8 of Nature

Description

The Eight of Nature is one of the more bizarre cards in the Tarot of Origins. The immediate impression is one of a tree, but the secondary effects are what are strange. The sun that hangs in the sky above the horizon is green, as is the sky that it hangs in. Then, near the bottom of the card is the face of an old man, whose beard is becoming wood. The tree itself is strangely bent, and on the upward slanting branch, which has been broken off, is perched a bird in silhouette.

Interpretation

I think part of the reason this card seems so bizarre to me is that I get no reading from it at all; there is no resonance for me. The specific question I asked today for this card was, "Why can't I see my face?" I've been practicing astral travel over the last few weeks, and one of the exercises that I've been attempting is to sit in front of myself and watch myself meditate. The trouble is that I can't view my own face directly. I can view myself from the sides, from above, below, but I can't view my own face from head on. It's very strange to me. So this is the card I drew in answer to my question.

The first thing that strikes me regarding this person (beast?) is that he can't turn his head. His range of motion, and therefore range of vision is apparently incredibly limited. His eyes may be open, but if they are, they're empty. That emptiness, though, may just be the light reflecting from his closed eyelids.

One important question that springs to mind as I'm looking at the card is, "Is the man emerging from the tree, receding into it or is he in stasis?" This image in no way reminds me other other human plant hybrids, for instance, the Green Man. This card has nothing of the jolly growing-ness that the Green Man often has. This is more like an old man with a crooked back who can no longer move with the alacrity he once had; his bones have grown twisted and wrong, so he moves at the best pace he can.

None of that, though, is really interpretation. It's a step below that, just feeling, but I guess it will have to do for now.

Application

Little more than what is superficially apparent: that right now my range of vision is limited. Perhaps in time I'll have the agility of the bird perched in silhouette on the tree branch.

Traditional Meanings

Aeclectic Tarot

ATA Tarot