Apollo and The Muses [Class D: Cards 11-20]

Class D: Introduction

Class D of the Mantenga deck is Apollo and the Muses. The silver background of each card in this class is accented by an intricate lattice of darker blue. Blue was a rarely commented on color until the late medieval period. It is obviously the color of the sky and thus both of the classes of heavenly powers are accented with Blue. This blue is darker than the blue of Class B cards, presumably because the Muses are the lower powers and dark blue connotes a heavier more earthy blue which gravitates down. Almost every Muse card has a small white sphere in the image. This is representative of the sphere of influence they hold over human inspiration.

As a unit Class D cards form a cosmological image of passion and inspiration under the auspices of detached control. These cards portray greek gods which somehow abide in a Christian cosmological scheme. This should not shock the reader. As we discussed in the former treatise Cosmic Evangelization the old gods of any polytheistic culture are reinterpreted as angelic principalities and powers as Christianity acculturates and fulfills the target culture. In that treatise, we laid out Saint Augustine’s metric for determining if a “god” is angelic or demonic. The determination basically comes down to whether or not the being directs one to the glory of God or draws one to glory of itself. As Europe converted to Christianity, many of the old gods were deemed demonic. Their nature and narrative were incompatible with the Christian God and Christian cosmology. Some gods were altered to conform to Christianity and thus “converted” to Christianity as angelic powers or saints. Still, others fit the mold of Class D cards, they easily conform to Christian cosmology and they are easily disposed to drawing the Christian to glorify God. Apollo and the Muses represent spiritual inspiration and the control one has over them. Taken as a psychological metaphor, The Muses are the various forms of inspiration and passion in the soul and Apollo is the detached “self” that organizes these passions, and puts them to good use.

As the classes represent the mirroring of the inner and the outer, Class D cards generally represent “inspiration”, that is, how the inner self is moved by the environment. Thus they present as more immanent to the person, they are easily interpretable as part of their own psycho-spiritual makeup. That being said, they are presented as greek gods because in medieval cosmology such gods did not “disappear” due to scientific or religious proofs. Rather, they were reassigned as low level angelic beings who reside on the terrestrial plain and offer aid to individual Christians by inspiration. They are the “working class” of the celestial hierarchy, hence their low position in medieval cosmology. The Muses represent the first person experience of environmental effect. As “gods” they are the environment, but as psycho-spiritual forces, they are one’s own passions and inspiration. Because of the ease of this interchangeability they represent how one can take environmental influence and control as it is present in one’s self, shape it, mold it, develop it, and put it to use for one’s self.

Class D cards begin with a series of interrelated cards that seek to inspire one to recognize and implement various rhythms in their lives. These are followed by three fundamental muses who set the tenor for how these rhythms present. The last muse, Clio is an organizing factor to present to Apollos who is the detached organizer.

Class D cards form a chiastic balance with Class B cards (Geniuses and Virtues). Both classes are angelic powers, but Class B cards are celestial in nature as opposed to low level terrestrial powers. Class B cards are spiritual gifts as opposed to terrestrial inspiration. These two classes form a mirroring of how the angelic powers interface with the terrestrial as transcendent and immanent. The Muses indicate spontaneous spiritual aspects that are excited as “part of one’s self”. Once excited they can either be controlled, developed and channeled. Or they can be left to their own devices and run roughshod over the experient. Whereas the virtues connote grace, a transcendent gift beyond one’s control that becomes part of one’s self only if it is noticed, developed and utilized, but left on their own they become dormant and/or fade. One would want to notice how these cards interact in a pattern as a meditation on the interplay between grace and inspiration.

Classes B and D are oppositional to Classes A and E. Classes B and D concern access between the mirroring of the inner and the outer as well as the connection between the upper and lower of the cosmological hierarchy. The mirroring between Classes A and E is polar, as opposed to B and D which are integral. The relationship between the A and B is absolute immanence and transcendence. Classes B and D present the integrating factor between both transcendent and terrestrial as well as inner and outer self. As the querent sees these classes interact they may want to meditate on their own perception of the relationship between transcendence and imminence in the cosmos as well as how they interface in their own life.

