Invitation to Tarot Artists

I am posting this as an invitation to tarot artists to submit up to three samples for a proposed new tarot deck, which may be named either
" The Musician's Tarot or " The Tarot of Music "

image by Amorbrujoclub in Madrid Spain

This summer, I had begun teaching piano lessons in my neighborhood. The community where I live has plenty of opportunities for kids to swim, go to the park, and play in the lake, but few options to get involved in the arts or entertainment. 

Surprisingly, not a single piano teacher has been included in regional directories or websites, despite that piano teaching is a fairly common way to bring in some extra cash in many communities, all over the world. Our county home business licensing has been fairly lenient with music teachers as well, despite " special " permits required for local tarot reading ( hence my online presence )

Oddly enough, as my attention shifted from international fortune-telling to local piano lessons, my chat and phone requests for tarot consultations began to drop off. If transitioning to piano teaching represented a huge increase in finances, I could understand the karma. 

However; neither profession has been adequate to pay the bills, and my goals were to increase both options for work; not to shift from one meager living to a similarly meager living in a different field.

Fortunately I have extensive training in music, from many years ago, and my credentials include a college degree in music as well as a lineage in the piano which extends back to my great-grandfather! I have been aware of a connection between music and the tarot, as I learned the cards as an extension of the manual dexterity exercises that I mastered as a pianist. 

As I researched the connection, I became aware that western music transitioned from simple Gregorian chant to advanced harmony around the same time that the first Trionfi decks added a major arcana to four-suit card games, during the Italian Renaissance.

However, as I searched for correspondences between music and tarot, there was little available save for a reference to writings by 20th century occultist Paul Foster Case, who apparently assigned musical tones to the Major Arcana. 

Since there are a maximum of 12 musical tones ( or 17 to 21 individual notes if we include, for example, both G flat and F sharp as separate notes, and exotic or theoretical notes such as E sharp ) the number of standard major arcana exceeds the number of individual notes. 

Paul Case chose to assign the same note to several different cards, for example High Priestess, Hanged Man, and Temperance are all assigned to G# whereas the only card assigned to A# is the Wheel of Fortune.

Although I'm sure there is logic and reason behind Paul Foster Case's correspondences between the major arcana of he tarot and musical tones, like many occult major arcana interpretations, I'll just accept his offerings without undue concern and not attempt to explain it to clients whose interests are often more about how the card interpretations may relate to " real life " questions and concerns.

However this may be, my feeling as a person of musical background is that the individual tones may have been very profound in ancient times when they were first established, and very likely from a standpoint of physics, sound waves and the harmonic vibrations of various elements.

For most of the public who listen to music, however, the power of the medium is really much more basic. We remember the song that was playing when we fell in love, but not necessarily the key signature. We remember whether we were listening to guitar or drums, and the words to a song.

This, for me, is a powerful correspondence which has not been served by musical tones and major arcana.

I began to wonder if, since there was not an existing workable system of musical correspondences, perhaps I should come up with one myself? And, in a frenzied evening of inspiration, this is exactly what I did.

What I am finding, as I post the various cards and correspondences, is that people are interested music and tarot correspondences, based on the first few examples that I posted:

 card images from

the Visconti-Sforza Trionfi

The fool
symbolizes youth, folly and the adventure that life brings to the young. He is the rebirth of life and his traditional instrument is the funereal bagpipe, to which he is attached like a baby to an umbilical cord which connects to the placenta of his knapsack.

His contemporary instrument is the saxophone, the sensual relationship of his parents, from whence he was conceived. The instrument is not of his own, nor does he understand how to play it. It’s the only a dim memory from the last cycle which precede his birth or rebirth.

The magician
symbolizes transition beyond youthful folly. He is the development of skills, personality and abilities. His tools, laid out on the table before him, are simple. His strength is within himself and his personal development, and not in the workings of complicated machinery.

Unlike the fool, he is knowledgeable in magic and capable in the rhythms of his craft. His instruments are hand-held percussion; traditional finger cymbals, tambourine and hand drums. His contemporary instruments include castanets, maracas and the wood block.

The priestess is the first of four archetypal human figures. She symbolizes feminine connection to the divine and soaring flights to upper realms of heaven. She is the girl priestess, the virgin, the temple prostitute, the Sibylline crone and her sounds reach up to the highest pitches.

