Cultic
By Todd Maternowski
Copyright 2011 Todd Maternowski
"I assure you there is nothing to fear about the Tarot. The deck will not bite you. You have more to fear from the student sitting next to you than from these mere instruments of divination."
The class stared back at him with silent, amused expressions. Finally, the chubby brown-haired boy in a blue t-shirt spoke up. He couldn't remember the boy's name, but the young man had written a better-than-average midterm paper comparing Chronicles with Kings.
"But professor, isn't it dangerous to... get involved with the spirits?"
Nikolai smiled. He heard this question in all of his classes. Studying in Gdansk, he had asked himself this very same thing hundreds of thousands of times. His answer flowed from him like the refrain of an old folk song.
"The most important point to remember in our lessons here --and indeed, your life beyond the stuffy confines of this classroom-- is the Hermetic maxim, 'As above, so below.' When you go outside, for example, do you fear getting eaten alive by bears? By lions? Poisonous snakes?"
Most of the class laughed. The boy looked confused. "No, well, not outside here. Not in the city."
"And in a park?"
"...no."
"Fine, then, what about in a lion's den in the middle of the Serengeti, miles from the nearest hospital, park ranger, or gun?"
"Well, then, yes."
"The spirit world is much the same. Keep your wits about you, and avoid the lion's dens and viper pits. And when you do find them --or when they find you, it doesn't really matter which happens first-- don't go throwing rocks and sharp sticks at things you can't control. Keep to the simple stuff, and you should be fine. Does that satisfactorily answer your question?"
"Yes, professor, uh, thank you."
"Excellent. Now, who wants a reading?"
A young girl with a ponytail and a polo sweater raised her hand immediately. Nikolai invited her up to the front of the class, took her hands and asked her to concentrate on something very important in her life. Then he shuffled his Tarot deck and removed three cards.
"Divination is entirely interpretive, like all religious and spiritual experience. Here, the first card we have --The Lovers. Many possible meanings, but more often than not the most obvious one suffices."
The girl blushed and looked at her feet. He squeezed her hand slightly and continued.
"The first card is meaningless without a second card to begin to put things into perspective. Here, we have --the Queen of Pentacles. Again, many meanings. Many possible interpretations. But in this case, I go with my gut. Is there a woman in your life, a woman of no little mystery?"
The girl looked bewildered. She nodded.
"Ah! Tell me no more, please. The cards have set the stage. Now, the third one. The one that takes what we have and tells us something interesting. We have --the Five of Pentacles, reversed. Did I shuffle these? What this tells us is that you have experienced... or will soon experience... troubles with this woman. Of the romantic variety. Not good news, I'm afraid. Does this make any sense to you, young lady?"
The girl nodded again. Her upper lip quivered slightly.
"I apologize if it seems bad. But you never know how these things really turn out. I myself was unceremoniously dumped by no fewer than forty women in my early years at the university. Looking back, any one of those relationships would have proven a costly mistake, and diverted me from my true path. My path led here, teaching you bright young minds the joys of comparative religion."
He looked at the girl. She was barely holding herself together. He had encountered this before, many, many times. Time to act fast.
"Would you like to see me do a divination on myself?"
The girl blinked, then exhaled. "Yeah."
"Excellent. You'll see how it's all about the interpretation."
He shuffled the cards deftly. He'd owned this particular deck for nearly a decade. The edges were worn, the faces smooth and easy to draw. He had a dozen other decks, some older, some more expensive, but this was his favorite. He drew three cards and placed them face-down in front of him.
"And here we go. Remember, interpretation is key. There are no easy, Yes/No answers with the Tarot. That's pendulum work. So, in the first card we get --the Wheel of Fortune, reversed. Too bad, because my life is actually going quite well at the moment. Twenty years ago I would have killed for this card. And the second - King of Swords, reversed. Again, a bad card. Many meanings, most usually a bad man in my life. And third.."
He stopped momentarily. He had drawn this card tens of thousands of times. But this time, something seemed off. His students leaned in. The room was dead silent. He composed himself in a breath and used his performance voice.
"...Death. Meaning a great change will come, possibly an unexpected one. Change of fortune, a bad man, a great change... well, the obvious thing to do here is for me to keep on my toes. Expect the unexpected. And when it comes, roll with it until it's over. You see, the best part of divination is th--"
The bell in the hall rang, but none of the students moved to leave. Nikolai forced a smile.
"The best part of divination will be your assignment for next class. Come Tuesday, we will focus on the Enochian system of John Dee, and how it compared to earlier grimoire work from the late Middle Ages. Class dismissed."
As the students shuffled out, a tall black-haired boy, noticeably older than the rest, lingered behind for a moment. Staring. Nikolai put his Tarot cards back in his black velvet case, then collected his papers together but when he looked up the boy was gone. The clock on the wall said 4:45. Ah, crap in the mule, I'm late.
Nikolai rushed out of the lecture hall and through the quads, responding to students and fellow faculty members with an enthusiastic greeting but still making his way north to Pub Row. He hurried through the quads, crossed the library parking lot to avoid the crowds, then crossed the street and entered Bill's Pub. She was sitting at a booth, waiting for him.
"I'm sorry I'm late, I just got--"
"It's ok, Nikolai, I just got here myself. How was class?"
"Good. Some familiar faces from last semester, despite the difference in material. I suspect some of these undergrads are treating me as a cult symbol."
"I'm sure you have no problem with that."
"It's not healthy. Not for them, anyways. Or maybe it is. The more, the merrier. Maybe in a few years lectures on ancient near eastern mystery cults will become popular enough for me to get one of the larger halls over in Physics building."
"And you could ask me to go to Avante's for dinner rather than Bill's for burgers."
"Ah, my darling, I can take you there right now. I just prefer it here, without all th--"
"I know, Nikolai, I know. I'm just messing with you. You people have no sense of humor."
"We don't?"
"Anyways I already ordered for us. The burgers should be out in a few minutes."
"...and for drinks?"
"Watney's Cream Stout."
"My love, you know me too well. I may just have to give in to your irresistible charms and propose to you someday. Perhaps after I've regaled you with the mating rituals of the Qipchak tribe and their relevance to modern--"
"Our burgers! Thank god."
He got up from bed in a cold sweat. He had not slept but for a few furtive spurts here and there, and always with troubling dreams that meshed in and out of his waking stupor. He looked at his clock. 3:00 exactly.
He threw off the single thin cover and went to his desk. Fine. This one little thing, then back to bed. Early morning tomorrow.
He lit the candle to the angel, burned some mugwort incense and got out his pendulum. After clearing his mind of all external concerns and focusing on the angel'
s seal in front of him, he felt its presence and began to ask questions.
"Was the Tarot reading I did in class today an accurate one?"
The pendulum, a small blood-red crystal he had purchased in a curio shop in Prague, swung over to yes.
"This change of fortune will be a bad one?"
yes
"Will it affect my career?"
yes
He paused for a moment. "Will it negatively affect my health?"
yes
"Will I suffer an injury?"
no
"No? Hmm. Will I get sick?"
no
"Will.... will someone hurt me?"
yes
"Will they hurt me, physically?"
yes
"Will they.. will they kill me?"
yes
Nikolai felt a strange vibrating sensation on the back of