November 8, 2012 · 05:53

The Hierophant V

The Hierophant is the deeper meaning card. He is belief. He is the representation of the continual search for the higher purpose. He recognizes higher purpose in all situations, in all events – he knows that these things have hidden meanings that need to be searched out, examined and applied to belief.

He tells us to always look below the surface, never to take anything at face value. The material that we search out, in our daily lives, is of far lesser importance than the higher goals. Every event has a deeper meaning, a lesson that we may learn to become more spiritually aware. He is a priest – a teacher, the shaman or wise man/woman. He shows us the way but will not lead us there until we are able to understand the journey.

In relationships, he can indicate the soul mate or if he is ill-placed, someone who is not true to our basic moral foundations, our spiritual selves or a situation that places our higher self in jeopardy, a job perhaps that demands less than ethical behaviour or pushes us to become shallow and material minded.

He expects us to manifest our inner selves to shine outwards. He is that never ending search for the larger truths. A card of realization and meaning. The spiritual sought after and revealed.

In a material situation – he tells us to look deeper. To understand why we want what we want and to determine if this want is based on shallow purpose or this desire has the capability to elevate our consciousness. Making us better people.

Should his placement in a spread be less than favourable – he can represent intolerance and an esoteric arrogance, the fundamentalist without true understanding, regardless of the belief system. He shows us that scales cover the eyes and need to be removed to see the real or whole picture in a situation.

He is the false leader, the individual with the diplomas on the wall but no real concept of what has been learned. The information memorized but not understood.

The self-proclaimed expert or guru. Ill-placed, he is a danger to our deeper selves and this makes him a dangerous threat.

On the light side, he is a true mentor or a wonderful opportunity to dig deep and widen our understanding of what lies below our surface, the surface of a life event or help us to recognize a soul mate, to become a better soul mate.


Leave a comment

Filed under Whatnot

Tagged as , ,

November 7, 2012 · 05:11

The Emperor IV

(Yesterday’s installment was delayed by external forces.)

The Emperor. The Father figure. Good or bad, depending on your life experience with your own father. He has two sides and the smart Emperor knows when and how to apply both. He is the human male archetype. The realist, the logic driven personality. The protector. Where the Empress is art in the abstract, the Emperor is the architect – beauty in the linear. Both have their merits but one cannot be permitted to exclude the other and both attempt to do just that, in their shadow manifestations – their dark sides, if you will.

The Emperor may be telling us to think with our heads and not our hearts. This is applicable in life, love and the work environment. Perhaps our job is pissing us off in lumps and our instinct is to tell the boss “Take this job and shove it.” The Emperor warns us that this is never a good plan. A good plan is based on planning – perhaps stockpiling some money away so that should we decide that we’ve had enough, we won’t end up at the food bank. Scruples are necessary to life but so too, is eating.

Order is his watchword – perhaps the individual has too many pokers in the fire. He tells us to pull a few out and concentrate on one. Jack of all trades but master of none is not his purview. He is of the mind that if you choose a job, you do it properly, you do it well. You should never be ashamed to attach your name to it. He is security and structure. Stability and continuity. Responsibility and a trustworthy character, a courageous leader.

This card is the logical brain speaking when placed in a positive light; again, the interpretation is reliant upon the Emperor’s relationship with other cards in the spread.

The shadow or dark side of the Emperor is the authoritarian parent who brooks no argument, no compromise. He sees the world as being an attacking force on his, carefully, constructed existence and will fight to the death, even when, quite obviously, wrong. He can’t see the other side of the coin, particularly if it is of the emotional or creative bent. He can be despotic in his relationships to others. His logic, his linear line of being can become a prison. He is of closed mind.

He can represent a point of view – unbending, unable to compromise or “walk in someone else’s shoes.”

In a more creative interpretation – the Empress is the natural world, the tree hugger and the Emperor is necessary industry. They can work together but it takes much compromise and empathy from both.

