I’m profoundly moved by this mural, every time I see it. Painted by Kari Johnson and located on the corner of 4th Ave & Monroe St, it’s a great representation of the Whiteaker neighborhoods charged ecological ethos. I’m reluctant to say too much about it because it speaks so powerfully for itself.
The individual elements that make it up are powerful symbols; nude and semi-nude people, a skeleton, an eagle, native Americans, a gathering of elder women, terraced gardening, a cancer survivor, clear-cut forest, an SUV on the banks of the river and a glorious sky (sunrise or sunset?).
I sent the above photo to a friend familiar with the Tarot without any other references and asked her what she made of the cards in the picture and this is what she came up with:
Ace of Cups: open heart... joy, content, nourishment, abundance....
aspect of being able to communicate feelings from a place of emotional integrity and from a place of trust rather than control...
8 of swords: doubting, non-trusting, over analytical mind
a reminder to wait if uncertain when considering different options ... also fearful of moving out of a situation of bondage
6 of disks/pentacles: success - sharing prosperity, charity
9 of swords: utter desolation, failure, deception, delay, disappointment, despair..
or cruelty - mental self-cruelty or tendency to put self down - immobilized by misfortune or disaster
The Sun - 19 major arcana: attainment, liberation - depicts life force - divine child within us...child-like innocence & curiosity within your creative nature - also represents the principle of collaboration, teamwork/partnership co-operation
King of Cups: man of biz, law, divinity - kind, considerate, responsible - interested in arts & sciences - calm exterior, enjoys quiet power....
cups = emotions - love, happiness, fertility, beauty
swords = aggression, force, ambition, courage, strife,
disks/pentacles = money, industry, material gain
wands = energy, growth, enterprise...
Aces - #1, alpha, beginning of all things
6 = balance and equilibrium, number of the mind,
8 = number of justice, judgment, material progress and health - symbol of regeneration and balancing opposing forces
9 = all forces of other numbers are summed up - attainment on 3 plains: physical, mental, spiritual
usually a spread has ten cards...
starts out with ace - interesting that the last card is blank - as you make your own ending.
ups and downs, travails and happiness of life...
Originally painted in the early '90s it was repainted after the environmental activist blockade at Warner Creek of 95'-96'. The background has morphed from a lush forest to a clear-cut hill with a logging operation in the foreground. At one point building's renters were threatening to remove the mural but that issue has thankfully been resolved.
