Tarot Soul Card -- Chariot (Number 7)

[Twin Peaks Tarot]

FULL DISCLOSURE: The Chariot is my own soul card and man oh man, have I lived every single one of its characteristics over and over again in my life, LOL!

Men and women whose soul card is the Chariot have the ability to succeed and overcome obstacles by sheer force of willpower, ambition and drive. They are single-minded, determined, serious and have high ideals. Unfortunately, they can sometimes run roughshod over people because, really, those idiots ought to know to get the hell out of the way, shouldn't they? A Chariot is in control of their own life. They are firmly "in the driver's seat."

Well, most of the time.

When a Chariot loses their way on their soul path, they will run off into the ditch, get mired in the mud or flip upside-down with one wheel spinning uselessly in the breeze, all their energy and direction gone, gone, gone. What brings a Chariot down are their own internal opposing energies, contradictions and weaknesses. A Chariot must learn to do the internal processing of emotions necessary to maintain equilibrium in the external world.

There is one other major arcana card in this constellation which influences a Chariot's soul path: the Tower. And isn't it a cheerful-looking card?

[Morgan-Greer Tarot]

The Tower card represents sudden, cataclysmic and irreversible change. An unexpected shock, revelation or blow to the ego will occur. Like a bolt out of blue, misperceptions will be shattered. Old foundations will be destroyed. This life-altering change may come from an external event or from an internal epiphany. Chariots usually experience Tower energy many times in their lives.

But while change rarely comes slowly or incrementally to Chariots, it does not mean that the change itself is bad. Often the unexpected change is a good and necessary one -- "a blessing in disguise" -- resulting in an improvement to the Chariot's life in the long run.

However, Chariots must learn to be philosophical about how the Tower works. If they cannot learn to embrace this powerful energy, it will fall into their shadow and be expressed as rigidity, a controlling nature, hubris, arrogance, exhaustion or depression.

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Next Week: the Strength Soul Card

[NOTE: If you haven't yet determined what your Soul Card is and would like to, please go to the introductory post of this series found here, do the calculation and play along!]

Calling All Avengers Fans!

Because you'll be the only ones who might be interested in this post, LOL!

As Marvel fans know, the long-anticipated/dreaded movie Avengers: Infinity War opens on Friday! Everyone is busy speculating about which of the Avengers will die in the film. Personally, I think Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Vision and Hawkeye are all goners. But the real question that I want to explore today is a different one, namely --

Will Loki prove himself to be an untrustworthy villain who betrays everyone again, as he always does?

My own pet theory is that NO, HE WILL NOT. Although admittedly, things don't look good in that department right off the hop.

In the Infinity War trailer, we see Loki handing the glowing blue cube, the Tesseract (which contains the Space Stone) over to Thanos in an obvious act of betrayal against the Avengers. Fearful and wary, Loki knows to never take his eyes off Thanos even for a second.

Loki is "contractually obliged" to give the Tesseract to Thanos because that was Thanos' price for the loan of the Chitauri army when Loki attempted to conquer Earth in the first Avengers movie. If Loki tries to get out of that contract, Thanos will kill him. As Loki was famously warned --

If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us,

there will be no realm, no barren moon,

no crevice where he cannot find you.

You think you know pain?

He will make you long for something

as sweet as pain.

But I predict that Loki, God of Mischief, will be so bold and daring as to DOUBLE-CROSS Thanos! Yes, Loki gives him a Tesseract -- but is it THE Tesseract?

Remember in Thor: Ragnarok, Hela the Goddess of Death says that Odin's treasury is full of fakes. She contemptuously knocks over Odin's "Infinity Gauntlet" as an example. Walking by the Tesseract, she says something like "Oh, that's good!" What does this ambiguous statement mean? That the Tesseract is real? Or that it's a particularly convincing fake? I think she means it's a good fake.

Later, when Loki is on his way to summon Surtur the Fire Demon, he spots the Tesseract in the treasury and slows down to look at it. We don't see Loki actually take the Tesseract but clearly, that's where he gets it from.

