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-10 Entropy
The Entropy card’s foundation shows a balanced pattern that increasingly disperses into nothingness. A Newton’s cradle rests motionless, suspending the conservation of momentum and energy it usually represents. A looped infinity symbol of dark matter spiders open in the card’s core, exposing the non-existence of change, motion, and differentiation that paradoxically catalyzes all potential for transformation.
The Entropy card reminds us that life gets more, not less, complicated as time goes on. Part of this complication involves the degradation of previously valid systems. We cannot simply carry old expectations along with us on our journey towards betterment and presuppose that their accuracy will remain legitimate. We must recognize that their value may have only been contextual to a past that no longer is. We cannot fully enter into a new state of being without letting go of old parts that used to define us. We must embrace this cull.
The entropy card deals with how we manage our expectations concerning transformation. Do we limit our concept of transformation to only include elements of progress and evolution that we can currently understand in our pre-transformed states? Do we make space in our developmental plans for that which we do not yet comprehend? Do we expect that the rewards of our struggles will be immediately clear, or do we welcome a temporary phase of unknowing in which we must seek way to execute our newfound perspectives?
In reverse, The Entropy card could be telling you to take a step back. Untended, even the most stable structures will rot and crumble. Are we so focused on our future goals that we neglect to value and nurture what we have already accomplished? Do we take enough time to re-evaluate these hard-won, core structures of our beliefs, or are we letting our former victories go sour by not giving them room to transform and grow with our current intentions?
-9 Idolatry
This card shows a group of identical figures in matching headdresses on their knees surrounding a small golden statue. Above the statue floats an Indescribable Being. This Being is nothing like the figures who worship it, nor does it bear any resemblance to the statue that they are fawning over. The full moon above them is surrounded by a ring of teeth, a symbol that some cycles can seem endless, while other cycles are only marked by their passing. We lose teeth when we mature, and again when we are in decline. All the while the moon seemingly dances its endless dance across the sky. It is only the short-sightedness of our limited perceptions that makes the Moon seem eternal. It too will eventually cease to exist. Everything is the same in its impermanence.
The Idolatry card is here to remind us that whatever most dominates our affections is what we worship. The Gods of our culture can include sex, money, power, physical appearance, success, image, and the like. Do you give your true self away to attain these things? Do you exchange your genuine identity for the comfort of feeling like you belong? Do you rely on something outside of yourself to bring you happiness and self-worth?
The Idolatry cards also suggests that what we desire most will consume us. The worship we engage in is what appoints our individual, functional Hells. If you worship wealth, you will never feel like you have enough. If you worship beauty, you will always feel ugly. If you worship power, feelings of weakness and fear will always torment you. If you worship knowledge, you will never feel like you have enough.
When we accept these Hells, we accept their masters. The Idolatry card may be telling you that whatever is currently dominating your focus is better serving someone else. It’s time to become your own master. Your ability to solve your problems and meet your needs is not dependent on serving another. You need to serve yourself.
In reverse, The Idolatry card could be telling you that the approval of others may be poisoning your judgement. Your motivation may be fueled by outside adoration more so than by self-love. You may be engaged in daily rituals that are creating worse problems than the ones they are solving. It might be time to turn inwards and concentrate on what fulfills your most genuine self instead of what nurtures your perception of how others see you.
-8 The JYNX
This card portrays a figure with a blacked jaw wearing a wreath of bird feet around their head. They are holding a broken mirror. Crows fly overhead and a black cloud hovers ominously above. An upside-down horseshoe empties positive energy away. A wishbone lingers patiently, waiting for chance to determine the bearer of its unblessed tidings. It cradles the first cursed sigil. The skeletons of two mangled umbrellas pull lightning from the sky and disperse the powerful energy of nature downwards into the Earth. Coffin nails are present, harbingers of what will eventually contribute to an unpleasant downfall.
The Jynx card suggests that you are suffering from unaccountable happenings. Chance has forsaken you. Despite your best efforts, Fate has decided your time has yet to come. You may have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, but sometimes the best plans and intentions are no match for the power of Probability’s unrewarding shadow half.
The Jynx card may be telling you that you are fighting a weighted duality in your life that is trying to pull you in a new direction. There may be a perceived balance in your life that no longer serves you. How do you unlearn a thing that is fundamental to your understanding of yourself? Why do you still hold onto it when it no longer serves your best interests? Are you clutching to deceptive illusions in order to avoid the risks of honest odds? The Jynx could be trying to show you that feeling victimized by circumstance is merely a way to feel fraudulent importance against a Chaos that is impartial to your struggles. A bit of humility may serve you well.
