Kismet, Way Of The Sword Suit Of Swords Digital Tarot Cards & Booklet. Original UNEDITED DRAFT by Alchemist Publishing LLC

SUIT OF SWORDS

BY LONDA R. MARKS

MINOR ARCANA COLOR DIGITAL CARDS & BOOKLET

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“LA “LAFOLIE FOLIEOU OUL’ALCHEMISTE” L’ALCHEMISTE” : : MADNESS MADNESSOR ORALCHEMIST ALCHEMIST

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KiSMET

WAY OF THE SWORD THE SUIT OF SWORDS

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

“La Folie Ou L’Alchemiste : Madness or Alchemist

DIGITAL COLOR BOOKLET Minor Arcana Cards & Divinations For The Suit of Swords

World Of Tarot® Published By Alchemist Publishing LLC For World Of Tarot® PO Box 772, Southern Pines, NC 28388 www.WorldOfTarot.com Londa Firenze Art Studio PO Box 555 Ufficio Postale Firenze V.R. 50123 Firenze, Italy www.LondaFirenze.com FOLLOW US www.worldoftarot.com

By Londa R. Marks Londa Firenze Studio Florence, Italy - Est. 2014

COMPANY NETWORK WorldOfTarot.com is a registered trademark with USPTO United States Patent and Trademark Office New York, USA Law Trademark Firm. Alchemist Publishing LLC network includes: AlchemistPublishing.com, WayOfTheSword.com, WayOfTheSword.it - various brands and trademarks. WORLD OF TAROT PRODUCTS Tarot Decks By Londa R. Marks Available At WorldOfTarot.com • THE ALCHEMIST TAROT • THE ALCHEMIST TAROT COUNTER DISPLAY • THE ALCHEMIST TAROT REVEALED • THE ALCHEMIST SPELL TAROT KIT • MEDICI TAROT (STANDARD) • MEDICI TAROT (EXPANDED) • MEDICI TAROT (FINE ART EDITION) • RINACSIMENTO TAROCCHI • FIORENZA TAROT • THE PLATONIC ACADEMY TAROT • ANCIENT MAGICK DIVINATION DECk • KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD Accessories • ALCHEMIST TAROT JOURNALS • TAROT LAYOUT SHEETS FOR EACH DECK • TAROT EMBEDDED FASHION Tarot Decks By Londa R. Marks Published by U.S.Games Systems, Inc. • LONDA TAROT • CROW’S MAGICK TAROT • CROW’S MAGICK TAROT DECK/BOOK SET ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This deck’s divinations, montages and surrealistic inspiration and images may have been drawn from various sources including but not limited to original ideas, some entries from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia which may not have been reviewed by professional editors and is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License. If content is factually incorrect or highly offensive you can edit articles at Wikipedia use of data and may include other wiki’s, stock photos, private archived photos, stock illustrations, and similar sources. Specail thanks to contributed photos of rock band UFO and Pete Way from photographer Mike Patton Nashville, TN. Founded in 1993 Alchemist Publishing LLC publishes through ISSUU, the world’s largest electronic publishing and discovery platform for magazines, catalogs, newspapers. The magazines and other Alchemist Publishing publications and projects are registered with R.R. BOWKER LLC., based in New Providence, New Jersey, and incorporated in Delaware, an exclusive agent for issuing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) for works to the book trade, including publishers, booksellers, libraries, and individuals; its roots in the industry trace back to 1868.

PROJECT INFORMATION ©2019 Londa R. Marks ISBN: 1-935615-70-X 978-1-935615-70-5 www.worldoftarot.com Designed & Written By: Londa R. Marks Concept: Londa R. Marks Subject of Title: Visionary Fiction & Metaphysical Art Style: Montage, Surrealism Theme: Harlequin-esque, theatrical, rock music, mythological, mystical surrealism. Tarot Reader Level: Advanced Title Subject: Art & Fiction, Visionary & Metaphysical TAROCCHI BOOKS & DECK KITS INCLUDES: •

80 Cards Major Arcana & Minor Arcana

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24 Cards Major Arcana cards

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Cards sized: 2.75” x 4.75”

