Natural Alignment: Separating the Cow from the Hamburger

AUTHOR’S NOTE: My opinion of Ethan Indigo Smith’s imagination and sense of humor went up a notch while reading (in The Tao of Thoth) his discussion of the archaic Egyptian word “neter” (meaning vital energy or life-force), which he relates to the equivalent term “chi” in the Tao. He describes this organic animating principle as that which “separates the cow from the hamburger.”

Here is a condensation of relevant quotes:

“We can all be in a mundane mode of existing out of alignment (with) nature or we can choose to be in alignment with The All, the Tao, the totality of the neter. Consider how important being in nature is, consider its healing properties, and consider what existence would become without being in alignment with nature. Being part of The All instead of attempting to be at the helm of all is much more rewarding.”

This is one instance where it is reasonable to apply only the Major Arcana of the tarot in examining the qualities that distinguish the sentient cow from the insensate hamburger. We live out our existence in physiological space, the dimensions of which can be precisely mapped by the 56 finely-tuned cards of the Minor Arcana (including the 16 court cards), but we might suppose that these cards will serve up only the inanimate “ground beef” as opposed to the “living flesh” symbolized by the Major Arcana. Any vampire will tell you that energized life-blood is critical for survival, and in a tarot reading we want only reliable vital signs, not the erratic pulse of arrhythmia.

We are taught to be open-ended with our questions to avoid subjective bias in the answer, but this can lead to timid inquiries. For example, rather than being equivocal about a relationship matter by asking “What is going on with Joe or Mary?” we could cut right to the chase and ask “Why doesn’t Joe or Mary like me?” In this way — assuming we need to hear it — the Major Arcana will give us an earful. But only if we’re able to connect the dots; otherwise the sage advice could fall on deaf ears.

Grasping the natural vibration and rhythm of the trump cards as they relate to the situation will assist us in understanding the more profound sense of purpose motivating someone or something beyond the fundamental level of physical engagement or disengagement without having to descend into what I once dubbed “the bug-dust of minute and tedious detail.” We can then adopt an enlightened attitude that meets the phenomenon head-on instead of becoming distracted by minutiae.

In approaching this subject with the tarot, I would follow the lead of many European readers and only include the 22 trump cards in the pull. A three-card line should be sufficient for this purpose, but I would most likely use the five-card French Cross, with the center card being the calculated “quintessence.” I would pose the question in a broad manner that speaks to the “big picture” scenario, one that contemplates the overarching “why” rather than merely pursuing the “what” and “how” that are the mainstays of the Minor Arcana.

When reading this spread, I would frame the narrative as an “object lesson” in embracing life-affirming energies and forming a constructive response to the overall complexion of the issue and any predicted shifts in perspective. The outcome will ideally provide a high-level “alignment template” that we can rely on for attuning ourselves in a meaningful way to the conditions confronting us in all their depth and diversity.

Although my current thinking is that the Major Arcana are dependable only for describing the environmental backdrop or thematic focus of a routine situation and not for predicting major events that seldom occur as augured, here we may be able to squeeze more value out of their lofty indifference to our mundane affairs by considering them to be the agents of cosmic oversight, if not actual intervention. In short, they may offer us useful advice without rubbing our nose in the dirt.

Potent natural forces as exemplified by the inherent genius of the trump cards will aid us in orienting ourselves if we can successfully harness them; but we must first envision then in their most invigorating light by banishing any presumed negativity, particularly since the archetypal level is immune to the petty human distinctions of “good” and evil.” A suitable place to start in capturing this genius would be the elemental correspondences derived from their astrological signs and planets.

For this purpose I prefer the “humours and temperaments” of classical astrology (choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic), which I think of as prototypical determinants of the general atmosphere surrounding the subject of a reading. View them as a metaphysical weather forecast: Fire — hot and dry; Air — warm and variable; Water — cool and wet; Earth — cold and dry; then give that a situational spin in more personal terms: should I bring a metaphorical umbrella or the figurative sunglasses? (This paradigm can also be used in a less emphatic way with the Minor Arcana.)

Full Disclosure: No AI was abused in the writing of this essay.

Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on November 1, 2024.