The Talismans
The Talismans: Labyrinth & Ariadne
The Incidental Tarot includes two extra cards, unnumbered and independent of the Major and Minor Arcanas. You can think of them as “wild cards,” or as I prefer to call them, Talismans.
This unusual pair of cards was added to the deck after much consideration, by both myself and the audience that witnessed the unfolding of the Incidental Tarot over the course of 2011. Ariadne was the first to be chosen.
She came out of my daily art challenge whilst traveling, my sweetheart and I being in the midst of a road trip through Oregon. We were looking for a place to camp for the night, and not having made reservations ahead of time, we weren’t sure where we were going to end up. A local ranger directed us to a wooded gorge where there was supposed to be a good number of pack-in pack-out sites along the Molalla River. When we arrived in the area somewhere around 3pm, every site was packed along the 2+ mile stretch of river. Discouraged, we drove to the end of the forest service road and parked to discuss our options. We decided to give it one more try, to drive back up through the camping area and give it the once over for anything we might have missed. Sure enough, on the way back one of the first campgrounds we passed had been vacated, aptly named Osprey, which tickled my sweetheart, an avid raptor-phile. I sat down on a log with my little drawing kit as he unpacked our gear and out came Ariadne, as easy and flowing as the river beside us. I had finished the line drawing in less than an hour, and I knew right away she was going to be a favorite. I added the serene blue and hints of color to her once we came home from the trip, and I quickly came to rely on her image as the avatar on my Facebook arts page.
When the deck was completed two months later, I decided to include space for two extra cards. I would choose one, and let my audience choose the other. I offered them a vote from 5 different drawings, and Ariadne came out the winner. But when I put her next to the card I had chosen, to my surprise something about the pairing just didn’t fit. So I went back through the almost 300 drawings I had done over the course of the year, and there was Labyrinth.
Labyrinths are ancient and powerful paths that lead one between the worlds, into the realm of magic where thoughts can be manifest. To enter a labyrinth is to step out of the mundane world and into a magical space…the Otherworld. The meditative steps around and back and around again lead us into a trance state where we can access divine insights and cross the thresholds of time and space through our subconscious. No one knows where the concept of the labyrinth was born, but its mysterious curves and sinuous pathways have been found in countless ancient cultures, and are still created as the centerpieces of many modern sacred landscapes.
Labyrinths have always been special for me. Where I live, there is a string of primitive stone labyrinths set up along a hiking trail in our local park woodlands, which also happens to be a volcanic preserve. It’s clear when walking these wall-less labyrinths that sacred space here has long been established. At the center of each circle, a small altar is composed of stones, trinkets and notes left by local “pilgrims.” Part of my ritual of walking the labyrinths is to acknowledge the “offerings” left by others before me. I pick up the trinkets and stones with gentle fingers, knowing that someone brought these things here for a purpose…to pray, to give thanks, to ask advice, or simply to offer a gift to the natural world. I quietly read the notes, often scribbled on scraps of paper or random business cards, whatever the walker happened to have on their person at that moment. Some of the writings I have found were profoundly moving, and I believe the act of reading them lends support and energy to their purpose. It is a way of silently helping to send the intention forth, with no connection or bias to its original messenger.
I too have left offerings in the labyrinths, and experienced the magical calm of walking a well-trodden path to its center, where mundane objects become sacred and thoughts are transformed to the vibration of prayer. It is a beautiful ritual, and one that can have the power to open the heart and reconnect you to the world. It is almost as if the winding path of the labyrinth is an invisible umbilical cord, leading you back to the center of yourself again.
Labyrinth stood out immediately as the companion talisman to Ariadne.
In ancient Greece, Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete and his queen Pasiphaë. When the king refused to sacrifice his precious white bull to Poseidon, Aphrodite caused Pasiphaë to fall recklessly in love with the bull to shame her husband. Pasiphaë had a hollow cow constructed, into which she climbed in order to have relations with the bull. From this union was born the Minotaur: a monstrous creature, half bull and half man who could only be sustained by consuming human flesh. This was King Minos’ lasting punishment. He imprisoned the Minotaur in a labyrinth, and was forced to sacrifice seven youths and seven maidens to the creature every nine years to keep his kingdom from further demise.
Theseus, who would later become the founder and king of Athens, volunteered to enter the labyrinth and slay the Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love with Theseus, and secretly gave him a ball of red string that he might find his way out of the labyrinth. Not only did Ariadne save the man she loved from being lost in the labyrinth (or the Otherworld, if you consider it an allegory), but she also helped to save her people from continuing to be victims of the disgraceful sacrificial ritual brought on by her father’s arrogance.
So you see how these two images naturally came together as the Talismans for the Incidental Tarot. In a sense they are both keys to the Otherworld: Labyrinth is the way in, and Ariadne is the way out. Within that magical and sacred space is a twofold chance to journey deep into the unseen realm of your own heart. Here can be found an amazing opportunity, but also perhaps great danger. The beast within, the incarnation of your sins is hidden in this place, and must be faced, acknowledged and overcome. Ariadne is there to remind you of your own courage, your highest purpose…and to help you find your way home again. She is the power of Love itself.
These cards are always to be read right side-up; they are not intended to have reversed meanings. To receive one or both of the Talismans in a reading is a very special happening. It signifies a rare opportunity to experience the deepest magic of pathworking, and to know that someone or something is watching over you to guide you on your journey.