Leave a comment

Filed under Whatnot

Tagged as , ,

November 5, 2012 · 08:33

The Empress III

The Empress. Now, this card is of the down to earth variety. The Empress domain is that of the earth mother sort and all that this encompasses. She is human love or the need thereof, she is growth – touch, feel, fertility – giving life. She is abundance and sensuality. She represents security or again, the need for security. Safety. She is the Earth Mother symbol.

On the down side – the Empress – again, depending on her placement and the influences surrounding her in a spread, can show all those earthly vices and failures in character, like greed, selfish indulgence, avarice – the infertile personality – barren and devoid of caring and empathy. Laziness, apathy, pointless promiscuity. Earthly and human characteristics.

The Empress is the feminine – she is strength through love and support. She is the foundation, the very essence of physical life and mutual existence. “The hand that rocks the cradle and behind every man” type of thing – woman as the true strength in life, love and family.

She can represent a new addition to a family or a new opportunity centered around the tangible. Think creative or creation and you have the Empress. Think of total destruction, rending of foundations and again, you have the Empress. She is a wonderful force and a terror of magnitude.

The Empress is the life source. The incredible power of the natural world to create but also to destroy…absolutely. The cycle of life is embodied in the Empress; often, something must die in order for something else to live. So she is that complete cycle. She tells us of continual growth, that we must continue to grow. We need to tap into the natural world for inspiration. Without growth, there is only death, there is only a barren existence. Nothingness.

She embodies nature at its most beautiful and if one is not careful and respectful? Nature at its most catastrophic. Be careful how you deal and interpret the Empress – for all her wonder, she can reduce even the most powerful to dust.

Leave a comment

Filed under Whatnot

Tagged as , ,

November 4, 2012 · 09:01

Priestess II

The Priestess is a creation of the lunar wisdoms. She reigns in the area of intuition and the subconscious, by way of fertile and creative imagination and dreams. The Priestess tells us to look to our subconscious, to connect to the Jungian interpretation of the Universal Unconscious. Seek out the wisdom that lurks beneath our conscious surface, tap into the knowledge that can be found there; she gives us intuition, a powerful force that can protect us, can allow us to see beyond the obvious. She is that little voice that confirms our suspicions. How many times have we face palmed because we heard that inner voice and chose to ignore it? That voice was the creation of the Priestess, her arm around your shoulder, whispering in your ear that you may not be making the best decision…or conversely, that you are right on the money.

The Priestess tell us, as individuals we need to stop searching out love on this plane, to first look inside and find the meaning of real love. We must all first love ourselves before we can expect anyone else to love us. The Priestess can help us to heal or to direct us to help another to heal. She is a powerful symbol of the Moon, so this would indicated that the healing is not of a physical nature but deeper than that – a healing of the psyche, a healing of the soul or the heart.

The Priestess tells us to be open to the ethereal, to the unseen. Not to dismiss dreams and imagination but to accept new ideas, new concepts, to look at the big picture. She is the connection, that umbilical cord between reality and the world within ourselves – the dream realm, the muse, the creative flow.

She asks that we treat each other with empathy – to look around and to truly understand that we can’t stand in judgment of anyone or anything until we have taken the time to stand in their shoes. She is understanding, she manifests that deep affection we are capable of feeling toward others. We can see her personified in a hand-fasting ceremony – she is that cord which binds us to our partner.

The Priestess also maintains a dark side as do we all, as does everything in this universe, above and below. The Priestess showing up, negatively, in a spread indicates a shallow view, cold, without feeling. A person or event that is a cheap imitation, with no depth. The material world at its worst. The material person, exemplified. I prefer this analogy – the Priestess in her dark form would be like a ring – a shining beautiful ring until we discover that it isn’t precious metal at all but thinly gilded lead. There is no deep patina, just cheap covering. On a subconscious level, the level of the psyche – she can represent the turning away from the creative forces, locking them away and ignoring them. She can manifest as a deep, unknown fear that impacts our material existence. More than likely, the fear that comes in an unhealthy relationship, where one person does not permit themselves to truly love, to care deeply.