Class C cards are the fulcrum of personal investment in the cosmos that balanced the deterministic chiastic parallels of AE, BD. In as much as Class D cards interface with Class C cards one may want to notice where one can use one’s knowledge, will and discipline to tame, expand, grow and properly utilize one’s passions and inspirations as they are stimulated by one’s environment and present in one’s self.

When a Class D card presents the querent may want to meditate on the effect of one’s own passions and inspirations as they effect one. This meditation should especially concern how they can be used for good and for the service of others. One could also use presentation of this class to meditate on what exterior stimulus inspires one or stirs one’s passions. In reverse, the querent may want to meditate on concupiscent passions and temptations. In this case, these angelic beings have reverted to “old gods” who seek to enslave one or one’s neighbors. Or one may look to passions and inspirations the card may signify that are undeveloped, uncontrolled, or absent in one’s life.

D.11. Caliope (Calliope)

Significance

Calliope is the goddess of epic poetry. She signifies the rhythm of the grand narratives of humanity, the narrative topologies and type scenes that frame the human story. These narratives give our lives meaning and purpose. They inspire us to frame our lives according to their narrative and to repeat the narrative in life and in the beauty of language. Calliope is this inspiration. Calliope balances with Urainia in that one is epic human narrative and one is vast cosmic Awe. As a poetic muse, she is a development of Euterpe in that lyrical language is the rhythmic music of the spoken word. She is also generally a development of either Thalia of Melpomene, in that her tale involves the channeling of one, the other, or both. As an exterior symbol, Calliope is the great narratives that give us meaning. Calliope inspires our ability to present or offer those narratives with our lives. In as much as we are able to practice narrative appropriation, we can synchronize our lives to the great narratives of humanity.

Visual Symbology

Calliope is seen standing next to a cliff with a small waterfall trickling into a fountain. At the top is a small tree or bush. Far in the distance is a city on a hill. This contrast between the bucolic and the urban could hint at what Joseph Campbell calls “The Hero’s Journey”. The trajectory of the heroic myth is described by Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. “[Here is] the nuclear unit of the monomyth. A hero ventures from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” The interchange between the two terrains seems to demonstrate this journey. The city is home, a familiar place. This hight is transcendence and the stream is the unconscious, both of which must be mastered by the hero in the mythic epic. Calliope stand next to the cliff blowing down into her horn summoning the hero to his quest.

Application

Calliope summons the querent to notice and present the themes of the great stories of humanity. To meditate on this card is to meditate on how one can effectively use the great narratives of humanity in one’s own life as a framework for how and why they live. The querent may want to ponder which stories resonate most with their life and how the story has effected them as a person and in their actions.

In Reverse Calliope begs the reader to seek the frame of myth lacking in one’s life and use their power to bestow meaning. Or the oppositional could imply an epic misinterpreted or misused. The querent will want to probe their use of myth and legend in order to assess effective application in their life. It may also ask the querent to examine how well or honestly they have been framing the narrative of their own life.

D.12. Urania (Urania)

Significance

Urania is the Muse of Astronomy. Most people have had the experience of looking at the stars and being overcome with a feeling of finitude and/or divine presence. Urania is the muse of such moments of inspiration. She is also the inspiration of seeking macro-order, such as that which is reflected in the yearly cycle of the stars. For the ancients, observing the course of the stars is one of the very few realities that are predictable with precision. Urania inspires seeking transcendence, vastness, and order and stirs the peace and awe that comes with realizing the existence of seeming limitless creation and precise cosmological order. As an angelic being, she is the director of cosmic expanse and order. She inspires us to gaze in awe at the cosmos. Her inspiration draws us to attune our lives to our finite station and shocks us with awe concerning such fate and finitude in the face of the infinite.

Urania balances with Calliope in that both represent a vastness, Calliope the vastness of human narrative and Uriania the vastness of the cosmos. Both of these great vistas offer a framework of determined reality for the individual human. She balances Terpsichore in that both indicate an almost uncontrolled response to rhythmic beauty, one the rhythm of the stars, the other the rhythm of sound. Though Terpsichore, being a micro-cosmic manifestation, is much less predictable, and much more adaptable and open to free will. Urania urges one through use of The Senses (B.32.) and observation of the Upper Heavens (A.48.) to begin the study of Astrology (C.29.).

