For the last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about the masks that people wear. The reason for this is because I’ve been working on one of my story ideas which I’m writing in the style of the unreliable narrator. I know most people probably view any 1st person narrative as being unreliable because you’re peering through their looking glass, which can be distorted. But in the case of the unreliable narrator the whole point is to purposely mislead you.
I also noticed that this happens to coincide with today’s new moon in Cancer which is very close to my ascendant or rising sign. Some astrologers view the ascendant as the mask you wear, it’s the way other people view you as a person, but it doesn’t necessarily show who you really are. In the Astrology Bible by Judy Hall she describes it as the face that a person presents to the world as a shield to protect their inner sun sign self. It all depends on your birth chart, you can learn more about the ascendant here http://www.cafeastrology.com/risingsignsascendant.html
In my weekly tarot reading using my Silver Era deck, I got the combination of the 7 of Swords and the Magician. This to me showed the perfect description of an unreliable narrator. The sneaky seven running away because she’s not being completely honest. Believing she can get away with it but not realising she’s left two swords behind that can be traced back to her. This card to me is the saying one thing, thinking another card. Then the Magician who is the master at creating an illusion by using words, knowing exactly what to say to make you believe whatever it is she wants you to believe.
This combination also shows my favourite unreliable narrator, Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. I honestly believed that he was an unstable maniac until I got to the end and was left thinking, wait…I don’t get it !? I love the film and the opening monologue is one of my favourite scenes. Especially the part where he is talking about the mask that he wears as he’s removing his herb mint facial mask. He uses more beauty products in one day than I do in one year! Here is what he says:
“…there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.”
So for me this new moon is a time for me to think about how I want to define myself and what identity I want to put out into the world. Maybe I should think about getting some business cards to go with that (that’s a little American Psycho humour!!)