A new Major Arcana card and a re-visit of the Knight of Chalices. **rubs hands together** Nice cards for a snowy afternoon.
My Inner Focus card is XII The Hanged Woman. Yes, the Decameron Tarot deck has reimagined The Hanged Man. The image on this card shows three people: a woman on a swing hanging from a tree branch, a man up in the tree above her, and a man standing before her, facing away from the viewer. The woman is wearing a dress, but it is open at the top, revealing one of her breasts, and the bottom is around her waist, revealing her pubis; one of her shoes is falling to the ground. She is holding onto the ropes of the swing, leaning her head back and looking up at the man above her. He has his pants off, and he is leaning forward with one hand on her forearm, bracing himself, and the other hand directing his penis into her open mouth. Before her is a stocky man who is also holding the ropes of the swing, positioned between her knees and drawing the wooden seat and the woman toward him, so that she is almost horizontal. The key phrases for this card are: short-lived love, and the suitors deceive themselves into believing she is all theirs but they only get fleeting pleasure.
My Outer Focus card is the Knight of Chalices. The image on this card shows a fully-armored knight with his visor down and gaze forward, riding a brown steed with white socks, and holding a spear in one hand. He does not appear to be in a hurry (his horse is walking) but he is moving forward steadily along a path strewn with a few stones, but nothing too dangerous. Riding behind him with her hands on the Knight's waist is a naked woman. She is turning back to look at the viewer, and she has a smile on her face. In the distance are green hills; on top of one of the hills is a large castle surrounded by a strong wall and corner towers. In the foreground on a large flat stone in an area that the horse and its riders have already passed is a silver Chalice. Around the Chalice is coiled a green snake. The key phrases associated with this card are: your lover is defenseless and must cross hostile lands to be with you; watch for betrayal, for the future is risky.
Interesting combination. Traditionally, The Hanged Man represents surrender, sacrifice, and seeing things from a new perspective. Our Hanging Woman is certainly surrendering to the moment. She is allowing both of her companions to control the encounter. She is allowing the man in the tree to hold onto her forearm, and she has one of her legs wrapped around the shoulder of the other man. Her hands are firmly grasping the ropes of the swing; one of her arms appears to be wrapped by the rope. The traditional image on The Hanged Man shows the man being hung by his right ankle, and our Hanging Woman gives homage to this, for it is her right shoe (symbol of grounding) that is falling off of her foot.
Obviously, while this encounter is exciting for everyone, it is not long-term. The man in the tree is leaning precariously forward and could easily fall. The man on the ground is pulling that swing toward him, holding the weight of the woman and the swing so her pubis is moved closer to his face. The only one who could stay in place without effort or immediate danger is The Hanging Woman. This might be a new way to experience a menage, but it is precarious and not something that encourages a long-term relationship. But maybe that is not what she is looking for.
The Knight of Chalices is calmly bringing his lady forward, moving toward that castle in the distance. All appears to be well; he is armed, his steed is healthy, and the path ahead does not have many obvious dangers. However, that serpent coiled around the Chalice reminds us that temptation is always there, ready to distract us. Inwardly, I may be okay with surrendering control to others, but I do need to remember that those who are only around for the moment might not be the best ones to trust. That Knight in armor who slowly but surely brings me to that castle just might be a better person on whom to depend for advice or assistance.
There is a different way of looking at these two cards. A serpent represents sexuality and temptation, but it also represents energy. Often the kundalini energy is symbolized by a serpent. A Knight tends to have tunnel vision; after all his loyalty is to his liege and he needs to obey the orders of his Lord. Perhaps those orders do not follow his own feelings, but he cannot allow his personal feelings to interfere with his purpose. Here, his purpose appears to be to bring the woman safely to the castle. His visor is down and he holds his spear in one hand; he does not appear to be distracted by the woman behind him even though his job is to protect her. Our Hanging Woman has no such worries. She is allowing herself to be swept away by this encounter, trusting that her partners will make things happen for her. She does not appear to be denying her feelings at all and just might be enjoying the adrenaline rush of it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment