Differently painful, brings different kinds of blessings.

' I could have used a distraction, but the Netflix puppet show about a mystical world filled with elfin-like heroes and adorable furry creatures offered no relief.

Instead, I saw reflections of these real-world nightmares, including deceit, environmental destruction, and death.

Was I reading too far into it, my mind warped by the onslaught of tragedies presented by cable news?

As I interviewed the cast and artists behind the show, I told them about my view of it.

Co-executive producer and writer Jeffrey Addiss had the most succinct answer:

"We wanted it to be upsetting."

Mission accomplished. '

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/netflix-dark-crystal-prequel-about-billionaires-scare-kids

' In the new series, set long before the original 1982 movie, the elfin Gelfling are being tricked by the ruling Skeksis, a small cabal of giant, snot-filled, vulture-esque villains. The Skeksis' mostly hands-off dictatorship begins to turn when their sniveling scientist discovers they can grow more powerful and even approach immortality by draining and consuming the "essence" of the noble Gelfling. The first episode ends with what seems to be one of the two Gelfling protagonists having her essence drained, a torturous process that has her screaming until she turns to dust.

To a person, everyone I spoke to, from Addiss and his creative partner Will Matthews to director Louis Leterrier and star Jason Isaacs, laughed when I mentioned how striking it was to watch this innocent puppet be tormented and mutilated. Many said that in the writers' room and on set, they had a shared mantra: "This ain't The Happy Crystal."

It's a fun show, no doubt, with fanciful creatures and gorgeous new sets, but those things only serve to make the dark parts even scarier. Leterrier says that he saw the original film, which was directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, when he was far too young, and it left him "traumatized." It also inspired him to be a filmmaker, and so he sought to bring back both the classic puppetry techniques with which the original film was made and its macabre and downright sinister undertones. '

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/netflix-dark-crystal-prequel-about-billionaires-scare-kids

Deck: Tarot of the Vampyres
Spread: Card of the Day
Date: Tue Sep 17 22:24:25 EDT 2019


Today's Card
THE MOON (Reversed)

Essence
Encountering and releasing our inner fears. Facing our Shadows. Illusion and fantasy. Arousing our imagination. Dreams and nightmares. Entering the image world of the soul. The fantastical and bizarre. Peculiar or strange. Bewitchments. Glamour. The inconceivable or incomprehensible. Descent into the Underworld. Deep inner questing that leads to the rebirth of light. Reincarnation. Reawakening or resurrection. Dream work and visualization. Exploring the depths of the unconscious. Secretive, mysterious or ambiguous. The furthest reaches of our subconscious. Elusive or intangible. Occult knowledge. Seductive sorcery. Addictions and intoxication. Ghosts and Phantoms. Eerie, macabre, sinister or cryptic. The realm of the dead.

Message
The Moon card represents the depths of our unconscious and the fantastical aspect of our being. It is eerie and illusory by nature and relates to the deep psychological images of the soul. When the card appears, it is often an omen that something mysterious, elusive or intangible is contained within the issue. This may relate to the nature of the situation, indicating that there is a illusionary or cryptic quality present, or that the issue is deeply woven in our subconscious. Sometimes The Moon emerges when we are fearful or feeling lost, experiencing haunting thoughts or emotions that the path ahead seems incomprehensible. In this aspect the card is related to the sinister moonlight of our fears or nightmare. We are urged to take one step at a time along this mysterious path, to be aware of our inner signs and intuition in order to pass through these mists toward the light. The Moon is also a calling for us to look to our dreams and subconscious for understanding. We must put aside rational reasoning and trust in the realm of our imagination. Fantasy and creativity can aid us in revealing hidden messages from our unconscious. To unravel these messages we can employ dream analysis, create very spontaneous art, such as creative writing or painting. This should be done without any logical thought, but rather just a series of almost random thoughts and feelings. When the exercise is complete we can use our reasoning mind to interpret and analyse them. The card can also be a call for us to live out our fantasises, to explore the unknown or dare to divert from what is safe and known.

The Moon teaches us that the night of fear and confusion will soon come to an end. We have reached the depths of despair or soul-searching and the sun will soon arise. This relates to the aspect of the card as a journey through darkness to reach the light where we will be reawakened to the joys of life and deepest understanding. This promise of morning arises after we have delved into the pit of our deep fears and gained control of our shadows. These fears and shadows then reveal themselves to be just illusions, that only exist because something is blocking the flow of light. Discovering what these blockages are and sweeping them aside leads us to transformation and freedom. This requires a journey into the underworld of the unconscious depths and can be a daunting experience, where we must resist being led astray by shadows and illusions which are merely mirages projected from irrational fears eclipsing the light. In these times everything seems strange and unfamiliar or extraordinary, our senses are heightened as we regress into more primal instincts. We should not fear these experiences because they cannot harm us. Rather we can view them as an enticing ghost story that concludes with an emergence into The Sun (the following card) and towards deepest self knowledge. We will also gain greater skills in intuitive knowledge and expanded awareness. In many cases The Moon is a sign that we are feeling lost or wandering aimlessly and that we must find our way back to our path find clarity of purpose. Although this card is shadowy and peculiar it is not always disturbing. It can be bewitching

, and has tremendous power to inspire creativity and visualization and enhance psychic abilities.

