If you know my site, then more than likely you knew this was coming sooner or later: The Archon…

Different people will tell you different things, but to me, The Archon represents control-systems personified. They are a part of Gnostic cosmology, basically demented beings who attempt to rule the world, architects of the Black Iron Prison - the “agents” in the Matrix. Archon comes from a Greek term which is often translated as “authorities.” Some people would equate them with demons, others with grey aliens from outer space. Each of these interpretations certainly has a use, but I think the concept and the symbol go way beyond that. I’m also making a nod here to the “Reptilians” of David Icke. He essentially teaches that various world leaders are shape-shifting transdimensional beings. Some describe this as disinformation, but perhaps its also a clever rhetorical trick to quickly and easily clue people in to the inhumanity of the systems of control which rule our lives.

Perhaps the simplest and best definition I’ve ever managed to come up with for the Archons is that they are the “They” who conspiracy theorists are always whispering about.

It becomes sort of a catch-all, a container which encompasses those in the real government who would rule rather than serve, to those in shadowy cabals pulling strings, to interdimensional tricksters. It even covers your nosy neighbor who rats on you to the cops for sparking up a joint in your backyard on a warm summer night. And it covers the cop who hassles you because he got pushed around as a kid, and decided one day he’d be the one to be doing the pushing around.

[…] They represent the inhuman, the inauthentic, and the dark obsession with control and power. They represent a mindset and a hardening of the heart. Their way of relating to people as objects to be controlled and taken advantage of can be taken up by anyone who loses sight of themselves and what’s really important.

The central image of this card is Cthulhu, and the idea comes from a post Jeremy wrote on the archons:

The Archons themselves are far more similar to Lovecraft’s “Great Old Ones,” and whereas encountering the Grays can cause extreme psychological (and occasional physiological) damage, confronting an actual archon would most likely leave the average person a screaming, gibbering mess in a padded room in an asylum somewhere.

Affixed behind that in the background is the Balrog from Lord of the Rings. He is the primeval creature who the dwarves unearthed accidentally in Moria by digging too deeply into the Earth. He is also the creature who the wizard Gandalf the Grey ends up fighting, and seemingly getting killed by, only to become transfigured into Gandalf the White. Thus there is a measure of hope in this card, even despite extreme evil. It is the baptism or trial by fire, the utter extreme end of purification. The molten metal which is hammered into a sword by the primordial blacksmith.

In the foreground of this card, we see the shape-shifting reptilian alien, about to strike a hapless victim. This image is from a Spider-Man cartoon screen capture I found online. He is also wearing the white coat associated with another card in our deck: Sawbones - the healer who harms. Next to that we see a diagram of the human brain. Highlighted is the inner-most section, the so-called “Reptile Brain“:

It’s ‘preverbal’, but controls life functions such as autonomic brain, breathing, heart rate and the fight or flight mechanism. Lacking language, its impulses are instinctual and ritualistic. It’s concerned with fundamental needs such as survival, physical maintenance, hoarding, dominance, preening and mating. It is also found in lower life forms such as lizards, crocodiles and birds. It is at the base of your skull emerging from your spinal column.

The basic ruling emotions of love, hate, fear, lust, and contentment emanate from this first stage of the brain. Over millions of years of evolution, layers of more sophisticated reasoning have been added upon this foundation.

Thus this card may also indicate getting in touch with your base animal instincts, unleashing your “inner reptile” for better or worse. Since the Reptilian Brian also controls the fight-or-flight response, this card is also closely associated with fear. Being controlled by fear, or giving in to fear, or else finally overcoming deep-seated fears and moving on. Some say that Archons have no actual power themselves. The only power they have is when we surrender it to them, usually through fear or intimidation. With that in mind, here’s a passage from Frank Herbert’s sci-fi masterpiece Dune. This is the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

The final element we see in this card is a very subtle one. Hanging upside down from the top of the card like bats, we see the little headless businessmen from the Corpsoration card - as these two cards are closely linked. This card might also be considered and updated form of the Devil card from the traditional Tarot deck. Also check out a more in depth exploration of the Archon concept here.

[For more info on the pop culture tarot, go here]