#tarot of syssk

[babylon-crashing]

Q: What Tarot Card Do You Feel Is Your Personal Significator? Why?

For me it depends which deck I am using, since every card is different. Here are the four decks that I have been using of late:

21. Return to Spirit, from the Dugdurash Ghul Tarot. This one lately. Something is approaching. I don’t know why or what shape it will take. But an ending is at hand. Something irrevocable.

King of Wands: Valraven, from the Barbara Walker tarot. “The king listens to his messenger, the black bird of magic speech.”

The Devil. The Cosmic Tribe. Simply put, I have been and remain an alcoholic. This destruction is sewn in my genes. “Taste the wine, dig the herb, smell the flower he just put in your hair … do you want more? … do you dare?”

Eight of Swords: Cone of Ambitious Passing, from the Tarot of Syssk. It takes a crone to navigate this unseemly existence. All that I am and all that I have learned came directly from wisewomen and boggy-boos.

[babylon-crashing]

Q: Do other Tarot readers notice how often the same cards appear in readings and some hardly ever?

Yes, I have. Take, for example, this one. It has never, ever, appeared in a reading up until now … mainly because I just designed it. Actually I redesigned it. In the Rider-Waite deck a Priestess sits on a Chair holding a Book of Knowledge (in this case, the Torah); however, I thought, not all cultures keep their wisdoms written down in big ol’ tomes, scrolls and dusty whatnots. Some use storytelling, poetry, mimes and interpretive dance.

In the old version a Woman dances with a Dog puppet while Behind her costumed Dog Dancers … dance. The biggest problem with this design was that I had to keep explaining what was happening. “Yes, that’s suppose to be a dog … no, seriously … yes, dancing. Whadda you mean it’s not exactly obvious?!” I had been thinking about how there are several cards in this deck that use sacred dances as central themes, one of them being The Sun (19).

In Japanese mythology, the sun goddess, Amaterasu, locks herself up in a cave, causing the world to suffer due to not having a sun, I suppose. The gods and humans turn up outside of Amaterasu’s cave but nothing will get her to leave until Ame-no-Uzume, being awesome, gets everyone to start a drunken brouhaha, with much risque dancing and jokes. They seem to be having such a good time that Amaterasu finally leaves her cave to investigate and thus the world doesn’t perish horribly (yet again).

This is what I wanted the new version of the High Priestess to reflect: a Priestess uses an Amaterasu puppet to tell a Sacred story while behind them the Dance is performed by two Shinto priests and a Shrine maiden (Miko).

[babylon-crashing]

Q: Is it The Fool or The Magician in tarot that is related to the Joker in a deck of standard playing cards? Which one is a trickster?

“Whoa, the dogs are howlin', all over the neighborhood/ That’s a sign of some dark double dealin’, baby,/ And that ain't no good,” Willie Dixon.

The world is full of trickster spirits. They appear in every culture and every religion, from Lucifer to Loki, Anansi to Maui. Possessing great intelligence and occult knowledge in one form or another, they most commonly function as a dire (often humorous) example of what happens to people when go against the norm. Coyote’s eyes are yellow because he was tricked into trading them for some tree sap. Curupira, a spirit with backwards feet, loves creating misleading paths in order to get people lost. One could argue that the concept of the Hungry Ghosts, found throughout much of Asia, are themselves tricksters, pretending to be things that they are not in order to get the prayers and energy from unsuspecting mortals. How people who take spirits at face value are able to distinguish between what really is and what they’re told as a form of manipulation has always been a bit of a mystery to me.

To answer this question, though, the only similarities for me between the Fool and the Joker are in their costumes, which were modelled on European court jesters. The Fool in the Rider-Waite deck is all about taking that first step into the unknown, whereas the Joker would be actively trying to get you to forget why you even rolled out of bed that morning and wouldn’t doing something else be a lot more fun?

In the Tarot of Syssk (where these images come from), the 10 of Wands is all about being unable to see what is right in front of you. The card speaks to the 4 of Sword's warning that a sinister shadow might be concealed in the most charming of outer appearances. Here the drummer stops beating her drum when she realizes that the figure before her is not ol’ Cousin Earl, but actually a Kitsune, a fox spirit, using a life-size puppet to manipulate others.

Sadly, Syssk (like so many of us) is spending far more time jamming on her biwa than paying attention to the world around her and remains oblivious to any danger (pratfalls and zaney misunderstandings are bound to follow).

[babylon-crashing]

“And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain he wept, for there were no more worlds left to conquer.” ~ Hans Gruber.

[babylon-crashing]

tarot of syssk [booklet]

We live as we dream ... alone. ~ Joseph Conrad.

Originally I intended to use as many gender neutral terms as possible, settling on honorific titles like Sovereign, Ruler, Mx, Sonkeigo and Sensei (both Japanese terms for teacher), but I ran out of words, so I fell back on Mother, Crone, Lord, Lady, Master and Mistress as well. I am always open to suggestions if there are other ideas.

Each card is written in English, as well as Japanese and a made-up language called Galactic Basic (Syssk's mother tongue). Since a lot of choices that I made fall under the “Rule of Cool” heading (see: it seemed like a good idea at the time) in hindsight I see how foreign languages might be confusing, as if they're hiding vital information needed to understand each card. They're not. They could be removed entirely and the card would still be the same.

The decks I consulted in designing the cards were The Rider-Waite deck, The Barbara Walker Tarot, The Hermetic Tarot and Yonas Lunata's Qabalistic Tarot.

Since symbolism only works if a person can recognize the symbols being used here are my notes for  cards that differ enough from The Rider-Waite deck as to be confusing:

[0] THE FOOL.  

Childlike. Adventurous. Spontaneous. [R] Naive. Overly Optimistic. Not looking before the leap.

Notes: In Shintoism (Japan's native religion) the Torii Gate behind Syssk represents the border between the secular world and the sacred and acts as a passageway into a shrine's sacred space. It is the cliff in The Rider-Waite deck. The beckoning good luck cat is called Maneki-Neko, and ceramic versions can be found in shops and restaurants throughout Japan as a way of welcoming customers in.

