The ajna chakra, that swirling center of energy just above the eyebrows, is my third eye.
The camera's viewfinder is my fourth.
However different they are, in my own experience I feel that a psychic and a photographer works in the same manner: they leave their normal everyday consciousness for a while, and then see the world in a different perspective. The psychic gains insight. The photographer comes up with art.
The tarot has been invaluable for me as a tool for self-divination, path-working and skrying. Now it has also become a source of artistic inspiration. I remember that when I got my first tarot deck (a Rider-Waite), I kept staring at the artwork of each card, like miniature Magrittes.
That's probably why I came up with these curious photos. All of these were taken at the spur of the moment. In that split-second instant where I have to think of composition, the beautiful and arcane imageries of the mystical tarot have resurfaced themselves in my subconscious.
The Five of Cups, and Glenish wearing her hooded jacket with the view of the mountains of Baguio under bleak skies.
The Two of Wands, and Carla flanked between two small trees while looking over a river somewhere in the province of Bataan.
The Fool, and a little girl taking her puppy for a walk on the road in Binangonan, Rizal.
The Eight of Wands, and a boy sitting among leaning trees in a forest in Quezon province.
The Queen of Swords, and Ms. Liza, our "queen", preparing work plans in her laptop while Mr. Owen, our "king", prepares sandwiches in the kitchen. Taken during our company trip in Fontana, Pampanga.
The Ten of Cups, and Julius standing on a pillar - at the center of earth, sea and sky.
There have been many metatheses of the word TAROT with their own mystical meaning - ROTA (wheel), TROA (gate), ATOR (hathor), TORA (law); but one stands out as my favorite: O, ART.
Bathala Nawa!
