My cards for today:
Inner Focus: 1/Ace of Pentacles. The suit of Pentacles represents the element of Earth, the body, and material goods. This card introduces the suit and its symbolism. In this deck, Pentacles are represented by a golden coin on which is embossed a picture of a woman with her legs spread in a V shape. Upright, she appears to be leaning forward and looking through her legs at the viewer; reversed, she appears to be laying down and looking through her legs that are stretched upward. The image on this card shows a pile of coins, both silver and gold, in a neutral surrounding. The top coin is upright and on it is embossed a view of a woman who is in the Yoga pose called Embryo, facing away from us. Her long hair is in a braid, which rests along her spine. Laying face-up with her spine across the rim of that coin is a naked woman, her toes and her hands are each resting on the pile of coins below her and her torso is arched. We can't see her entire face, but we can see that she is smiling. There is another person (and here once again I will say "he," but that could be different to you) resting an arm and his cheek across her torso, with the fingers of his other hand tickling her pubic area. He is also smiling. The key phrase for this card is: love is indifferent to commercialization, but wealth can sometimes encourage affection.
That is a really interesting take on the Ace of Pentacles. Traditionally, this card offers the potential for security, abundance, and tangible results. It does not say those things will definitely occur, but that they are within reach and it is up to us to act, if we want those things. Within the image on this card, we see a balance of masculine and feminine energies. The coins are gold and silver. The woman is in a vulnerable position yet she is smiling. The man is holding her in place, yet he is relaxed, not appearing aggressive at all. Even the coin on which the woman is sprawled is a mix of masculine and feminine symbolism: the coin is gold but the woman is in a submissive pose, facing away. There is just so much potential to be seen in this image, potential to mix two opposing energies (male and female, inner and outer, expanding and contracting), but the most important potential to me is that joyful affection. If we can manifest that, the rest is easy.
Outer Focus: VI The Lovers. Ah yes, a Major Arcana card. The image on this card shows a man and a woman in a bedroom. The woman is laying on a bed, her eyes closed, her back arched, and her knees relaxed open. Her eyes are closed, and by her head is a black and white cat, curled up and looking at the viewer; her hand rests on the cat's rump by the tail. The man, whose eyes are also closed, appears to have his feet on the floor, with his upper body resting on the bed. He is kissing the bottom of her ribcage; one arm is bracing himself, elbow on the bed, with his hand gently caressing her breast. The bed is surrounded by curtains (which are pulled back) and beyond the bed is shadow. Within that shadow and peaking past the curtains is a man who does not look happy. The key phrases for this card is: if you have the joy of winning the favor of a young and beautiful person, offer real proof of your passion.
There are so many images out there associated with this card, but the traditional image shows a naked man and woman in a verdant and fertile Eden-like setting, complete with Serpent, standing before a winged being that appears to be blessing the union. This card is about strong feelings, and about the long-term connections that can be forged by them, sometimes good and sometimes not. In the Decameron version of The Lovers, our couple are in what they think is a safe and secure place, and they are deeply engrossed in each other. This appears to be a long-term relationship where they each know and trust each other; their eyes are closed and neither is clinging to the other. In fact, except for his hand resting passively on her breast and his mouth on the bottom of her ribs, they do not appear to be touching each other. The presence of the cat also indicates a bit of discernment, as well reinforcing the sensuality of the entire image. Not the hot passion of grasping lust here, but rather the more cool and sensual passion of a long-term relationship with deep connections.
These two cards reinforce the idea that there is the potential to create passion even within a long-term relationship if we allow worldly goods to be a foundation rather than a reason to connect to another. We don't need to grasp and own in order to feel earthy pleasure, and we can enjoy interacting with another and still keep our independence as well as our sense of humor, honoring our own unique Self in the process. But there is always a danger of outside influences. We have only to look at the person peeking from behind the curtain in the image of The Lovers. The Lovers is in the end about finding balance within yourself in order to choose important connections. That man behind the curtain could be a spurned partner; is there danger from him? Being alert and aware, like the cat watching us, and choosing carefully, is the answer.
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