Many artists have been inspired to respond artistically since the Tarot appeared as a game somewhere in the mid-15th Century, though it is the French we can look to for imbuing these cards with a greater significance. Cartomancy as a concept has always fascinated me, that these symbols can be manipulated at will through the chaos of universal forces into something that resembles common sense.
When Pelmanism was written during Lockdown, the Tarot became a significant inspiration. The journey symbolised by the 22 cards which form the Major Arcana became the foundation on which I wrote my first cohesive, episodic sequence of poems. Without this starting point, LuX would never have come into being. Early this year, it became apparent that to edit THAT successfully requires skills I do not yet wield. So, this is where that process begins.
This week has gotten away from me and to be able to have this up and done only two days late is being lauded as a singular triumph. It’s a reminder of earlier times, when my kids were the thing that consumed every living thought and action, and there was no time for anything except the process of existence. I am singularly grateful for the time and space which is now afforded me and do my utmost never to squander it.
Card 2 is the coded reminder of the billions of women who have come before me, the wisdom of the sisterhood and how we must trust that wellspring of experience and belief to move forward. It is my reminder that I can have secrets and be mystical if I choose, but sometimes the honesty of exposure can grant unexpected and surprising renewal. If I’m honest, this week has been a case in point.
2 / they who
must be
now stops expecting answers from child to child to barren only points them forward possibility of all these victories yet to be encountered to stand expecting recompense for inability was never the right answer will only breed more culpability to listen first to that voice within inescapable from wealth holding truth once beaten down by those agendas twisted to a mother’s self that still believes that being rich is counted by the clothes not worn you never needed anything except the validation of yourself
If you like this poem, please let me know in the comments <3