I'm the idiot who thought 'oh yeah I know tarot real well and I know Karnivool back to front, mapping the first two albums to a cohesive tarot card spread will be easy' *haha bitch you thought, art does not play that way*. Anyway I've been plugging away slowly with it (I've been very unwell, in and out of hospital, thank god my body behaved for the tour) and wanted to share the absolutely perfect presentation for it I found in a hippie shop in Dromana. And I'll share with you a little of what I've written up so far. Themata is done, Sound Awake halfway done, i need to stop listening to them and noticing new things lol

C.O.T.E - The World

Centre Of The Earth. It seems almost trite to name The World as the card for this song, but here we have our narrator, in suspended animation being cradled like the Gaia in The Second Renaissance from The Animatrix - not just for evocative purposes do we draw this reference, but this is someone about to take a leap of brash bravado, a leap of faith, and it's all going to work out because it always has before. Humanity's downfall is its hubris however and it is ever the case here. Our hero - and this is fully a reverse/shadow hero's journey (a Fool's journey, if you will), decides that the world he inhabits is too safe and comfortable, he wants to see what else is out there. The cradle is abandoned and all the goodwill and high hopes in the world will not save him. Not yet. One cannot regain the world one has lost, and one cannot find one's way back home again from some paths taken.

Themata - The Fool (shadow/baggage: Page of Cups reversed)

The title track. The very first second marked by a sharp intake of breath (which we will hear a  jagged ironic echo of in Scarabs) - The Fool taking a deep inhale before stepping off into the abyss. The track builds with the tension of anticipating the leap to come and the ecstasy of flying free in the sensory serenity, the updraft taking him higher than he ever thought possible. The dog, dancing around his feet, a sign of playfulness yes but also the sense animals have for danger, nipping around The Fool's feet, trying to get his attention, to say all is not well. For The Fool always carries a satchel of all his worldly possessions - a small bundle to signify leaving (almost) everything behind in what he has told himself is a great spiritual quest in order to cover for the fact that he doesn't know what the hell he's actually doing, he just needs to do \*something\*. This particular satchel contains The Fool's shadow baggage - the thing that will initially drag on him and set the stage for the unfolding tragedy. It takes the form of the Page of Cups reversed, representing youthful impetuousness, a cup overflowing with emotion and no clear direction for it, disregard and disdain for the rules and a desire to excess in order to "feel" everything. It does not take long for one to feel too much however



No I haven't forgotten my project!!