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| Legend Arthurian, 1995 |
The Nine of Swords is the card of worry, nightmares, mental stress, anxiety, sleepless nights, and so on. In Legend Arthurian (Ferguson, Llewellyn 1995) it is represented by the Lily Maid of Astolat, Elaine, who in Tennyson became the Lady of Shalott.
In this card, Elaine is floating down the river toward Camelot. She has given up on life and is in the throes of despair because she loves Lancelot, but he cannot return her love. (She dies on the journey and her boat arrives in Camelot, where Lancelot takes care of her funeral arrangements. Nice of him).
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| Rider Waite Smith |
I've always loved the story of Elaine, and also the poem 'The Lady of Shalott'. And of course the beautiful Waterhouse painting:
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| The Lady of Shalott, John William Waterhouse |
Oh, that's a beautiful 9 of swords.
ReplyDeleteHunh, that's rather a sappy, emotional choice for a swords card. But then, those worries and nightmares are often about how we mentally respond to the emotional travails of life. Still, I've never liked Elaine - dying for love, how pathetic! Just get on and do something for yourself, no man is worth that ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager, I loved Elaine. She reminded me of my own unrequited love for John Taylor in Duran Duran.
DeleteAs a teen, my best friend was always "falling in love" with guys, and I just didn't get the whole infatuation thing. When my first real boyfriend said he loved me, I said, "No, you don't, you're just in love with love." What a romantic ;D
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