“Astrology is one of the earliest attempts made by man to find the order hidden behind or within the confusing and apparent chaos that exists in the world.” – Karen Hamaker-Zondag

“Failure and success seem to have been allotted to men by their stars. But they retain the power of wriggling, of fighting with their star or against it, and in the whole universe the only really interesting movement is this wriggle.” – E.M. Forester

“We need not feel ashamed of flirting with the zodiac. The zodiac is well worth flirting with.” – D.H. Lawrence

“Above all else: go out with a sense of humor. It is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.” – Hugh Sidey

“He who has seen present things has seen all, both everything which has taken place from all eternity and everything which will be for time without end; for all things are of one kin and of one form.” – Marcus Aurelius

Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting week at Prompt Nights. I figured it might be fun for us to do something different. Tarot cards came in Europe around the era of the late 1300’s as a result of playing cards introduced by China. In fact, the first known public use of Tarot cards as a form of divination is recorded to have taken place in France in 1785 by Jean-Baptiste Alliette, who performed using (what is now thought to be magic) to influence the cards and demonstrate divination. Tonight, lets have some fun 😀 Visit TAROT CARD PREDICTION and then based on the cards, write the first thing that comes to mind. You can opt to write either poem or fiction. For purpose of amusement please refer to the intriguing poem below:

The Queen’s Conjurer 

by Suzanne Delaney

1.
‘Given to magic and uncanny arts’
‘Art mathematical’ to make strange works
Genius of movement artificial
Mechanical scarab perceived in flight
Miracles and marvels to rival God,
Pneumatics, mirrors, secret pulleys, springs;
Much wonder does such kinaesthesia bring
to an audience ignorant of such things
*
2.
Rumours spread that he employs diabolic means
“Hugger muggerey abounds, “they say
“He has become a companion of Hell hounds”
Conjuror of wicked and evil damned things.
*
3.
In the Queen’s Palace dispensing advice
Master of all the marvels of science
His chambers are but a labyrinth of books
Botanic study, Astrology, Theology,
hieroglyphic monad’s from the zodiac
All about him reeked of subjects mysterious
crystal balls, cryptic maps, looking glasses,
He dabbled in demonology,
And in the languages of Angels
to induce latent forces of heaven and earth.
Alchemic distilling of smoking potions
Clear bright liquids of thrixotropic sky
Tinctures of lilac, jet and aquamarine
Magical seals wrapt up in blood red silk
Paraphernalia of the most dastardly ilk
*
4.
Beware the blazing star, the fiery Trigon
Beware the stranger, the melancholic one,
His powers to summon up bright squadrons
Beware of knowing unknowable things
A shape-shifter brings unseemly doings.
*
5.
Accusations of sorcery abound,
Powder ground from the Philosopher’s stone
Strange Adamic alphabets, origins
of a language God used to name living things
Invocations to the four directions of wind
Solstice, equinox and on full moons
calling on all the secrets of Angels,
Spells translated from Agrippa’s Magic Book
*
6.
Cryptic information from archangels
A treasure of heavenly wisdom, or
is it the basest of trickery? Alas
In his obsession to know all, the Conjurer ,
fell under the spell of a wicked trickster.
*
7.
Such a cauldron of knowledge was “Mortlake”
A place for resurrecting wisdom,
For conjuring ideas from old ways of thinking
So many converged for this common cause
A Polish prince clothed in robes of bright purple,
seeking to obtain the Kingdom of Moldavia
Sponsor of Paracelsus foreseen by Galvah
Even a gentle Italian friar
referring to formulas by Pythagoras
motifs of magic to shadow ideas
As spirits skipped brightly through addled minds
Playful Madimi, morose Murifri,
proclaiming, “Hell itself, of Earth, is weary ”
*
8.
Direct descendants of “Areopagus”
a manifesto in Defense of Poesy”
rotated in a zodiac of their own wit’
Were Westonia’s fiery words
kindled here at mysterious Mortlake?
*
9.
Prophecies came to them in visions,
of the great ‘Armada’ and the Queen’s be-heading
Soon after a great tempest at midnight,
all secretly embarked from Gravesend
to fantastic and frightening domains
from which none of them would return unchanged.
In the dead of night past the Traitor’s gate
Fled this intelligencer for the Queen
A spy, clandestine, eluding capture
for the “Poyson of Supposed Prophecies’
his ‘heedless hap’ left to the perils of the sea.
*
10.
His life of secrets, of numbers and words
The power of magic in all little things
Trifling in the darkest of powers
he landed in dire consequence,
Twiddler of Thaumaturgy and wonders
Genius of Inter- traffique of thought
Tweaking his infinite ‘twaberment’
for his complete mastery over life.

So pick up a pen and lets begin! As always the prompt will remain open the entire week so that everyone can write according to their own pace and time. Please click on the blue widget below. When it opens be sure to click on “add your link.” Now skip the blanks and proceed directly to “try here” written at the end in small font. It will direct you on how to link your poem. Please visit other Poets and do comment on their poems. Have fun ?