On account of the date and in order to take aim, at least, for the groove, I decided to pull three cards and jot down my impressions of them. I used the Conway, as usual.
I got the Knight of Wands, the Queen of Swords and the One of Cups.
This Knight of Wands? Looks awful lonely. It's just him and the hills and the sky, and a lily (real lilies look so phallic - masturbatory in this case, I guess.) I guess Knights of Wands often want to see themselves in this light; peerless pioneers in an empty landscape. I've a feeling that being observed is irrelevant to Fire Knights if not to all Knights. They're blind to onlookers, though followers may be a bonus (or may not be).
Queens of Swords are alone by definition. (This one is so stony, a grey statue-face on a head that looks, in its forms and marks, like geology.) It's bright day in the Knight of Wands and night here in the Queen of Swords, and he's in the hinterlands, she by the sea. (And there's more geology in the background - a volcano. That could be her Knight of Wands erupting in the mountains, for all I know). I assume more people are cold to others than are cold to themselves, which suggests that the Queen of Swords does face the world. But she doesn't let it through.
The really distinct and wonderful thing about this One of Cups is that all its drama is on the inside. The waves of the outside world merely lap fiercely, but harmlessly, against its stem. It's a card that finds its world inside much more interesting than the world outside.
I drew them as I sat on my bed, and put them on a ruffled sheet; the Queen slid a little, the One slid a lot. Thus they show a descent from the mountain (he might as well be alone), to the beachhead (she does not permit herself to be other than alone) to the deep blue sea (and even when the world brushes against it, it's still utterly self-contained). Thus water runs downhill. At the very top of the One of Cups we see the sun, making the vapours ascend again.
Tarot shows cycles. So a One may as well be an end or a midpoint as a beginning, and so I see here; all the aloneness and the loneliness and the introspection collected at the lowest ocean trenches, only to dissipate again.
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(For a list of all card articles, open March 2008 on the sidebar).
Showing posts with label court cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label court cards. Show all posts
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Page Of Wands
I've walked across the forest
through brush and rivers, in its hands
and I walk on-
I've walked across the sky
four winds, five rainstorms, in its clouds
and I walk on-
and now into the desert.
I feel no heat; I have shade.
I feel no thirst; the rains are with me.
The forest is inside me.
The sky rest on my brow.
I like this Page of Wands; it seems a wiser young adventurer than many. The card always reminds me of a someone who I never really knew, someone I hope I'll know better one day - her name is Dominique, and I think the reason why she is adventurous is because everywhere around her she sees the rewards of adventurousness. The Page Of Wands, you might say, knows only the survivors.
A Wand could never tumble into the pitfalls of the Page Of Swords; Wands, even a Wand who doesn't have it herself, value lived experience, value realities - they just value dreams equally so. That's not perverse, just nature - you can't love anything without being drawn to its opposite, and the Wands are up-down channels between one world and the next. Their flames need fuel. She's only just setting out, but the Page of Wands is carrying her journey upon her sturdy back. She only knows the survivors. Her eyes are wide, but alert. She has yet to see disaster.
Images of the Page of Wands:
Phrixus, the Mythic Page - the image shows him fleeing from his evil stepmother, on the back of what later became the Golden Fleece. His twin sister took a nosedive into the sea shortly before this image was sketched.
Amano brings out a possible reverse meaning of his Page of Wands; he's dreaming. I think all of Amano's pages have two faces; this shows one daylit face, playing with a flock of birds - and in the corner of the card, blocked from the other figure by a swan, is a shadowed face, eyes closed, surrounded by darkness and stars. This Page seems to be yet to leave his bedroom; the birds are, perhaps, his colourful dreams. (And damn, now I wish I knew what the swan means in Japanese myth).
The Osho Zen Page says life is a jape, and she and all the rest of us are clowns.
through brush and rivers, in its hands
and I walk on-
I've walked across the sky
four winds, five rainstorms, in its clouds
and I walk on-
and now into the desert.
I feel no heat; I have shade.
I feel no thirst; the rains are with me.
The forest is inside me.
The sky rest on my brow.
I like this Page of Wands; it seems a wiser young adventurer than many. The card always reminds me of a someone who I never really knew, someone I hope I'll know better one day - her name is Dominique, and I think the reason why she is adventurous is because everywhere around her she sees the rewards of adventurousness. The Page Of Wands, you might say, knows only the survivors.
A Wand could never tumble into the pitfalls of the Page Of Swords; Wands, even a Wand who doesn't have it herself, value lived experience, value realities - they just value dreams equally so. That's not perverse, just nature - you can't love anything without being drawn to its opposite, and the Wands are up-down channels between one world and the next. Their flames need fuel. She's only just setting out, but the Page of Wands is carrying her journey upon her sturdy back. She only knows the survivors. Her eyes are wide, but alert. She has yet to see disaster.
Images of the Page of Wands:
Phrixus, the Mythic Page - the image shows him fleeing from his evil stepmother, on the back of what later became the Golden Fleece. His twin sister took a nosedive into the sea shortly before this image was sketched.
Amano brings out a possible reverse meaning of his Page of Wands; he's dreaming. I think all of Amano's pages have two faces; this shows one daylit face, playing with a flock of birds - and in the corner of the card, blocked from the other figure by a swan, is a shadowed face, eyes closed, surrounded by darkness and stars. This Page seems to be yet to leave his bedroom; the birds are, perhaps, his colourful dreams. (And damn, now I wish I knew what the swan means in Japanese myth).
The Osho Zen Page says life is a jape, and she and all the rest of us are clowns.
Knight Of Wands
fire can look like anything
like an eye
a cloud
an open flower
like the shape of a man
like his eyes
his smile
like anything
I know you
know your footsteps on the path outside
know the calm blue inside you, just before-
doesn't seem so, all looks so still now,
but all will burn.
This is such a cool-looking Knight of Wands, the coolest I am ever likely to see; he's barely even smiling. But we know. We know it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. We know that if something can be done, then something must be done. We know that it will never be enough.
There is a girl dancing in my head.
When I wrote the King of Swords, I said I'd tell you about these guys, these sublime people. But I never know where to begin. Her name is Gaiety. And she doesn't care what you think. Her purposes will become clear once the smoke blows over. Possibly, anyway. You don't even know, for certain, that it was her who did it, but it always is.
It just looks like she's not holding the reins.
Wands are about seeing-dreaming-doing-changing, and Knights are a suit's champions, the ones who go too far on purpose. This is fire-of-fire. And when they burn out, they burn out bad. Also, reversed Wand-Knights tend to be nihilists; a profoundly irritating bunch.
Images of the Knight of Wands:
Intensity: the Osho Zen Knight, not waiting around.
Amano's Knight, barely visible behind the things he's set in motion. If a Knight of Wands is shown mounted, it's traditional for the horse to be bucking on its back feet; ready to move and looking damn swish.
like an eye
a cloud
an open flower
like the shape of a man
like his eyes
his smile
like anything
I know you
know your footsteps on the path outside
know the calm blue inside you, just before-
doesn't seem so, all looks so still now,
but all will burn.
This is such a cool-looking Knight of Wands, the coolest I am ever likely to see; he's barely even smiling. But we know. We know it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. We know that if something can be done, then something must be done. We know that it will never be enough.
There is a girl dancing in my head.
When I wrote the King of Swords, I said I'd tell you about these guys, these sublime people. But I never know where to begin. Her name is Gaiety. And she doesn't care what you think. Her purposes will become clear once the smoke blows over. Possibly, anyway. You don't even know, for certain, that it was her who did it, but it always is.
It just looks like she's not holding the reins.
Wands are about seeing-dreaming-doing-changing, and Knights are a suit's champions, the ones who go too far on purpose. This is fire-of-fire. And when they burn out, they burn out bad. Also, reversed Wand-Knights tend to be nihilists; a profoundly irritating bunch.
