An Ancient Chariot

My friend Nancy told me about this recent find: an ancient chariot unearthed in Bulgaria.

A few years ago, when I was working on one of my books, I tried to find information about the mechanics of ancient chariots. For some reason, I wanted to know what the “dashboard” was called … I never really did find out.

At any rate, chariots do interest me, especially from a tarot perspective. I like how they symbolize two seemingly opposing ideals: they’re weapons of war, but they’re also a way to form links with other groups. (Even if you have to conquer them first.)

What’s more, chariots embody an ancient connection between defense and self-preservation, both militarily and economically. They’re an early relic of the military-industrial complex that plays an important role in our society to this day.

And if nothing else, they’re neat to look at, and it’s fun to imagine riding in one. Chariots were fast. They were dangerous. They were vehicles for brave young men … they were the fighter jets of their time.

Here’s the article about the archaeological find:

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. “The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.,” Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.

But he said archaeologists were struggling to keep up with looters, who often ransack ancient sites before the experts can get to them.

The bronze-plated wooden chariot is decorated with scenes from Thracian mythology, including figures of a jumping panther and the carving of a mythological animal with the body of a panther and the tail of a dolphin, Ignatov said.

He said the chariot, with wheels measuring 1.2 meters (four feet) across, was found during excavations in a funerary mound that archaeologists believe was the grave of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat, as he was buried along with his belongings.

The team also unearthed well-preserved wooden and leather objects, some of which the archaeologists believe were horse harnesses. The remains of horses were uncovered nearby.

In August, excavations at another ancient Thracian tomb in the same region revealed another four-wheel chariot. Daniela Agre, a senior archaeologist at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, had said at the time that it was the first time a completely preserved chariot had been found in Bulgaria. She said previous excavations had only unearthed single parts of chariots — often because ancient sites had been looted.

The rest of the story is here.

A Meetup Write-Up

Here’s a neat first-person account of yesterday’s Tarot for Writers meetup, from one of our new members, Michelle. She’s closing in on her goal of 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month.

I had a Tarot for Writers online meetup this morning, after getting to 30k. It’s about an hour long, once a week, and it’s meeting in a chatroom, which is great because people from all over can do it. The point is to use Tarot cards and readings to help figure out what character development (which we did today), plot, theme, etc. Anything that relates to writing. Today was my second time doing this, and I’m looking forward to more in the future.

The first thing we did was a two card reading: one card is the character’s best trait, second card is the worst trait. Emily’s cards were The Empress (she is the mother, very good in that role) and the 10 of swords (she has had a lot of pain in the recent past, and is stagnant in her grief). The 10 of swords came up in her past/present/future reading I did last week, in the past position. So that was an interesting connection.

After two more exercises, we went back to the first two cards. Challenge: how can the character use the first trait to overcome the second? This made me realize that Emily’s mother-in-law can help her get over the death of Lily, since Jan (mother-in-law) knows what it’s like to lose a… omg, a HUSBAND AND a child! I forgot until just now that her husband got killed off last night, as a “happened way before this story” event. Wow. That is amazing. These women have lots of parallels in their lives for me to explore, and that’s going to help me write the last 20k.

Sick Fantasies

Dan and I were up late with Julia, who had a crazy high fever: we gave her Tylenol, Popsicles, and a bath. This morning she feels a lot cooler.

Sadly, she can’t go to school today, since they want kids to be fever-free for 24 hours. (Maybe she’ll just sleep.)

But here’s the funny thing I thought as I stumbled out of bed this morning, exhausted from yet another night with a sick kid. I had this little fantasy, where society would thank me for providing the next generation of taxpayers.

I’m not talking about tax breaks or special legal protections or any of that political stuff. In my fantasy, people would literally thank me, on the street.

And I would say, “You’re welcome.”

The Elements of Tarot

For centuries, alchemists and philosophers believed that the entire world consisted of just four elements: fire, water, air, and earth. Many believed that the human body was made up of four elements, as well. Some people, for example, have always been considered “fiery,” while others can be described as “earthy.”

Even though modern scientists have moved into twenty-first century physics, the ancient elements still constitute a useful psychological model—as well as a handy formula for understanding the tarot. The methodology is simple: each one of the tarot’s four suits corresponds to one of the four ancient elements.

The Fiery Suit of Wands. Wands are the fiery cards of spirit and initiation, which typically refer to the driving forces of work, career, and special interests that inspire passion.

The Watery World of Cups. Cups hold the watery affairs of emotional life, and they’re especially well suited to issues of love and relationships.

The Airy Suit of Swords. Because a sword moves through the air, the sword cards deal with the airy, heady realm of the intellect. They depict the way we think and the way we communicate our ideas to others.

