Sketchbook - Five of Coins

There's nothing quite like the feeling one gets upon discovering a customer has left a really shitty tip. It's the perfect crime, a deeply personal affront for which there is rarely any recourse or rebuttal. Sometimes you totally see it coming; other times it comes as such a shock that you end up inventing all sorts of excuses to explain it away. (A mathematical error perhaps. Could happen to anyone!)

But all too often there is a message specifically encoded in the amount left on the table. I'm not talking about the words "F-U-C-K-Y-O-U" spelled out in pennies -- though I have seen that happen. To someone else. It's usually way more subtle, though; tips are about power, they are expressions of judgment or non-judgment. We consider the statement we're making as we calculate the amount, and it often has very little to do with the service that was provided. So when I get a really bad tip, I always have to wonder: was this about me? Or about them?

(I prefer to think it's always about them.)

Anyhow, above is a sketch of an actual tip that I've actually received. Yes, the person took the time to write out that they were leaving a cash tip. No, there aren't any dollar bills hidden just out of frame. In moments like these, I try to temper my discouragement with the knowledge that this experience is literally built into my job. If I was fundamentally opposed to get royally stiffed now and then, I wouldn't show up at all. Right?

Anyhow, this card illustrates one of those occasions when the drawbacks of a situation are more apparent than the benefits. Are you going to let it get to you, and wind up spreading the bad vibe to your other tables? I'd like to think that no reader of mine would not so easily succumb to this kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Opportunity is all around you, don't let a few losses (no matter how profoundly irritating) wind up determining your next few steps.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Five Of Coins

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Sketchbook - Ten of Coins

Behold, the Tetractys. I wrote about it once before, in reference to its four rows of points. I apparently can't keep my mind off it -- here we are, basking in its beautiful symmetry once more.

Let's get the practical card-reading stuff out of the way first. I wanted to diagram the arduous process of refinement one cultivates while traveling through the suit of Coins. In the beginning it feels like a marvel that you're able to manifest anything concrete at all; as time passes and pressure mounts, diamond-hard points begin to emerge from the grit you started with, until finally you have access to the treasure that you hoped was there all along.

And it was there all along -- that's extremely important to remember if the product isn't quite what you expected. In this case, seeing a project through to its completion has been the most significant reward. You should be proud! But you should also know when it's time to stop polishing and move on to the next hunk of rock. Remember, the thrill is in the process of attainment, it's rarely in the actual possession. This is how empires are built.

Now for the Tetractys. In my drawing above, the ten points are connected by 21 pathways -- exactly like the qabalistic Tree of Life diagrams you see floating around out there with Tarot card associations doodled all over them. That's right, 21 pathways for 21 cards (the Fool is either unnumbered or assigned to "zero"). Sure, you could easily connect more pathways between the points on either diagram... but then that wouldn't be nearly as mystically coincidental, would it?

But that's the wonderful thing about numbers and geometric figures: you can customize them to fit almost every need. And if what you need is an elegant framework upon which to drape a complex system of symbols, then the Tetractys has got you covered! You could assign the 21 Trump cards to these 21 pathways, or you could divide them into 3 groups and embed them in the figure's 3 empty layers like fossils suspended in sediment.

Forget the Tree of Life; the Tetractys is a more beautiful and complex system by which to organize your Tarot cards. For example, it's radially symmetrical. It replicates seamlessly, illustrating both microcosm and macrocosm. It has a firm base and won't tip over easily.

Anyone who uses the qabalistic model for their card interpretations, I'd like to hear what you think about this. Whose version of the Tree do you use as a reference, and why? Which parts would you keep, and which parts would you rather throw away?

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Ten Of Coins

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Sketchbook - Eight of Coins

My knowledge of complex machinery isn't so great, and I suppose when you get right down to it, you can't even really describe a laundry-wringer as "complex". I took a shot at drawing one without looking at any photos and I suppose mine gets the message across, in addition to having magical antigravity properties. You'll just have to assume that all the actual mechanical parts are carefully hidden just out of sight, behind the rollers.