Images of the Knight of Wands:
Intensity: the Osho Zen Knight, not waiting around.
Amano's Knight, barely visible behind the things he's set in motion. If a Knight of Wands is shown mounted, it's traditional for the horse to be bucking on its back feet; ready to move and looking damn swish.
Queen Of Wands
my wand;
raises bubbles of fire from the earth to the sky
charms snakes,
snakes of fortunes,
tails wrapped around gold
my wand;
lifts my head high, crowns it with riches and rainbows
charms others,
with my body,
makes all things golden.
makes flesh be fire.
(I feel particularly uninspired tonight. Damn).
As with other Queens we have discussed, this lady is in control, not in command. That's fitting for a snake-charmer; using her arts and skills to turn risk into good fortune. In China, snakes stand for prosperity - I wonder if Conway was instead thinking of the Queen's snake as sinister, or as a bringer of forbidden knowledge, or as a sexual symbol? I read it as a good sign and as a dangerous one.
She hardly needs more sexual symbols; she's not naked, but adorned - bare breasts ringed with gold and with a beaded chain. To me the getup looks deliberately sexually submissive, but is it my eyes she has in mind? I can't know, can't know more than what I'd make of so many jewels, so much eye-makeup. She is the Queen of Wands. Her rod is budding fire. She controls the channel between dreamings and doings - she sees that creations are made real, she guides fantasy into reality.
Did Conway intend her to give the seeming of a prostitute? I hope not; I hope not because there are plenty of real prostitutes out there and they are more than just people who make other people's dreams come true; they are themselves, like everyone else. But it sure looks like Conway was doing that, and if she was, she's made it look like the ever-downside of all Queens; it's a trap. Why does this Queen display her bounties, and adorn her flesh rather than enjoy it in comfort? (The image is not of a strong woman - her arms shows no muscle tone, her collarbone is deeply recessed, her breasts are very small. Only the neck that supports her jewelled collar shows and strength).
I know I must come back here one day; I am uninspired, I can't hear in my right ear and that's fucking with my proprioception, and I can't see the upside here at all. There must be one, somewhere.
Images of the Queen of Wands:
The Intuitive Queen - yes, just this once, you can see the lady I was looking at.
Sharing - the Osho Zen Queen. The idea here is that the Queen of Wands has so much that she can share without noticing. Maybe Conway was aiming for that too, a sharing of treasure and sensuality and experience from someone who had much to give, but she fucked up for me with that frail body and that unfortunate collar. (though, again, those who wear collars often do have power and experience to share - but you can't aim that niche, lady, you just can't, because tarot images are images, representations meant to be read).
Amano's Queen of Wands - head bowed, rod resting on a hand notably darker than her own. It's very hard to see where this Queen ends - she seems half-pedestal, half-architecture.
The Scapini Queen - I included this because it includes a common icon of the Queen of Wands; a cat. In the RWS, this cat is black - here it's a ginger tabby. Sometimes, it's a tigress.
raises bubbles of fire from the earth to the sky
charms snakes,
snakes of fortunes,
tails wrapped around gold
my wand;
lifts my head high, crowns it with riches and rainbows
charms others,
with my body,
makes all things golden.
makes flesh be fire.
(I feel particularly uninspired tonight. Damn).
As with other Queens we have discussed, this lady is in control, not in command. That's fitting for a snake-charmer; using her arts and skills to turn risk into good fortune. In China, snakes stand for prosperity - I wonder if Conway was instead thinking of the Queen's snake as sinister, or as a bringer of forbidden knowledge, or as a sexual symbol? I read it as a good sign and as a dangerous one.
She hardly needs more sexual symbols; she's not naked, but adorned - bare breasts ringed with gold and with a beaded chain. To me the getup looks deliberately sexually submissive, but is it my eyes she has in mind? I can't know, can't know more than what I'd make of so many jewels, so much eye-makeup. She is the Queen of Wands. Her rod is budding fire. She controls the channel between dreamings and doings - she sees that creations are made real, she guides fantasy into reality.
Did Conway intend her to give the seeming of a prostitute? I hope not; I hope not because there are plenty of real prostitutes out there and they are more than just people who make other people's dreams come true; they are themselves, like everyone else. But it sure looks like Conway was doing that, and if she was, she's made it look like the ever-downside of all Queens; it's a trap. Why does this Queen display her bounties, and adorn her flesh rather than enjoy it in comfort? (The image is not of a strong woman - her arms shows no muscle tone, her collarbone is deeply recessed, her breasts are very small. Only the neck that supports her jewelled collar shows and strength).
I know I must come back here one day; I am uninspired, I can't hear in my right ear and that's fucking with my proprioception, and I can't see the upside here at all. There must be one, somewhere.
Images of the Queen of Wands:
The Intuitive Queen - yes, just this once, you can see the lady I was looking at.
Sharing - the Osho Zen Queen. The idea here is that the Queen of Wands has so much that she can share without noticing. Maybe Conway was aiming for that too, a sharing of treasure and sensuality and experience from someone who had much to give, but she fucked up for me with that frail body and that unfortunate collar. (though, again, those who wear collars often do have power and experience to share - but you can't aim that niche, lady, you just can't, because tarot images are images, representations meant to be read).
Amano's Queen of Wands - head bowed, rod resting on a hand notably darker than her own. It's very hard to see where this Queen ends - she seems half-pedestal, half-architecture.
The Scapini Queen - I included this because it includes a common icon of the Queen of Wands; a cat. In the RWS, this cat is black - here it's a ginger tabby. Sometimes, it's a tigress.
King Of Wands
the fire in my hands
is the fire of the sky
is the fire of my crown
is the fire of the waters
is all fire; all fire kindled as one fire,
held as one fire,
wielded as one fire.
it illuminates the darkest hour
and yet
still it is dark.
This guy. Is the first card back after the break I took following the World. I've lost my thread, but that's okay; the big snake would've eaten it anyway. And this kind of writing is still easy, is still good. I think I have adopted his attitude to creation; it should be what is most natural for you to create, it should rest easily in your hands, and should allow the fire inside you to guide your hands smoothly; it should seem to connect you to what is above, and to what is in the flow of life. The King of Wands has it cracked.
He's a raving egomaniac too, but tends to be blind to it because he regards his dreams as being separate from himself when everyone else can clearly see just how much his confidence, and his very self, rest upon his fires. Yes, he's powerful (and a helpful card to draw), but not necessarily stable, or substantial. The fires in his hands and mind are also a candle that burns at both ends.
Images of the King of Wands:
From the Intuitive Tarot.
The Scapini image brings out the King's aggression; he has a big stick and he's ready to use it. This ties in to the sex/phallic aspect of Wandiness that I tend to overlook because literal anatomy has no discernible bearing on Wandiness; but the guy is showing off his body and is ready to lift that big stick - and all the while the fire burns above him, pointing upward.
The Osho Zen, by contrast, couldn't be more serene, and he's got there by turning fire upon himself. Fire is destructive in careless hands, but creative if you put care and time into knowing of it - and this person is making himself, shaping himself, in the warmth of the flames.
Amano's King of Wands has big rings and delicate fingers.
The Mythic King of Wands is Theseus of Athens - adventurer and hero, but leader and lover too. [For a given value of love.]
is the fire of the sky
is the fire of my crown
is the fire of the waters
is all fire; all fire kindled as one fire,
held as one fire,
wielded as one fire.
it illuminates the darkest hour
and yet
still it is dark.
This guy. Is the first card back after the break I took following the World. I've lost my thread, but that's okay; the big snake would've eaten it anyway. And this kind of writing is still easy, is still good. I think I have adopted his attitude to creation; it should be what is most natural for you to create, it should rest easily in your hands, and should allow the fire inside you to guide your hands smoothly; it should seem to connect you to what is above, and to what is in the flow of life. The King of Wands has it cracked.
