tower Archives - ROXANNA BIKADOROFF

July 15, 2024July 15, 2024

Mars and Uranus and Algol, Oh My! – All 12 Houses, with B-Movies

Algol card from Le Tarot Astrologique, George Muchery

“A series of shocks – sneakers fall apart”
~ David Bowie/Up the Hill Backwards

We’ve heard the buzz, we’ve witnessed heads rolling on the collective stage. So what does it all mean, Algol ‘conjunct’ Mars and Uranus?

Ra’s al-Ghul, the ‘Demon’s head’ was not always associated with Gorgon and her blinking eye (the Hebrews knew it as the ‘Devil’s head’ but also the vampiric Lilith), but whatever, same evil connotations. The word comes from al-kuhl – meaning kohl, specifically referring to powders produced by alchemical sublimation. So already we find Algol linked to alchemy (and thereby chemistry), if only by name. Also, might ‘turning to stone’ have a double meaning?

Algol’s declination is way outside the ecliptic – it is not within the zodiacal constellation belt – so we can’t truly say it is ‘conjunct’ Mars and Uranus. But it does align latitudinally with 26 degrees of Taurus. A distant, fixed star like Algol becomes most potent at the time and place where it is a) rising, culminating or setting b) doing so with a planet or in aspect, or c) doing so with/aspecting another fixed star, which is calculated differently than with planetary aspects.

Trump’s transit chart at the time of his near-Kennedy moment showed Mars and Uranus (and thereby Algol, by latitude) all right on his midheaven (top point/angle of the chart), which is very significant. However, for the time and location, Algol was in fact below the horizon, having already set and not yet risen. So this might explain why the bullet only clipped his ear, the star’s power wasn’t at its peak. (Am hoping the Teflon Don will now fall on his knees, a changed man, due to Jupiter’s grace, but won’t hold my breath). I have always thought Trump looks like he’s begging to be put out of his misery. As it turns out, the shooter himself had natal Mars conjunct Uranus which landed on Trump’s natal descendant, and opposed Trump’s Mars/ascendant. (Descendant can signify shadow projection). Tragic, in every aspect.

Uranus has been in Taurus a while now, urging change in a sign that hates being urged to change. It’s been a slow burn, especially for Taurus, earth signs and anyone with significant aspects to it. Uranus is electric, original, can be irrational, weird or totally scientific and detached. It is also futuristic. Just about every kind of horror B-movie monster created in a lab by a mad scientist or met in outer space is under Uranus’ jurisdiction, but so are downloads of inspiration and information from outer to inner space (strokes of genius or ‘daemon’). These I like to attribute to Urania, its feminine side, muse of Astronomy, Astrology and all things cosmic.

Mars is a firebrand, firecracker, firearm. He’s our ammunition, our physical energy and will power, our will to live. He’s now oriented. Whether hero saving the day or toxic masculinity personified, he works alone. In Taurus, he is somewhat restricted to working underground, it’s a sign he can’t be his spontaneous, bravado self in. So again, in terms of the shooting, the sniper acted alone, probably fancied himself a hero, and secretly plotted the whole thing out, over time (he didn’t just wake up with the idea that morning).

The two planets together, in exact conjunction today, are explosive. Avoid confrontation for the next several days, please. Ask yourself is it worth ‘losing my head’ over? Because with Algol in the mix, it could happen, one way or another. Headaches are another possibility. Algol mojo is the most powerful of any fixed star. We now know it is not a binary system (two stars) but actually a trinary one (three stars). There were three Gorgon sisters, and they had three sisters called the Graeae, who were born old with grey hair. They shared one eye and one tooth between them, passing it around (Perseus stole these as ransom until they told him where to find Medusa). Coincidence?

We want to make this alignment work for us, but to do this, our own Mars must be a noble hero, not a blow-hard with a big ego. Perseus, Medusa’s assassin, can be seen as either. Solar heroes tend to be not very bright, but very brave and willing. They have a particular bias toward anything that slithers – serpents, dragons, sea monsters – which symbolize the untameable, irrational, lunar (dark) forces of the creative feminine, but also monsters we create from shadow.

[I’ve written about Medusa and her relationship with Athena pre-Perseus, so search her name herein if you are curious, but this article concerns the classical, Perseus myth, forever preserved in constellation lore. The Perseus/Medusa myth goes back to around 500 BC, and gorgon/gorgoneions probably before that, but Andromeda’s rescue was added much later.]

