Our family enjoyed an autumn retreat at a state park in the Ozark area this weekend. We were long overdue for a getaway like this, and I’m feeling refreshed and stronger than I have in a long time after a couple good hikes. It was definitely a change of pace that we needed!
Speaking of change (yes, horrid segue), we saw this card suggesting change less than a month ago, but perhaps some of us didn’t get the message?
MUMMY – “Change”
The sand in his mouth
The bandage wound
Jealous of the living
Eternal life bound
The ancient Egyptians took death very seriously. Death was not seen as many of us see it – a finality to be dreaded – but as just the beginning of a new life and often eternal life, in a better place, the “afterlife.”
The practice of honoring and preserving the body through a complex process of mummification was central to ancient Egyptian culture. This was not just a physical embalming process but a carefully enacted ritual process that ensured preservation in the next world. Many other cultures also mummified their dead including the Incas, the Argentineans, the Maori, and many cultures of the Torres Straight Islands.
In our modern horror genres, the mummy has become an icon. From early horror writing at the turn of the century to the very popular films The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, the plot normally revolves around the mummy returning to life and cursing and hunting down the living. The discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tombs and other long-hidden Egyptian treasures in the 1920s in particular sparked an explosion in mummy-related films and literature.
Should you pull the moaning Mummy card from the deck, know that change is inevitable and that no matter how hard you try, things will not be preserved exactly the same way. The card also indicates that this change will be for the better. The endings, the closed doors, the barriers? This is just a healthy pause and and an indication that a change of tactics is needed. You are not cursed – you have just developed a pattern. You can take control and change.
The Halloween Oracle by author Stacey Demarco and artists Jimmy Manton
Parting the Mists 
Leave a Reply