Visual Symbology

Urania is the only Muse who holds her sphere. Perhaps this is because she expands to the macrocosmic spheres and her inspiration draws one to a sense of fate in all spheres of life. The sphere is in her left hand, while a compass for charting the stars is in her right. This reminds the observer that the awe one feels at star gazing is balanced by the knowledge and skill one must acquire and develop to understand and utilize what Urania has to offer. That balance will be found in the Class C card Astrology. Urania stands beside a stream that leads off to high hills in the background. The stream could be the intuitive inspiration that leads to the height of knowledge and utility that comes with observing stars, the ability to predict the future (if not mythic astrology, at the very least seasons, crops, and the like).

Application

To meet Urania in meditation is to ask one to reflect on their relationship with absolute transcendence. Depending on the position of the card one may want to ask when was the last time one was struck by such awe. Or one may ask what environment strikes one with this Awe (It may not be the stars). Where does one stargaze or get the equivalent experience? The card may be beckoning one to take advantage of such spaces or it may be suggesting that one take time to consider the macrocosmic order in which one abides.

In Reverse Urania asks if one is taking their point of view for granted? One may not be taking the grand scheme into account and allowing themself the awe of the vastness of the cosmos. The oppositional could also indicate an over technical approach to cosmic order, or an overwhelming sense of fate that negates one’s sense of free will.

D.13. Terpsicore (Terpsichore)

Significance

Terpsichore is the Muse of chorus and dance. She signifies the union of sound and movement through rhythm. Rhythm is a common inspiration among the muses. It is a repeated pattern that can be automatically quantified and codified. As rhythm is present here it is the coordination of two rhythmic realities: physical motion and auditory waves. In this relationship, it is generally the sound that urges motion. Most broadly Terpsichore can simply stand for bi-rhythmic organization. But more particularly she stands for the exterior rhythms that effect rhythms on one’s life. Dance as a communal activity calls to mind the order and conscious organization of human society and human sexuality. Thus, Terpsichore represents human order as it organizes with the vibrations of the cosmos which it reflects.

Where Urania is the yearly rhythm of the stars that seem to effect one’s fate in a large sense, Terpsichore is the immediate rhythm of the environment that urges immediate action of one’s self in synchronicity. Terpsichore balances with each of the poetic Muses in that both relay exterior influencing the interior. Terpsichore relates the synchronicity of rhythm and sound. The poetic muses (Calliope, Erato, and Polyhymnia) are the rhythm of sound from person to person inspiring the motions of the grand narrative, erotic love, or divine love.

Visual Symbology

Terpsichore is seen standing on the shore of a vast body of water, the union of the conscious and unconscious. She is playing a small guitar. The guitar is a particularly rhythmic instrument. As her strings are emitting rhythms of sound; if the sound aligns with the interior rhythm of the heart (music) it stirs the unconscious mind, it reverberates to the conscious transforming the environmental rhythm into visible action (dance).

Application

To meet Terpsichore in a meditation invites one to align the rhythms of one’s life with the rhythms of one’s immediate environment. These rhythms could be the rhythms of sound (the general environment) or the rhythms of sound combined with the orchestrating rhythm of communal dance (society). One should meditate on how one is inspired to align with both environment and society and seek how one can foster such alignments.

In Reverse Terpsichore signifies disorder between environment and action. One is asked whether the dance of life is off and the individual is moving contrary to the environment or their neighbors in unhealthy ways.

D.14. Erato (Erato)

Significance

Erato is the Muse of lyrical love poetry. She represents the interface between our narratives for love and how we are moved to interpersonal love and express it in beautiful language. She is the reciprocal movement of emotive love and its expression in the form of language, which in turn inspires the emotions to experience desirous love.

Erato balances with Terpsichore in that both are synchronizing person and environment. Terpsichore balances the rhythms of exterior sound and physical motion. As a poetic muse, Erato is a development of Euterpe in that lyrical language is the rhythmic music of the spoken word. She is also generally a development of either Thalia of Melpomene, in that her tale involves the channeling of one, the other, or both. Erato synchronizes two persons’ emotive love by rhythms of sound. All of the poetic muses that stir emotion in order to synchronize in this same way. Thus, she balances with Polyhymnia who synchronizes the love between God and humanity by the same rhythmic sounds.

