Following is a detailed, let-’er-rip interpretation of a casting from February 13th. Usually I don’t go into so much theory nor wax quite so poetic – I effuse only so much as the querent can bear, and try to give them the plain and simple. Below, however, is an example of what goes on for me in a casting – hopefully others, especially readers and aspiring readers, will find it helpful. Please feel free to comment or email me with any questions or thoughts. You can read this post while actually hearing the music, btw, on SoundCloud. Blessings, jsk
Initial impressions. A gift from the higher self, from transpersonal knowledge to personal insight. The movement from minor to major, from acceptance of burden to hopeful intent. The karmic necessity of developing emotional autonomy. The vigor that can be derived from following the intuition, from confirming its validity. The offsetting of burdens by the innate capacity for success.
The Keycenter. Bb Descending indicates movement downward from the crown chakra into the third eye, from the transpersonal to the personal, from shared wisdom to personal insight. In this particular roll, the die was pointed off to the left more than down, which puts an emphasis on events of the past.
Position 1. There are times when we imagine things to be more difficult than they are, when our view is skewed by our emotional state. Now is not such a time: your burdens are real, and their heaviness is felt down to your very soul. The Minor Third of Voices speaks of a sober clarity and a sense of finality, of chickens come home to roost; with the Ten of Wands, you find yourself nearing the end of a journey bearing more weight than perhaps you’d planned for. The scalepoint of me instructs you to not suppress this information: this is simply where you are at the moment, accept it; all things must pass. Musically, the minor third arising from me implies a diminished triad in the key of Bb: this is the feeling that prevails. Ascending points in a descending casting, however, reference notes rising up from the scale a tritone below that of the keycenter: yes, we have Db and Fb in the key of Bb, but we also have C# and E in the key of E. But we don’t hear it that way, we don’t sense the key of E – yet…
… until now, at position 2. Se in the key of Bb is do in the key of E: it is the Point of Intention. And here from this point arises a Major Third of Voices: musically, it really sounds like we’re in E now. This intention blossoming within is imbued with the ease and resolution of the Major Third, and is interdependent with the spiritual autonomy expressed in the Hermit card above it. (Autonomy, in fact, is a strong theme in this casting: the Hermit card precedes the Soloist of Strings found in the next position, both in position and pitch.) The Hermit is alone, the seeker, the climber of the sacred mountain; the six-pointed star in his lantern, the Seal of Solomon, shines with the wisdom flowing downward from this casting’s keycenter; his staff is a purer form of the scepter of the Emperor found in position 3. A Major Third of Voices and the Hermit at the Point of Intention: the sacred desire for being attainment, and the remembering and pursuit of that desire as balm to the soul.
Position 3. Here we come to the axis of the casting, the crucial point around which all else revolves. The scalepoint is la descending, the Point of Governance: the rules of the game must be heeded. And the rule is: transform your feelings of dependence into feelings of autonomy. The need for approval, for validation, must be set aside: it is the Soloist’s time to shine. She/he is empowered by the Tritone, goosing him/her forward into a future beyond any we can imagine (a tritone built downward from G leads us to the key of Ab.) Help is available within: the Emperor tells we can do this, we can take charge. And we can (must?) do it without being tyrannical: we know that the Emperor’s scepter is the Hermit’s staff in disguise (I’m reminded of Gandalf when he comes to rescue Theoden from possession by Saruman: “You wouldn’t part an old man from his walking stick…”) A Tritone of Strings crossed by a Soloist of Strings under la with the Emperor ascending: the need for emotional independence and the juice and the chops to get it.
Position 4. This transformation of feeling that needs to take place, this upcoming manifestation of the new true you, needs a fuel supply. Lucky for you you’ve got one at so, the Point of Vitality. Thanks to the descending gifts flowing downward from your crown into your third eye, your intuition is keen, decisive, and not easily fooled, as personified by the Queen of Swords. When your energy starts to flag, look to the signs: al segno. Because you can.
Position 5. This last position recalls the first. Here at re, the last point of the descending scale, the Point of Dependence, Obbligato, duty, weighs heavily: it’s you with your unwieldy bunch of sticks again. Yet from below, from the Point of Mechanicality, arises the Ace of Pentacles: you can find success in your sleep (and in fact do.) The Point of Mechanicality is often home to unconscious, and so unhelpful, behavior; when a beneficial card shows up there, though, good habits might be indicated – not all unconscious mechanisms are destructive. The Ace of Pentacles is about the gift of prosperity, abundance, and success in the material world, and it’s in a hot relationship here with the Emperor, who’s all about mastery in those same areas (they’re a perfect fifth apart, and both moving upward: charge!)
Summary. The first position is about burdens and heaviness of spirit; the last position is about burdens and the ease of overcoming them. Getting from the first to the last involves all that’s in between: remembering your true path, and the utter need for autonomy, especially in the realm of feeling. It may seem a tough road, but you’ve got powerful friends: you are the Emperor, don’t forget, and the Queen of Swords besides, and you’ve been granted a channel between your crown chakra and third eye. Not bad for a Wednesday afternoon.
