Margarete Petersen Study -IX - Die Alte (the Crone)

firemaiden

The usual wandering face of God in his cloak and crook (Hermit) is replaced by the Crone. Within this fearsome portrayal of a gape-mouthed hag, I see (but no one else might) at least three other figures. The right eye (our right) of the hag is also the partially veiled face of another woman, and slightly below her, yet another, entirely enshrouded figure, much like the Hermit we expect. Another figure, pope-like seems to surge from the bottom of the scene.

The entire hag-structure herself ressembles a *tower* whose stone stairs wind up from the murky depths on the right. Above her is a kind of light bridge, and above the bridge, a blinding (lunar?) light, and a sort of ominous white eye.

If you tilt the card on its side, there is a arched and vaulted doorway, leading down... down...down, God knows where...



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firemaiden

translation of MP's text. (attempted)

  • Age as a spiritual Journey.
    The soul which through the labryinth of the ear, listens inward.
    To listen to the voice of the heart, the seat of knowledge and wisdom.
    The wandering crone, on the path to the point of unity (Einheitspunkt), where the contact with the cosmic whole happens.
    Wingless flight
    straight into the heart
    each step matters. (jeder Schritt stimmt)

German speakers... please add your version, this is all rather iffy.

Everyone, please add your interpretation of this translation, (translation of the translation)
 

galadrial

She has reached the pinnacle of earth- what substance has to offer. She may be reveared and sought for her knowledge and experience, but she herself is opening her heart and mind to the light that is above the pinnacle. She is on the threshold of the next realm and is listening to it; her heart is beating to it's rythmn. I see figures carved into the stone; a very old, hunched over man, and a bird figure. She is sitting next to them, with them. They were carved by previous cultures because they were the embodiment of wisdom both earthly and spiritual. She is the living successor of these figures and has come here to be alone with them. Now nothing exists between her and the divine except the passage from the flesh.