2.11.24
A different Inbox adventure . . .
Welcome, everyone!
Two of the last three EP posts have had something to do with my Inbox, and references to alchemy that appeared there. They were unexpected items—from different sources, yet sharing a common theme.
But several times a week, my Inbox contains expected items, from other Tarot publications. And since I only have a little time for today’s EP, this seems like a good opportunity to share some posts from other folks . . .
Every Sunday at:
Caroline Donofrio shares an essay, followed by:
This week at:
Katie-Ellen illuminates:
Meantime, at:
Chelsey Pippin Mizzi shares:
And you can register for a Q&A with the book’s author, Maria Minnis.
In her newsletter at 3 am tarot . . .
meg jones wall is exploring:
And of course, there’s always something fascinating at:
Those tips will give you something new to read. And for something a bit older—this perfectly timed EP flashback, from almost exactly one year ago.
A Tarot Perspective
Even if you’re not much of a football fan, you’ve likely heard that Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field last week. I didn’t want to write about this event while the outcome was unknown—but now that it seems Hamlin will recover, I’ll share some Tarot-related thoughts.
The Tower
Commotio cordis (presumed cause of Hamlin’s arrest) is a rare event in which the heart’s rhythm is disrupted by a blow to the left chest, occurring just as the heart is poised for its next beat. In order to produce such an effect, the blow must happen not just at a particular second, but within a time window of 40 milliseconds.
This fantastically specific event is known to happen fewer than two dozen times a year in the United States. It’s a completely unpredictable occurrence, so I can’t help but think about the suddenness we associate with “The Tower.”
Death
Strictly speaking, Hamlin, and anyone else who suffers commotio cordis is dead immediately. They might be resuscitated, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t dead. So I’m thinking about transitions, and that leads me to another of the Tarot’s notoriously difficult trumps . . . .
The Hanged Man
For me, “The Hanged Man” is primarily about in-between states, suspended between one reality and another. It’s often (but not always, of course) about hanging in the balance. And I thought of this image in connection with daily reports about Hamlin’s unresolved condition.
The Wheel of Fortune
Damar Hamlin was struck down in a millisecond by one of life’s most unlikely events. He’s recovering because help was close at hand—or, from another perspective, because fate intervened. Twice.
Is there a larger meaning to all this? I have some suspicions, but will leave off for now.
On the Lighter Side
Somewhat surprisingly, there isn’t a football-themed Tarot deck. But! Advertising whiz Roswell Saunders created a campaign for Snickers that included “bad advice” from a new age psychic. Though the spot itself is unfortunate (see for yourself), it includes this whimsical spread of custom-designed Tarot cards:
I wish he’d done a whole deck!
As always, thanks for reading. And watch your Inbox for an EP Valentine. C
Thank you for the share, Cynthia, and for the welcome introduction to other accounts of interest. And thank you for your own interesting Tarot case study. The Tower is often presented nowadays as a welcome and overdue blasting of what needs tearing down. In my own experience, it's often a warning, full stop. It may certainly be neutral, as in, say, it's saying "Tuesday." It may be forecasting a car tyre/tire blowout on the motorway, or a thunderstorm (once it was a tiny tornado that came down my street next morning- in Lancashire in the UK) In a reading done for myself it puts me on guard, even though there is usually no avoiding it. I had not heard of commotio cordis. Given the odds, it seems astonishing there may be as many as a couple of dozen cases a year, even in the United States.
Thank you for sharing! This is all wonderful information, and I got introduced to the work of Tarot people that I did not know, which is always a bonus!