this point in the game? Well, perhaps a little, as recently I've discovered interesting and positive things about my dear lady previously unknown- wow, that sounds overly dramatic, but that's all right, as it's a good revelation. At any rate, this is very much relevant to my current situation. Covering this was the Emperor, indicating a productive discipline and restriction over this new learning and understanding- instead of rampant and chaotic growth, the Emperor indicates stability, discipline and control- growth and development with a clear purpose, not just for the sake of growth.

The next card, The Past, was the Hierophant, indicating good advice, and turning to a source of that advice in times of need. Also tied in to my lady love, as it seems the two of us are much more deeply and inextricably connected than I had previously realized. Well, live and learn. Odd that she should appear in this of all cards, though I tend to think it reflects something greater than the both of us as well, seeming to indicate how the forces behind the universe said "look, don't be so dense, just trust yourself on this one". Pretty good advice, at any rate.

The next position was the Foundation, and here was the Ace of Wands- a pretty auspicious start to this reading, I thought. The Ace indicates creative power and potential, lots of good positive energy, though very much requiring a firm hand at the wheel, hence the Emperor.

The next card was the Near Future, and here was the 3 of Wands- also a good sign, as in some decks this card is identified as Virtue, meaning a unity of will, thought and action. Coupled with the previous cards, I definitely take this as a good sign. Again, trust yourself seems to be the message, and move forwards- don't wait, don't deliberate, operators are standing by.

The next card here was the Aspirations position- here, the King of Swords. The King represents an analytical and reasoning mind, exercising dominion and mastery through means of his skillful mind and communication; the ability to work with, to grasp and understand, instead of the raw force of power. Interesting.

The seventh position, also telling of the future, held the Knight of Cups and the 6 of Swords- the Knight tells of spiritual and emotional things, a kind of counterpoint to the clinical rationality of the King of Swords. Yet the Knight indicates less mastery, or perhaps less experience, than does the King- tending towards idealism, the Knight represents the transition towards maturity. The Six of Swords accompanying this also tells of a shift- here, of understanding and insight- a changing perspective, in other words. Things go from a word to a word, as it says in the Poetic Edda, from a deed to another deed. And with this, the Knight aspect develops and becomes wiser and more mature.

The eighth position tells of hopes and fears, and here was the 2 of Pentacles and the Page of Wands. This too tells of balance and new understanding- the Page indicates the first steps in kind of a brave new world, as shown by the typical Page, bearing the symbol of his or her suit like something precious and mysterious, almost afraid to make use of it. The Two accompanying it also points to balance- in this instance balance manifested in actions, balance in the physical world- I kind of get a sense of balance established here rather than a naturally occurring stasis, balance through conscious will rather than simply letting things happen.

The ninth position tells of hidden influences- things that come to bear but may not be readily apparent on the situation. Here was the 6 of Cups and the 9 of Wands- the Six tells also of balance, yet here looking to those things that are a source of love and support; not dwelling on the past and clinging to it, but realizing how the good memories and positive places we've been can motivate us, how remembered joy can motivate to seek out that joy in the future. The 9 tells of completion, to an extent- of having come through the fire, and now standing, maybe a bit singed here and there, but nonetheless in a position of success- no time to delay, but to press forwards to see things to a successful conclusion. The road may be long, but nonetheless, the end is not quite reached yet.

The tenth position tells of the outcome- of how, given the trend of things, it'll all turn out. Here was the Sun and the 3 of Swords. As an interesting aside, this card keeps popping up around me, and not just the one I have tattooed on my arm, either. Actually, that's why that tattoo is there. The 3 tells of sorrow, yet from sorrow and hard times we can sometimes be made strong, that much more determined to carry on in the face of adversities. The Sun is a symbol of, well, the sun- the source of energy and warmth for this earth, and ultimately the source of all energy; these two together point to the ability and will to push on, not letting those nasty little negative thoughts and doubts to sap that energy- I see this as tying back to the Emperor, that is, guiding and shaping the positive, putting it into productive channels rather than letting it just run rampant, either through no control or unwise control.

All in all, the message seems to be trust myself, don't be afraid, and most of all, don't delay. Things will happen when I set them in motion, but not before. This is an interesting thing about this line of work- people often ask, "What will the future hold?" Well, looks like the future holds what you want it to hold- what you want to do, and most importantly of all, what you actually put into action.

It reminds me of a passage I read from one Ajahn Sumedho, on the Dharma- to paraphrase, say we're sitting in a jail cell- it's dirty, cold, moldy and damp, and generally not a nice place. In walks Buddha, hands you a key, and says, there you go. This key can get you out. Now, wouldn't reason dictate, put that key in the lock, open the door and kick gravel? However, perhaps we don't put two and two together, instead saying, "Wow, what a miraculous thing! Look at this symbol, delivered from the hand of Buddha himself!" So we take this key, hang it on the wall (yes, of the very same cell...) and prostrate to it every day. Well, that may make things in the jail cell a little more endurable, but still, is this really the best way to go here? Why not put it into action, use the silly thing, and get going? Because sometimes, I find, inertia is a lot like that. A lot of times I've felt that way- sitting there looking at the key, and wondering, where's the keyhole and the door? When in reality, I may be leaning against the door scratching my head the whole time.