He's a raving egomaniac too, but tends to be blind to it because he regards his dreams as being separate from himself when everyone else can clearly see just how much his confidence, and his very self, rest upon his fires. Yes, he's powerful (and a helpful card to draw), but not necessarily stable, or substantial. The fires in his hands and mind are also a candle that burns at both ends.
Images of the King of Wands:
From the Intuitive Tarot.
The Scapini image brings out the King's aggression; he has a big stick and he's ready to use it. This ties in to the sex/phallic aspect of Wandiness that I tend to overlook because literal anatomy has no discernible bearing on Wandiness; but the guy is showing off his body and is ready to lift that big stick - and all the while the fire burns above him, pointing upward.
The Osho Zen, by contrast, couldn't be more serene, and he's got there by turning fire upon himself. Fire is destructive in careless hands, but creative if you put care and time into knowing of it - and this person is making himself, shaping himself, in the warmth of the flames.
Amano's King of Wands has big rings and delicate fingers.
The Mythic King of Wands is Theseus of Athens - adventurer and hero, but leader and lover too. [For a given value of love.]
Knight Of Pentacles
My world is made of squares of stone.
My home is made of light and gold.
My shield is made of strength and care.
My face is made of sand and bone.
And I look upon my world and home.
See the walls, the wealth, the sky,
I cannot look beyond my home.
Where'er I go, these walls shall be.
For home is everything I am.
It never leaves my sight.
I'm glad to see this fellah. He's never the most interesting company - square-hatted, closed-worlded, holding his shield against his heart - but he's got something and he's prepared to work for it. He's made shelter; he's protecting himself and everything else that's inside that shelter. There is sadly little to write about this persevering little chap; only to say that he is strong and he prospers, and that his walls are high and solid, and he does not look change in the eye.
Images of the Knight of Pentacles:
The Roots of Asia picture isn't far from the RWS version, other than that the knight is mounted on an elephant. Each RWS knight treats its horse differently - supposedly the horse represents the Knight's inner self, but anyway, the Knight of Pentacles usually keeps his mount still as he enjoys the landscape of his home.
Amano's horse is not just still, but actually taking a nap while the Knight counts his treasure. He seems careless with his wealth, an image the two sleepy animals add to, but the ornaments on his hands and hair seem more tightly bound.
Scapini's knight, like the Intuitive Knight, looks away from us, toward his walls. He carries what he has under one arm, and has his back to us. It's strangely vulnerable.
And Slowing Down from the Osho Zen is carrying her home everywhere she goes! And if you're doing that, why hurry? Why be busy, or drag around illusions, or look for shelter elsewhere?
My home is made of light and gold.
My shield is made of strength and care.
My face is made of sand and bone.
And I look upon my world and home.
See the walls, the wealth, the sky,
I cannot look beyond my home.
Where'er I go, these walls shall be.
For home is everything I am.
It never leaves my sight.
I'm glad to see this fellah. He's never the most interesting company - square-hatted, closed-worlded, holding his shield against his heart - but he's got something and he's prepared to work for it. He's made shelter; he's protecting himself and everything else that's inside that shelter. There is sadly little to write about this persevering little chap; only to say that he is strong and he prospers, and that his walls are high and solid, and he does not look change in the eye.
Images of the Knight of Pentacles:
The Roots of Asia picture isn't far from the RWS version, other than that the knight is mounted on an elephant. Each RWS knight treats its horse differently - supposedly the horse represents the Knight's inner self, but anyway, the Knight of Pentacles usually keeps his mount still as he enjoys the landscape of his home.
Amano's horse is not just still, but actually taking a nap while the Knight counts his treasure. He seems careless with his wealth, an image the two sleepy animals add to, but the ornaments on his hands and hair seem more tightly bound.
Scapini's knight, like the Intuitive Knight, looks away from us, toward his walls. He carries what he has under one arm, and has his back to us. It's strangely vulnerable.
And Slowing Down from the Osho Zen is carrying her home everywhere she goes! And if you're doing that, why hurry? Why be busy, or drag around illusions, or look for shelter elsewhere?
Queen Of Pentacles
rose stone crown jewel
earth light cloth chain
home warmth safe solid nothing.
blink kiss touch feel
smell spin fix bury
mill turn sew close eyes
we stitch infinity.
The Queen of Pentacles is usually held to be your traditional hearth mother, but 'hearths' are moving on nowadays. She is nurturing something real and physical, not to make it happy but to make it function, to make it better, to make it grow. This often leaves her trapped by her own successes, always with another task to do. I've not assembled my images yet, but I've got a feeling that this one usually has her eyes closed, or turned towards her hands or to the ground.
Her world is experienced through the hands, and I think also the nose. She feels and makes her world, rather than looking at it and expecting it to work out.
I don't know her that well. I'd like to know her better, but as with many things, I fear her - fear being within her, eyes shut. On the other hand, she has great sex, in a pretty traditional way; there's no reason for a modern Queen of Pentacles to be any more fecund than she wants to be, but she'll be taking care of her sexuality as well as she does the rest of her real life.
Images of the Queen of Pentacles:
Amano's Queen has hidden her hands, and we can only presume that they are against her pregnant belly. Her robes are plainer, her hair rather neater, than Amano's Queen of Swords.
The Rider-Waite-Smith garden Queen, her life held gently on her lap. Roses, rabbits, vines, and all goodly fecund things.
The Roots of Asia Queen. Love her. She's a human body directing the energies of trees, from root to branch. Compare to the One World Priestess I linked here; the flow is the same, though it runs straighter.
Flowering; the Osho Zen Queen. The associated Osho quote has it that Zen wants you to be abundant, to overflow with joy and to spread this joy like the fragrance of a flower.
earth light cloth chain
home warmth safe solid nothing.
blink kiss touch feel
smell spin fix bury
mill turn sew close eyes
we stitch infinity.
The Queen of Pentacles is usually held to be your traditional hearth mother, but 'hearths' are moving on nowadays. She is nurturing something real and physical, not to make it happy but to make it function, to make it better, to make it grow. This often leaves her trapped by her own successes, always with another task to do. I've not assembled my images yet, but I've got a feeling that this one usually has her eyes closed, or turned towards her hands or to the ground.
Her world is experienced through the hands, and I think also the nose. She feels and makes her world, rather than looking at it and expecting it to work out.
I don't know her that well. I'd like to know her better, but as with many things, I fear her - fear being within her, eyes shut. On the other hand, she has great sex, in a pretty traditional way; there's no reason for a modern Queen of Pentacles to be any more fecund than she wants to be, but she'll be taking care of her sexuality as well as she does the rest of her real life.
Images of the Queen of Pentacles:
Amano's Queen has hidden her hands, and we can only presume that they are against her pregnant belly. Her robes are plainer, her hair rather neater, than Amano's Queen of Swords.
The Rider-Waite-Smith garden Queen, her life held gently on her lap. Roses, rabbits, vines, and all goodly fecund things.
The Roots of Asia Queen. Love her. She's a human body directing the energies of trees, from root to branch. Compare to the One World Priestess I linked here; the flow is the same, though it runs straighter.
Flowering; the Osho Zen Queen. The associated Osho quote has it that Zen wants you to be abundant, to overflow with joy and to spread this joy like the fragrance of a flower.
Page Of Cups
drip, drip, drip
the softest of impacts
the most fleeting of kisses
the smallest of waves
the slightest of sips
from the cup of the river
from the bloodstream of life
from the veins of my body
drip, drip
and turn
the gentlest of slopes
(stretching down to the sea)
the smoothest of sands
(in my toes, by the sea)
the shallowest of waters
(laps my legs, in the sea)
the palest of suns
(warms my flesh, under sea)
(This is my borderland).