But if the Tesseract and its Space Stone are fake, why doesn't Thanos find out right away? As shown in the Infinity War trailer, it's only the second Infinity Stone obtained by Thanos for the Gauntlet. When he fights Steve Rogers, you can see that the Gauntlet just has two Stones at that point. It is not yet up to full power.

I think the Space Stone is a good enough fake or has been put under a powerful enough spell by Loki so that it does have some diluted power, but its deficiencies will not be discernible among the other real Stones until the crucial moment when Thanos finally tries to use the completed, fully armed Gauntlet for its intended purpose -- to wipe out half the Universe with a snap of his fingers. At that moment, when FULL power is needed, the Gauntlet will fail because of the inadequate Space Stone. And the remaining Avengers will then be able to defeat Thanos. TA-DA!

Loki's trickery and duplicity will therefore SAVE THE UNIVERSE and he will finally DESERVE that saviour statue he had already narcissistically erected to himself in Thor: Ragnarok!

Only Loki would have the skill, guts and unmitigated gall to coolly double-cross Thanos and get away with it. As Loki always said, "Trust my rage."

If my prediction comes true, remember -- you read it here first!

[Note: all gifs in this post come from Tumblr]

Happy Earth Day!

Tarot Soul Card -- Lovers (Number 6)

[PoMo Tarot]

The Lovers soul path involves interpersonal and romantic relationships, but not in the way people assume. Alas, it does not guarantee you a fulfilling life of exciting emotional and sexual partnerships (although if you have such a life, mazel tov!)

No, the Lovers soul card is really all about learning who you are and how to be true to yourself in the midst of personal relationships with others. This often involves making tough choices and learning how to separate "you" from "we." Such lessons are the central purpose of a man or a woman on the Lovers soul path and, of course, can take a million different forms:

• whose interests should prevail, mine or yours?
• should I choose this person or that person?
• am I staying in a relationship out of love or fear?
• am I sacrificing too much?
• am I selfishly using this person?
• etc., etc.

There is one other major arcana card in this constellation which influences a Lovers' soul path: the Devil.

[Light and Shadow Tarot]

The Devil card represents all that is raw and untamed in a person. If this power is harnessed in a positive and healthy way, it can result in tremendous creativity and freedom. Expressed in such a manner, the Devil influence can greatly assist in helping a Lover realize their true self and live a better life.

In our society, however, the Devil card is more often experienced as a hidden factor or shadow in the Jungian sense. Expressed in this negative way, men and women who get lost on the Lovers soul path can struggle with addictions, repressed sexuality, guilt, shame, feelings of inadequacy or other life-inhibiting conditions. As an unconscious coping mechanism, they may project these negative emotions onto other people or social groups, judging and scapegoating them.

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Next Week: the Chariot Soul Card

[NOTE: If you haven't yet determined what your Soul Card is and would like to, please go to the introductory post of this series found here, do the calculation and play along!]

Vehicular Funnies

The Playoffs Are Here!

There are only TWO Canadian hockey teams in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs this year -- the Winnipeg Jets and the Toronto Maple Leafs. I wish the Leafs well, of course, but at the moment I'm cheering for the Winnipeg Jets in their series against the Minnesota Wild. As an ex-Winnipegger, how could I NOT? The Jets are currently leading the series two games to one.

So here I am in front of my TV SET, wearing my Winnipeg Jets PJ PANTS, assisting the Winnipeg fans on the screen by being the Edmonton contingent of THE WHITEOUT!

GO JETS GO!

Tarot Soul Card -- Hierophant (Number 5)

[Yoshitaka Amano Tarot]

Because "hierophant" is such an archaic word, we need to start with a definition. In Greek, hierophant means "he who speaks the holy." Specifically, it was the title of the High Priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries. In tarot, "hierophant" has a more general meaning of "any moral authority figure who decrees how one should act." And so the Hierophant card is all about rules for living -- what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is bad, what is healthy, what is not, etc.