Visual Symbology

Erato is seen holding a waning crescent moon. The Moon’s rhythmic relationship with feminine fertility puts this moon in a time when the female is on the point of ending her cycle. At this point, a woman would generally be least open to erotic advances. Erato is staring wistfully at the moon ready to ply her craft. Her inspiration stands ready to start the cycle of erotic inspiration anew.

Application

When Erato presents in a meditation one should take note of how one is drawn by Eros to other persons. The querent should remember that Eros is not simply romantic love. It is the desire to be with another in loving union of any variety. Thus the way one is drawn to friends and family or the way one is drawn to someone they admire easily fall under this variety of love. The muse could be further calling one to express this desire and longing in sound that stirs and attracts.

In Reverse Erato draws the querent to contemplate the silence of unrequited love or the use of patience in erotic love. Oppositional Erato could also indicate a need to focus on the other varieties of love. Agapic love is calculated self sacrificial and is an exercise of knowledge and will as opposed to an experience of desire. Filial love is love based on common circumstances, for example, filial ties or companionship in a common goal, and requires recognition and will to develop.

D.15. Polimina (Polyhymnia)

Significance

Polyhymnia is the Muse of sacred poetry. She inspires the rhythms of language that stir in one the desire to synchronize one’s life to divine love and will. By her craft, one is drawn to the awe of God, one is either drawn in by the rhythm of the sacred poetry or music or one is inspired to create such art to share with others. As a poetic muse, She is a development of Euterpe in that lyrical language is the rhythmic music of the spoken word. She is also generally a development of either Thalia of Melpomene, in that her tale involves the channeling of one, the other, or both. But even more than this, Polyhymnia is the greatest of the poetic Muses and is the summation of their combined craft.

Polyhymnia strives to bring one to the glory, love, and gratitude of God, not just as a rational intent, but as a holistic experience of being. She truly passes the test of an ancient “god” who turned out to be an angel who gives glory to God and not to herself. As Dante noted in Canto XXIII of the Paradisio, “ If at this moment sounded all the tongues That Polyhymnia and her sisters made Most lubrical with their delicious milk, To aid me, to a thousandth of the truth It would not reach, singing the holy smile And how the holy aspect it illumed.”

Visual Symbology

Polyhymnia is seen in quiet meditation. She holds what appears to be a pan flute, ready to inspire hymns to ultimate divinity. She stands with heights in the background and a small city visible just at the base of the mountains, reminding one of one’s lowly place and the access to transcendence that Polyhymnia offers.

Application

To meet Polyhymnia in meditation calls one to seek the poetry and music that puts one in the presence of divinity. One is urged to take time to enter into a space of glorification and seek an extasis through the rhythms of poetry and music. The emotive experience is meant to then alter the rhythms of one’s life to better reflect divine purpose and telos. One may also reflect on the last time one had such a transcendent experience and analyze either its effect or circumstance. She may also be calling one to create a work to praise transcendence.

In Reverse Polyhymnia may be speaking to the lack of extasis in one’s life or that one has such experiences, but not to the degree they could if they evaluated their sources. It could indicate an over investment in “secular” music and poetry, itself not a bad thing, but such rhythms only synchronize to this world and not to the heights of transcendence.

D.16. Talia (Thalia)

Significance

Thalia is the Muse of comedy. As such she works with the poetic Muses to inspire narratives of hope that focuses on the generation of life, the achievement of stable security and ultimately a joyful disposition. She balances Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy, and together they form the exterior rhythms of life and death, hope and despair, joy and suffering. By herself, Thalia is sheer and unadulterated hope and joy that must be shaped by any and all of the preceding muses, who give her emotive inspiration accessible form and effect.

Visual Symbology

Thalia is seen sitting in a verdant field flanked by growing trees. The pastoral background gives one a sense of peace and security. Her seated posture is comfortable and puts one at ease. She is playing a small violin, an instrument which, when played appropriately, will enliven the soul to hope and joy. Thalia is the only Muse who does not have a sphere in her image. Perhaps this points to a better world where she would be all encompassing.

