I take the lid off
I tear down your plans
and your structures.
Only a crazy man calls on me.
They were so scared of me
in the time of sorcerer princes
they kept me out of the deck
under lock and key
between readings.
You ride now on cobbled streets
beyond my ramparts
to the palace of desires and hauteurs
of sweet airs and embraces
where once you forgot your duty
and the needs of the people
until I brought the roof down.
Remember, falcon rider.
Its seems to really suck to get knocked out of your ivory tower. But, we really do need it on occasion. I do feel like I'm on the road again, hopefully with enough experience not start building a new tower.
ReplyDeleteMichael - I never thought of The Tower as the "ivory tower" but it could be that too, not only in the contemporary sense of intellectual elitism and remoteness from earthly realities, but in the older senses of the Song of Solomon ("your neck is like an ivory tower") and Virgil (the Gate of Ivory as the gate of deceitful dreams or dream interpretations).
ReplyDeleteEach card can enter my life from sources not directly dealt from a deck, so opening to your Tower poem first thing in the morning is like being dealt that card myself--very much as Michael implies it is HIS card rather than yours--I get that. You can't even brace for Tower energies. You don't even know the building has shattered beneath you until you see the ground rushing up to meet your face. Robert, I really appreciate the way you fold in fascinating bits of history; where can I learn more about the deep history of the Major Arcana?
ReplyDeleteRobert,
ReplyDeleteLet me gush: if possible your writing is getting even better. I'm being knocked out of my lifelong tower of solitude and isolation to join a couple of groups, somewhat reluctantly, me who only ever felt safe alone. Your poem really speaks to me -- thanks.
Nancy
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ReplyDeleteSandy - My favorite books on the origin of the Tarot images (which demystify without losing the mystery) are Cynthia Giles's "Tarot: History, Mystery and Lore" and Paul Huson's somewhat mis-titled, "Mystical Origins of the Tarot"
ReplyDeleteNancy - Permission to gush away! Thanks so much. I remember all we learned and shared in my "Tarot for Dreamers" course. This may also be a book that is pushing to be born.
ReplyDeleteI love this Robert, thank you. Coincidentally, this is the second time the Tower card shows itself this morning and I sometimes dream of a Chinese watch tower you helped me connect to Hexagram 20 in the iChing. Now I find myself considering how that energy is similar to the tarot tower, or not; when that hexagram comes up for me it's as much about being watched and remembering "the needs of the people" as anything so that line really speaks to me.
ReplyDeleteSavannah - I don't associate the scary Tower of Tarot with the benign "watchtower" image of the 20th hexagram of I Ching, except perhaps by extreme contrast. The lightning-struck Tower may fall because of ignorance and inattention; the 20th hexagram ("watching") is all about alert observation and rising levels of perception
ReplyDeleteNina - Your comments are in concert with the adage that illness (or misfortune) is the Western form of meditation. When the Tower topples, those who fall may indeed be compelled to seek the deeper meaning of things. "By what a man falls, so may he rise."
ReplyDelete'TAROT for DREAMERS' Now that would be some book! No? Please do write it Robert.
ReplyDeleteCobweb - It's on my list. Mind you, my list of books to write is rather long.
ReplyDeleteRobert, I drew the tower the night before you posted this, and without your poem I may have forgotten its meaning.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to forget your duty to yourself and the Universe, and what happenned last time you forgot.. thanks for the reminder.
ps - is the crazy man who calls on the Tower a Fool, or just crazy?
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ReplyDeleteI recently received a tarot reading in which my main card was the tower.what do u think Robert? Coincidence? Or something more?
ReplyDeleteWhich tarot deck is this tower from? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteRobin - This is the "Radiant" Rider-Waite, the old Rider-Waite-Smith deck recolored to give it a fresh glow.
ReplyDeletePeter - "Only" coincidence? It may be time for you to read my book "The Three 'Only" Things" to confirm that coincidence is actually a remarkable source of guidance and of insight into the deeper patterns and order of reality.
ReplyDeleteThanks Robert. I have a question about your book "Dream gates," in the Exercise: "Journey to the House of Time" One of the first things you need to do is follow then the flow of your breathing, then you should see a white light glowing around you. Now my question is do you have your eyes OPEN during this, where you physically SEE the white light, or are they closed and you see them in your inner sight?
ReplyDeletePeter - We see best with inner light when we shut out external light. So your eyes should be closed, and preferably covered by a sleep shade or bandanna.
ReplyDelete