Sophie-David
My first impression when looking at the Legend Ace of Swords card was, "What a fine looking bed, but why did someone leave a sword lying on it?" A Keeper of Words doesn't actually explain why the sword lies on a bed, just that it was where in needed to be, awaiting the only person worthy enough to wield it, Galahad.
Dindrane, the Queen of Spears in the Legend deck, is the interpreter of the sword, telling the story of one who was not worthy to use it, but assuring Galahad that he was intended to be the sword's owner. Dindrane also told the hero that its name was the "Sword of Strange Hangings" and its scabbard was called "Memory of Blood". The hangings, the attachments to the scabbard by which it could be worn, where "strange" in that they of pure quality and would not carry the weight of the sword. Dindrane is able to repair the hangings so that the sword became serviceable. So the Queen of Spears acts as story teller, preparer of the weapon, and girder.
The story seems to mean that the feminine principle of intuitive thought, inspired wisdom, kind and practical counsel - the Queen of Spears - is required to release the foundational force of determined action and discriminating logic - the Ace of Swords. The functionality of the left brain is birthed from the intuitive right.
Returning to the image, the sword is no ordinary one, but a sword of such value that is cradled on a fine bed, with the company of a "crown of gold and silk". Again we seem to have a masculine symbol with a feminine one, the sword's force guided by the crown's discrimination. Together they lie on a violet bed cover, royal and mystic at the same time. Royal purple bed curtains are pulled open and gathered at either side of the headboard.
The headboard is dominated by the picture of a ship, and the bed itself is aboard a "Miraculous Ship", a vehicle of the libido travelling close above the ocean of the unconscious. The sailing ship is made of wood and the waves and sail are raised by the wind, which Anna-Marie images in spears. This is a bit confusing to me, because below the sailing ship on the headboard are images of three suits - shields, cups, and spears - so it would make sense that the ship would represent swords. And the ship is definitely not on fire! It would seem that this image fits the typical "swords in air" convention much more easily.
A fabric sconce above the headboard has what might be a tree of life in the centre, with two knights(?) riding forth from it on either side, another image of the Ace of Swords meaning, the birth of "great force".
On each of the bed posts at the front of the scene there are some strange carvings. They look to me like wings with rabbit legs. Perhaps someone else sees them more coherently?
Dindrane, the Queen of Spears in the Legend deck, is the interpreter of the sword, telling the story of one who was not worthy to use it, but assuring Galahad that he was intended to be the sword's owner. Dindrane also told the hero that its name was the "Sword of Strange Hangings" and its scabbard was called "Memory of Blood". The hangings, the attachments to the scabbard by which it could be worn, where "strange" in that they of pure quality and would not carry the weight of the sword. Dindrane is able to repair the hangings so that the sword became serviceable. So the Queen of Spears acts as story teller, preparer of the weapon, and girder.
The story seems to mean that the feminine principle of intuitive thought, inspired wisdom, kind and practical counsel - the Queen of Spears - is required to release the foundational force of determined action and discriminating logic - the Ace of Swords. The functionality of the left brain is birthed from the intuitive right.
Returning to the image, the sword is no ordinary one, but a sword of such value that is cradled on a fine bed, with the company of a "crown of gold and silk". Again we seem to have a masculine symbol with a feminine one, the sword's force guided by the crown's discrimination. Together they lie on a violet bed cover, royal and mystic at the same time. Royal purple bed curtains are pulled open and gathered at either side of the headboard.
The headboard is dominated by the picture of a ship, and the bed itself is aboard a "Miraculous Ship", a vehicle of the libido travelling close above the ocean of the unconscious. The sailing ship is made of wood and the waves and sail are raised by the wind, which Anna-Marie images in spears. This is a bit confusing to me, because below the sailing ship on the headboard are images of three suits - shields, cups, and spears - so it would make sense that the ship would represent swords. And the ship is definitely not on fire! It would seem that this image fits the typical "swords in air" convention much more easily.
A fabric sconce above the headboard has what might be a tree of life in the centre, with two knights(?) riding forth from it on either side, another image of the Ace of Swords meaning, the birth of "great force".
On each of the bed posts at the front of the scene there are some strange carvings. They look to me like wings with rabbit legs. Perhaps someone else sees them more coherently?