"...the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the..." 👩🏻⚖️
But whose? 🤔 I asked the Thoth Tarot for some wisdom about truth...
Hiya 👋🏼
I’d been saving myself up for this one… waiting until I was ready, y’know 🤔… and then, as sometimes happens… a confluence…
while preparing last week’s card of the month (Justice)1 the word ‘deception’ repeatedly grabbed me by the throat whilst reading about Air in 4 Stories2;
writing about those ‘grabs’ in the card of the month, realising it didn’t fit and editing it out, but still unable to let it go… especially now;
reflecting on my final exchanges with the friend I mentioned in the card of the month, where our different truths, were nails at either end of the coffin…;
… leading to… recalling one of my early posts co-written with Donny Riley, A MAGA Difference of Opinion3, articulating our different truths;
an exchange with the brilliant about the Thoth deck, my ‘go-to’ years ago, that has felt too intimidating since my recent reading return;
a further exchange with my friend recognising that I need to pick up the Thoth again, which also crystallised the theme of this post…;
… and the simple realisation, I’m not getting any younger, so… “if not now… when?”; 😁
and… my current ongoing obsession with the philosophy that everything changes… which begs this question… does truth?
deception
As a British ex-Pat living in S. E. Spain, I am experiencing second-hand, and through rantings on social media (mostly…), the current political turmoil in the USA. The persistent claims that the nation is being deceived, and mismanaged, by a self-serving billionaire oligarchy pursuing their own personal agendas.
What I am reading absolutely horrifies me, and I feel deeply for my non-MAGA American friends. In A MAGA Difference of Opinion I expressed my position, which is unchanged (albeit grown in intensity)… my truth, but Donny’s truth was very different. Neither of us were lying, so where does that leave truth? 🤔
Also nagging at me was the more recent disappointment of losing a friendship in June. The break as a direct result of expressing myself poorly and flippantly, which unwittingly, and unintentionally, appeared to diss that friend (ever wished you could take something back? 😳) which, naturally, they found hurtful.
I explained what I’d meant and proffered unreserved apologies. What my friend saw and heard was true, and their interpretation of it was final, and beyond discussion. My truth… my intention, didn’t fit with their vision of what had happened; their clear implication was that I was trying to deceive them. I wasn’t.
I edited this from the card of the month draft, which ended with this conclusion…
Truths aren’t universal… perspective plays a huge part, which is why we need Athene… then… further down the rabbit hole… how do we know her truth is… well… the truth? 🤔 We don’t.
I started to wonder, not by any means for the first time, about truth, what it actually is… and whose truth is the ‘real one’… I concluded that I should stop procrastinating, read the cards and then write about it… so I have… below 😀
Thoth Tarot Deck
When I was using this deck regularly about 12 years ago, I always considered it the ‘pulls no punches, deeper truth’ deck, one of the reasons why I have been too intimidated to use it during my recent return to Tarot. But, I truly am getting no younger, so I searched it out, because reading and writing about truth… it had to be Thoth, and I hope you experts out there will forgive my barely removed rust!
Let’s Thoth…
Position 1 ~ What do I need to know about the nature of truth? - Prince of Disks
The naked truth, sits sceptred and sovereign-like, casually holding a caged, life-giving Sun, whilst making steady and relentless progress towards us on his bull-powered chariot. As the Prince of Disks he represents the elemental qualities of Air of Earth, clarity of thought, combined with masterly manifestation.
This is a picture of power. The nature of truth as very powerful. Truth as our unabashed, unvarnished reality. So far, so obvious, right? 🙂 But...
… looking at the cargo in the chariot behind the Prince of Disks, we can see seeds, resources for his earthly agricultural propagation duties. If we think of these as seeds of truth, what do they propagate? Are they the seeds for newer, green-shoot truths ready to be planted in reality? Future newly-harvested truths?
