2019 was a hard year for NLMB, losing members back to back to different opps and starting a new bloody war with DeathRow, in 2020 the war will slow down due to a lot of factors. Most members who put in work in that war will get locked up and NLMB will focus on other opps just like DeathRow, we will come back in the summer of 2022 to that beef.

Willie "Ghost 🕊️" Coker

08/31/2019
I didn't had space to include Ghost in the last part so i decided to do it here, it's not that important to the NLMB/DeathRow beef so it's ok if i include it at the beginning.
Ghost also known as Rat was a respected OG from GME, i am not sure if he was the target or not but DeathRow and Lakeside dissed him a lot, Fa Fa Fa said they killed Ghost and ever since then GME didn't do anything for him, ignore the video from the store, that's not Ghost, it's a mistake by the one who made the post, the one who died in the store was an innocent as far as i know and it happen way after Ghost died. This happen in the same month DeathRow killed Willie, DeathRow was sliding a lot in 2019.
Ghost was outside with multiple people in his own hood when shots rang out from an unknown direction, he was shot multiple times in the chest and he died at the hospital.
"Ghost got hit up" 0:58

Michael "Aero 🕊️" Portis

01/05/2020
One of the reasons i believed Savo 🕊️ was killed by kings was Aero death, months after Savo died, Aero was sliding with FatLord 🔒 on some kings, which made sense at least during that time, Savo died in a hood cool with the kings, Aero is sliding on the kings, it was making sense into my head that Aero died trying to get revenge for Savo + that's what i was told, again i was wrong. As i said in my previous post, Savo was killed by NLMB, Aero was just a hothead who was sliding on his opps, nothing weird.
Aero was on the frontline and did a lot of dirt for DeathRow, he earned the nickname "23" for a reason, in my previous post i put a screenshot with Fa Fa Fa straight up saying Aero killed G Dottie 🕊️. I know a lot of people believed Aero killed an innocent, but people told me that Garcia 🕊️ was a known king, why would Aero and FatLord slide on some innocents and specifically target them?
Aero and FatLord were driving a turquoise SUV when they made a U-turn at the end of the street and parked in the block close to a king hood, both got out of the SUV with armed 9-mm handguns and approached Garcia and his neighbor as they were outside talking, they opened fire hitting the neighbor in the arm and hitting Garcia multiple times, Garcia returned fire with his own weapon striking Aero multiple times who died at the scene, FatLord was also shot multiple times, FatLord left Aero there and went to a hospital with the SUV in the same clothes that CPD saw on the footage. Garcia was pronounced dead at the hospital, police recovered 19 9-mm shell casings and 10 .40-caliber shell casings from the crime scene.
This is a very controversial situation because at first, people said after FatLord recovered from his wounds, he told the police what happen and also snitched on BD 🕊️ but now they saying free him, they saying that someone else ratted and not him, but according to this article, CPD is using FatLord as a source, FatLord was the one who allegedly was the driver on the Willie hit, FatLord is still locked up so who knows.
The scanner also confirms that they was sliding on some kings because they was having problems lately, it could be possible that some kings gave the location of Savo to NLMB, Savo was killed right at his home so NLMB probably got the drop from someone.
NLMB and ABK will diss Aero hard because he killed G Dottie, someone also recorded Aero on the ground, which was heavily mocked by his opps.
"Lil Aero a dumbass got hit on a hit" 0:23

Tristan "Tedo G 🕊️" Rogers

04/05/2020
NLMB first loss in 2020 but not because of gun violence, Tedo was from the MuskegonBoyz clique, he was killed by a car in DucciWay 🔱 hood, there is not a lot to say about him, he was a respected OG who was either related to Kobe 🕊️ or close to him.