Application

To meet Thalia is to meet joy and hope. If one is in a slump it may be time to take the goodness of one’s life into account. The card may ask one to reflect on past joys or future hopes, take delight in them and assess their effect on the querent at the present. The raw nature of Thalia easily relates to other cards in the layout. Look for relationships that offer hope and joy for the query.

In Reverse Thalia portrays desperation and despair. Thalia in opposition may guide one to an emptiness one feels in life or a sense that things will not work out well. This position may also indicate frustration or overexertion from all the things that should bring joy in life. Here Thalia may bring comfort in her presence, but one must look through their own doubt and fear. In reverse thalia may also remind one of the deeper joy to be found in the suffering of sacrifice.

D.17. Melpomene (Melpomene)

Significance

Melpomene is the Muse of tragedy. As such she works with the poetic Muses to inspire narratives of despair and solemnity that focus on the fruitless struggle against fate, the fall of the prideful, the failing of the weak and ultimately the deep truth that all life is a journey toward death. She balances Thalia, the Muse of comedy, and together they form the exterior rhythms of life and death, hope and despair, joy and suffering. By herself, Melpomene is sheer and unadulterated dread and fear that must be shaped by any and all of the preceding muses, who give her emotive inspiration accessible form and effect. This form and effect allow finite humans to deal with the trauma of human life that Melpomene signifies.

Visual Symbology

Melpomene is pictured with a noticeably sad expression on her face. Her forehead seems sunken and her eyebrows are turned upwards in sheepish despair. She holds a horn and blows, but her clothes are windswept, seeming to indicate a small effort of sound against the torrent of nature which overwhelms the individual.

Application

To meet Melpomene in meditation is to meet raw despair in the face of fate. All are destined to die and Melpomene forces one to meet this fact of life. This card calls one to take stock of their relationship with the darker sides of life, especially their own weakness and mortality. Is the finite nature of their life having the proper motivation? Are they making good use of their time? The muse does not call one to stillness but to struggle, to assess how to best utilize the time one has.

In Reverse Melpomene reminds the querent that this is a Christian cosmology, thus hope triumphs over despair and there is freedom to counter fate. One is asked to look at the most hopeless situation and see hope. One is asked to take stock of the most determined aspects of their life and find a small window to volition.

D.18. Euterpe (Euterpe)

Significance

Euterpe is the Muse of Music. She is foundational to the craft of Terpsichore and the poetic muses in that she is the embodiment of rhythm. When analytical she is math, her skill is the analysis of Rhythm by measurement. Thus she is the inspiration that leads to the Art and Science of Music (Card C.26). When emotional Euterpe is the effect of music on the soul. She inspires one to the basic urge to hear and create musical sound in language and by instrument. From there the poetic Muses may take the experiant to a particular place of expression by channeling either Thalia or Melpomene. Euterpe signifies the inspiration that synchronization of the rhythm of life with the rhythm of the human heart, both emotionally and biologically.

Visual Symbology

Euterpe seems to be leaning against the trunk of a tree. Under a tree is generally a place where one receives messages or knowledge from divine beings. There Euterpe calmly waits to bring the querent such inspiration. She is playing an Aulos (a double flute) seeming to signify both the inspirational emotive aspect of music and the scientific mathematical aspect. Each is able to be used to reach a differing sense of the divine.

Application

To meet Euterpe is to meet foundational inspiration which is built upon to specific ends. She inspires and draws by means of a basic medium that can adapt and change to meet the querent or the message. She may be calling the querent to meditate on how one may adapt to find inspiration or to take stock in how music has effected or can help in the querent’s situation. She may be beckoning those so inclined to take quill to parchment, or she may be guiding the querent to the meaning of that song that has been rattling around in their head for some time. Fundamentally, she calls the querent to a true deep listening to their environment.

In Reverse Euterpe speaks to one’s lack of attention to the beauty or rhythm of life, especially sound. The rhythm of music is based on the rhythm of the heart. The querent should ponder whether, like the music of the spheres, they have become immune to the beat and are living bereft of some great joy due to this.

D.19. Cilio (Clio)

Significance

Clio is the Muse of history. Working up the hierarchy of being, we can see we are approaching less emotive and more controlling beings. This hierarchical structuring reflects the well ordered soul of Plato and St. Augustine, where the reasons control the passions and appetites.