The Earthly Realm of Pentacles. Pentacle cards embody the tangible realities of physical and material life—the fundamental nature of earthly existence. They often represent money or property, as well as the treasures we hold dear on an emotional and spiritual level.

Minnesota Area Tarot Symposium Flyer

Here’s a sneak preview of a new tarot event: it’s a flyer I put together for next summer’s Minnesota Area Tarot Symposium! (Click on the image to download a PDF copy of the flyer for yourself.)

We’re still firming up some of the details, but so far we know we’ll have space for 78 participants, hotel rooms for $78 a night, and an admission price of $78 for the full weekend.

Keep your eyes open for an official announcement soon.

The Maiden, Mother, Crone Candleholder

I found this oil burner at the Eye of Horus a few weeks ago, and I’m using it even as we speak. I’m pretty sure it’s one of the coolest candle holders in my collection.

The name Corrine, by the way, comes from ”Kore” — the Greek’s version of the Maiden goddess Persephone. Yeah. We go way back together.

Candlelight Tarot

Make Your Own Tarot Box

Have you ever wanted to create a special box for your favorite tarot deck? I just found a website that will automatically generate a custom template for you, based on the size of your cards.

http://www.cpforbes.net/tuckbox/tuckbox.cgi 

You can print it out, paint it, collage it, needlepoint the whole thing … You’ll be just like Martha Stewart!

The House of God

On Saturday, knowing I would be taking my daughter Julia in for a tonsillectomy, I pulled a tarot card to see what the hospital would be like.

I didn’t expect the card that came up: The Tower. It’s usually the card of drastic and surprising change. It can even suggest disaster or destruction.

I puzzled about it overnight.  I didn’t think the experience would be disastrous: a childrens hospital can usually handle a simple tonsillectomy.

The Tower can sometimes represent a sudden flash of enlightenment, so I wondered if something would happen there that would lead to a brilliant stroke of illumination or insight … but that didn’t seem likely, either.

And then, on Sunday, it hit me: the earliest versions of the Tower card used to be called “La Maison Dieu” — The House of God. The term used to describe hospitals, too. (In fact, you can read about one famous “Maison Dieu,” here.)

I asked a simple question, and I got a simple answer in response. What would the hospital be like? A hospital.

Next time, I’ll try to be more specific.

T&A Tomorrow

My daughter Julia will have her tonsils and adenoids taken out tomorrow. She’s six, and for the last couple of years, I’ve noticed that she has periodic sleep apnea that gets worse when she has a cold.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that she’s getting an underbite, too. I googled it, wondering whether we’d be putting her in braces, and learned that an underbite can be the result of mouth breathing. She is a mouth breather, so that freaked me out; the treatment for an underbite, apparently, could involve years of braces, and then surgery to break and re-set her jaw when she finishes growing 10 years down the road.

So I rushed her to her pediatrician, panicked about her underbite, and the news got worse. The doctor told us that sleep apnea in children can lead to heart damage! it makes sense, if you think about it: their little hearts have to work harder when they’re not getting a steady flow of oxygen at night, and over time, their hearts get enlarged. Luckily, the pediatrician said we’re nowhere close to that point yet, but she sent us to an ear, nose and throat specialist.

The ENT we saw asked Julia a few questions, and basically determined that she needed her tonsils and adenoids removed just by listening to her speak. To us, Julia sounds like she always has, but apparently there’s a certain “stuffy” quality to her speech. He looked in her mouth, too, of course, and said that her tonsils and adenoids are definitely blocking her airway.

So tomorrow we’re off to Childrens Hospital of Minneapolis for outpatient surgery — a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, or ”T&A,” according to the fun-filled comic book he gave Julia to read. With any luck, we’ll be home by 8 or 9 o’clock tomorrow night.

The procedure she’s getting is a modified or partial T&A, and it’s supposed to be much easier than the tonsillectomies of 20 years ago. The surgeon won’t take out every last bit of the tonsils and adenoids. Instead, he’ll just take most of them, leaving little nubs in place. It’s supposed to hurt a lot less, and recovery is usually 3 to 5 days, as opposed to a week or two. It’s a good option because her tonsils and adenoids aren’t infected — they’re just too big. They might grow back this way, but given that we’re not being driven by illness, I don’t think that’s a problem.

I hope it goes smoothly. I’m a little nervous, of course, about the whole process. She’ll be under anesthesia for the operation, which is a big deal. Afterward, I’m worried that she’ll be tired and sore; I hope I won’t have to hold a crying child for a week. 

Which reminds me: popsicles! I forgot to buy popsicles at the store today! I bought pudding and apple juice for the aftermath, but I totally forgot to get popsicles and ice cream!

Of course, that’s what dads are for.

POST-OP UPDATE: Everything went well. The surgery started early, took less time than I expected, and Julia spent about three hours in recovery before we went home. Thank you for your notes of support!