In the spirit of everything changes, this chariot moves resolutely towards us, albeit slowly, sewing those seeds of future truths… If we consider that someone had to have once asked, “what shape is the Earth?”, harvested the answer, “it’s flat”… then, later sewings of those seeds of future truths, harvested by Aristotle, would have yielded the crop containing the new truth that the Earth is spherical.
Did this new truth slip happily into everyone’s consciousness? Er, no… not really, and there are still some who contest it… because their truth is that the earth is flat4. Agree, or disagree with them, it is the truth that they harvested, probably during the best crop ever, and they have developed a very strong attachment.
So… the nature of truth is that it is unvarnished, moves relentlessly forward, sewing the seeds of future truths, improving on what is already believed.
Position 2 ~ How can the truth hurt us? - VII·The Chariot
The truth is faceless, armoured, and implacable. In this card it prepares to continue its relentless journey, adding impregnability to the energy of the Prince of Disks. The charioteer’s helmet crest is a crab, corresponding to Cancer, indicating deep emotions, which, combined with the passion symbolised by their red cloak highlights the capacity for powerful emotive challenge.
What is at stake here is the holy grail, the ultimate symbol of truth and enlightenment. The charioteer is its highly-focussed guardian, carrying it gently, respectfully, and meditatively; presenting it to us for our acceptance. Whether we are prepared to accept it or not, it is… simply… the truth.
When we fail to accept it we are inviting hurt. Its inarguable, impersonal, heavily-armoured reality will ensure our attempts to challenge it are futile; and unable to undermine the charioteer’s passionate defence of their ‘flat earth’ grail, which they will defend until the ‘spherical earth’ harvest ultimately renders it indefensible, presenting them with a new grail… because even grails change!
Adding further complexity to our position we can see that each of the rein-less sphinxes drawing the chariot - manifestations of the will of the charioteer - vary in their characteristics, too. Small differences hinting at the subtleties necessary to smooth the chariot’s progress, powering different facets of meaning, without which it lacks robustness. For every, “It’s like this…” there’s a “… but what about the…?” lying in wait. This is not deception, it’s not noticing the details.
So… the truth can hurt us when we feel that it isn’t our truth any longer, and watch our arguments bounce off that heavily armoured guardian of the holy grail. It can hurt us when we don’t take the time to understand the details, the subtleties inherent in its position, discovering that we were wrong all along…
… the hurt lies in our deep emotional responses to what we see, and believe, and sometimes, it’s not even the truth that’s the problem, it's the way it's expressed. A theme I suspect that is very much uppermost in the feelings of many of my American friends, as well as those of my own ex-friend.
Position 3 ~ Why do people place so much value on the truth? - Queen of Swords
Whilst studying my old texts for the Thoth deck I was struck by this word appearing in a list of meanings for the Queen of Swords… emancipation… we have already seen above that truth represents power, and deep emotional commitment, and here we now see intellectual freedom and certainty.
Simply knowing, with absolute clarity, that we have beheaded those unsettling doubts, which always caused us to hesitate, frees us to present ourselves with certainty. The mask of old truths, or untruth, obscuring the true face of our present reality is cut away and discarded with a sigh of relief… “They told me the Earth is flat, but now I’ve learnt that…” I freed myself from doubt. Emancipated.
The Queen’s sword, from the same armourer to her major arcana’s counterpart Justice (Adjustment in Thoth), has seen action in pursuit of absolute truth, and her emotional investment, and intellectual battle to acquire the truth has been significant. The battle won, she now relaxes on her throne of clouds, our watery (Queen) of Air (intellect) can now enjoy her clarity.
Even though the crystal crown she wears symbolises that absolute clarity, the child’s head arising from it points to the growth and development of new ideas, once again pointing to the ever-changing nature of knowledge, and in this reading… truth.
People place such a high value on truth because when it is hard-won, with significant effort and investment, it automatically carries enormous value, until a new grail presents itself for unmasking, or this one masks up again.
