A Simple Tarot Tale

Utilizing Enrique's la conspiration alphabétique, and attempting to tell a tale using the Enrique/Calvino method, here is what I came up with this afternoon for the letters C H R I S G O U L D. Not easy to do, and I saw Enrique do this over and over again LIVE by having spectators turn over ten or so cards. And his stories were excellent, revealing, inspirational.






This man, handsomely dressed, confident, clearly successful in whatever it is he does, comes up to us in a near-empty pub and insists on telling us his story. He gestures to us that he cannot speak, holding up a deck of Tarot cards. We want to turn him away, involved in our own conversation, swimming in our pints, but he gestures again to allow him to tell us his story.

Without waiting for a response, he quickly drops La Pances on the table. He had achieved a certain success in his life, the crown on the image alluding to a respected position, the book telling us it was a long career in law, but sadly the subject looked to the past, always wondering what could have been.

The past could not let go and he found himself in a pickle as he showed us the Lamoureu card. He was caught between two interests: his love for the law, or his soul's desire to become a legerdemain artist, his passion. Inspiration and creativity above him depicted by the glowing cupid, testing him, teasing him.

He wondered if he should stay put or adventure out.

He dropped the Temperance card on the table, which told us he initially decided to stay put, but at the same time chose to dedicate more time to his creative endeavors. He juggled both, he showed us as he pointed to the water being juggled between the cups in the image. Still, his attention remained partially in the past and what could've been. Regardless, this juggling made him happier, at least he was spending more time doing what he really wanted.

But this happiness, this well-being, drove him too far from his day to day responsibilities. He showed us Le Fol and we all nodded, understanding that he had forged foolishly ahead without much thinking.

One fine day, reality hit! He slammed Le Diable on the table over the other cards. He obviously realized that he was doing neither of his interests any justice, there are only so many hours in the day and by spreading himself too thin, he had chained his activities, dwarfed them by the lack of dedication he could give them. The moment had come to make a decision.

He was going to leave his law practice. He had given so much already, years of his life. it was time to take better care of himself, his soul. This empowered him and he showed us Le Pape, sitting there feeling truly complete, in control of his destiny. He told the head of the law firm that he would be leaving to pursue his dreams. With renowned confidence, he faced the future.

The staff in his hand grew larger, a sign of action! He displayed the Ace de Baton which is held facing the past in the image, a clear sign that he wanted to keep them away, even temptation to return to the past was going to be challenged. He was determined.

And there he was, celebrating, seeing the glory of his new life as he demonstrated by bringing out the Ace de Coupes, a gold cup, a golden city, a golden dream achieved. One thing was for sure, he had reached the point of no return.

Then, once the realization that the past was indeed behind him, he showed us Lermite. The new adventure had begun, and he was taking a moment to reflect on that. The dream now under his control, he pointed to the lamp the hermit held in the image, it was the golden city in the previous card. The staff no longer held up high like before, but there for support. It looks like Lermite is looking into the past. but he is reflecting, a special moment to himself as he looks into his dream.

So ... he finally he arrives. He holds the Imperatris card up high! The staff now a symbol of success in his new venture, the crown firmly placed, the image looking towards the future, the shield representing old battles, his courage to follow his dreams, comfortable, surrounded by luxury both inside and out.

With that, he gathers the cards. We think he's done, we clap, thank him for sharing his story, but he's not done. He brings out a deck of regular playing cards, spreads them expertly between his hands and nods for one of us to pick a card ... any card.

Hey Alexandre,

That was great!

It is fascinating to see how the whole sequence suggests a theme of ‘longing’. I once saw Leonard Cohen saying in an interview that a ‘longing’ can only exist as long as we don’t know what are we longing for. Otherwise, he said, we would try to fulfill that longing. Longings are abstract or they disappear. I often wonder if that is true. In any case, The Pope blessing the Ace of Batons suggests a longing for the possibilities of a creative future, while the Hermit looking back at the Ace of Coupes suggests a longing for the comforts of the past. It is hard to solve that conundrum. So, perhaps is not -as Cohen suggest- that we don’t know what we long for, but that we often long for two opposite things at once.

Best,


e. e.

Enrique, beautiful insight into the story. I Really enjoyed what you wrote.


And thank you, I had fun looking at the cards, seeing what the cards were telling me and communicating the tale. I'm working on getting better at this and having an intimate, more poetic relationship with these cards.


I would be curious to know if this story (and your insight) functions in any way as a reading for Chris, since his name was used to select the cards. As I've said before, the story you did for me at the lecture very much related to what's going on with me right now.