Her instrument is the violin of the string quartet and her voice, like the three other archetypes, speaks through an instrument which closely resembles the human body and with a voice which emanates through the vibration of strings, much like human vocal chords.

* * * * *

The remainder of the correspondences is currently only in schematic notes in a private notebook at this time, although I may publish them as I write. As mentioned in the beginning of this post, I extend an invitation to tarot artists to submit up to three samples for a proposed new tarot deck, which may be named either " The Musician's Tarot or " The Tarot of Music "

Please use the contact link at mamafortuna.com for questions and submissions :)

Gnostics and Goddesses

Gemstone charm used by ancient Gnostic sects, carved with the image of Abraxas. 
From the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, now in the public domain.

Over the past three years I have been tasked with the study of the Gnostic religion; an ancient version of Christianity. The task was begun as part of a “ deal “ with an acquaintance from overseas. Each time I’ve felt that I met my part of the bargain, a new excuse comes forward from this particular Gnostic for wimping out. The most recent excuse extended the Gnostic study for 100 days, which will end on Tuesday, August 13, 2013. At which point I may discover whether the entire “ bargain “ was just another bible-bender with a phony sales pitch.

Or, will I be pleasantly surprised? By summer’s end, we will perhaps know the answer. Stay tuned, or change the channel … at this point, the Gnostic instructor in my region ( a woman, thanks Goddess ) has recommended a path which lead to Isis. As a creative individual, I will always put my own twist into a sacred study, so it’s not as if I’ve ever been slavishly devoted to Gnosticism at the expense of my own beliefs. And, it’s nice to see the ancient Goddesses included, even if it seems that the energies are “ Marianic “ in nature and not genuine nor pure Goddess energies.

I have, in fact, taken the exercise back to ancient Rome. My “ Isis “ statue is actually a deified Cleopatra, which puts Her smack dab into Rome after the fall of Egypt. The exercise provided the impetus to look up Isis’ festival dates from ancient times, and put them on one of my webpages http://templeisis.info/There are some differences of opinion regarding the festival dates, but Her link to the moon phases is clear, so I have recreated my own version of a “ Kyphi “ oil to anoint candles and light them during Her moon phases.

One thing I do appreciate, in this new research for Isis, is not only that it provides some contrast to the studies of Fortuna, it also provides an alternative to Dianic moon worship. Isis does fill some voids that are not well represented by Diana, such as a link to love, marriage and childbirth as well as the mysteries of the October and November season. So, I cannot say that the Gnosis is without its gifts. I do appreciate the study and my new Gnostic friends. The only difficulty is having to wade through so many layers of Jesus before getting to the Goddess.

Because, on the surface, Gnosticism is really just another branch of Christianity. However, for the Goddess community, the Gnostic studies may possibly offer a doorway between hardcore Christians and Pagan studies.

However, the basis to Gnosis is still Jesus and although Goddesses are mentioned in the bible, the passage which had come to my attention in the past was Dianic … and not particularly flattering to Jesus or his economic misconceptions.

The story begins with Jesus and the apostles coming into Ephesus, performing miracles, and exorcisms. When some of the townspeople believed they had been possessed, they burned their own books of magic valued at 50,000 pieces of silver. In an edited quote:

And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines to Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen.

He called them together…and said: "Men…we have our prosperity by this trade...Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not Gods that are made with hands. So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana…and all Her magnificence." … And when they heard this…they cried out "Great is Diana..!”…all with one voice cried out for about two hours, "Great is Diana…!" 

And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: ‘…what man is there who does not know that the city…is temple guardian of the great Goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. For…these men here…are neither robbers of your temple nor blasphemers of your Goddess…if you have any…inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly…And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

The fact is, although Jesus’ ideals were very lofty, he was bad for the economy. His entire financial strategy depended upon people who had more wealth sharing that wealth with him and his followers, in the form of food, lodging, expensive oils and other things. He had no concept of working for a living and acquiring wealth through honest trades within a consumer society which purchased, borrowed and repaid loans. 

Jesus was bad for the economy in ancient times, and this may have been the most salient issue which led to his downfall. The Roman government simply could not afford to bend to his whims. His teachings were bad for the economy in Ephesus and, if history repeats itself, strict adherence these teachings may possibly prove to be detrimental to the economy in the present day. The blending of teachings of Jesus, along with the ancient wisdom regarding commerce influenced by the Goddess religions, may be a strength in Gnostic teachings.