In her dark aspect, briefly, she can represent phoniness. Cheap imitation. Lack of depth or real thought.

Leave a comment

Filed under Whatnot

November 3, 2012 · 10:09

Magus – I

This is the Magus. He has chosen his direction; he has a goal and will achieve it. The Magus can be blinded by his intent of direction and goal however. He can be narcissistic when his shadow nature is permitted to take over.

The Magus is that first decisive step – he steps forward with intent and directed purpose. He sees what he wants and he is convinced that he is strong enough to attain it. He is willing to act, unlike his predecessor, The Fool. He is realization, manifesting the result through his will to succeed.

This is a good thing and of course, a bad thing. He has established a strong concept of his direction, of his idea of attainment – he has the energy, he has the strong will and isn’t afraid to work toward it but on the other hand, sometimes he can blind himself. He can become the ego on two feet. He can be aggressive to a fault. The Magus, when in his shadow self or his dark side, can be prone to misuse his power, his influence over others. The goal can quite possibly become the need to satisfy himself immediately. He is “I WANT!”

So before nurturing the Magus side in our personalities, it is important to remember to be grounded and aware. Ambition is a good thing but needs to be tempered with self-awareness.

A true Magus is honest and open, good people will love him for these qualities, but these same qualities can create many enemies who have embraced their shadow selves.

So how would this be interpreted in a spread?  Well, I’ll have to generalize because the impact or significance of the Magus would need to be analyzed by the relationship to other cards in the spread.  The overall picture, if you will.  The Magus can be the individual for whom you are reading, in which case, gentle reminders to temper the “Full Steam Ahead!” tendency with thought as to who may be adversely impacted.

The Magus can indicate the need to have confidence in a decision, (as this is a Trump or Major Arcana card) that must be made for the individual’s benefit.  Again, depending on the spread, the Magus can also indicate that this type of individual, this Magus will have or is having an influence on the life of your subject (often referred to as the querent).  A quick look to the surrounding cards can tell you if this Magus is a good Magus or the other type, the egomaniac – the narcissist or the “Stalker” personality.


Leave a comment

Filed under Whatnot

Tagged as , ,

November 2, 2012 · 18:12

The Fool 0

The Fool is awash in symbolism. The description of the card and its interpretation found in the Book of Thoth has the capacity to make parts of your brain or the entire thing, explode. As with many things Crowley, The Book of Thoth is obtuse and I believe, willfully so; he did love to play the intellectual superiority card whenever and wherever possible. As mentioned in a previous blog – he was an asshat.

The symbolism can be studied and debated until the offspring of Hathor come home. I am going to try to boil it all down to a palatable amount and consistency.

The Fool is nothing but can be everything. Nice convoluted way to start, don’t you think?

The Fool is the space before the plan has been laid out, a glimmer of a direction but not quite clear. He is the unformed thought. Ideas, actions and personality yet to be formed. The Fool has the world, the universe, the alter-universe laid out in front of him and so, as a result – he is everything, the starting point but he can also be the end as well. We can see why this is, a little further down.

You will note that The Fool is referred to as being masculine. I am not being a smartass or femi-nazi – The Fool was interpreted, by Crowley, as phallic in symbolism, therefore, The Fool is masculine in aspect.

The Fool can be indecisiveness, with a present danger of having that indecisiveness turn into stagnation BECAUSE no direction, no goal is being set. He may also be headed off in all sorts of directions with no real plan or he can be standing in place, a whirlwind of unspecific thought patterns. He can be a spiritual willy-nilly or unable to make a life choice in the material world. He is all things, unformed – unplanned, unexecuted. He can appear at any time, in any situation. He is procrastination. He is indecision. He is cowardice. He is fear but he can also be the mover and shaker, the leader, the hero – he has only to take that first step forward.

In a reading, it is paramount to look at the cards in an overall sort of manner; establish the character or tone of the spread. Where is The Fool placed and what sort of influence does his undirected flow, his indecisiveness impart to the situation or reading, overall?

