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workings of the mind; it only changed perceptions of external things.
Maybe Amaranth had come in, and been deceived by the various images he had conjured, and lost her way. Now he
and she and probably the various hidden watchers were stranded in the Animation region, in a storm, unless he
got out in a hurry, and brought them out with him.
How to do it? He should call out, of course! Establish contact with those outside, obtain geographic directions.
"Pastor Runford!" he said to his transceiver.
There was static, but no answer. This was not surprising; the range of the tiny wand was limited, and terrain and
weather could interfere. Probably the watchers had been forced to retreat before the storm, lest they be caught in the
spreading Animation region.
His predicament was his own fault. He had been careless, when he should have been alert. He was only sorry that he
had involved others in it, assuming they had not gotten out safely. What next?
Well, the Tarot deck had gotten him into this, to a certain extent; maybe it could get him out. He brought out the deck
again and sorted through it.
Maybe one of the fives
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
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w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
The first five he encountered was the Five of Cups, pictured by three spilled and two standing cups. Symbolic of loss,
disappointment, and vain regret.
Precisely.
He studied the card, uncertain as to what to do now. And the picture formed before him. A man stood in a black
cloak, his head bowed in the direction of the spilled cups, ignoring the two that remained standing. In the background
a river flowed by the stream of the unconscious, symbolically and across it stretched a bridge leading to a small
castle. Could that be the same castle he had seen in the Animation of the Ace of Wands? If so, he could use it for
orientation. It was probably just the background, like a painted setting, representing no more than the orientation of
the painting. Still, if he held the scene in mind, maintaining its reality, the others caught in this region might be able
to orient on it, and then they all could find their way out together. The colonists would know the real landscape better
than he did.
Was this crazy? Probably, but it was still worth a try. If he could approach that distant castle, so could they. Maybe
they knew their way out, and were trying to locate him, to guide him out too, and the castle could serve as a
rendezvous. At least he could test that hypothesis.
First, he would check with the black-cloaked figure. Maybe it was just the Hierophant, in a new role. On the other
hand, it could be a watcher, impressed into this role, if that were possible.
Brother Paul stepped forward. And suddenly he was inside the picture, advancing toward the bridge. The cloaked
figure heard him and began to turn. The face came into full view. And there was no face, just a smooth expanse of
flesh, like the face of an incomplete store-window mannequin.
6 Choice
There seems to be a human fascination with secrets. Secrets and secret societies have abounded throughout history,
some relating to entire classes of people, as with initiation rites for young men; some relating to religion, as with the
"mystery" cults of the Hellenic world; and some relating to specialized interests, such as deviant sexual practices,
fraternities, and the occult. The arcana of the Tarot reflect this interest: the word "arcanum" means a secret. The
Major Arcana are "Big Secrets," the Minor Arcana "Little Secrets" So it is not surprising that the Tarot has been the
subject of exploration by some "secret societies." The most significant of these was conducted by the Hermetic Order
of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1887 as an offshoot of the English Rosicrucian ("Rosey Cross") Society, itself
created twenty years before as a kind of spinoff from Freemasonry, which in turn originated with the Masons, or
builder's guild. The Golden Dawn had 144 members a significant number in arcane lore and was formed for the
acquisition of initiatory knowledge and powers, and for the practice of ceremonial magic. Many leading figures of
the day were members, such as Bram Stoker (the author of the novel Dracula) and Sax Rohmer (the creator of Fu [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]