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2 extra cards

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Paper booklet sized: 2.75” x 4.5”

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Digital and printed booklets

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Packaged in a beautiful box

DEDICATION “Kismet, Way Of The Sword, La Folie ou L’Alchimiste : Madness or Alchemist,” is dedicated to Pete Way bass legend and founder of UFO, Fastway, Waysted & Pete Way Band. Pete has also performed with numerous top artists in rock music since 1969. Florence, Italy (Firenze) has been an artistic inspiration since Catholic grade school. Right after relocating my studio to Firenze in 2014 to study the Medici kismet/fate created a detour for me and Rock Legend News magazine was born after one of my first interviews for the magazine with one of rock’s most unique and inspiring artists, Pete Way. Having been involved in art and the rock music industry since 1970s, Florence, Italy art adventure has turned out to be the place where I would put my life’s work together. It is where my art and music interests united and above all has been a good test in what happens when you follow your heart. Now, I am at one with the Renaissance vibrations in Florence, Italy where they are undeniably quite active and certainly become part of your soul - or, maybe soul has returned to the root of its frequency. Shortly after doing the interview with Pete Way, in January 2015, I founded Pete Way Facebook Group and have kept it running every day since. Some of my artwork is included in Pete Way Facebook Group. After building Pete Way Facebook Group for 5 years I discovered that in 2018 David Bowie’s artist had released a tarot deck inspired by the work he did for David. With thirteen tarot decks in my portfolio, “Lights On!” (as a pun to UFO’s “Lights Out” song). UFO founder Pete Way was standing in the shadows of Kismet who

was pointing a finger at me. So, in September 2018, I began a few tarot design ideas. The name of the street where my studio is, Via della Spada, in English means: Way Of The Sword. I expressed to Pete Way a few years earlier that it might be a good name for his new album. He thought it was interesting but would keep the title for his album “Walking On The Edge.” Not until towards the end of 2019 did I conclude that “Way Of The Sword” would be a better title for the new tarot deck dedicated to Pete Way, originally titled: “Kismet, Thunderbird Soul,” since “Way Of The Sword” has been pretty much the way I have lived my life, it has Pete’s last name in the title and, it applies to the way Pete Way who has lived his life by: “Way Of The Sword.” KISMET! —Londa R. Marks

World Of TarotPresents...

KiSMET

WAY OF THE SWORD “La Folie ou L’Alchimiste : Madness or Alchemist” Tarocchi Kit Created By Londa R. Marks

ismet lies on either side of the blade disrupting surrealistic theatrical scenes

whilst the muse of music invokes mythological metal-gods cryptographically weaving them into a World of Tarot, by Way Of The Sword.

INTRODUCTION Londa Rae Marks was born February 26, 1952 in Marietta, Ohio, the first settlement in the northwest territory. On her birthday February 26, 2014 in Florence, Italy, by a fluke or by the hand of kismet, Londa acquired her studio on Via della Spada (Way Of The Sword) - that afternoon. Via della Spada — one of a trio of streets shaped like three swords or a Y — with Via delle Belle Donne the right blade, in between is Via del Sole and Via della Spada the left blade. The three streets connect to Via del Morro. Bella Donna happens to be the title of a UFO song. Morro happens to be the name of a street that connected to Calimali (another street nearby in Firenze) the street Londa lived on in Woodland Hills, California, where Hawk was developed. On Via della Spada where her studio is Art, Music & Technology is based on Cryptography; The Art of Writing Codes or Solving Codes; the underlying foundation of Londa R. Marks Studio, Firenze, Italy. The harlequin theme of “Kismet, Way Of The Sword,” is based on a harlequin-esque style that Pete Way has adhered to for stage wear much of his life. His style has been emulated by top rock stars like Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. It is the hawk who leads the way for Londa, a co-founder of glam rock band Hawk in Los Angeles CA during the 1980s. The name Hawk was given to the rock band by her ex-husband, Hawk guitarist, Doug Marks who came up with the name one morning while walking in the hills where they lived on Calimali Rd., with vocalist Charles Morrill. Hawk has become a relentless spirit guide offering omens and is seen throughout this deck along with crows and other birds. The band is no longer together but the official Hawk Facebook page founded in 2012 by Londa is still run by her and Doug Marks still sells the Hawk album. Crow’s Magick Tarot is a deck Londa created in 1997 for U.S. Games Systems, Inc., also due to her love

