The Presence of series explores the characters and features and symbols and the way things cascade through the Mystereum deck, sometimes in multiple places, to echo-resonate-locate further layers of visual story and meaning in the cards for you. The Presence of series is basically my Cliff’s Notes as deck creator to you.
The Form-Giver for Fabric Symbol/Glyph in Mystereum
In a field of barley the ancient Egyptians felt living sustenance, which feeds into the graphic design of their hieroglyph for “fabric”. The Egyptian “fabric” hieroglyph is 4 pairs of barley stalks leaning together in pairs, 4 pairs of barley stalks leaning together all on a common ground. This provides the lineage reference for the 4-pillared golden symbol that I designed to represent “Fabric” in The Land of Mystereum. Fabric can be textile, cloth material, and as well it can indicate how things come together in relationship like in a community, And, as well there is a community in Self. Interestingly enough, perceiving this inner community as thoughts and ideas and you are conscious and potentially creative. If you perceive this inner community as an entity or entities distinct from yourself living within you, regardless of it being benevolent or malevolent, rather than being conscious you just might be bicameral, and you might have schizophrenia as your norm. Psychologist Julian Jaynes makes a good point for this in his book The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Also, symbols are generative. They bring forth new experiences each time they are seen. Symbols are an excellent example of the old adage of seeing familiar things differently throughout life.
It is this symbol of 4 pairs of barley stalks below, this hieroglyph structure, that caught my eye as indicating the fabric of community. Bottom middle diagram:
I created 2 versions of the Mystereum glyph for Fabric. There is the Fabric of All on the top left with the 4-pillared symbol on a horizontal base, and also the Fabric of One on the top right as a symbol representing the community of one’s psychic contents. Notice that the Fabric of All is morphed into a continuous circle to form the Fabric of One with each of the golden pillars giving a nod to each of the 4 directions. Both have the lightly curved-side inner void-space of a triangle at the base of each pillar. This inner opening provides a symbolic nod to the infinity within each of us we resonate with things. This void is also the counterpoint to the infinite space between and all around the 4 golden pillars of the Fabric of All. Basically, Fabric of All equates to community with Nature and how things relate in the infinite exterior world, and Fabric of One equates the the community of how things relate in the totality of one’s infinite, interior world.
Note the different colors at a fine grain of detail in each of the triangular voids when Fabric appears in the cards. Elemental my dear Watson. Elemental… colors.
Fabric in and throughout Mystereum
The presence of the symbol for Fabric in the Land of Mystereum induces a different kind of depth than the characters that cameo in the coordination and living order that pulses as the The Land of Mystereum‘s heartbeat. Through the Presence of series you can explore and further discover how Major Arcana characters and symbols and features live in the Land of Mystereum as they make cameos and guest appearances throughout the deck. They contribute their presence to the living lineage present in the worlds of many Minor Arcana cards.
QuickNote to Ya
As we come to a close on this segment of the Presence of series, before I outline the cameo appearances of Fabric, here’s what this series is form-giving… I am using these Presence of blog articles to begin to build a Land of Mystereum Encyclopedia, or Mystcyclopedia as I think I’m going to call it — thank you to the rockin’ Karen Sealey for penning the title. Sounds like “encyclopedia,” ” M ” is the Land of Mystereum’s nickname with those who avidly reap its benefits, and so Mystcyclopedia it is. Myscyclopedia. [Mist-psy-klo-p-d-(schaw)].
Mystereum isn’t a derivative deck, so, the Mystcyclopedia will be like a roadmap, just a lot more fun, and you don’t have to figure out how to fold it back up to put it away. Let me rephrase that, M isn’t derivative of the RWS / PCS deck or Thoth or Marseilles. It has been honored by some to express an amped Marseilles feel from its French d’affiche deco-no-shade-and-shadow bold and masculine poster art from the 30’s feel that is dance-contrasted with the welcoming portal of its feminine card back.