I am seeing this beautiful card through amethyst, as if for the first time, on a night near the far edge of the year, and I think she may drown me in her teacup, or in her deep blue eyes. She is the edge of the water. I doubt I've got a screenie of it, but in the Mythic Tarot this is Narcissus sat on the bank of the pool, in love with his own reflection. This Page is head, shoulders and half an arm, by the water of an inlet, seemingly naked - but severed at the border, so we'll never know.
I get it now. She's the edge of the universal river, the point before you learn whether you'll sink or swim, the point where you're just deciding how deep in you're going to go. She's the first sip from the first chalice; maybe a voice of warning, maybe a glimmer of light that beckons you further on - or maybe, as Narcissus never realised, your own reflection, simultaneously trapping you and preventing you from going deeper. She's the first drop; the first tear. Not an advisor, a gatekeeper or a guardian, just a girl on a beach with a question, and eyes so blue that you're lost.
Images of the Page of Cups
The RWS was the source of the beach setting you see in many Pages of Cups; here's one from the Robin Wood tarot, all leggy and ambiguously gendered.
This bizzare construction from Amano also makes used of a winding borderline, and a boy who's between sleeping and waking.
The Osho Zen deck is going with Awakening, and the door of the canary cage swinging open to admit the sky.
the softest of impacts
the most fleeting of kisses
the smallest of waves
the slightest of sips
from the cup of the river
from the bloodstream of life
from the veins of my body
drip, drip
and turn
the gentlest of slopes
(stretching down to the sea)
the smoothest of sands
(in my toes, by the sea)
the shallowest of waters
(laps my legs, in the sea)
the palest of suns
(warms my flesh, under sea)
(This is my borderland).
I am seeing this beautiful card through amethyst, as if for the first time, on a night near the far edge of the year, and I think she may drown me in her teacup, or in her deep blue eyes. She is the edge of the water. I doubt I've got a screenie of it, but in the Mythic Tarot this is Narcissus sat on the bank of the pool, in love with his own reflection. This Page is head, shoulders and half an arm, by the water of an inlet, seemingly naked - but severed at the border, so we'll never know.
I get it now. She's the edge of the universal river, the point before you learn whether you'll sink or swim, the point where you're just deciding how deep in you're going to go. She's the first sip from the first chalice; maybe a voice of warning, maybe a glimmer of light that beckons you further on - or maybe, as Narcissus never realised, your own reflection, simultaneously trapping you and preventing you from going deeper. She's the first drop; the first tear. Not an advisor, a gatekeeper or a guardian, just a girl on a beach with a question, and eyes so blue that you're lost.
Images of the Page of Cups
The RWS was the source of the beach setting you see in many Pages of Cups; here's one from the Robin Wood tarot, all leggy and ambiguously gendered.
This bizzare construction from Amano also makes used of a winding borderline, and a boy who's between sleeping and waking.
The Osho Zen deck is going with Awakening, and the door of the canary cage swinging open to admit the sky.
Knight Of Cups
so I saw you by the riverside
dipped my feet into dark waters
where everything was half-moon bright
and you
my heart spun in your current
river deep, and knight so cold
and I spoke with words ne'er to be told
and you
you replied to my pleas to the moon on the water
you took my hand and said it was alright
you had me make a wish, and made no promises
you led me into your reflection
and were gone, like a fish in the river
like a raindrop on the pavement
like you never were more than a whisper in my mind.
...and that is how I met the Knight of Cups and what I did to him when I found him, or vice versa, told in retrospect because it's the only way to be. Verse has jack-all to do with Conway's lovely picture - a knight armoured in shell and scale, shown in profile as he looks into his cup of dark water, which is fountaining enthusiastically all over the middle of the card. I like that it's a profile, because I for one can never see this guy straight on - I might notice him in hindsight, or get obsessed with his reflection, but in all my life he's never looked me in the eye.
Who is this guy?
He's a bit of a paradox - the torchbearer of Water, a light shining under the sea. He follows his heart, but only he can see where it leads; you're lucky if you can work it out by inference. His waters are as much for drowning as for drinking.
Unlike the Knight of Wands or Knight of Swords, he's never at full charge; his movements are calm, steady, or even hesitant. If the horse represents the knight's ego, his is well in hand - or he may be a little unsure of himself, in spite of the path he's on. I'm finding it hard to say anything concrete about this card...
Images of the Knight of Cups
The RWS (from the Universal Waite recolour), also in profile, staring at who knows what.
Amano seems to be showing the Knight of Cups in the role of a lover; his posture is taut, and I think the cup in his hands may be a gift for another. All we see of his horse is its head, with a rose held in its mouth - perhaps this knight has pushed his ego aside entirely, but on the other hand only one of Amano's knights is pictured on horseback.
Osho's knight has a different means of transport. Its title is 'trust'...something I failed to touch on above. Trusting the Knight is the only way to get anywhere with him, mentally - you can never see what he sees, so you need to put faith in what he tells and shows you. Faith I often lack.
From the Robin Wood tarot, here's a knight astride a merbeast, a seashell on his head. It's gorgeous but where's the viewer standing, eh?, that's what I want to know.
And Scapini has drawn someone suitably hideous, riding a horse that looks like it's about to die. This shows a potential for folly and delusion in the soggy path of the Knight of Cups.
dipped my feet into dark waters
where everything was half-moon bright
and you
my heart spun in your current
river deep, and knight so cold
and I spoke with words ne'er to be told
and you
you replied to my pleas to the moon on the water
you took my hand and said it was alright
you had me make a wish, and made no promises
you led me into your reflection
and were gone, like a fish in the river
like a raindrop on the pavement
like you never were more than a whisper in my mind.
...and that is how I met the Knight of Cups and what I did to him when I found him, or vice versa, told in retrospect because it's the only way to be. Verse has jack-all to do with Conway's lovely picture - a knight armoured in shell and scale, shown in profile as he looks into his cup of dark water, which is fountaining enthusiastically all over the middle of the card. I like that it's a profile, because I for one can never see this guy straight on - I might notice him in hindsight, or get obsessed with his reflection, but in all my life he's never looked me in the eye.
Who is this guy?
He's a bit of a paradox - the torchbearer of Water, a light shining under the sea. He follows his heart, but only he can see where it leads; you're lucky if you can work it out by inference. His waters are as much for drowning as for drinking.
Unlike the Knight of Wands or Knight of Swords, he's never at full charge; his movements are calm, steady, or even hesitant. If the horse represents the knight's ego, his is well in hand - or he may be a little unsure of himself, in spite of the path he's on. I'm finding it hard to say anything concrete about this card...
Images of the Knight of Cups
The RWS (from the Universal Waite recolour), also in profile, staring at who knows what.
Amano seems to be showing the Knight of Cups in the role of a lover; his posture is taut, and I think the cup in his hands may be a gift for another. All we see of his horse is its head, with a rose held in its mouth - perhaps this knight has pushed his ego aside entirely, but on the other hand only one of Amano's knights is pictured on horseback.
Osho's knight has a different means of transport. Its title is 'trust'...something I failed to touch on above. Trusting the Knight is the only way to get anywhere with him, mentally - you can never see what he sees, so you need to put faith in what he tells and shows you. Faith I often lack.
From the Robin Wood tarot, here's a knight astride a merbeast, a seashell on his head. It's gorgeous but where's the viewer standing, eh?, that's what I want to know.
And Scapini has drawn someone suitably hideous, riding a horse that looks like it's about to die. This shows a potential for folly and delusion in the soggy path of the Knight of Cups.
Queen Of Cups
open
the circle
your eyes
waters
come to my seat by the sea.
flow
from the crown
over skin
to the cup
drink of the love of the sea.