Analysis and Symbolism
The chilling moon hangs like an omen over an eerie path of poisoned mists. The mysterious light it casts is the only guidance we have (the subconscious) into the depths of the soul. The narrow path leads up between confining tombstones (the Underworld) toward the cathedral, which is the sanctuary and eventual escape from our fears into the twilight of day. The Vampyre Bride represents our confrontation with our shadows and a personification of the fear surfacing from the unconscious. Her ethereal gown illustrates a fear of being swallowed by the realm of the dead and our inner poisoned darkness. Everything is intangible and sinister for the ego, whose only guide is the bewitching moonlight. In her hand, the bride holds a blood stained sickle, its moon shaped blade a symbol of dark intrigue. She has become the bride of death, a mirror of nothingness and illusion. It is midnight, the very depths of darkness and the axis where the deepest loss ignites the flicker of promise toward escape into the twilight. Like a pupa within a cocoon, she has become only intangible substance, yet to be reduced to this pulp of nothingness is the process of metamorphosis that will transform her into a new form. She emerges as a moth, reborn, enticed and directed by the moon into the light. She has journeyed into the Underworld, faced her fears and conquered her shadows. Around her neck she wears the symbol of Pisces which is the zodiacal trump of The Moon.

The moonlight that illuminates our nightmares can also guide us towards psychic messages and occult truths. It can be a signal for us to reject the ordinary and release ourselves from the prison of normality that we cling to for security, and to expand into the mysterious universe that murmurs within the deepest parts of our soul. We can employ flights of fantasy and imagination to overcome blockages and to gain intuitive understanding of situations and issues. Any experience in which our more primal senses are stimulated can lead us to undiscovered truths and alternative perceptions, whether through intense dreams, fantasy, psychological and physical exertion or intense eroticism. We can glimpse behind the mirror of the soul and explore our personal underworld of mists and enchantments. Many of these mirrors reflect from the depths of old memory woven into our subconscious. They are partly genetic, passed on from our ancestors as archetypical themes and emotions that relate to the passions, the struggles, and the hopes of human existence. Perhaps these archetypical motifs emerged and evolved from a need to understand the world around them and their place within it. The motifs became like a spiritual map, expressed in their myths and stories. They were also pathways that can be used to explore and decipher mysteries of the spiritual realm. This mythical framework originates from an ethereal core within each of us, presented to us as messages from our higher self, in symbols, dreams and fantasy. Not only is this deeply woven web a map of our metaphysical landscape, it is the language of our unconscious, which speaks directly to us through symbols, events and seeming coincidences in our everyday lives. This synchronicity is purely natural, just nature at its subtlest, formless beginnings, the foreshadowing and unfolding of our reality, as well as unique messages from our personal psyche.

Shadow
The shadow of The Moon can mainfest as phobias, primitive fears, morbidity, superstition or anxieties. When in this aspect, it can also indicate that we are giving into our fears or refusing to face our shadows. Sometimes, by not incorporating our shadows sensibly into ourselves as a whole, they can poison our hearts or minds. This can lead to addictions, drug abuse, bewilderment or eventual lunacy. By not containing and controlling our own fears, shadows or darker natures, we may project them onto others, making others the scapegoats for our own poison through self-deluded morali

ty. This can lead to persecution or bullying. We may be urged to overcome our guilt or face up to our actions with honesty and sincerity. Perhaps we are bewildered, losing our sense of direction and purpose or feeling confused and disoriented. In this case, we should take one step at a time until we regain our balance and perspective. Other negative qualities of The Moon include lies and deceit, self-deception, hallucinations, depression, derangement and insecurity. Religious fanaticism, hysteria, venomous slander or gossip, paralysis, self-harm, suicide and or murder are the extremes of The Moon in shadow.

Alchemy
Zodiacal Trump of Pisces
Jupiter Rules. Venus Exalted.
Connects Netzach with Malkuth on the Tree of Life

Kindred Spirits
The Child of the Sons of the Mighty
Anubis
Medusa

Verse
Wishing all my cups were poison
instead of mulling,
dulling wine.
Wishing the voracious raptor,
that is the fist
that owns my heart
would, incensed with its blackened madness,
tear its own webbed net
apart.



Presented by Tarot of the Vampyres app from The Fool's Dog.