[I] THE WITCH: Onibaba.

Self-confidence. Delight in Occult studies. Talented performer. [R] Manipulation. Lies. Power for the sake of power.

Notes: Onibaba literally means, “demon woman,” and plays many roles associated with European witches and witchcraft. The symbol behind her is a bagua, used in Taoist magic to represent the fundamental principles of reality. Because this card corresponds to the Magician, I included the four elemental symbols of water, air, fire and earth, as well as a cup, a coin, a wand and a pentagram to round things out. For more information on Onibaba, I suggest Kaneto Shindo's 1964 masterpiece of the same name.

[II] HIGH PRIESTESS.

Experience. Wisdom. Intuition. Teacher. [R] Using knowledge without wisdom. Two left feet. Unbalanced.

Notes: In The Rider-Waite deck the High Priestess is static; she sits in a chair, holding a book of wisdom and not really doing anything else. Learning wisdom, however, comes in many forms and here it is all about dancing as an ancient form of praying for rain. Dressed as dragons, people would dance and beseech the gods for another fruitful year.

[III] EMPRESS.

Motherly. Growth. Nurturing. Abundance. [R] Shallow. Ignoring the bigger picture. TERF.

Notes: While the Empress here is the same as found in The Rider-Waite deck, the background depicts what royal childbirth was like in ancient Japan, which I found fascinating.

[IV] EMPEROR.

Architect. Laws. Authority figure. [R] Loves chaos. Patriarch. Control freak.

[V] HIEROPHANT.

Blending of traditions. Knows some dance steps. Gives good advice. [R] Counseling needed. Can't think for oneself. Drowning in dogma.

Notes: One of the curious strengths of Shintoism is its willingness to blend in with other, outside religions. Like the dancing found in the High Priestess, here a Shinto priest dances to Syssk's drumming, while Buddha and a Taoist monk look on.

[VI] LOVERS.

Romance. Sharing. Equal partnership. [R] Separation. Arguments. Incompatible partnership.

[VII] PALANQUIN.

Drive. Ambition. Understands what makes things go. [R] Procrastination. Mind-forg'd manacles. Can't move forward.

[VIII] STRENGTH.

Confident. In control. Inner resources. [R] Drained. Depression. Fear.

[IX] HERMIT.

Meditation. Alone by choice. Finding answers in oneself. [R] Unwanted loneliness. Withdrawn. Need for introspection.

[X] WHEEL OF FORTUNE.

Prosperity. Windfalls. Paid your dues. [R] Stuck in a rut. Refusing change. Afraid of taking chances.

[XI] JUSTICE.

Fair assessment of oneself. Desire for equality. Karma. [R] Out of balance. Unfair treatment. Ill fate.

Notes: Taking a more psychological approach to this card, Syssk looks in the mirror and sees her shadow side looking back. Until we can be impartial in judging ourselves we are unfit to judge others.

[XII] GALLOW'S TRUTH.

Sacrifice for wisdom. Suspension of disbelief. Calm before the Storm. [R] Indecision. Literal hang ups. Impatience for outcome.

[XIII] DEATH.

Cosmic transformation. New outlook. Letting go. [R] Fear of change. Living in the past. Need to let go.

[XIV] TEMPERANCE.

Blending of Heaven and Earth. Compromise. Tolerance. [R] Need for moderation. Lack of indulgence. Addiction.

[XV] DEVIL: The Four Noble Truths.

Shadow self, unhealthy attachment, addiction. [R]  Releasing one's own limiting beliefs, exploring dark thoughts, separation from the world around you.

Notes:In The Rider-Waite tarot, The Devil is all about unhealthy attachments, restrictions and fear of one’s own sexuality. In other words, all the negative aspects of your personality that you need to work on. Here I focused on an idea from Buddhism that there are four aspects of being human that no one can escape from: that [1] we all suffer, [2] our suffering has a cause, but also [3] there is a solution to end our suffering and it’s up to you to decide if you want to [4] do what it takes reach that end. The Four Noble Truths. The demon on the right side of the card comes from an ancient legend about an Oni (a mountain demon) who fell in love with Buddhism and decided to walk the path of enlightenment, even though everyone else would still only see a monster. This is, ironically, the same situation Syssk finds herself in but instead of seeing a kindred soul all she sees is an Other (an Other othering another).

[XVI] TOWER.

Chaos. Sudden Change. Destruction. [R] Time to grow and move on. Rebuilding with a clean slate.

[XVII] STAR.

Hope. Dreams. Goals. [R] Losing hope. Disillusioned. Depressed.

[XVIII] MOON.

Imagination. Visions. Infatuation. [R] Self-deception. Insecurity. Hazy understanding.

[XIX] SUN: Dancing for Amaterasu Omikami.

Dancing for liberation. Glee. Restoring cosmic order. [R] Dark days. Unfulfillment. Turning away from the light.

Notes: Another example of dancing for the divine. In the Shinto creation story, the goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu Omikami, (for complicated reasons) hid herself away in a cave and let the world grow cold and barren. The goddess of the dawn, Ame-no-Uzume, realizing that something had to be done, invited all the humans to the mouth of the cave and performed such wild dancing that the Sun goddess reemerged to see what all the laughter and dancing was about. Thus, burlesque dancing saved the world, once again.

[XX] JUDGMENT: Seppuku.

Self-annihilation only way to save face. Making logical decisions. Practicality. [R] Bad Karma. Poor Judgment. Dishonor.

Notes: Even if a person knows nothing about Japanese history they've probably at least heard of the warrior-class called the samurai and how they often committed hara kira (seppuku) ritualized cutting open of their stomachs to atone for some sort of sin. In The Rider-Waite deck, uses the Christian idea of divine judgment, with Archangel Gabriel blowing a horn and zombies rising up out of the ground, hungry for brains. Here, though, the day of judgment is always at hand since your lord might, for any reason at all, order you to commit suicide in one of the more painful ways imaginable. No salvation, no good deeds or bad deeds weighing down your soul, no sitting at the right hand of the Patriarchy, just the atrocious need to save face and the horrific lengths that some people will go to carry out their lord's wishes.

