20172102_GLR CARDS E_BOOK

THE POPE
JOURNEY / CARD NUMBER 5
The anonymous Gentleman immortalized by El Greco has become our POPE. El
Greco’s portraits are known for their ethereal aspect. The man is here, fixing us with
the deepest gaze, and yet we know how much farther than us this gaze can go.
Watching the POPE card is like a privilege. With him, we are inspired to do our best
under his auspices. Forhimperhaps.
The colours of the collage from the red at the bottom to the blue at the top represent
the intermediary status of the POPE, who is suspended between earth and heaven.
A mechanism of a watch in earth tones is situated on the POPE’s heart to remind us
of his human condition, just like the broken piano. By contrast, his divine aspect
appears on his triple crown adorned with the divinities of Classical mythology (a
crown in fact composed of the original frontal plan of the Coliseum). Because Tarot
tradition has allowed a woman to live next to the POPE, I have imagined a feminine
presence in the back of his head. On the top left of the card, a white bosom is visible.
It can be that of Sophia, the Wisdom of many religions, and God’s companion for
some.
This description of the card cannot be other than full of emotions. They are only
mine. When I see an extraordinary softness, intelligence, and depth in this POPE,
you can feel otherwise. And most importantly you and I have changing impressions.
Sometimes the POPE’s grandeur does not bring me protection advises me instead
not to be too cerebral at the moment of the reading. Sometimes too, I focus on a
single part of the collage. What does it mean, for instance, that which looks like
flames at the top of the POPE’s crown?
-18-