Position 4 ~ Why does truth change? - 3 of Disks
From the seeds in the Prince of Disks chariot, to the passionate commitment, and defence of the truth shown inVII·The Chariot, through to the child’s head emerging from the crown of crystal clarity in the Queen of Swords, we can identify the journey of truth from flat Earth to the emerging belief that the Earth is spherical… truth changes, we can see that clearly… but why? Shouldn’t truth be fixed and inalienable?
"...the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth..."
Y’know… I had never really considered this before… the truth is… well… the truth, right? 🤔 But… when I revisited Heraclitus5 (and his notion that no man steps in the same river twice) recently it started to unravel a lot of life’s certainties for me, including this one… ok… back to the card… 😀
I am looking at an illuminated pyramid, supported on three red ship-wheels in the middle of an ocean landscape. A firm structure able to move with the seas supported by the steering controls beneath it. Numerologically, three for creation, reproduction, organic growth, and… astrologically…
Combine the vigour and force of Mars with the maturing ambition of Capricorn, add Saturn's structural framework and form and the passage of time, and something will take shape... Chang & Meleen6
3 of Disks! Titled Work.
This Earth energy cannot stand still. It has to develop (3), and manifest (Disks) new things.
So, why does truth change? Because it has to…
… it is on a mobile foundation steering it this way, and that, in order to foster the best conditions for growth… this three-ness came up in a discussion this week with my friend
, here are the salient bits that informed my sitting here in a Spanish heatwave sweating my way through this post 🥵😅🥵…tarotbyphil (T) - If we're both right... then is there another truth, too?
Rose Key Tarot (RKT) - To that I would respond yes, hence the resolving power of 3… I always think of coaching philosophy and practice here and how it echoes sacred geometry. 2 people come together to share an experience, and draw out something that cannot be accessed by just one of them. The relationship is the necessary and sufficient condition for healing and growth to occur. And outside of that dyad, 1 person holds the space for the relationship and dialog to occur, creating a 3rd element that enables that healing and growth. The Empress.
T - Truth as fluidity... everything changes...
RKT - Also, when working with clients, a technique I use is to tease out the duelling conflict, on the one hand this, on the other hand that. Once you have done that, the person is more able to see a middle ground or alternatively a solution emerges that is neither. In other words, the shift from the 2s to the 3s in the minor… So this is why 3 resolves 2 in any dispute over truth or otherwise… 3 also allows dynamism and moves you forward…
T - ... so the dynamism reflects a series of truthful moments, before the crystallisation of the 4's... before 5 has a better idea, and dismantles it... It's all about snapshots!
RKT - I think in terms of subjective experience, what’s true shifts. So that what’s truest at the time is the thing we should strive to understand. And with that perhaps, what’s truest for another, and what’s truest to make change. And that’s how we inch though our life experience as it evolves, with all truths evolving with and through us.
… and with that exchange, I finally understood why I needed to write this post, and return to Thoth. I also understand that the truth I am writing here today will carry different nuances tomorrow… because that pyramid ain’t gonna sit still! 😄
Arithmancy and Elementals…
For this spread…
Prince of Disks = 12, Queen of Swords = 13
12 (1+2=) 3 + 7 + 13 (1+3=) 4 + 3 = 17 = (1+7=) 8
VIII·Adjustment (Air) - The Daughter of the Lords of Truth distilled from its outer shell XVII·The Star (Air) - The Daughter of the Firmament, double underlines the location of this reading in the airy-intellectual realm. Even the happy coincidence of the word Truth in the VIII·Adjustment title, is accompanied by the word Daughter…
… echoing the feeling of an iterative, organic process following the forceful stripping away of the superfluous, and/or irrelevant, in XVI·The Tower; the budding new truths being watered and nourished by XVII·The Star; before maturing into the rigorous balancing act of VIII·Adjustment the figure of Justice, asking us to respect the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Elementally, we can see all of the elements present in these cards with the exception of Fire. In my mind, this reading is interpreted at a very human level, and divine fire doesn’t have a role to play in this question, which very much reflects earth-ly manifestation, intellectual certainty, and emotional commitment. In my notes, I wrote and truly believe that…
Truth is a human construct to identify reliability.