The 2 Versions of Fabric
There are two versions of the symbol for Fabric in The Land of Mystereum. The Fabric of All and The Fabric of One.
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Before we get into them both, allow me to show you how they came to be. It’s a short and simple story. The Egyptian symbol for Fabric/fabric is composed of 4 pairs of barley stalk propped up. Each pair leans on their paired counterpart. All together they create 4 barley pillars on a common base. I saw the concepts to weave and woven expressed in that relative to textiles, and as well I saw this as community with the common base. So, Fabric of All is a symbol representative of how things come together on a common base, and how people and ideas come together on the common base of how they are in community. Interestingly enough, I found the Four Pillars of Heaven hieroglyph below 3 years after Mystereum was published by Schiffer Publishing in 2010. Very interesting to me that it is almost a direct Rx *reversal) of the symbol I created. Divination is cool like that. As T.S. Elliot expressed, “There is nothing new, yet everything must be original.”
tjs-ut
Four Pillars
of Heaven
Four Pillars of Heaven
four props, the Four Pillars of Heaven; also as, s(kh)nut, four pillars of the sky; (sa)(kh)niu, additionally, 4 legs of a chair; s(kh)nut, 4 legs of a vessel & s(kh)nut IV, the 4 Pillars that Support the Sky
The Fabric of One is the Fabric of All symbol where the common base is rolled into a circle, and thus makes a Fabric of Identity, or as I began to refer to it, a Fabric of One. The Fabric of One glyph is the golden, round symbol with a pillar to each of the 4 directions. And, each of those four directions represent the invisible property line boundaries between the spaces they provide metes and bounds for that are the 4 Psychological Functions of Intuition, Feeling, Thinking, and Sensation.
Fabric of One
Fabric of All
The Fabric of All glyph is the golden, horizontal 4-pillared symbol on the left in the featured image. The featured images of both of these are out-take vignettes from The Devil card.
Fabric of All
Fabric Appearances
The Fabric of All makes a cameo appearance in 15 Land of Mystereum Tarot cards. The Fabric of One cameos in 5 Land of Mystereum Tarot cards. Other than the Sun and Moon’s appearances Fabric is the most predominant symbol present in Mystereum, and inhabits Mystereum as Chiron’s logo per him. Chiron agreed to be the mascot of Mystereum so long as he wouldn’t be required to wear those goofy costumes with big heads like at sports events that make you sweat way too much for the wrong reasons. No, really! Chiron agreed to be Mystereum’s mascot. It is in the introduction to the 192-page Imagination Primer book, so it MUST be true.
self, return, bright success, dancing with your Shadow
solid and crucial connections, dna of a situation, full interplay of details
Allow the ground you walk on to be as inspirational as the stars in your sky
incorporating emotions discovered on the move
Connected thoughts, upcoming decisoins
The Fool ~ Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, The Fool nimble-finger-toe crab-walking across the 4-pillared golden candlesticks. Jack didn’t touch the flame. The Fool dips into it really well, tasting with fingers and toes like a butterfly tastes with its feet. Even though I wear clean socks, I am glad my taste buds aren’t on my feet. So, The Fool introduces this simple straightaway twinkle-finger-toe crab walking across this golden, four-pillared… The Fool’s temples swell in interest and with cocked head as the thought shoots across. “What is this? What is this thing?”
The Magician ~ the tats on his right and left biceps. Magical fabric is present here as both the individual Fabric and the Collective Fabric, Fabric of One (Self) and Fabric of All are perpetually present here. The formlessness of the Magician’s inceptions and first sparks that preamble the High Priestess to roll those in as the heart of the matter of her actions when she gives form to the formless is what is DNA’d here.
