KEYWORDS: Sudden change, shock.
A major revolution in the evolution of human consciousness occurred when the warriors raised their hands against the agrarian peace-keepers. This revolution unleashed the violent aggressive energies of the previous card, the Amazon. The peace-keepers became entangled in the fight and thus ceased to be peace-keepers.
For this Mars-ruled trump XII, I chose the Polynesian volcano Goddess, Pele. The planet Mars emits a very fiery and lusty energy, which manifests in a very intense, aggressive manner. At its core, this card is a metaphor for sudden, drastic changes, not unlike the power of an erupting volcano–earth-changing in scope and going beyond the destruction of mere mortal structures traditionally pictured in the Tower card.
Pele’s significance is enhanced by the fact that she is one who is still worshipped in a very literal manner by Hawaiians seeking to ensure the safety of their villages. Reportedly, shortly before a volcanic eruption, Pele is sometimes seen as a “wizened old woman who asks for a cigarette, lights it with a snap of her fingers, then disappears. Others say that a red-robed woman dances on the rims of the fiery mountains.”
Honored as “the essence of earthly fire, ” Pele was credited with building the Hawaiian Islands, no doubt with her volcanic antics. Her passion was renowned and feared. Her wrath when rejected would cause her to stamp her feet, creating a trembling resulting in volcanic eruption. “Her priestesses wore robes whose sleeves and hems had been burnt ragged by fire. When Mauna Loa erupted in 1880, 63-year-old Princess Ruth Keelepolani, who still knew the ancient chants of Pele, walked up to the edge of a lava flow.”33 She performed the various ancient rituals, and the eruptions ceased by the next sunrise.
Often we need to create total Revolution in order to make much-needed changes. While such changes may seem to come “out of the blue”; they are usually the result of slow-simmering issues being held in check by logic and intellect. Suddenly, without notice, like an erupting volcano that has lain dormant, hidden angers and emotions spew forth. They wreak havoc and create new fertile soil for growth amid the ashes and lava-rock-covered earth. At this point, and often only during such an aftermath, is the twin aspect of Revelation realized.
On the face of this card, we see Pele as a wild mountain woman. She emerges from the crater like a raging Fury. Her hair is like a fiery mane. Pele’s arms are outstretched, as if to invoke the powers of the lightning bolts, a symbol of illumination flashing in the darkness. The colors used in this card are the Martian shades of red, orange, and black.
The Tower in the traditional Tarot, and its counterpart Revolution/Revelation in my deck, may inspire fear when they turn up in a reading; this fear is in response to the sudden and seemingly unpredictable negativity of this card. There is a direct correlation between one’s resistance to change and the level of “destruction” experienced from the situation that occasioned drawing this card.
When drawing Revolution, you can expect the unexpected and may feel as if your world is upside down; inside-out is really a more apt description of what is occurring. Anger and intense feelings are not uncommon, nor are feelings of having the proverbial rug pulled out from under you. As the feelings pass, all sorts of revelations and new opportunities can manifest; the old is removed to open new doors, in this time of breakthrough and radical change. Sometimes these seeming, external changes are a direct result of procrastination. If we don’t make necessary changes in a timely fashion, the universe will make them for us and usually not as gently as if we had taken the initiative ourselves.
