Sudden Change and Divine Intervention
Change comes
around oftentimes with unexpected force.Often these kinds of shocking events lead us to re-evaluate our
circumstances and our choices, sometimes revealing to us or the world around us
the secrets that lay beneath the facades.
The nature of Major Arcana cards when
they arrive during a reading first and foremost informs us that these are
matters which somehow fit into the larger scheme of things and depending on
your opinion of such matters, may seem as if “God” has had a hand in the
mix. In the card known as The Tower, we
are reminded of the story of the Tower of Babel and how God smote the building
with mighty blasts until it collapsed.
This event led to a major change in the way the world was operating (in
that case, the story tells us that now the builders weren’t able to speak the
same language).
In the deck
called “The Mythic Tarot,” this card utilizes the story of King Minos, the Minotaur,
and Poseidon. In the story, Minos has
been given the authority to rule Crete so long as he agrees to sacrifice a
sacred white bull to Poseidon. But the
King becomes greedy for the bull and refuses the sacrifice, so Poseidon causes
the wife of Minos to desire the bull for herself sexually. Long story short, this is the creation of the
famous Minotaur which shames King Minos who hides the beast in a tower made
into a labyrinth so that none may discover his shame. Poseidon then destroys the tower to reveal
the shame of Minos and removes the king from power.
In Crowley’s
conception of the card, we see the same Tower of Babel but so many other
symbols of the destruction are shown as well (the Eye of Shiva, the Fire of the
Demon Din, and so on). The concept is
one of forced and destructive change that requires after a completely new
foundation on which to base our view of the world. I like to think of this card as representing
a “paradigm shift,” something that I am reminded of when I think of the story
in our life time of “The Blasted Tower(s)” in New York City and how the world
changed.
Another Major
Arcana card describing change in our life is The Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel of Fortune is not as surprising to
us as the Tower card is because the Wheel of Fortune has a three in four chance
of leading to positive growth for us.
This card represents the natural but sometimes not understood conditions
that bring about our fortunes for us.
Although the Wheel
is used in games of chance so often,
the truth of the matter is that this card represents the “Wheel of Karma” and progressed
evolution. Take a moment and look back
at all your great moments of feeling lucky or unlucky, look deeply and you will
find that in all truth, these events didn’t occur out of mere chance but as
rewards to you based on past developments.
On a more
practical level, this card represents something similar to The Tower but on a
less grand scale – the situation being something that is now not in our
control.
Both cards
represent change. Both cards suggest the
appearance that change is something that happens to us, but in many cases when we look beneath the surface, these
are all changes that have happened because of something decided by us.
When either
of these cards arrive in a reading, we can know that circumstances are going to
move toward something meaningful in our histories when later we look back on
them. And most importantly, we learn
that these upcoming changes have already been set in motion and depending on
the nature we divine regarding this upcoming changes, we should want to pay
very close attention to what the cards have to say about how we can improve on
these situations and where we might want to go after them.
Keywords for The Tower
XVI - The Tower [Mars]
TIMING: Tuesday
Quarrel. Combat. Danger. Ruin. Destruction of plans.
Ambition. Courage. Sudden death. Escape from prison and all it implies.
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(Regular) Sudden
change, abrupt end of a friendship, unexpected events, bankruptcy, downfall.
Crisis, clearing out your life, collapse, release of tension.
(Averse) A change for the better, risks. Time to put your
life back together. Catastrophe, inability to release tension, containment.
holding on to your old life.
Keywords for The Wheel of Fortune
X - Wheel of Fortune [Jupiter]
TIMING: Thursday
Change of fortune, generally good. Destiny.
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(Regular) Destiny,
unexpected fortune or effortless success. Advancement, progress and the
resolution of problems. The beginning of a new cycle or phase.
(Averse) Bad luck, a change for the worse, obstacles,
rivalry, materialism. A change in luck and circumstances, fighting against
change.
(PERSONAL NOTES)
It's pretty much out of my
hands, things are going to turn out the way they're supposed to.