SPOOKY!



It's all true - except the bit about the staff in my hand!

---

In seriousness I would like to thank both Alex and Enrique for what is a very interesting thread. Not only is the reading dreadfully accurate but the method is very close to the way I use Tarot myself, somewhat instinctively.

After literally decades of serious study into the Tarot (believe me, I have a shelf of books of notes I have made) - I decided to give all of this up and approach the Tarot in a more instinctive manner.

I remember the exact moment that this revelation hit me. I was reading for someone, and it occurred to me that the only things of real value were the instinctive responses that the sitter was making to the images. The vast store of esoteric and academic knowledge I had was - in comparison - utterly worthless.

Since then, I have experimented with various methods of using the Tarot as a powerful method of psychological feedback based upon archetypal imagery that we all have access to. In retrospect, academic study is perhaps the most effective way of barring yourself from genuine knowledge.

It was during this time that I found Enrique's work. The thinking slotted in perfectly.

So this thread is of great interest to me on many levels.

Excellent work gentlemen!

Hi Alexandre,

In my experience, the stories more often than not fit the person, even if the context isn’t one of a reading. That night, back in Miami, you probably remember that a couple of people protested the fact that the last lady didn’t get to pick her cards, but she got a story based on the cards that were left on the table, the cars no one else picked up. Even so, she approached me afterwards to tell me the story was extremely accurate.

Even in readings, I tend not to talk about the person I am reading for, but about the characters in the cards, as if I were talking about them. This helps clients reduce any resistance they may have at validating the story. The person will indeed feel represented by these characters and their attitudes, but even if she doesn’t, there is no space to reject the tale if you frame is as “a story for you” instead of “a story about you”.

Our brain is hungry for meaning, and it will extract nourishment from any source. We are pattern-seeking animals. Specially when you are working with an artifact that has the suggestion of “telling important things about you” built in. At some level, the tarot is a self-working illusion. That is why we must make our presence worth by spinning an inspiring tale and by trying not to make too much harm with our own opinions.

Best,

e. e.

Glad you're back, Chris! And it's cool to hear that you could relate to the story as somewhat of a reading.

I know you have been working on something related to this and I cannot wait to try it out when I'm in England in January. What else is there to do in January anyway??? We'll do some demonstrations in the pubs (near the fireplace).



Enrique,

"Tarot is a self-working illusion."

Brilliant.

I have a couple of friends here who are resistant to the Tarot. They are not interested in readings.

They came over for dinner and I brought out the Marseille deck immediately talking about some of the things you mentioned in the lecture and some of the things written on your blog (I've been doing my homework) In other words, I sort of disarmed them, distancing the Tarot from its occult history and focusing on the images, the poetry.

I told them I was going to try and tell a story with the cards, a challenge of sorts since I'm still practicing. I brought up Calvino's book too. So I asked them to each take three cards. I told two brief stories (I might place them here later).

Afterwards we casually spoke about how the stories might relate to them. And there were connections. I wasn't trying to fit anything in, I was telling a story with the images that came up. Worked better than I thought it would since I'm no expert.

Of course the stories weren't great, I'm not that good yet, but they were stories nonetheless.

My friends were still a bit resistant saying that these stories could really relate to anyone, but I was able to soften them up, and by the end of it, we were smiling and laughing about telling stories with these images.

I had given them a form of reading and they weren't really aware of it. We were just having fun.

A "story for you" instead of a "story about you" really does work.

Man ... thanks again, I'm having too much fun with this, and it's not just superficial fun, as I go through the cards, creating my own stories, the experience is becoming more profound, certainly more poetic in every sense of the word.

A good thing about the notion of ‘story’ is that invite us to get out of the aesthetics of readings. There is a whole lexicon readers use that is lifted from self-help books, therapists and coaches. While these words may be useful within the appropriate context, I see no reason to limit the way we speak to them. I am personally trying to do my best to get rid of words like ‘inner’ (inner self, inner child, inner IRS clerk), ‘empowerment’, ‘comfort zone”, etc.

Calvino’s book is a good start. His descriptions of the cards can be amusing, deep, or unexpected. Other than that I truly suggest reading poetry. Ideally contemporary poetry, as we want to read people talking the way we talk. A prolonged exposure to poetry give us an awareness about language, an awareness about sound, and an awareness about shapes that greatly enriches the way we think, the way we talk and the way we look at the tarot.

Reading poetry can really change our minds, just like those birds turn into triangles.


Best,


e. e.