Rainring: post-tarot psychological cards

NOTES

1)     The Fundamental Archetypes are the basic constituents of the psyche. They are the building blocks out of which everything else is constructed. They constitute set 5, which corresponds to Group 5, the Unconscious. Just as the passengers on the deck of an ocean liner hear barely if at all the engines which power the vessel, so we surmise the existence and nature of the archetypes essentially from their manifest results.

2)     I have asked the cards themselves to give indications on the practical effects of these set 5 cards. In this way, we can attempt to bring them up from the realms of deep shadow and obscurity into sufficient light to enable us to discover practical divinatory meanings for them.

3)     The structure of the individual entry.

Each entry begins with a description of the image; the published definition of the archetype follows, with or without some expansion; finally we focus our attention on teasing out the divinatory meanings, which we summarise at the end.

37. Conception: group - Spirit (1 violet/purple)

The Image

Situated within an approximate circle we have the image of a mountainous landscape which is faintly illuminated by a minimal amount of light. There are stars, one of which appears larger, but no moon. Among the mountains, the deep purple tones of the landscape are relieved by a single small red circular spot; the image does not reveal what it represents.

The archetypeConception: ‘what cannot be imagined – conceived - cannot take form; the birth of possibility; the male pillar of life.’

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines conception in various ways, including ‘the originating of something in the mind.’ Conception is the origination of the manifest universe: it is the primary activity of Spirit, the male pole. It is an indispensable ingredient for all creation, from that of the universe on down to this dictionary definition or piece of writing. Conception further means both ‘the process of becoming pregnant involving fertilisation…’ and also ‘beginning’. In choosing the name ’Conception’ for Rainring’s Spirit archetype, we had all these meanings in mind.

Divinatory meanings

In Conception, you say goodbye to something: it is the process by which you allow a thought to rise from the Unconscious and be born into awareness. And you do this in order, ultimately, to communicate it. Thought is a vibration, and to conceive something is to send this vibration out into the universe, in order to get response for yourself. Conception has an explosive quality: it is going to de-stabilise what is, and this is true of relationship as of any other area of psyche. So the divinatory meaning of Conception is associated with beginnings and also disturbance of the status quo, drama, instability, re-evaluation. The opposition to Conception comes from the unnameable source of everything. Conception, like everything else, is a duality, a coin with two sides: what is brought into being is possibility, but also limitation. A concept, if you like, can have enormously fruitful results, but at the same time, it can send everyone off in a certain direction to the detriment of all others. Ever afterwards, it will have to be taken into account by future thinkers. Conception is like the first footprint in a limitless expanse of virgin snow.

To sum up, there is something driven about Spirit, such that Conception implies that a certain quality of anarchic, unreflective, unselfconscious being is going to be replaced by direction, purpose, analysis, intentional activity…. I am reminded of the difference between the white man’s expedition into the bush and the behaviour of the blackfella (aborigine) who goes ‘walkabout’ without a goal, intention, plan or timetable.

Divination summary: original thoughts & ideas; new beginnings; disturbance in established practices or relationships; lack of spontaneity, plans, intentions, analytical approach; becoming pregnant; initial fusion of male & female elements or aspects in a situation; loss of innocence; work (as opposed to play); adult preoccupations (as opposed to children’s concerns).

38. Desire: group - Will (2 red)

The image

A young woman, whose appearance suggests that she may be from Central Asia, sits in an almost enclosed space. She wears a lot of red and looks towards us with a direct, sensual, challenging gaze. In her right hand she holds an open pomegranate, several seeds of which are also visible on the palm of her left hand. Behind her on a perch sits a bird of prey, perhaps a falcon, which looks at her with fierce eyes. She is leaning against a purple cushion.

