Thanks for sharing your thoughts Chris. Check out what you said earlier, “It has always been an intuitive position for me that the very idea of Tarot is something along the lines of “a picture can speak 1000 words” and this remains my position today. To write a description of the meaning of an individual card, in some way, is to emasculate it somewhat. Practical Tarot reading is far more Gestalt art than it is occult or esoteric…”
1. What did you mean exactly when you said Gestalt art is better for a beginner Tarot reader than, say, the classic occult works that are normally considered the ‘must reads’?
OK, first of all I’ll give a brief explanation of the Gestalt perspective on psychology. Gestalt is a German word that means “shape” or “form” and the basic principle is that the mind is essentially holistic in nature and has a self organising tendency. One of the key concepts of Gestalt psychology is the understanding that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” The “Gestalt effect” is the mind’s form-forming capability to perceive figures and forms rather than say, a collection of lines and curves. This is often demonstrated by means of “visual illusions” which show how the mind goes to work on raw visual information in such a way as to create something that isn’t there in the individual components of the picture but is perceived when they are put together. Crowley uses this to great effect in his Thoth deck, the example that jumps out at me is the “High Priestess” card which has an illusory cup.
I’d assert that tarot reading exists within the context of Gestalt psychology. When we look at a spread of Tarot cards we are not looking at the individual cards themselves but the “Gestalt effect” of their combination. This is what I mean when I bring up the old saying “a picture can speak 1,00 words”. We are tapping into a different and more ancient and potent vocabulary, outside of linguistics and syntax. This is one of the strengths of Tarot reading in that a Tarot reading facilitates us to look at our world from outside of our segregated and splintered semantic world and see how the seemingly disparate elements in life fit together into a holistic picture with a unifying narrative. It’s the recognition of this narrative that facilitates the divination.
When I first started reading Tarot, like many other rookie Tarot readers from a western background, rather than take my cues from the images themselves, I would spend hours poring over books with descriptions of the individual cards. In doing so I emasculated the power of the cards in that I reduced them into “cue cards” each with a set of words associated which took primacy in my early readings over the images themselves. When you look at a spread of cards in this way it becomes more like a garbled text than a picture.
That isn’t to say that I would dissuade rookie Tarot readers from reading anything about the Tarot, there are many fascinating insights to be had, but I would resist the temptation to give primacy to descriptions of Tarot cards over the images themselves.
2. What exactly is it that makes you so drawn towards the Mythos of Lovecraft? In particular, why does this benefit you as a Tarot reader?
I can’t say exactly what it is that draws me towards Lovecraft, speaking with others who share my fascination and appreciation that seems to be a bit of a theme. You tend to be either deeply into it or completely ambivalent. The elements that excite me the most are the idea of the paradigm shift, that the world and history are not at all what it appears to be – I suppose that’s a pretty romantic notion that runs through a lot of fantasy, but Lovecraft’s stories are in the horror genre which means that the sense of wonder is quickened with a sense of fear and foreboding. As Lovecraft himself once pointed out – “the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”.
I find the idea of ancient, primal deities lurking on the edges of human perception particularly compelling. Lovecraft’s “old ones” are not anthropomorphic or anthropocentric in nature at all. They existed before man and will exist long after man becomes extinct. They are the embodiment of cosmic forces that are ambivalent to mankind and it’s cultures, but have on occasions crossed paths with men which has usually resulted in madness or in certain circumstances the establishment of cults. Lovecraft’s stories essentially talk about how we respond not only to the unknown, but to the unknowable and I don’t think that I’m stretching your credulity (!) to suggest that this is the same territory that we exist in when we are reading Tarot cards. There is a certain fear that creeps around the Tarot reader and querent, however marginalised or subtle. As Tarot readers we are throwing open the doors of possibility, and the source of the information we receive is as elusive as the old ones who lurk on the edge of reality as we know it…
3. I know you later go onto describe why you personally like Lovecraft and how that ties in with you but what about discussing the actual Mythos itself- how it, for you on a personal level, helps develop the ’story’ you tell you clients when giving readings.