What are the cards showing you? Do you see a majority of Major Arcana cards? If so, what are their commonalities? Is there a common theme are do they seem totally random? Are there more of the Minor Arcana? Again what is overall mood to these cards?

The Fool can be you or I as we try to sort out our lives, as we find our way through the twists and turns of our own realities. Our OWN realities because no two realities are the same. We all interpret every moment of every day, every word, thought and action through our own frames of reference. No one, not even a parent, a spouse or a child sees our reality in the same way as do we. Remember, we are each and every one of us, stars in our own right.

The Fool is, currently, directionless and frustrating – an esoteric dumb blonde but the potential for greatness is there, the possibility of progress is right in front of the individual, they have only to take their heads out of their butts or sand, to move forward.

Leave a comment

Filed under Whatnot

Tagged as , ,

November 18, 2011 · 22:43

Jesus isn’t welcome in America

This one is tongue in cheek.

Unless you live under a rock, you are aware of the undercurrents of racism in the Western world.  There is one group that feels immigration of Africans, of Middle Eastern peoples and Asian should be halted. Apparently, there is some sort of diabolical agenda by the NWO, or whatever boogieman is popular these days, to wipe out the white race by assimilating them with people of darker hues.  Somewhere, there is a secret council that wants us all to be the colour of butterscotch or caramel.

And so, all immigration of non-Caucasians should be halted, forthwith, immediately – right, the fuck now!

This may create a bit of a conundrum – most, if not all, of these racist conspiracy theorists call themselves “Christians.”  God fearin’ Christians.  In their shoes?  I’d be a’fearin’ god as well…

You see, according to the bible, man was created in their god’s image.  Well, that would mean – according to anthropological studies of the early civilizations, if man was a little carbon copy of god?  Then god is a little tiny brown man.  And his son?  Also a little, tiny brown man, of the Jewish faith.  The picture to the left is a forensic artist’s interpretation based on the skull and known facial features of that area of the world, during the time that Jesus was reputed to have lived.

So, what do you do if there is a second coming of this messiah – this Jesus fellow?  Tell him, “Gee Jesus, so sorry – you can’t come in.  This country is for white folk only and you ain’t white folk.”  Or perhaps offer him some sort of special dispensation as long as he promises not to breed with a white woman…or live in a white neighbourhood, or drink from a “white” water fountain.

Jesus would have looked an awful lot like Mohammed.  He would be closer, genetically, to the Islamic prophet than he would have been to any of those “white” folk, away up north.

Jesus would not have looked like Ted Neely or Willem Dafoe.   Definitely wouldn’t have looked like Max von Sydow or Victor Garber.   Anthropologists figure he would have been no more than 5 ft. 1 and maybe 100 lbs. soaking wet.  He would have had darker skin and hair.  A prominent nose and dark eyes.  He would have more closely resembled Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) than Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ).  Too dark for America.  Too “foreign” for America.

What if the second coming Jesus was traveling with friends?  What if Moses and Abraham came along for the trip?  My, my…that would present a problem to an “all white” country, now wouldn’t it?  Sure would be an awful lot of white faces gone red in that event.  Hopefully, someone will think to catch it on their cell and upload to YouTube – it would go viral.

1 Comment

Filed under Whatnot

Tagged as , ,

September 4, 2011 · 22:01

La Louisiane

This may seem like an odd place to have this sort of blog but I figure, if you live in Montreal or if you plan to visit the city? You can’t miss La Louisiane.

We have been going to this restaurant for a few years now; we reserve it for special occasions – our anniversary, a birthday or if we want to take special people out for a special meal. It isn’t that it is hugely expensive – it isn’t. It isn’t that it is a long distance from our house, it isn’t. It is just that this place never, ever disappoints. Ever. We want to keep it “special”, if that makes any sense. It’s like a secret that we share with the special people in our lives. To make La Lou a regular outing would take something away. Familiarity breeding contempt or something along those lines.