The archetypeDesire: the motive force and female pillar of life; the prime mover of being: e-motion = movement outwards.Just as the encounter of sperm and egg is at the origin of the new life of the child in the womb, so life in the manifest universe has its origins also in the meeting of two forces, the second and female of which is desire. Merriam-Webster defines it as a ‘conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment…’ The use of the verb - to desire ‘stresses the strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim’. Desire is a sine qua non of existence: it permeates every aspect of life and without it, there would be no life: we exist because we desire to do so. Desire is the power source for the Will, which expresses through emotion, meaning literally – movement outwards. Desire powers the Will to make space for the Creation. [1] Divinatory meanings

I believe it was Freud who explained that without sublimating sexual desire (i.e. diverting it away into other channels) there would be no culture and civilisation. Perhaps, now that our ‘civilisation’ is visibly and rapidly destroying our planet, we will be less inclined to suppose automatically that if we were to - in the famous phrase - ‘make love, not war’, the human condition would be worse.

The female pole, the Will, is motivated by the drive towards sensory pleasures, the foremost of which is sex. The implications of this seem to be two-fold. First, the pursuit and fulfilment of sexual desire reverses the urge to fish constantly for inspiration in the Unconscious. The area of creativity is transferred from the search for contact with the Unconscious to the search for reciprocal contact in the world of consciousness – through the experience of transcendence in, rather than out of, the body.[2] Second, this fulfilment reverses the collective hyperactivity of the planet. Sensual pleasure in general, and sex in particular, function at other rhythms than that of the ‘civilised’ activities resulting from sublimation. They induce slowness. Speed is a balloon of tension; sensuality releases the tension, bursts the balloon and aborts the hurry – both in activity and in relationship.

The opposition to desire comes, ultimately, from the forces of introversion. Just as attaining ‘enlightenment’ is billed as a solitary activity, so all those who have problems making authentic, feeling contact with others will oppose desire and its drive towards contact and closeness. Equally, those whose self-image and status depend upon cerebral or indeed artistic activity of a solitary nature will be threatened.

Desire, to sum up, goes with forthright self-promotion; wallflowers and shrinking violets are disadvantaged. In a more than merely sexual sense, the pursuit of desire requires and stimulates the sense of self. All over the world, people’s desires are being controlled and manipulated by governments, corporations, the media, religions and so on. To know and pursue your own desires makes you an individualist – since no-one can do this effectively on your behalf.

Divination summary

urges, passions; going for what you want; abandon, sensuality, appetites; wilfulness; sensory stimulation; languor, satiety; play, ease, enjoyment, fulfilment, pleasure, release; intimacy; individuality, forthrightness, candour, idiosyncrasy, independence, charisma.

39. Creation: group - heart (3 green)

 The image

A certain naivety pervades this image of the Creation, which looks for all the world like a lopsided goldfish bowl. Freshness and innocence, rather than sophistication, dominate this view of the new-made Earth. From the top down, a sky with while clouds gives way to a green Earth with mountains, fields and some deer-like animals. These again, in the foreground, give way to an ‘ocean’, in which swim two small fish, but which is entirely dominated by an enormous whale. At the left of the image, at the water’s edge, is a tree whose branches swirl out towards the fields and mountains.

The ArchetypeCreation: Conception + Desire = Creation; the latter is the product of fusion of the two former, also the balancer between them.

We live in a bi-polar cosmos. Creation is possible at the point where the two fundamental constituents of the psyche – Conception (male) and Desire (female) come together. This union produces a third element, which incorporates in itself part of the nature of each of its progenitors. The scenario is identical to that by which male and female (e.g. humans) mate and produce offspring: genetically, the latter are a mixture of the parents; in the same way, they are a psychic mix of male and female elements also. Creation is the prototype of the ‘offspring’. The bi-polarity of Spirit and Will is inherently unstable; it is Heart, of which Creation is the fundamental archetype, which provides the balance, out of which will come Form (card 39).