of crows and how she sees them as a messenger from the magickal plane in the universe, always bestowing messages and great thoughts to us mortals. Harlequin role was definitively popularized by the Italian actor Tristano Martinelli in 1584–1585. The Harlequin is characterized by his chequered costume. Alichino is also the name of a demon in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, a guardian of Malebolge — the name derives from Arlecchino, the harlequin. Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” also includes his love of music. Throughtout Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso began in 1308 and completed in 1320 in his “Divine Comedy” many parallels to the theatre of rock music and art are found. Born in the year 1265 in the city of Florence, Dante Alighieri has been long considered one of Italy’s first romantic figures and greatest poets. Throughout this deck are images of rock god bass legend Pete Way and visual artist Londa R. Marks, both mostly their youthful years because who you are as youth is still who you are as adult regardless of the human changes that occur. In fact, youthful images are more of a pure depiction of who the person is at soul level. Experience the artists adventure on their journey through World Of Tarot by Way Of The Sword. THE CARDS SCENES Tarot, a symbolic art system/instrument assists the mind, psyche and soul in deeply interpreting the subtle nuances of a reality. Each card in this deck is a theatrical tarot scene highlighted with some of Dante Alighieri’s words and works from his Divine Comedy and Florence, Italy art - Italy arts, images of rock music lifestyles entwined with mythology and theatrical characters resulting in a deeply meaningful cryptography featuring Artists as Music Muse and Rock Star, surrealistically assigned to Kismet, Way Of The Sword.

Kismet, Way Of The Sword Minor Arcana Four Suits Cups - Water P Love, Heart, Empathy - Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio Swords - Air M Mind, Observation, Challenge - Gemini, Libra, Aquarius Staves - Fire N Creativity, Action, Spirit - Aries, Leo, Sagittarius Dice - Earth O Home, Health, Wealth - Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

SWORDS According to the museum, it was used by a soldier during the Battle of Campaldino—perhaps, even, by Dante himself (hence it being labeled “Dante’s Dagger”). It was chosen for the Ace, Page, Knight, Queen and King of Swords to include even more of Florence, Italy’s spirit of poet Dante Alighieri in Kismet, Way Of The Sword.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

ACE OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Finding a way through dream echoes and mirroring memories. In ancient Pompeii, Italy, little white stones set into the street paving catch the moonlight to help citizens get home in the dark. An angel from Orlando Furioso, a poem about war and love and the romantic ideal of chivalry mixing realism and fantasy, humor and tragedy sets the stage, the entire world, plus a trip to the Moon as she swirls her magick around the World Of Tarot shiled and Dante’s Daggar are stationed at a Y shaped street in Pompeii; the entry gate to the stadium where Pink Floyd has executed great conceptual works and attempts to artistically merge artful images, spirit and music celebrating the historical period in which the last thing missing from their art is precisely those who lived there then - though still find a way to arrive again among frequencies of the performers magick: their music. In a vision, a dream of herself in Pompeii during 78 BC, Londa rode a horse into a stadium event as if she were Diana The Huntress; determined, strong and intent upon delivering an urgent message. She rode into the very stadium that Pink Floyd has played; those musicians who also had a past life there and return to embrace the memories they mirror. Pompeii, like Florence, Italy has a way of claiming their own - or vice versa. Though it is a gift, it comes with heavy responsibility and the artists are frequently reminded of it. Among other lives in Italy, past and present, and after living in Florence for a couple of years in this lifetime Londa had a dream revealing where she lived in Pompeii. The altered state of consciousness turned into a trance. A reflection soaked in shadows of an ancient stone residence produced a figure who emerged and embraced her whispering, “It is time now, you have work to do.” Card upright keywords: Merging time zones and parallel worlds. Shadows. Connecting the dots. Supernatural disclosure by Way Of The Sword. Purposeful messages. Altered state of consciousness. Card reversed keywords: Stealth code.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

