Typhonian Tarot - The Fool

[Marc]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread but I would like to start a series of threads devoted to the tarot (specifically the Major Arcana) where we can discuss each card from a Typhonian perspective. There are many references in Grant's trilogies to many of the Atus but they are a bit scattered throughout the works and it would be very interesting to deal specifically with each card, one by one. 

I will start by this first thread to focus on Atu 0 - The Fool. I think it would be wise to use the Thoth deck as the background deck for these discussions but certainly not limited to it as I've seen many amazing decks over the years and certainly worth bringing into discussion for further elaboration on each Atu. 

I've often tried to compile some of the material found in KG's trilogies and formulate a coherent analysis of the cards of the major arcana. Perhaps with these threads, this will help me greatly. I always thought it would be amazing to some day come out with a Typhonian deck


So I now leave it open for our discussion of Atu 0.........The Fool...

[Marc]

That last comment about a future Typhonian deck was actually my wishful thinking and probably dedicated to Mr. Staley

[Nalyd Khezr Bey]

Just real quick as I don't have much time at the moment... Marc, have you seen The Fool by Michael Staley and Nomi Chi? I recommend checking it out if you can. A very interesting presentation and interpretation of the card.

Also, there is a nice article titled "The Magic of Folly" by Richard Ward in the Volume II, No. 3 issue of Starfire that focuses on various aspects of the Fool archetype that may also interest you if you haven't read it already.

Just thought I'd get those references out of the way up front.

On a personal note, I've always resonated with The Fool which is why one of his guises makes an appearance in my name: Nalyd Khezr Bey.

[Gregory Peters]

As a quick aside, Linda Falorio's Shadow Tarot is a wonderful representation of aspects of the Typhonian current in relation to the 22 "genii" of the Tunnels of Set from LIber 231:
www.shadowtarot.net

[james]

...hello , i am curious about this. it took me a time to come to my conclusion that i don't think the fool "is" a any one thing(-or are any of the cards for that matter , and i include philosophical concepts , colours ,things .personally i get the bends trying to "get" things).if i may offer the image of walking through a fog bank where said fog bank is a tarot card or concept and ones attention is flowing with the passage and then one pops out the other side with insight . my thing is to go it again , and again until various intensities-cum-random images come to mind .it's what i call mapping a territory .

to me the following intensities suggest the fool card:

,1/ a dream i had years ago working a ritual in a circle surrounded by darkness , and in that darkness a sort of darkness moved which attracted my atention though i continued with my thing . immediatly following this was me as that dark movement looking at myself in that circle .a lot of what i do is a going blindly , for want of a better phrase , i've learnt ,and am still learning to go it with--out a care . the dream taught me that i am watching my back(being all), and will kick my own ass(being other), and need to kick my own ass (being me).

2/ access to an abandoned monastery and a bell-tower whose wooden-roof was designed as a 8-pointed star was too good to not try something . a series of working where each night ended with my taking an impression in crayons of the wooden floor and then working said impressions up the following days in a studio, result was long thin figures staring from a distance which creeped me out though firing progressive nights to culminate in my , in mid-ritual being convinced that a figure was standing at the door staring though as i was twirling. i didn't stop as i was working. this was very early in my experiments in the occult and it took the wind out of me , i had no idea what i was doing but remember reasoning more can be had by just going for it ,make a fool of yourself, just do it.better the rookie golfer who doesn't care about the various traps as the seasoned golfer acting with caution

3/joel biroco in his kaos magazine speaking of a type of ritual whereupon on waking he , simply let go and followed the flow, magical state of consciousness ,without no intent in mind. going to the garden he sees a snail whose trail suggested a sigil and i think he cut his hand to energise the sigil . i remember thinking , phew-wow , that letting go is brilliant , a little worrying in how far one could take it and foolish in the sense of going with it without a care in the world , but yeah , that's it, no care , it's fine .

4/austin osman spare said somewhere that a number of times he was lost and his "..." saved him , i cant remember the exact quote but remember the specific sense of lost , gone , no line of return , oh.seasoned trust in a sentient magical universe

5/one of the pioneering adventurers of the rockies who on being asked had he ever got lost responded that he was never lost but was very curious a few times and had to keep on moving to find common ground.

6/is the card before the fool the universe and the card after is the magician , forgive me i don't use tarot anymore( -years have passed) but the essence of this is important to my thing , a going for it because it's all good , the universe , it all pans out, while our lot is intent , the magician , a doing . here , london , is my lot and here i do things , intent.

7/ francis bacon says somewhere in brutality of fact that if you're going to become a painter you're going to have to make a fool of yourself .

i'm sorry if this is long winded , i'm not a writer , words are not my thing so with editing i'm lost .

regards james

[sandow]

Dec 5, 2013 15:49:31 GMT james said:

4/austin osman spare said somewhere that a number of times he was lost and his "..." saved him , i cant remember the exact quote but remember the specific sense of lost , gone , no line of return , oh.seasoned trust in a sentient magical universe

5/one of the pioneering adventurers of the rockies who on being asked had he ever got lost responded that he was never lost but was very curious a few times and had to keep on moving to find common ground.