The Eight of Coins speaks to us about making the best of things, and seeing projects through to their completion regardless of the inevitable hard times and disappointments that arrive along the way. This card also encourages us to seek innovative solutions, new ways of organizing our labor so that we're happier with the outcome.

I don't know why this image popped into my head. Perhaps it's the idiom of being "put through the wringer", in which we are forced to endure some sort of ordeal. Or maybe it has something to do with the many hours of work that simple mechanical inventions were supposed to transform into leisure time. People claim that we spend just as much time at our chores as we did before, but in many ways this complaint doesn't hold water. Regardless, I couldn't help thinking of the eight "coins" as rollers that could somehow wring me out, effectively preparing me for the next cycle.

In Crowley's Thoth deck, this card is labeled "Prudence". In that spirit, I'd also like to share this anecdote from my aunt Judy's book Breaking Clean, one of many misadventures from her childhood in rural Montana:

"And I recall one day shortly after the power came, when I carefully latched the bathroom door and climbed up on a chair next to the old washing machine. The washer had two tubs, with a powerful wringer mounted between them. The wringer looked like two wide white rolling pins pressed tightly together, and it worked just like that, too. Shirts had to be fed through carefully so the wringer didn't pop off the buttons, and heavy items like towels or jeans were sent through more than once to squeeze all the water out. As a safety feature, a stop-bar ran along the bottom of the wringer, and when something got jammed up, a blow to the bar would pop the jaws of the wringer apart and stop them from turning.

I soon had the wringer running, and was mesmerized by the hum of the rollers and the splash and trickle of water. I fed dripping socks and washcloths in with my left hand and caught them with my right as they emerged from the rollers flat and damp-dry. I did this with a feeling of great maturity, for while I'd been allowed to feed socks and smaller items into the wringer before, I was not allowed to reach around the wringer as my mother did, and catch them. I was set to surprise her with my proficiency, when one of the socks stuck to the roller, as they sometimes did, going around and around instead of exiting the other side. When this happened to Mom, she loosened it with a flick of her fingers, and I reached to do the same, not thinking which side I was reaching toward, which side ate the socks, and which side spit them out.

The rollers caught my fingertips and steadily, mindlessly ate their way up my hand, squeezing my flesh flat as I hung back with all my strength, trying to pull free. Though I'd been shown how to use it, I never once thought to hit the stop-bar. And though I didn't think to call for help either, by the time the rollers were grinding past my wrist and up my arm I managed to produce a guttural squawk, the sort of noise that lifts the hair on a mother's neck two rooms away. The door seemed to explode before my eyes. The hook-and-eye latch flew apart, and my mother charged through, and in one leap had hit the bar with the feel of her hand and dragged me back from the jaws of the wringer. While my pride suffered a devastating blow, my arm did not, Mom held me on her lap as I sniffled, and within a few minutes my poor flat, white arm had gotten back its blood and the feeling in its fingers, and was none the worse for wear."

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Eight Of Coins

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Sketchbook - Two of Coins

This is one of my favorite cards to draw in a reading, for myself or anyone else. It communicates what we sort of already feel by the time we're sitting down in front of the cards -- a pregnant pause, a shift, a tilt, everything sliding about as we maintain a sort of impossible balance at the center of it all.

I wanted to draw something that would make that idea seem materially relevant and also put a fairly positive spin on it. Once I got the above image in my head, I couldn't seem to move on to anything else. Having grown too large, the hermit crab abandons his home for a more accommodating one. Doing so surely makes him feel quite exposed, at least for a short time, and even once he sets up camp in his new shell it can take quite a while to feel comfortable in it. There's no question, however, as to whether he made the right decision; he's doing what he was made to do.

I had a hermit crab as a pet for a while in grade school. The thing shed its skin once and it just about scared me to death -- there was this dead thing crumpled in the corner of the tank, and deep inside the shell, barely visible, I could see tiny pink legs and claws. You'd think he would have been bigger after the shed, but he looked smaller. And grosser. At some point I put a slightly larger shell in there, hoping he'd move into it one night while I was sleeping. Instead, he was just dead one morning. I was sad but not too sad; I'd wanted a cat instead from the beginning.