Divinatory meanings

Creation is a spirit-side activity with its roots in the (female) Unconscious. Merriam-Webster: creation – ‘the act of bringing the world into ordered existence; ….. an original work of art’. Just as the Creation has its origins, ultimately, in the Unconscious, so the artist brings into being an original work which similarly originates in the Unconscious. Interestingly, we have origin and original from the same root – the Latin oriri, to rise. Again, the theme of the artist’s muse is a very widespread one. This corresponds to the card 59, Vision. This is the link between the Unconscious and the creative process. The vision is a form of Input from the Unconscious (card 77), symbolised by the offer of a box (as in the case of Pandora) containing secrets from the other world.[3]

A feeling of inflation accompanies creative work. You feel as if you are a person of exceptional value; that you are above the common mass of humanity. This feeling is the effect of contact with the Unconscious, whose reach and resources are so much vaster than those of the conscious mind – how could one who has access to them fail to feel at least a little god-like? This is likely to be reinforced by the feelings of deference with which the creative act and person are typically met. As a creator you are a pioneer, after all, and this is reflected in the respect, even almost reverence accorded to your creative endeavour. Creation is an active, rather male-sided pursuit but it is powered by the outpourings of the Unconscious. This means you are in thrall to your muse – when you have access to ‘her’, you work and are ecstatic; when you lose contact with her, you are bereft and downcast.

Given the individualistic and charismatic nature of the creator, it is natural enough that opposition to your creative process should come from Need. No matter what the rewards reaped by dedication to the solitary discipline of Creation, you will not be able to avoid indefinitely the competing demands of the appetites, including primarily the need for society, company, relationship with your fellow-beings. Creative activity cannot go very far if it is not integrated into a matrix of human contact. All in all, as a creative individual you exhibit the characteristic of Radiance: the strong sense of yourself, your daemon (‘attendant power or spirit’[4]), a dedication to your task which makes you able to rise above the limitations of the dominant or submissive tendencies in interpersonal behaviour. To be creative is to have an effective and solid sense of self, since how else will you withstand the encounter with the Unconscious? The creator who loses this centre will end up soon enough on the scrap-heap of the psyche.

Divination summary

creative endeavour; breakthroughs in intuiting and understanding, solitary work, self-imposed discipline, dedication to a task, self-confidence, feelings of worth; being set apart from ordinary people; admiration from others, being in thrall to one’s muse, therefore alternance of exhilaration and depression; struggle against  impulses to socialise.

40. Form: group - form (4 orange)

The image             

The huge desert sun setting is the backdrop for a camel caravan passing from right to left and pictured from a position very close to the ground. Three camels and two nomads can be seen in silhouette; one of the latter riding, the other walking. The sun on the horizon sends long shadows of the people and animals across the sand. The whole tableau is dominated by oranges and reds, broken only by the dark shadows. There is some hazing, no doubt due to the heat, along the ground at the horizon line. Overall there is a primordial effect, with landscape and light contributing to a simplification so radical that shape assumes overwhelming importance.

The Archetype

Rainring is built on the Crossroads of two great polarities: male – female and conscious – unconscious. With the fourth fundamental archetype, Form, we arrive at the first constituent of this latter polarity. Form is the terrain of what we see and know; of time, reason and differentiation. Consciousness begins with division, and the first division is male – female. These fuse in Creation, and this fused energy manifests as Form. These four elements are reflected in the spread called the centred triangle. In this triangle, the three outer positions represent female, male and balance, whilst the fourth position, centre, is the result – the form which the manifestation being explored will take.

Divinatory meaningsForm: the fourth principle: manifestation, differentiation, proliferation – the realm of the senses.

Preamble: Mystics experience multiplicity as an illusion, saying that in reality all living things are merely atoms of the one whole. The manifest world of form is then usually categorised as something to be transcended. Form is a poor relation with whom we may be obliged to stay for a while, but we should regard this as a temporary reversal of fortune, and aim to get out as soon as possible.

In Rainring, by contrast, we have no problem with Form. Form is as much part of the rich tapestry of existence as is the Unconscious. Indeed, it is one of the two absolutely indispensable polarities which make up the second axis of our universe: north – south in the Rainring formation. (male – female being east –west). In Rainring we are not trying to escape Form, but to give it its correct valuation in the overall scheme of the psyche.

