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A Tarot of
the Northern Skies
The Fool
URSA MAJOR
The Great Bear plays the part of Fool
he wanders round and round
and from two stars upon his back
the Pole Star can be found
He is a most beloved bear
His fame is not in doubt
There is an Ursa Minor too
Who follows him about
his brain is not entirely lit
his brightest stars are - down a bit
A bear of very little brain
he follows Minor round again
The Magician
BӦӦOTES
Bӧotes-
Man of Mystery
with no known role in history
Arcturus in his mystic knee
most people will say " who he ? "
but they don’t understand his role
he herds the bears around the Pole
of this they may be unawares
he is the brain behind the bears
The High Priestess
VIRGO
next is Virgo - High Priestess
with starry clusters on her dress
the ecliptic runs right through her brain
and then through Spica , ear of grain
Across the threshold she unfurls
the Inner and the Outer worlds
between the pillars black and white
she sits and watches day and night
she looks toward the Pole Star’s glow
and at her back , the cup and crow
~
The Empress
CASSIOPEIA
Empress of Aetheopia
Her Royal Highness , Cassiopeia
She’s sitting in her in golden chair
And combing out her golden hair
Her daughter makes her very proud
But she said so much too loud
The Emperor
CEPHEUS
because of Cassiopeia’s boast
a whale has turned his realm to toast
to save the last of cattle stock
he chained his daughter to a rock
Andromeda , that was her name
and that is how he came to fame
apart from that there’s not much more
to Cepheus , the Emperor
but recently it has been found
that Cepheids can measure Space
they are a “ Universal Candle “
with Constants more than I can handle
and so it helped our understanding
about the Universe expanding
his life was just a heap of trouble
but now he’s famous , thanks to Hubble
The Heirophant
DRACO
The Heirophant is Draco , curled
around the centre of the world
and some things rise and some things fall
the Heirophant has seen them all
His star Thuban was once , they say
the Pole Star ,and again one day .
He’s hardly noticed , but he’s there
and here and here and everywhere
and cold and scaly , old and wise
-
try
looking out through Draco’s eyes
The Lovers
CETUS, ANDROMEDA,
PERSEUS
We’re back in Aethiopia
Its where we left Andromeda
She’s promised to a vicious whale
and just in case her nerve should fail
or she get bored and wander off
or have ideas of growing older
she’s naked and tied to a boulder
just then a hero passes by
with shiny hair and blue of eye
he’s riding on a flying horse
she falls in love with him of course
and calls on him to rescue her
and he thinks it looks a good idea
but round the corner comes the whale
oh goodness ! What will happen now ?
but two is company , three’s a crowd
they all agree on this
and Cetus rears his massive head
and gives an ugly hiss
but Perseus has just come back
and has Medusa in a sack
he tells the girl to close her eyes
and shuts his own and then removes
the cover from Medusa’s head
the whale said something rude - in Greek
Andromeda then gave a shriek
and looked and to her shock
where once was whale with open jaws
was now an instant rock
so -
a good result all round
I’d say- all live and love another day
the mortals now are joining lips
Cetus is happy wrecking ships
The Chariot
AURIGA
Auriga is the charioteer
and for unknown reasons holds a deer
strictly , a goat , but that won’t rhyme.