Anyhow, in my mind this card evokes two different Trump cards: The Moon and The Magician. You could say that the Two of Coins shows how these states of flux and/or suspended disbelief play out in practice, making us keenly aware of our vulnerability without compromising our ability or determination to still pull it all off, somehow.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Two Of Coins

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Sketchbook - Three of Coins

I have had cheese on the brain ever since I bought a hunk of 2-year aged gouda at Murray's this past weekend that made my salivary glands turn positively inside out with delight. It wasn't even that expensive, maybe $6.75 for a wedge that will last all week.

So it was only a matter of time before it showed up somewhere in one of these drawings, especially since I'm always trying to find objects to stand in for Coins that aren't actually currency. Wheels of cheese have an earthy gravitas that make them perfectly fitting for use in this suit.

As for this particular card, the Three is all about the marvels that can be accomplished with a little harmonious collaboration. Some of the most satisfying fruits of our labor are also the simplest, but we often take those for granted in pursuit of our far-flung ideals. Working with others is a tempering process, and it's the surest way to keep your ego and fantasies in check.

I wanted to draw something humble that tapped into the same artisanal spirit of Pamela Coleman-Smith's version. Cheese-making is still a craft that entire families and communities devote themselves to, and I suppose you could see it as a joint effort involving humans, animals, and microbes (though realistically I'm sure a goat cares little for what you do with her milk once you've taken it).

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Three Of Coins

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Sketchbook - Ace of Coins

You're probably wondering if this is my "Happy Squirrel" card. I somehow doubt that it is...

My partner was recently accepted to Harvard Divinity School and spent part of last week touring the campus in MA. The visit was pretty uneventful mostly, but at one point he did call me to complain that at an albino squirrel had just thrown an Easter egg at him.

...Yeah, that's pretty much how I felt when I heard, too.

I guess the squirrel must have found a leftover egg that had been too well hidden. Do squirrels eat hard-boiled eggs, or did it just think this one was pretty? Regardless, Tex was nearly egged by an achromatic (and possibly very unhappy) rodent.

I told him I couldn't help but see that as an omen of some kind, and I admit I thumbed through the index of my Complete Book of Superstition, Prophecy, and Luck to see if there were any insights as to whether it bode well or ill.

I figure that anything the ghostly white hand of providence heaves in one's direction should be accepted as graciously as possible, and so I decided I would honor this strange little incident by reconfiguring it as my Ace of Coins. I am hoping that Tex (and by association, myself) can look forward to a new chapter of health, wealth, vitality, contentment, and generally enriching experiences. Spring, as Easter strives to remind us, contains the potential for all these things.

Maybe your opportunity will be handed to you, maybe it will be hurled at you from the top of a fence-post, or maybe you will have to do a little digging in the newly-soft earth to uncover it. Signs and omens are only as useful as the reactions they inspire in us.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Ace Of Coins

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Sketchbook - Nine of Coins

As warm and idyllic as Pamela Coleman-Smith's concept of this card may be, it doesn't visually convey much meaning, other than suggesting how nice it probably feels to be a rich lady with hired landscaper.


But in Tarot cards, all surface details, no matter how banal, have meaning. You just have take a moment to ruminate on them. For example, observe what Arthur Edward Waite (in his Pictorial Key to the Tarot) describes as "a bird upon her wrist." That's right, even the man who co-created this deck sees little going on in the Smith's drawing except this:


He seems to have completely overlooked the fact that this woman is a falconer. She's clearly wearing a large heavy glove on her bird arm, and the fowl itself (puny as it may be) is hooded. So what we're looking at is actually thematically closer to this:


That discovery became a window which allowed me to gaze very deeply into this card. At a glance it seems almost like Coleman-Smith is copy-catting her own Empress card, but in truth the two are vastly different. The Empress (Arcanalogue examples here) is an emissary of the forces of nature, which we see fruiting in unkempt splendor all around her.

There is little "nature" on display in the Nine of Coins. Rather, we see a woman who has harnessed the laws of nature and put them to work in a way which produces abundance. For example, consider her arbor: cultivating grapes suitable for wine-making is an obsessive, almost scientific discipline. So is training a bird of prey to hunt game. Suddenly this woman, fancy as she may be, does not seem nearly as frivolous as she first appeared. In fact there's something almost stony about her... she's probably daydreaming about hunting wolves in Mongolia.