We took our eldest son and his wife out for dinner; an 1st wedding anniversary gift to the two of them and again, our dinner experience was first rate, from the drinks, to the appetizers to our main course. Our appetizers were outstanding, we ordered a plate of Hush Puppies, a plate of alligator and my daughter-in-law ordered guacamole with pita chips – out of this world. Our entrees were just as outstanding; our eldest had something called “Dinosaur Ribs” and the meat, I kid you not, simply glided off the bone – not dry in the least. He pronounced the ribs as excellent, the best he’s ever had.

Our daughter-in-law had the Shrimp Magnolia and loved it. My husband had the Cajun Combo and waxed ecstatic over it. I had the blackened fish of the day which turned out to be Tilapia. It was wonderful.

The atmosphere is so welcoming and conversation comes easy. I tell you, if you are in Montreal or you are going to be in the city for some reason – you have to try La Louisiane. Remember though, this is a restaurant that serves Cajun/Creole styled food and does have spice/bit to it. There is nothing bland about this restaurant; not the décor, not the atmosphere, not the staff and definitely not the food and drink.
http://www.lalouisiane.ca/     Here’s the link – check it out for yourselves.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

July 30, 2011 · 12:34

God, Satan and Who Really Won?

(Warning – this blog may offend anyone unable to draw logical conclusions.)

I am going to “postulate”. Kind of sounds like a skin condition involving boils or sores or something, doesn’t it?

Kind of apropos for this piece.

I’ve long held a fascination with apocalyptic writings, theories on this devil persona and the people who believe in the mythology. This has led me to read and research in some very strange areas. I’ve done the Satanic Bible. It was a joke, it was childish, nonsensical and as close to plagiarism as you can get. Most of the material is Thelemic but perverted, twisted to meet an end. A con-man’s end. Don’t believe me?

Read the piece “Exploding LaVey” – written by people who really knew him.

I recently read “The Birth of Satan” but at the same time, I also read something called “Not in Kansas Anymore” by Christine Wicker.

The Birth of Satan book had my panties in a knot as it was, then I read a short paragraph by Christine on the reaction of people when she told them she would be doing an investigative piece on magic/Magick in America.

Went a little nuclear…here is the paragraph that in combination with a discussion I was waving with someone else and the whole Birth of Satan thing, created the necessary ingredients for an explosion.

Page 4:

“They’re power-hungry, the mundanes said of the magical people. They’re immoral, people said, and they’re scary. Playing with the dark arts could plunge me into evil. I’d be pulled toward depravity, they said. Blasphemy would begin to seem like truth, bad like good, God like Satan. It had happened to people through the centuries, they said. And they were right. All that did happen.”

Yup, my opinion? It did all happen only it was the other way around and it wasn’t any entity called Satan either. It was Christianity and its application of a mish-mash of religious beliefs, stirred together by some guy named Jesus and his “homies.”

Let’s take a brief tour of the Bible:

  1. Exactly how many towns did Satan destroy? Zip.
  2. How many plagues did this “evil” guy send out to torment the world? None.
  3. That big flood? Was that Satan or the other dude? Other dude.
  4. How many people have died to honour this Satan? Not a one.
  5. Or been slaughtered in his name? None.

I have read the bible…don’t recall Satan ever asking for a child to be sacrificed: even if it was just some kind of perverse test of faith. And what about Job and all those horrendous events foisted on him due to a gamble, a bet between God and this devil? What kind of mind would come up with a test so horrible, so cruel?

Let me answer that one, for you. An evil one.

Who was it that sacrificed his own son? Lucifer? The Adversary? Ha-Satan?

Who was it that allowed said son to be tortured, humiliated and finally left to die, slowly, in one of the worst ways possible? This would be that Jehovah, One God…Allah…whatever name he’s adopted for the time and place.

And exactly who was it who sentenced women to give birth in blood and in pain? Not that Satan guy. In fact, the only thing the snake suggested was a little knowledge might not be a bad thing for Adam and Eve. Could be the snake had a better handle on the personality of this so-called “God” than ordinarily assumed.