ii OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Desperately worshiping Venus, Dante and Virgil pray for guidance. In parallel worlds a curious but indifferent artist channels a vision out of time to watch Purgatorio adventures unfold while remembering that she is only the artist as medium receptive to the messages she must articulate, “Tai nella facccia io non lo soffersi” (I do not suffer it) from Purgatorio IX. Canto IX, in which the actor places one of his significant dreams; and then how they came to the entrance of their own purgatory, describing how in the entrance of purgatory, “I found an angel who with the point of the sword he carried in his hand and wrote in the forehead of Dante: seven P,” perhaps in memory of his first troubles. Behind the artist in Purgatorio an entertainer from another realm of time contemplates his oracle cards laid out on the ground in front of him. Emphatically, he predicts the artist will weave together Italian history and mythology with the Divine Comedy of music, art and theatre. in Canto XX, fortune-tellers and soothsayers must walk with their heads on backwards, unable to see what is ahead, because that was what they had tried to do in life: they had their faces twisted toward their haunches and found it necessary to walk backward, because they could not see ahead of them. ... and since he wanted so to see ahead, he looks behind and walks a backward path. White light flashes and a phantom rainbow swirls among intoxicating white tea musk, rose and jasmine scents confirming the scene as an omen of agreement. Ironically, the path of creator also becomes a labyrinth in Purgatorio. Card upright keywords: Aligning with Purgatorio and Paradiso. Strategically creating an exit from Purgatorio. Card reversed keywords: Stuck in a labyrinth of Purgatory.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

iii OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION The Three Fates, or Moirai, are a group of three weaving goddesses who assign individual destinies to mortals at birth. Their names are Clotho (the Spinner), Lachesis (the Alloter) and Atropos (the Inflexible). In the older myths, they were the daughters of Nyx, but later, they are more often portrayed as the offspring of Zeus and Themis. In Orphic cosmogony, their mother is said to have been Ananke or Necessity. Either way, they had enormous power and even Zeus was unable to recall their decisions. They controlled the mother thread of life of every mortal from birth to death. They were independent, at the helm of necessity, directed fate, and watched that the fate assigned to every being by eternal laws might take its course without obstruction. In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. It describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. The entertainer forges through his destiny with unequivocal force and wild embrace as he makes a part of his aura a 12th century Tetragrammaton TriangularÂ Shield of three circles that are related to the Borromean rings used as a symbol of the Trinity. The 1260 allegorical illustration was a symbol of a knight battling the seven deadly sins. Card upright keywords: Incarnations of destiny. Card reversed keywords: Feeling lost in this world.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

iV OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Those who drink from River Lethe experience complete forgetfulness. River Lethe was one of the five rivers of the underworld of Hades. Also known as the Ameles Potamos (river of unmindfulness), the Lethe flowed around the cave of Hypnos and through the Underworld, where all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness. Lethe was also the name of the Greek spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion, with whom the river was often identified. Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, is one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld; the other four are Acheron (the river of sorrow), Cocytus (the river of lamentation), Phlegethon (the river of fire) and Styx (the river that separates Earth and the Underworld). According to Statius, it bordered Elysium, the final resting place of the virtuous. Ovid wrote that the river flowed through the cave of Hypnos, god of sleep, where its murmuring would induce drowsiness. The shades of the dead were required to drink the waters of the Lethe in order to forget their earthly life. In the Aeneid, Virgil (VI.703-751) writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be reincarnated. Some ancient Greeks believed that souls were made to drink from the river before being reincarnated, so they would not remember their past lives. The artist holds a page from Purgatorio, Canto XXXIII, which is the last of the second song, where it is said how Beatrice declares to Dante those things that he saw, dealing with and demonstrating future revenge and injury in the aforementioned griffin wagon; and finally, having seen the four rivers of Paradise, they go up to heaven. Card upright keywords: A necessary intermission. Resting. Releasing. Contemplating experiences and lessons. Replenishing. Rejuvenating. Process of reincarnation. Card reversed keywords: Giving up.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

V OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Theatrics of Dante’s Divine Comedy aligns with similar struggles of any artists life such as these excerpts and figures of speech: “In the Ninth Circle of treachery and in a place of Political Traitors hatefully gnawing away at the flesh in the same manner a desperate dog pulls at stray meat from a bone.” “As Virgil paused, Count Ugolino switched political parties when it suited him and his own personal desires, not due to morality. Archbishop Ruggieri turned against the Count, his political ally, after he either knowingly or unknowingly killed the Archbishop’s nephew. “In my eyes, I saw where both men deserved to be in Hell.” “Ugolino found himself imprisoned in a tower. Eight months passed, and Guido I da Montefeltro took power. He decided that the wooden door to Ugolino’s prison cell would be nailed shut, and the keys thrown into a nearby river. Ugolino would ultimately starve to death” — physically and figuratively. Dante and his guide hear the anguished screams of the uncommitted. From, The Traitorous Pair - Ugolino and Ruggieri: figures in the Inferno, Dante’s Divine Comedy. And, similarly, the musician fights off clinging traitors and performs his work. Card upright keywords: Avoiding traitorous illusions in the Divine Comedy of Art. Abandoning screams of uncommitted. Dispatching souls. Card reversed keywords: Betrayal. Solitude.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

Vi OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Greek mythology tells of Styx as a deity and a river that forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, often called “Hades,” which is also the name of its ruler. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the center of the underworld on a great marsh, which sometimes is also called the Styx. According to Herodotus, the river Styx originates near Feneos. Styx is also a goddess with prehistoric roots in Greek mythology as a daughter of Tethys, after whom the river is named and because of whom it had miraculous powers. In Inferno, the first cantica of Dante’s Divine Comedy, Cocytus is the ninth and lowest circle of The Underworld. “Mnemosyne” is derived from the same source as the word mnemonic, which means “remembrance, memory.” Mnemosyne is the mother of the nine Muses. Dead souls drank from Lethe so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated. In Orphism, the initiated were taught to instead drink from the Mnemosyne, the river of memory, which would stop the transmigration of the soul. An initiated artist arrives in a land of previous life instilled with a heavy responsibility. Card upright keywords: Remembering past life. Resolving unfinished purposes. Card reversed keywords: Misuse of time.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

Vii OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Dante and Virgil arrive on Mount Purgatory. Wondering and worrying about his shadow Virgil reassures Dante, then Dante talks against Florence and falls asleep. When Dante wakes up by the gate of Purgatory, Virgil tells him St. Lucia carried him there in his sleep. Dante and Virgil climb three steps to the entrance of Purgatory and enter Purgatory proper. On the way from the third to the fourth terrace, Virgil explains to Dante the importance of love in structuring Purgatory. Later, Virgil discourses on love and free will, but admits he can only explain as much as reason will allow. Dante must turn to Beatrice for faith. On the fifth terrace of the Avaricious and Prodigal, Dante and Virgil meet Statius. Statius adores Virgil and Virgil allows Dante to tell Statius who he is. On the sixth terrace of the Gluttonous, Statius explains how his conversion to Christianity was inspired by Virgil’s Aeneid. On the seventh terrace of the Lustful, Dante asks how souls can become emaciated if they don’t require food. Dante is afraid of entering the wall of flame in the seventh terrace but Virgil tempts him with the promise that he’ll see Beatrice on the other side so, Dante walks through the flames where a performer is ghosting the sky and invades their camp as if from another world where this entity has tuned into the past by channeling them, bidding for their knowledge and insight, experiencing what they are in order to take the essence of the experience back to the stage. Card upright keywords: Creative code. Artistic sacrifice. Card reversed keywords: Dubious approaches.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

