For the Love of Tarot.

I think I bit off more than I could chew here, but oh well, it was fun!

How excited I was to discover that "The Waste Land" included a tarot reading. The footnotes in the book go a little into what these cards could possibly mean, but I was still curious as to why T.S chose these cards and what they mean. Lucky for me I was not the first one to wonder why he included these cards and I was able to find a very helpful article on ebsco by Max Nanny called, "'Cards are Queer' A New Reading of the Tarot in The Waste Land." A couple of the cards had familiar names such as the wheel, man with three staves (three of wands) and the hanged man.

T.S Eliot must have had a pretty decent understanding of Tarot, for he invented two cards, the Phoenician Sailor and Belladonna, the lady of rocks. The things that the Phoenician Sailor and Belladonna represent fit perfectly with T.S's current position when drawn in the Celtic Mode. Celtic mode focuses not just on the card that is drawn but the sequence in which they were drawn. Celtic mode is the way I was taught to read and commonly do read cards. This would mean that the Phoenician Sailor represents Eliot as the questioner and Belladonna represent his ex-wife, Vivien. Although Eliot never comes straight out and says this is a tarot reading about my future, there is an argument that perhaps he is!

So first card one pulls in a reading usually represents the significant. This card is used to place the questioner in his present position. This card is the questioner. So Madam Sosostris pulls the drowned Phoenician Sailor. This is not a card in the deck although the use of it could not only be alluding to the death of the Phelbas the Phoneician in part IV, it may be representing something much bigger, surprise surprise. Death in the tarot is usually a good thing. It means rebirth, new beginnings. I like how Nanny brings up all the times Eliot writes about crying in this poem. At this time in Eliot life's he was having a mental breakdown. He has lost his marriage, his father, a close relationship with his family and was constantly burdened with finical stress. Phelbas when translated to Latin actually means, 'to weep." Perhaps Eliot was in fact Phelbas, drowning not in an ocean but his own tears. This idea fits in with the next line were he write, "Those are the pearls that were his eyes, look!" Perhaps after dosing himself in tears, Eliot is looking forward to a rebirth, where his teary eyes will have dried, not longer resembling pearls.

The second card drawn in the Celtic mode crosses the questioner. This card is laid directly on top of the questioner. This card is weighing on the questioner. This card is Belladonna, Lady of the Rocks. The contradictions several of these things represent, could be suggesting the love/hate relationship of Eliot and his wife. Belladonna means a lovely lady, but it is also the name of a poisonous plant. Rocks can cause shipwrecks but also can be a solid stable thing. Also if the following lines read with situations meaning being sickly, this could also help support the idea that Belladonna is Vivien, for Vivien had many health problems. Why though is she the Lady of Rocks? Perhaps Eliot is referring to the Vivien from Arthurian romances who was the Lady of the Lake. Eliot seems to want to write about himself a lot during this tarot reading, but chooses to hide it from the reader. The placement of Lady of Rocks on the Phoenician Sailor along with the card drawn next could suggest that Eliot's artistic spirit is being smothered by his wife.

Next she draws the man with three staves or the three of wands. Nanny places this card as another crossing card, where I usually would place the third card above the questioner, but I think our celtic crosses differ. For the purpose of this blog I will subscribed to Nanny's way of doing things. The three of wands drawn as a crossing card can suggest that Eliot wants to explore and have foresight, but he isn't able to achieve it, just yet. I like when Nanny talks about how perhaps the three of wands represents and artist who wishes to turn his dreams into reality. That's how I read it. Perhaps this card was picked by Eliot because he struggled so to get The Love Song of J Alfred Purdock published so. This card could represent his constant desire to break out of his shell and experience new things when it comes to his artistic talents.

The wheel is drawn next and placed above the questioner. This card represent the best that can be achieved with the present circumstances. This card is crowning the questioner. This card is nothing but good stuff! Fortune, luck, destiny. These things seem to come to Eliot in his life time, even is he is not aware of it. I mean he must have been destined to greatness considering I am spending the majority of my day analyzing like ten lines of one of his poems.

The "one eyed-merchant" can be interpreted as the six of pentacles. This card is positioned behind the questioner this is distant past, things the questioner has already made his own. In Eliot's case the six of pentacles could potentially represent Eliot's past with money. Perhaps it is not having money and relying on the kindness of others. Or perhaps Eliot is almost calling himself the Symran "one-eyed-merchant" of the "The Fire Sermon" it could be alluding to not making smart finical decisions and being too focused on material possessions. Money troubles had followed Eliot throughout his whole life. It is arguable that the six of pentacles represents the things in the past he has lacked.

The next card is "blank, is something he carries on his back, which I am forbidden to see." This card is the questioners recent past, like things that are just ending and coming into fruition. and in Eliot's case it is blank. Perhaps this represent Eliot's repression of the past. Choosing to forget at that moment, rather then remember.

The last card that she draws that would be put in front of the questioner is not named. However we do know that it is not the hanged man. This card seems to say that Eliot is going to get no rest from his struggles, despite how desperately his self conscious might want it, as suggested by the wheel. Nanny writes of how perhaps this is why Madame Sosostris chooses to end her reading there, instead of continuing with the nest three cards needed to complete the cross.

I am not a hudred percent sure if this tarot reading sort of predicts the rest of the poem. There are lots of references back to it such as, in line 125 when Eliot writes, "Those are pearls that were his eyes" around line 300 Eliot speaks of new starts, a common theme in his reading and there is also part IV Death By Water in which Eliot easily could be addressing the Phoenician Sailor. Eliot also references two other tarot cards in his poem, he talks about the falling towers in 373. The tower is part of the major arcana and is pictured in the card as falling. This card brings upon sudden change which again fits in well with rebirth.

All in all I've spent so much time looking into this reading that I am not even sure I know exactly what The Waste Land is about. But if it is anything like his tarot reading than I am guessing Eliot is trying to say that rebirth can be found anywhere. And even though a lot of cards have negative feelings right away it doesn't mean that they aren't all in all positive or part of a bigger struggle that is necessary. And perhaps big bad things need to happen, like a tower toppling, for lesson to be learned and growth to occur.

The End.