Keeping the Sacred Flame

I’m going to start a series of essays about tarot cards and my personal interpretation of them.  They can be used for seeing the future, of course, but I like to see them as ways to explore myself.  As such, that will be the interpretation I use here.  The descriptions of the artwork comes from my head, not a published deck, as are the names of the cards.  This is the deck I would make if I could draw anything other than lopsided stick-figures.  The images are modern because that’s what I see.  Anyone that wants to make this deck, talk to me – I’m interested.

0 – The Dancer

First of the deck, the Dancer stands on one foot, stretching up to a butterfly.  He wears toy butterfly wings upon his back, caught mid-leap.  He stands by the edge of a cliff, not leaning over the edge but not keeping back, either.  The safety railing on the cliffside is bent and unsturdy.  We cannot see his face.

Meaning: The Dancer is someone that’s not caring about the future.  It’s a place of stillness and yet dancing, a time of exploration and joy.  But the cliff is still there, and there’s a chance that he may go over the edge of it.

This card is a time of both joy and warning.  It can be a statement to enjoy the moment, as the Dancer does with the butterfly.  But it’s also a warning to pay attention, because we’re next to a cliff and our wings are made of paper.  If we’re aware our wings are fake, it’s safe to enjoy and dance with one eye on the cliff.  But when we believe our wings will hold us, we’re dancing with disaster.

Both lessons of the Dancer are important: to let go, and to hold on.  Which one does the Dancer say to you?