Shianne "Anna 🕊️" Reynolds

04/19/2020
Anna was a very loved member from MTG 079 now more known as BiyoBlock, she was Biyo 🕊️ sister, at first people believed that she was not gangbanging but that's false, there is a lot of captions with her saying she was using guns to slide, i don't think she was active when she died in that life and she probably was not the target either. However, she probably was active in the past and as we all know, the past is catching up to you, her vigil was also shot, allegedly by NLMB again.
What i know is this, allegedly NLMB saw some MTG 079 members in traffic in SirconnCity 🔱 hood, they sped up behind them and shot the whole car, Anna was just unlucky since she was in the car with them, she was hit in the head and CPD pronounced her dead at the scene. This was one of the first getback NLMB got for Capo, but it will not stop here, NLMB will get more getback for Capo months later.
2020 was a hard year for MTG 079, they lost 4 members, Anna 🕊️, Pook 🕊️ who was not killed by any opps, LB 🕊️ an original who was also close to Biyo, LB was killed in DrillCity 📶🔱🅱️ hood, last one is Jeezy Snow 🕊️, we will get later to him.

Anthony "C-Note 🕊️" Smith

04/27/2020
C-Note was an OG from NLMB, to be more specific he was from the MuskegonBoyz clique, from what i know he passed away from natural causes, nothing to do with gun violence. He was born in 1985 so he was old compared to a lot of main members from MuskegonBoyz clique like G Farro for example, you could say he was from that White Folks generation.

Junius "BoBo 🕊️" Thurston

05/07/2020
BoBo was a very loved member from ABK, he was one of the main faces from there. BoBo was also a rapper, one of his best songs Pigs Hot where you can see a lot of ABK members including Yogi 🕊️, BoBo was close to NLMB as well, he did a song with Juvie and before his death you could see him around G Herbo.
BlackMobb was having a field day when BoBo was killed, even though BoBo left that life behind while starting a truck company, it's not like your opps will forgive you or forget that you did dirt in the streets or hurt their people, that shit is stucked until you die, even if you are 30, 40, as long as you put yourself in danger(go back to the city) you can get killed anywhere.
BoBo exit his car and went to a gas station in a relatively safe area far away from any hood, a black Audi pull up and a rear passenger open fire, he ran north from the station but then a gunman got out of the car and chased after him, firing more shots. BoBo collapsed and the gunman caught up to him standing over him and fired more shots, BoBo was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said he was shot multiple times.
BlackMobb were not the only ones having a field day with his death, PocketTown also dissed him:
"BoBo got his ass smoked, 20 bullets took his soul" 2:45
It is sad because BlackMobb and ABK were like this, but friends are turning to enemies and both sides lost main members in this war.

Lee "KTS Rio 🕊️" Cameron

07/12/2020
If you follow the drill scene, then you know who was KTS Rio, one of the main faces from PocketTown and Lil Los 🔒 little brother, he was a huge loss for PocketTown, after his death a lot of stuff went down.
Rio was driving a vehicle with two other teenagers near a gas station in KakiWorld 🔱🅱️⭐️✊🏿 hood when a silver SUV pulled up and someone inside started shooting, Rio was shot multiple times and he was pronounced dead at the hospital. The 14-year-old boy was shot in the back and a 17-year-old boy was hit in the right arm, both were taken to the hospital in good condition.
After his death PocketTown goes by "RioGang" in his honour, Rio was also one of their main rappers, one of his most known song is NLMBK, Faro dissed him in a song after he died:
"Rio got hit and they left his ass twitching" 0:38
"Rio got hit, y'all ain't get your getback" 1:05
A lot of people are saying NLMB killed KTS Rio but if you watch Freeband BoBo 🕊️ video that CH88 made, it is very clear that NLMB didn't do anything to Rio, because the war started when Lil Greg 🕊️ was killed, that's also what BoBo said. The beef was not serious until Lil Greg died, BoBo also said the whole war started because of a bitch, Lil Greg wanted to call his guys to kill BoBo because of a girl. Feel free to watch the video, it's explaining a lot of stuff.
Remember there is a difference between "twitter beef" like disses and blood beef, KTS Dre did dirt on NLMB but he did that for Lakeside while PocketTown was his second hood(he started to claim PocketTown after KTS Von died), so Lil Greg was the first guy to die in that beef, we will get later to him.
Now honestly it is not known who killed KTS Rio, but one of the most plausible theory is that SirconnCity killed him, months after KTS Rio died, PocketTown lost KDawg 🕊️, another top member while sliding on SirconnCity hood, his article doesn't mention anything about sliding but both sides said that.
"We doing hits without hoodies and masks, Rio got hit, he got stretched like an elastic" 1:08
"KDawg got hit on a hit, he dead" 0:24
They are main opps but since PocketTown top members were sliding, i think that means something, especially after Rio died.
This won't stop at KTS Rio, this year would be the most hardest year for PocketTown, they will lose 6 members in one year and they was all top members, but not all of them were killed by opps.
Big Glizzy/Lil James 🕊️ (June 07 2020), killed at a party in Robbins, a suburb of Chicago.
KTS Rio 🕊️ (July 12 2020), KDawg 🕊️ (September 27 2020), Nuke 30 🕊️ (November 25 2020), killed OT, LA Glizzy/Lil Ant 🕊️ (January 12 2021), killed OT, Killa Spook 🕊️ (March 26 2021), we will get later to Killa Spook.
"They lost 6 niggas in one year, tryna make the rest of them disappear" 1:53

