This week I'll be using the Prairie Tarot, created and self-published by Robin Ator. Paired with it will be the Medicine Cards, a deck and book set published by St. Martin's Press and created by David Carson and Jamie Sams. Today's draws are the Tower and Spider:
Better ride an ass that carries me, than a horse that throws me.
—English Proverb
The Tower is built on illusions, a framework of deceptions we tell ourselves (or that others tell us) that creates an impression of power, security and well-being. But as Thomas Carlyle wrote, "No lie can live forever." Hitting the ground of reality will knock the breath out of us, but hopefully it will also slam some common sense into us as well. Spider's two body segments resemble the shape of an eight - a symbol of infinity. She reminds us that we have endless creative opportunities, but we need to stay rooted in reality rather than living in a fantasy world. An illusory web catches no flies.
I'll be interested to see how the Prairie is represented in this deck: will it be all cowboys and horses? That's how a lot of people identify us Prairie folk, isn't it, but it's something that I don't relate to really. -Kate
ReplyDeleteAtor describes its as reflecting the end of the American West - I believe she grew up in Montana.
Delete