Dear reader of signs,
Welcome to my ‘Reading the Signs’ June challenge, an exercise of paying attention with a focus in mind as the day unfolds.
Today’s choice of deck was the Elemental Tarot by Caroline Smith and John Astrop. I was excited to be reunited with this deck, which I’ve had a very long time. It had been ‘put away’ and it’s been at least a decade since I cracked it open. It’s a arcane, symbolic deck, with a bold design and bright colour palate. It wouldn’t be for everyone, but I love it.
Its different design makes me consider each card carefully and examine all its aspects.
I selected the Daughter of Water which is usually the Page of Cups in most decks.
‘Matasignais’ means the moon in autumn, based on Agrippa’s fourth Book of Occult Philosophy. There are symbols for the moon, water, and Uranus (the Herschel monogram), along with three symbols that meant 'Begat’, ‘Door’ and ‘Spring’. The Daughter of Water is a bright-eyed initiate, naive perhaps, but a pure channel of inspiration.
While moving through the house later I spied a small decoration I bought years ago in the shape of a mermaid. It is fashioned from felt, and with a sense of quirky fun I left it hanging from a branch in a tree sculpture. Where it has remained.
This prompted a deep dive (oh yes, a pun!) into mermaid mythology across the world. It’s a remarkably common hybrid creature, but I have a thing for chimeras — fantastic creatures that are composed of the parts of other creatures.
This resulted in me writing a fictional piece extrapolating on mermaid folklore, the kind of work I love to do. I’ll flesh it out at a later date.
Of course, The Little Mermaid is in cinemas currently, so it’s no surprise a tangential image from that film dropped across one of my feeds later.
I’m not a fan of the original story, written by Hans Christian Andersen. It has a few strong archetypical elements, but I do not like the underpinning ethos of the tale.
Mermaids are wild, unpredictable, and live in the tempestuous ocean. Most mythology treats them as magical and beautiful songstresses, but dangerous. Of course the instinct is to possess her, but it will always go awry.
She will bespell and drown you. Maybe not after your first kiss, but eventually. It’s in her nature.
For her allegiance is to the crushing depths, not the airy land.