Since I'm not a lady of leisure and means, I was forced to draw what I know. This is a picture of my tip jar at work. I've written a little bit about waiting tables here on the site already; I can never seem to get past how impossible the job seems while I'm doing it. When the restaurant is completely packed, every table full, with a line of people out the front door waiting to sit down, there is this wave of despair that washes over me. How in the world am I going to handle this, I wonder. I always manage to scramble and sweat and grin my way through it somehow, leaping through the hoops in an adrenaline-soaked frenzy. And not only that, I return week after week, well aware of what lies in wait for me. Instead of being horrified, I am awed by the discipline I've discovered in myself. Where exactly does it reside, and how do I tap into it and apply it to other goals?

The overflowing tip jar that greets me at the end of each shift has become a sort of magical talisman to me, it provides an immediate sense of validation (way more than, say, a direct deposit paycheck-stub). I leave the restaurant feeling like an alchemist, all of my physical exertion and mental pyrotechnics transformed into literal gold. Staggering home, I look like a revenant and smell like enchilada sauce -- but I feel like the woman in this card. Capable. Accomplished. Tested. Ready. Fabulous.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Nine Of Coins

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Sketchbook - Six of Coins

As I sat there trying to figure out what to draw for the Six of Coins, one of the first things I thought of was of the I Ching, and how its hexagrams can be derived from the tossing of coins. I decided to see if I could find a hexagram that I could associate with this card.

The one I chose was Pi, also known as "Holding Together" or "Unity":

"What is required is that we unite with others, in order that all may complement and aid one another through holding together. But such holding together calls for a central figure around whom other persons may unite. To become a center of influence holding people together is a grave matter and fraught with great responsibility. It requires greatness of spirit, consistency, and strength. Therefore let him who wishes to gather others around him ask himself whether he is equal to the undertaking..."

I think that in a perfect world, strength equals generosity. The person you help up is also helping you. That's just my six cents.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Six Of Coins

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"Refrigerate For At Least A Week Before Eating..."

I didn't set out to collect bad cookbooks, it just sort of happened. Maybe it's all the bizarre "homestyle" cooking I was exposed to in farm kitchens as a child; maybe I was just born this way. Whatever it is, nothing gets me going like really terrible pictures of really terrible food, accompanied by instructions to help you actually make said food. I found today's selection on sale at a thrift store for one dollar. It's brought me at least five times that much enjoyment already.

There are no pictures in Recipes From Peggy's Cove, which was published "in aid of the Peggy's Cove Preservation Society". Well, no pictures of food anyway. There are a few gritty b&w photos of the Cove itself, which purports to be a grim little fishing hamlet somewhere in Nova Scotia. Even the color photos I've found online are in b&w -- you actually have to photoshop Peggy's Cove to make the colors show up. I found

After a hard day of scraping out lobster traps, nothing warms the knuckles like a helping of "Lasagna Salad", chased with a handful of "Savory Gems". Or perhaps you'd prefer a "Clam Whiffle" appetizer followed by the evocatively named "Smothered Rabbit". If it's dinner for one, you may elect to make "Hobo Dinner" and then fall asleep in front of the TV with a half-eaten "Almost As Good As Poundcake" in your lap.

I'm not just picking on the names. In most cases the ingredients or directions are just as discouraging, such as the recipe for "Cherried Cranberries", which contains no actual cherries. If you're going to use "cherry" as a verb (and I beg you to refrain), then the person, place or thing you are cherrying deserves the real thing.

Meanwhile, here is the second half of the recipe for making "Solomon Gundy":

"...In medium size mason jars, put alternate layers of herring and onion rings. Cover with cooled vinegar solution and seal. Refrigerate for at least a week before eating."

If you want more, you'll have to get your own copy.

I think that by now most people know that trends in folk cuisine, such being able to make a meal with literally any part of an animal, are born out of necessity. Hardworking, isolated people have to do the best with whatever they've got handy, and if that means eating "Salmon Luncheon Roll" and "Family Dessert" three nights a week, then by Dagon, that's what they'll do! People cling to familiar tastes, even as generations go by and fortunes improve. No one these days eats "Livers Paprikash" because it tastes wonderful, they do it because it's traditional.