[XXI] RETURN TO THE VOID.

Endings and beginnings. Cycles. Success. [R] Delay in fulfillment. Lost. Unable to accept change.

Notes: In The Rider-Waite deck, the World is all about completion. Here Syssk's exile on Earth is over. Her rainbow UFO is fixed, she leaves terra firma for the celestial heavens, clutching her beloved katana sword, the only souvenir of her adventures that she takes with her.

[XXII] HAPPY RABBIT.

Wild Card.

Notes: This card can be left out, if one wants. It is modeled after the Happy Squirrel, a joke that appeared in an episode of The Simpsons, when Lisa goes to get a reading done. (“Is that bad?” “Perhaps, the cards are vague and mysterious.”) It has since shown up in actual decks, though for the life of me I cannot figure out what to do with it besides give a nod to Stan Sakai's epic tale of Usagi Yojimbo, a masterless samurai rabbit, who wanders the roads of Edo-period Japan and was a big influence in my formative years. I reused two of figures from the 10 of Wand's Mistress of Artful Trickery (a kitsune fox-spirit) and drummer.

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[COINS]

[0] ACE OF COINS: Sovereign of the Earth's Roots.

Magnetism. Ideas for making money. Working with hands. [R] Lack of creativity. Money woes. Singing the Blues.

[2] OF COINS: Ruler of the Syndicate.

Multitasking. Business partnership. Financial harmony. [R] Trouble juggling responsibilities. Distracted. Chaos.

Notes: Originally this was titled, “Ruler of Multitasking,” since the 2 of Pentacles in The Rider-Waite deck is all about balancing multiple priorities, except “multitasking” feels like such a modern term, it just felt off. I discovered, however, that one of the older definitions of the word, “Syndicate,” concerns itself with harmonious group work … though its modern usage is almost entirely mob-related. Perhaps there is a better term somewhere.

[3] OF COINS: Lord of the Joint Venture.

Communal work. Craftsmanship. Apprenticeship. [R] Unskilled. Unprepared for upcoming tasks. Problematic individualism.

[4] OF COINS: Mx of Earthly Powers.

Working the Earth. Honest labor. Financial stability. [R] Poor stewardship. Salting the Earth. Failure to understand growth.

[5] OF COINS: Master Destitution: the Ronin's Path.

Abandoned. Living paycheck to paycheck. No security. [R] Recovering from disaster. Temporarily unemployed. Returning to work.

Notes: If a samurai was a warrior who served a lord or lady, then a samurai who had (through many different ways) lost their lord or lady was called a ronin. Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo is such a person, wandering the land on a musha shugyo (warrior's spiritual pilgrimage), occasionally selling his services as a bodyguard. Sakai, in turn, was greatly influenced by samurai movies of his childhood, such as Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), from which Sergio Leone heavily “borrowed” the idea for his Spaghetti Western, A Fistful of Dollars (1963). The term ronin means, “to be cast adrift upon the waves,” without family, friends or financial support.

[6] OF COINS: Sensei of Resources.

Asking for what you need. Gifts. Inheritance. [R] Not getting help from others. Having to quickly pay back debts. Bad credit.

[7] OF COINS: Mst of Bitter Profit.

Hard work leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. [R] Climbing to the top. Indifference in coworkers' suffering.

[8] OF COINS: Qy of Sagacity.

Wise in the way of Money Magic. Taking on an apprentice. Education is liberation. [R] Losing interest in school or work. World-weary.

[9] OF COINS: Sonkeigo of Abundance.

Reaping what you sow. Money is stable and growing. An sea of opportunity. [R] Unexpected expenses. Exhausting one's resources.

[10] OF COINS: Mistress of Uncanny Wealth.

Finding riches in odd places. Money is good or will be so soon. Secure and stable finances. [R] Major financial loss. May have to burn down the business and flee on foot. Crazy setbacks.

[11] ONNA-MUSHA OF COINS: Champion of a Rich Harvest.

Free market rules! Beginning a new career. Abundance of merchandise. [R] Village market starting to hate you. Delays in beginning the reaping. No one wants what you're selling.

Notes: Corresponding to the Page of Pentacles, here Syssk and a friend have come to sell the rich harvest of the 4 of Coins at market. There is some debate about whether female samurai existed (why it is important for some people to say that historical warriors, like Hangaku Gozen, ‎Nakano Takeko, ‎Niijima Yae and ‎Ohori Tsuruhime weren't samurai, but rather simply high ranking women from samurai families, trained in the Way of the Blade, who fought in battles, I don't know)‎ however, the term used to describe such people is Onna-Musha. The nice thing about telling a story of a xenomorph marooned on Earth is that no one will accuse me of being historically accurate; if you can suspend your disbelief long enough to accept Syssk you can also embrace Onna-Musha as samurais as well, I suppose.

[12] SAMURAI OF COINS: Knight of the Verdant Green.

Satisfaction from an important job. Moving up in the world. Trees love you. [R] Unexpected change in job. Boss out to get you. Coworkers can't wait to see you fired.

[13] SEISHITSU OF COINS: Lady of the Forced Profits of the Earth.

Materialistic. Gold digger. Trouble handling practical money matters. [R] Unselfishness.  Generosity. Has the Golden Touch.

Notes: The Queen in The Rider-Waite deck and tying in with the 5 of Coins' concept of destitution, a wealthy elite is served the best food that the restaurant can offer while in the background, poor Syssk, without a single coin to her name, curls into a fetal ball and wishes (not for the last time) that she was back home.

[14] DAIMYO OF COINS: Lord of the Joys of Capitalism.

Good business sense. Making Robber Barons sexy again. Obsessively industrial. [R] Monopolizing power. Delights in inequality. Blind to the machinery of capitalism being oiled with the blood of the workers.

Notes: Daimyo is the term used for Kings in ancient Japan; in this case, the King of Merchants (for what it's worth.)