Auriga turns the Wheel of Time
its cogs enmesh with the Ecliptc
between the bull's horns - it is cryptic
where the power comes from is lost in fog
and all we see is just the cog
Justice
LYRA
Truth , the Lyre , can strike a chord
and Justice, blindfold , holds a sword
both can cut apart the air
and both are True and both are Fair
The Hermit
ORION
his shoulder vast - his head is small
he hardly has a brain at all
with just a sword and starry belt
he only wears a lions pelt
but as he strides the starry skies
the Pleiades are in his gaze
forever just out of his reach
companion dog is at his side
and a rabbit
there to chase
I wouldn’t say that he’s not wise
The Wheel of Fortune
ZODIAC
the Wheel of Fortune turns around
its like the London Eye
one moment you are on the ground
the next you’re way up high
you look one way – its Thamesmead , grey
the other way – its France
the up and down is not our choice
what is -
which way to glance
Fortitude
NOT KNOWN
I couldn’t find the stars for this
although I tried my best
there’s Leo and there’s Hercules
and Taurus and the rest
but even they are not quite right
they do not pass the test
the tarot card is in two parts
the power and the controls
and neither Lion or Hercules
can really play both roles
so perhaps it is Dark Energy
that is the real Strength card
and what this looks like I don’t know
and nor does Stephen Hawkins
The Hanged Man
The Hanged man card is tricky too
I cannot find the stars
To show a man without a name
With head beneath his arse
Its not so much he’s upside down
as half of them are that
but none of them are ankle–tied
and swinging like a bat
he hangs between the sky and earth
his moneys gone – its nothing worth
he seems to smile - he doesn’t stress
he doest mind his helplessness
he sees the things the others don’t
he’s swinging from a bit of rope
and hanging by a thread
A thing of ambiguity
of being tied but being free
acceptance and serenity
he’s smiling half way up a tree
just like the Cheshire Cat
he’s not in water , in the air
not on the ground or fire
a Quantum World is where he lives
he’s Here he’s There he’s Everywhere
he is the halfway up the stair
he is the square root of the square
if there’s four tyres , then he’s the spare
he is Achilles – he’s the hare
the No
Place in between each Where
split second in Infinity
particle in Uncertainty
Shrӧdinger’s
famous entity
The Nine Lives and the Hat
Death
SCORPIUS
Death lies between the Scorpion’s claws
It opens up and closes doors
the centre of the Galaxy
where stars are thickest , here is he
He guards the doorway of the Soul
and by his tail and poison sting
the Galaxy’s Black Hole
what lies behind I do not know
but through it , all will someday go
Temperance
THE MILKY WAY
from Scorpion’s sting a river springs
its foamy waters , new life brings
In things long dead
and things unborn
here flies the Eagle and the Swan
through Cepheus and Cassiopea
through Perseus and the Charioteer
the starry water flows
Orion holds his arm on high
it soaks the feet of Gemini
and ploshes round their toes
it flows between Orion’s dogs
and here the flush of mud and frogs
and broken things and froth and foam
becomes a milky unicorn
and when at last it reaches shore
a ship will sail for ever more
The Devil
HYDRA
The Hydra has so many faces
Turns up in unexpected places
In crannies and in nooks
It has a cup upon its back
And also Corvus , inky black
Who hangs around with rooks
It is made of bits of many nations
It is one of Gaia’s worse creations
Cthulu’s one of his relations
According to old
books
Its made up of Primal Slime
Its guilty of all kinds of crime
Call it for an interesting time
Its older than it looks
The Tower
CANCER, the crab
the Tower is a thing of Will
a masterpiece of human skill
where king does as he please
and from its heights the king looks out
across the world from last redoubt
but all he sees is tops of trees
the Tower is safe from attack
but those within can't grow
there’s things out in the forest
that those inside can't know
the shell can only hold him back
the carapace will have to crack
and those inside must take their chance
go naked to the forest dance
to hear the forest music
and hop and fall or fly or trip
and sink or swim or flow
the Star
SIRIUS / SOTHIS (soul ofIsis)
her rising makes the floods rise up
and brings life to the plain
the Stream of Inspiration
it pours down like spring rain
she tips her starry waters
on land and lake and sea
- no password needed here , no skill
no terms , no weakest link
no undeserving - it is free
so take it up and drink !
The Moon
MOON
sometimes in shadow sometimes bright , she sails the
sky and claims the night
by moonlight , nothing’s what it seems
as creatures crawl from ponds in dreams
and horrors howl and screech and crawl
she calmly gazes down on all
and though she’s hardly seen by day
she never turns her face away
The Sun
SUN
She smiles down on the children’s play
She makes the plants to grow
An ordinary star in every way
But if she should ever go ...
Without Her we are dust or worse
A smear across the Universe
Judgement
CYGNUS
She sails along the Milky Way
She sees the World from High
Her trumpet sounds and from the mounds
from stone and rock and clay
no grave can hold
as young and old
rise up and greet her cry
Her wings will carry souls away
To where they do not die
The World
POLARIS and the four Royal Stars
The traveller comes to weary rest
The Dance of Life complete
but just as he is laying down
He gets back on his feet
There’s no beginning , is no end
Oroboros just goes round the bend
His mouth is round his feet
A single point is in a ring
it is the song the angels sing
World , Universe - and Everything
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