Hey Britannia, I dig that dress

Legend Arthurian, 1995

The Queen of Cups in the Legend Arthurian Tarot (Ferguson, Llewellyn 1995) is Britannia, also known as Brigit or Brigantia. To be honest, I'm having a hard time making a connection between Queen of Cups and Britannia. Surely the land would be the Queen of Pentacles. Perhaps this has to do with my innate aversion to the Queen of Cups, who I find a bit too fragile and needy for my taste.

Anna-Marie Ferguson clears up the confusion (sort of) in her companion book to the deck called A Keeper of Words: 'In the stories Peredur (approx 13th centuryWelsh) and Perlesvaus (13th century French,, the Grail bearer appears as both the beautiful maid and the repulsive crone. In light of this, it seems logical to assume that the figure who bears the Grail in the home of the Fisher King is the Sovereignty of Britain, sometimes called Brigid, Brigantia or Brittania.'

Oh. Is it logical? I guess it is to Anna-Marie Ferguson. So as near as I can figure, she's saying the Queen of Cups is the Grail Bearer from the Fisher King's palace, who is also Britannia, and might also be Elaine (the chick from 9 of Swords who starves herself and floats down the river to be buried at Camelot, for love of Lancelot). I can see how Elaine might be Queen of Cups (or at least her shadow aspect), and I can see how the Grail Bearer might be seen as Britannia, but I can't see how Britannia is Queen of Cups.

But no matter! It's still a female figure and a cup's on the card, so we can read it like any Queen of Cups in any deck. She's an emotional woman, quite empathetic to others, but she has a tendency to go a bit codependent if she's not careful.

Equilibrium

Legend Arthurian, 1995

The Lady of the Lake emerges today as Justice, looking a bit like a topless Angel of the North. She rises from the water, arms outstretched to mimic scales, the scabbard on one side, and Excalibur on the other. The rather startled little dude in the front is our hero, King Arthur. I hope that sword magically shrinks down to his size, or he's gonna have a hard time carrying it.

I'm not sure why The Lady of the Lake has been chosen to represent Justice, but the image says enough without us necessarily being able to relate her story to the card. Anna-Marie Ferguson suggests that she represents 'cosmic law', and that her appearance 'signifies the workings of destiny and karma.' Fair enough.

'But Lancelot mused a little space...

Legend Arthurian, 1995

...He said 'She has a lovely face. God in his mercy lend her grace, The Lady of Shalott.' 

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).

Rider Waite Smith

I don't have any particular worries today, as we are heading off on holiday to Wales today. I'm hoping that we will have a restful week off and there will be no Nine of Swords nights or moments at all! :)

I've always loved the story of Elaine, and also the poem 'The Lady of Shalott'. And of course the beautiful Waterhouse painting:

The Lady of Shalott, John William Waterhouse

Potential

The Spears suit in Legend Arthurian (Ferguson, Llewellyn 1995) is the suit of Rods, Wands or Staves in other decks. Here, the Ace of Spears is the Grail Lance, the Lance of Longinus, the very spear that pierced the side of Christ on the cross. It was housed in the castle of King Pellam, and it is this that Balin picks up in self-defense and stabs King Pellam in the thigh with it, thus dealing the Dolorous Blow that lays waste three kingdoms and creates the Fisher King.

That backstory is not important to interpreting the card, though. The Grail Lance is the spear of all spears! And the Ace of Spears (or Wands) is the wand of all wands, the very essence of its suit, which is the element of Fire--action, drive, purpose, initiative, potential.

When you draw the Ace of Wands (or Spears, or Lances, or Rods, or Staves, or whatever your deck creator has called them), you know that you are entering a phase of great creative potential. The key word is potential. The Ace of Spears hasn't done anything yet. But wow, is it poised to spring.

Well, it's Tuesday, I don't know how I feel 'poised to spring' today -- but we are going on holiday tomorrow, so maybe the card is pointing to that. :)

Fools rush in

Legend Arthurian, 1995

We saw Percivale (Parzival, Parsifal--there are many spellings) last week in the Haindl Tarot, where he is both the Fool and the Prince of Cups. He makes another appearance as the Fool today in Legend Arthurian by Anna-Marie Ferguson (Llewellyn 1995).

In this card, Percivale has just arrived at Camelot. This is his first glimpse of the castle shining in the sun, framed by rainbows. He's fresh from the boondocks of deepest Wales and doesn't know the first thing about being a knight. He is filled with optimism and untapped potential. His adventure is about to begin, and he is oblivious to dangers or pitfalls.

That's all you need to know about Percivale in order to see how he's the Fool in this deck. There are many ways in which Percivale at the beginning of his journey is a tarot Fool, but this moment depicted in this card says enough.

It's Monday. I wonder what will be Foolish about the day for me today.

Decisions, decisions

Legend Arthurian Tarot, Llewellyn 1995

Today's card from Anna-Marie Ferguson's Legend Arthurian Tarot (Llewellyn 1995) is Two of Swords, and depicts a scene from the story of Balin and Balan...

The Story of Balin and Balan (as told in Malory's Morte d'Arthur)

These were two brothers, and knights of the Round Table. As with most characters in Arthurian legend, things don't turn out well for them. To be honest both of them are actually rather nasty pieces of work; their actions don't make sense to the modern mind. Much of 'chivalry' just sounds to us like lawless thuggery, 'honour' killings and gang warfare. For example, Balin, fresh out of jail for murder, uses a magical sword he picks up (despite being warned if he keeps it, it will end up killing the thing he loves most -- he doesn't believe it) to lob off the head of the Lady of the Lake, a revenge murder. Thus Balin again becomes a wanted man, and goes on the run, meeting up with his brother Balan to wage war against one of Arthur's enemies in the hopes of getting back into Arthur's good graces. That ends well, so both Balin and Balan go their separate ways, heroes again.

Balan meets up with yet another knight and kills him, but is then caught in a spell that causes him to have to live on an island and fight every knight who happens his way. These things happen, you know.

A Witch in the Woods

This week's deck, in all its purple glory, is Legend Arthurian Tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson (Llewellyn 1995). I bought this deck and its companion book, A Keeper of Words by Anna-Marie Ferguson, some time back, but I just haven't got around to looking at properly. Something about it tells me it is a deck I am likely to keep. (Though since I have left AT, it's likely that my deck buying habits will change dramatically. I decided to leave about three weeks ago, withdrew my membership and everything. So nice to be free.)

This Moon card plays up the powers of the moon and its associations with magic. The sorceress Morgan le Fay sits beside a deep woodland pool, absorbing the moon's energies from above while plumbing the depths of the mysteries represented by the water below. Surrounding her are leafless trees, their shapes reminding me very much of beech trees. 'Reflecting the conscious light of the sun,' writes Anna-Marie Ferguson, 'the moon illuminates the hidden realm of the mind.' The moon mysteries are the depths of our subconscious minds, a realm that can be, as Ferguson describes, 'a harrowing realm' to explore, but it is certainly rewarding. We can see glimpses of our subconscious minds in our dreams, our daydreams, and in our 'chaotic, lawless imagination'.

In a reading, the Moon card could be taken as a cue to pay attention to dreams, or to indicate confusion, bewilderment or illusion about an issue. The Moon card advises us to take a harder look beneath the surface of things.