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[CUPS]

[0] ACE OF CUPS: Sovereign of the Root of Riotous Water.

New relationships. Sensuality. Birth. [R] New relationships delayed. Next step delayed. Troubled pregnancy.

[2] OF CUPS: Ruler of the Fertile Imagination.

Romantic passion. Equal and balanced relationship. Sharing mutual feelings. [R] Unbalanced desires. Unrequited love. Not attuned to one's harmony.

[3] OF CUPS: Lord of Dubious Company.

Wild celebrations. Orgies. Going all out. [R] Fear of overindulgence. Bad family gatherings. Addiction.

[4] OF CUPS: Mx of Heinous Phantasy.

Striving for more. Dreaming large. Feeding a healthy ego. [R] Unsatisfied. Not realizing the value of one's current state. Boredom.

Notes: In The Rider-Waite deck, the 4 of Cups deals more with issues of apathy and being so narrowly focused as to ignore the world around you. Here, Syssk really loves her blue cup, to the extent that she does not see the helpful Oni (mountain demon) offer up its own, nor the horrific shadow on the wall behind her. Daydreaming is wonderful, except when the world is out to get you and you need to focus.

[5] OF CUPS: Master of the Song of Regret.

Fear of avoidance. Facing unpleasant realities. Lost in nostalgia. [R] The need for struggle. Evolution. Growing pains.

Note: Apparently Syssk can play musical instruments. Even though lover's suicides did happen I see this card more as a cautionary tale about what not to do when you're filled with regret.

[6] OF CUPS: Sensei of Childhood Memories.

Making peace with one's childhood. Past returning with new meanings. Owning one's passions. [R] Horror of family. Outgrowing a relationship or person. Becoming your own toxic parent.

Note: The Barbara Walker Tarot talks about the 6 of Cups being about childhood traumas and memories. Of course Syssk would also have some sort of parent somewhere and in this case it is Xenomorph Queen from the Alien franchise. It's a side of her past that she doesn't like to talk about, probably because the only thing xenomorphs seem to do in these movies is drool and screech … so much alien drool. Some families are so embarrassing that the only thing you can do is change your name and flee to an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. (Thank you, Douglas Adams)

[7] OF CUPS: Mst of Uncertain Opportunities.

Discovering your inner road map. Idealism. Loving all your children ardently. [R] Too many dreams without plans. Lacking passion. Dreams turn to whimsy.

[8] OF CUPS: Qy of Abandoned Dreams.

Leaving the past behind. Owning one's loneliness. Follow through. [R] Lack of closure. Imaginary slights. Settling for the mundane.

[9] OF CUPS: Sonkeigo of the Blade.

Achieved goals and dreams. Skilled master. Uniqueness of craft. [R] Smugness. Unrealistic goals. Not knowing one's limits.

Note: One of my goals with this deck was to make it easy enough to understand so that a reader wouldn't need to know about samurai, their Bushido code of ethics and/or Japanese history (so, naturally I slapped Japanese text on each card because being inconsistent is something that I apparently strive for). The Way of the Blade is, briefly, the idea that a warrior can and will cultivate an, “implacable fighting spirit to overcome their enemies.” How one wants to define an, “implacable fighting spirit,” is left up to the reader to decide; however, for me it means honing your skills until you are a master at whatever it is that you're doing. In that way it hearkens back to The Rider-Waite idea of contentment, satisfaction and gratitude.

[10] OF CUPS: Mistress of Sublime Harmony.

Dreams coming true. Love and familiar surrounding. Comfort. [R] Happiness delayed. Troubled commitments.

[11] ONNA-MUSHA OF CUPS: Champion of Rebellious Floods.

Crossing life's floods with help. Growth from self-reflection. [R] Lack of patience for ones own needs. Need for reflection. Immaturity.

[12] SAMURAI OF CUPS: Knight of the Purifying Cascades.

Willingness to heal. Emotional growth. Spiritual meditation. [R] Ignoring pain. Pushing oneself too hard. No sense of humor.

[13] SEISHITSU OF CUPS: Lady of the Sovereignty of Waters.

Powerful. Life-giving. Cyclical like the tides. [R] Oversensitive. Chaotic emotions. Destructive love.

[14] DAIMYO OF CUPS: Lord of the Turning Waterwheel.

Karmic completion. Just parent. Gentle law maker. [R] Weak nature. Unreliable. Natural born cheater.

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[SWORDS]

[0] ACE OF SWORDS: Sovereign of the Root of the Air.

Beauty. New Ideas. Empire of the senses. [R] Lacking curiosity. Overbearing. Confusion.

[2] OF SWORDS: Ruler of Peace through Power.

No compromises. Battle of wills. Standstill. [R] Reconciliation. Compromise. Accommodating difficulties.

Note: During the late Edo period in Japanese history almost every large family had a family crest that was worn on the right and left sides of their kimonos. Samurai crests usually featured  flowers of some sort, falling leaves, cranes in flight or sacred trees. At some point I decided that Syssk needed a crest as well, so I settled on a stylized version of the face-hugger parasite from the Alien movies (the first stage of xenomorph development after it leaves the egg). The purpose of this card was summed up nicely when Frank Herbert wrote, “Absolute power attracts the corruptible.” Under the right set of circumstances we are all corruptible, even visitors from the celestial kingdom.

[3] OF SWORDS: Lord of the Moon's Sorrow.

Balancing one's feelings. Healthy friendships. Riding the turbulence.  [R] Love triangle. Jealousy. Heartache.

[4] OF SWORDS: Mx of the Respite before the Storm.

Recovery. Rest. Recuperate. [R] Sensing upcoming doom. Cutting recovery short. Dread.

Note: A trope that runs through some horror literature is the idea that monsters, while they can assume the shape of a mortal, are often undone when their shadows reveal their true, monstrous form. Of course this only works if a person is observant enough to pay attention to such things and not, as Syssk and her friend are doing, get caught up in fantastical story telling, oblivious to the danger sitting right in front of them. Often we think that the storm we must face is far off and we have time to recover, when, in fact, it has already consumed us.