The Lovers ~ As Fabric above, so Fabric below, 3rd Eye Fabric’s not blind. It heavenly experiences the upper baseline crossing the card, the ground-plane as it walks with fashionable boots. SHOES!! Buy more SHOES! It’s important to love your feet and treat them well daily. Make elegant your connection to the earth, to Nature, to your Inner Nature. As the 4 of Pentacles in Mystereum says, May the ground you walk on be as inspirational as the stars in your sky. Like volcanoes, love makes new lands. So, for love, visualize the volcano as expressed in the documentary The Life of Fire available on Amazon Prime Video:
The Volcano
It’s head perpetually living in the clouds
as it continually makes new lands right here as it does
with its feet firmly planted in the abyss.
The Chariot ~ The charioteer is himself the Psychic Synapse of the space between, the interstice of the space between. He is between a segment of the Fabric of All, between two golden pillars AS his Chariot where the resonant energies of each pillar magically mix.
The Hanged Man ~ abdominal herald-belt logo of the Fabric of All as he embodies the Fabric of One afloat in clarity trusting his golden gut. Note Fabric of One in the inner darkness of the knothole in his tree. The Hanged Man is in a Tree Pose of sorts. Note that the tree is itself growing in a similar Tree Pose posture. He IS his support, embodying it.
The Devil ~Fabric of All and Fabric of One glowing and living in the fire of desire. Earthly desires are Fabric’s home base. Many people associate The Devil card with addictions. That’s fine, is their prerogative, though to focus on addictions or vices alone is shameful to oneself. I suggest that inhibitions enslave as easily as excesses. Inhibitions may even be more stable as they are invisible and also invisibly rooted in blind spots. Rather than addictions and inhibitions, I suggest to hatch out of that expectation of shame and anxiety and despair-causing behavior and instead look to the Fabric of One (Self) and Fabric of All symbols within oneself and in one’s environment and Universe and look at how comfortable one is with their own intensities. Not judged by others. How comfortable are YOU with YOUR own intensities? Maybe amend the soil of your Fabric to see what’s actually perennial, and as well what blind spots of expectations have simply been allowed to perennially overgrow.
The Tower ~ The Fool rides in on his Fabric of Truth, the Fabric of All evolved from The Chariot’s line of magical vehicles, and in a world-altering style influences the very fabric of home. The harkens forth You, only NEW! This transforms change from world-altering to world-ALTARing.
The Sun ~ Light and dark come together here to strengthen each other’s identity creating a Fabric of Identity at the base with the Fabric of All. Note the Fabric of One dimple in The Sun’s cheek above. Also, notice the light and dark coming together in the perpetual intensity of the eclipse as The Sun’s 3rd eye. Solar Eclipse? Lunar Eclipse? Maybe depends on when it occurs. Maybe, it depends on you at any given time.
2 of Pentacles ~Fabric of All shadow outlines are in the background above and below. They carry a similar compositional gesture to the Shadow Handthat cascades through a great many of the Mystereum Swords cards. The background in Mystereum has a hidden-in-plain-sight feature, a living, Kabuki Theatre scene change quality.
4 of Pentacles ~Fabric of All Herald Belt Golden Gut Logo where to trust your gut often makes the ground you walk on as inspirational as the stars in your sky, and might even improve gut health… when one uses it. No medical advice is given here. Well, at least not by me.
Page of Pentacles ~ Magician in the sky’s bicep tats. Fabric of All tat, Fabric of One tat. Hmmm . . . think I must’ve been telling myself these would be cool tats to have, magical even. Especially magical with The Magican tripling up with The Hierophant and Chariot characters that cameo in the Page’s tangible Mind Movie here, his dreams being given place in physical reality.
Knight of Pentacles ~ Solidity of Fabric of All continuously on the move that flows AS the card’s base. Constantly on the move or in motion like a Knight in and across and out cleanly and continuously like the energy movement gestured in the 3 of Wands. This kind of continuous energy movement with both types of Mystereum fabric also tends to make bridges: energetic bridges from Intuition; emotional bridges from Feeling; intellectual and consciously communicative bridges of Thinking; and, physically tangible bridges from Sensation.
