Lady of the Harvest

Sophie

I don't see death in her face, I see accomplishment. We know that it is at the moment of plenitude and success that we must leave what we have have accomplished, and move on. There is both pride and sadness in this. As you say eloquently, Jeseryn, she is "searching within..what things to take with her and what to leave behind." I love that phrase.
 

MercyMe

To me, she's a lady of passages. I have a strong affinity for autumn and she epitomizes all that is so wonderful about that time. Harvest is a time of reaping what we have sown, of bringing in bounty, so it is a joyous time. It is also a time when the frost tinges the fruit left on the vine, to there is a time element in the fall, a kind of hurry up before it's gone feeling. She ushers in a time of nesting, a winter time where we seek inward for warmth and contentment. I know the description in the book leans more towards the tarot "death" aspect, but I think there's much more to be seen in her than just the transformational power she wields. While acceptance of life's seasons is important, it kind of makes it seem like nobody appreciates autumn or winter and we try to resist it. Well, sometimes we do, but sometimes we welcome it, too.

~Mercy
 

Sophie

MercyMe said:
To me, she's a lady of passages. I have a strong affinity for autumn and she epitomizes all that is so wonderful about that time. Harvest is a time of reaping what we have sown, of bringing in bounty, so it is a joyous time.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun:
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cells.
from John Keats, Ode to Autumn

I knew I had seen this lovely autumnal lady before. It was in our forests, our orchards, and in John Keats.

At the very moment we think Summer will never cease, it slowly dwindles, or abruptly falls. But in the meantime - what juicy joys to be had!

If I were in the Southern Hemisphere right now, I would be in Autumn. It seems strange, to be praising autumn now that Spring is here!
 

Jewel

My card of the day today is The Lady of Harvest. I really enjoyed reading the thread.

There is so much detail in this card, much like many cards in this wonderful deck. I would like to talk about the imagery. Sage talked about the lady in the white corsett, to me she looks like the Bright Mother. Look at her closely and then look at this card. Then there is the nude faerie with her arms above her head ... I believe she also graces The Faeries of the Future card. Then you have the smiley guy with the long nose right above the central figure .... He looks so familiar, but I could not find him on another card in the deck (today). The little faerie on the main faeries head I think is also in the Bright Mother card (by her hand that is wraped in pink ribbon). I just absolutly love the amount of faeries that are in this card. If you look closely there are several that are hidden. Then there is the skinny guy with the acorn (bottom center of card) he looks like a skinny Hobbayah! wonder if they are related?

I think the central figure is something akin to mother nature and the cycles of the year. She has hors that are branches, flowers in her haid, and surrounded by fruit. Here in the US we are approaching the Thanksgiving holiday where families get together and gorge themselves on wonderful food (mine included). This card feels very "Thanksgiving" to me. I can also see the death aspect as after the harvest comes winter.

The green guy with the big nose (above main character) and the faerie with her hands above her head in the bottom center of the card are the faeries really catching my attention today. Both are smiling, but I am not sure either is up to any good. They look quite mischevious.
 

cattarot

I don't know what this says about me, but every time I draw this card or see her the first (and last) thing I think of are her enormous breasts which look gravid with breast milk. I have a hard time seeing her as the "death" card, especially since I do have experience with farming communities. The harvest is a major event, and it is a time when you do "reap what you sow." It is the (hopefully) successful conclusion of a year of farming, growing, tending your crops. There are so many factors, including the weather mother nature provides, that determine how much food we will have to nourish us over the winter. I just do not see her as death, so much as food, nourishment, and sustenance to hold us over in the transition between year end and new year.
 

qwaychou

I chose this card as my favorite card in the book's exercises.
Life can be luscious, love your body, you made it. Fruition, celebrations, Joy, flower buds.
The word pantry comes to my mind, reminding me how content and happy I feel when my pantry is full. Abundance, fullness, culmination, and manifestation.
I like how happy the Lady is in her body.
The restriction of the corsetted fae bothers me, one reader here said it reminded them of addictions, and that resonated to me, and its part of the card's meaning now.