Viii OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Dante’s Dream of the Siren. In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Plato said there were three kinds of sirens: the celestial, the generative, and the purificatory / cathartic. The Dream of the Siren in Purgatorio 19 as compared to the first dream, whose language is rich and evocative but whose action is fairly simple, Dante is carried aloft, in a terrifying manner, as the dream of Purgatorio 19 recounts a complex drama. Dante is seduced by a woman, one who calls herself the very siren who seduced Ulysses. Virgil, overtly chastised by the “donna” for having allowed the siren to make such inroads into Dante’s consciousness; he is responsible for “guarding the threshold of assent,” and is therefore emblematic of reason. Virgil proceeds to explain the dream of the siren as in Purgatorio 9, the dream of the eagle. He explains that Dante saw “quell’antica strega / che sola sovra noi omai si piagne,” “that ancient witch who alone causes the weeping above us.” In other words, Virgil aligns the dolce serena with the vices that are purged, “sovra noi”—“(above us).” The Book Of Waysted “And, the band decreed, you won’t get out alive. And the fans cried, we don’t want out anyway.” Card upright keywords: Feeling trapped and oppressed but addicted to this state due to a knowing that it is right. Card reversed keywords: Seductive allure. Change is up to the individual.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

iX OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Dante begins the Divine Comedy with, “filled with sleep” or a “weary body.” Throughout the work, Dante Alighieri recounts vivid dreams and brief sleeps then awakens with rested eyes. Sometimes he was overcome by emotion falling to the ground like a dead body. Narcolepsy, vivid hallucinations, dreams, nightmares and disturbed sleep is found throughout Dante’s work, particularly his 14th-century epic poem where he travels through the Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. On the way, he documented experiences of sudden awake-dreaming transitions, visions and hallucinations, unconscious behaviours triggered by emotional falls. Dante interpreted his experience of self in the form of his holy target - his work, his world; that which was dictated by this channeled penance, though, like Plato, Dante attributed much of his influence to the heavenly spheres. The artist awakens from a dream filled with ideas, thoughts, songs and visions. She wants to write a song like the one she wrote and heard in that other world, that dream, no, she wants to visually depict the dreams; she isn’t sure, they all work together, they are one soul. They all come from the same ‘heavenly spheres.’ Card upright keywords: Overwhelmed with ideas, visions and need to coherently deliver what is harvested in dreams, nightmares and visions. Card reversed keywords: Harmonic discord.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

X OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS

DIVINATION Dante looks towards the Purgatoro he invented and the stars and the moon decorating it. He evaluates his journey while holding notes about his experiences and how his world unfolds. Looking at the seashore, at a sapphire sea, a world of light and beauty that takes the place of the “mar sì crudele” (cruel sea) on which the poet’s ship has sailed thus far, the place where all souls, preparing for blessedness, are working to become “new” again: innocent as at birth, innocent as the human race in the Garden of Eden. In the foreground, the second realm, is a version of the performer who appears tired but rather is grounded by the stage floor and at one with music, in a state of daydreaming for the creation of difference and the consequent blurring of distinction, he exploits this freedom to the hilt in the creation as an invented space for which there is absolutely no constraint. Dante oversees artist expression, relates to the subconscious meditation for receiving instruction from other worlds and he too draws from the musicians source while the musician performer draws from Dante’s Purgatorio world. Card upright keywords: That which appears to be sacrifice is a desired realm. Realizing dreams at all costs. Card reversed keywords: Nightmares. Misinterpretation.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

PAGE OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS DIVINATION Nine Circles and Seven Gates of Oceanids. In Greek mythology, the nymph daughters of the Titan Oceanus (Ocean), were known collectively as the Oceanids. The Oceanids are not easily categorized, nor confined to any single function, not even necessarily associated with water. The Oceanids were the nymphs of springs, and some of the names reflect this aquatic connection, with some having the names of actual springs. Though most nymphs were considered to be minor deities, many Oceanids were significant figures. Like Metis, the Oceanids also functioned as the wives (or lovers) of many gods. As a group, the Oceanids form the chorus of the tragedy Prometheus Bound, coming up from their cave beneath the ground, to console the chained Titan Prometheus (god of fire). Inferno is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. The Inferno tells the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment located within the Earth; it is the “realm of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen.” As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin. The esoteric Page consumes and hides omens only to use them if necessary on a ephemeral but complex journey. Card upright keywords: Enigmatic. Stealth. Disruptive. Indefinable. Card reversed keywords: Everlasting. Perpetual.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