Perseus, our Mars/Taurus hero, didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to go kill Medusa, Athena put him up to it. Athena represents the rational, cooler expression of Uranus in this scenario. Medusa (flip side of the same coin) represents the B-movie monster created by an out-of-control experiment (Athena ‘turning her into a gorgon’ in the first place). Asteroid Pallas Athena is currently opposite Mars, in his home sign of Scorpio, getting a ‘removed’ perspective.

In our own lives, depending on which house of our chart this conjunction occurs in (find 26 Taurus in your chart), here lies something which has ‘come to a head’ – a head that has become a monster that petrifies everything (ie, can no longer move/grow). Your inner Athena has taken an objective view of the situation and has decided something drastic must be done. Hopefully you are conscious of this, because then you can be in charge of deciding what form your Perseus will take. Unconsciously, outer events seemingly come out of nowhere (Uranus) and take you by (sort of) surprise. Stay safe!

[Note, if you don’t know your birth time, then let first house = Aries, second house = Taurus, and so on. Not as precise, but still bears similarity.]

* * * * * * * * * * *

First house of self (or Aries):
You are done to death with the way you look/feel or how others see/don’t see you. Who are you really, today, now, and how can you let your freak fly or let go of being a freak? Don’t hold back! This is transformation time and you can be a trend-setter. A new hairstyle might suffice, but wait a few days, avoid sharp objects about the head today. Wear your fanciest helmet. Taurus is Venus’ sign, after all.

Second house of personal resources/values (or Taurus):
What has been accumulating so much that it has taken on a life of its own and has begun calling the shots? The mould in your fridge? The property you own? It’s time for a cull, to make room for new growth, seek fresh resources. Pegasus and Chysaor were born out of Medusa’s severed neck, and with the use of her severed head, Perseus was able to save the Venusian Andromeda from Cetus. Beauty and love can be radical.

Third house of communication (or Gemini):
Be honest, where does your speech, way of speaking, novel, or life story need editing? It’s possible you need to call in outer help, get a second opinion from someone with a more objective view (or you might be that person for someone else). At least get some distance for a while, stop trying. (Practice Wu Wei). You might just get a brainstorm. There is vast space in the moment. But do stay alert on the road, watch out for those Martian red sports cars.

Fourth house of home/mother parent (or Cancer):
Looks like that reno or repair can’t wait any longer. There may be upheaval, uprooting, cutting of an umbilical chord, or weaning of the infant, whether literally or metaphorically. Comfort zones become (even more) uncomfortable. Something rocks the cradle or the foundations. Practice compassionate un-attachment, letting go. Mothers of those with the 4th house transit might have similar issues now.

Fifth house of creativity/children (or Leo):
For creativity, this is a great boost. You could conceive some original new ideas now. Algol with Uranus can bring strokes of genius. Be open to new daemons, but also note that future-directed Uranus-Taurus genius is not always appreciated in one’s own lifetime. Pro-creatively, this could mean one of those un-planned events, so take extra precautions if not your plan. Existing kids might have head bumps or headaches. No trampoline today, ok?

Sixth house of work/health (or Virgo):
Are your work habits making you sick? You need to change them now and taking more time for self-care and exercise, if this is the case, to prevent a chronic condition from developing. I’m sorry but this can’t be put off any longer. If you are already doing this, fantastic. This conjunction can bring a boost of will to change or a boost of energy. You might also decide to change your work/job.

Seventh house of partners (or Libra):
Can we talk about contracts, shadow projection and who is bearing the other’s what? If you are in an abusive situation (be it with a spouse, business partner or otherwise), and are trying to leave, consciously use the Perseus-Medusa myth to take back the power you gave to the other person, which is also your anger. Athena gets her mojo by wearing Medusa’s head on her breastplate. Reclaim, do not fear.

Eighth house of shared resources/death (or Scorpio):
One of the psychic houses, where what is hidden from sight could take the form of an ‘outer’ surprise. Here is where Medusa might have the upper hand. Also, vials of the blood spurting from her two, severed neck veins – right/healing and left/toxic – were given to Asclepius the healer, on whom Ophiuchus is based. His constellation straddles Scorpio and Sagittarius. It’s where we get the word ‘medicine,’ Use it wisely.