The Lovecraftian pantheon is nebulous – especially if you only look at Lovecraft’s stories alone. Many of the writers who expanded on the Mythos consolidated and distinguished entities only hinted at in abject horror by Lovecraft himself. There are many unmanifest, intangible and nebulous forces and forms that influence us on a daily basis… anxieties that take shape and have a life of their own, over time that walk with us, peripheral to our waking state and, inevitably it is in the dream world (or the astral plane as one would refer to it in a formal, occult sense) that they blossom in front of us. This liminal/twilight state is an essential element of any truly Lovecraftian yarn.
This doesn’t even have to be exclusively psychological in nature. Consider for a moment the swine flu pandemic that is currently sweeping the earth (and keeping me really busy at work I’d like to add – hence why this interview is taking a while). What is flu? Can we see it? Can we distinguish it from its effects? No – it’s beyond the range of our limited sensory faculty and yet it can have very serious consequences for us in a material way. I believe that the Tarot can uncover the cultural and spiritual viruses and memes that ultimately inform the material circumstances of our lives in the same way. Of course this may also be underlying illness – mental or physical but it can also indicate hidden strengths and opportunities outside the range of our senses but which will ultimately determine the consequences of our action or inaction.
As an overview I’ll offer a brief description of each of the major Lovecraftian deities.
Azathoth
“Outside the ordered universe, that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes” – from “the dream quest of unknown Kadath”
Azathoth is one of those entities that was only briefly mentioned by Lovecraft but has captured the imagination of decades of readers so as to become one of the central entities of the mythos. “He” is said to exist at the centre of infinity, a “blind idiot god” who plays discordant tunes from his broken pipe that call the universe into existence, encircled by a “flopping horde of mindless and amorphous dancers”. This is a very potent and poetic image that resonates with anyone that has a passing interest in the shamanic tradition or the idea of gnosis. Azathoth is the keystone of Lovecraft’s fundamentally amoral universe, undermining everything modern organised religion has reassured us about the ultimate nature of the demiurge and yet in some way is in synchrony with the older world religions such as Taoism, Buddhism and the Shamanic traditions of many indigenous peoples. Donald Tyson who’s book “the grimoire of the Necronomicon” is possibly the cleverest, complete, painstakingly researched and artfully composed occult appropriation of the mythos envisions Azathoth’s dancers as the 12 signs of the zodiac, through which the universe manifests. He also gives a very convincing explanation as to why he’s insane but I’ll leave it to readers to read the book itself, I couldn’t do it justice without going off topic and it’s a fascinating addition to any occult library anyway.
In both of the Tarot decks I own Azathoth for obvious reasons is the fool, and I think while the fool is certainly a playful character the image of Azathoth manages to communicate both that and the fundamentally terrifying ramifications of the figure that often seems twee or banal and yet can signify some of the most radical and unsettling circumstances and possibilities.
Yog-Sothoth
The most important aspect of Yog-Sothoth is that he is said to be coterminous with time and space. Lovecraft described “him” as follows:
“Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth’s fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread” – the Dunwich Horror.
In this capacity as a cosmic gatekeeper “he” is important in the narrative, especially in one of the best Lovecraft stories “the Dunwich Horror” where he is invoked by an elderly farmer to assist the old one’s in their goal to re-take the earth that they inhabited before the coming of men. When he manifests, he appears as a whirling conglomeration of spheres as the gateway between this world and the parallel worlds where the old ones have been banished opens up. From the perspective of the Tarot, Yog-Sothoth the gateway of opportunity, being in the right place at the right time and fortune. Those circumstances where we are able to bring something into existence from the nether regions of our mind.
