Asian Adventures
22/5/23 : The Chariot
“Succour, providence, also war, triumph, presumption, vengeance, trouble.”
Night in Royal Hotel, Armidale.
23/5/23 : The Fool
“Folly, mania, extravagance, intoxication, delirium, frenzy, bewrayment.”
Bus to Sydney, overnight at Ibis Hotel, Sydney Airport.
24/5/23 : The Magician
“Skill, diplomacy, address, subtlety; sickness, pain, loss, disaster, snares of enemies; self-confidence, will; the Querent, if male.”
Flight from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City. Arrival in Vietnam
25/5/23 : The Hermit
“Prudence, circumspection; also and especially treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption.”
26/5/23 : The Sun
“Material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment.”
27/5/23 : Seven of Swords : (reversed)
“Good advice, counsel, instruction, slander, babbling.”
28/5/23 : The Sun
“Material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment.”
Leaving Australia for Vietnam and onto Nepal was an easy decision to make, but making it happen was not so simple.
In the chaos of post-covid delirium everything was more difficult than usual and it was in this paranoid atmosphere that I had to finalise all my affairs in Australia, dispose of everything I wasn’t taking, clean my rented house thoroughly and arrange for the transport of 2 large suitcases and 2 guitars in voluminous new cases as well as my aging body which can just about handle anything thrown at it, but not as well as it had in its youthful past.
I had neglected years of tax returns as I hadn’t been making any money anyway, and that had to be cleared up before I acquired a new passport, an e-visa to Vietnam, plane tickets, hotel bookings and longer term accomodation in Quan 7, Ho Chi Minh. I posted the guitars to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and felt a strange sensation, something akin to losing my mind, as I walked out of Armidale Post Office into the frosty, dry winter air without the guitar that had accompanied me for the last 35 years.
That was when I was really on my way, fully committed and highly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the outside world, without a home or a support crew for refuge.
6 of Swords (Reversed) 29/5/23
“Declaration, confession, publicity; one account says that it is a proposal of love.”
2 of Wands 30/5/23
“Between the alternative readings there is no marriage possible; on the one hand, riches, fortune, magnificence; on the other, physical suffering, disease, chagrin, sadness, mortification. The design gives one suggestion; here is a lord overlooking his dominion and alternately contemplating a globe; it looks like the malady, the mortification, the sadness of Alexander amidst the grandeur of this world’s wealth.”
1/6/23 : Ace of Swords Reversed
“Dark man, friendly, countryman, generally married, honest and conscientious. The card always signifies honesty, and may mean news concerning an unexpected heritage to fall in before very long.”
The Death of Ben Hall : May 5, 1865, Billabong Creek, NSW.
“When Sub-Inspector Davidson, after shooting him with a double barrelled shotgun, searched Hall’s body he found he was carrying £74 in two leather bags, three gold chains, a gold watch, a gold ring on his finger, bullets, three revolvers and a portrait of his sister.”
Friday 2nd June: 8 of Cups
“The card speaks for itself on the surface, but other readings are entirely antithetical–giving joy, mildness, timidity, honour, modesty. In practice, it is usually found that the card shews the decline of a matter, or that a matter which has been thought to be important is really of slight consequence–either for good or evil.”
Saturday 3rd of June: 5 of Pentacles
“The card foretells material trouble above all, whether in the form illustrated–that is, destitution–or otherwise. For some cartomancists, it is a card of love and lovers-wife, husband, friend, mistress; also concordance, affinities. These alternatives cannot be harmonised.”
Sunday 4th of June : Wheel of Fortune reversed
“Increase, abundance, superfluity.”
5/6/23 : Queen of Swords reversed.
“Malice, bigotry, artifice, prudery, bale, deceit.”
6/6/23 : Death (Card 13)
“End, mortality, destruction, corruption also, for a man, the loss of a benefactor for a woman, many contrarieties; for a maid, failure of marriage projects.”
“The natural transit of man to the next stage of his being either is or may be one form of his progress, but the exotic and almost unknown entrance, while still in this life, into the state of mystical death is a change in the form of consciousness and the passage into a state to which ordinary death is neither the path nor gate. The existing occult explanations of the 13th card are, on the whole, better than usual, rebirth, creation, destination, renewal, and the rest.”