When you draw the card Form, it refers to an immediacy of contact, an attunement, whether with the physical world, or with other people. Form says that you are connected, that you are in touch. Expressions like ‘down-to-earth’ and ‘common sense’ are appropriate. Form further refers to order, as against chaos: things are neat and tidy in your life; you have balance, harmony and control. In terms of relationships, the card resonance describes your situation – you are on the same wavelength as others. The glue which binds societies is produced by those who have their finger on the pulse of the prevailing mood and behaviour. With resonance, then, you will affect people by speaking or acting in a way that they can understand and relate to. This is made possible also by your adaptability. You are not on a crusade, riding some great obsession; hence you are free to take a pragmatic approach – ‘let’s do what works’.

Your difficulty is in the problematic nature of your relations with the Unconscious. You occupy a pole position where you lack imagination, flair, inspiration. Your stability is both your great asset and your great liability. Eventually, you will have to connect to your unconscious, for if not, you will end up like a dead soul. It is in fact the urge of the soul for inner movement which will oppose itself to you: like a landlocked surfer desperate to get to the ocean. To summarize: you are the manifestation of the male-female balance in Creation. Whilst the creator merely creates, you can build – and not only with things, but with people. Nevertheless, your triumphs will be short-lived unless you can reconnect to the source - which takes us to card 40, Flow-Singer

Divination summary

order, practicality, health, problem-solving,  results, stability, earthiness, common sense; ease with others, getting on well with people, communicating effectively humour; pragmatism, absence of obsessive ideas or principles; lack of imagination or originality; excessive focus on the material world; danger of shallowness, imitation and disconnect from individual spiritual source.

41. Flow-Singer: group - Unconscious (5 indigo)

The image

A dark-skinned girl stands in a brown river whose bank, visible in the distance, is covered with lush foliage. Above the waist, she is wearing only a turtle pendant around her neck and two garlands of flowers across her chest. Round her waist, we can just see above the waterline the red material of whatever covers the lower half of her body. She wears a blue flower in her hair, and is smiling. She holds her arms down and slightly out from her body, turned so that the open palms of both hands face us. It is clear that she has been making ripples in the water. She has two familiars, both of whom are shown larger than natural perspective: to her left as we look at her, a blue swan representing co-incidence; to her right, a grey elephant representing time. The image is completed by two sprays of leaves, possibly olive.

The archetype.

Flow-Singer is the card at the centre of the grid and is the archetype of the Unconscious. As such, she is the card furthest from the light, her significance in the world of consciousness being the most difficult of all the grid cards to assess. The Unconscious is the origin, so the number 5 in no way implies that Flow-Singer comes ‘after’ the previous four. As the card of set 5 and group 5, the double Unconscious, Flow Singer represents the emergence of the Unconscious into consciousness. She is therefore at the crossroads between time, reason and causality – the building-blocks of consciousness; and coincidence, dream, symbol and acausality: the frame of reference of the Unconscious.    

Divinatory meaningsFlow-Singer: the mediator between consciousness and the unconscious, causality (time) and acausality (synchronicity); the source of the stories of being.

To draw this card is to show proof of flexibility; to have the inner freedom to go in many possible directions. You are at ease in the ebb and flow of existence, because you are not committed to any particular viewpoint or course of action: you are available for whatever turns up. This means that your inner attitude is that of someone for whom issues or situations are ongoing – you do not regard yourself as being at the end of anything, as having reached completion. Because you have a free flow of access to the Unconscious, you are making an impression – not by deliberately drawing attention to yourself, but by being connected. In relationship, you have the capacity for affinity, because you can sense what lies behind the masks that people use; but this capacity is dormant, since your connectedness with the whole makes it hard for you to commit yourself to fully connecting to specific individuals. Again, because you are in touch with yourself, you are clear about how you feel – which of course is not always true of others.