Ninth house of higher mind (or Sagittarius):
Here, this conjunction can be a mind-opener. If your moral standing is in order, Algol aloft should be fine. But if you’ve been pontificating ‘do as I say not as I do’, look out. She doesn’t like falsifiers and will turn you into a relic. Traveling or just reading this Summer should ideally take you as far away as possible, not to escape, but to be a-ston-ished, from ‘attonaire’, a Latin word meaning, ‘as if being struck by lightening.’ (ie, ‘turned to stone’).

Tenth house of career/father parent (or Capricorn):
I could save time by just putting a picture of the Tower card here. What the card actually depicts is a release from a prison tower, by divine intervention. It also has sexual connotations – le petit mort describes the ego death that happens with orgasm. Has your career, persona or reputation become a prison? It’s said the subject draws the lightening to itself. Did Medusa just want out of her misery? Or was Pegasus kicking in his stall?

Eleventh house of friends/groups (or Aquarius):
Are you living for others to the point where you’ve lost yourself? Are you sick of the company you’ve been keeping, not wanting to be in a club that would have you as a member? You might want to speak your mind – just be sure that your intent is for the betterment of everyone, or that you are ok with burning a bridge. Otherwise, it’s you they’ll eat. Stay on the high road, don’t take things personally.

Twelfth house of subconscious/unselfing (or Pisces):
You shouldn’t have trouble with the ‘letting go’ aspects of this conjunction, unless you are attached to things for sentimental reasons, but the acceleration might take you for a spin, if you’ve been just ‘going with the flow’ of changes up until now. This is the house of ‘self-undoing,’ so chopping off your own head is not out of the question. But is it that of the Gorgon or of the Hydra – the monster whose heads keep regrowing – that you sever? ~rb

If you want to know more about your own, fixed star placements and what they mean, here’s a good blog.

And here is a very good book which I invite everyone to buy and read:
KARMA: What it Is, What it Isn’t, Why it Matters by Traleg Kyabgon

Thanks for reading! All written content ©copyright Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reused anywhere without permission. Please share LINK only.

December 2, 2023December 2, 2024

The Hermit – Shedding a Little Light on the Situation

[Originally posted April 17, 2023, now re-posted with some Mercury retrograde addendums and edits. Enjoy!]

In 15th century Renaissance Tarot decks, this allegorical figure was called ‘Time’ and his device was an hour glass. Later, with a few exceptions, it was replaced by a lamp, changing the meaning somewhat. Instead of being a Saturnine symbol of old age reminding us of the passing of our mortal existence, he became more of a monk-sage, holding up a guiding light for seekers. But as we shall see, the two are not so different.

In this well-known Visconti-Sforza card, Father Time holds the hourglass and wears the deep blue of Lapis, i.e, wisdom/the philosopher’s stone (Lapis simply means ‘stone’). This he will wear into future Tarot decks, it is his trademark. On his head, a dome-shaped turban with rings. Until the 18th century, Saturn was known as the outermost planet, whose orbit encircled those of all the other planets’. It was the last stop. The average person was fortunate to experience one or even two Saturn returns in a lifetime. (The super-power of survival, however, is a common gift to those born under his rulership).

His colours are probably indicative of ‘the work’. Inside its holder, the hourglass is black and white (I inquired – it is not tarnished silver, but black paint). Likely this means the white inside it is salt. The tria prima of philosophical alchemy are as follows:
– SALT representing the body, which is material (in hourglass, also his white gloves, socks, hair)
– SULPHUR representing the soul, which is fiery (hat colours, also his lining or undergarment, boots)
– MERCURY representing the spirit, which is watery (blue cloak)
The green grass is symbolic of renewal/rebirth, nature, and is perhaps also an alchemical reference, which the Hanged Man card of this deck picks up on.
The planets are the ‘above’ to alchemy’s ‘below’, the metals, but spiritual (or philosophical) alchemy is about the transmutation of the soul.

Saturn, from Lazzarelli’s De Gentilium Deorum Imaginibus, ca 1470

The ‘So-Called Mantegna’ prints, an Italian Renaissance relation, though not actual cards, were a little more esoteric. Above is a page from a book by Ludovico Lazzarelli, which beautifully replicates the prints, in colour, with fancy borders. While still nothing typically Hermit-like about him, other than his shabby cloak, Saturn is doing the most allegorical thing possible to show the passing of time – eating his offspring, in order that he might reign eternal and avoid succession. (This was actually what kept patriarchs awake at night, in olden days). The serpent or dragon biting its tail is one of the oldest alchemical symbols, representing mercury and the work itself; ‘my end is my beginning’.

