Wednesday 9 January 2013

Stairway to heaven

Crytal Tarot, Trevisan
I haven't been well the last couple of days, so I haven't posted here, apologies.

Today's card from Crystal Tarot by Elisabetta Trevisan is King of Pentacles.

It strikes me that usually the King of Pentacles is shown surrounded by opulence, as he is meant to represent mastery of the physical and material planes. Usually, there are bowls of grapes, a roaring fire, golden objects, fur rugs, just every sort of luxury item you might associate with material success and security. But in this card, we see none of those things. Instead, the King of Pentacles sits perched, somewhat precariously, on a pile of rocks, at the top of winding staircase. Start with his robe and follow the staircase down with your eyes. You'll see it turns a corner and descends toward an arched doorway, some sort of tunnel bored through those jaggedy mountains behind him. And within that door, you can see the continuation of the staircase.

 Whether the stairs carry on behind him isn't clear. He certainly isn't looking around to find out. He's looking out instead to the left of the card, over the curve in the stairs, which I imagine to be on the very edge of precipice,  his view stunning, across the crazy, spiky mountain tops surrounding him.

Or maybe he looks out over a fertile plain, lord of all before him, behind him and beneath him. Maybe this isn't his throne or his castle, after all. Maybe he's laboured up this secret stair to get a king's eye view of all that is his. I imagine he doesn't come up here often, and when he does, no one knows. This is an ancient and forgotten stair that he discovered as a child, where he made his plans to conquer all, and now he comes here to bask in his success.

Or it could be I've taken too much Sudafed.

Blessings. x

4 comments:

  1. Glad to see you back, and hope the Sudafed is helping.

    He is a very unusual King of Pents. I like your idea of him coming up to this rocky perch where he can look out over his dominions. And certainly his robes and crown seem sumptuous. Imagine, too, the work it would have taken to build that staircase through the mountain! If it isn't a path he discovered as a boy, perhaps it's a folly he created, ordering workers to slave breaking rocks and carrying them away to allow him that special view...

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  2. Oh, but I quite like the King of Pentacles and that sounds like a mean thing to do. ;)

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  3. His mountain is very feeble though, like he could fall and the little mound of rocks could collapse any minute. Giving meaning to the old addage the higher you climb the further you fall xx

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  4. Well, as his negative side, sometimes thinking you can have anything you want means you think you should have anything you want, and others be damned...

    Overall, though, I agree with you. He is often generous, liking to share his luxuries with others :)

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