The Empyrean Project
The Empyrean System
The cards of the Empyrean deck represent centers of gravity within our conscious lives. The images act as anchors or circuits, connecting various aspects of our experiential world with successively deeper levels of the psyche. On a basic level, these are the images we see in religious and mythological iconography, as well as in ‘secular’ literature and the arts. We feel them to be significant and important because they are the channels by which aspects of the deep nature of the world (the world-in-itself) become available to conscious experience.
The cards are organized in Eight Houses. Each House represents an aspect of living-in-the-world that is fundamental for humans. The Houses have their own story to tell about who we are and what is important. Each one has what it likes and dislikes. Each one has a kind of will-to-power, tempting us to specialize or focus on just that one house, to the detriment of the other aspects of our personhood. But the overall trajectory of the Houses is toward integration. In order to integrate who we are, we need to develop each aspect on its own terms, according to its own native values and ideals.
Click the link below to look at the complete deck. You can look at each card and its commentary, and also try a full reading!
The Eight Houses
1. House of Law
What are the formal requirements for living in society? What rules do we all need to follow, and what kinds of agreements do we need to make? How do we communicate clearly what we know, or want, or envision? How do we settle disagreements about public goods and resources? What costs must we be willing to pay to participate in such arrangements?
3. House of Glory
What is it you seek to attain? What is the goal, purpose, or quest that gives meaning to your efforts? What is the unique skillfulness or fascination which allows you to become yourself by taking you out of yourself? Why do you carry this corpse around? And when you finally let go of it, how will you be remembered?
5. House of Craft
What is your art? What is the domain of creativity which you strive to master? What are the tools and techniques that seem most interesting and powerful? What imaginative or theoretical thought-world is most inviting and satisfying for inquiry, exploration and growth? Which practices empower you to make concrete contributions to science, culture, or art?
7. House of the Self
How do I maintain my individuality? How can I be me, against all the forces that want me to be otherwise? How can I effect the world, without compromising myself? What kinds of changes can I effect in the outer world without undergoing any change myself? How do I benefit from the transformations taking place around me, without undergoing transformation myself?
2. House of Life
What is Embodiment? What is my relationship to my body? What are its distinctive needs, preferences and desires? How much rest do I need and how do I get it? What kinds of food do I need and prefer? What kinds of intimacy do I need to feel loved, comfortable and safe in my body? How is my body emplaced within its environments, and how do these environments help or hinder?
4. House of Memory
How has my story of myself changed? What kinds of things do I now say about who I am and what I have undergone? How is this different from versions of myself I have told myself in the past? How does this story empower me? What possibilities does it open up or close off for the future? Who is the one who tells all these stories?
6. House of Joy
What is happiness? What are the sensations, perceptions and experiences that bring joy and pleasure? What music, art, literature and hobbies bring me joy? What kinds of risks and challenges do I like to take on? Who are my companions and friends, who will accompany me on my adventures?
8. House of the Sacred
Where do I encounter the Sacred? In what environments or activities do I feel awe, wonder, peace, and a sense of the transcendent? What practices or disciplines do I use to expand my consciousness beyond my immediate needs and circumstances. How do I experience the big picture of the ultimate meaning and destiny of humanity?