What a coincidence that just as I draw the cards for March, the real-life Pope is leaving. Unfortunately, he won't be taking his red shoes with him, which is a shame because red leather shoes would have to be a babe magnet. I don't much like this pope fellow, the real one or the one in my mind. He's got his good points -- he's a scholar and his opinion in his field of specialization carries some weight. But he's also an obvious case of arrested emotional development, captured by Diego Velazquez stunningly in his 1650 portrait of Pope Innocent X. My own pope is a crude rendition of Velazquez's famous oil.
Old Not-So-Innocent looks at the viewer with hostility and paranoia, as one would expect from someone threatened by plots from all sides. In this draw, he is fading from view. The Pope was once venerated, but I'm getting that he mostly no longer is. That means the meaning of this card has changed over time. I can't help seeing the Pope in a negative light.
Now I realize, of course, that in our brave new age, the fifth trump is generally called the high priest or hierophant or el queso grande or some other veschsh to try to uncouple this image from its Roman Catholic origins. Personally, I prefer the original names because the concepts behind them are simple and logical.
Ten clubs is unambiguous. It's a heavy scholarship card, and indicates someone reaping the rewards of years of hard work. If all it means is that I can write what I want, the way I want, that's fine by me.
Six spades, that one I'm familiar with. It's a "reaping" type card also. It shows up from time to time to remind me that I smoked for 50 years; it's the card of karmic results playing out in one's work and health.
Photo and images on cards ©2001, 2013 by Dave B a.k.a. catboxer
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