I wanted to continue the theme of using the Iliad as a way to think about certain topics that are involved in a Tarot reading. The previous post looked at Homer’s Iliad, which describes a Universe of free-will, fate, prophecy and the gods.
In this post I want to explore two characters that Homer describes as godlike – Helen of Troy and Achilles. This will help us better understand both the Minor Arcana or Pip cards of the Tarot and the Major Arcana or Picture cards. I also wrote a post were I describe the hierarchy between the Picture cards of the Tarot and the Pip cards of the Tarot, which looks at the different sections of a Tarot deck, and why it’s a good idea to reframe this hierarchy in order to achieve a successful divination. In my experience, far too many people privilege the Picture cards over the Pip cards. I think this is a mistake and this article will attempt to show how the Pip cards are the most important section of a Tarot deck for divinatory purposes and the Picture cards are the most important for empowering people; for helping people discover their humanity.
Why Are The Picture Cards Privileged Over The Pip Cards?
The theory anchors itself onto one historical interpretation of divination, that divination is a corruption of the Tarot, that divination degrades the Tarot. The theory goes that the Picture cards are more spiritual than the Pip cards; that the Picture cards are concerned with the sublime, whilst the Pip cards are concerned with the mundane.
What I want to pay particular attention to is what is meant by the term sublime. In my opinion, the Pip cards are the influences of Spirits and divine intervention, while the Picture cards indicate our humanity. This is a critical point to understand. The Picture cards are concerned with human beings and their journey towards humanity. This journey involves a breaking out of a godlike prison which the Pip cards have dominion over. This hierarchical structure, with the Picture cards indicating humanity; being indicators of a human beings ability to choose his own destiny; being, therefore, in stark contrast to the Pip cards, can best be understood through Homer’s Iliad and in particular, Achilles and Helen of Troy.
When I discuss the gods, I want you to think about the role of the Pip cards in a Tarot reading, and when I discuss humanity and free-will, I want you to think about the role of the Picture cards.
God Like Helen And Achilles
In the Iliad there are only two human beings that are referred to as godlike. They are Helen of Troy and Achilles, who Homer describes as the best of Greeks (it’s interesting how 3000 years can alter what society considers heroic). Helen, the cause of the war, left Sparta, her husband and daughter, without a thought for the consequences to others, to be with Paris of Troy. Her actions were the cause of the war, and as a result, all the deaths at Troy. In this sense she acted like a god, her only desire was to satisfy herself. However, years later, she began to realise the consequences of her actions and was filled with regret and criticised herself harshly:
If only death had pleased me then, grim death, that day I followed your son to Troy, forsaking my marriage bed, my kinsmen and my child…
We see here that Helen began to feel responsible for the suffering of others, something that the gods never do. I should point out that the Iliad begins 10 years into the war. In other words, it had been 10 years since she had acted with godlike passion, and with the passage of time, she had begun to break out of her own self-absorption; to see herself as part of humanity. In some senses she becomes less and less godlike, but more and more human.
I don’t mean to labour the point, but I want to stress the importance of fixing in our minds Homer’s definition of ‘godlike’. The story of Helen can be summed up as someone who was completely self-absorbed and acted only to satisfy her own desires; in other words, she was godlike. As she witnessed the suffering of others she began to regain a sense of her humanity. Unfortunately, Homer only provides us with a short account of Helen’s journey and we are therefore not able to witness her previous actions. Although a similar journey happens for Achilles, that of Achilles breaking free from his own godlike prison, we actually get to see it happen from start to finish.
The Rage Of Achilles
The point at which Helen returns to humanity is the point at which the Iliad begins, and our introduction to Achilles. The Iliad is really a poem that follows the start, middle and end of Achilles’ Rage. His imprisonment is a lonely, godlike, heroic fury from which all the rest of the world is excluded, and how he rediscovers his humanity. The road to Achilles finding his humanity is long and brutal, and it leads ultimately to his own death.
Achilles is the son of an immortal goddess, Thetis. Before Achilles left for Troy his mother told him this prophecy.
Mother tells me, the immortal goddess Thetis with her glistening feet,
that two fates bear me on to the day of death.
If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy,
my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies.
If I voyage back to the fatherland I love,
my pride, my glory dies…
true, but the life that’s left me will be long,
the stroke of death will not come on me quickly.