If you're currently struggling, the Five of Coins urges you refrain from confusing your current station in life with who you actually are and what you really want. You can (and will) do better, it says. All the Five-cards in the Tarot represent that "it's always darkest before the dawn" period that precedes the restoration of harmony and balance. If you accept your present hardship as your lot in life, you may cling to it reflexively and fail to grab at whatever is meant to take its place. We are all transforming, and what we are now is not necessarily what we will be.

I shouldn't pick on Peggy's Cove too much, its wiki page claims that tourism is its primary source of income. Nor do I think that a town is incomplete without a four-star restaurant. But if it's fund-raising assistance the town needs, the town might have been better off avoiding cook-books and bake sales. Better stick to car-washes in the future, just to be safe...

Previously On Arcanaloge: Five Of Coins

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"Will The Emperor Clothe Himself?"

I can't decide whether the use of LEGO blocks to fill in the gaps of old Roman buildings at a recent arts festival strikes me as an illusion of reinforcement or a reminder of infirmity. It's interesting to me that they flesh out the crevices and corners in a way that lets you see the space that the buildings once took up. The LEGO's remind you how old and powerful the buildings are, but they also point out the places where repairs are necessary. I wouldn't be surprised if this purely cosmetic "renovation" winds up leading to an actual bricks-and-cement renovation afterward; now that the gaps have been pointed out, they're all anyone will see when they pass by. Now that artists have joshingly pointed out his partial nudity, will the emperor clothe himself?

The Four of Coins relates to edification and security. For some, this is less about solving real problems and more about keeping up appearances -- like when people refer to the airport "security theater" of the TSA. Purely presentational gestures of stability can only keep people fooled for so long; eventually those who depend on you will require gestures of real substance. This card highlights the conflict of interest that emerges when you have the power to accomplish tangible results; to what extent will your results be mitigated by your pride, or your fear of becoming powerless?

The suit of Coins has interesting things to say on the matter. If you look at the cards in numerical sequence, you'll note that the early cards seem obsessed with power and status. Once the true, harmonious nature of the suit asserts itself in the Six of Coins, the concerns with status all but vanish -- the onus shifts onto the actualized individual to tend his own crop and make peace with the natural ebb and flow of the material world, no matter how it wears and tears at the edifices he or she has built. Observance of that philosophy is what creates the enduring happiness and wealth we see in the last two cards. [Via]

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Four Of Coins

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The Queen of Coins - Her Hair Is Full of Secrets!

Okay, so after last time you should know what to do. This time your raw material comes via a brilliant BibliOdyssey post about satirical depictions of women's hairstyles circa the late 18th century. Plenty more to look at if you follow the link -- let me know which court card is the best match!

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"Go Invent Something. That Is The American Message..."

Maira Kalman's unique visual blogging style is such a welcome addition to the NY Times that whenever I see a new post from her, I feel as glad as if she'd sent it to me personally. First she visited the Supreme Court, then Thomas Jefferson's historic home, and now she's composed a tribute to founding father Benjamin Franklin. I always feel really busy and productive until I read about people like Franklin (or Kalman, for that matter). And yet, as the artist points out, Franklin's immense achievements never compromised his joie de vivre.

Initially I was disappointed that I'd already found someone else to be the King of Wands, but the more I browsed through Kalman's insights about Franklin, the more obvious it became that the manifesting concrete, practical results was the man's true gift. Though he was ever a dreamer and a philosopher, he was also quick to remind us that "A penny saved is a penny earned."

The King of Coins enjoys mastery over the most evident realms of reality. He toils and lives sensually, trusts his senses implicitly, in fact. He reigns in his fantasies, yoking them alongside his ambition so that together they pull his plow and feed his family. Most of us aspire to take better care of ourselves, earning our maturity the hard way -- for the King of Coins, maturity is a natural talent, like being left-handed.