Antoine "BT 🕊️" Rose

08/22/2020
BT was a very loved member from NLMM and 358Gang, he claimed both sets, he was also close to NLMB, one of the reasons he died. Even though NLMB and 358Gang are opps, as i said in my previous parts, NLMM was always a set focusing on money, they was never known to slide like that, so that's probably why he was close to NLMB and cool with NLMB opps, 358Gang. BT also appeared on the Maurice show.
I think everyone knows that Fa Fa Fa straight up said they killed BT, so why they killed him? Well even though BT was not involved in their beef, it doesn't matter, he was close to NLMB and 358Gang killed Mook 🕊️ in 2019, so DeathRow got their getback for him. I don't think BT was the specific target because the shooting occured in TheBush 👑🦁 territory, which are opps to DeathRow. BT was shot in the head and in the abdomen, CPD pronounced him dead at the scene, a 32 year old man was also shot in the abdomen and in the leg, he was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Sean "Cello Da Shoota 🕊️" Wilson

09/07/2020
There was a lot of back and forth between NoGood and NLMB, mainly because NLMB killed Montae 🕊️ and it was forever stuck there, even though NoGood and NLMB are old opps, that beef was really inactive compared to Lakeside for example, but this all changed when Montae was killed, Montae was very loved by NoGood and like Jeff Fort said "there is not going to be any killing without killing" Cello was not really a main face from NLMB, he was from the NoLimit clique but his original hood was JBG 🔱 also known as MoneGang.
Cello was driving with someone else in the car in NoGood ⭐️✊🏿 hood, Jay Savage and Deonte 🔒 fired shots and the person in the backseat fired back, hitting one of them in the forearm, Cello was hit in the neck and died at the hospital, the other person was listed in good condition after being shot in his thigh, he has a license to carry his gun. Jay Savage and Deonte were both charged with his murder, both were from NoGood and close to Montae.

Deshawn "Jeezy Snow 🕊️" Fletcher

10/15/2020
Jeezy was in ABK 4️⃣🍸⭐️✊🏿🔱 hood driving his car when Mally 🔒 opened fire from the sunroof of a silver Chrysler 300, he was shot multiple times in the head, neck and upper torso, he died at the hospital two days later. There is a lot of contradiction of the car used in the murder, what we know for sure is that Mally shot from the sunroof. Mally also searched the murder on google to see if Jeezy died.
This was a a crazy hit for many reasons, one of them is that Lil Wet was driving the car, Lil Wet did this two months after he beat his quadruple murder case, the case is complicated but to this day Mally is still locked up for it. The full foia if you want to read more, from what i know the case is very strong against Mally but let's be real, Lil Wet beat a quadruple murder, everything is possible in Chicago, so i won't be surprised if he is beating it.
Lil Wet also hinted in his song "Nun Stop" about the hit, the music video was deleted or made private, but the audio version is still up.
"Gotta ride for my gang, Steph got the wheel, Lil Mally might come out the roof " 0:44
Jeezy was actually very close to DoggPound 🅱️, you can see him around them in old videos and i think he was related to some members from there too, i am not sure if he was claiming DoggPound at one point but members from there still say rip to him, again it doesn't mean every DoggPound member was close to him. It is a complicated situation but this was another getback NLMB got for Capo, a top member from MTG 079 and very loved.