Seated in a line, as if to complete a (second) scythe shape, are four of his children, a fifth one is about to be devoured. The sixth, Zeus-Jupiter has been hidden away by his mother, Rhea, and will later return to succeed his Titan Father, beginning a new era of Olympian rule and providing an endless supply of mythology for generations to come. That cherub on the right holding a golden ‘O’ (mirror or empty picture frame) for ‘Olympus’ might be him, preparing his new place in the line. The babe at its father’s lips must be Vesta, who was born/eaten first (and coughed up last). In fact, at one time, first-borns were given to the Gods, in sacrifice, that was their honour. Again, the theme of age, elders, death. Note the mysterious (funerary?) urns which match the four, seated babes – Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Ceres. Missing is Vesta’s urn…are we to presume that Saturn himself is the container for her? Attached to the two brothers’ urns is a wreath, signifying completion, while new growth emerges from the sisters’ taller urns.

Rare Vesta in human form, Pompeii, 1st c, note she also holds a coiled serpent

In Ancient Rome, Vesta (Greek Hestia) was Goddess of the hearth, eternal flame of the city. Vestal Virgins enjoyed much privilege…as long as they kept their vow of chastity and never let the eternal flame go out. Punishment for either was severe, usually being sealed up or buried alive. Extreme Saturn. The fate of Rome itself depended, it was believed, on that fire being kept alive. Similarly, and prior to this, in each Roman home, women had to ensure their home hearths didn’t go out, lest the ancestors and living family should suffer calamity.

Europa, Ripa 1603 and TdM style Hermite, 18th c (?)

Lamp-lifting Hermits: Old one from Lyon, Dodal Tarot de Marseille mid-17th c, Grumppenberg ca 1807-1816 (note the copulating snakes suggesting Tiresias).

Am likely not alone in seeing the Hermit’s lamp as being temple-shaped. It was indeed Vesta’s temples that were circular and domed, to replicate the dome of the sky over the earth. Just as Vesta’s flame represented eternal life, the little light in the Hermit’s temple-shaped lantern must also be symbolic of the eternal existence of spirit. 9 is indicative of (human) gestation…a most mysterious alchemical process.

Returning to the Visconti-Sforza card, we find that the leap from being an allegory of Time to the christianized (?), hermetic Hermit of TdM is really just a small step. His hourglass is encased in a tri-sectioned (Hermes-Mercury), lantern/temple-shaped holder, and the black outline of the hourglass is shaped very much like two, entwined snakes. The TdM card simplifies it into a tri-sectioned lantern and calls him l’Ermite or l’Hermite, as an added clue (both old and new French were used, depending on when/where the cards were printed, meaning doesn’t change). Time is not simply about counting hours, but is essential to the great work that is our development of spiritual wisdom over the course of a lifetime. This ultimately (hopefully) prepares us for our transition from bodily form to spirit. The blue cloak takes up most of the V-S figure, while the white areas of salt and body are comparatively small.

By now I hope you can see the connection between Saturn, representative of constricted time, lead and bodily age, and Vesta, embodiment of the vital, ever transformative life force energy – that which is eternal, whether you interpret it as Earth-fire, the Sun (by which her sacred fire was lit for the Olympic Games) or Holy Spirit. The Hermit holds up this little, temple light not as literal Vesta, but to evoke what her temple and fire signifies. Number 9 will in fact re-emerge or be reborn, in the Sun card, number 19, after a process of being ‘tortured’ (alchemically speaking) through the next 9 cards. In astrology, too, the 9th sign, following the trials of Scorpio, is Sagittarius (aka the Sage) – mutable, transforming flame of the fire triplicity. Keep this light burning within you at all times, never let it be snuffed out. If it is, well, fortunately Vesta is also the sacred, phallic fire stick (brother Jupiter to the rescue!), with which she rekindles herself. This was inserted into a hollow piece of wood and “rotated in a phallic manner” to light her flame, ahem.