As with all cards which involve close links with the Unconscious, your issues are with the world of Form – connectedness to people and emotions. Manifestation is the arena of the Will as much as of Spirit, and exposure to the Will may mean being buffeted by strong emotions, like a walker on a very windy day. This exposure to passion can eclipse the unconscious connection – something you have resistance to. Your problem is that given your ability to go back and forth across the interface between consciousness and the unconscious, you have an inner balance which has plenty of amplitude and which you are therefore reluctant to disturb. The biggest potential disturbance is other people, so that falling in love, to take the extreme case, is something that you have a lot of resistance to. In general, given the extent of your inner resources, you experience no great urge for any form of close contact with others. Paradoxically, therefore, the greatest threat to your well-being, and the force likely to undermine it, is change. This means change in the sense of upheaval, of a sharp break from the continuity of your existence. In fact, it is exactly this energy that you are attracting to yourself: challenging you to come out of your comfort zone in no-man’s land and plunge into the clamour and frenzy of combat in the world of Form.

Divination summary

flexibility, flux; non-doctrinaire attitudes; uncommitted in relationship; elusiveness, enterprise, insight, self-awareness, rounded personality, wide interests, no settled life-style, travel, career change, makes a strong impression on others; difficulty committing in relationship; reluctance to settle for one person, career or lifestyle; non-conformity.

42. Self: group - Self (6 yellow)

The Image

A large woman stands at a table holding a ladle, which she is about to dip into an earthenware pot. To the right of her sits a boy in green, to the left, a girl wearing pink. The presence of spoons and bowls (5 and 4 respectively) on the table makes it clear that she is about to serve the children. Behind her on the wall hangs a grey cloak to the left of the image, and a medallion on a lace to the right. The woman wears a yellow apron over an orange dress with red sleeves, a cook’s hat and various items of jewellery. She looks straight at us with a forthright gaze.

The Archetype

Self represents the point in the evolution of the psyche at which the individual, as a distinct unit of the whole, is born. The viewpoint of Rainring is that, like Form, Self is an integral part of the psyche, and must not be judged against on the basis that ‘in reality, we are all one’. Both unity and diversity have their place in the psyche, and Rainring incorporates each of them. The universe evolves towards differentiation; humanity likewise faces the task of nurturing and developing the uniqueness of each individual. It is not Self which is responsible for the conflicts we experience, but the history or conditioning that Self has been subject to since the dawn of consciousness. Self is not the villain of the piece, but the indispensable organising principle of individual identity in the cosmos.

Divinatory MeaningsSelf: guardian of individual being, the unique nature of one’s own identity; the force which supports and guides multiplicity, differentiation, individuation

Once Self arises, it immediately threatens to abort the feeling of connectedness of the individual soul with the whole of life, the ocean of being.

Self is also rather like a house where you decide to stay for a while during a long journey. In this place you are in a state of centredness; not running here and there pursuing this and that. In other words, you know who you are and what you are about. You are in accord with your core, your true identity. Your inner experience is that of focus on yourself, an introvert emphasis. To know who you are -self-knowledge- is the beginning of wisdom. This is what is gained, the positive side of the coin. A sense of independence attaches itself to Self, because you have a good balance of male and female energies. You also demonstrate an exuberance of spirit, because to be yourself, to pursue your own agenda is a powerful motivator.

For Self, however, the shadow is always the other, and the relationship with that other. Not far behind your sense of separateness and independence comes need: the urge to be in contact, to be close to the other. And it is from here that the opposition to Self comes – from that in us which needs, imperatively, the interchange with other selves. Self, that is, ushers in the dilemma with which every human being is familiar: you versus me. In the company of another, and still more with numerous others, the members of the group, you find that you cannot be entirely yourself. So the tension is set up – to be totally yourself but alone, versus to be totally immersed in the group but to lose your identity, yourself. The card Self shows that for now you are right at one end of that spectrum. But to be self-centred (even ‘selfish’) is not automatically a moral failing, behaviour for which you ‘should’ feel guilty.