Another topless queen - looking a bit more regal than the last. This is the fourth Queen out of the gates, and she's come up behind the Magician. I think that the way Queens serve, balance and apply their element is connected to the Magician, but he is less prone to becoming trapped within his spells.
This lady of the waters is looking me in the eye; hers are purple, as is the jewel in her crown, and her flowing cloak (she's not wearing anything else; yep, another bare-boobed queendom), and even the card's border. I'll take the leap of thinking that Conway was trying to show us this Queen's insightful nature. And no other Queen has her straight-backed, forward-looking posture; there is strength in her spine, and it provides a structure for the waves that flow to her cup. She's a queen of kundalini, of the snake that winds up the spine from root to crown.
Out in the world of other people, she's the port in the storms of your emotional journeys - you sail to her for validation, and to get your bearings and move on. She keeps many hearts afloat in her chalice. Like all Queens, she could be trapped in this role, but she enjoys her place by the lapping waters. She has a calm to share with others, and she accepts their storms in return.
Images of the Queen of Cups:
The Queen of Cups often looks pretty. Scapini has dressed her up as Venus.
The Osho Zen gives us Receptivity. Now, I've written before about having strong views wrt pictures of naked, headless female torsos; here the big idea is meant to be receiving without the mental filter, without an 'aggressive mind' to riposte with responses. The Osho Zen has stranger images, but...if you wanted to show the removal of an 'aggressive mind', why not use a headless male torso? Yeah, you could see the nod to female mental aggression as a positive, but I feel there's a reluctance to trash male bodily integrity in this way. hm.
There's no way in hell it really is, but Amano's Queen of Cups makes me think of Diaochan. Diaochan is a Three Kingdoms character; a nice girl who could sing and dance, and who had a fairly important father. Two tyrants united to rule the land together; the strong but not so bright Lü Bu, and the smart but not so tough Dong Zhuo. Together they were too strong for any other men to overcome...so Diaochan sneaked her way into their company, and started flirting with both of them. They turned on each other soon afterwards.
She is Verse 43 of the Tao Te Ching: gentle water, wearing down the impenetrable stone. The softest thing can easily overcome the hardest. She doesn't need strength, substance, action; it's the very lack of these things that made her so powerful.
Unlike most other Three Kingdoms folk, Diaochan probably never really existed. There are varying stories about what became of the character, but all seem to revolve around Guan Yu; sometimes he sends her to become a nun; sometimes he is given her as a spoil of war, in the same way as he acquired Lü Bu's famous horse, but he beheads her out of distrust; sometimes Guan and his two brothers, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, all fall for her and Guan kills her to protect their oath. Yunchang, what's your problem? Why is she so dangerous to you?
I haven't a scan of it, but the Mythic deck places Helen of Troy in this position. She, Diaochan and Venus are all bringers of temptation; some say Helen is now the will-o'wisp who shines false lights to sailors and leads them to the rocks. The Queen of Cups has that power. Don't mess with her, do not follow her out of lust - she's not yours, she is Queen to everyone who seeks her - and do not trust her blindly unless the waters of your heart are pure.
the circle
your eyes
waters
come to my seat by the sea.
flow
from the crown
over skin
to the cup
drink of the love of the sea.
Another topless queen - looking a bit more regal than the last. This is the fourth Queen out of the gates, and she's come up behind the Magician. I think that the way Queens serve, balance and apply their element is connected to the Magician, but he is less prone to becoming trapped within his spells.
This lady of the waters is looking me in the eye; hers are purple, as is the jewel in her crown, and her flowing cloak (she's not wearing anything else; yep, another bare-boobed queendom), and even the card's border. I'll take the leap of thinking that Conway was trying to show us this Queen's insightful nature. And no other Queen has her straight-backed, forward-looking posture; there is strength in her spine, and it provides a structure for the waves that flow to her cup. She's a queen of kundalini, of the snake that winds up the spine from root to crown.
Out in the world of other people, she's the port in the storms of your emotional journeys - you sail to her for validation, and to get your bearings and move on. She keeps many hearts afloat in her chalice. Like all Queens, she could be trapped in this role, but she enjoys her place by the lapping waters. She has a calm to share with others, and she accepts their storms in return.
Images of the Queen of Cups:
The Queen of Cups often looks pretty. Scapini has dressed her up as Venus.
The Osho Zen gives us Receptivity. Now, I've written before about having strong views wrt pictures of naked, headless female torsos; here the big idea is meant to be receiving without the mental filter, without an 'aggressive mind' to riposte with responses. The Osho Zen has stranger images, but...if you wanted to show the removal of an 'aggressive mind', why not use a headless male torso? Yeah, you could see the nod to female mental aggression as a positive, but I feel there's a reluctance to trash male bodily integrity in this way. hm.
There's no way in hell it really is, but Amano's Queen of Cups makes me think of Diaochan. Diaochan is a Three Kingdoms character; a nice girl who could sing and dance, and who had a fairly important father. Two tyrants united to rule the land together; the strong but not so bright Lü Bu, and the smart but not so tough Dong Zhuo. Together they were too strong for any other men to overcome...so Diaochan sneaked her way into their company, and started flirting with both of them. They turned on each other soon afterwards.
She is Verse 43 of the Tao Te Ching: gentle water, wearing down the impenetrable stone. The softest thing can easily overcome the hardest. She doesn't need strength, substance, action; it's the very lack of these things that made her so powerful.
Unlike most other Three Kingdoms folk, Diaochan probably never really existed. There are varying stories about what became of the character, but all seem to revolve around Guan Yu; sometimes he sends her to become a nun; sometimes he is given her as a spoil of war, in the same way as he acquired Lü Bu's famous horse, but he beheads her out of distrust; sometimes Guan and his two brothers, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, all fall for her and Guan kills her to protect their oath. Yunchang, what's your problem? Why is she so dangerous to you?
I haven't a scan of it, but the Mythic deck places Helen of Troy in this position. She, Diaochan and Venus are all bringers of temptation; some say Helen is now the will-o'wisp who shines false lights to sailors and leads them to the rocks. The Queen of Cups has that power. Don't mess with her, do not follow her out of lust - she's not yours, she is Queen to everyone who seeks her - and do not trust her blindly unless the waters of your heart are pure.
King Of Cups
Drink deeply
and think.
I've come far underwater,
come past shoal and spire
To the base of all things
To the spring of creation
(it's where you came from, you know)
To sit at the head
of creation's table.
To wear its light on my brow.
(and if there is poison in the water, I will know).
Poison. It's because there is clearly a gilt spider on Conway's cup. This should be a small worry when there's a GIANT SHARK lurking in the card's watery background. I didn't see much at first glance here - just the gentle face, the pleasant tone of blue - but there's so much information, much wonder and more darkness if you keep on looking.
As with the image, so with the person.
Kings of Cups are emotionally authoritative, gentle in the ways of the heart and they are usually trying their best to do good. They play the role of protector or guardian. But if they rule from the waters, then they rule over everything that that means, including the GIANT SHARKS. (They may try to pretend this is not the case, that they're not part of the same ecosystem as the bad shit, but they so are).
Following on from here and god knows where else - there's one of those sublime people waiting here for me. His name is Kasimir, and the thought of him is of water and music, and deep amber eyes.
Images of the King of Cups
Here's Orpheus from the Mythic Tarot. You know the story; his wife dies of a snakebite, he goes to the Underworld to sing sad songs about how much he wants her back, and Hades & Persephone make him an offer in order to get rid of him; she can follow you home, sure, but only if you don't look behind you until you get back to the real world. He almost, almost makes it but then turns, because he doesn't believe the gods are keeping their promise - and there he sees her, and there he loses her forever. Doubt, distrust and jealousy are as much a part of this king's realm as love and care are.
This King from the Visconti-Sforza is studying his chalice with sweet, brown eyes.