Drawing this card doesn't necessarily mean that you're a latent inventor-genius on the verge of founding a new nation (though I do hope that turns out to be the case). However, you can count on the King to help you locate the point in your world where inspiration and obligation intersect. If you settle down at that crossroads for a while, you'll be in an excellent position to pluck ideas out of the aether and point them in the most practical directions possible. As the King, your decisions will wield power -- you're inventing reality for yourself and all who rely on you. Kalman leaves us with these stirring thoughts:

"Everything is invented.
Language. Childhood. Careers.
Relationships. Religion.
Philosophy. The Future.
They are not there for the plucking.
They don't exist in some natural state.
They must be invented by people.
And that, of course, is a great thing.
Don't mope in your room.
Go invent something.
That is the American message..." [Via]

Previously On Arcanalogue: The King Of Coins

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"Racking Up Achievements That Border On The Unreal..."

If Serena Williams was merely a tennis star, then her victory at this weekend's Wimbledon championship (against her sister Venus) would be just another feather in her cap. But it's obvious to everyone that she's so much more than that; rather than try to blend into the quiet, WASPy world of tennis, she's turned its expectations and image inside-out at every opportunity, becoming a major celebrity and fashion icon. With their friendly rivalry and insane winning streaks, she and Venus have changed the sport forever -- people try to act normal about it, but if I ever saw her in person I'd scream like a girl at a Beatles concert, and I don't even really care for tennis.

That sort of outsized, long-term accomplishment is what the Ten of Coins is all about. The Nine has already set the pace at which your earning potential will blossom, providing pretty much everything you might need; should growth persist unchecked, you'll practically have a dynasty on your hands, rocketing beyond mere felicity and racking up achievements that border on the unreal.

If that seems impossible to attain, it's even harder to maintain. Becoming well-established means tolerating more scrutiny and responsibility. Everyone's standards for you will change; when you win, you'll win for everyone, but when you lose, everyone will feel the tremors and sell their stock. Normal family drama can become downright Shakespearean as the power dynamic shifts to accommodate your new weight. Those who can handle this kind of pressure long-term make immense personal sacrifices in order to do so, and those who aren't suited for it feel only the burden of their success, and none of the happiness.

Compared to the number Nine, there is a great round symmetry in Ten that is hard to defeat, a balance that is hard to upset -- but in the earthbound suit of Coins, that can be a liability; you need to exercise and stay flexible, lest your senses dull to the natural ebb and flow of your world and your place within it. This card challenges you to embrace good fortune when it comes, but not blindly. Examine yourself for signs of complacency, materialism, or plain old dissatisfaction. Your money, success, responsibilities should always be taking you somewhere new, so if you find yourself just running victory laps, maybe it's time to set off on a new adventure and let someone else win for a change.

(Not you though, Serena! I hope you're still knocking us out with white trench coats and Swimsuit Editions for a good long time! *swoons*)

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Ten of Coins

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"...The Key That Unlocks A Heavy Door."

According to the Rosetta Project, globalization may eliminate up to 90% of the world’s linguistic diversity within the next century. Rosetta's academics, linguists, and anthropologists have taken on the challenge of creating a low-tech, physical artifact that documents as many of mankind's languages as possible. The result? The Rosetta Disk, a three-inch coin etched with over 13,000 microscopic pages containing the keys to at least 1,500 languages. It's designed to last for 10,000 years, in hopes that our descendants will find it useful. Since the only technology required to use it is simple magnification, it's hard to imagine a civilization incapable of learning to use it. It's easy to imagine that such a record will one day seem to future generations as a sort of magical gift from the aether, which is how the Ace of Coins is commonly depicted. Like any translation device, it is the key that unlocks a heavy door.

Whether you call them Coins, Disks, or Pentacles, the cards in this suit describe creative energy in its ultimate form, in which it finally manifests as physical matter. I guess you could say that the entire suit is a little obsessed with obtaining results -- there is none of the wanderlust or dreaminess that pops up in the other suits. The realms of the mind, heart, and spirit are incredibly subtle and sensitive, and unless matters are tended to in the real world, access to these less tangible areas of ourselves becomes incredibly limited. The Ace promises that certain burdens will be eased and obstacles overturned, allowing you to actually explore and enjoy the garden you've been tending. It portends fortuitous opportunities and nudges one toward an awakening of senses that have long laid dormant.

