Gallery Archetypes

Hermetic Wisdom and the Attributes of Our Time


“To believe is to reflect, to know is to penetrate” Robert Fludd

Tarot ReVisioned began in 1986 as the creation of a few pen and ink tarot drawings for a friend’s journal. It grew over seventeen years organically into something altogether surprising and revealing, not to mention beautiful. It is an instrument and tool of greatest value for those journeying into the deep waters of imagination and the dark often hidden complexities of one’s often troubled psyche and soul.  The book, Tarot ReVisioned, evolved over these many years through a process of creatively and diligently asking questions about the nature of consciousness and exploring the implications of archetypal and eternal imagination with art and Hermetic Alchemical symbolism. What has emerged is a hard won doorway into worlds of wonder and profound meaning. Its purpose is to open the doors of perception, cultivating inner tools for navigating waking reality and mending the troubled inner self by bridging it with true imagination, archetype and the symbolical universes that can help aid the world we think as ours with greater vision and inspiration.

The archetypal philosophy of Tarot ReVisioned creates the intellectual and creative tools necessary to move human consciousness beyond a model of self as psychologically limited or religiously incomplete. It establishes links with perennial wisdom, tradition, history and humanity’s multidimensional origins and creative adventure through worlds of time and space.

the waning…

Judgement, (below)

The archetype of Judgement leads toward catharsis or purgation of impurities that pollute the psyche with hatreds, contempt, and blame. It is unconcerned with self- righteousness or seeming innocence. The world stage is not a solitary place. Every action creates a reaction. Nothing is left unaffected by the wake of any person’s ignorance or desire for dominance at the expense of another…The negative path of the divine fire attributed to Judgment is exemplified in the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bringing World War II to a close…It is the historical misuse of the rational mind to justify inhuman and monstrous injustices perpetrated by one group against another that inflames the wrath of Judgment.

the apparent…

The Moon, (left)

Natural intelligence is the mode of consciousness attributed to the Moon, suggesting the underlying guiding intelligence alive within all organic forms…From an observer on earth, the Moon has the same relative proportion as the sun, which symbolically suggests that the emotional or lunar nature is bound by the gravitational pull of each person’s sense of self…Lunar awareness brings with it the insight that being is a living force which experiences itself in time through cycles, repetition, death, and rebirth, but most importantly, through symbiosis. To learn the wisdom of the Moon, a natural, rather than conditioned humanity must be cultivated

the present…

The Magus, (above)

Authentic knowledge and the basis of wisdom does not change. Its roots are eternal and in alignment with the inner nature of all that is. The Magus holds the key that unlocks the hidden mystery and depth of human potentiality and creativity. Those who wish to embrace the source of their own being must first be willing to forgo opinion and learn to listen to the guidance of the Magus. He translates timeless wisdom through the wonders of nature and within one’s heart, revealing the majesty of creation and the divine source from which all emerges. The Magus signifies the proper balance of the dual aspects of intellect, bridging the analytical function of reason with the creative qualities of inspiration and invention. The two working together develop true discrimination, which is then able to exercise informed freedom of choice.

the emergent…

The Wheel, (above)

The Wheel is an ancient symbol of life used to represent the wheel of karma, the revolution of birth, life, death and rebirth. The Wheel of Fortune represents the energetic interaction of all manifestation, and teaches that there is no point where one has arrived or can remain fixed. Every experience or insight is an ongoing process that continues to follow its own course of expansion and transformation. The circle suggests that existence is not a straight line, but an ever-existent curve. Stagnation or ceasing to change equals death. Everything is in constant movement from the subatomic to the molecular and chemical, from the galactic to the universal. Rotation, contraction, and expansion or inhaling and exhaling constitute a most fundamental principle of life.

the unseen…

The High Priestess, (right)

The High Priestess represents the great cosmic mother and sea from which emanates omnipresent tidal forces that contain the source and fullness of infinite potentialities. Her eternal currents sustain and nourish all realities, realms, and levels of consciousness. She is the divine Sophia, nascent cosmic memory and wisdom at the root of all consciousness and being…Restoring the wisdom of the High Priestess unlocks the mysteries that reside within the human heart and mind. Its depths can only be detected in a wholly original and subjective fashion by those who are willing to persevere, seek profoundly, and love greatly. The High Priestess reveals that most of what is truly eternal remains veiled to human comprehension because of the limiting nature of time and space. Timelessness cannot be comprehended if it takes time to do so. The High Priestess teaches one to recognize that this world is brief, one’s sojourn upon the earth passes in the blink of an eye. The key to her path is in learning to be fearless in the quest to reclaim one’s true inheritance. Her influence enables the individual to awaken within the context of time to his true origins that are eternal and can only be discovered within the inner sanctum of the heart.

About Leigh J McCloskey

Leigh J McCloskey is a modern Renaissance man; he is an artist, author, well-known actor and visual philosopher. His highly creative life has been devoted to exploring the symbolical, archetypal and hidden aspects of the psyche and inner self through his art, scholarship, books and experiences as a professional actor for many years. He has hosted weekly discussion groups in his home, Olandar, for over 39 years. His deep knowledge ranges from arcane wisdom, religion, depth psychology and quantum physics to the mythic imagination and the creation of art. He is the founder of Olandar Foundation for Emerging Renaissance (OFFER) and gives regular tours of his art and home, Olandar

Leigh lectures both nationally and internationally and has given numerous talks and presentations of his art and visual philosophy. Many are available on youtube. He has contributed numerous essays on topics ranging from William Blake and the Heroic Imagination, the Archetypal Tarot & the Kabbalah, to Jacob Boehme and Theosophical Thought. He has written, illustrated and published seven books, including his masterpiece of art and writing, Tarot ReVisioned, reviewed as possibly the most significant contribution the tradition in over 100 years.

https://leighmccloskey.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_McCloskey
https://www.youtube.com/user/leighjmccloskey
Feature in Sanctuary Magazine

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