Oracle Card – The Black Tulip “Cards of Chaos.”
No given meaning from author – Aya Rosen
Synopsis of “The Black Tulip” by Alexandre Dumas
Set at the height of the “tulipomania” that gripped Holland in 17th century, this is the story of Cornelius van Baerle, a humble grower whose sole desire is to grow the perfect specimen of the tulip negra. When his godfather is murdered, Cornelius finds himself caught up in the deadly politics of the time, imprisoned and facing a death sentence. His jailor’s daughter Rosa, holds both the key to his survival and his chance to produce the ultimate tulip.
The Black Tulip fits the energy of this week entirely. On the surface of it, this card is littered with imagery that sends warning bells of the presence of perceived evil; the numbers 666 appear twice on the card, the top has a spade, spears appear to wound the tulip and the presence of an unnerving eye in the centre of the card speaks of something slightly eerie going on with the plantlife.
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas covers the evils of humanity; murder, self serving politics, obsession turning something beautiful (tulips) into something to be owned and lorded over others; the break neck speed with which competition can turn ugly and violent; and ultimately the only healing power in this whole mess is; Love. Where the tulips came to be held up as a symbol of power and prestige it perhaps should be no surprised that love… by any other name comes in the presentation of the rose.
The eye at the centre of the Tulip speaks to me about looking at our own internal machinations; windows are said to be the eye to the soul, as well as agelessly beautiful. If we are giving away our own soul to be ugly, competitive and heartless all so that we might gain some form of upper hand; then we have lost our way. If we instead truly reach out in understanding, empathy, and love, such as Rosa was able to despite being a jailor’s daughter, then we rise above our circumstances and connect with one another on a level of humanity.
Perceived evil is so easily done, and so easily bandied about. This week started for this witch with a stranger declaring me to be evil because I didn’t believe the same religion as they; so they decided to attack, spear, wound as best they could, based on their prejudice. Ultimately, I feel that people who need to propogate their agenda thusly are actually lashing out at something they see inside themselves, some ugliness, or some failure. It has been argued, for example, that the original number of the beast was not 666 but instead 111 – and in modern times the ‘understanding’ of these numbers has shifted radically.
Accepting what we are told and forgetting what once was is a deadly mistake that is highlighted in the book, The Black Tulip.
The Tulip mania had happened before, but it had been lost to history or ignored, made light of and so forth… and if that isn’t a chiming bell for the current political climate I am not sure what is.
Love can conquer all, Starlet. Even Hate.
Many blessings,
Joey