For the record, I have never been an inmate in a lunatic asylum, nor am I – at least to the best of my knowledge – certifiably bonkers. Yet there it is, gazing up at me from the upturned card on red and gold cloth spread carefully over this table in the lofty eaves of Opera Cafe: The Madman.
From simple playing cards in 14th century Europe to today’s occult tools of divination, Tarot cards are, according to some, adorned with ‘mystical symbols’. Gypsies were the first to tap into their divinatory potential, a course that gathered pace when Swiss clergyman Antoine Court de Gebelin published a paper several centuries later proclaiming the word Tarot to be derived from the Egyptian tar (‘royal’) and ro (‘road’): in other words, the cards signify the path to royal wisdom.
The Advisor met Claudio (stage name: Daniel), Opera Cafe’s resident Tarot card reader, to talk the occult, chasing collective awakenings and whether the editor of this magazine really is insane.
How did you first find yourself involved with Tarot cards?
It’s a long story…
I’m a journalist. I love long stories.
It started in India in the ’70s. I lived in Ashram <CHECK> and oriented my spiritual life. There we had a large community in which more or less all disciplines were performed: therapy, any kind of reading, tai chi, all kinds of bio-energetic therapies. Then we had Tarot readings, counselling… I’ve done more than 40 years in this field. I was born on the summer solstice in 1950.
Ah-ha! You’re some sort of über-being.
[Laughs]
What did you grow up wanting to be?
In touch with nature – a free soul! In the ’70s, we had a very deep impact with the cultural values situation in Europe, so most of the young people would refuse whatever society provided: values, orientation, psychological influence. ‘Just a brick in the wall’; Pink Floyd; ‘leave these kids alone’: it made the point in our minds at that time. I went by land to India; by sea, by air. I had a very famous Tarot reader, a friend of mine, and slowly, slowly I got in touch, but nothing much; it was just one of the disciplines. In the ’90s, I lived in Kenya and it became a professional thing. I met a woman – we’re still connected – she’s a doctor of philosophy and performs readings very well. Even Google pays her for a site which has 6 to 7,000 hits every day. I went deep into that. This golden thing [spreads out red cloth woven traditionally with real gold thread by hand] is my souvenir from that time. I’ve read many people on this. It’s from Italy; like a church garment, a religious symbol. Old, but I love it. [Laughs] Real gold, woven!
So central to your path has always been this sort of psychic enlightenment, a sense of being in tune with the universe.
The unity of all things is my primary purpose.
Here’s a leftfield question for you: what did your parents do, professionally?
My father was a famous musician in Italy, in the Opera Theatre. We’re a family of artists.
I was reading about the history of Tarot cards today: they started as playing cards, but eventually became tools for divination. How would you explain it to the uninitiated?
There’s a belief that Tarot has a 50% chance of being used to exploit people’s weak points to get money out of them. Magicians use them to scare people; they’re not even reading what’s there. It’s used in connection with someone who might have put a curse on you; the ‘old way’. To me, the spiritual way is beautiful because it’s just a mirror: the Tarot symbologically represents all the possibilities for any human situation in life. Spiritually, they reflect your situation. You can only learn if certain things are not clear in the mind. Sometimes emotions are involved. Sometimes someone doesn’t even know what he’s feeling, especially in a love affair. Maybe something’s wrong; there’s jealousy, hatred, whatever. Many people are afraid to be alone, especially when they’re very young or very old, so they cling to a person to fill the hole they have inside themselves. Many times, the person I’m reading is shocked, but this can help them transform. The person is reflected and you can really see what the cards are showing you. They’re a tool for insight and transformation. It’s white magic! Red magic is the magic of love: passion. Black is holding one’s will over someone else. But when the Tarot is transparent, it can help a person become aware of their own mechanisms; their own mistakes.
How does the process work?