All three of the big religions – Islam, Judaism and Christianity believe in this one god. This guy who advocates hate, killing, genocide and every other ‘cide’ you can come up with.

Was it Satan who claimed that witches should be burned at the stake? Hung from trees. Torn apart by wild dogs? Nope. Not him. He never spoke a word on the topic.

In fact, I am having one helluva time (no pun intended..okay, yeah..it was intended ) finding one thing that Satan requested that was evil. All the true evil, the most horrendous evil, has been perpetrated in this one god’s name or at his, specific, request.

In fact? Everything I’ve read and researched and I’ve done a lot of it – speaks of one thing. There never was a Satan. Not this dark and terrible entity living in a place with out of control central heating.

He was created to explain away all the nastiness in the world. His persona was drawn from the myth of Gilgamesh, from Zoastrian belief, and a bunch of other ancient myths. Including Judaism. God was the one who sent angels to commit atrocities against humanity. The angels were just following orders.

The angels…and which one was the first and foremost brutal tool of this one god?

Not Lucifer.

Twas Gabriel.  He wrought all kinds of havoc for his boss. Lucifer? Nada. He, according to legend, wanted to BE god, felt he could do a much better job. And considering this one god’s record of at, the very least, dubious accomplishments? He probably could have.

This one god? Murdered Lot’s wife…for what? Looking over her shoulder. Turned the poor woman into a pillar of salt.

Kept old Moses and his crew wandering the desert for 40 years.

Before that? Had the Jews in slavery.

Let’s look at the cast of current characters, doing “god’s work.”

We had Osama, slaughtering on behalf of his Allah. We had Jerry Falwell.

We have Pat Robertson, purveyors of hatred and religious bigotry.

Let’s not forget Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye.

Ted Haggard.

I could list the evil done in their one god’s name until the apocalypse.

We had Torquemada. Cotton Mather. A list of people who have brought pain, fear and more evil than any Satan could have possibly dreamed of creating.

And the Catholic Church. The protector of all things truly evil. Child molesters, murderers, rapists.

And this Satan guy is supposed to be the epitome of evil?

The lack of logic gives me a headache. That so many billions of people could have swallowed this crap is really depressing.

Truly, is the human race that stupid?

(Don’t answer..please, don’t answer…I’ll want to jump off a bridge..)

And so, WE are the evil ones?

Those of us who look to magick to provide a little more “soul” to our lives? Those of us who practice to create beauty, peace and contentment with what we have been given?

Those of us who understand that no god should be demanding blood in sacrifice. Past practices, notwithstanding. We’ve grown since then, unlike the Big 3 who have remained in stasis most of the time, with occasional forays into barbarism, just for chuckles or to appease this blood thirsty deity of theirs.

We should be burned at the stake, murdered for our beliefs? We, Witches.

Our Deities demand no blood sacrifices from us. Our Deities demand that we live in truth and honour. And we’re the ones fooled?

Does anyone else see something horribly, horribly wrong with this picture?

Perhaps the bible is missing a few books…perhaps the evil one they refer to so often, won the war. Perhaps Revelations already occurred.

Maybe this Evil One has been having a great time fooling them all. Having himself a real blood party.

Maybe the real god was cast out. Maybe all these good, faithful servants of god have been hornswoggled. I mean really, how much honest and good faith could someone who has been known as God’s Rottweiler teach his followers?

Perhaps I have been fooled by Satan. Fooled into doing as much good as I can, as an individual in this world. Perhaps he’s worked his wiles on me, causing me to raise my children to be honest, hard-working and moral men. Telling me not to lie or to steal or to hate. If that’s the case? Then paint me red, paste some horns on my head and call me a Devil Worshipper. I would rather live my life as an honest, hard-working woman of good intent than a blind sheep following a blood thirsty god who demands human sacrifice.

So, the conclusion I’ve come to believe, is a possibility? The real evil one won the war of Revelations and his followers all wear the sign. The crucifix.


2 Comments

Filed under Whatnot

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,