7/6/23 : 5 of Pentacles
“The card foretells material trouble above all, whether in the form illustrated–that is, destitution–or otherwise. For some cartomancists, it is a card of love and lovers-wife, husband, friend, mistress; also concordance, affinities. These alternatives cannot be harmonized.”
8/6/23 : 8 of Cups
“The card speaks for itself on the surface, but other readings are entirely antithetical–giving joy, mildness, timidity, honour, modesty. In practice, it is usually found that the card shews the decline of a matter, or that a matter which has been thought to be important is really of slight consequence–either for good or evil.”
9/6/23 : 7 of Wands
“It is a card of valour, for, on the surface, six are attacking one, who has, however, the vantage position. On the intellectual plane, it signifies discussion, wordy strife; in business–negotiations, war of trade, barter, competition. It is further a card of success, for the combatant is on the top and his enemies may be unable to reach him.”
10/6/23 : 7 of Swords
“Design, attempt, wish, hope, confidence; also quarrelling, a plan that may fail, annoyance. The design is uncertain in its import, because the significations are widely at variance with each other.”
Departure from Vietnam.
11/6/23 : 3 of Pentacles Reversed
“Mediocrity, in work and otherwise, puerility, pettiness, weakness.”
Arrival in Mumbai.
12/6/23 : ?
“.”
13/6/23 : 10 of Cups
“Contentment, repose of the entire heart; the perfection of that state; also perfection of human love and friendship; if with several picture-cards, a person who is taking charge of the Querent’s interests; also the town, village or country inhabited by the Querent.”
14/6/23 : ?
Departure from Mumbai. Taxi to Pune.
15/6/23 : Six of Pentacles
“Presents, gifts, gratification another account says attention, vigilance now is the accepted time, present prosperity, etc.”
16/6/23 : Judgement (reversed)
“Weakness, pusillanimity, simplicity; also deliberation, decision, sentence.”
17/6/23 : Judgement (reversed)
“Weakness, pusillanimity, simplicity; also deliberation, decision, sentence.”
From the ABC (Australia) website.
“Suzie Miller’s Olivier Award-winning play about sexual assault, Prima Facie, has far-reaching impact for legal systems” (Title)
In July, Miller will return to Griffin with Jailbaby, described as a “spiritual sequel” to Prima Facie, and- developed and produced with the assistance of the Australian Writers’ Guild David Williamson Prize.
Jailbaby is also about sexual assault — this time centering around a young man convicted of theft and sent to prison.
“I saw this [kind of thing] over and over again as a lawyer; young men would go into prison and would be viciously sexually assaulted … and become homophobic, violent, hyper-vigilant and angry,” Miller observes.
“Politicians talk about being hard on crime, but they’re taking the most vulnerable people and putting them in prison and not rehabilitating them. In fact, you’re putting them in a situation where they get worse and come back out and then our streets are worse.
“I want the audience to realise, which I realised myself, that the judges and magistrates know what’s going to happen in prison … [but] we somehow accept it.“
18/6/23 6 of Swords
“Journey by water, route, way, envoy, commissionary, expedient.”
19/6/23 Ace of Wands (reversed)
“Fall, decadence, ruin, perdition, to perish also a certain clouded joy.”
Flight from Pune to Patna
20/6/23 The Hierophant
“Marriage, alliance, captivity, servitude; by another account, mercy and goodness; inspiration; the man to whom the Querent has recourse.”
21/6/23 : The Tower
“Misery, distress, indigence, adversity, calamity, disgrace, deception, ruin. It is a card in particular of unforeseen catastrophe.”
22/6/23 : Justice
“Equity, rightness, probity, executive; triumph of the deserving side in law.”
Taxi to Muzaffurpur
23/6/23 : Hanged Man (reversed)
“Selfishness, the crowd, body politic.”
24/6/23 : Hanged Man (reversed)
“Selfishness, the crowd, body politic.”
Train from Muzaffapur to Raxaul. Departure from India. Arrival in Birgunj, Nepal.