I find it fascinating that Rosetta Project has resulted in the creation of a sort of Ur-coin. Language itself is considered divine by many cultures (remember how the Old Testament God spoke the world into being?) and now it is manifest in matter. In fact, many of the disk's language samples are passages from the Book of Genesis, which may be attributed to it being one of the most frequently-translated documents in human history. The choice bears additional symbolic weight, however, when you consider the journey that ideas take from conception to execution, from aether to tablet. [Via]

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Ace of Coins

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The King of Coins

1. Toiling, laboring, or working
2. Person who is steady, reliable, practical, and enduring
3. Person who is insensitive, slow to anger, but furious if roused.

-- David Allen Hulse, The Western Mysteries

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"A Surplus of Attention and Energy to Pool With Others..."

Jill Sobule has enjoyed a steady fan following and released five wonderful albums since her 1995 "I Kissed A Girl" hit, but the record industry isn't what it used to be. Rather than continue to subject herself to the usual Mephistophelean deals and disappointing returns, the singer/songwriter decided last year that she would personally involve her fans in the funding and creation of her new albums. She launched the site Jill's Next Record, which asked for donations in exchange for prizes ranging from free copies of the album to private concerts. Within 59 days Sobule had made over $75,000, and this April she made good on her promises with the album California Years, which is now available on her site. Below is a video for the single "San Francisco", directed by Margaret Cho, which very much matches the vibe of Sobule's endeavor:

The Three of Coins is anchored by the concept of harmonious collaboration, of people working well together and producing a result that is greater than the sum of their parts. In any professional undertaking, creative or otherwise, it can be difficult to open oneself up to others and rely on their support, and it's also not easy to to extend a truly generous hand of your own. No matter how generous we may be, we all watch out for ourselves, and often our motivations in helping others are not as pure as we think they are. In the Two of Coins we see an individual skillfully navigating all sorts of topsy-turvy challenges; the sorts of harmonious support networks that the Three envisions occur when you become so damn good at what you're doing that you have a surplus of attention and energy to pool with others who are on similarly solid ground. Who knows what marvels may occur?

Truly productive and gratifying projects like this don't flourish all that often -- like the cactus bloom on the California Years album cover, these memorable moments can't be rushed, emerging only rarely. You have to be sensitive to their approach, and nourish them into existence. Consider this card an omen regarding a project you're considering or already at work on. If help is on the way, it may up to you to decide whether it's the right kind. Or perhaps there's an situation on the horizon in which your participation will provide an important missing puzzle-piece. Either way, don't allow this time to pass by idly -- there's important work to be done!

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Three of Coins

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"Rules and Restrictions Suddenly Seem Like Opportunities"

Congratulations to Justin Nickels, the new mayor of Manitowoc, Wisconsin! The 22-year-old managed to juggle college courses, a day-job as a grocery store cashier, and an effective mayoral campaign against the 39-year-old alderman Dave Soeldner, whom Nickels beat by a mere 16 votes.

This young up-and-comer has arrived thanks to a fundamental awareness of the modern political playing field and how it's navigated. Like the Prince of Coins, he's both an idealist and a pragmatist, in whose hands rules and restrictions suddenly seem more like opportunities. While it's easy to put on the show of a good campaign with a slick website, in these days of low voter turnout it's really still all about making contact with actual people in the real world, cultivating a presence that will motivate people to act in their own best interest (which coincidentally happens to be his as well).

The Prince of Coins is chock full of ideas, but they are only valuable to him to the extent that he can channel them directly into concrete results. He's almost single-minded in his approach, which makes him thoroughly dependable, but his youthful spirit and quick wits give him ambitions beyond the materialism of his suit, making him more approachable than, say, the King. If you (like myself) are not much like this in your everyday life, then this card is most likely meant to steer you toward a duty that could use more attention; for those of you who can already relate, then hopefully Nickel's story will be an affirmation, an incentive to keep up the good work.

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Prince of Coins

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"An Intuitive Link With One's Craft..."

