August 8, 2022

The first of two unexpected decks . . . .

My original goal for the August Experiment was to write really short notes every day—but obviously I’ve been pushing the boundary of “short”!

So this week, I’ll try to keep it quicker. For today + tomorrow, two somewhat improbable, wildly different Tarot-related decks.

First. If you don’t know who Jordan Peterson is, you can get the long story from Wikipedia, and a less neutral view here. But basically—he’s a Canadian psychologist and academic who became famous (or possibly infamous) for speaking out against so-called “political correctness.” From there he morphed into an aggressive opponent of “cultural Marxism” and aggressive purveyor of self-help prescriptions.

Many of his beliefs overlap with those of far-right groups, but he presents his ideas in a densely rhetorical fashion that some call an “academic veneer.” Others, however, insist he is providing a much-needed intellectual foundation for cultural conservatism.

Though he has become less influential (and more eccentric) in the past two years, Peterson is still a best-selling author with an intensely loyal YouTube following. At the center of his philosophy is an argument that order and civilization are inherently masculine, while chaos is a product of the feminine. Therefore—resistance to male domination is both counter-productive and unnatural. This applies not only to matters of gender, but to the need for a hierarchical social structure.

Though he sees “the West” in decline, due to a loss of “tradition-, religion- and even nation-centred cultures,” Peterson contends that it’s possible “to find sufficient meaning in individual consciousness and experience” with the help of “the great myths and religious stories of the past.” One commentator characterizes this agenda as “fascist mysticism,” but I’m not sure that’s the best argument.

By now you will have guessed that Jordan Peterson has published a deck of Tarot-tinged “playing cards,” based on his particular abbreviation of ancient wisdom.

In this week’s spirit of brevity, I’ll leave you to find out more! And/or see how Peterson links Tarot, Jungian psychology, and the virtue of humility in this passage from his latest book.

---

Hat tip to Frederick Woodruff for letting me know about Peterson’s deck!

See you tomorrow. C