There are two key events that occur to Achilles that bring about his godlike stature. The first is his disagreement with Agamemnon, which had the effect of removing Achilles’ honour. Remember, this was a time of the heroic ideal and honour and glory matter; when every action was designed to gain honour. To have Agamemnon remove his honour was, in the words of Achilles:
…not even then could Agamemnon bring my fighting spirit round until he pays me back, full measure for all his heartbreaking outrage!
The second was the death of Patroclus at the hands of Hector. These two events combined to produce his godlike rage.
Now I’ll go and meet that murderer head-on…that Hector who destroyed the dearest life I know.
The second prophesy is given to Achilles by his mother, Thetis that his death is fated to come soon after Hectors.
To be godlike is to be trapped, it’s almost a prison.
In some sense most people are born godlike; most people exhibit the quality’s of a god. Have you ever seen a toddler disagree with another child over a toy for example? It quickly escalates into violence. Of course, they are only children so no harm done, however, adults rarely respond to a situation with the level of violence exhibited by a small child. If they did, they would be considered psychotic. In that instance, the child was acting godlike; completely self absorbed, unable to see the consequences of his actions, lacking in pity and ruthless in his response.
To be Human is to be aware; to be free of any godlike characteristics. Awareness is what frees us. Human nature is defined as:
- the qualities common to humanity, esp. with reference to human weakness
The dictionary definition of humanity is:
- the human race.
- the quality of being human
- kindness or mercy
All that really separates us from the gods is death. It gives us the opportunity for free-will. The gods cannot die, and cannot learn from experience. They can never choose to be anything other than what their Nature is.
There is a dignity in death. The dignity comes from people being changed through experience. It’s what separates us from the gods. It’s what makes us human. Death humanises us.
The Gods
It is my current understanding that the Pip or Minor Arcana of a Tarot deck represent the gods, and their complete self-obsession. They project their Natures onto the world, seeing every event as simply a part of themselves. They lack the ability to empathise and don’t have pity for the suffering of others. Their lack of pity, in many ways, may be seen to come from their ‘deathless’ state. This deathless state also makes learning from experience impossible. In other words, the world becomes a projection of their own Natures.
In most myths, the gods are also represented as animals. The animal nature, which is, as far as we know, completely self absorbed with its own passions hints at the dual nature of the gods. On the one hand, they represent divine intervention, their deathless state dictating human affairs, and on the other hand, the total fulfilment of baser animal instincts. Although this can be seen as a dual role, in many ways it offers us a good insight into the self absorption of the gods. However we choose to view them, they are only a single pointed focus for their own Natures – passions, desires, instincts or plans. Remember, regardless of role, they do not feel pity, nor can they learn from experience.
This indicates that that for divination purposes, the Pip cards are the most important. They provide us with information concerning events, both within and outside our control. Like the gods, the Pip cards do not offer us the ability to learn from experience, rather, it is the influence of the Picture cards which provide us with the opportunity to learn; to discover our humanity and to free ourselves from our own godlike existence.
There is a contrast between the Pip cards and the Picture cards which makes Tarot readings very interesting. If somebody asks, “what’s going to happen?” Look to the Pip cards for your answer. If somebody asks you for more information, look to the Picture cards for an indication of free-will.
The 22 Picture Cards Or Major Arcana
It seems to me that the 22 Picture cards represent humanity. These cards represent human nature and don’t hint at anything beyond ‘the human, all too human’. The Fool is humanities innocence and the Star represents humanities hope. The Death card is the most interesting of all, without this card, there could never be humanity. The 22 Picture cards are different from the Pip cards. The difference hints at Man’s quest to seek out his own humanity and free himself from the imprisonment of a godlike self absorption.
Are We Gods Or Men?
The answer is we’re both. We are both ruled by the gods and free of the gods. It’s a fine line and what separates them is awareness. Free-will is not necessarily concerned with the freedom to choose, but it is concerned with the freedom to be aware.
The next time you do a Tarot reading; look at the ratio between the Pip cards and the Picture cards. Decide what influence the gods are having through the Pip cards and what opportunity there is to discover your humanity.
Let me know if you agree or disagree with me. Are the gods representative of the Pip cards? Do the Picture cards simply indicate our humanity? If so, what is the role of a Tarot reader: is it prophecy or advice?
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