- Oct 2016
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teaching.lfhanley.net teaching.lfhanley.net
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With a wicked pack of cards.
The clairvoyante’s cards seem to be Tarot cards in this stanza.
Most obviously, “The Hanged Man” is the name of one of the major arcana/trumps, representing a traitorous person, or a crossroads. “The Wheel [of Fortune]” is also a trump, and represents change and movement, and the cycle of life.
The other cards all appear to be minor arcana. “The drowned Phoenician Sailor” seems to refer to the Ten of Swords, representing anguish and defeat, but with a chance of hope. (It is considered one of the most negative cards.) “Belladonna / Lady of the Rocks / Lady of Situations” is the Queen of Cups, representing a difficult road with a large reward at the end. “The man with three staves” is the Three of Wands, representing a journey, or hope for renewal. (Interestingly, this card often depicts a man looking out on a wasteland.) Finally, “the one-eyed merchant” would likely be the Six of Pentacles/Coins, representing equality and generosity.
This could be read into much more deeply than the general meanings of each card, but overall, the message appears to be “bleak, but with hope of salvation or reparation.”
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He who was living is now dead We who were living are now dying
Things that were ruined are regaining life, while the things that were alive are now being ruined by those things regaining life. Nature was ruined by man and revives, and now man is ruined by nature, because he no longer knows how to live within it.
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