Page of Cups ~Fabric of All Belt. To trust one’s gut. To trust the movement of one’s emotions. Yes, this is a water card, and I also don’t doubt that this Page also resonates with multiple mercurial qualities to the other elements. Aquarius is The Water Bearer. Though, Aquarius is an Air sign. What is this inconsistency?!! Nah, no inconsistency. There is magic to seeing the unseen. And, Aquarius understands the condensation capillary magic of The Water of Life pulled out of thin air, literally, the Water of Life pulled out of the thin air of The Air of Life. Allow your breathing to go bindu deep at both the top and bottom. It tends to fill the well of the Imaginal.
Knight of Cups ~ Fabric fulfills. Half full? Half empty? Nah, neither. I’m not thirsty right now. Or, not yet as it’s refillable. What is YOUR 3rd option here that will be more fulfilling than to choose from the blind spots of the a and b expectations that are present for you or presented to you? What’s your 3rd Option? The 3rd Option doesn’t just nibble on the snacks of choices. The 3rd Option often has to do with a well-developed voice and unthreatened sense of Self that will gymnastically play with the a and b and etcs to make one’s own heartfelt thoughts present and known and nourishing when implemented. Knight of Cups. How are you yourself a symbol? How are YOU generative in just your own way?
2 of Swords ~Fabric expresses results of focus that clarify perception. Notice when you focus in on something there is often a whole world at each and every scale of focus that may be different than initially perceived. Shift your focus and redirect your scale to inform the decisions indicated to be made with the 2 of Swords. Sift out and blow away the blind spots of expectation to more clearly experience your own Mind Movie. Call it pairing comms, pairing communications to tune in more clearly to what you are thinking in any given situation. The analysis of your frame elucidates things from within the frame of your focus. Also, get up and walk around when the movie’s over. Heck, take bathroom breaks and replenish your popcorn.
Fabric of One Cameos
Notice the eclipse WITHIN the sun, and the magically watching eye-wings as vision to take you new places… focus so intense that it dilates time to open
I give you a place of your own to clearly float fully supported in your mind activating your crown chakra. Chrysalis, fully afloat in supportive clarity.
Comfortabilty with your earthly desires. Mind that the omissions of inhibitions enslave as easily as the tantrums of excess.
who you were when you were born, Self, return, identity, bright success in context
Magician in his thoughts or sky top left along with The Hierophant and Chariot, magical spirit solidly on the move, grounded enthusiasm
The Magician ~ Fabric bicep tats, Fabric of One and Fabric of All.
The Hanged Man ~ in the knothole of his tree, the spark of the inner Psychic Synapse. Note Fabric of All golden belt herald logo. Fabric is The Hanged Man’s corporate sponsor. He went pro, and very much an MVP thanks to his Mom The Empress and her counterpart of The World. Makes quite a direct allusion to The Empress and Mama Gaia being the same figure . . . or maybe fraternal twin sisters? The Empress as the Yoniverse, that from which all emanates, makes her a twin sis of Juno, Mother of Heaven. Hmmm, maybe they are twin sisters, too on either side of a wonderfully valuable and nourishing coin.
The Devil ~ Golden Fabric of One in the Devil’s Fire of Desire. Note the pairing with the Fabric of All here either side of Devil-dood’s pentacled golden head. This tat theme is fun! . . . though, I’ll stick more into leaning towards arm tats and not forehead tats for myself, unless I find can shirts with much higher collars. Oh, that would be Headless Horseman stuff.
The Sun ~Fabric of One dimple. Fabric of All base. How do they work together in tandem like preambles to important, upcoming Eclipses?
Page of Pentacles ~ Magician’s bicep tats. Fabric of One on one bicep, Fabric of All on the other. How do you lift your veils to tangibly work with your fabric to roll your creativity into what you make?
Thanks for visiting
Hope you’ve enjoyed this segment of my Presence of series outlining the living characters and symbols in Mystereum. It’s sharing the fun Mystcyclopedia I used to build it to expand out into as I walk you through The Land of Mystereum like a bird watcher who takes you on tours and to point out specific specimens in the wild for you to enjoy, and along the way waaaayyyy more than those specifics come to light.