Time/Hermit, Bologna Leonne 1776 and Horologion (time keeping) Tower, Athens

Segue and full circle… I had mentioned device exceptions. This Time/Hermit figure above has both a (phallic?) column – probably a sundial, ironically – and wings on his back. It is usually interpreted as the fleeting of time but another way to see it is buoyant spirit (wings) readying to leave the heaviness of this mortal coil or simply not being affected by it. Perhaps the same sort of idea as the Tower card, a release from bondage or prison. Sometimes the elderly do begin to look angelic. Or maybe it’s just the signature of our old friend, Hermes-Mercury, the winged wonder.

The Sanskrit word for temple (I recently learned), mandir, is a combination of mana, meaning ‘inner self’ and dir, meaning ‘a place’, ie, a ‘place where the inner self lives’. I can think of no better description for The Hermit.
Tarot images are cryptic, it’s not ‘this = that’, but rather, ‘this resembles that, I wonder if there might be a reason…’

Saturn and Vesta sitting in a forest, The Allegro & Il Penseroso of Milton, 1848 [BM]

January 16, 2023April 10, 2024

Saturn is Coming to Pisces

Madonna of Mercy with Kneeling Friars, 1424, Fra Angelico

Saturn in Pisces (March 7, in a 7 year) will mean different things to different people. Depending on where our illusions lie and our willingness to wake in or from the dream, Saturn can feel either harsh or liberating. Saturn is actually a liberator, though not often seen in this light. (Hence, its exaltation sign is Libra).
Sometimes it’s as simple as recognizing whether a dream is really worth the time anymore and/or if we’re ready to do the work to make it real. Other times, especially in Pisces, we have to go a bit deeper into our psyche.

One thing about Saturn in Pisces that has been resonating with me lately (and a constant, life challenge with this being my Saturn placement), is how it can give authoritative voice to those self-sabotaging mantras Pisces is so good at creating. Often these do originate with some authority figure, like a parent, school teacher or even early religious teachings. There may be ‘aha’ moments in life where we realize they were a) not true/except to the person who said it b) useful in order to grow by rebelling against them. [Sir Christopher Lee, Saturn on the ascendant, said the more discouragement he got – first from his mother, then people in the biz who said he was too tall, not British-looking enough, etc. – the more determined it made him to succeed in acting, and, that his epitaph should read ‘I showed them!’]

Or perhaps it’s more subtle…a 12th house type garbage dump of collected mantras all jumbled together. In Pisces, that Saturnian discernment and good judgement is important because this sign has much do with creativity and imagination, as well as faith, especially in ourselves. Where have we ‘imprisoned’ ourselves or ‘sentenced’ ourselves to never trying because we aren’t good enough/can’t make money from this/hadn’t a formal education in it/feel we are in a sibling’s shadow/will only make a fool of ourselves…?

Thinking back to my first Saturn return, it was when that book ‘The Artist’s Way‘ came out. I was living in New York, doing bootcamp as an illustrator, and heard the author being interviewed on NPR. She had some good tips on zeroing in on where that debilitating thought was seeded. When you do, the original, flippant comment should now be given the Donald Duck accent it deserves.

Personally I didn’t listen to grade school teachers who came up with gems like, “that’s not how you draw a tree!”, but l was armed with planets, whereas others may not have been. Being told I wrote “like Dickens” by an art school writing class teacher (ie, not avant-garde enough) was maybe slightly more damaging, although, tbh, I quite liked Dickens. For me, it was more the perpetual, continually reiterated belief (of individuals and Canadian society at large) that artists must struggle, art was no way to make a living, that sort of thing. Even later, when I felt free(er) of these straight-jackets, I would simply find new ones, courtesy of the astrologers, psychics and other intuitives I sought advice from and handed over my personal authority to. Pisces is so good at relinquishing power and its responsibility to its own needs!

In the TdM Tower card, the force that ruptures the prison tower and releases the two people is not a lightening bolt, but a feathery plume, which some say is actually coming out of rather than directed toward the structure. Note that the Tower/16 is 7 ‘steps’ from the Hermit/9. Seven is the number of wisdom, and this time it’s Grandmother wisdom. We can take heart in the fact that Saturn in Pisces is a lot more understanding and gentle than in Capricorn and Aquarius. This is a mutable sign, so it’s more of a water birth than by forceps or cesarian. It’s safe to come out of hiding, now.

I recommend astrologer Molly McCord’s Youtube videos on Saturn in Pisces 2023. She talks about this and much more, very insightful!