The ‘how’ implies always a technical explanation: the know-how. But there is no know-how for this kind of thing. Carl Gustav Jung was asked to write the preface of the I Ching, the first time it was translated into a Western language: a scientific mind was called on to explain how the fuck this non-scientific I Ching works! So he took the I Ching and said: ‘Let’s ask the book what it thinks about itself.’ And he threw the coins and used the old hexagram and the crucible filled with liquid gold and the book defines itself when Jung asks. But the person must have a problem, in a way; a sincere question. It’s unexplainable; it goes beyond short-sighted analytical thinking: ‘Two plus two is four.’ In reality, two plus two can be anything. There’s a link between the known and the unknown. I used to see six, seven, eight people a day and they’d all say: ‘How does it work?’ I don’t know! [Laughs]
Some of the greatest things about this life are its unresolved mysteries. That’s what keeps it interesting. I’m not religious, but…
You are!
Spiritual, perhaps… I believe ultimately we’re all part of the same organism: Earth.
You can’t even call this a belief any more: it’s a reality.
So if you were going to read my cards, where would we start?
If I’m going to read your cards, it means you have a question; you’re supposed to have a question.
I have an existential question.
They are the best questions! We can have an experiment, just like Carl Jung. [Spreads deck] You can touch them, shuffle them; put your energy into them. Now, with the left hand you cut and you start getting into your question. And then if you want you tell me what the question is.
OK: am I finally on the right track; doing the right thing with my life?
So what is this symbol? [Points to first two cards] It’s very simple: family – completion – and… the madman.
[Laughs]
You have to balance these two aspects, which may bring you to the question: am I right? And the very question, in a sense, is already wrong. You’re asking if the universe thinks as you think. The universe does not think. Even you don’t think.
That’s true.
The mind does. But the question ‘Am I right?’ is two-dimensional: one earthly; stable. The very doubt probably goes back to your family. They haunt you, telling you what real life is and giving you those values.
[Diplomatic silence]
So now we cut again. You see how they reflect? Then you have to add intuition. Family and the madman: the division is between so-called normal life – family values – and very earthy, mad principles. The madman is a very dangerous card: very brilliant and alive; exuberant, but in the negative context can become a disaster. Now we cut three more cards with the left hand.
Why the left hand?
The left hand side of the brain is the creative, artistic side. [Reveals card with blindfolded woman pointing two swords in opposite directions by moonlight] You have strong doubts; sometimes you are divided. But we shouldn’t care too much: these are minor arcana cards. So far it’s telling you that you have action and sometimes the doubts come from that part which is still not clear. Give me three more. Major arcana! The chariot means stability and balance.
And there’s a cavalier!
You have a cavalier?
You mean an actual cavalier, all of my own?
Yes.
Let’s just say we’re in negotiations.
[Laughs] This is a symbol for a kind of share-a-joint-and-fuck… a rascal.
[Blushes, grinning]
Perfect! He’s there, in the air! So you’re afraid of change sometimes, but after all you are balanced. Give me three more. ‘In negotiations’ – I’ve never heard this! [Laughs] I will remember this. You have debt?
[More diplomatic silence]
So this is your black area. Sometimes, in spite of all, you have this recurring thing. You are definitely surrounded by friends: this is a symbol of real exchange, balance and friendship; a very good situation. Number two, you are stable. Let’s analyse the negative: you have a few debts and are afraid of changes. There’s a loss of self confidence sometimes. These are the only negatives. You’re quick to doubt because of past conditioning, so one has to be aware. On the positive side are balance and friendship. Your major cards are all strong suits, but left alone you tend to go into regression. So what can be said? Never doubt whether you’re right. The way you deal with your life belongs intimately to you, to your essence, which is beyond a conditioning grip of any kind. This is what we are. The simplicity lies in the recognition that we are beings, but we’ve been levelled to conform. Beyond, in a pristine state, our essence did not undergo any formation. You said earlier something about mystery. The mystery is not something out there, it’s what we are; it’s everywhere. The recognition of this principle is freedom. Never doubt whether your foot swings are in tune with your orientation. Poverty could be economical but it could also be psychological: not recognising, getting into self-denial. The mystery of what we are, ultimately, we are to resolve. [Laughs loudly and bangs fist on table] This is my life! Forty years chasing a collective awakening!