[5] OF SWORDS: Master of Defeat.

Exile. Deceit. Hidden or old enemies surfacing. [R] Ugly truth revealed. Detachment emotions. Coldness.

[6] OF SWORDS: Sensei of Senseless Struggles.

Realizing the path forward isn't the best. Campaigning. Following your own path. [R] Blinded by bad directions. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

[7] OF SWORDS: Mother of Betrayal.

Getting played. Being used. Leaving yourself too open emotionally. [R] Trust issues. Skepticism. Suspicion. Uncertainty.

[8] OF SWORDS: Crone of Ambitious Passing.

Owning who you are. Speaking one's mind. Being fabulous. [R] Walking on eggshells. Fear of independence. Not being true to oneself.

Note: I am a horribly cynical person and this is, perhaps, the most cynical card in the deck. Syssk works hard to try and blend in with the unwashed masses surrounding her and it is a thankless task. She's mastered make-up and how to sit politely, poetry and tea ceremonies, the katana sword and the samurai code of ethics, Bushido. None of this changes the fact that when people see her all they can see is her monstrous appearance and not the enlightened soul. For some of us being an outcast is much more preferable than having to compromise or hide who we really are, but I suspect, for Syssk, that is not an option open to her and everything about this planet is hellish in one form or another. In a world that has yet to invent the steam engine, let alone FTL drive, the endless prattle that the Earth is the center of the universe and that humanity is some sort of beloved pet for a Creator god blew her mind the first time someone said it and every time since. An ancient Zen koan asks, “What is the ocean to a frog living in a well?” Or, to put it slightly differently, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Ford Prefect (also an alien marooned on Earth), “would often gate-crash university parties, get badly drunk and start making fun of any astrophysicists he could find till he got thrown out … fifteen years was a long time to get stranded anywhere, particularly somewhere as mind-boggingly dull as the Earth.”

[9] OF SWORDS: Sonkeigo of Malice.

Workplace stress. Worried sick. Enabling a bully. [R] Light at the end of a tunnel. Recovery. Burden lifted.

[10] OF SWORDS: Mistress of Painful Endings.

Betrayal. Stabbed in the back. Crash and burn. [R] Learning from mistakes or betrayal. Getting back on feet. Communicating well with others.

[11] ONNA-MUSHA OF SWORDS: Champion of Rejuvenating Zephyrs.

Attention. Grace. Source of springtime. [R] Premature autumn. Crudeness. Disregard.

[12] SAMURAI OF SWORDS: Knight of Typhoons.

Courage. Quickly and unexpected change. Riding out the storm. [R] Pointless violence. Change as disaster.

[13] SEISHITSU OF SWORDS: Lady of the Sea's Sovereignty.

Grace. Rectitude. Hidden powers. [R] Bitter. Delight in drowning fools. Indifferent.

[14] DAIMYO OF SWORDS: Lord of the Raging Winds.

Owning one's own power. Bending reeds and breaking oaks. Sharp mind. [R] Nasty and mean spirited. Abusive. Ball of agitation.

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[WANDS]

[0] ACE OF WANDS: Sovereign of the Root of the Flames.

Passion. Starting point. Answering the call. [R] Lacking creative thinking. Uninspired. Tunnel vision.

[2] OF WANDS: Ruler of Foreign Influences.

Embracing the alien. Long-distance relationship. Synchronicity. [R] Traditionalism. Incompatibility. Old and moldy.

[3] OF WANDS: Lord of the Far Expanse.

Counseling. Returning home. Third party assistance. [R] Third party interfering. Impulsiveness. Lacking the initiative.

[4] OF WANDS: Mx of Martialed Armies.

Stability. Gathering one's forces. Firm foundation [R] Debilitated commitment. Troubles of cohabitation. Adynamic planning.

Note: This is suppose to be an army on the march but I am unsure if that's apparent.

[5] OF WANDS: Master of Strife.

Serving a fair and just ruler. [R] Serving a vicious and wicked ruler.

Note: The term “Bushido” has been referenced several times so far. I have been calling it a samurai code of ethics, concerning all aspects of moral attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. The best example of its essence comes from Stan Sakai's The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy, where the following conversation takes place between our rabbit ronin Usagi and a samurai who serves the antagonist of the story:

Usagi: You'd die for a lord who vilifies you? He doesn't deserve your loyalty!

Torame: I'm a devotee of Bushido, the samurai's code. Do you remember the warrior riddle I told you?

Usagi: “Which more exemplifies Bushido? The samurai who serves a good and fair lord, or the one who faithfully serves a wicked lord?”

Torame: The Samurai who is loyal to his unprincipled master because he who remains faithful even in adversity has the greatest warrior spirit. After all, “samurai” means “to serve” and devotion to your master is paramount.

[6] OF WANDS: Sensei of Nauseous Sacrifice.

Victory at a price. Losing by winning battles. Stress vomiting. [R] Unable to understand why you lost. Disillusioned. Rewards long delayed.

Note: In The Rider-Waite deck, the 6 of Wands deals with public recognition over one’s success. Here, however, the card has more to do having to preform some sort of task that you find personally abhorrent in order to succeed. That, too, usually has very public ramifications (think: selling out for money, or sacrificing a friendship to get ahead) but you’ve decided that failure is not an option, so the ends justify the means, as they say.

[7] OF WANDS: Mother of Valour.

Attacked from all sides. Win battles and playing well with others. [R] Attacked from all sides. Defeat. Feeling drained and stressed.

[8] OF WANDS: Crone of Swiftness.

Expanding horizons through travel. Talking to people or seeing new places. Reading new ideas. [R] Frustration and delays. Can't seem to communicate. How do you make this hawk go?

[9] OF WANDS: Sonkeigo o£ Tenacity.

Bad ass with a katana. Ready and prepared for what is ahead. Good at defeating others. [R] Paranoid from many past battles. All vain pomp. Sound and fury signifying nothing.

[10] OF WANDS: Mistress of Artful Trickery.

Duplicity as a positive thing. Getting others to carry your burden. Looks great with nine tails. [R] Overburdened. Too many responsibilities. Unable to see what is right in front of you.