25/6/23 : 5 of Pentacles : (reversed)
“Disorder, chaos, ruin, discord, profligacy.”
26/6/23 : Ace of Cups
“House of the true heart, joy, content, abode, nourishment, abundance, fertility; Holy Table, felicity hereof.”
27/6/23 : Knight of Wands
“Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man, friendly. Change of residence.”
28/6/23 : 8 of Cups : (reversed)
“Great joy, happiness, feasting.”
{[Waiting now in Simira Airport, the flight is a half an hour behind schedule.
This a tiny airport; the smallest I have seen. Most of the passengers appear to be Indians and the little waiting room is filling up.
I had a sleepless night due to the excitement of finally embarking on the last leg of my great journey: Birgunj to Kathmandu, the over-consumption of coffee and my brain’s inability to process all this happening to me and around me.
It takes about an hour to re-pack my suitcases after each stop, but it still seems a small miracle when everything fits neatly into place and the locks and zippers close. I have lost only one item on the way; my Jackaroo hat, and I still don’t know where I lost it. I wore it to Pune airport but didn’t notice it was missing until I had been at the Grand Empire Hotel in Patna for a couple of days.
Here it is hot and humid, the monsoon being delayed (that seems to be a common theme) whilst in Kathmandu it will be much cooler, 27 degrees celsius with about 70% humidity. I don’t think that will actually feel cold, more likely just about right. ]}
Left Birgunj, arrived in Kathmandu
29/6/23 : The Hierophant : (reversed)
“Society, good understanding, concord, overkindness, weakness.”
30/6/23 : Two of Pentacles : (reversed)
“Enforced gaiety, simulated enjoyment, literal sense, handwriting, composition, letters of exchange.”
During my travels people often ask where I am from. Should I be offended? Am I being racially profiled?
It doesn’t bother me at all, of course, and often leads to a friendly conversation.
There is a little kiosk nearby where I buy milk. I went in there the day I arrived in Kathmandu and asked in broken Hindi for a litre of milk. Near the fridge sat a thick-set, tough-looking man who made a remark which brought a laugh from the others.
I’m used to this in Asia. It often happens and I rarely understand what is said, I just know they are having a laugh at my expense.
I am speaking my awful Hindi out of habit. In Bihar and Birgunj very few people understood English but nearly everyone had a grasp of simple Hindi and we managed to communicate somehow, most of the time. So, not knowing much about Kathmandu, I have continued to torture India’s national language.
My next visit to the kiosk for milk and cigarettes goes fairly smoothly, but the third time is different.
The thick-set man is there alone and he speaks, to my surprise, in perfect English.
“Where are you from?”
“Australia.”
“And you speak Hindi?”
“A little.”
“You want milk?”
“And cigarettes please.”
I exchange a few hundred rupees for the goods and thank him.
“Welcome” he replies as I leave, with just a hint of an ironic smile.
1/7/23 : Five of Cups
“It is a card of loss, but something remains over; three have been taken, but two are left; it is a card of inheritance, patrimony, transmission, but not corresponding to expectations; with some interpreters it is a card of marriage, but not without bitterness or frustration.”
2/7/23 : Nine of Cups : (reversed)
“Truth, loyalty, liberty; but the readings vary and include mistakes, imperfections, etc.”
3/7/23 : Seven of Wands : (reversed)
“Perplexity, embarrassments, anxiety. It is also a caution against indecision..”
4/7/23 : King of Wands : (reversed)
“Good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant.”
5/7/23 : Page of Wands : (reversed)
“Anecdotes, announcements, evil news. Also indecision and the instability which accompanies it.”
6/7/23 : Ace of Cups : (reversed)
“House of the false heart, mutation, instability, revolution.”
7/7/23 : Four of Pentacles
“The surety of possessions, cleaving to that which one has, gift, legacy, inheritance.”
8/7/23 : Ten of Cups : (reversed)
“Repose of the false heart, indignation, violence.”
9/7/23 : Ten of Swords
“Whatsoever is intimated by the design; also pain, affliction, tears, sadness, desolation. It is not especially a card of violent death.”
