Synchronicity

As we tour Minneapolis, we make a quick impulse tour of an Irish-themed gift shop and grocery, Irish on Grand. Leaving the shop, I spy a tiny sign, posted near the door: “Bidden or not, God is present.” For reasons I don’t clearly understand, the thought sticks with me throughout the day.

Our thorough tour of St. Paul and Minneapolis, led by two enthusiastic and energetic local friends, carries us from store to store for several more hours. At one point, we stop in at Magus Books, a large and well-stocked store with a rambling collection of everything from aphrodisiacs to Tarot decks. There, I spy one of the new reprints of a deck I’ve long wanted: the Jungian Tarot, drawn by Robert Wang.

I find the lack of numbers, titles, and keywords particularly striking; the decision to feature the images as pure archetypes allows each card to speak volumes. I spend a happy hour studying the deck, then package it for the return trip home.

Back in Jackson, I sit down to work with the deck for the first time. Instead of a simple pattern, the Jungian deck features ten very small, very colorful, very detailed scenes. In the middle of them is a strange seal: a tree bearing multicolored fruits, each labeled with one of the astrological signs. Around the seal is this Latin inscription (reprinted here exactly as it appears on the cards): Primo homo terranus de terra. Secundus homo coelesus de coelo. Vocatus adque non bocatus. Deus adeni.

Curious, I surf over to Perseus, where I can make use of the Latin to English search facility, and discover the first phrase is from the Latin Vulgate’s translation of I Cor. 15: “The first man was from the earth; the second man was from heaven.”

The second phrase eludes me, though; try as I might, I can’t find it in any text (with good reason — the text on the cards is garbled, and includes typos that make the search harder than it has to be). Ultimately, I give up and Google the words vocatus and Deus … and find the phrase is a garbled version of this Irish prayer: “Bidden or not bidden, God is present.”

Here I am, using a deck based on the work of a man who wrote extensively about synchronicities — meaningful coincidences — and find myself right smack im the middle of one.