July 14, 2019April 5, 2024

Saturn on a Sunday

Saturn has been coming up as a topic for me, during this Mercury retrograde, I guess because of age, but also I have Saturn in the 3rd house, sexile my own Rx Mercury. Also it is my late father’s birthday, today. [Serendipitously, as I was writing this piece, some people began singing happy birthday, next door.]

Saturn can represent the father, or parent/grandparent/teacher that first enforces structure in our lives. I say ‘enforces’ because we have no choice in the matter. This can be for our protection, but it can also be to control us with or repress our natural expression, so, as we grow, we seek to redefine this outer structure that we didn’t create. Sometimes the repression can be quite severe, but Saturn is also the ‘karma lord,’ so somehow, somewhere, we must have had a hand in it and needed the lesson, if only to rebel against and thereby grow into ourselves.

The first Saturn return (around age 29) is often difficult because, though it is usually defined as our first ‘true’ initiation into adulthood, reality and responsibility, our unconscious urges are to break out of any left-over, imposed structure not of our own creation, that we have spent our teens and 20s rebelling against.

So part of us may still be modelling our ‘adult’ self on the old blueprints and part of us seeks to continually redraw them until we come up with something more authentic. (We may have had kids prior to the first Saturn return and discovered we ‘turned into our parents’ along the way). Usually by the second Saturn return we have had some TIME and experience to soul-search and let go of definitions that no longer apply to who we are, often during the ‘mid life crisis’ that is the Uranus opposition and Chiron return.

Aki Inomata hermit crab glass cathedral shell (photo from Fast Company)

It reminds me of the hermit crab (since we’re in Cancer season), who has to keep changing shells as it outgrows the old one, but who always needs a shell to protect it’s soft body. Sometimes it’s new shell is not a shell, but whatever material it finds fitting.
Saturn’s cycles are in sync with the progressed Moon’s, as well as the lunar nodes’ which makes sense, since these represent instinct, the soul urge/potential, emotional body, memory, etc.

In Tarot, the Tower is the old structure that is struck down, thereby releasing the prisoners. It is often associated with Uranus. Indeed, Uranus is the first planet situated beyond the boundaries of Saturn (Chiron orbits between the two and has been called the ‘Rainbow Bridge’). As 16, it is a ‘1/4’ card (every 4th card is also the 1st card of a new cycle of 3, thus having to do with change/transition, death and rebirth). This type of change is a blow, shock or awakening from without (well, the lightening is attracted to certain structures for a reason).
In the Moon card, we see two, less imposing towers, with an opening in between, for the soul’s watery emergence. They may well be bridge towers. The Moon is a ‘3’ card (a womb for new creative potential, from which the next cycle is born). Since the Moon controls the tides of life, and the body of water that provides it, we can equate this with the soul forming and reshaping matter. Just look at beach glass, driftwood, etc. This type of change is a slow, but synchronized metamorphosis from within, that can be quite mysterious.

Saturn ultimately knows that in time, all structures will be changed, somehow. But the key word here is TIME. Patience, continued effort…there are no mistakes, no punishment, it’s all a process of becoming.

WW2 Defense Barrier with new graffiti, London [photo © Kevin Harrison]

Meanwhile, Neptune in Pisces tides are wearing down our old preconceptions and washing away the footprints in the sand left by the Piscean Age. Things are cracking open. The Earth itself is changing, her waters rising, her crust shifting. It’s up to each and every one of us to use this opportunity to create new space for becoming who we really are, from within. Only we can change ourselves so that the old structures have no foundation to be re-built on.

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September 11, 2011April 10, 2024

Eleven Power and Twin Towers

Today, Americans are marking the 10th anniversary of September 11. Nobody will ever be able to forget where they were that morning, nor the striking footage – somehow shot so clearly from every angle possible – of the world’s tallest skyscraper disintegrating into smoke before our very eyes.

At this time every year, I am compelled to zoom out and view the extensive symbolism surrounding the the Twin Towers, which stood for three decades as the financial matrix of the world. Two images stand out and contrast in my mind; one of Philippe Petit playfully defying death, atop a tightrope, (the beginning), and one of people falling to theirs from the burning buildings (the end). Both are of mythic proportion, completely surreal and defy explanation within the scope of our ordinary reality.

