By Jonti Marks
It’s hard to say exactly where ideas come from. It’s usually from an impossible-to-pin-down mixture of conscious and unconscious thoughts, and a myriad of inspirations and influences. There’s no doubt in my mind that the idea for a set of Masonic Wisdom Cards was born from such a melting pot.
I’d recently finished what I thought (and still think) will be the last of ‘Masonic Meditation’ books, “Perishable Frames: Masonic Meditations on Death and Immortality,” which considers Masonic ideas around physical death and our belief in some kind of existence beyond it. It seemed to me to be a fitting subject for any of us who can see more years behind us than ahead. It also felt like a fitting final word.
So, I needed a new and different project to get my teeth into.
I’d had the idea of writing about Masonic symbolism for a long time but, of course, that’s been done many times before and by writers much more learned than I. So my next thought was, “What about a more personal interpretation? What if I approach it not so much from a historical or academic perspective, but more with a sense of what each symbol might mean for us personally and what particular lesson could we learn from it? Our ritual speaks of “...applying [the working] tools to our morals. Why couldn’t we apply all Masonic symbols in the same way?
On another tack, I’d talked to Bridie before about the idea of her illustrating some of my children’s stories, but that had never taken off. Meanwhile, I was aware of how her work was developing into a very distinctive style of folk-art and I loved it.
And yet another tack: I own a few sets of Tarot cards – even a Masonic one – but I’ve never really studied them in any depth. It’s one of those ‘one day’ things. But a couple of Christmases ago, one of the family had brought along a set of ‘Animal Oracle Cards.’ The idea was that you’d choose a card, it would reveal your (current?) animal spirit and the accompanying booklet gave guidance as to what it all meant. It was just a bit of fun. By the end of the evening we’d all chosen several animal guides and enjoyed picking out the bits of the explanation that fitted our view of ourselves (and chosen to ignore the bits that didn’t!)
And I’ve had a go with ‘Angel Cards.’ I’ve never owned a set myself but I know people who have and I’ve enjoyed the idea of picking a card and holding the thought that it invokes as a meditation for the day.
So all of these strands were in there somewhere and one morning I woke up and all those different things had coalesced into a thought: cards with Masonic Symbols, a book to guide one’s thoughts about them; based on the look and feel of a Tarot deck...but not about divination; about contemplation, education; about finding a moment in our lives to sit quietly with something beautiful and meaningful that would help us in our quest to be the best version of ourselves. Something that could turn an apparently random card selection (if one chose to do it like that} into a direct personal message from the Universe: “Today, spend some time on this thought, or this aspect of yourself.”
I made a list of the symbols that mean something to me (it’s not a definitive list of course); I decided on 78 cards to match the size of a traditional Tarot deck. And I started writing.
Early on in the process I spoke to Bridie about the idea and this time the project resonated with her. And so we began a year-long process of collaboration and discussion which ended in the cards that you can see today.
You might think that the symbols are what they are: a square is a square; a skirret is a skirret; how could you produce a picture of it that was different? Well, I don’t really understand the how, but I was constantly amazed at the originality and vibrancy of Bridie’s interpretations of our precious symbols. She’s studied deeply and worked very hard to produce something that captures incomparably the spirit of our living Craft while remaining completely true to herself as an artist. It’s a remarkable achievement and, if I am to be completely honest, I think the cards could stand on their own as something every Mason would love to own and use. My accompanying words are, at best, a metaphorical springboard from which you are invited to dive as deep as you like into the meaning and relevance of these cards.
Bridie and I are delighted with the results. We trust that you will feel the same.
Jonti Marks
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