Ultimately, out of Self will come projection – when you lose touch with the Self of the other, and believe him or her to have the same motivations, feelings, neuroses as yourself. The paranoid dictator wants to have everyone killed because everyone (he is convinced) is out to kill him. Although this is prefigured by Self, this latter is nevertheless a highly positive card: not to have a solid sense of identity is to be in danger of plunging headlong into insanity. With all its attendant issues, Self is nonetheless an indispensable ingredient of well-being.

 Divination summary

self-centred behaviour; strong sense of your individual identity; doing what you need for yourself; independence, pursuit of your own advantage, selfishness; motivation, exuberance, balance, idiosyncrasy, appropriate introversion; self-isolating tendency, difficulty recognising need for others; reluctance to get involved with others.

43. Wordsong: group - Communication (7 blue)

The Image

The scene is of a stretch of ocean on a day with sun and white clouds. In the foreground, a naked man stands on a rock, surrounded by water, playing a set of bongo drums. Two seabirds are visible overhead, perhaps implying that there is land not far away.

The Archetype

Wordsong is the fundamental archetype of the communication group, which in turn corresponds to the throat chakra in human beings. It stands between Self and Swayesse, that is between the individual soul and the union of male and female through love. Wordsong can be thought of as the expression of the Soul’s journey towards union with the beloved; or as the transition between identity and desire. As we will see with the feeling archetypes of set 6, only when freedom (yellow) has been won can there be longing (blue) for love. In the same way, until the Self is established, there is no quest for desire, because there is no separation from it.  Psychic wholeness is not possible for the lone human being; Wordsong is the means by which the bridge is made from one individual soul to another.

Divinatory MeaningsWordsong: spirit of the muse; the joiner of selves in spirit; the medium in which resonance takes place

At the heart of Wordsong is the process of making an image of the other, or indeed others. With Self has begun the process of losing touch with the universal ocean of being.

There is now a kind of trompe l’oeil effect in which when you look at the world and at the other, you see yourself - as though in a mirror. It therefore becomes your abiding obsession to pass through the mirror, in the sense of seeing what is really out there, as against a mere reflection of yourself. Similarly, there is the urge to surmount the walls that divide you from me: for you and I to be one. To have Wordsong is to wander in spirit – not for the love of roaming itself, but out of your need to contact the other. You therefore have clarity in relationships, in the sense that you know what your objectives are: you have the urge to communicate, to find others who are on the same wavelength as yourself. You feel driven to go beyond the niceties of conventional social interaction, to reach the point at which authentic contact with the Self of the other can take place. You use the resources of word and music to attempt to reach out across the distance that separates you from others, and to obliterate it.

What opposes itself to this reaching out? It is the demands of the Self, the vibration which represents the essence of your own unique identity. On the one hand, you have this overwhelming urge to find love, on the other, you want to be yourself, with no compromise. To put it another way, if you are alone in the universe you have no limit on your actions; your need for the other, by contrast, means that you must let go: you must give up the absolute control desired by your Self, and set out in search of Swayesse. Wordsong is both a pilgrimage and a dilemma causing acute inner tension.

Divination summary

the urge to communicate; longing and search for love; tensions between being oneself and being with others; making music, poetry, drama etc, questioning self-image; frustration with limits of expression; awareness of self, others and relationships; emotional restlessness; desire for the muse; high artistic endeavour.

44. Swayesse: group - Conjugation (8 magenta)

The Image

Two abstract figures, one in tones of blue on the left, the other in silver on the right, are depicted against a background of deep pink shades, with a white circle towards the periphery enclosing most of the image. The two figures, perhaps male and female, have the lower half ending in a kind of tail (but unified, unlike a mermaid), rather than legs and feet. The figures thus seem capable of swinging back and forth, perhaps referring to the ‘sway’ in Swayesse.

The Archetype

Swayesse, being magenta, belongs in its full expression to the future. Swayesse (Love) is a to and fro movement between souls, not a state which might be somehow worked towards and ‘achieved’. Swayesse, ultimately, represents a dynamic harmony between male and female individuals or energies – a kind of two-and-one state in which the barriers between male and female no longer exist, but in which the individual self is not surrendered to the union either. Swayesse, therefore, comes only at the end of a process of resolution, in which the mutual alienation of male and female, accumulated like a swelling river over the aeons, is resolved by tracking back upstream to the source, resolving en route all the pain, rage, grief, terror, hate, despair and so on which stands between the two.