KNiGHT OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS DIVINATION Dante And Virgil In The Ninth Circle Of Hell; The poet’s vision of Hell. Still journeying toward the center of the Ninth Circle of Hell, Dante becomes aware of a great shape in the distance, hidden by the fog. Right under his feet, however, he notices sinners completely covered in ice, sometimes several feet deep, contorted into various positions. These souls constitute the most evil of all sinners—the Traitors to their Benefactors. Their part of Hell, the Fourth Ring of the Ninth Circle, Judecca. Judecca, named after the apostle who betrayed Jesus (Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus with a kiss), is the innermost zone of the ninth and final circle of hell. The last Ninth Circle of Hell is divided into 4 Rounds according to the seriousness of the sin. Though all residents are frozen in an icy lake. Those who committed more severe sin are deeper within the ice. Dante and Virgil advance toward the giant, mist-shrouded shape. As they approach through the fog, they behold its true form. The sight unnerves Dante to such an extent that he knows not whether he is alive or dead. The figure is Lucifer, Dis, Satan—no one name does justice to his terrible nature. The size of his arms alone exceeds all of the giants of the Eighth Circle of Hell put together. He stands in the icy lake, his torso rising above the surface. Gazing upward, Dante sees that Lucifer has three horrible faces, one looking straight ahead and the others looking back over his shoulders. Beneath each head rises a set of wings, which wave back and forth, creating the icy winds that keep Cocytus frozen. And, the entertainer, a conduit for interpreting the darkness in his mind, gathers all his thoughts, emotions, lessons and inspiration to turn this Hell into a beautiful masterpiece of music. Card upright keywords: Music in E minor. Hauntingly beautiful approach to art. Card reversed keywords: Treachery. Trickery. Traitors. Sad cello.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

QUEEN OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS DIVINATION Dante’s Purgatorio XXVII v. 97-99, “Giovane e Bella in Sogno Mi Parka Donna Vedere Andar Per Una Landa Cogliendo Fiori” (Young and beautiful in dream, a woman seen on the land of the park harvesting flowers) in another time, another world not far from away. Virgil said, “Remember, remember!” (Purg. 27.22). Time and memory are the currencies of human affect and love: affect accrues over time and is preserved in memory. It is dawn in Purgatory; Those in Purgatory can leave their circle voluntarily, but will only do so when they have corrected the flaw within themselves that led them there. —Dante’s Purgatorio Ticket of Time Not just a rhyme but a ticket of time wandering among Dante’s thicket and vine Trying to find a way to get through each day thinking If only you knew the two I wish to be

you would see how much you mean to me and No need to worry or hurry Everything else ‘tween now and then will end but you and me will be eternally

Card upright keywords: Gentle poetic soul with powerful resolve. Solutions through common sense and grace. Creative thinking. Card reversed keywords: Overly determined. Isolation. Depression.

KISMET, WAY OF THE SWORD

KiNG OF SWORDS BY LONDA R. MARKS DIVINATION Paradiso; Italian for “Paradise” or “Heaven,” is the third and final part of Dante’s Divine Comedy, following the Inferno and the Purgatorio. It is an allegory telling of Dante’s journey through Heaven, guided by Beatrice, who symbolises theology. In the poem, Paradise is depicted as a series of concentric spheres surrounding the Earth, consisting of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, the Primum Mobile and finally, the Empyrean. It was written in the early 14th century. Allegorically, the poem represents the soul’s ascent to God. However, for Dante’s benefit (and the benefit of his readers), he is “as a sign” showing various souls in planetary and stellar spheres that have some appropriate connotation. While the structures of the Inferno and Purgatorio were based around different classifications of sin, the structure of the Paradiso is based on the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude) and the three theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity). During the course of his journey, Dante meets and converses with several blessed souls. He is careful to say that these all actually live in bliss with God in the Empyrean: But all those souls grace the Empyrean; and each of them has gentle life though some sense the Eternal Spirit more, some less. Card upright keywords: Passion, discipline, power. Intuitively knows how to reach the light, the Empyrean. Card reversed keywords: Indulgence. Self destruction. Misunderstood.

“LA FOLIE OU L’ALCHEMISTE” : MADNESS OR ALCHEMIST