The Empress, the Alembic and the Secret Fire
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
4d ago
From joy springs all creation, by joy it is sustained,towards joy it proceeds, and to joy it returns. – Mundaka Upanishad Tarot de Marseille is a funny creature. Just when you think you’ve ‘figured it all out’, like a chimera it changes into something else. Fortunately I en-joy a mystery and seeking that which has no end. If I’ve learned one thing from TdM, it’s that the same pattern exists in whatever particular wisdom path you choose to follow. “All roads lead to Alexandria.” (wink) The enigma is perhaps most apparent in the triad sequence, beginning with the Empress. To re-cap TdM’s inhere ..read more
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The Empress and the Alembic
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
1w ago
From joy springs all creation, by joy it is sustained,towards joy it proceeds, and to joy it returns. – Mundaka Upanishad Tarot de Marseille is a funny creature. Just when you think you’ve ‘figured it all out’, like a chimera it changes into something else. Fortunately I en-joy a mystery and seeking that which has no end. If I’ve learned one thing from TdM, it’s that the same pattern exists in whatever particular wisdom path you choose to follow. “All roads lead to Alexandria.” (wink) The enigma is perhaps most apparent in the triad sequence, beginning with the Empress. To re-cap TdM’s inhere ..read more
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‘I Will Choose’ Empowered Eve free to use for non-profit
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
1M ago
Take your rib and … This iconic image was created for The Progressive Magazine’s calendar in 1992 (beautifully designed each year by Patrick JB Flynn). It illustrated this quote by Marge Piercy: I will choose what enters me, what becomes flesh of my flesh. Without choice, no politics, no ethics lives. I am not your cornfield, not your uranium mine, not your calf for fattening, not your cow for milking. You may not use me as your factory. Priests and legislators do not hold shares in my womb or my mind. This is my body. If I give it to you I want it back. My life is a non-negotiable demand. Ori ..read more
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Disrobing the Papal Couple – Tarot de Marseille’s Pope and Popess
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
1M ago
Allegory of Prudence with Janus face, 16th c, Nantes, France Previously we looked at the masculine/solar cards in the 1/4 placement, beginning with the Juggler (1). Now let’s turn our attention to the feminine/ lunar cards in the 2 placement, beginning with The Popess (2) and The Pope (5). These two flank Empress (3) and Emperor (4), like the spiritual component or parent of each. The book on the Popess’ lap, whatever its mystery content, illustrates this concept; two covers (‘hidden’) and two facing pages (‘spread eagle’) inside. Various Conver cards, 18th c To Pythagoreans, and others throug ..read more
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Happy Wood Dragon Lunar New Year!
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
1M ago
“Do not meddle with Dragons, for you are crunchy and good.”New Dragons are being conceived…here are some oldies, for now. Monster with Girl who is bringing him home (ca 1968)   Express Yourself   Poster art for opera-cabaret (1990s)   Bedtime Story (The Progressive, ca late 1990s)   Dragon Soup (SF Mag, late 1990s-early 2000s)   Dragon Arts (Western Living, ca 1999)   Caduceus Bouquet (Swerve Mag, 2009)   The Dragon (art ca 2016, poem from 1990s)   Bedlam Voices 2 poster (detail) Stay tuned for more DRAGONS…! All images herein are copyright ©Roxanna Bika ..read more
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Let Me Take You Down – The Juggler/ Le Bateleur of Tarot de Marseille
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
2M ago
Isis assists with the embalming of a mummy. Tomb of Tigris, Roman Egypt, 1st-2nd c ‘One becomes Two, Two becomes Three,  and out of the Third comes the One as the Fourth.’   ~ Pythagoras In a previous post , we saw how the Cosmology of Pythagoras applies to Tarot. It is but one of the initial or initiatory, key concepts conveyed to us by The Juggler/Le Bateleur, as a visual clue. Do you see it? Hint: It’s ‘dessous le table’, in every Marseille-type deck. Vieville, Conver and Noblet cards Of course, I am referring to the legs. People tend to write off his three-legged table as simply ..read more
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Death and the Moon in Tarot de Marseille
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
2M ago
Previously, we looked at the influence of hieroglyphica and emblemata in the Renaissance and its connection to Tarot de Marseille, how TdM’s ‘mytho-alchemical’ imagery is hieroglyphic in nature, playfully imbedded with visual hints of esoteric meaning hidden in plain sight. The cards relate to each other in a variety of ways, too, be it by numeric pattern or other similarities. (Perhaps why they naturally lend themselves to being ‘read’, a different narrative following every shuffle). Do read my post on  Horapollo and the Hieroglyphic Mysteries of TdM , if you haven’t, as an introduction ..read more
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Horapollo and the Hieroglyphic Mysteries of Tarot de Marseille
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
2M ago
It is a tradition in esoteric history that whenever a new culture is embryonic in the womb of an older one, or when an esoteric school recognizes that a culture has served it’s purposes and is coming to an end, then a major work of art is created in dedication, as an outer sign for future ages. The work of art may be a remarkable piece of music, a poem, a garden or a building — but whatever its external artistic form, it encapsulates, in entirely esoteric principals, a summary of what has gone before, and what is to come. All great esoteric artists from Dante to Shakespeare, from Milton to Bl ..read more
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Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea – a deep dive in three parts
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
4M ago
Nicholas Conver, 1760 PART ONE:  NOT-SO-HUMBLE BEGINNINGS The Devil is a conceptual chameleon that has evolved alongside us every step of the way, and on which the literature is exhaustive. This article focuses on the Tarot de Marseille Diable (above), an image which alone contains enough riddles for a whole book; What’s that he standing on? Is that water in the background? Why does he take that pose? What is on his head? Why is he wearing a blue wetsuit? It turns out these are not simple questions to answer and the mystery will (I hope) likely remain after this honourable attempt to scra ..read more
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Secrets of the Emperor’s Chicken
Roxanna Bikadoroff Blog
by Roxanna Bikadoroff
4M ago
Jodorowsky-Camoin Emperor There is a curious detail in the Marseille Emperor’s throne, which always reminded me of a goofy-looking bird, a bit like the Roadrunner cartoon. Merely an accident of design…or is  it? Jodo refers only to the eye-like, circular shape, as symbolic of ‘alchemical gold.’ He and Camoin also insist there was an egg (under eagle’s tail) in the Conver card, which they ‘restored,’ a topic of much debate in Tarot circles. detail in 3 versions of the Conver Emperor Details in Tarot imagery often get muddled or omitted, so it’s necessary to look at as many variations as po ..read more
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