Sketchbook - Seven of Wands

Without really meaning to, I seem to have drawn a sort of arcade-style mirror version of the RWS Seven of Wands. Actually, I choose to believe that what you see below is a historically accurate portrayal of Whack-a-Mole as it was played in the 16th century:


I love Pamela Coleman-Smith's version because anyone can read it just by looking at it, yet no two people will see quite the same thing. It evokes at a story you can relate to, without explaining what that story is. That is the essence of a good Tarot card.

My drawing is unfortunately just a cheeky sort of update on the same notions of rivalry, competition, and being outnumbered. Obviously in the great Whack-a-Mole game of life, we all like to think of ourselves as Player 1, squishy mallet held high against hordes of goofy talpidae. But there's no getting around the fact that sometimes, we are the mole.

That's not a value judgment -- after all, sometimes the moles win the day. But the greatest power lies in understanding exactly what game you're playing and what team you're on, and acting accordingly -- regardless of what game you'd like to be playing, or what team you'd like to be on. "Pay attention and face reality or get knocked on your ass" ought to be right up there with gravity in the pantheon of natural laws.

(In this particular game, I am giving myself bonus nerd points for incorporating an emoticon into a pen-and-pencil sketch.)

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Seven Of Wands

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"Damn The Gods!"

There seems to have been a lot of uproar about Warner Bros.' decision to remake creaky old Clash of the Titans, even though everyone knows it's only considered a classic because of Ray Harryhausen's spectacular low-tech special effects. I'm a Harryhausen fan myself, and honestly I don't think even he would mind seeing "realistic" CGI effects used to spruce up the myth-inspired dragshow that is Clash.

The overuse of digital effects is typically one of my biggest complaints about new movies, but when it comes to incredibly expensive, incredibly trivial pieces of pop-cultural ephemera like this one, I can't help but become 9 again. Giant scorpions! Evil gorgons! I want to see them. For a little point/counterpoint action, here are the trailers for both the original and the remake:

As opposed to some of the inexcusable and out-of-left-field remake attempts (stuff like The Pink Panther or the announced remake of Hitchcock's The Birds) the new Clash is arguably a true update -- we have experienced a real special-effects revolution in the twenty-*ahem* years since it was made, and the trailers certainly showcase the difference. As to whether it will effectively upstage its predecessor, only time will tell. When it comes out, people will tug back and forth over it, everyone claiming that one version clearly triumphs over the other. Why bother? Even the original was completely frivolous. I (perhaps foolishly) maintain that there's room in our memories for both combatants.

The Seven of Swords is all about this desperate need for validation, for unambiguous victories to be declared, however tenuous the real circumstances. In the Waite version of the card you see one person fending off numerous (perhaps only perceived) threats from above; the card is designed to make you immediately identify with the defender and not the attackers, but no one gets to be the former without first being the latter. Graduating from the Six to the Seven of Wands seems to bring this out in people -- give us a taste of success or encouragement, and we squander it by losing focus on our original mission. We become unsteady, defensive, insecure, prideful, easily distracted -- but hopefully for just a short time, because there is actually still plenty of work to be done before a solid victory is declared.

The film industry seems to exhibit all our ambition-related personality quirks and deficits, exploding them into huge expensive debacles and full-on wars. Clash of the Titans is not only up against every other movie coming out in March, it's also got to stand up to its over-hyped predecessor. When it's all over, who will even care? We all will have already moved on to the next over-hyped challenge.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Seven of Wands

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Seven of Wands

1. Obstacles or difficulties
2. A small victory
3. Courage to meet opposition.

-- David Allen Hulse, The Western Mysteries

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"Grabbing The Spotlight Isn't So Hard... But Then What?"

Everyone has heard the warnings about how hard life at the top can be, but we're all still pretty sure it's a gamble that we're willing to take. Most of us would gladly trade our current problems for those of a slightly more successful person, especially those we see as unworthy for one reason or another.

Nevertheless, it's hard to look at this auction catalog of Michael Jackson's personal possessions without dwelling on the stark emptiness around and inside them. Each item is a symbolic of decades devoted to opulence and frivolity, but it's common knowledge that the erstwhile King of Pop has had to scale back his extravagant lifestyle due to mounting debts. While some of the 2000 items are obviously pretty valuable, I'm most fascinated by the ones that are purely personal: A framed letter from Ronald Reagan; the AMA statuette he won in 1984 for "Thriller"; original artwork made by an 11-year-old Macaulay Culkin, who's the godfather of two of Jackson's children. Artifacts from his own history just aren't useful or interesting to him anymore; will anyone else want them either?

The traditional Seven of Wands shows a young man staving off numerous challengers, whether real or perceived. Grabbing the spotlight isn't so hard... but then what? Unbearable scrutiny, rivalries, and ethical dilemmas arise from below, and only the most well-balanced individuals will be able to keep rising and emerge as true leaders. The fellow shown in the card is clearly not a paragon of balance -- his shoes don't even match! Sort of reminds me a bit of Jackson's Swarovski-encrusted single glove, which you can buy this April for an estimated $10,000-$15,000.

The imperial garment above makes a rather lovely (if bitterly ironic) comment on the results of declaring victory too early, or resting on one's laurels. In all professional matters, merely showing up and pronouncing yourself top dog is not enough; without the strength and solvency to overcome obstacles as they arise, both internal and external, your diamond tiara may as well be a Burger King crown.

Previously On Arcanalogue...

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Seven of Wands

It's a Wands kind of week here at Arcanalogue. Like most people, my passion and ambition are responsible for all my most incredible accomplishments-- and my most tragic blunders. How can that be? It hardly seems fair that the harder we work at uncovering our true self and manifesting its will, the more obvious, insistant, and uncomfortable the world's limitations become. And yet where would we be if we didn't take those risks?

Knowing all the perils doesn't make us immune to them, but The Book of Accidents: Designed for Young Children did its damnedest to instill the tots of 1831 with the proper respect for fire, horses, knives, and kitchen laborers. Surely this book entertained, terrified, and (in some small way) educated many children, but ultimately it is the nature of a child to throw stones, jump out windows, tease large animals, and climb trees no matter how dangerous those activities can be. There is a certain bravery required to go out into the world and explore even though we know how defenseless we are in it, and a certain foolishness. The Seven of Wands may warn of burned fingers on one level, but on another it signifies the boldness that was required to reach into the fire in the first place. It's up to us to make sure that whatever we're reaching for is worth the risk. [Via]

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