Doug Fisher
McGill Hour
Wednesday, October 25
6:00 PM
I believe that it was Carl Jung that felt that archetypal figures (e.g., the hero, the goddess) and stories (e.g., love won, love betrayed, love deepened) were the "language of the unconscious". What I am, where I've been, and what I want to be are rich blends of archetypes. Archetypes that I most resonate with, to which I have strong emotional responses, inform me about myself.
The Tarot deck of 78 cards is rich in archetypes. I do not believe that a Tarot reading foretells my future. Rather, I believe that there is wisdom in the mythological and archetypal stories represented in the deck and that there are revelations in my emotional, spirtual, intellectual interpretations of a reading (generally by a friend that is really into it).
Recently, I decided to create my own "Tarot" deck. It exercises my interests in visual art, story telling, mythology, self discovery, and even a little artificial intelligence, because archetypes clarify, (over)simplify, and color thinking. Cards that I've created (or am creating) so far are below.
I'll open with comments about archetypes and Tarot, then elaborate on my personal "Tarot" cards, before opening it for general discussion. Please think about archetypes that grab you, and feel free to bring "Tarot" of your own to illustrate. Consider the questions of how archetypes define you, repulse you, guide you, etc
These are archetypal figures and stories for me. Many of them correspond to more traditional archetypal figures (e.g., Demon with a Glass Hand aka Gilgamesh ?), but there is something in my personal story that draws me to these figures, rather than more generic figures (aka Plato's "forms" ?). There is a lot of complexity in my interpretation of some of these figures as well .. typically, much more than I've written here.
I have noticed that the images are very predominantly masculine, at least overtly. I have (tried to) resist a "politically-correct" urge to "balance" between the masculine and feminine (though the very first card -- Adam and Eve -- stemmed from a genuine artistic and spiritual impulse); this self-discovery exercise is about becoming more aware of who and what I really am, rather than who I might be.
Of the cards shown here, Adam and Eve is original artwork, Constructive imagination was a collaboration, Peanuts is my scribble with cut-and-paste, many are collaged from various sources...mostly online, and some are figures taken straight off the Web or scanned.
Adam and Eve: feminine and masculine in harmony.
Beowulf: the stoical, fearless hero.
Blueman: marveling in the journey and in the moment. Profound respect for all creation. Backstory: I saw the Blueman group in Las Vegas as the social event for a professional conference. Beyond a great visual and musical show, what struck me was the profound respect for and curiousity about the external world and humanity, which was conveyed, often in quite subtle ways.
The Body Electric: unconditional, unstoppable love. This love can't be thwarted. Backstory: an old Twilight Zone episode.
Constructive Imagination: engineering, creation, genesis
Cycle, Rider, Ride: power, vulnerability, freedom. Backstory: When I ride in the country I am most aware of the responsive power of the motorcycle. In the city I am most aware of my extraordinary vulnerability. I am the most vulnerable person on the road, and I know it at the cellular level. Understanding and accepting that vulnerability comes naturally on a motorcycle -- its not something I have to fake or rehearse. If someone cuts me off, I backoff and say "Thank God". I have yet to see a motorcycle rider experiencing road rage, which seems to be the dubious luxury of those that think themselves protected by a ton of fastmoving steel. Motorcycle riding, particularly city riding, has become a metaphor for freedom from ego and angst for sane and alert living by embracing one's vulnerabilities.
Demon with a Glass Hand: the suffering hero. The one who willingly sacrifices and suffers for the greater good. The suffering hero may be a another person or group, or a part of oneself. What is sure is that the need for sacrifice is real, the willingness to sacrifice is real, the resulting suffering is real, and the strength to endure it over a long haul is real. Backstory: an old Outer Limits
The Detective: tenacious, purposeful intelligence.
FireCreek: the reluctant, fearful hero.
Godzilla: rampage, self-defense, understanding. This is a non-trivial story -- Godzilla was awakened by weapons of mass destruction, and destroyed by a weapon of mass destruction (this is a Japanese movie made less than a decade after Hiroshima and Nagasaki !!!) -- the rampager is not entirely to blame here (the rampager is damaged and has been provoked), but the rampage (and in this case, the rampager) must be destroyed nonetheless, and this requires extraordinary force. Having applied great force ourselves, we can better empathize with others that have done the same when in fear. And with respect to the rampager ? ... Well, forgiveness and empathy are easier if you've protected yourself. Backstory: Godzilla was seared into my brain at age 3...watching it on a black-and-white TV late at night with my father
The Good Bock Beer: conviviality, comraderie, Good times, baby.
Grendel: arrogance under attack.
Malcolm X: transformation. achieving Dostoesvsky's "truth", the summit of individuality, overcoming society's repression as Nietzsche's "superman"
Man From Watts: victim of circumstance, powerlessness. Backstory: See Marquette Frye's obit in the LA Times, the first of a handful of obits that I've ever clipped out. I found the story beautifully and straightforwardly written, and deeply moving for my reasons -- growing up with my father working 5 miles from the heart of the 1965 Watts riots and this obit and my personal state in 1986 made Marquette Frye an instant personal archetype.
McMartin Preschool Case: rush to judgement -- injustice, oppression, power. The response to this is righteous anger, which itself may be rushed, may be required,...?.
The Paralytic and his friends: the grace and power of friendship. Mark 2:1-5 and Luke 8: 17-20. also Sekou Sundiata
Peanuts: carefree innocence, child like.
The Prisoner: non-conformity. angry and rebelling against societal pathology and brainwashing.
The Snow Ball Earth: hibernation. This card tells of isolation from others. It can signify depression, but it need not. It can signify a deliberate turning inward to build and retain strength, as living things do in the dead of winter or the height of summer. Regardless of the form of and reasons for the isolation, the Spirit-within, represented by the deep-sea vulcanic vents, are the means of rebirth and reopening to the world and universe. Whether we ask for it or not, spirit is working within us. This process can appear painfully slow, but outward appearences can be deceiving. Change is happening, but hidden and protected until a tipping point is reached -- then the ice and isolation melt away rapidly. The comet at the top of the card reminds us that we are not alone in the universe. At any moment a collision can rock us, ending our isolation in a cataclysm -- both painful and survivable -- in fact, it may be a cataclysm that we are grateful for later, because it speeds change. The comet can also represent an external threat, misperceived or real, that is the reason for a closing up in an attempt at self-protection.
Stepping to the Plate: a journeyman's moment to shine. Backstory: Candlestick Park, San Francisco, 1968(?) with my father and my brother.