Gregory "Lil Greg 🕊️" Jackson III

01/28/2021
The death that started all and guess what caused this? Well if you didn't guess it, it was a bitch, Lil Greg 🕊️ got into his feelings because BoBo 🕊️ was messing with a girl that he liked so when Lil Greg saw him, he tried to get the green light from other members to come and kill him right there, allegedly NLMB told him BoBo is not an opp and that he is staying out of the way, Lil Greg tried to call other members but it was too late.
PocketTown members got the drop from BoBo and went to kill Lil Greg who was in a barbershop far away from EastSide, Lil Don 🔒 walked up to him and shot Lil Greg in the face inside the barbershop, he was pronounced dead shortly after at the hospital, CK was actually charged because they found him in the same car that was used in the murder, he stayed solid and beat the case, CK was the one driving.
Lil Greg was a very loved member from NLMB and a main face from there, he was from the MuskegonBoyz clique but very close to G Herbo and even celebrities like 21 Savage paid respects to him, he was respected because he was a trapper making money from drugs to raise his kids, his death hurt a lot of people and you could say that his death made "DrenchGang" more famous because the getback was huge in terms of impact on the media, i am of course speaking about KTS Dre, his death was international news because of the way he died + Killa Spook, we will get later to them.
"Me and Gregg was sharin' clothes, but we weren't really bros" 0:18
"Lil Greg died, that started some shit, but how many checked after broski got hit?" 0:36 he is also upping 4 fingers, which is probably a reference to Killa Spook, KTS Dre, BoBo and probably Lil Don from PaxTown.
Moowop 🔒 also confirmed 3 opps died for Lil Greg, again most likely a reference to Killa Spook, KTS Dre and BoBo. Lil Don was also shot multiple times but he survived
NLMB was hurt but the opps were dissing Lil Greg hard, especially Lil Don:
Lil Don called Lil Greg biggest score of 2021
This started a new bloody war in the EastSide which caused a lot of damage, members getting locked up, members getting killed, members getting shot and so on, PocketTown was also unlucky to get hit with a "RICO" and most of their top members got locked up, there is barely any main faces out there besides Denny G and Lil Ant, they also have internal beef now.
The indictment also mentions they found the gun which was used in Lil Greg murder, the whole situation was fucked up for PocketTown, they lost like 10 members to this indictment + Lil Don got locked up + internal beef, the whole hood was hit hard by this indictment and a lot of "snitching" rumours are in the air.
The members who got locked up are Lil Rah 🔒, EJ(he was released), Rello 🔒, Dreski 🔒 MT Larry🔒 who actually shot back when Spook died, Corey Got Clout 🔒, PacMigo 🔒, Dwight 🔒 and DreadHead Larry 🔒

Dante "Killa Spook 🕊️" Thomas

03/26/2021
Killa Spook was like a leader in PocketTown, he had a lot of respect and his name says it all "Killa Spook" it's not a name you earn for doing nothing, he was a known killer who did a lot for PocketTown, him and KTS Von 🕊️ went to slide on Lamron in the past, he was very active, him and Denny G were sliding on SirconnCity as well.
Spook 🕊️ was partying with a lot of members inside StainCity🔱⭐️✊🏿 hood, it was a party for their fallen member KDawg 🕊️ who was killed sliding on SirconnCity in 2020, two shooters(this might be PocketTown shooting back but i personally think those are the offenders), NLMB and GME got the drop from a bitch and shot the whole party up, Killa Spook was shot by a stray bullet through a window, he was pronounced dead at the scene, Lord was shot in the head and he was taken to the hospital in critical condition, Denny G was taken to the hospital in critical condition and he recovered after some time, other members got shot as well but it was nothing serious like the ones i mentioned above.
Right after the party got shot up, PocketTown went to slide on NLMB and hit someone in the leg, there are a lot of things that points NLMB for doing this hit but it is confirmed that GME was also involved, Lil B from GME was arrested by CPD with the car used in the murder, he was released because CPD didn't had proof that he did the murder.
There are many names around Spook death, Faro, Lil Ro, Twino 🕊️, EMoe from GME, 7Moe 🕊️ from GME, it is not known exactly who killed Spook but it is hard to tell, what should be confirmed for sure is that it was a NLMB/GME hit, even CPD and FBI believes that. In case you guys don't know, FBI was trying to build a RICO but their main suspect Max 🕊️ was killed, so i think the case is really not that strong anymore. I do think FBI is monitoring what is going on between NLMB and PocketTown now.
PocketTown was hurt to the core by his death, NLMB and GME were dissing like crazy and celebrating Lil Greg a lot, it's a lot of disses that i am sure most of you saw, if you want way more details, watch CH88 video.