Note: In Japanese folklore, Kitsune are trickster fox spirits that have the ability to shape shift into human form. The card speaks to the 4 of Sword's warning that a sinister shadow might be concealed in the most charming of outer appearances. In this case the Kitsune is using a life-size puppet to manipulate others, while Syssk, jamming on her biwa in the background, remains oblivious to any danger.

[11] ONNA-MUSHA OF WANDS: Champion of the Luminous Flames.

Companion. Assistant. Helper. [R] Refusing advice. Lone wolf. Getting foolishly burned.

[12] SAMURAI OF WANDS: Knight of Thunderbolts and Lightning.

Person with an inner fire. Using the storm to your advantage. Good at dodging the wrath of the gods. [R] Anticlimax. Thunderbolts and lightning very very frightening. Need for follow through.

[13] SEISHITSU OF WANDS: Lady of the Uncanny Glow.

Eroticism as creative power. Living life to its fullest. MILF. [R] Burns out quickly. Restlessness. Unsatisfied.

Note: The erotic nature of our lives is profoundly spiritual. Since Syssk is the avatar for the reader the question of where Syssk falls in the sexuality spectrum has come up and while she is certainly intersexual (bodies that fall outside the strict male/ female binary) trying to define an alien species in human terms will only take us so far. She identifies as a “she/ her,” and while she is curious about the concepts of sex and romance she has yet to find anyone willing to teach or share. Perhaps she is Panromantic (someone who can experience attraction to anyone regardless of gender identity, sex or anatomy) or perhaps she is Demisexual (someone who does not experience attraction unless they form a strong emotional connection first), but what is important is that it's something only Syssk herself can decide upon and, as of this writing, she is still weighing all her possibilities.

[14] DAIMYO OF WANDS: Lord of the Song of the Turbulent Fire.

Owning one's self. Charming. Legendary. [R] Forked tongue. Smooth talker who is massively insincere. Sucka MC.

__________________________________________________

Originally the deck was going to feature astronauts and their Alien familiars. But that path would lead only to issues of copyright infringement, which is why Syssk ended up looking the way that she does and not like this:

[Magician]

[The Hanged One]

[babylon-crashing]

“Dance is Chaos. Chaos is Movement. Movement honors Tradition. Tradition connects us with our Ancestors. Some of us struggle to fully trust our Intuition. Dance reveals the depths of Unconscious Thoughts that hide rich resources.”

[babylon-crashing]

I know I hung on the gust-beat gallows/ nine full nights,/ gashed with a stake and given to fire-see,/ myself to myself,/ on that ash-tree of which none know/ from where the roots rise. ~ Odin’s Shaman Song.

Here is what Barbara Walker has to say about the Hanged Man:

A man dressed like the Fool hangs from a beam between two trees by one leg, the other leg bent in the Hermetic figure-4 position. His hands are bound behind his back, but his facial expression is peaceful. Bunches of grapes hang with him, suggesting sacraments of Dionysus. Two towers appear in a landscape like that of the Moon card. Hanging by one leg was the medieval custom of “baffling,” a nonlethal punishment bringing disgrace, like a sojourn in the stocks. Like the ritual humiliation in many types of initiation, this may have been a symbolic death-andrebirth, designed to make the novice hear his own heartbeat, which Far Eastern mystics called “the sound of power.” The basis of all rhythm, it is heard even by fetal ears in the womb. The heart’s inner “dance” was the dancing god in Chidambaram, the Cave of the Heart. In ancient Egypt, a figure with one leg bent like the Hanged Man’s was the hieroglyphic sign of dancing and of the Mother-given heart soul (ab). The Hanged Man’s gallows dance is therefore a mock martyrdom, interpreted as a sacrifice for a good purpose, patient as a sacrifice for a good purpose, patient endurance, silent suffering, and life at low ebb.

What I find interesting about this card is the idea that through suffering one can find Aufklärung (your own Age of Enlightenment.) Because basically everything in Christianity has been plagiarized from much better source material, the Codex Regius describes how Odin hung himself on the Yggdrasil (World Tree) in his quest for enlightenment, giving up an eye in order to be able to read the Runes. One of the titles given to Odin is, “Yggr the Terrible,” from which we get the word Ogre.

They did not comfort me with bread nor with a drinking horn: I looked down, I took up the runes, shrieking their names I fell back from there.

I got nine mighty songs from the famous son of Bolthorn, Bestla's father, and I got a drink of precious mead sprinkled as from the heart.

Then I began to thrive and bear wisdom I grew and prospered; Each word drew another word from me, each deed drew another deed from me.

For me what is important about this card is the concept of surrendering every notion of how you think the universe work in order to learn something new. Sacrificial pain cuts through the mundane dogma of all you’ve been taught in school or books (ie., other people’s wisdom that you try to claim as your own) to reveal whatever light your higher self is trying to show you.

[babylon-crashing]

It's punishment/ from Buddha. There is/ no Buddha.

“The Witch wears the mask of an Onibaba (鬼婆) [1] a divine Crone.

“Behind her is a Ba gua, a tool used in Chinese Wuxing sorcery and Feng Shui, symbolizing various virtues. [2] She holds a sword pointed to the sky in one hand and a scabbard pointing to the ground in the other, representing the exchange of power and wisdom seen in Chaos.

“The Witch herself represents the purity of her teachings, reflectes the will of the Kami and guides Heaven and Earth.

“Onibaba is our first card, this means that you are also a Witch and can learn to deal with Chaos and Cosmic Forces.”

“There are no limits to masculine egotism in ordinary life. In order to change the conditions of life we must learn to see them through the eyes of women,” Leon Trotsky.

“'Cause wild women don't worry,/ wild women don't have the blues,” Ida Cox.

Upright: Willpower, desire, creation, perseverance.

In the Rider-Waite deck the Magician is less a teacher and more a supernatural explorer, a conduit between the Spiritual realm and the Material world. Here, however, Syssk sits at the feet of her teacher, who wears an Oni mask and uses her sword to keep the connection between worlds open. At her feet are other traditional symbols of the Tarot suits – a cup, a coin and a wand – symbolizing various elements – water, earth, air and fire. 