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is probably the first image that comes to mind when most people think “Lovecraft” and in fact the collection of stories associated to or refer to the old ones have come to be known as “the Cthulhu mythos”. Cthulhu is a kind of high Priest of the old ones, or a warrior king. Aeons before mankind came about he ruled the earth from an island citadel called R’lyeh in the middle of what is now known as the pacific ocean. After losing a battle for control of the earth with a species of colonizers from outer space (the “elder things”) he is now sealed in his citadel which has since sunk below the waves. Because of his incorporeal nature (as of all the old ones) he is not dead, merely dreaming. He mind is so great that he has a telepathic influence on all sentient life but the water under which he sleeps dulls or completely cuts off his influence except in rare occasions where earthquakes and tectonic movements of the crust in the pacific extrude the citadel of R’lyeh temporarily above the waves, times during which violence and madness grip the more sensitive souls of the population of the world and artists have strange visions and dreams. The famous line – “that is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons, even death may die” is referring to great Cthulhu.
From the perspective of the Tarot, Cthulhu to me is representative of the universal unconscious, entombed somewhere in the collective psyche and for the most part pacified and sublimated. Like Cthulhu however there are times when this powerful and ancient force extrudes into waking life and causes havoc but also can inspire a potent sense of creativity. The Devil card is articulating the same themes in culture and myth which we encounter on a daily basis either in public or personal life.
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep is a tricky character. He’s like an emissary of the old ones, a shape shifting entity that is the only deity of the mythos with the ability to manifest on the material plane of existence. His common avatar is a thin black (not as in ethnicity but in color) man who wanders the desert wrapped in black robes although he has taken many fantastic and fearsome forms. His function is to hasten the return of the old ones back to earth by clearing it of all existing forms of life. It’s inferred that the existence of life as we know is on earth is in itself contrary to the return of the old ones for any length of time. He is the source of many of man’s sinister myths and legends and one of his most famous and exotic avatars was Nephren-Ka, the black Pharaoh of ancient Egypt who enslaved the people using bizarre and anachronism technology. It’s also inferred that Nyarlathotep is the source of science and technology through his avatar Nephren-ka and his appearance in the story/poem “Nyarlathotep”. This clearly is tapping into something very contemporary – the idea that science and technology, it’s use and implications for the planet will ultimately bring about the end of mankind. All that and this figure was dreamed up by a recluse many years before the invention of the atomic bomb!
Nyarlathotep is also said to be the black man of the witches sabbath and as with many of the old ones, wherever he goes follows nightmares and madness. The gods of man are for Lovecraft the products of mans hopes and aspirations, but are kept as prisoners in Kadath – a fortress said to be located atop a mountain in the cold waste. Here they are allowed certain freedoms to influence the affairs of men but ultimately are the playthings of Nyarlathotep – “the crawling chaos”.
Nyarlathotep from a perspective of the Tarot is the mercurial character of the individuated mind – the bridge between the intangible, subtle and abstract worlds and the everyday reality that we live in. What of the unseen, unmanifest world informs our actions and aspirations in life? How do those subtle and tenuous forces affect our relationships to other people – how do they inform our behavior and responses? Do we see other people as personifications of more abstract principles? Do we have many masks or avatars in different circumstances? Which is the “real” me? Are we open about our goals or do we move strategically and manipulate from behind the scenes? I guess that Nyarlathotep’s closest affinity in the Tarot is the Magician, but in the Dark Grimoire Tarot he’s depicted in the strength card. As the personification of the multifaceted, shape shifting personality he may well be the figure in every tarot card.
Of course there are a few other important deities in the pantheon I haven’t mentioned – Dagon, Shub-Niggurath and Yig to name a few but I wanted to focus on the entities that have the greatest bearing for me in terms of prophecy and the aspects of the Tarot which are often hidden in occulture but have real potential to add weight to you’re experience of Tarot reading.
Although this interview has not yet finished, I wanted to take a moment to thank Chris for taking time out of his day to talk these things through 
.
Image by arkano3
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