The over-riding elemental energy here is Air… and we live in an era in which…
"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift." Attributed to Albert Einstein.
… a product of the rational mind, truth, assumes huge importance, whilst simultaneously, and all-too-often, being bent, broken and redesigned to deliver…
Truth, n. An ingenious compound of desirability and appearance. Discovery of truth is the sole purpose of philosophy, which is the most ancient occupation of the human mind and has a fair prospect of existing with increasing activity to the end of time. Ambrose Bierce7
… rather than risk being…
Truthful, adj. Dumb and illiterate. Ambrose Bierce.
So…
Conclusions…
The answers are simple really… Truth is…
… powerful, organic, and renewable;
… subject to powerful emotions in its expression, defence, and denial;
… a liberating, comforting, force in our current masters-of-rationality times;
… subject to constant changes in order to stay relevant (see 3 above).
… multi-faceted and consequently a matter of perspective, or where you stand.
So next time you are asked for, “… the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…” you could always try asking… “yes, of course… whose would you like?” 😉
If you do… do let me know in the comments below how that worked for you 😂
I welcome your thoughts on the above, and how this reading resonates (or not!) for you... please feel free to comment below (I am very open to respectful disagreement and discussion!) and share this free post if you feel it might interest others, thanks... 😊
Love, light, and laughter... always,
tarotbyphil 🕯️
4 Stories: An Elemental Approach to the Tarot; T Susan Chang
Equating to the Knight of Pentacles in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck; although I recently read that some now see this differently and equate him to the RWS King, given that the Thoth Knights are all horsed, like those in the Rider-Waite-Smith. I will stay with my old learning on this for the time being.
Wikipedia on Modern Flat Earth Beliefs.
Tarot Deciphered: Decoding Esoteric Symbolism in Modern Tarot Paperback – 2021: by T. Susan Chang, & M. M. Meleen.
The truth is a fascinating pursuit! I see multiple concepts at play here, each of which brings its own energy to the table. Empirical evidence is the stuff that exists, and our “beliefs” don’t come into play. The earth is spherical. This is fact. Belief is spiritual. It’s the radical notion that we can, and do, accept that which we cannot see. Therefore, I don’t “believe” that the Earth spherical; I accept empirical evidence that it is so. On the other hand, I practice cunning folk rituals, not because I have empirical evidence that they work, but because I *believe* they work.
Great read. So complex.
For me personally, I make the distinction between reality and perspective. Instead of truth and not truth. Because I think that’s where people get really confused.
Reality is reality. Our interpretation of it is perspective. And there’s lots of philosophical breakdowns in there, but it always comes back to that. As a psychotherapist might say, our feelings are accurate, the narrative is often not.
Not knowing your exact exchange with that friend, I can only hazard a guess that may or may not feel accurate for you.
But one of the things my therapist often says to me is that, in a magnanimous effort to understand what happened between myself and another person, I often take on the fault of the situation because I have afforded them much more credit for capacity than they are capable of.
To break that down further, here is one of my favorite quotations: “
"You can’t control how other people receive your energy. Anything you do or say gets filtered through the lens of whatever they are going through at the moment, which is not about you. Just keep doing your thing with as much integrity and love as possible.”
-- Nanea Hoffman
The reality in that situation is that you’re both human. And by your description, you made an error in judgment. And the other person was not able to accept your explanation —but that does not make their conclusion truth. It makes it a perspective screened through their own issues.
They are looking at the situation through their lens and their applied narrative. That does not make it a truth. They can call it their truth, and that defensively clouds the issue. It’s not their truth. It’s their narrative.
Again for me personally when you get into questioning what is truth, it gets very cloudy very quickly. But when you realize that there is reality, and everyone has a perspective and a narrative they place on that reality, it’s almost inarguable.
All that aside, I’m really sorry that they were not able to see or accept your real intentions through their lens.