Reverse: Deception, illusion, striking out.

____________________________________________

[1] Some, but not all. Like her Japanese counterpart, Onibaba, Slavic folklore tells of Baba Yaga, the Ogress, who in some stories steals, cooks and eats children and in others protects them.

[2] In the center are the four symbols used in the minor Arcana to represent the four elements: Wands (Fire), Cups (Water), Coins (Earth), Swords (Air). Radiating outward are a set of eight “Bagua” symbols (八卦), used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality. Each consists of three lines, each line either broken or unbroken respectively representing their Yin or Yang influences. These are: Heaven, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, Mountain and Lake. Ringing the octagon are the phases of the moon.

[babylon-crashing]

Q:  How do you interpret this tarot reading? Queen of wands, 10 of Pentacles reversed, and 4 of Pentacles reversed?

Queen of Wands: Courage, confidence, ready to explore new sides, determination.

4 of Coins (R): Waste, greed, excessive self-protection.

10 of Coins (R): Dark side of wealth, financial failure or loss.

For many of us we are sexual creatures terrified of our sexuality. For some this is a survival mechanism. In a world where rape and domestic abuse are common blithely following where our libidos lead us can be a death sentence. For others, a life-time of internalized homophobia has left us horrified that someone will discover our, “secret.” It’s easy for other people to spout platitudes (“To thy own self be true.”) but they’re not living our lives and such advice can only take us so far.

For me these three cards reflect the pitfalls of wanting to dig deeper into oneself and discover who we are but going about it in an unhealthy manner. We live in a Capitalist world and often we self-identify through what we purchase. True, a person can make their own altar using found objects or they can spend thousands of dollars on expensive crystals, oils, bones, stones and whatnot. Often people spend beyond their means because they cannot imagine being themselves any other way.

In a perfect world, desire (however you want to define that) should come to us naturally and easy … but we don’t live in a perfect world. If this combination of cards came up in my own reading, I would focus in on the reversed Coins (Pentacles) and see what assumptions I have about the material ways I see myself. Where does my money go? Why do I buy what I buy? What part of my erotic nature compels me to spend? There is no right or wrong answers. Only you know where your comfort zone is. The problem, for me at least, is when I make myself miserable because the literal price tag in expressing myself is far beyond what my bank account has in it. “I just hope you understand,” George Michael once sang, “Sometimes the clothes/ Do not make the man.”

[babylon-crashing]

QUESTION: What does the tarot Major Arcana card (?) say about the dangers of hedonism?

“I want to be a poet, and I'm working at turning myself into a seer. You won't understand any of this, and I'm almost incapable of explaining it to you. The idea is to reach the unknown by the derangement of all the senses. It involves enormous suffering, but one must be strong to be a poet.” ~ Arthur Rimbaud (age 16.)

Ah, yes. Balance and moderation. On one hand, one person’s hedonism is another person’s spiritual quest, though since we live in such an erotic-phobic world such sentiments usually fall on deaf ears … on the other, those ears usually belong to the most dull and mundane among us, so their opinions usually count for very little.

To me, when the concept of hedonism is spoken in a mixed crowd, it is almost always used in a pergoritive, negative and belittling manner. It’s excess. It’s addiction. It’s selfishness. It’s what other people do that you don’t approve of, in much the same way that the righteous possess true faith while the rest of us only have superstitions and false beliefs. In other words, it’s almost always a term that the sanctimonious use, unless you’re Hedonismbot:

Of course, not all of us can survive excess. I certainly couldn’t. As a lifelong alcoholic I had to go into AA and Recovery just to stop, because cirrhosis and not making it to my 50th birthday were the alternatives. For someone who took Rimbaud’s maxim of, “derangement of all the senses,” to heart, it was difficult (at times almost impossible) to find my poetic voice while sober. Which is why I would never criticise another person’s spiritual journey, because for them it’s not excessive and I respect that.

However, that’s not what the question asked. So the closest that I can think of in Tarot that touches on the joys of abstinence, self-restraint and chastity would be Temperance, which isn’t just an unincorporated village in Michigan. In the Rider-Waite deck, an androgynous angel stands with one foot in water and the other on dry land, pouring liquid from one cup to the other. Perhaps you need to, “stabilise your energy and to allow the life force to flow through you without force or resistance.” In the Tarot of Syssk (where the image came from) Syssk stands in the sauna of a public bath, pouring water onto the hot stones, from which steam will rise. This, too is a balancing of elements, just without moral censor.

Of course, not all hedonism is of a chemical or sexual nature …

Je regrette mon hédonisme!

[babylon-crashing]

Chaos/ the road that takes/ I from I.

“Before I left home, realists said that I was arrogant, idealists said I was adventurous, and my eyes reflected my utopia. Now I am abandoned on this boring planet, Earth.

“These hairless apes are very stinky.”

“Je est une autre' [I is an other],” Arthur Rimbaud.

“Walk on!” Buddha's dying words. [1]

Upright: Innocent in a brave new world, queer beginnings, free spirit.

Call it Chaos or Death, the great transformation, [2] but as a species humans do not like the unknown. The changes that Chaos brings, though, are unavoidable. In Buddhism there is the concept of Emptiness, “used to mark a distinction between the way things appear to be and the way they actually are.” [3] Our story drips with the sort of Emptiness that only Chaos can bring and begins simply:

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

Out of an Universe of possibilities we, like Syssk, find ourselves surrounded by ape-creatures that can only see the “Other” in us. Marooned in Medieval Japan, Syssk is considered an Unenlightened Soul, even though she possesses F.T.L. Technology. Distracted by her crash landing, she stumbles through a Torii gate, [4] blindly heading toward a cliff. She only glances backwards when she notices the beckoning cat.[5] As they say, an auspicious way to start any adventure.

Reverse: Recklessness, taking advantage of a host, imprudence toward elders.

