Paper Nautilus: Argonauta argo
In her book Ocean Oracle, Michelle Hanson writes this about
Paper Nautilus:
"Two of her (Argonaut's) arms end in enlarged paddles. When she produces eggs, these paddles secrete the parchment-like material for this "shell", which serves as a buoyant cradle for mother and eggs. Since this shell represents a birthplace, it symbolizes spiritual birth or a great awakening."
When I look at the Ore of Coils it seems we are seeing the birthing chamber of the entire deck. Here we see water, infantile iron ore orbs or
goethites and the lovely oceanic mother, the Paper Nautilus. She is being gently cradled by iron that has been worked and forged. Heat and stress have created the lovely coils, and the makings of more coils are available...the
goethites.
It seems we see here the process the smith undergoes. She feels the need to create, to give birth to some kind of creation. Here are the most basic tools she uses, but not all of the tools are here. To me the fire is missing but can be represented by the finished coils who have undergone the firing process.
Life is a forge. Everyday we are heated (stressed) and cooled, but we as thinking individuals have a way to participate in the process. We can control our responses to stress, we decide how, when and if we will react, and those reactions carry consequences, which determine the impact of the forge or the event, on our lives. This is how I have been looking at the Ironwing, how my own forging process can be made meaningful when examining the cards.
When I see this card, the fragility of the mother or the Nautilus, and especially the photo of the beautiful nautilus clinging to her shell, to her egg casing, it really reminds me that there are times to let go and trust that we will be supported. The Ace of Coils sort of shows that we can grow ourselves to a point, that there is always a safe haven or a place of creation to return to, but it is a starting place, not a place to stay in forever.
My own mother died not long ago, and perhaps this is why this card has such special meaning to me. I look at the cavern where the nautilus and the coil and water is found and I think of the womb. I think of my mother's arms, of a beginning place. I know that to honor my mother I need to move forward and continue my journey. I do not serve her memory well, nor do I serve her well by living in a constant lamentative state. I know that continuing the journey and moving past the place of cocooning is what I need to do. To reach, to journey and explore. I can return to my memories of my mother, and savor them, but I cannot live there.