Men and women whose soul card is the Hierophant struggle with these rules. It is the defining condition of their soul journey. Sometimes, Hierophants can go to extremes -- either slavishly obeying external rules or breaking them all with abandon. They may swing from one extreme to another during their life. For example, a wild youth may be followed by a conservative adulthood. Or vice versa -- someone may "follow the rules" all their lives until they hit mid-life and then, out of the blue, kick over the traces and become a rebel. In other words, a Hierophant will either question authority or accept authority. There does not seem to be a lot of middle ground for them.

There is one other major arcana card in this constellation which influences a Hierophant's soul path: Temperance.

[Golden Thread Tarot]

The Temperance card is all about balance and transformation. It does not concern choosing one option over another but rather, counsels blending the two opposites to create a new, third option. Temperance can offset the Hierophant's tendency to go to one extreme or the other.

A Hierophant longs for a single quintessential Truth that will tie everything together in a meaningful unity. The life challenge of a Hierophant is to learn to be their own authority rather than obeying external rules. However, this can only be done by learning from experience -- learning how to blend and create the third option of Temperance. If a Hierophant successfully integrates Temperance, they will achieve a more balanced life following their own internal rules rather than external ones.

But if a Hierophant gets lost on their soul path and does not develop their own inner moral code, they can become rigid, dogmatic, judgemental and self-righteous (regardless of whether they are conformists or rebels). Temperance falls into their Shadow and its lessons are ignored.

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Next Week: the Lovers Soul Card

[NOTE: If you haven't yet determined what your Soul Card is and would like to, please go to the introductory post of this series found here, do the calculation and play along!]

Winter Blues

Are you eagerly awaiting Spring's arrival? I know I am.

Winter gets real old, real fast, doesn't it? And around here, winter lasts a long, long time.

Our snow started in October. We're still getting snow now in April. When will it end?

I'm sure all of you who live in cold climates agree!

Get here soon, Spring! Please!

"Boy, that escalated quickly"

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Tarot Soul Card -- Emperor (Number 4)

[Thoth Tarot]

Men and women whose soul card is the Emperor are leaders, doers, builders and achievers. They are often masters in their chosen field of endeavour. Structure, order, facts and reason are important to Emperors; they find such structure reassuring. Emperors do not tend to be introspective types but are focused on the world around them.

The central themes of an Emperor's soul path are power and authority. If an Emperor exercises those qualities well, she or he will be a source of strength, protection and benefit to those around them. But if an Emperor gets lost on their soul path, power and authority can be misused and instead become aggression, bullying or abuse. Emperors need to guard against this.

There are two other major arcana cards in this constellation which influence an Emperor's soul path: Death and the Fool.

[Motherpeace Tarot]

The Death card seldom refers to the actual death of people. Instead, it represents profound and irrevocable transformation -- endings and beginnings, destruction and renewal, decay and new growth. If the Death aspect of this constellation is integrated into an Emperor's soul path in a positive and beneficial way, the Emperor will be a transformative force of good in their own life and in others' lives. The Emperor will easily be able let go of old ideas and outdated ways of living in order to embrace the new, the innovative and the progressive. The Emperor will lead "onwards and upwards."

But if the Death aspect is suppressed and falls into the Emperor's shadow, the Emperor will resist change and will cling to their existing power and success instead of living life. Sometimes an Emperor will have a literal fear of death so that they will try to ensure (through children, monuments or self-aggrandizement) that "their name will live forever."

[Robin Wood Tarot]

In this soul path constellation, the Fool is the exact opposite of the Emperor -- spontaneous, open, often kind of scatterbrained, usually carefree to the point of carelessness, subject to no rules. Thus, there is a paradox at the heart of every Emperor. Often when they are young, the Fool aspect seems to dominate their existence. But as they age, the Emperor aspect takes over and then they settle down and make something of themselves. But even as serious, mature, rule-making Emperors, they often believe they are personally exempt from those same rules which can, of course, lead to trouble. When the Emperor aspect is too rigid, an Emperor's greatest fear is being seen as foolish or silly by others. Emperors can become very controlling as a result.

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Next Week: the Hierophant Soul Card

[NOTE: If you haven't yet determined what your Soul Card is and would like to, please go to the introductory post of this series found here, do the calculation and play along!]