__________________________________

[1] Bruce Chatwin. Songlines. (1987)

[2] “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single  step,” Laozi.

[3] R.H. Blyth. Zen & Zen Classics. (1978)

[4] The Torii Gate (鳥居) is a traditional wooden gate most commonly found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred.

[5] The ceramic Maneki-neko (招き猫, lit. beckoning cat) is a believed to bring good luck to those who come across it. The figurine depicts a cat, traditionally a calico Bobtail, with a paw raised in a beckoning gesture.

[babylon-crashing]

Q: what do you think about the art of tarot? does the art motivate you to buy it?

Hmm, speaking only for myself, it has, in the past, made me want to try it myself.

My first deck dealt with Syssk, an alien xenomorph who finds herself stranded in medieval Japan. Later I started on a new project featuring a female Cthulhu-like character (I never really did come up with a name for her) and it was only when I was about halfway through that I realized it was Syssk 2.0, the only real difference being the setting and costumes (Syssk crash lands on Earth in her UFO and, O look, Tentacles also just crash landed in a slightly different looking UFO, huh).

So, I’m trying something different. Instead of having a main character that runs through the story I started working with a pantheon of sea heroes and gods. There are mermaid tarot decks but there has yet to be an ocean-themed deck working with water deities from around the world.

For the wands I decided to focus on Egypt and West Africa. This is a rough draft, but one that has the burden of potential, as they say.

ACE: Mbumba, rainbow serpent of terrestrial waters. [Bantu] TWO: Abena Mansa, sea goddess associated with gold. [Akan] THREE: Erzulie, goddess of sweet water, beauty and love. [Dahomey] FOUR: Mamba Muntu, goddesses of the deep waters and female sexuality. [Bantu] FIVE: Nephthys, goddess of salt water, discoballs and the night. [Egyptian] SIX: Nommo, one of many primordial ancestral spirits that live in the sea [Dogon] SEVEN: Mami Wata, a water loa. [Ewe/ Fon] EIGHT: Yemoja, in rage over the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, is the orisha of sea waves and follows her people across the Atlantic. [Yoruba] NINE: Dahomey Amazon warrior weeping over her fallen comrades. [Benin] TEN: Pregnant Oya, orisha of sea storms. [Yoruba] PAGE: La Sirene and her shark [Côte d'Ivoire.] KNIGHT: Sobek, crocodile goddess of the Nile river. [Egyptian.] CONSORT: Unnamed. EMPRESS: Bosompo, primordial embodiment of the oceans and her pet squid, Lil’ Squiggle [Akan]

[babylon-crashing]

Tarot deck based on the fine art of, "Sibylline Xenomorphia;" featuring Syssk, an Alien marooned in Japan's Warring States era; mapping out her attempts to pass in the bewildering and often contrary world of strife, chaos and fabulous kimonos.

Syssk Online Shop Space.

A free guide book written in Armenian and Galactic Basic (Syssk’s native tongue) for the deck, translated by Lilit "Baba" Yagian, can be found here at my favorite Internet lending library:

TAROT of SYSSK [4th edition] : Lilit "Baba" Yagian : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

A translation in English is in the works. The colorized editions (at this point just curiosities) date back to earlier versions of the deck which were never published.

[babylon-crashing]

[babylon-crashing]

Q: What was the experience when the King of Pentacles (diamond) met the King of Cups (heart)?

What would the Lord of the Joys of Capitalism and the Lord of Curious Titillations talk about at a party?

Money, of course.

As they say, cheap thrills might be cheap but they ain’t free. Next to love and protection spells, ways of attracting (and keeping) money through magic are extremely popular. To that end, let me share with you a Conjure spell, Money Stay With Me. According to cat yronwode:

This spell takes seven days, but once you start on it, you can continue for as long as you like. You will need a Green 7-knob candle,[1] an incense burner or brazier, a plate or tray, a nail, four silver dimes, and a small piece of paper on which you have written your full name nine times in red ink. If you pin or glue something personal (a photo, hair, or concerns of that nature) to the paper, the spell will be more powerful. If you have no special place to use as an altar, work on a small table or on the top of a bureau drawer.

First, set out the Lodestone on the tray. Place your name-paper and your concerns under the Lodestone. On each knob of the 7-Knob candle carve the words MONEY STAY WITH ME. Place the four silver dimes around the foot of the candle in the form of a cross. Light the incense, then the candle.

Now be honest with yourself. It's not how much you get, it's how much you can hold on to. Dig into your pockets or purse and pull out all your cash. Yes, even the cash hidden in your sock drawer. Set the change and any bill under $20.00 denomination to one side. Any bill of $20.00 denomination or more, you will use in the spell. If you don't have bills of $20.00 denomination or more, use the bills you have of highest denomination. Write your name on each bill. (You've seen money like this before, with a person's name on it. Now you know how it got that way and why.) Place the bills under the lodestone, neatly stacked and facing East to West on top of your name-paper. Say aloud "Money Stay With Me" and sprinkle a pinch of magnetic sand on the lodestone to feed it. Let the candle burn one knob's worth and pinch it out (don't blow it out). The next night, do everything as before. Pull out all the bills of $20.00 denomination or more, write your name on them and place them under the lordestone. Say "Money Stay With Me." Let the candle burn one knob's worth and pinch it out.

Do this every night for 7 nights, criss-crossing the bills. On the 7th night, after you finish, the bills at the bottom of the stack are yours to spend. On the 7th night, after you finish, the bills at the bottom of the stack are yours to spend.

[1] Besides getting mistaken for a sex toy, 7-knob candles look like this:

Image from: Grey Hedge.

[babylon-crashing]

QUESTION: What is the meaning of a black cat in tarot cards?

It means that you must brace yourself for a truly epic, spinebusting, cheetah-level smack down; for there is only one reason why a cat would go to war:

You are withholding their life-sustaining num-nums; which, clearly, is a horrific mishandling of justice and can only be answered with blood (obviously yours, you no-good penny-pinching cheapskate).

This card doesn’t appear all that often in readings, but when it does plainly the gods are upset over something … perhaps.