So Amano has this guy with a duck on his head and an overgrown cat by his spindly feet. The duck looks rather like the swan in Amano's gorgeous Star. On the other hand, the cup on top of the cat - what? - has a definite duck on it. I don't get it, but I think it's grinning at me.
The King of Cups in the Osho Zen tarot is Healing: a lotus blooming at his heart, but huge hands covering his belly and much of his face.
and think.
I've come far underwater,
come past shoal and spire
To the base of all things
To the spring of creation
(it's where you came from, you know)
To sit at the head
of creation's table.
To wear its light on my brow.
(and if there is poison in the water, I will know).
Poison. It's because there is clearly a gilt spider on Conway's cup. This should be a small worry when there's a GIANT SHARK lurking in the card's watery background. I didn't see much at first glance here - just the gentle face, the pleasant tone of blue - but there's so much information, much wonder and more darkness if you keep on looking.
As with the image, so with the person.
Kings of Cups are emotionally authoritative, gentle in the ways of the heart and they are usually trying their best to do good. They play the role of protector or guardian. But if they rule from the waters, then they rule over everything that that means, including the GIANT SHARKS. (They may try to pretend this is not the case, that they're not part of the same ecosystem as the bad shit, but they so are).
Following on from here and god knows where else - there's one of those sublime people waiting here for me. His name is Kasimir, and the thought of him is of water and music, and deep amber eyes.
Images of the King of Cups
Here's Orpheus from the Mythic Tarot. You know the story; his wife dies of a snakebite, he goes to the Underworld to sing sad songs about how much he wants her back, and Hades & Persephone make him an offer in order to get rid of him; she can follow you home, sure, but only if you don't look behind you until you get back to the real world. He almost, almost makes it but then turns, because he doesn't believe the gods are keeping their promise - and there he sees her, and there he loses her forever. Doubt, distrust and jealousy are as much a part of this king's realm as love and care are.
This King from the Visconti-Sforza is studying his chalice with sweet, brown eyes.
So Amano has this guy with a duck on his head and an overgrown cat by his spindly feet. The duck looks rather like the swan in Amano's gorgeous Star. On the other hand, the cup on top of the cat - what? - has a definite duck on it. I don't get it, but I think it's grinning at me.
The King of Cups in the Osho Zen tarot is Healing: a lotus blooming at his heart, but huge hands covering his belly and much of his face.
Page Of Swords
So I am young,
but what of that, when the sky is clear?
So my body is frail, my hair is long
but what of that, when helm is hard?
So confusion blocks the way, with purple hues, with unknown futures
but what of that, when my blade is sharp?
And I have the will?
A lot of shit gets talked about this card. That she's a coward; a gossip; a fanatic; paranoid; detached from reality; a habitual voyeur. Worse still, she means well. The very best. Those other possible flaws are all the result of her basic flaws of Pageyness and Swordiness; she has it all worked out logically, but none of the logic she holds dear has ever been tested in real life - or if it has, she's brushed of the results because they're just not as important as what she holds dear, in her mind.
I don't like that I just put all the bad sides first, when she really does have it worked out. Her detachment can be vital, can save you - she can solve problems without being devoured by them, and so can you. You never have to be emotionally involved. I love her vigilance, her awareness of what's going on in the picture, though she never includes herself in her dynamic readings of the world; she has no shadow, can't see her own reflection. And god knows, but there's a lot of good things that would never have happened if people had waited until it was the right time. It's always the right time for her - never mind how young, how frail, or how precious. The storm is always waiting. And she'll hang for a sheep, thanks.
(btw, many decks have pages of ambiguous gender; Crowley and a few others make them female, to balance out the Knights - some call them 'Princesses' instead of pages. As with all cards ever, even the really femme ones or really butch ones, in reality you can always have it both ways. Or none.)
Images of the Page of Swords:
Amano's Page: two-sided.
Osho Zen's 'Mind' - a mind built of scrap wood and cogs.
Scapini's Page - away from the city, and half among the clouds.
but what of that, when the sky is clear?
So my body is frail, my hair is long
but what of that, when helm is hard?
So confusion blocks the way, with purple hues, with unknown futures
but what of that, when my blade is sharp?
And I have the will?
A lot of shit gets talked about this card. That she's a coward; a gossip; a fanatic; paranoid; detached from reality; a habitual voyeur. Worse still, she means well. The very best. Those other possible flaws are all the result of her basic flaws of Pageyness and Swordiness; she has it all worked out logically, but none of the logic she holds dear has ever been tested in real life - or if it has, she's brushed of the results because they're just not as important as what she holds dear, in her mind.
I don't like that I just put all the bad sides first, when she really does have it worked out. Her detachment can be vital, can save you - she can solve problems without being devoured by them, and so can you. You never have to be emotionally involved. I love her vigilance, her awareness of what's going on in the picture, though she never includes herself in her dynamic readings of the world; she has no shadow, can't see her own reflection. And god knows, but there's a lot of good things that would never have happened if people had waited until it was the right time. It's always the right time for her - never mind how young, how frail, or how precious. The storm is always waiting. And she'll hang for a sheep, thanks.
(btw, many decks have pages of ambiguous gender; Crowley and a few others make them female, to balance out the Knights - some call them 'Princesses' instead of pages. As with all cards ever, even the really femme ones or really butch ones, in reality you can always have it both ways. Or none.)
Images of the Page of Swords:
Amano's Page: two-sided.
Osho Zen's 'Mind' - a mind built of scrap wood and cogs.
Scapini's Page - away from the city, and half among the clouds.
Knight Of Swords
I launched a thousand ships, you know
with steel shells and war to bring
with fifteen-inch guns, by fury borne
and with the sword; I live by it
I draw the sword; I die by it.
My ships becalmed, I draw the sword
Give the moon's-bow her due, in blood.
And steel masks my face, my life
One eye shines red; I walk one path
Through cloud, through stone; through laws and borders
I live the sword; I kill by it.
...And I'm the goddamn Batman.
Conway's vision of this card is ominous, even among Knights of Swords. Many of her figures are abstract, but this one's a shapeless pillar of steel, cloaked, face completely masked, its warships massed in the background. Yes, the seemingly calm sea made me think of Agamemnon, who sacrificed his daughter to Artemis because he wanted to make the seas carry him to Troy.
Knights of Swords do not do half measures; they do not do compromise; many do not do mercy. They do not prance or rear; they charge. They have singlemindedly directed their horse to do exactly what it wants to do (and if the horse is the ego, well...) They are probably obsessed with something or other and they do not give a flying fuck what you think.
They have a pretty strong concept of fairness, but you are not 100% likely to agree with them about it.
I'm pretty fond of the blighters, but it's best to stay out of their way if you're not in agreement with their aims. Can one take the reins from their hands, guide them or turn them aside? By all means, try it, but be ready for what you're getting into there.
Images of the Knight of Swords
From the Intuitive Tarot. It is possible that all Knights of Swords will remind me of Batman from now on.
If you know what the hell deck this is from, please tell me, because I haven't a clue; I saved it on a random googletrawl, while the site that hosted whatever text related to it was down for maintenance. The pose is very similar to that in the RWS: charging full tilt. What intrigued me was the blocky clouds above his head; it looks like he's cutting Europe into pieces, and that reminded me of Truce, that fantastic breakup song by the Dresden Dolls:
We can split Germany right down the middle,
You'd hate it there anyway -
- take Berlin and we'll call it even.
...But more of that when I write about The Tower.
Scapini is upfront about the downsides here, as a twisted horse tramples on the skulls of the dead.
When M was first thumbing through the Amano Tarot, he immediately fell for this card and the Queen of Swords because he thought they were the only people in the entire deck who looked like they were having any fun. One possible spin on this image; especially thinking of Agamemnon and becalmed seas, now it's putting me in mind of Amano's fantastic genderqueer pirate, Faris. Y/n?
with steel shells and war to bring
with fifteen-inch guns, by fury borne
and with the sword; I live by it
I draw the sword; I die by it.
