In this reading I want to to ask The Wild Unknown tarot deck about music history. During university we had to study relevant music figures to help expand our understanding of our chosen instrument. I played the electric bass, so bass players in music history were my purview.
I studied the great jazz bassist Paul Chambers, a highly decorated jazz figure and monster bass player. The challenge wasn’t learning his music, but having to come to terms with the fact that Chambers passed away at 33 years old. His biographies claim it was tuberculosis, but his life of addiction was said to have contributed to his decline in health and eventual death.
Is there a chance that Paul Chambers could still be alive in an alternate universe? He would be about 84 now if was still alive.
The Spread
This will be a good time to talk about the tarot spread I am going to use to uncover these questions. While you read how to this spread works listen to Paul Chambers. Below is the spread of cards that appeared for the reading.
The Reading Method
I spread the cards out on my reading space and mix them up as best I can. I use sage to clear energy from the area. I do a riffle shuffle. The cards are tall, so I hold them from the side so they face upwards. After doing a riffle shuffle I perform a few overhand shuffle.
Right now I am using a yoga mat spread out over a white board. The grip of the mat feels really good against the cards as I work with them.
With the cards on the mat I cut the deck three times starting in the center and moving left to right creating three cut piles. These three piles to draw from represent the form of past, present, future for the question I am asking. Question: Is there a chance that Paul Chambers could still be alive in an alternate universe?
I have setup a particular notation where (*) shows the first card drawn from each pile. The notation shows the result of the cards as they appear.
This spread works by flipping over the top card on each pile. If the cards come up reversed you put them above the pile right side up. Above the three piles there is a lot of space in the event you draw a lot of reversed cards.
Drawing from the present pile revealed 2 The High Priestess. It was reversed so I put it above the pile and noted a (*). Then I draw another card. The 7 of Pentacles appeared reversed so I put it above the High Priestess. The last card drawn was 17 The Star, and it appeared upright on the pile completing the draw from that pile.
If the star would have come up reversed I would place it above the 7 of Pentacles. To do this spread you would continue to draw cards placing them above the others until you draw a card upright. In some readings one pile can have many cards above it.
The more cards you draw for your question, the more complex your answer is. Some readings will have all the first 3 cards appear upright, an easy reading, not very complex. Based on the rules alone there are bound to be instances where you have a lot of cards on the table. This can create an interesting network of relationships. Since you have been keeping track of where the cards are placed. You can try to look for patterns.
What you will notice is the first card drawn and the last card drawn from a particular pile can have many cards in between. What we see in the spread is 17 The Star, 2 The High Priestess, then 7 of Pentacles. But they were drawn in the sequence of 2 The High Priestess, 7 of Pentacles, then 17 The Star. You can ask yourself is the first card drawn and the last card drawn have significant meaning? If you keep the cards in a matrix you can begin to see patterns easier. If you end up with a pile that has drawn more than 2 reversed cards then you will need to organize the spread.
When the third card comes up reversed you can put it beside the card that was drawn first. If the fourth card is drawn reversed you can put it beside the second. You would then keep alternating until you draw a card upright that you will leave on the pile.
The picture bellow will illustrate how you could keep track of the cards that come up reversed. This is just a demo reading that is not relevant to the reading we did for Paul Chambers.
The Reading: Past
Chambers was born on April 22, 1935 and his music training began in the classical tradition. Remember now, it was the 40’s then and all the what we “crazy jazz stuff” hasn’t been invented yet. Be Bop was still all the rave as so was classical music. Cool jazz wouldn’t emerge until the mid 50’s, and for a good majority of would be jazz players, classical training was the only way to get your music fundamentals. To be a good jazz player would require you to learn classical music first. Then to play jazz you just did what you felt is hip.
The Ace of Swords resonate well here because there is infinite clarity that comes in classical music training. The musicianship fundamentals learned from classical music translate to any genre of music. Being classically trained would also provide you with musical literacy. This would allow you to read and understand music quicker.
Krans’s depiction of a sword with an infinity symbol is very strong. The bass was Chambers magical weapon, The Ace of Swords evokes a weaponized musical clarity. A Lightning crash for a brief moment reveals the whole world for only a brief instance. Like a flash of lightning Chambers education was rather short. A quick flash of musical training was all Chambers needed.
Krans’s 10 of Pentacles confirms this overwhelming abundance of music knowledge. Chambers had more than enough skill and training to be able to make a name for himself in jazz music.
The way this spread can read is interesting because the 10 of Pentacles also reveals a linear relationships to 17 The Star then the 5 of Cups. It foreshadows his future. The pentacles reveal his wealth, musical achievements, friends and family gained from his musical career. His status as a bonafied jazz star is then cut short from excess.
The Reading: Present
Jazz requires a strong intuition to play with others, and in some ways demands that you access other realms and live between two worlds. Being on the road playing a series of shows is a whole other life. The appearance of the High Priestess suggests a strong intuition found in Chambers.
The Ace of Swords is in a linear relationship with The High Priestess suggesting a linear growth. Chambers musical weapon has created an aura of The High Priestess.
The Star is Chambers birth card, and couldn’t be more appropriate to appear in the present pile for this reading. Maybe this is the validation I have been seeking all this time. To jazz bass players he is a star. To this day his bass lines remain a strong part of jazz pedagogy.
The 7 of Pentacles is very contemplative. It asks for patience to ruminate over failure and success. Maybe this was the energy that Chambers was struggling with. Maybe he wasn’t sure if he could maintain the life style of a jazz musician. The 7 of Pentacles feels like Chambers is attempting to maintain his stardom but also in a constant state of planning for future success. Not being able to turn off your creative mind can be quite draining.
The Reading: Future
Chambers future is depicted as quite dark and confirms his passing. The 5 of Cups usually speaks of regret, sorrow and bitter loss. The 5 of Cups in other decks is visualized as having too much to drink.
Try to imagine the environments these musicians worked in. Lots of smoking, drinking, plenty of vices to appease any desire you had. The road life would have been hard. Long hours on stage. Some nights, musicians would play for up to four hours or more. Image the physical work it would take to perform for that long. You burn the midnight oil pretty quick.
Conclusion
Chambers birth cards are interesting because he really is a jazz star. The Judgment card doesn’t appear in the reading, but it helps makes sense of his incredible short career. Well after he is gone we still continue to judge and examine his life’s work.
It seems that with all his stardom his passing was inevitable. Thank you Paul Chambers for your sharing your self with the world. Thank you tarot spirit for allowing us to connect with the wild unknown. Mr. P.C. you have your place in the stars and the wild unknown.
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References and Links:
Kenner, Corrine. Tarot for Writers. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications. 2009. Print.
Krans, Kim. The Wild Unknown Tarot Guidebook. San Francisco, CA: Harper One. 2016. Print.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Chambers
Attribution for Images from Universal Tarot: ©Lo Scarabeo srl, via Cigna 110, 10155 Torino, Italy. All rights reserved, used by permission.
The Wild Unknown Card images courtesy of The Wild Unknown
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