A FOOL'S JOURNEY

(begins with RE-MEMBERING)

 

 (I recommend that you read my Prologue to A Fool's Journey, before proceeding)

Magus - Tile Art by R

"MAJOR ARCANA" MEANS "GREAT MYSTERIES"

Multi-dimensional images, such as the Major Arcana, can be described as complex pictographs overflowing with revelatory symbolism. As an art form, they have emerged from just about every culture throughout human history, but their significance may be greater than that which is normally afforded to artistic expression. 

One might be tempted to assume that the vast cultural differences behind human thought, expression and behavior, as they manifest through the ages, would be reflected in the dissimilarity of the mythopoietic elements informing these images, but this is not the case. In spite of an endless variety of aesthetical differences, the core message of the main archetypes is strikingly similar across space, time, language, traditions, religion, forms of government, literacy levels, costumes and social norms.

Temperance - Tile Art by RMAThe Major Arcana's themes, in all of their compelling symbolism, have been around for such a long time that their origins disappear in the chasm between stories and legends, but the plasticity of their significance, coupled with their universal applicability and symbolic eloquence, continues to charm, inform and inspire  truth-seekers from every corner of the planet.

In the same way as most myths' authorship cannot be traced exclusively to one source, the Major Arcana are a unique form of artistic expression that reflects our evolving, communal imagination and comes into being largely through an anonymous, ongoing, collaborative effort. At the most basic level, they represent some of the most persistent themes we collectively engage with, and are informed by, via our collective unconscious, but there is more to the picture than that.Luna - Tile Art by RMA

Carl G. Jung's perspective on the symbolism of the Major Arcana can be summarized as follows: by presenting us with evocative depictions of our collective psyche's most compelling elements, they delineate our communal mindscape, thereby helping us orient ourselves towards our own truth, from wherever we are, at any given moment of our life.

In Dr. Jung's psychologically oriented interpretation, the 22 Major Arcana can be explored at many different levels of depth and meaning, similarly to venturing down a cave, because their symbolism corresponds to, and is engaged by, different layers of our psyche: from most superficial and trivial to deeply archetypal and mysterious, all the way to profoundly mystical and revelatory.

Hermit - Tile Art by RMAEach Arcanum can be compared to a river, whose source may be hidden, deep inside a cave on a mountaintop and whose delta spreads out, far and wide, at sea level.

If we go by that analogy, it's easy to imagine the difficulty of following the riverbed all the way back to its source, whereby one might have to be proficient at climbing steep rock, for instance, while interacting with the same river downstream, where water pours into the ocean, is relatively easy to do.

There are risks involved with reaching for higher grounds, but for those who are willing to exert themselves in order to find the answers to life's most challenging questions, there are rewards as well: The Tower - Tile Art by Rthe higher one climbs, the closer one gets to the river's source, the cleaner, purer and more thirst-quenching water will be.

I like the visual simplicity of the river analogy, but if you prefer to stay closer to a more universal interpretation of the Major Arcana, we can say that they represent subsequent developmental stages of the awakening of a human psyche, as they are universally and subjectively experienced, sequentially organized in order of relevance to the various phases of a human life.

********************************************

What I find most amazing about these images is that they have managed to survive, with all of their evocative vibrancy, through the centuries, even millennia, and have reached us today with still so much to tell us. 

Somehow endowed with the same immortal qualities as our imagination, they were able to slip through the Dark Ages of the Inquisition's censorship, hide from Cartesian hegemony and even avoid being crushed by the march of progress, or, more accurately, the stampede of materialistic consumerism.

The Star - Tile Art by RMA

It is immediately apparent, even to the most inexperienced observer, that this group of cards is very different, both in meaning and function, from the regular playing cards, or Minor Arcana, they so often accompany.

This realization may cause our observer to wonder why two such different sets of images should be grouped together in one deck, as if one had been tagged onto the other for lack of a better place to put it; but this inquiry is usually dismissed, since the pursuit of an explanation seems to be a futile endeavor.

I have asked myself the same question, as you can probably gather by now, and my tendency to be a bit more stubborn than the average person, in this case, has been an asset, in the sense that it has helped me in my pursuit of such an understanding.

I have come to the conclusion that, far from being the result of a mere coincidence or blunder, the conjoining of the two decks represents a well thought out stratagem that has lead to a desired outcome. I cannot prove my thesis at this time, but I am convinced that, through further research, I will be able to validate the following suppositions.

I believe there are two reasons for combining the two decks: the first one being that, by disguising them within a card game, the Major Arcana have been hidden from those who would have destroyed them, and their bearers, had they realized their real meaning and purpose. Encapsulated in what appears to be, under the scrutiny of an ego-filled know-it-all in a position of authority, a trivial divinatory tool, nothing more than a collection of  simple images that could only appeal to the most unsophisticated intellect, these jewels of Ancient Wisdom have survived, safe and sound, all the way to the present.

The second reason may have been caution: discovering the deep, hidden meaning of any great mystery by an eager Sorcerer's Apprentice, can lead to serious trouble, whereby innocent people might get hurt. To put it in the language of a spy fiction novel, these are powerful, top-secret formulae that have been circulating undercover, in order to accomplish an important mission: had their real meaning and function been too easy to apprehend, the mission might have been derailed. Simple enough.The Wheel - Tile Art by RMA

Could it be that we are looking at a "message in a bottle" of some sort? Is it possible that those who sent it, people who lived long ago and far away, knew exactly how to package it, so that it wouldn't get smashed by the elements, stolen by thieves or swallowed by sharks?

Could it be that these wise and loving predecessors, having discovered something endowed with a salvific nature, figured out a way to share it with their descendants, us, but only with those of us who wouldn't misunderstand or misuse such a gift?

Sure it's possible. But why? Why would these people care about us? After all, they had no way of knowing who we are, what we look like, how we think, what we feel, do, believe, etc. etc.

Why would they care about a bunch of total strangers, living in the future, whom they would never meet?

Mother of the World - The Empress (detail) - Tile Art by RMA

Because, I propose, we embody THEIR hope.

It's in our DNA.

Hope, I mean.

Think about it for a moment.

We, their descendants, embody the possibility of liberation from suffering, not only for ourselves but for all of humanity. And isn't that the deepest, highest, strongest hope embedded in every human heart? That all of us, and all that lives, may be free from misery, fear, pain, illness and death? Once and for all?

And if such an eventuality were to come about, wouldn't it represent freedom from suffering for every human that has ever existed, since time is but an imaginary construct that cannot truly separate us from our brethren?

Plato's cave all over again? Well, why not?

Why shouldn't we walk out into the sun, once we realize we are not really bound in darkness?

Wouldn't we break the evil spell ... for good?

Yes, I know. Wishful thinking.

Hhhummm....well...

Who knows?

Perhaps it's just what a Fool believes.The Fool - Tile Art by RMA

(TAKE ME TO A FOOL'S PARADISE)