I don't know if I translate correctly your feelings, but this sensation of "getting lost" makes me think about the japanese feeling of "yugen", as described in this famous poem:

"To watch the sun sink behind a flower clad hill.

To wander on in a huge forest without thought of return. To stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands. To contemplate the flight of wild geese seen and lost among the clouds.
And, subtle shadows of bamboo on bamboo."

[theesotericcamel]

It seems like Yugen refers to the feeling of Awe. At least, from my knowledge of Japanese and Japanese Culture, it seems to fit.

In terms of the fool card, I think it is very appropriate, as the fool is represented in the golden dawn deck as a newborn babe accompanied by a wolf. To a baby, everything is new and awe-inspiring. There is wonder and fascination with everything. In my opinion, this is the sort of characteristic that Jesus was after when he said that we should be as little children. (Luke 18:16-17)

[equinoxofthegods]

Dec 26, 2013 14:09:10 GMT theesotericcamel said:

To a baby, everything is new and awe-inspiring. There is wonder and fascination with everything. In my opinion, this is the sort of characteristic that Jesus was after when he said that we should be as little children. (Luke 18:16-17)

This is also the idea behind Egyptian priests removing the hair from their bodies and shaving their heads. Hoor Paar Kraat is shown with a lock of hair like a baby, and according to some was sucking his thumb (though most magicians would attribute this gesture to the sign of silence).

It is true that children learn at a much faster rate and I believe it to be due to the fact that children are not afraid of failure. As adults we over think everything, and worry about looking foolish to our peers if we fail. Children don't think this way. If they are learning to walk and they fall, they get back up and try again, and again...and eventually they get it.

The idea of the child holding the secret to enlightenment has come to be recognized by different traditions. It seems to be a theme I have encountered numerous times and in different places in my magical research.

[Ad Finem]

I would agree with your statements equinoxofthegods. Children have natural abilities which we tend to discourage and as adults we loose these natural abilities. The creation of imaginary friends and the creative ability in general is much stronger in children. This creativity and ability to respond to the surreal is what we need to develop. Kenneth Grant, Michae Bertiaux, Austin Spare, Dali and many others have shown the vital importance of this creativity if we are to make any progress. What is a great shame is that the current educational systems we have now in the UK (other than than those found in Steiner schools) restricts this natural growth of creativity. The current focus on IT and so called, "computer skills", is even more damaging and I agree with much of what KG has written on this topic.

99

[Mikhale]

Dec 4, 2013 1:49:01 GMT Gregory Peters said:

As a quick aside, Linda Falorio's Shadow Tarot is a wonderful representation of aspects of the Typhonian current in relation to the 22 "genii" of the Tunnels of Set from LIber 231:
www.shadowtarot.net

I just ordered this deck. I am interested in hearing about your experiences with them if you are inclined to share. Also, I came across this video a while back. Anyone have opinions?

[Nalyd Khezr Bey]

Paul Hughes-Barlow's videos are excellent and he's one of the very few who talks about the use of the Opening of the Key. I stumbled across his videos several years ago and recognized him from his book Tarot and the Magus and his old SuperTarot website. 

When I first saw the video you posted above I was initially taken aback by his description of mirror scrying he outlines at the end as I've used an identical method for years myself and had never heard of it from anyone else. I learned it through dreams and began using it around ten years ago. I had broken down and posted publicly about it a couple of years ago. Not long after I posted that I stumbled by synchronicity upon the above video and even read an article he had written about the same subject. At first I took it as a validation of my method because I've only come across hints of it (which may also be a result of my reading more into what has been said) in other sources I'm familiar with but then felt uneasy about having posted what I did because of the similarity. I actually sent Paul an apology and explanation because it looked as though I was ripping him off as he had actually beat me to sharing this technique publicly.

As for what he is saying about Outside the Circles of Time, well, to me that would be obvious as the Tarot is a staple of most magical work that has been derived from the Golden Dawn as Crowley's own A.'.A.'. was and hence Grant makes extensive use of it throughout the trilogies. However, Grant's works are just as much a mirror to where if you approach his ideas with the Tarot in mind then his works will speak to that. Grant's works almost speak to any aspect of or approach to Magick and Mysticism one can bring.

[Mikhale]

When that moment of recognition comes forth and you go "I never heard of this but suspected I was onto something" it is phenomenal. Just to see some coordination between methods after a course of individual efforts is refreshing for me. Makes me feel as though I am possibly a runner up in "...the poster-child for the pitfalls of occult-ego-inflation competition"

[Nalyd Khezr Bey]

Andersons, look at my previous post and click the link for SuperTarot. There is plenty there to get you started.