My ships becalmed, I draw the sword
Give the moon's-bow her due, in blood.
And steel masks my face, my life
One eye shines red; I walk one path
Through cloud, through stone; through laws and borders
I live the sword; I kill by it.
...And I'm the goddamn Batman.
Conway's vision of this card is ominous, even among Knights of Swords. Many of her figures are abstract, but this one's a shapeless pillar of steel, cloaked, face completely masked, its warships massed in the background. Yes, the seemingly calm sea made me think of Agamemnon, who sacrificed his daughter to Artemis because he wanted to make the seas carry him to Troy.
Knights of Swords do not do half measures; they do not do compromise; many do not do mercy. They do not prance or rear; they charge. They have singlemindedly directed their horse to do exactly what it wants to do (and if the horse is the ego, well...) They are probably obsessed with something or other and they do not give a flying fuck what you think.
They have a pretty strong concept of fairness, but you are not 100% likely to agree with them about it.
I'm pretty fond of the blighters, but it's best to stay out of their way if you're not in agreement with their aims. Can one take the reins from their hands, guide them or turn them aside? By all means, try it, but be ready for what you're getting into there.
Images of the Knight of Swords
From the Intuitive Tarot. It is possible that all Knights of Swords will remind me of Batman from now on.
If you know what the hell deck this is from, please tell me, because I haven't a clue; I saved it on a random googletrawl, while the site that hosted whatever text related to it was down for maintenance. The pose is very similar to that in the RWS: charging full tilt. What intrigued me was the blocky clouds above his head; it looks like he's cutting Europe into pieces, and that reminded me of Truce, that fantastic breakup song by the Dresden Dolls:
We can split Germany right down the middle,
You'd hate it there anyway -
- take Berlin and we'll call it even.
...But more of that when I write about The Tower.
Scapini is upfront about the downsides here, as a twisted horse tramples on the skulls of the dead.
When M was first thumbing through the Amano Tarot, he immediately fell for this card and the Queen of Swords because he thought they were the only people in the entire deck who looked like they were having any fun. One possible spin on this image; especially thinking of Agamemnon and becalmed seas, now it's putting me in mind of Amano's fantastic genderqueer pirate, Faris. Y/n?
Queen Of Swords
the sky is black with smoke
look away
the tide goes out, the waters failing
look away
the fire comes, the earth's red blood spit burning
look away
may your eyes be hard and steady
may the line you walk be true
I love her. I love her so much it's very hard to describe what she is.
I once made up a story about a god who had no divine powers, no cause to embody, no priests, no churches. Her name is Pallasra. She has no followers, but is known to the exiles and vagabonds abandoned by every other god. She has nothing to offer them, no way to help them, so they do not pray to her. When they(we) walk in dark places and cower, she walks beside them, and sometimes she takes their hands in hers.
I'm writing these in the order the Intuitive Deck is telling me to write them; she's the last of the first three I drew - the first was the Fool, and the second was the Empress. The Queen of Swords is everything I did and was because I would not be, was not, the Empress. Where majors are archetypes, or are powers that are without and within, court cards are social roles. The Queen of Swords is the widow's card. She knows sorrow, but is the wiser for it. (Those who read reversed cards say a reversed Queen of Swords is trapped by her sorrow, even indulging it or abusing it, not walking along on that straight line, not learning).
I got over her. It took colour, good friends, a little self-esteem. (The Queen of Swords does not have esteem for what she is, only for what she thinks and knows and does; this is far safer than daring to love what you are, unconditionally).
Like all queens, she is a leader but not a commander - she tells the wind which way to blow, but only so it will go the way it should, not in order to benefit herself or those dear to her. She's not all Air - she has feelings, possessions, ideas. She just doesn't think those things are important.
She's not good. She's not nice. She's just right. But she is kind; as N&Mn are wont to show me, being kind doesn't make someone good or nice.
She's often framed as a widow, very sexually aware but not sexually active; I find there's less and less reason to assume that every time I draw the card. Her sexuality is not a product of convention - it happens on her own terms. It is possibly quite unusual, edgy.
Images of the Queen of Swords:
(funny that one of these is looking right at us, the next looking back towards us, but not right at us, and the third is shown in profile - as is the Intuitive queen who I was looking at at the top of this entry - and the fourth has her eyes closed).
Roots Of Asia. A bird girl. They see everywhere, and all she has to do is look to them. There's the suggestion here that the Queen isn't really there; she's a function of the flock, but there's nothing there except eyes and beaks and wings. And a tiny tree in the middle.
Amano. (I use a headcut of this as an LJ icon). Amano likes to remind us that not every sword runs straight. I don't know if it's what he had in mind, but in Chinese astrology the snake is a sign of prosperity. This Queen directs all things that come of the Air; rainbows, winged things, clouds.
Rider-Waite-Smith: a famously grim-faced image, looking the way her sword points. But look at those tiny hands, at the gull in flight above her.
Morality, from the Osho Zen. The Osho Zen editor was down on the Queen of Swords; he sees her as being stuck in a black-and-white world, dependent on morality to make decisions when choices are better made through simple awareness, rather than from a list of preset rules. (Agreed, but, remember who it was who said that sin is when you start thinking of people as things). So in the Osho Zen she's restricting her life to her mind and her good judgement, not experiencing godliness.
look away
the tide goes out, the waters failing
look away
the fire comes, the earth's red blood spit burning
look away
may your eyes be hard and steady
may the line you walk be true
I love her. I love her so much it's very hard to describe what she is.
I once made up a story about a god who had no divine powers, no cause to embody, no priests, no churches. Her name is Pallasra. She has no followers, but is known to the exiles and vagabonds abandoned by every other god. She has nothing to offer them, no way to help them, so they do not pray to her. When they(we) walk in dark places and cower, she walks beside them, and sometimes she takes their hands in hers.
I'm writing these in the order the Intuitive Deck is telling me to write them; she's the last of the first three I drew - the first was the Fool, and the second was the Empress. The Queen of Swords is everything I did and was because I would not be, was not, the Empress. Where majors are archetypes, or are powers that are without and within, court cards are social roles. The Queen of Swords is the widow's card. She knows sorrow, but is the wiser for it. (Those who read reversed cards say a reversed Queen of Swords is trapped by her sorrow, even indulging it or abusing it, not walking along on that straight line, not learning).
I got over her. It took colour, good friends, a little self-esteem. (The Queen of Swords does not have esteem for what she is, only for what she thinks and knows and does; this is far safer than daring to love what you are, unconditionally).
Like all queens, she is a leader but not a commander - she tells the wind which way to blow, but only so it will go the way it should, not in order to benefit herself or those dear to her. She's not all Air - she has feelings, possessions, ideas. She just doesn't think those things are important.
She's not good. She's not nice. She's just right. But she is kind; as N&Mn are wont to show me, being kind doesn't make someone good or nice.
She's often framed as a widow, very sexually aware but not sexually active; I find there's less and less reason to assume that every time I draw the card. Her sexuality is not a product of convention - it happens on her own terms. It is possibly quite unusual, edgy.
Images of the Queen of Swords:
(funny that one of these is looking right at us, the next looking back towards us, but not right at us, and the third is shown in profile - as is the Intuitive queen who I was looking at at the top of this entry - and the fourth has her eyes closed).
Roots Of Asia. A bird girl. They see everywhere, and all she has to do is look to them. There's the suggestion here that the Queen isn't really there; she's a function of the flock, but there's nothing there except eyes and beaks and wings. And a tiny tree in the middle.