In the reverse, The Jynx card suggests that you may be relying too much on expectations. Are you reluctant to attempt a thing you are certain you will fail at? It could be time to take a risk and give your string of bad luck the opportunity to run itself out. Even if you don’t succeed, it is possible that you are depriving yourself of the essential lessons that failure has to offer. You must remember that every hero fails a couple times before they finally overcome what is standing in their way. That humble persistence is what makes them a true hero. It’s time to take a chance.
-7 The Conspirator
This card shows two hands, about to shake, the “deal” is moments from being official. Both have coded ciphers etched into their bones. A Masonic compass and square are nestled between them. One hand conceals a dagger, the other conceals a key. There is both danger and opportunity. A central head wears a pyramid like a dunce cap. Its mouth contains ancient coins and a keyhole. The pyramid is topped with the Eye of Providence bearing the prison tattoos of a murderer. That eye may see all, but its omnipotence is under lock and key. Spiraling staircases emit from its skull, each leading down the rabbit hole to a different symbol of the four elements, thus keeping them separate while locked in an endlessly moving maze of mechanical gears. The plan is in motion, but there is still time.
The Conspirator deals with how we handle conflicting information. Do we force pieces together that don’t fit in order to create a false cohesion, or are we comfortable harboring paradoxical theories as they are? Do we toil to fabricate some semblance of sameness in disparate parts, or do we celebrate the glory of their contrast? Is truth static to us, or does it react to variables? In essence, do we find comfort in the unknown, or does what we don’t know haunt us and instil fear?
If this card appears in your reading, it indicates a need to balance opposing goals or intentions. You may be prone to overthinking problems. You may be confusing the identification of a conflict’s source, with an understanding of how to nurture and manage the effects. You’re looking for the plant the poison came from when you should be looking for the cure.
The Conspirator is here to remind you that every balance is a compromise, and every compromise requires a subtraction of something in order to achieve harmony. What are you unwilling to subtract? What is too sacred to be left behind, even when it appears to be encumbering your progress?
In reverse, The Conspirator card suggests that unknown forces are secretly acting in concert to usurp your personal power. Any feelings of paranoia you are experiencing may well be valid and great care should be taken to avoid gaslighting yourself concerning important matters. Follow your gut, don’t second guess yourself.
Since these adversaries are covert in their operations, the best course of action may be to simply equalize the balance by actively boosting your confidence. The Reverse Conspirator may be telling you that it is finally time to reconnect with a trusted friend that you have been meaning to reach out to. Perhaps you’ve been neglecting a hobby or activity that brings you joy and satisfaction. Give yourself the time to re-engage with the things you know you are good at.
-6 The Voyeur
This card shows a figure, slumped down and hiding as it peers out the window from the safety of its home through the protective “goggles” of its hands (the hands are the part of the body we most often use to engage in the physical world). Below the window are two lions which represent animal passions and Earthly cravings. Above the window there is a carved head with closed eyes to fraudulently advertise a feeling of disregard. Alongside the window are two upside-down heads with crowns, indicating an inversion of power. A mandala of eyes emanates from above the figure’s head in a hexagonal display linking it to its card number, 6, the number of blockages and situations that cannot last.
The Voyeur is commonly regarded as “One who watches without participating.” They are often taking pleasure in the pain, distress, or sexual exploits of others while keeping hidden. The Voyeur feels vicariously powerful and in control because they are exempt from any consequence regarding whatever they are engaged in watching. But the act of looking is never really a one-way street. It is said that anything you look at looks back at you. It’s the completion of a cycle.
The meaning of the Voyeur card involves how we engage in the world around us. Do we actively join in the activities that we derive pleasure from in a direct manner, or do we separate ourselves from them in a protective attempt to avoid culpability should a problem arise? How do we bolster a feeling of power in our communities? Is it through cheating, deception, and fraud or is it through courage, skill, and honesty? Do we need to put someone else down in order to lift ourselves up? Do we need to feel like we have the upper hand (see also The Manipulator)?
The Voyeur can also be interpreted as an allegory for how we wield what we commonly refer to as “our vision,” or our ability to understand and predict what is needed in the future. Is your vision fueled by selfish needs, unconcerned about what it takes from others? Does your plan for the future require the degradation of another? Is its price the integrity or honour of the people you rely on to make it happen?
The Voyeur in reverse can represent the need to address and re-balance a characteristic you find problematic about yourself. Some people just like to watch, and there is nothing wrong with that in and of itself, as long as you include those upon which you are spectating. The watching itself does not have to be secret and unrevealed. Perhaps there is a situation in your life that that is causing you undue stress because you are not willing to expose your desires and lay down boundaries to compromise with those that are involved.