Divination meanings

Swayesse: love as a moving sea; tides of feeling, sense and spirit between male and female in the psyche.

The card Swayesse shows your commitment to breaking down the barriers between male and female – in other words, to your engagement in emotional, sensual and soul relationship.[5] Because of the accumulated trauma in the history of the psyche, this means that in fact you are going to be in a self-defence mode of behaviour. You may already have gone partly beyond the initial period of being in love, which is somewhat like a state of intoxication. Once you come down from that high, and face the task of attempting to deal with the barriers to union which exist in both your and your partner’s psyche, then you will adopt the defensive reflex which the souls have learnt, because of the pain they have experienced.[6] So you swing from one pole to another: the self exerting its demand for withdrawal from the conflict; the emotional, sensual and spiritual fulfilment of the couple demanding the opposite: not withdrawal, but advance – towards ever greater closeness.

This is not a portrait of relationship in general, but of Swayesse, in which there is not simply mutual dependence, habit, fear of being alone, systematic repetition of childhood-experienced abuse and so on. All these and more might be present for you at one point or another, but in this relationship there is a ‘higher purpose’ – meaning simply that you are dedicated to exploring and developing this relationship not because it is the immediately pleasurable option, but despite the fact that it may not be. But of course, neither are you there simply to indulge in the repetition of the emotional and psychific[7] pain you experienced as a child. You are in this relationship to learn, having established that this person, your partner, is an appropriate individual with whom to undertake such learning.

 According to the cards themselves (if I understand them correctly), a Swayesse relationship is one in which there is the sense of no way out – being trapped for the most fundamental of reasons: that it is this person with whom the process of reconciliation must take place, and no other. This individual is sometimes referred to as one’s soul-mate, though this term, like ‘love’ itself, seems often to be thrown around in the loosest possible fashion. This Swayesse relationship in its fullest sense is one which will retain a constant dynamic – due to the rapid personal changes taking place in both partners consequent upon the ongoing process of healing. Similarly, the sensual intensity will not diminish. This portrait of Swayesse in its advanced development probably goes beyond the lived experience of most people if not everyone at the present time. Certainly, portraying it is for me a matter of intuiting from the cards, not of describing what I have already lived as experience. 

Another misconception: this is not a relationship which because it is ‘spiritual’ is not sensual. Such an attitude recreates the old hierarchy, with the male on top (literally and figuratively!). On the contrary, your Swayesse relationship will invariably have the capability of being intensely sensual, erotic. Herein lies the source of your opposition to it. When the emotional confrontation period kicks in, you and your partner will experience a great temptation to take a detour into a new situation where once again, for a time, you can have sensuality without pain. The quest for cost-free sensual gratification is capable of exerting huge pressure on your relationship. The best counter to it may be for you to have a shared spirit-side goal, an endeavour to which you are both deeply committed.

Finally, neither you nor anyone else should underestimate the power of this relationship. It has a capacity for self-renewal, for youthful exuberance, which gives it great staying power. With the right person, there is a true balance of male and female energies, giving a potentially very stable foundation. Caution: to draw the card Swayesse does not mean you have met your soul-mate! We may all have to work on other less critical pairings before we must face that one. But it does indicate an orientation in conformity with important aspects of the Swayesse relationship which we have outlined here.

Divination summary

An important love relationship; passion, sensual excitement, feeling vulnerable; anguish, distress, fear, emotional distress and turmoil, feelings of inadequacy, self-protective reflexes, respect for ones partner; shared values and goals, compatibility, commitment.

45. Raindance: group – quest-ion? (9 grey-brown)

 [We have decided to withhold the detailed meanings for all the cards of group 9 until we can publish all this material commercially. We are really sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. See 9 Ebb (set 1) for details]