The Persistence of Memory
The Desert of the Unconscious and The Key to Pleasure
I think most people refer to this painting as “The Melting Clocks” painting. But the actual title is much more interesting to me.
“The Persistence of Memory” by Salvador Dalí.
The iconic melting clocks give the feeling of memory, of nostalgia, of trapped imagination.
The desert landscape highlighting the vast space of the mind, and yet empty, deserted, barren.
Only the ticking of the clocks to pass the time, and the persistency, the nagging remembrance of the same memory over and over again.
So let the ants have it
We have ants on the corner, swarming a closed clock. Perhaps hinting at the idea of the death and decay of a closed memory.
Maybe that memory has been examined and resolved, or maybe it’s kept closed for it being too painful to look at.
So let the ants have it.
That constant itching and crawling of an issue unresolved.
Tarot Thoughts
The first card that came to mind was the 6 of Cups. Although there are controversies.
It is widely accepted that the 6 of Cups means nostalgia. A fond memory of the past, remembrances of a well-lived childhood.
The opposite is also true. A shit childhood, traumatic experiences, keeping us stuck to the past. Although I’d attribute that more to the 8 of Swords.
Before we go there I want to address the 6 of Cups controversy. I’m making it sounds more dramatic than it really is… for the plot.
The meaning of nostalgia comes from Edward Waite (the creative director of the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck). He wrote in “The Pictorial Key To The Tarot”
“ A card of the past, and of memories, looking back, as — for example — on childhood…” - Edward Waite
However, the Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn (the secret society that imbued the tarot with so many correspondences, and Waite was a member of.) has a more esoteric take.
The 6 of Cups is the Sun in Scorpio.
The Sun giving off an energy of independence, and a strong urge to better yourself. And Scorpio giving off an energy of regeneration, transformation, and sexual desires.
The Hermetic title of the 6 of Cups is Lord of Pleasure.
Not exclusively sexual pleasure, but a broader, purer sense. It implies well-being, harmony, ease, and satisfaction.
So what do we do with contradicting information?
In the case of tarot we allow our Higher Self, and the unconscious to expand on the meanings. I never throw a meaning away when it comes to tarot. I allow there card to expand and reveal itself as complex as it wants to be.
Sure, that can create confusion for some. It certainly has for me at times. But more often than not I find the cards speak the language that I understand at the time that I need it. Depending on what I’m going through, the card that comes out will have a meaning that will guide me a certain direction.
Perhaps in a direction of one of those clocks, one of those memories that need to be examined, transformed, and regenerated.
After all isn’t nostalgia just trapped imagination?
8 of Swords
I teased the 8 of Swords earlier, so let’s get into it.
Aleister Crowley says “here signifies lack of persistence in matters of the intellect”. How in sync is that?! Persistence is used on the title of our painting, and on the meaning of the card. MAGIC IS REAL!
The Hermetic title for the 8 of Swords is Lord of Shortened Force.
What that means is, that good fortune is in this card, because of it’s association of Jupiter in Gemini. Jupiter being the great benevolent and ruler of the Wheel of Fortune card. However, because of the mental energy of Gemini, the effort keeps being interfered.
Perhaps we have a great idea and we feel optimistic about. We’re pumped, we get it started, we feel good, only to be bombarded by memories of past ideas that didn’t pan out. Or past feelings of insecurity, impotence, and defeat.
Those are limiting beliefs, and — easier said than done — they are here to show us where in our minds we need to change the narrative.
There’s a story we keep telling ourselves. And those stories are limiting our minds and ourselves to how far we can go in life. Those limiting beliefs keep popping up, not because they want to destroy us, but because our unconscious is working hard to show us where in our minds a lie still exists, a belief that needs to be transformed, a narrative that needs to be revised and changed into a much more constructive internal script
The clocks are not only ticking, they’re melting.
If you notice, in this painting, there’s a gray blob with lashes.
It feels to me like an asleep consciousness. A hint of a person. An unaware Higher Self. Not yet awake to the melting clocks, or is willingly asleep in order to not deal with the shadow of things. Just letting the ants get to everything, the clocks melting, ticking away at the memories of your mind, and the desert of consciousness untended to and still barren.
Perhaps it’s time we turn that desert into the garden of the mind. Where beauty, abundance, and prosperity are encouraged to grow and flourish. Where we’re no longer haunted by the ticking of negative self talk, but guided by the belief of opportunity and possibilities.
It’s time we understand that the shadow, the unconscious, is constantly talking to us through symbols, images, hieroglyphs.
It’s why I love tarot and art so much. Some else’s unconscious is speaking to mine, and waking it up to deeper truths within.
The unconscious does this, again, not to destroy us, but to show us where we need further training, further study, in order for us to come out the other side filled with proof of strength and perseverance. It’s the 12 labors of Hercules, only in this case it’s in the desert of our minds.
With much love for Dalí, and tarot magick,
Icaro
I want to say that I’m not a “love and light, be positive all the time, any negative thought will destroy you” kind of person. I respect, honor, and welcome any and all negative thoughts.
That’s what our shadow is. The rejected parts of ourselves that deemed unfit for society, or even for our own minds. So we cast it down into the mental abyss.
The shadow requires integration for us to become whole. The point is never to deny, but to welcome, examine, and transmute.