Maybe you have an outdated sense of self-identity that is no longer viable in the social groups you commonly associate with. It may be time to shrug off old labels and find a place where your tastes and inclinations are better served. We are communal animals. It is our evolutionary advantage. The Voyeur in reverse may be an indication that there is an opportunity to stop depriving yourself of the connection to others and join a community where you can turn perceived imperfections into uniquely beneficial traits.
-5 The Manipulator
The Manipulator card shows a figure puppet-tied to an unseen pair of hands hovering over an endless maze within a cage that is presented on a stage. A wreath of animal traps surrounds its strings. The hands controlling this figure are flanked by the bones of a set of wings, but if you look closely, the wings bones are broken.
But it’s not all as dismal as it first appears. That maze contains great hidden treasures to reward those persistent and clever enough to turn a baited trap into an opportunity to think though a challenge. Those broken wings are only temporarily unusable, they just need time to heal. That cage is mostly for show, and its containment is more ornamental than practical.
Between the figure and the manipulating hands is the alchemical symbols for arsenic. There are trace amounts of arsenic in many of the foods we eat every day, but in higher doses it causes severe poisoning and death. Despite its lethal potential, it has been known to have medicinal benefits. It represents the tenuous balance between what can be used as a weapon against us and what can be used to heal us.
The Manipulator card’s overall meaning involves the ways that we react when outside forces are trying influence our paths to their own benefit. Do we let the comfort of being the center of attention keep us in place, even if the attention is destructive? Do we merely dance the dance, or do we elevate ourselves by taking power in cutting those strings? And if we do cut those strings, do we let our experience with The Manipulator merely be a dark shadow over our past, or do we let it be an essential lesson in nurturing our own confidence and self-respect?
The environment of this card is epic. The stage represents The Manipulator’s need for an audience to witness and validate their scheme. The maze represents a problem that may seem impossible when you are in it, but most definitely has a solution that is best seen from a distance. The cage implies how the power in any master/pet bonding is less about the authoritarian ability to restrain, and more about the permissive acquiescence to letting your decisions be made for you so you don’t have to make them yourself.
And, yes, if you get it reversed, there’s a good chance that you are the aggressor. Perhaps you’re relying too much on the weakness of others to fortify your ambitions when you should be focusing more on what you can get with your own strengths. Maybe it’s time to focus less on defining your identity by how others perceive you, and really give some thought to how you see yourself.
-4 The Prohibitionist
The Prohibitionist card features an 8-sided star shape made of broken bottles. A single positive drop exits from the top, a single negative drop exits from the bottom (always balance). Beneath it is a crown of water, momentarily born of impact and merely temporary result of some other action. The background is E8, a complex mathematical symbol that represents the theory of continuous transformation groups. Ruins of protection surround the design.
Prohibition is a legal philosophy and political theory which states that citizens will abstain from actions if the actions are typed as unlawful and the prohibitions are enforced by law enforcement. It’s a legal form of social control. The prohibitionist is one who supports or wields this control.
The Prohibitionist card may be wanting to tell you that someone, or something, in your life is controlling your natural tendencies. While these tendencies may or may not be in your best interests, the offending force is stopping you from making personal decisions. Your individual relationship to your sense of Free Will is being hijacked. Whether it’s your wardrobe, your consumption, or your recreational routines, there is something that has influence over you that thinks it should be making your decisions for you.
The Prohibitionist asks where you align yourself with the principles and beliefs of your culture. It asks if you value the facts and information that drive your community, or if you distrust them. Are you in harmony with the general consensus? How pragmatic is your attitude about institutional influence on your life? Do you trust the obligations of your leadership? Do you intrinsically distrust them? At what cost do you value being part of group. What will you sacrifice? How realistic are you about your place in your society?
In reverse, the Prohibitionist could be telling you that you are unfairly judging someone else by your own view of the World, as if personal motivations transcend individual experience. Do you judge people by what they do, or by what they don’t do? You may be perceiving your world through a false lens that says we are all equal in the eyes of the entities who control the codes that govern our collective. How much do you expect others to be like you? How well do you tolerate others?
-3 The Freak
The Freak card shows a malformed figure with a sack over its head. Over its face is a double Golden ratio, folded over itself, confusing its usual perfection in its duplicity. The moon phases over its head in totality and a diagrammatic sphere hovers behind it, both suggesting a condition that is whole and inescapable. Strands of DNA crisscross in the background where conjoined skulls form hearts. The foreground is a chicken wire barrier, the likes of which are commonly used to partition things of little value that are thought to be too weak to breach the border it establishes.
