KEYWORDS: Leap of faith, freedom, risk, creativity.
We see in the Essence the birth of the beginning, the first emanation from the spirit world. Most occultists agree that the first human beings were hermaphrodites (neither female nor male), able to reproduce parthenogenetically (without aid); outwardly, they resembled women.
For her image I chose Queen MU, the goddess and/or ruler of the legendary continent of Lemuria, a pre-Atlantian continent on the Pacific coast. Lemuria sank, dispersing its people and culture far and wide. This culture re-emerged in, among other places, the Cuna tribe of Panama, who also had a Queen Mu. She bore a striking similarity to the ancient one.
To the Cunas, she was a pre-existant Creator-Goddess who gave birth parthenogenetically to the sun, moon and stars. She was referred to by the Cunas as the Giant Blue Butterfly Lady. Interestingly enough, the Mu of Lemuria also held the butterfly image to be sacred, and blue was the color of their clergy.
The concept of androgynous beings as the wandering cosmic transmitters of culture is well represented by the image of Mu. She is seen emerging from the black/blue akashic egg, which manifests from a spiral. She carries a sack containing memories and knowledge from previous existences in one hand, and the sacred lotus in the other. She appears as a woman with blue butterfly wings, floating through yellow vapors which turn to shades of blue. The letter M decorates the border of her white gown; a flaming fire-wheel 8-rayed sun, like the one that appears in the upper left corner, graces her left breast. The sun is pale yellow and the rays are warm pinkish-red with pale blue points.
Many ancient cultures view the egg as a symbol of birth, the void and the number 0 (curiously enough, egg-shaped itself) which is the beginning and the end. In addition, ancient Egyptian, Hindu and Greek mythologies have preserved creation myths in which gods or goddesses arise from a cosmic egg. Almost universally, between Africa and the Arctic Zone, this egg is laid by a mythical bird.
One can conjecture as to the source of such cross-cultural similarities in mythology. Scientists postulate the “continental drift” theory and it may well be that cultural cross-pollination resulted from drifting and submerging continental masses. It is my belief that this phenomenon dispersed the survivors, explorers and wanderers of one great civilization who carried their myths and traditions far and wide.
This dispersal of culture, wisdom, and magic may very well be the origin of the Tarot, as I posit in Part I, The Heritage of the Tarot. A symbolic language such as the Tarot could have reached the wise of many cultures as well as profoundly influenced and developed emerging cultures in Egypt, Central, South and North America, and Asia and Polynesia, to name a few.
Legend has it that vestiges of the Lemurian culture still remain in California, particularly on Mount Shasta. Much intrigue exists about this area— mysterious lights flashing at all hours of the night; people pursuing lights and odd beings into the woods and never returning. There is even a tale about a magical cave in the mountain where a large crystal bell without a clapper rings as the cool Shasta air blows through. It is said that the great Avatars still reside here. Lemurian secrets and magic may continue through the mystery of Mount Shasta, but certainly continue in the Tarot carried by the cosmic wanderers from Mu and Atlantis.
The Essence is just such a wanderer–the Fool in traditional decks—floating lightheartedly through her life and path. She has no sense of danger, nor does she have a sense of self as distinctly different from the ALL. She is one who still responds to a high collective will, much as we can observe with colonies of ants and bees. This is an egoless state, where one resonates with the ALL or Totality, in the most pure, clear Uranian sense.
On the material plane, this card can be experienced as freedom, total abandon, or recklessness. This energy can also be experienced as genius in its many forms, where one takes the “leap of faith” to discover through pure intuition rather than through inductive reasoning. Scientists call it non-linear thinking; I call it magic!
This concept of a “leap of faith” is the essence of how this energy is experienced. When we move ahead to the next card, the Sorceress, we see how this pure light and spiritual energy can be transmuted and brought down to earth in its clearest form.