History is a cataloging of the effect of each of the previous muses. She is most closely related to the first muse, in that both give narratives of the past. But Clio’s narratives are factual rather than existential or teleological like Calliope’s. As we move up, we go from the most intuitive, to the foundational muses, and now we reach a muse who was the “youngest” of the daughters of Zuse and gives us the collective memory of their exercise. She can be coupled with the craft of the other muses in order to perfect and stylize their urges based on past expression.

Clio is the Muse just before Apollo, who is the detached analyzer and organizer of the Muses. She may be, in effect, his demiurge, the memory that allows the detached mind to organize, analyze, and synthesize.

Visual Symbology

Clio is pictured with noticeable long hair wafting down to her ankles, representing the long passage of time. She is seen riding a laboring swan through a body of water with mountains reaching up in the background. The swan is notable as a symbol of Apollo, the leader of the Muses and the next card in the deck. Perhaps she rides the swan because of its association with light or because of the legend of the swan song. The swan is a silent animal, but it is said, at the end of its life, it lets out a beautiful song before expiring. If the water is the vast unconscious, then Clio’s journey is the objective flow of history upon the stillness of the collective unconscious. “History” is the song at the end of the journey as the summation of its communication and record.

Application

To meet Clio is obviously a call to reflect on one’s experience. As a Muse, she calls the querent to especially take stock of the effect of the other Muses in preparation for the order brought by Apollo. Clio is also an invitation to probe memory. Depending on where she is and how she relates to the other cards it may be time to dig deep into one’s memory for the forgotten and remember.

In Reverse Clio could indicate action without reflection. She could also indicate an overly historical interpretation of a situation. Life is dynamic and the past is not always causally indicative of the present. She could also indicate that a key piece of information is being forgotten. If this is in reference to another person, the querent may need to act as a historian or vice versa, they may need to reach out for historical information.

D.20. Apollo (Apollo)

Significance

Apollo is the God of the Sun. The sun is a masculine indicator for its linear progression, thus Apollo is the masculine organizing principle of the feminine emotive and intuitive Muses. He is the abstract reason needed to make sense of the inspiration and to bring it to its fullest expression. Apollo portrays a deep level of detachment that directly balances the imminent and phenomenological nature of the muses.

He brings analysis and precision to what was a haphazard experience of human expression. As an internal symbol, he is the ego, who stands apart from the experience of emotive inspiration. Through will and discipline, he brings the art to perfection. He works first with Clio, who provides the “data” of history, the record of past expression, then he brings to bear the organizational structure of the muses, from the fundamental urges (Euterpe, Thalia, and Melpomene) to the particular expressions and then all the way to the summation of inspiration, Polyhymnia.

Apollo is also the bridge to the next class of cards, The Arts and Sciences. As the representative of the Ego among passions and inspirations, he is what is needed in order to employ the will and discipline exhibited in the entire class of Arts and Sciences. Class C is the skill set, Apollo is the given psycho-spiritual matrix needed for their exercise.

Visual Symbology

Apollo is seen seated on two swans, his signatory bird. They are at rest after having been taken on their journey by Clio and now are presented for analysis and synthesis. Next to him is an escutcheon bearing an image of the Sun, symbolizing his domain of linear analytical masculinity. His feet are resting on the celestial sphere, implying the objective view one must take of “the whole” for true analysis. He holds a staff that is also resting on the sphere between his feet and raising over his shoulder where it erupts into sprouts. This signifies the fruit of the process of objective analysis.

Application

When the querent meets Apollo it is time to take an objective stance and apply analysis. This is especially true if the card is in relation to Muse cards, but it extends to any fact of a layout. Analysis calls for an objective stance, distinction into categories, understanding of relationships between parts, the process of reintegration and synthesis of parts, possibly in new variations.

In Reverse Apollo call the querent to utilize their intuitive sense and beg off analysis. The card could indicate an over attachment to analysis that is causing damage to the situation or a relationship. Apollo in opposition could also indicate a sliding away for use of skills and a deep plunge into the intuitive/unconscious. Lastly, in opposition Apollo, could indicate that Analytical abilities are being misused, either due to poor premises or poor methodology.

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