Re: our ability to believe in one another's experiences.

Re: being susceptible (or not) to the possibility of others thinking you are crazy.

Re: how our relationships slip away, and how it kills us.

Re: spitting up lung water from the last dimension's sudden death into this new dimension's pristine and otherwise (seemingly) sudden-death-free environment...

Deck: Tarot of the Vampyres
Spread: Soothsayer
Date: Fri Sep 20 20:43:12 EDT 2019


Your Card
FOUR OF SKULLS (Upright)

Essence
The Structure of Matter. Power. Control. Defensive strength. Solid and rigid. Stability, dominion and resolve. Order and organization. Condensed energy. Impenetrable structure. Invincible. Protective and steadfast. Rulership, authority or commandments. Status. Holding rank or a firm position. Holding our ground. Endurance. Creating a solid structure. Manifestation. Security. Setting limits and boundaries. Creating and maintaining defence. A fortress. Solar power - the sun empowers the darkness. Gain of wealth, strength or influence. Assurance. Consistency. Success. Earthly power. Integrity, dependability and completeness. Principles or organized religion.

Message
The fourth Skull card deals with power and defensive strength. In a reading, it can relate to issues of security, stability or structure in our physical lives. Issues of ownership, defense or holding a firm position are all indicated here. The card is about a mighty power, which can refer to a need to establish and fortify our boundaries, endure a difficult situation or take command of a situation. The Four of Skulls can imply earthly power or wealth, not only materially but also as a stable vitality in the richness of life and in receiving wealth. When the card appears, it means that strength or security is needed in order to resolve an issue. We must reject any dispensable embellishments and get to the heart of the matter. This card can represent established belief systems, organized religion, and the rule of law. At a personal level, it can represent the structure of our personal inner Kingdom. In general, it is a call to stand firm and secure, to create an internal or external structure of command. When related to profession or achievement, it refers to consistency, reliability, structure and organization, which results in an increase of reward. The card also indicates great resources and reserves. In the realm of our emotions, it symbolizes solid, lasting bonds, clarity and feelings of secure emotional protection. In general, it refers to the building of a solid resolve and feelings of stability, a stable life and a need to be steadfast. The Four of Skulls also implies material wealth, whether in earthly riches, goodness or health. It characterizes a rich life instilled with the beauty and pleasure of nature.

Analysis and Symbolism
The card shows two figures, who stand on the solid defenses of their fortress. The male vampyre represents the fiery aspect of power. He is potent, willful and steadfast. The female illustrates measured control and the reflection of energies that do not adhere to our will. Both these aspects of power are evident in the card. The card contains the four elements in an ordered structure. This means that the power we employ can be from our will, emotions, thoughts or forms. It is unclear if the male or female Vampyre is in command. In reality, it is a binding of these different elements that creates the impenetrable fortress. It may be that someone is projecting their will toward us and we need to stand solid, reminding ourselves that we must defend our rights and block any attacks on our position or noble self-hood. The passive aspect of power embodies spiritual defense, precise control and organization. The opposition we are encountering could be from people, issues or events. It may be from within ourselves. Perhaps we have built our defenses so compactly that we are in danger of cutting ourselves off from positive, new inspirations or feelings. We all build defensive walls around ourselves to protect ourselves from harm and to establish our inner earthly kingdom. This is sensible and essential. However, we must be sure not to imprison ourselves in our own rigid beliefs, myths or perceptions. The Four of Skulls relates to Sol in Capricorn. In astrological terms, it refers to the energy of the sun deep in the heart of the earth. It provides the strength and sustenance that imbues the material world with

power. The sun has been anchored in the rich darkness of winter, allowing for a slow, potent vigor to seep into its form and essence. This condensed solar energy uses the structure of the earth to form its desired energy, making the structure its power. At an internal level, the card is about establishing our inner kingdom, our virtues, values, and our belief system, whose center is the sun (the ego).

Shadow
Weakness. Powerlessness. Restriction or resistance. Blockages and obstacles. Fixation. Stubborn, overbearing or dogmatic. Possessiveness. Flighty or impulsive. Changeable, chaotic or an abstraction. Compulsive. Conceited or egotistic. Hunger for power or control. Stifling religion or rules. Corrupt establishments. A situation in which we are being controlled. Jealousy, envy or greed. Miserly. Someone or something is blocking our movement. Suspicion. Open to attack. A lack of originality. Anxiety. Blindness. Ruin.

Alchemy
Sol in Capricorn
Mercy (Chesed) of Earth

Kindred Spirits
Kuqiah
Menadel

Verse
Harboured darkly in its cavern,
we renounced the world without.
We severed bridges
and torches drowned.
We tore down innocence
and raised our crowns.



Presented by Tarot of the Vampyres app from The Fool's Dog.