“Destruction of Illusion” — A Crowleyan Exercise
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This one has been in the queue for a while, but my recent essay on the Wheel of Fortune was a perfect lead-in to finally publishing it.
The following quote from Aleister Crowley got me thinking about an intriguing way to harmonize the interaction of any two cards in a tarot deck. I’m interpreting it to mean that if we can comprehend the logical extremes in an ethical or philosophical argument, we will be able to assimilate (aka “synthesize”) their apparent dissonance and thereby find the truth at the center (which may not be what we assumed).
“Balance every thought with its opposition. Because the marriage of them is the destruction of illusion.”
As an exercise, any two cards from the table below (except two adjacent cards) can be selected and the card that sits at the numerical midpoint between them can be applied as a synthesizing factor (this is a philosophical meditation that may take some inspired thinking). In an actual reading, the “Thesis” and the “Antithesis” cards will be randomly drawn and may not actually be opposite in nature, but the principle of finding and interpreting their confluence is the same. The midpoint card can imply a figurative “handshake” between them, which can indicate either concord or an intent to “agree to disagree” depending on the measure of cooperation between the three cards. (Note that in some cases the midpoint will “bridge” two cards, and both should be blended into a compound conclusion.)
The synthesis card represents the “resolution of opposites” (at least for the moment since a three-card span is a moving target; it doesn’t have much “staying power” and soon dissolves) and the other two show the “ways and means” by which to get there. (This is also an ideal opportunity to apply Elemental Dignities to determine the potency of the synthesis card, which is a permanent feature of the table.)
This approach runs counter to the normal, sequential way we interpret the cards in a spread, in that it converges on a momentary “waypoint” rather than progressing to closure. I can see using it as a “sidelight” to a spread like the Celtic Cross; we could look to the card mid-way between the “Near Future” and “End of the Matter” cards as revealing the “inner workings” of external developments shown by the three cards that physically appear in the intervening positions. The querent could than take this insight “under advisement” when contemplating how to most effectively navigate the visible landscape of emerging circumstances.
To offer a random example, suppose that the 7 of Wands and the 9 of Swords come up in the pull. The midpoint between them is the 8 of Cups; the suggestion is of a courageous but doomed struggle that will partake of resignation at best or emotional drama at worst, with the 8 of Cups being elementally unfriendly to the 7 of Wands and neutral to the 9 of Swords. If all of the other cards happen to be outwardly pleasant in nature, we might suspect there is a “rotten apple at the bottom of the barrel.” This is not exactly empowerment, it suggests a “forewarned is forearmed” scenario that leaves no stone unturned.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on November 6, 2023.