10/7/23 : Ten of Cups (reversed)
“Repose of the false heart, indignation, violence.”
11/7/23 : Three of Swords
“Removal, absence, delay, division, rupture, dispersion, and all that the design signifies naturally, being too simple and obvious to call for specific enumeration.”
12/7/23 : Queen of Cups (reversed)
“The accounts vary; good woman; otherwise, distinguished woman but one not to be trusted; perverse woman; vice, dishonour, depravity.”
13/7/23 : 7 of Wands : (reversed)
“Perplexity, embarrassments, anxiety. It is also a caution against indecision.”
14/7/23 : 4 of Pentacles
The surety of possessions, cleaving to that which one has, gift, legacy, inheritance.”
15/7/23 : King of Wands : (reversed)
“Good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant.”
16/7/23 : 6 of Wands :
“The card has been so designed that it can cover several significations; on the surface, it is a victor triumphing, but it is also great news, such as might be carried in state by the King’s courier; it is expectation crowned with its own desire, the crown of hope, and so forth.”
17/7/23 : The Fool : (reversed)
“Negligence, absence, distribution, carelessness, apathy, nullity, vanity.”
18/7/23 : 4 of Swords: (reversed)
“Wise administration, circumspection, economy, avarice, precaution, testament.”
19/7/23 : Page of Pentacles
“Application, study, scholarship, reflection another reading says news, messages and the bringer thereof; also rule, management.”
20/7/23 : Ace of Pentacles : (reversed)
“The evil side of wealth, bad intelligence; also great riches. In any case it shews prosperity, comfortable material conditions, but whether these are of advantage to the possessor will depend on whether the card is reversed or not.”
21/7/23 : Ten of Cups :
“Contentment, repose of the entire heart; the perfection of that state; also perfection of human love and friendship; if with several picture-cards, a person who is taking charge of the Querent’s interests; also the town, village or country inhabited by the Querent.”
22/7/23 : Seven of Wands :
“It is a card of valour, for, on the surface, six are attacking one, who has, however, the vantage position. On the intellectual plane, it signifies discussion, wordy strife; in business–negotiations, war of trade, barter, competition. It is further a card of success, for the combatant is on the top and his enemies may be unable to reach him.”
23/7/23 : Sun : (reversed)
“The same (material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment) in a lesser sense.”
24/7/23 : The Fool : (reversed)
“Negligence, absence, distribution, carelessness, apathy, nullity, vanity.”
25/7/23 : Moon : (reversed)
“Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.”
26/7/23 : Two of Cups :
“Love, passion, friendship, affinity, union, concord, sympathy, the interrelation of the sexes, and–as a suggestion apart from all offices of divination–that desire which is not in Nature, but by which Nature is sanctified.”
27/7/23 : Four of Wands :
“They are for once almost on the surface–country life, haven of refuge, a species of domestic harvest-home, repose, concord, harmony, prosperity, peace, and the perfected work of these.”
28/7/23 : King of Swords :
“Whatsoever arises out of the idea of judgment and all its connexions-power, command, authority, militant intelligence, law, offices of the crown, and so forth.”
29/7/23 : Five of Wands :
“Imitation, as, for example, sham fight, but also the strenuous competition and struggle of the search after riches and fortune. In this sense it connects with the battle of life. Hence some attributions say that it is a card of gold, gain, opulence.”
30/7/23 : King of Pentacles :
“Valour, realizing intelligence, business and normal intellectual aptitude, sometimes mathematical gifts and attainments of this kind; success in these paths.”
31/7/23 : Two of Pentacles :
“Love, passion, friendship, affinity, union, concord, sympathy, the interrelation of the sexes, and–as a suggestion apart from all offices of divination–that desire which is not in Nature, but by which Nature is sanctified.”
1/8/23 : The Hierophant : (reversed)
“Society, good understanding, concord, overkindness, weakness.”
2/8/23 : Knight of Wands : (reversed)
“Rupture, division, interruption, discord.”
3/8/23 : Seven of Pentacless : (reversed)
“Rupture, division, interruption, discord.”
4/8/23 : ? : (reversed)
“Rupture, division, interruption, discord.”
Travels to Nepal 