SkyMall + booze = drunkMall

Probably the only reason I'm not crushed under a boulder of debt right now is that my traveling days came to an end just as in-flight WiFi became a thing.

Falling into the category of people who need to drink before getting on an airplane, giving me a copy of SkyMall and the ability to apply a credit card to outrageous purchases right then and there would have been much too great a temptation for me to resist.

Indeed, if you Google "craziest drunk online purchases" or some such similar query, you'll get a good laugh out of the things your fellow Americans decide they must own while in a drunken state: an entire pallet of Campbell's soup, bagpipes, 10,000 ladybugs - you name it. The true wonder here, though, is that: until now, inebriated e-shoppers had to seek out these products. Until now, there hasn't been a catalog site designed with the buzzed browser in mind, putting everything in on place.

Until drunkMall...

The Lovers, or, The Brothers: How to Get Away with Murder Every Day

L'Amoureux

From The Fool to The Emperor, the cards illustrated an accumulation of massive, individual concepts or energies. In The Hierophant, we reached a point of ("sexual") interaction between those energies. From there down, the Tarot is a theater of play between modes of Consciousness, strengths (or weaknesses) of Will, Physical/Emotional energies, Spiritual states of being... You get the idea; you're alive...

Every bullshit, flea market psychic hopes The Lovers will turn up in a reading. The only card that is more effective in manipulation of a client is XIII, the Nameless Arcanum, often called Death. The true lessons of both cards are more similar than you may first suspect.

Rebel Heart: The Tanya Montana Coe Interview

Tanya Montana Coe is my little sister. We have the same parents, initials and matching wrist tattoos. It's adorable. Tanya has recently completed her debut album (produced by Shane Tutmarc) and, no surprises, it's amazing. Titled Silver Bullet, it is easily the best collection of songs released by someone named Coe since the mid-'80s. Knowing first-hand the property tax on that name, I couldn't be more proud of her for making this album.

*UPDATE: June 29, 2015*

I'm incredibly happy to announce that Silver Bullet will be released on my label, Thee Medea Complex, on August 30, 2015. When conducting the below interview with Tanya, I had no intentions of forming a label or working with her in any professional capacity.

****

Hierophant: A Secret Shared, or, The Labyrinth

The word "mystery" has been used heavily in my Tarot articles, often in reference to concepts supposed to exist beyond the scope of human understanding, like with The High Priestess. The Hierophant brings with him an experiential knowledge, theoretically attainable by all humanity, which is known as "Enlightenment" in many circles. (Ta hiera, "the holy" + phainein, "to show.") The Hierophant lives inside us, allowing occasional glimpses or, sometimes, powerful revelations of a Reality beneath, or imbued within, that which we see in our daily existence. 

Tarot is generally of interest to those persons attracted to the fringe. "Occult" means hidden, of course. These cards were created to hide in plain sight the secrets of practices (like, say, Christianity) which were punishable by death at certain times in history. The Hierophant card, previously "Le Pape," or The Pope, most explicitly reveals this side of Tarot. Very clearly, the main figure of the image is in possession of some power, ability, or wisdom sought by the characters kneeling in front of him. But what?

The Emperor's Power

The Emperor introduces a masculine conflict to the story of Tarot. The card is attributed to the astrological sign of Aries, ruled by the Roman war god, Mars; also, the alchemical concept of Sulphur, the masculine/activating principle of existence, motivated by the fire of Tetragrammaton, the four-fold name of God. [Though this significance is most explicitly assigned to The Hermit.]

The Emperor is Major Arcanum IV. The fourth Sephirah is Chesed, which is the sphere of Construction and Order. Its symbols are four-sided: the square, pyramid and equal-armed cross; symbols of physical manifestation. The attributions of Chesed and philosophy of Four are, therefore, attributed here, despite the fact that The Emperor does not come into contact with Chesed upon The Tree.

While energies of Force and Form are seen here, there is an implied threat of disharmony. Without regulation, the intensity of force would destroy and render all form into chaos. Too much emphasis placed on enforcing Law and Order in the realm is indicative of a cruel dictator, stifling of all growth. Consciously received, with full understanding of its role, the Power of The Emperor brings great satisfaction and productivity to one's life.