Londre "KTS Dre 🕊️" Sylvester

07/10/2021
Dre was getting out of prison after his fiancee paid his $5,000 bond on Friday, for some reason Dre decided to leave only on Saturday, what Dre didn't knew is that his decision will cost him his life and potentially the life of two other innocent females. Dre was shot around 64 times by multiple shooters from two different vehicles far away from EastSide in every side of his body, a 60 year old female was shot in the knee and a 35 year old female suffered a graze to her mouth while walking by, both were taken to the hospital in good condition. Dre was DOA and his death will have a huge impact in the streets, after his death the president of America, Joe Biden, was forced to do a meeting to slow the violence in Chicago, this was because his death had an immense impact in the international news because of the way that he died.
I would leave in the comments a list of some the countries news speaking about KTS Dre, because it would take too much space in the post.
Dre was an upcoming rapper in the drill scene, his most famous song being a feature with Rio called "NLMBK Pt. 2" but in the drill scene he mostly became known for punching Kyro, one of the many reasons Kyro diss him a lot. Dre was very active in the streets before his death, he did a lot of dirt and a lot of his opps wanted him gone. Dre was also suspected by CPD for killing Magic 🕊️ in 2019. He was originally from LakeSide but he started to claim PocketTown after the death of his brother in 2015, he is what people believe Von was, don't get me wrong, Von was active in the streets but Dre was something else.
I heard many names around Dre death, Faro, the DrenchGang Twins, Moowop, Kyro, Lil Hot, honestly i am not sure who killed Dre but NLMB and even PocketTown/LakeSide made it known who did it on social media. Faro being pretty clear that this was a getback for Lil Greg.
Losing so many people in such a short time affected PocketTown in many ways, a lot of them decided to step down because when shit gets real, you need to think about your life too, most of them have families, it might be a coward way but can you blame them? 10 members locked up for indictment, 9 top members killed between 2020-2022, Denny G was almost killed, Meechie was almost killed, Lil Don got locked up, Lil Art barely survived after being shot 20 times, Lord was left in critical condition, this is the worst period for PocketTown and Lil Don also confirmed that his people are scared and he only got four guys who are willing to slide.
Sadly the ones who will suffer the most is the family, his mom was devastated that she can't even give him a proper funeral because of the way that he died.

Christopher "Gucci 🕊️" Daniels

08/05/2021
Gucci was near the sidewalk in GhettoWorld 4️⃣🍸 hood when a vehicle passed by and someone fired shots at him, he was shot in the chest and he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
This is one month after Dre was killed, Gucci was a member from the MuskegonBoyz clique, i didn't saw PocketTown or LakeSide celebrating anything, in fact they still say "getback got no date" for Spook and Dre, it might be other opps that NLMB have, remember NLMB beefs with 30+ sets, it could also be personal beef, mistaken identity and so on.

Felder "Stro Dolla 🕊️" Tatum Jr.

08/15/2021
Stro Dolla was with a group of people inside GottiWorld 🔱 hood when someone opened and hit him in the chest, he was pronounced dead at the hospital, a 34 year old woman was also shot in the leg, she was taken to the hospital in good condition. Again i don't think he was the target but who knows, i didn't saw any opps celebrating, Stro Dolla was claiming NLMM but he was close to NLMB.He was also close to BT 🕊️ who was killed in 2020 by DeathRow, he was also a rapper, most likely Stro Dolla was just at the wrong time, wrong place, to my knowledge GottiWorld and NLMM or NLMB don't have beef. GottiWorld are actually opps to PocketTown.

