The Divine Twins in the Tarot - A Series Introduction

The manifest reality of the Divine Twins, those two great forces whose erotic friction enlivens and ensouls the Universe, is paramount in Feri. The Goddess is said to have taken two bright spirits and perfected Them into God with Her birth; They are both Her lover and other half. The Twins can be any gender or none (although my inclination is to see Them as male...) and Their multiplicity of relationships is a source of great mystery.

We find the Divine Twins in several mythologies but personally the spirits I am most attracted to (apart from Melek Ta'us!) are the Marassa Jumeaux from Haitain Vodou, above, and the Ibeji of Lucumi, right. Both of these Traditions have influenced the Feri Tradition and I find it interesting that the Twins in both Vodou and Lucumi are called very early on in ceremonies. Victor said that in Vodou, the Twins were "the first issue of the outer dark", which is a gorgeous poetic description of the Twins.

The purpose of this series is to explore the expression of the Divine Twins through the Major Arcana of the Tarot. The Majors are twenty two cards (a very Twin-like number) representing the totality of archetypal human experience, with the Minors being the individual specifics. Because the Twins are so huge, yet ultimately intimate and dwelling within each of us, I have chosen to explore Their narrative through the Majors. The Tarot is a huge source of wisdom and the full scope of meanings, symbolism, and lore is beyond the scope of this series.

The narrative of the Divine Twins is not linear or sequential; rather, I have focused on the particular energetic flavour of each card as it relates to the Twins and expresses a unique relationship. I am tempted to say that almost all of these relationships have an element of the erotic about them, but that is perhaps a different treatise. Please let me know if this is helpful for you, or indeed (even better!) if you disagree with me. Who knows...our disagreement might provide the erotic friction of the Twins toward greater understanding. So cut your majors in two and shuffle them together in an imitation of the erotic play of the Twins...