This week I'll be using Poppy Palin's Waking the Wild Spirit Tarot, published by Llewellyn, along with the 2nd edition of her companion book, Stories of the Wild Spirit, published by Slippery Jacks Press. I'll also be drawing from the Saltwater Reading Cards, created by Laura Bowen and published by Rockpool Publishing. Today's cards are the Ace of Air and Pelican:
If bird eggs are to hatch successfully, they require warmth, humidity, ventilation, and consistent turning. Likewise, an inspirational idea also has needs: it should first be filtered through a range of creative possibilities, then having chosen one, focused planning should ensue on how to materialize it. The Pelican brings to mind the verses written by Ogden Nash: "A strange bird is the pelican; its beak can hold more than its belly can; I wonder how the helican." A pelican's pouched bill has a larger capacity than its stomach. Its stomach can hold up to 1 gallon, while its pouch can hold up to 3 gallons. While planning can be fun and exciting, we need something firm we can swallow if our idea is to ever to take concrete shape.
There is a pelican legend that it kills its young and then tears its breast with its long beak to bring the fledglings to life again. Representing ;the blood and resurrection of Christ. Rather gruesome and depicted in artwork from older days. I bought Poppy Palin’s last deck as you know, but every time I read her book I think of her committing suicide and find it hard to read, particularly for the more cheerful or optimistic cards. (J the Spirograph Kid)
ReplyDeleteThe pelican's pouch or beak turn red during breeding season, and they may look like they're beating their chest when they squeeze the water out of their pouch. Got to hand it to Christians - they love to use myths to their advantage.
DeleteWhen I use her deck I think of the many people who lost their battle with mental illness. For me it is a way of honoring and not forgetting them.