Rob Parnell - The Writer and the Hero's Journey

Writer

The

HERO*S

and the

TOURNEY 0W

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; you may enter a new world of hope, reason and transcendence. Also, the naked

female is pouring water into a pool and on to the Ian d, blending one with the other. In other versions of the Tarot she is mixing waters from different sources, a deliberate echo of the Temperance card where we learned that a sense of balance is a prerequisite of true wisdom, The pool of water is meant to signify the subconscious amid the material world. So again there's a reference to melding the real world with our brain's interpretation of it. Between the two, we find inspiration and a renewed sense of discovery. We've left behind the stress of The Tower- and sublimation to TheDev// for that matter- and moved into the calm after the storm, where there's an opportunity to experience increasing clarity and a better way of being, From a hero's journey perspective we're receiving the reward for facing our ultimate, or supreme test,

The Moon

The Moon represents all that is mysterious, wild and unpredictable. As heroes we ha ve gained the prize but are temporarily phased. While still aware of who we are and were, we sense all that is nowunknown to us. The universe is much bigger than we thought. We've been so busy fighting for our little corner, we've been too consumed to see the cosmos as a vast and uncertain place. And just like the dogs baying at the moon, we are humbled by what we don't fully comprehend. In traditional packs the emphasis is on the metaphysical here. The crayfish emerging from the waters is meant

to symbolize our need to understand the divine intelligence inherent in everything. And, that by learning and growing, we may attain a more spiritual relationship with the world. If that doesn't mean a belief in God to you, then most likely it will manifest as an appreciation of the sacred beauty and logic that the universe can convey to us if we are open to its subtle rhythms and cycles, To the ancient mind the moon encapsulated many different things:

awe, motherhood, imagination, power, evil, madness, beauty, femininity, light, compliance, the sea, a face, a god, the dark side of our natures. These days, we're more literal. The moon is the moon: the place we allegedly visited in 1969 to discover that it's not actually made of cheese, But even to us, the moon has the ability to appeal to our imaginations as a physical embodiment of the universe and all its majesty that is literally within our grasp. The hero at this point is capable of feeling this

way,

The Sun On each new day, the sun comes up to greet us. It personifies growth, energy, light, and signifies the emergence of life, the promise of wisdom, and with an act of eternal benevolence, illuminates the pathway to truth and enlightenment.

In most packs a child or children are apparent, riding horses or

dancing in the sunlight This implies hope for the future. Optimism too, even if it's based on naivete. But there's nothing wrong with innocence, even trying to cultivate it Sometimes wonder escapes us as we age and mature. The truly wise seek out that wonder consciously - and there's nothing quite like the sun pouring down on us to make us feel more alive and content with our lot In the same way as The Moon is about illusions and strangeness, The Sun represents the opposite: clarity, confidence and discovery, In the context of the hero's journey, this card represents fulfillment after the long adventure. Not only is the sun shining on the hero as it does, for instance, at the end of movies to signify lightness and success, it is also symbolic of the inner radiance the hero has discovered, after his confrontation with the supreme test,

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The hero will experience happiness at this point, being so close to the end of his rite of passage,

Judgment Judgment represents a time when the hero can evaluate his progress and see his place in the eternally changing reality of life. It's at the eleven o'clockpointofthe clock-face, just before the hero's journey is complete, Pictorially the card is traditionally a strange one. It's obvious to our eyes that the card is referencing the New Testament idea of the

Resurrection that is supposed to occur when God comes down to earth and calls everyone to account - at some unspecified time in the future. It could well be that at the time of Christ, would-be Christians were meant to believe that the Z