Earlier today I quoted Waite's Pictorial Key To The Tarot for lulz, but this is a good chance to quote it for truth. Last year author Sloane Crosley promoted her new collection of humorous essays I Was Told There'd Be Cake by presenting a series of dioramas, each based on a different tale from the book. I ran across this bit on Gawker today saying that she's now auctioning off one of the dioramas to benefit Housing Works, a NYC-based charity that fights AIDS and homelessness.

Here's Waite's description of his Queen of Coins, circa 1910:

"The face suggests a dark woman, whose qualities might be summed up in the idea of greatness of soul; she has also the serious cast of intelligence; she contemplates her symbol and may see worlds therein. Divinatory Meanings: Opulence, generosity, magnificence, security, liberty."

Don't know that I have a lot to add to that, as the parallel to Crosley's photo above is incredibly apt. But I will say that I personally loved her book; it's a beautifully curated catalogue of the worldly (and often humiliating) experiences that groomed a young woman into a battle-weary New Yorker. The diorama aspect of the project certainly plays to the Martha Stewart (or Amy Sedaris, whichev) aspect of creative pragmatism and hard work that this card is known for. Her work is never done, there is always a new wrinkle -- something also signified by this Housing Works venture.

The difference between a Queen and a Princess in the Tarot boils down to the cultivation of an intuitive link with one's craft, until creation and judgment become united and are wielded almost unconsciously. Here's looking forward to more of everything, both for and from Crosley.

Previously On Arcanalogue...

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"Personal Involvement In The Ebb And Flow..."

In celebration of tonight's season finale of RuPaul's Drag Race -- the liveliest, shark-jumpingest piece of entertainment anyone could ever hope for -- here's a symbol for change that you can really believe in. Over the holidays, legendary drag superstar RuPaul circulated this holiday card featuring herself as both Barack and Michelle Obama, simultaneously promoting her own new show on LOGO and reveling in the results of the presidential election.

The show has since proven to be a platform for miraculous transformations of every flavor -- no matter how punishing each challenge's restrictions are, such is the professionalism of these girls that they nearly always still wind up stalking down the catwalk looking like a million pre-recession bucks. It's only natural for an artist to bristle or panic when eleventh-hour surprises disrupt their creative flow, but these performers are (mostly) seasoned and resilient enough to adjust their course and rise above the limitations RuPaul sets upon them. And as the host, RuPaul herself fluctuates between male and female personas, appearing in and out of drag as she masters the hell out of those ceremonies. Superimposing that aspect of her persona onto a portrait of the Obamas was an inspired move, and oddly insightful -- three months into the Obama presidency, we are already in a new era, a topsy-turvy one which has already begun to test the flexibility of America's identity.

The Two of Coins hints that at changes which could really turn things around in your favor if you choose to cooperate. This means participating in them as they occur -- you can't just stand back watching skeptically and leave the results up to chance. Personal involvement in the ebb and flow will make you more sensitive to the arrival of opportunities and give you a leg up on seizing them. There's a time to resist, and a time when doing so means missing out on the next big thing; drawing this card means you'd better make like a Drag Race contestant or a crisis-weary American and get busy turning your trials into triumphs, your garbage into glitter, your -- well, you get the drift.

Previously On Arcanalogue...

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"Gently Conform A Flawed World To Your Needs..."

Unless you've played Settlers of Catan, the mosaic above probably looks rather esoteric. Settlers is an award-winning strategy game where the players built settlements and roads between areas laden with resources such as stone, bricks, sheep, wood, and wheat; you win by building up your own city and cutting off your rivals from access to the resources they need to survive -- a really intriguing way to play with your concepts of ego, survival, and economy.

Normally the game is played on a plain flat board that you piece together out of cardboard hexagons, but this particular nation-builder has taken things to the next level, customizing their own beautifully elaborate Settlers experience. I can only imagine how much more fun it is to play the game with a version you've made yourself -- here's a tutorial to get you started on your own.

This card has always struck me as a particularly lovely follow-up to the treacherous Seven of Coins. Unsatisfied with the version that came in the box? A little patience, creativity, and elbow-grease (make that a LOT) could be all that's required to gently conform a flawed world to your needs. Whether it winds up suiting anyone else's -- well, that's another matter altogether. [Via]

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