What strikes you about the resonance of Fabric in your Land of Mystereum?
What is so big and / or SO there in your life that you are missing it? How does Fabric subtly support you in this way?
Also, check out Presence Of articles to discover more about the coordinated dynamism present to support and further inform coordination in your journey throughout The Land of Mystereumand throughout your life
The Presence Of The Priestess to see her guest starring cameos and further inform cards with her presence in The Land of Mystereum.
The Presence Of The Fool to see The Fool guest starring in cameos that further inform The Land of Mystereum.
Become your Natural Nature
as you discover your inner inheritances with Mystereum. Many wonderfully surprising things begin to happen when you do.
These Tarot Themes will go into a different kind of depth in the coordination and living order that heartbeats through The Land of Mystereum. The MystereumPresence Of series which you may be familiar with explores how Major Arcana characters make cameos, guest appearances throughout the deck bringing their presence to the lineage in the worlds of many Minor Arcana.
Mystereum Thursday Tarot Themes will explore the features and symbols and the way things cascade through the deck in multiple places to echo-resonate-locate further layers of visual story and meaning in the cards
Today’s Thursday Tarot Theme Is The Swords’ Stealthy Shadow Hand
Let me start by saying that several reviewers have dismissed Tarot in the Land of Mystereum‘s Swords as being a bunch of random, geometric compositions of swords with no divination merit whatsoever. I never respond to those kinds of comments on the review, would much rather the hidden position of silent teacher, and I’m thankful they took the time, even if it means their rubber never touched the road. If they open space to see for themselves, cool, if they don’t . . . hey, there’s no accounting for taste.
And, with that, we begin The Sword’s Stealthy Shadow Hand. Do you know of anything so big and so there you cannot see it? God? The Divine? Nature? Those are Major Arcana thoughts. A fire ninja might be able to provide us a Minor Arcana version of this same feelingsense thoughtform. They are, “In battle they are everywhere to be seen, and nowhere to be found.”
And, it sounds like those reviewers were
playing presenteeism and “I need to write this many words in this amount of time.” Deadlines are great, urgency has a way of forcing people to make decisions and get things done. Gotta be mindful of the addenda that’ll bite you in the Tarot Reviewers’ ass, too, though. Better to take the right amount of discovery time, and in the case of Mystereum’s Swords to discover the things hiding in plain sight when you make such statements as “Mystereum’s Swords can all be but dismissed as they are all just random compositions of swords Ace through 10. The Courts in the Mystereum Swords have characters, though. They seem fully developed. The rest of the cards seem neglected” LAUGHING MY FUGGIN ARSE OFF WHEN I FIRST READ THAT.
Snake Arse Bit Swoosh!
It’s not my job to inform people that they wouldn’t know a snake if it bit them in the arse. I neglected to develop characters? YES! I MUST HAVE FORGOT TO DO THAT! AS AN ARCHITECT I FEAR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRADES. LOLLLLLL Consultant Coordination and coordination of a host of many other kinds is not recommended. It is required. It is a datum or base. YES, something was neglected. The reviewer neglected to mention they have no eye for subtlety, or they were asked to take a shot at the deck. LOL on that. It’s armed. Snake. Arse. Bit. Oops.
Sorry Dood. Yeah, the reviewer was male. I thanked him for his time and attention as someone else may have made some ignorable snide comments in the in-between posts between mine and his about aesthetics or lack thereof. I don’t remember as I don’t scuba dive at the sewage treatment plant. I dig Ya, Reviewer-Man as a person. Just be aware of what is so big and so there you miss in your potential guilt-by-association-arena that you are Tarot Pals with. That’s your business and not mine. Oh, and did I misquote you? Guess I didn’t look closely enough, huh? When in Rome. Nothing wrong with character acting for a sec. It is important to be aware of the level of care of someone you are dealing with, and how effectively or whether they will even respond. With care? Attention? Humor?
the water with misdirection, another stealth gig from The Game Of The Stones exercise which is another story from another place for another time. Let’s go see what was hiding in the Swords shall we? Let’s go see what was NOT concealed in bushes so to speak. This is a character as a true ninja as a scene changer in kabuki theatre who change scenes right in front of you DURING a scene and you are never the wiser. This is HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT AND EVEN WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEM YOU MISS THEM. Smell and hearing might help, and, are tarot cards really silent? Hmmmm. Listen . . . . Open your eyes and see . . . . See with your cat’s ears the whole worlds behind you without even moving your eyes.
