Let’s talk about Rembrandt, known for painting light, and not being afraid of the dark in his artwork.
Though today I want to talk about his “Slaughtered Ox”.
Is it art?
I guess one can say so because it’s a Rembrandt after all. But it’s just still-life. That’s what students do in art class, spend hours painting images of apples and flowers. Is this any different? Perhaps more grotesque, but is it any different?
I’m sounding like a pompous art critique, when truly I’m just here because I’m inspired by this painting.
Isn’t that art?
Something that inspires?
Life imitates art, and art imitates tarot.
The Slaughtered Ox set off quite a few neuron connections in my mind, so let’s break them down.
The Ox and The Fool
The Ox is connected to The Fool card, because Alef (the Hebrew letter for Ox) is associated with The Fool.
The Fool is the first emanation on the Tree of Life, meaning The Fool is the Ox, the pure strength of nature that plows the earth and soil for new things to grow.
In many cultures, some kind of bovine is given the symbol of the divine.
In Norse mythology we have Audumbla, the primordial cow that licks the Universe out of the ice.
In Hinduism cows are associated with Krishna, the supreme deity,
In Yoruba, bulls are associated the Orisha Oya.
In Kemet (ancient Egypt) we have Hathor who turned herself into a cow.
In some Native traditions there is the White Buffalo, a divine sacred symbol.
So yeah, bovines are sacred beings.
But this one is slaughtered (insert crying emoji)
The Ox, Death, and The Sacrifice
Now here enters the question again, is it art?
I mentioned that what makes it art is the ability to inspire.
The fact that the Ox is slaughtered inspires even more philosophy.
We can ask, did the Ox sacrifice itself, or was it killed?
The act of sacrifice links us to The Hanged Man.
The very act of sacrifice.
This card is link to Jesus on the cross, and to Odin hanging from Yggdrasil (The Cosmic Tree).
The Hanged Man is the sacrifice we make to be able to see things from a different perspective, which is what this painting forces us to do.
Don’t tell me that just because it’s a Rembrandt it’s considered art, or even good art. A lot of art that we see from famous painters were them experimenting and sketching. Is a sketch book art?
In this case I like this painting, so of course I’m incline to defend it.
The other link to tarot that this painting gives me is the Death card.
Obviously, it’s on the damn title!
It’s the most cliche thing for a tarot reader to say “nooooo, Death in the tarot doesn’t actually mean death”, but it’s true.
It means transformation.
It means the break down of something in order for new things to grow. Sound similar?
We met The Fool, working hard plowing the earth. Here we meet the end of The Fool. We meet his Death, not because he’s gone, but because his ultimate sacrifice is himself.
A carcass, in nature, decays.
That carcass becomes so much more than rotten flesh.
It feeds the vultures. It feeds the critters and bugs. It feeds the fungi and mushrooms. It feeds the soil under it.
Death is the encouragement of new life. It’s not the end, but a resurrection.
In the painting the carcass is hanging from some wooden structure.
That ties us back in to Jesus on the wooden cross, and Odin on the tree.
The beauty of this painting isn’t in the subject itself, but in the connections it makes in life and in the progression of our soul.
The beauty of this painting, and art in general, isn’t simply because it’s a Rembrandt, but because it speaks a language that goes beyond words.
It speaks the language of symbols.
With much love and tarot magick,
Icaro
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I recently discovered the work of Robert Wun. They make me feel the way Alexander McQueen used to make me feel.
I’m not a fashionista at all, but when something transcends trendy fashion and goes into the soft sculpture arena, then I take notice.
I want to do a video on some of Wun’s pieces and connect them to the tarot.
Would love to hear suggestions from you on other artists I should pay attention to, and any pieces past and present you’d like to talk about.