Power and the Tower

In a previous post I mentioned how Tarot expresses ‘universal laws.’ It’s as if all the scripts were written (by us) long ago and we just keep re-enacting and revising them…and that is really what myths are – a record of dream-time stories from the collective unconscious, unlike history, which is a record of stories as events, as they occur in the outer world.
Sometimes the fabric between the two realms is lifted or torn and the effect is momentous, impossible to explain. It usually happens when the rational mind (masculine) has become too dominant, threatening the balance of life by depleting us of mystery, magic and awe (feminine). A grand act of surrealism, for better or worse, throws our rational minds into chaos, challenging our set notion of which realm, exactly, we are in. It’s a form of death, when everything familiar suddenly isn’t. And at this opening between the veils (in Greek, the word apocalypse means ‘lifting of the veil’), there is a moment of truth or grace, when time just stops and feels infinite at once. This is the expression of the ‘mute’ number, 11. In Marseille Tarot arcanum 11, La Force, the Goddess’ hat is shaped like a lemniscate or number 8, signifying her infinite dominion over balance, truth, paradox, law and order in the natural world.

11 is the master number of illumination and inspiration. If it shows up, that’s usually a sign. World players know of the number’s power and have tried to invoke it – Armistice was signed on 11/11 at the 11th hour and Prince William and Kate Middleton were married on the 29th (reduces to 11) day of the month at the 11th hour in 2011. The towers themselves formed a colossal 11, as if standing in constant invocation to the heavens. And they were twins. In both alchemy and cross-cultural myth, twins embody the duality (and paradox) that each of us must work with, overcome and unify, a theme that reappears over and over in Tarot. Another duality we create and reckon with is between ourselves and what we imagine as God. Any act of balance or karma takes the form of Judgement in our minds, as if we are being rewarded or punished by events we have no control over.
A tower is, of course, an overtly masculine symbol. It’s La Maison Dieu, ‘God’s House.’ Putting aside Babel for a moment, in Tarot duality terms, that means the opposing and uniting force that knocks down the ego, blows it’s mind or brings it to climax is feminine – ‘La Force’ of arcanum 11.

The Supreme Mother Goddess, Durga, whose name means ‘Fortress’, rides a lion or tiger. (Bengal, late 19th/early 20th c)

Enter the Solar Hero

Not surprisingly, the young man who heard the Towers calling him to give them life is a double fire sign, Leo (the Lion) with Aries Moon. He is an agile performer, the fearless star of his own show – an artist who creates from the heart and performs dramatically daring feats. Aries is also the Fool, the ‘wise child’ and the hero who lives for the next mission. Sun conjunct Pluto indicates a person who was born with a very strong feeling of destiny, of having something to show to the world that will transform consciousness. His Jupiter, Lord of the Sky is in Capricorn (mastery, the corporate world). Not everyone with this combination would use their faith and skill to literally ascend to the summit of the world’s tallest banking institution, yet, for him, it was the only way. Fire is known for it’s ego size and you’d have to have one as tall as the Towers themselves to want to perform a feat like this, or indeed to have built such monoliths in the first place. The difference is that Philippe, wise Fool, always maintained his connection with the universe and was keenly aware of his place in it:

“At some point in one of the crossings, I lay down on the wire and looked at the sky, and I saw a bird above me. And again, because… my senses were [decoupled]. I could see that bird pretty high up, and I saw the eyes were red. And I thought of the myth of Prometheus there. But the bird was circling and looking at me as if I was invading his territory, as if I was trespassing, which I was. So at some point I thought the gods – the god of the wind, the gods of the towers, the god of the wire – all those invisible forces that we persist in thinking don’t exist, but actually rule our lives – might become impatient, might become annoyed at my persistent vagabondage there. So my intuition told me it was time for me to close the curtain on this very intimate performance…”

Zero Ground

The archetype of the Fool in Tarot is one who has left the realm of perceived reality, of wealth, possessions, pain and attachments. It sounds a bit like dying, but it’s actually freedom from death. Transcendent, he wafts between forms like a breeze and has no fear of reaching the end. He knows there isn’t one, so is free to live life “1000%.” Most of us find it hard to get past the more finite idea of death. It’s terrifying, like the Grim Reaper in arcanum 13 and to be avoided at all costs. The two figures strike a very similar pose (this feature is unique to Tarot Marseille), plus, one is unnumbered, while the other is unnamed – it would seem they illustrate the dual experiences of facing imminent death, as depicted in the two photographs at the opening of the post.

We are eternal. Peace.

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