You've gotten here, I hope, through the
Tarot Blog Hop, from the writings of Alison Cross
Welcome to the home of the TarotWitch, the next stop on your
journey. Have a seat, have a cuppa, bask in the warmth of my
HearthFire, and let's talk....
************************This is round three of the world-famous "Tarot Blog Hop", an interactive set of essays and spreads by many Taroteers all around the world. This Sabbat's topic, linked with the Festival of Bealteine, takes its focus from the primary symbol of that Festival, the Bealteine Fire. And the topic tells us that The Fire Tends To All. So---what do we mean by that?
I decided to think about this blog draw
in a rather less literal way--I usually create spreads in harmony
with a concept that is generated by the question posed. But this
time--no. This time I decided to simply work in harmony with the
element itself--Fire. I had various reasons for this....
For one thing, we do not usually think
of fires as "tending"....indeed, most of us think of fires
as something that need to be tended. I have heard, often, from my
father who was a "woodsman before being a woodsman was cool",
the catch-phrase, "Fire is a good servant but a bad master."
It wasn't until I fully grew into myself as a Witch that I began to
question this idea. I had read much by then about the elements, and
in so doing had come across the Celtic idea of fire as not being part
of the Triad of Land, Sea, and Sky, because it was instead a living
Being. If Fire were considered to be a living Being, should one see
it as a "servant" at all? Or, perhaps, should one see fire,
in every context, as a companion, as someone working WITH one on the
Journey?
I have adopted this view in my journey
with Fire, and it occurred to me in the idea of this Hop that if Fire
is, indeed, a living Being, then it is sentient. And if it is
sentient, then it can, indeed, "tend to all". And if Fire
is a living Being, a life force, the "spark" of Life that
is celebrated on many levels at Bealteine, then how better to
discover in what way "fire tends to all" than simply to
ASK?
My draw, therefore, based its format
on the concept of getting information from Fire itself. I simply
called Fire by its name--and it occurred to me that I could use that
to generate cards. In the presence of the Living Flame, I drew one
card for the alphabetic position of each letter in the word "fire",
and related these positions to the position of cards in the Major
Arcana of the deck I was using, Tarot of the Old Path. So--F.I.R.E.
gives us the numbers six, nine, eighteen, and five. And therefore, in
order, the name of Fire corresponds to these four cards: The Lovers,
The Wise One (Hermit), Illusion (The Moon), and The High Priest
(Hierophant). And so, then, from Fire's own Being, from the very Name
of Fire, how does "the Fire tend to all"?
F: The Lovers: First, Fire draws
us together. as knows anyone who has ever been on a camping trip. The
glow is compelling, and the warmth is essential to our comfort, our
balance, our ability to participate fully in the moment. Look at the
Lovers, the primal union of opposites, and think of the way it is to
sit with others around a campfire. We forget our differences, we see
the glow in one another's eyes, we huddle closer for warmth, and we
get to know one another without boundaries or barriers. The Lovers
represents connection, and the Fire tends to that connection wherever
it lives. The only Fire represented on this card is the Fire of the
Sun, but the Fire of passion is clearly represented in the way they
look at one another. So here Fire represents that warmth and light
that connects us to the Other, even, and especially, the Other who is
not-like-me. And this, in our community and in our society, this
communion with the Other, is a kind of "tending" we ALL
need.
I. The Wise One (Hermit):
Interesting...first we are reminded that the "Fire tends to
all" in assisting us in connection with the Other, and then we
are told that the Fire reminds us to take ourSelves apart and
ruminate in solitude. Hmmm....
Well, not so odd, really. Notice that
our Wise One bears his OWN fire, right there under his cloak. Anyone
who knows me will know how this idea resonates with me, and how I
have repeatedly been known to tout the concept of needing to tend
one's own Fire before one attempts to share oneSelf with anyone else.
Perhaps the Fire is reminding us that this solitude and contemplation
is the road to Wisdom, and that without permitting ourselves to be
Tended by our own Guides, without caring for our own Inner Fire, we
will have nothing to share. And Fire tends to us, to permit us to
glow from within. And it is thus that we become---well, Wise Ones. I
love it that the letter representing this card is "I"!
Could Fire have made its message any more clear?
R. Illusion (The Moon) In
typical esoteric fashion, the Universe, with Hir famous sense of
humor, has given us, in the draw generated by the very Name of Fire,
a card that is wholly (holy?) Water. And so, in this watery realm,
how is the Fire tending to us? Well, if you look at the name of this
card in this deck, and really look at the picture, you'll get an
idea. This card in this deck cautions against, in the words of
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, "mistaking any thing for what it may not
be". The card reminds us that the light of the Moon is an
Illusion--it's a dark, cold rock hurtling through space, lit only by
its reflection from and interaction with the Sun. So, then, Fire
reminds us, it is warmth and light that will "illuminate"
the situation for us--Fire tends to our awareness by casting Light on
situations and issues so that we will not be drawn into false
impressions and actions because we have mistaken illusion for
reality. Fire sheds Light. And that is another way it Tends to All.
E. High Priest (Hierophant): Here
sits the final avatar of the Fire's journey with us, the place where
our study, companionship with others, self-care and avoidance of
illusion may finally take us. The High Priest is the representation
of one who has attained self-knowledge, arcane wisdom, and the
ability to share with and teach others. The Fire has brought us to
the threshold of wisdom and understanding, and reassures us that if
we continue to act in accord with Light, Warmth, and Illumination, we
too may achieve this place of awareness, and we too may be able to
pass down the illumination the Fire has accorded to us.
************************
And now, why don't you continue your
journey by Hopping over to the Blog of Donna L. Faber, here...Happy Hopping! And Blessed Bealteine!
And if you need to find your way back to the 'Hop, here's the Master List...
And if you need to find your way back to the 'Hop, here's the Master List...