The term “Freak” has historically been used to define an individual that does not fit in with the rest of the established community. The wild twists and intuitive plays of our genes often mutate and bear fruit to unique patterns in an effort to keep changing and keep moving forward. However, evolution doesn’t have a calculated plan. It is random chaos, and polite society never lets chaos reign untethered, random or otherwise. The Freak is a captive, a warning, a reminder to not stand out too far from the crowd.
The Freak card is reminding you that there is something different about you that is hindering your ability to connect with your community. It is possible that agents in your environment are trying to use this against you, holding you back and keeping you quiet because your experience does not fit in with the general consensus.
Every forward movement through evolution is marked by a break from biological routine. Without the individuals that are “different,” we are stagnant as a species. We need that chaotic disturbance to blossom and emerge past our previous incarnations. Growth depends on these disturbances and the Freak card is telling you it’s time to develop past your restraints and see what blossoms.
In reverse, the Freak card may be telling you that you are experiencing an isolation that is self-inflicted. It’s possible that you are trying to hide your most unique qualities in order to not draw attention to yourself. You are neglecting your gifts and stopping yourself from achieving your full potential. The Freak is here to remind you that your sense of self-worth is more valuable that any acceptance that comes from outside of you. You are ready to move inward and find the value in yourself that others may not see. Remember that there is always a fine line between standing-out and standing-above.
-2 The idiot
The Idiot sits atop a high stool with his dunce cap on fire. They are surrounded by a vast body of water. Clouds rain down everywhere next to the space where the Idiot chooses to be. A bucket hangs from a rope right in front of The Idiot (although the rope is indeed about to snap). It seems like there are many pieces in place to help the Idiot put out the fire on its head, but the idiot just sits there, doing nothing.
The idiot can be seen as the reversed mirror image of the Fool. The Idiot is everything the Fool is not. The idiot has no faith in the future. They are experienced but can’t seem to make that experience add up to actual knowledge. They know what to expect, but don’t use this knowledge to their advantage. They lack the beginner’s luck of the Fool, they have no talent for improvisation, and they generally believe the Universe will inevitably betray them at every turn, so why bother? May as well just sit there.
The Fool and the Idiot both represent a certain sense of anti-knowledge. While the Fool is adept at riding the flow of The Universe, the idiot is more inclined to fight against it, struggling needlessly to stay in the same place. The idiot represents stagnancy. If there is no journey, there is no new beginning, there is no change.
The Idiot card suggests that your inactivity is holding you back. It’s possible you are overthinking a problem that is beyond your capacity to understand in the first place. You could be standing in one place spinning your wheels, fighting to piece together the wrong information. Much like Einstein’s definition of insanity, you may be doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
The Idiot card may be telling you it’s time to unlearn comforting patterns that may no longer serve you. It’s beckoning you to cast aside routines that are inhibiting your progress in life. It’s asking you to accept the limitations of your understanding and realize that there are things you don’t know yet that must be learned in order to move forward. You must accept the movement of the Universe and throw yourself to it despite what you think you know.
In reverse, The Idiot could be telling you that the appetite in your stomach and the appetite in your ambition speak different languages; don’t confuse desire with need just because you hear a voice. Perhaps your experience and know-how in one area of your life have mistakenly tried to settle their authority somewhere else where they do not work. You must remember that while all knowledge is information, not all information is knowledge, and the ability to discern between the two is priceless. The idiot could be telling you that all rules don’t work in all situations. Sometimes it’s not enough to just take a risk. You have to take the right risk. Don’t be an idiot.
-1 The Asshole
This card’s imagery centers around a profane hand gesture executed by a single limb emerging from a frowning mouth. The position of the extended finger rests solidly in a pelvic cavity and appears to be smashing a crown. Two half-moons nestle the card’s number. A black hole is present, poised to consume everything around it.
The Asshole card suggests you are suffering from some form of confrontational belligerence. Most likely this agitating force is embodied by a specific individual. It’s possible that you may feel you have attracted this contemptable energy towards you, but rest assured, this has nothing to do with you. The source of this scorn is attempting to involve you in their own mismanaged emotions. Their Asshole energy works like an undertow. The Asshole will try to ensnare you in the return flow of their broadcasted outrage in order to drag you into a deep, consuming coldness. You must consciously deflect this energy before it takes root. The longer you let it persist, the harder it will be to exterminate.
The Asshole may be annoying, but it reminds us that we nurture emotions with our attention. Do you allow negativity to flourish by giving it the space it needs to grow? What are you neglecting by investing the time to engage in this nuisance?
In reverse, The Asshole card may be telling you that you are taxing a finite source of energy. Something that you rely on to sustain yourself is getting depleted. You may be doing this consciously or unconsciously, but the effect is the same. You might want to explore other sources of emotional nourishment. Now would be a good time to give your regular social battery a break to recharge.