Amano. (I use a headcut of this as an LJ icon). Amano likes to remind us that not every sword runs straight. I don't know if it's what he had in mind, but in Chinese astrology the snake is a sign of prosperity. This Queen directs all things that come of the Air; rainbows, winged things, clouds.
Rider-Waite-Smith: a famously grim-faced image, looking the way her sword points. But look at those tiny hands, at the gull in flight above her.
Morality, from the Osho Zen. The Osho Zen editor was down on the Queen of Swords; he sees her as being stuck in a black-and-white world, dependent on morality to make decisions when choices are better made through simple awareness, rather than from a list of preset rules. (Agreed, but, remember who it was who said that sin is when you start thinking of people as things). So in the Osho Zen she's restricting her life to her mind and her good judgement, not experiencing godliness.
King Of Swords
clouds follow his eye
waiting for the dawn to come
he is the mountain
He's always looking to the dawn, I guess.
He's future tense, for me. A card that's about where to go, what to look for. I usually get him near the end of a reading. He's not 'inside' my consciousness; he is a missing piece.
I can be afraid of him - he reminds me of people in the real world whom I fear. He's just a card, and can be good or bad depending on which way the world turns; mostly, he reminds me of someone who very much inspires me, but I'll give you some images before I write of that:
Images of the King of Swords:
The trad Rider-Waite mountain king.
Control from the Osho Zen deck. He has fists, but no body; he is the apex of a shape, not a person of flesh and blood.
Amano's old, bearded warrior. I remember M saying he had way more time for the Knight than the King in this court.
When I write about court cards, images of the people who I think fill the roles best float near to the surface of the writing. She was there in what I wrote, but I didn't speak of Tolmir when I did the Queen of Swords. I might go correct that, though how to explain the scope of the Bitter One, I'm not sure, because she is that role and has pulled other stories into her fae orbit as I've grown with her.
No matter. The King of Swords makes me think of Guan Yu, who is the nearest thing I have to a patron deity. He is also called Guan Gong, or Yunchang, which means 'fleeting cloud'.
Guan began his career of righteous heroism as a fugitive; he killed a bullying magistrate, fled his home, and met Liu Bei (Xuande) and Zhang Fei just as Xuande was about to start his quest to save the Han Dynasty from rebels and eunuchs and other bad sorts. As Xuande was related to the Han, the other two deferred to him as their leader, and eventually helped him declare himself Emperor of Shu Han - something I feel is key with Guan Yu; it was never about him. All the wildly aggrandising distortions of history that get told about him are about his helping someone else because he believed that person was the person who should be Emperor - and Xuande deserved that support not because he was a great guy, or because he was particularly smart or powerful, but because he had the dynastic right and the stars in the sky spoke well of him, and as far as Yunchang was concerned, that meant Xuande owned the world.
Guan Yu did not admit to pain or fear. Guan Yu could not be bought, and would not break his oath to Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. His downfall was his arrogance concerning his daughter; he refused a perfectly good proposal for her hand, saying that her suitor was not good enough to marry into his family, and a tumble of pride, jealousy and betrayal rolled downhill from there. He and one of his two sons were captured and executed - executed because everyone knew that Guan Yu could not be bought, or swayed by pain or fear.
"Though not born on the same day of the same month in the same year, we hope to die so -" lol, FAIL. After he'd been beheaded, Yunchang went to see a monk he knew and demanded the return of his head. The priest said he could have it back when [list of prominent warriors Guan Yu had killed] got theirs back. Upon hearing that, Guan Yu became enlightened. ! He then promptly wandered off to make his own killers very very dead, because that is what enlightened dead people do, apparently.
I am being all sarky about that because it really, deeply inspires me. I've tried to draw enlightened-Yunchang a thousand times; a figure made of myths and symbols and blocks of colour - possessing Lü Meng; standing in the doorway while Guan Xing killed Pan Zhang. Because of what he did to support the dynasty he believed in, death was just the beginning for Guan Yu; he was deified about 400 years later, called 'Saintly Emperor Guan' even though in life he was blatantly neither; he is a temple guardian in Buddhist myth, and in Taoist myth, he slays demons; he is a ghost who comes to battlefields, and who helps the people who live on his mountain.
He's on top of my CRT monitor right now - green-robed, red-faced and wearing a VERY impressive hat. He is four inches tall and his spear is almost as big as he is. Every so often I set fire to something in the hope that the smoke will please him.
waiting for the dawn to come
he is the mountain
He's always looking to the dawn, I guess.
He's future tense, for me. A card that's about where to go, what to look for. I usually get him near the end of a reading. He's not 'inside' my consciousness; he is a missing piece.
I can be afraid of him - he reminds me of people in the real world whom I fear. He's just a card, and can be good or bad depending on which way the world turns; mostly, he reminds me of someone who very much inspires me, but I'll give you some images before I write of that:
Images of the King of Swords:
The trad Rider-Waite mountain king.
Control from the Osho Zen deck. He has fists, but no body; he is the apex of a shape, not a person of flesh and blood.
Amano's old, bearded warrior. I remember M saying he had way more time for the Knight than the King in this court.
When I write about court cards, images of the people who I think fill the roles best float near to the surface of the writing. She was there in what I wrote, but I didn't speak of Tolmir when I did the Queen of Swords. I might go correct that, though how to explain the scope of the Bitter One, I'm not sure, because she is that role and has pulled other stories into her fae orbit as I've grown with her.
No matter. The King of Swords makes me think of Guan Yu, who is the nearest thing I have to a patron deity. He is also called Guan Gong, or Yunchang, which means 'fleeting cloud'.
Guan began his career of righteous heroism as a fugitive; he killed a bullying magistrate, fled his home, and met Liu Bei (Xuande) and Zhang Fei just as Xuande was about to start his quest to save the Han Dynasty from rebels and eunuchs and other bad sorts. As Xuande was related to the Han, the other two deferred to him as their leader, and eventually helped him declare himself Emperor of Shu Han - something I feel is key with Guan Yu; it was never about him. All the wildly aggrandising distortions of history that get told about him are about his helping someone else because he believed that person was the person who should be Emperor - and Xuande deserved that support not because he was a great guy, or because he was particularly smart or powerful, but because he had the dynastic right and the stars in the sky spoke well of him, and as far as Yunchang was concerned, that meant Xuande owned the world.
Guan Yu did not admit to pain or fear. Guan Yu could not be bought, and would not break his oath to Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. His downfall was his arrogance concerning his daughter; he refused a perfectly good proposal for her hand, saying that her suitor was not good enough to marry into his family, and a tumble of pride, jealousy and betrayal rolled downhill from there. He and one of his two sons were captured and executed - executed because everyone knew that Guan Yu could not be bought, or swayed by pain or fear.
"Though not born on the same day of the same month in the same year, we hope to die so -" lol, FAIL. After he'd been beheaded, Yunchang went to see a monk he knew and demanded the return of his head. The priest said he could have it back when [list of prominent warriors Guan Yu had killed] got theirs back. Upon hearing that, Guan Yu became enlightened. ! He then promptly wandered off to make his own killers very very dead, because that is what enlightened dead people do, apparently.
I am being all sarky about that because it really, deeply inspires me. I've tried to draw enlightened-Yunchang a thousand times; a figure made of myths and symbols and blocks of colour - possessing Lü Meng; standing in the doorway while Guan Xing killed Pan Zhang. Because of what he did to support the dynasty he believed in, death was just the beginning for Guan Yu; he was deified about 400 years later, called 'Saintly Emperor Guan' even though in life he was blatantly neither; he is a temple guardian in Buddhist myth, and in Taoist myth, he slays demons; he is a ghost who comes to battlefields, and who helps the people who live on his mountain.
He's on top of my CRT monitor right now - green-robed, red-faced and wearing a VERY impressive hat. He is four inches tall and his spear is almost as big as he is. Every so often I set fire to something in the hope that the smoke will please him.
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