Aesculus californica is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, up to 4–12 m (13–39 ft) tall, with gray bark often coated with lichens and mosses. It typically is multi-trunked, with a crown as broad as it is high. Trees are long lived, with an estimated lifespan between 250–280 (300 maximum) years.
Native American tribes, including the Pomo, Yokuts, and Luiseño, used the poisonous nuts and seeds to stupefy schools of fish in small streams to make them easier to catch.[4] The bark, leaves, and fruits contain the neurotoxic glycoside aesculin, which causes hemolysis of red blood cells. Buckeye also makes a good fireboard for a bow drill or hand drill.
Native groups occasionally used the plant as a food supply; after boiling and leaching the toxin out of the seeds or nut meats for several days, they could be ground into a flour or meal similar to that made from acorns.The nectar and pollen of the flowers is toxic to honeybees,so the trees should not be planted near apiaries.When the shoots are small and leaves are new, they are lower in toxins and are grazed by livestock and wildlife.The flowers are a rich nectar source for many species of butterflies, and squirrels and chipmunks consume the seeds.
The tree also acts as a soil binder, which prevents erosion in hilly regions. [Wikepdia]

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Six of Swords from Conver-Ben-Dov TdM and painting in the Cave of the Trois-Frères.
Etteilla associated the suit of Swords with the classical element Air; Air, in the majority of commentaries I have read, is conflated with thinking, as stated by Clive Barret in his companion guide to his Ancient Egyptian Tarot, “The element of air relates to the mind, thinking and communication – language both written and spoken. This is the domain of the intellect, reason and clarity of thought, giving rise to inquisitiveness and idealism. There is a love of the precision of mathematics, logic rules the imagination,” which leads to such statements as Karen Hamaker-Zondag’s summary that Swords “represent the power of discrimination as expressed in thinking and logic.” If A=B and B=C, then A=C. It’s the most fundamental form of logic, and it tends to be accepted pretty much without question. Yoav Ben-Dov, who was one of the finest teachers of the TdM I have read, wrote, “The suit of swords expresses ideas and thoughts, an ability to focus, decision-making… In common language we often use the image of the rational mind as a blade which cuts and separates things.”
These quotes (and many others scattered through countless tarot books) identify but a single kind of thinking, thinking which is the result of conscious effort and is outwardly directed: thinking which begins with a leading idea, follows a clearly defined train of thought and generates, when “successful,” a logical conclusion. Clarity is of paramount importance; and when we are intensely engaged in this purposive activity, we begin to think in words, especially when we are trying very hard to figure things out. We may refer to this as “sword thinking,” using the sharply honed mind to slice through the most tangled and difficult of problems. The mytho-historical tale that best embodies this idea, and which we find in numerous commentaries, is the story of Alexander and the Gordian knot.
Sometime in the 2nd millennium B.C.E., a poor farmer from Macedonia named Gordius drove his ox cart into a Phrygian city where he was proclaimed king, in accordance with a prophesy from the oracle at Telmissus. (They did things a little differently back then.) Out of gratitude, Gordius dedicated his cart to the Phrygian sky father Sabazios and tied it to the acropolis at Gordium, the city he founded, with a knot so complex in its structure, being made up of dozens of smaller knots so intricately interwoven together, as to make it impossible for anyone to unravel it. It was a kind of ancient world Rubik’s Cube. A legend grew up around the Gordian knot that only a man destined to rule all of Asia would be able to solve it. We can imagine that over the centuries, the knot did not lack for attention, as ambitious men, fired by visions of grandeur, sat before that rotting peasant’s wagon, working first one frayed strand of cornel bark then another, only tightening and further entangling the lesser constituent knots, so that over time the already irreparably convoluted cipher became ever more impenetrable until in 333 B.C.E., Alexander the Great led his army into Gordium (in what is today Turkey) and came upon Gordius’ ancient wagon. He might have tried to unravel the knot, as so many others before him had, but Alexander was not a patient man: he was twenty-three years old, on his way to making himself ruler of the known world, but he would live for only another ten years. Perhaps he had some sense of this within him, that he could not squander what little precious time he had, for, according to mythical accounts, he drew his blade and sliced the knot open.
