exerpts taken from the diary of a broken soul

Dear Davina,

Thank you. I see the same in your creation as well and in the stories that you tell. Perhaps great minds think alike, eh?


Ash

Ace of Swords

The curtain comes down on the Sword suit and I asked Lytta to come back before the door closes but he said to me:

In the vastland of my imagination, I am unchained by doubts;
Tittering between reality and fantasy; I am soaring without wings;
Do not bind me with doomsday prophecies; Do not pretend to be my One-Eyed God;
I cannot bear the yoke around my neck anymore than you can bear the bitterness in your heart.

So, ok... I will stay behind and wait for His Mad Magesty, The Beetle King to take the Regency of the Air element... in the vastland of my imagination, I can walk on air while time stands still.

Neat card!

I see a dual edge of possibilities, without the certainty of center (in light of what you wrote) in that "hollow" sword.

I see a hilt where the stars, already created, are contained but not yet set forth on their outward missions.

The hilt also looks like reptilian skin, and like a style of Australian aboriginal art, including the stick animal-like figure in it.

A coiled dragon of power and potentiality lies curled within the guard.

And I guess that hooded figure is dancing on air while time stands still!

The figures in the sword, the "spade" associated with swords, and the crossed sword and straight line: I am not sure of their significance beyond the associations and the aesthetics.

Nice work!

swimming in tarot said:

The figures in the sword, the "spade" associated with swords, and the crossed sword and straight line: I am not sure of their significance beyond the associations and the aesthetics.

Nice work!

Click to expand...

LOL.. Thanks, swimming in tarot.

I have a friend who is lost somewhere in Australia right now.. one of my closest friends. I have no idea where he is; how long he will be there; is he ok? He won't answer calls or return text messages; he AVOIDS the computer like a plague... so... I wonder where the rogue has gone.

He'll roam to his heart's content and then one day, I'm hoping he will come home. He always said he's the Ace of Spades in a deck of playing cards; keeping the Ace in his pocket.. just in case.

When we play poker (him, my husband and I) and it is dealt to him; he will throw it in the middle of the table just so we know, he's got the Ace of Spades!! Its one of my favorite cards to have in a poker game... keep your wits about you, mate.

Ash

5 of Pentacles

Hard deck, hard card, hard times.

A word of caution friends, this card may offend some people with its associations. Do not thred further if you are not prepared to keep an open mind. Jahanam is not a tame place with tame occupants.

Be warned.

Ash

Wow.

All i can say, since all your deck is so amazing. I love reading the stories behind them as well. Truly one of the most beautiful yet... disturbing decks i've ever had the pleasure to see.

anna x

p.s. I would also like to thank you since the deck helped me remember the name Jahanam in my religious studies exam on tuesday

Gee, SacredAshes, with all that warning I was expecting something offensive and shocking! Am I just horribly callous? Although I'm not Christian, I find it makes perfect theological sense that, even if Jesus was an immortal god, he chose to live as a human and die as a human, experiencing all of the pain and suffering that he took as his mission to redeem. Resurrection or not, I don't follow the school of thought that thinks he never "died". Or am I missing your point?

**annabubble**

I am glad this deck helped you; even if its in the most unexpected way

**swimming in tarot**



The word of caution was for those who find the associations in this card done in bad taste. Many people were crucified in a time when that method of punishment was legal; Jesus was one of many who suffered the same fate. Like you, I may not share the same beliefs but I do respect it. Me, I've always wondered how is it we humans are capable of so much horror and have the cheek to call Satan, Lucifer, _______ (fill in the blanks) evil. Still haven't got past that brain-buster.

Personally, I find it easiest to seek spiritual guidance when I'm facing hard times; because I am in desperate need to have faith that some great force out there in the Universe can somewhow miraculously save me from the mess I'm in. My husband once said, "Money doesn't fall from the sky but blessings do."... at a time when I was too focused on the material to see how blinded I have become.

A lot of people who have seen the image have also assumed it is the Ripper behind the man, holding him away from the darkness that threatens to swallow him whole. Physical death, spiritual death; so many aspects to an ageless notion we experience repeatedly while we are alive.

I think the only constant in this deck or in Jahanam for that matter, is that nothing is always what it seems... which then begs the question, "What IS it saying?" That I will leave to the viewer to interprete for themselves.

I remember many years ago, in a state of confusion I asked a friend for his opinion. He said to me, "If you think you're in the right, then you're right. If you think you're in the wrong, you're still right." I'm pretty sure he nicked that line from somewhere but it stuck in my head. That's why I share the stories; but not my interpretation. I may think I'm right, I may think I'm wrong.. either way, it is both subjective and fallible.




Ash

I have come back to this card time and time again. There is something haunting about it, whereby the first few times my mind was emptied. I didn't draw a blank I hasten to add - it just quietened my mind. I think that is something to draw on when we feel we are really facing the hardest of times. Still the mind and start the healing process, whether it be spiritual, mental or physical.

I think the wings for me show regardless how low we think we have become, regardless of how tough the going is, there is still something or someone there who will help us at the time we most need it.
A great reminder to us that not all the world is against us. It is the actions of a few. The wings are behind him, so it may show us we may not be aware of where or how that support may reveal itself, but if we don't close down our conscious thoughts, we end up making it harder to feel or sense that presence.

I love this card. And yes, it is still making me just 'look' and not 'think'.

Powerful indeed. My words typed here aren't really enough to describe it in the way I want, so there may be some editing once I can find the words

Davina

King of Cups

Dear Davina,

I have to do that too... come back time and again to see what else it says. With this card in particular, I asked if I was the one hung up to dry.. therefore in need of salvation beyond what my own hands can provide.

Or if I was the one hanging on to my idea of salvation... for there are times when I feel despite my wings, I am getting sucked into a whirlpool of darkness that threatens to swallow me whole... and I look at the falling coins and wonder if I should let go of something that might save me in hopes of gaining all that glitters in fools' gold.

No answers; just thoughts to ponder over as we carry on marching towards our destination.

*********************************************

King of Cups

He hardly said a word when I last saw him wallowing in his drinks. Harvester of Sorrow is a name given to the one who feels so much; he drowns in the riptide of emotions.

A photo captured him emerging from the foam; water breaking over the rocks as it falls into the darkness of the abyss below. I waited for him to show himself and he did.. just for a nanosecond only to disappear again under the waves. A moment to share a vision, a moment to feel alive and an eternity to yearn for something that cannot be held in our fingers. Sometimes, it is just as easy to swim as it is to drown.


Ash