King of the World

Arthurian Tarot, 1990

Today I finish work at 4.30, then I am off until next Friday! King of the world indeed. :)

Our last card from the Arthurian Tarot, Aquarian Press 1990, is Arthur, The Emperor. I'm not sure why a lot of people dislike the Emperor card. I've always liked him both in concept and in art, for most decks. Unless the deck creator is one of those who don't like him, and have made him into a negative image.

The Emperor is the card of authority, power and paternal figures. He represents the civilizing qualities of mankind -- organized systems of government, social heirarchy, systems of commerce, economies, agriculture and so on. Anything that requires organization, leadership and decision-making. The Emperor is the one in charge of all these systems. Gender roles, family roles, societal roles, work roles -- all these exist because of the organizing factors of the Emperor.

Devil in the Details

Arthurian Tarot, 1990

My first thought on seeing this card is 'Snow!', but the forecast for the day is rain and around freezing...but still, if it's that cold, it could get slick out there. Today's card is the Arthurian Tarot (Aquarian Press, 1990) Devil card--XV The Green Knight.

I have to say, this Green Knight bears no resemblance to my own idea of the Green Knight from the medieval tale recounted earlier in my blog here. This guy is dressed in leaves, and has bare feet!

Here's a riddle in the dark for you

Arthurian Tarot, 1990

What do you get when you cross the Cerne Abbas Giant, the Long Man of Wilmington, and Wayland's Smithy? 

You get today's card from Arthurian Tarot (Aquarian, 1990), Stone Three.

What a bizarre image, but as 3 of Coins is the card of craftsmanship, it works on many levels. First, there is the craftsmanship of the little standing stone, a monument to an ancient skill. Then the field to represent agriculture. The roads show signs of civilization. And of course the figure itself is both an example of artistry and handicraft as well as portraying the blacksmith, whose skills were considered sacred and magical. (And you'd have to have special powers to do your smithing both nude and in a rather excited state that would surely distract).

May all I do today be done with care and skill.

Mantra: Om shree vishwakarmaya namo namah (Vishwakarma is the Hindu god of arts, architecture, crafts and creation in general. He is the blacksmith to the devas.)

Flower essence: Larch (for confidence in abilities)

You thought that was the 2 of Wands, didn't you?

Arthurian Tarot, 1990

Today's card from Arthurian Tarot (Matthews, Aquarian Press 1990) is a good example of the confusing nature of the minor arcana (or 'Lesser Powers') in this deck. We have a sunset landscape, a standing stone, and two spears propped against it, crossed. Two of Wands, your mind clicks into gear. But no. The title at the bottom of the card says, 'Spear Five'. Five of Wands? You what? So here I was, thinking of alliances, of combined force, of choices, of all those things associated with 2 of Wands. And now I have to back up and think of five little boys play fighting with long sticks (the traditional RWS image). I suppose it depends how deeply entrenched you are in Rider Waite Smith imagery, but even a beginner would likely squint back and forth from the title to the image, searching the background in vain for three more spears.

Not so fiery at 4 AM

Arthurian Tarot, Aquarian Press 1990

[As predicted yesterday when I pulled the Tower card, nothing happened--we weren't even busy at work--unless you count that I let the spinach cook dry and it burnt on the bottom of the pan last night, because I was busy reading out loud from The Hobbit to hubby in preparation for our viewing of the film today. So much for the Tower card. This has happened so many times that it no longer has any sting at all when it turns up in a reading for me.]

Let's talk a bit more about the tarot of the week, Arthurian Tarot by Caitlin and John Matthews, Aquarian Press 1990. As the name implies, the entire tarot has been adapted to the Arthurian legends, so that all the majors have been renamed (even calling them 'Greater Powers' rather than 'Major Arcana'.) Only the Moon and the Sun retain their traditional names. Each major card features a character or object from Arthurian legend, for example, Merlin for Magician, Lady of the Lake for High Priestess, and Gawain for Strength. The creators have had to stretch a bit on some of them, but I think their selections are clever and work well: The Washer at the Ford for Death, The Sleeping Lord (ie, the 'dormant' Arthur) for Judgement, and The White Hart for the Lovers, for example.

Arthurian Tarot by John Matthews

The tarot of the week will be the Arthurian Tarot by Caitlin and John Matthews, first publised by Aquarian Press in 1990. I have the edition in the sliding box (not the plastic 'video case' box pictured). I also have a companion book called Hallowquest: Tarot Magic and the Arthurian Mysteries, Aquarian Press 1990. Recently, a new edition of the Arthurian Tarot has come out, in a green box. I am not sure how many editions this deck has been through. Mine have the black arched borders. I trimmed the white outer bits off. At least one other edition has the arches in white. I would like to have a white-bordered one in addition to the black-bordered one I will be using this week.  Maybe some day I will run into one...


Today's card is XVI The Spiral Tower. Holy crap, what a start! Fortunately for me, the Tower almost never spells disaster. As I've said before, the Tower is usually something quite mundane for me, and don't think I'm not grateful for that. This Tower doesn't speak to me of disaster, anyway. It's more like a channel for receiving great power from the universe. Okay, it does cause the Tower itself to disintegrate, but surely that is a purification rather than a disaster. Once that Tower is razed, there'll be nothing left but the hill (and the new spiraling 'pure' tower reaching up to the heavens), the sky, the fields, the owl (symbol of wisdom), and all those glowing zodiac symbols. I'm not sure why they are there. I know nothing about astrology. Maybe someone can enlighten me with what they think of the symbols. The companion book only says, 'About the tor, the signs of the zodiac glow within the land.' Hm.


Well, we will just have to see what happens today. I predict, not much, personally, but it will probably be rather stressful at work. Busy, maybe.