How often in life, at a moment when we feel dissatisfied with how things are going, vulnerable, and beset by doubt, do we find ourselves suddenly faced with an alluring but perilous option? In this cautionary tale a young person (could be a man or woman) appears to make a disastrous choice. It's a narrative that plays out over and over, all the time, in many different ways. It could be a bad love affair, the wrong friend or group of friends, a business venture, a misguided journey. When in your life have you succumbed to an idea, person, or situation that has been so all-consuming it threatened to obliterate your personality?
A scenario I see in this spread involves a bored and restless individual (4 of Cups) becoming involved in a dangerous religious cult (The High Priestess). The person abandons their old life, turns their back on friends and family, and gives away their money and possessions (10 of Pentacles). The change is impulsive, sudden, leaving no time to consider the possible ramifications (8 of Wands). The person's loyalty to the cult becomes obsessive, total, almost pathological (The Devil).
This could be the end of the narrative, as it was for the Jonestown victims. Most of us find our way back to the light eventually when we become obsessively involved in something (though hopefully not as dire a circumstance as this). Curious, I did another spread, which will be revealed in the next post.
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