The way Alexander the Great “solved” the Gordian knot is an extreme form of reality thinking. It is thinking which is adapted to the outer world: it mimics the external world and is aimed at working within (perhaps extending) the limits that world. Reality thinking makes sense to us, particularly since it makes sense – far more sense in a perilous world than sitting before an ancient cart for days, weeks, or months, trying to unravel an impossible knot. We can speculate how such thinking came about: our earliest ancestors, living in small groups, depending for their survival on their capacity to function together, needed a means by which they could communicate to one another an approaching danger or where food was to be found. As their cognitive abilities developed, their languages became increasingly complex, and that complexity stimulated ever greater advancements in their cognitive range and proficiency, leading to the development of tools, philosophy, the rudiments of science and technology, always drawing us out of ourselves and into a more objectively-oriented existence.
However, there is another kind of thinking in which we engage, a non-directed “dream-thinking,” which manifests itself in a highly subjective symbolic language that frequently makes no sense when outwardly (and literally) applied and which guides us into our own depths and has exercised a powerful influence over us since the arrival of Homo sapiens on the scene, some 100,000 years ago; it led early man to ritually bury the dead with flowers, food, and the tools they would need in the next life, and 70,000 years later, impelled him into pitch black crawlways, literally risking life and limb, to paint images of animals on the cave walls, as well as other magical figures that have never existed anywhere but in the imaginations of these shamanic artists. Even today, though we devalue this non-linear, non-rational “dream thinking” in our Western world, we remain in thrall of its symbols – religious, nationalistic, and otherwise – to such an extent that we willingly, even enthusiastically, go to war over them; they are, as Robinson Jeffers wrote in his 1925 poem Roan Stallion “the phantom rulers of humanity that without being are yet more real than what they are born of, and without shape, shape that which makes them.”
Two forces are constantly at work within us. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe referred to them as systole – the heart contracts and pumps oxygen-rich blood out into the arteries to be dispersed throughout the body – and diastole – the heart relaxes and is filled with oxygen-poor blood from the veins which is then sent to the lungs to be reinfused with oxygen, to be sent by the heart once again throughout the body. The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung called these mechanisms within us extraversion – the flowing of interest from the individual outward into the world – and introversion – “movement of interest away from the object to the subject and his own psychological processes” (C. G. Jung, Psychological Types, par. 4).
“Ars totum requirit hominem,” is the alchemist’s admonition to any who would pursue his secrets: “the art requires the whole man.” Systole and diastole function together to make life possible. Extraversion and introversion, reality thinking and dream thinking function together to elevate us from hominid to Human. When systole, extraversion, reality-thinking become preeminent, such values as diastole, introversion, dream-thinking are diminished; the result is an overriding focus on details, an emphasis on delineations and distinctions, while the greater pattern, of which these particulars are but expressions, is lost.
And this brings me to the Tarot de Marseille suit of Swords. If this suit is indeed related to the thinking function, if this was the idea in the aether, even though it was not consciously declared, then it is possible that in this suit both types of thinking are represented. The traditional swords refer to the reality thinking that must be sharp, clear, linear; and the arched swords represent the dream-thinking which the rational mind cannot make any sense of – cannot even find the grips with which to wield these symbols.
When our primal ancestors crawled deep into the bowels of the earth, they were reentering the womb, not so they could be born again when they reemerged but to impregnate the earth with spiritual visions. The cave walls are magnificently painted, but there are very few images of men. The image at the top of this post, from Les Trois-Frères, a cave in southwestern France, shows a shaman in a trance state; he is not nearly as meticulously drawn as the animals, but the artist included an erection, making the figure’s purpose clear.
We read in multiple commentaries about a simplistic kind of balance that runs through the tarot; it is simplistic because it is based solely on numerical symmetry: if there are four suits, then two must be masculine (Wands and Swords), for they are phallic, and two must be feminine (Cups and Coins) for they are round and receptive. Nothing, however, is this cut-and-dry. The arched swords are not merely symbolic representations of dream- or non-linear thinking, they also form a vulvic opening where the mysteries of transformation occur.