Swords’ Stealthy Shadow Hand Emerging And Hiding In Plain Sight
This swordplay of The Shadow Hand theme will only be pictures. Only you can see the way you were born to in your way. This Swords series provides an exercise in awareness, though, perceptual awareness, and as well . . .
Maybe if you don’t find
the 7 Swords Shadow Hands and also the 7th Sword, then maybe they’re not really there. I could only smile at that. Then again, a leaf through wind sounds different than surprise steel swoosh-swiping through same. If you don’t find the theme, here’s your consolation prize. Go stand in a grove of aspen trees on a breezy day. Listen to the leaves as their rustling sounds like running water. As you enjoy these leaves’ water music, acclimate, expand into your surroundings. Above the almost-fills-your-ears sound, listen for birdsong first. Then simply listen. Map your scene with your ears. Map your scene to the music. Cats do. Bats do. I do. What does the mental, intellect, communication suit of the Swords communicate to you in a grove of aspen trees?
The visually seamless synchromesh of The King of Swords into and AS his whole scene, The Master Communicator not a chameleon, The Master Communicator beCOMING his scene, his presence even in silence going beyond his spoken words may provide you a larger scale clue to the Shadow Hand. Use your ears as eyes and your eyes as strobes as you become fully aware of subtle changes in a scene . . .
How’s Your Vision Communicating With, Informing You?
Brand new mental influence, seeing a point, sticking to the point
Stormy sky in the heart. The Land of Mystereum 3 of Swords
fruition, communication in motion, thought as a moving target
the eye of the storm, the missing middle is teeny and also it is calm and red, residual fossil impressions. Initial, natural thought. Not chaos as that is a concept. This is he wonderfully natural mind. Nature knows no emotions, only weather. How’s your inner weather?
letting go of baggage, exchanging with no extra, surprise messages
Shadow Hand, devious, sneaky, hiding in plain sight
note the Shadow Hand, noticing and releasing false beliefs, expectations as chaff from wheat cascading away
nearing completions, dynamism moving out of communication plateau(s)
anguish, release, essence revealed, rock bottom is a dang strong place to stand
curiosity, new mental developments, zeal, note his sword of comms held by his 3rd eye
generating ideas, being well-placed, incorporating
shrewdness, exact statements, clear opinions, no bullpoopy
Blends in seamless communicative synchromesh, healthy and discerning, logical and fair, Ultimate Communicator allied with Justice
In closing I once bought a yellow car
and there were no yellow cars on the way to the dealership. None. I drove off the lot and straight home to take some people for a drive. I must have seen over 100 yellow cars in that 20-minute trip to pick some people up. ??? Message here? Unpattern your awareness to keep both it and you fresh. Expectations can create big ole blind spots. Once you’ve seen something, you are capable of seeing it. You see your dreams. How do they communicate with you?
What is so big and / or SO there in your life that you are missing it? How does it subtly support you?
Also, check out Presence Of articles to discover more about the coordinated dynamism present to support and further inform coordination in your journey throughout The Land of Mystereumand throughout your life
The Presence Of The Priestess to see her guest starring cameos and further inform cards with her presence in The Land of Mystereum.
The Presence Of The Fool to see The Fool guest starring in cameos that further inform The Land of Mystereum.
No metaphor here. Ninja visual stealth. Hiding in plain sight. Literally embodying and expressing the unseen and unmoved mover. Become your Natural Nature and many surprising things happen.
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