Druidcraft study group - Princess of Pentacles

TygrEyes

I'm here! I've been popping in to read everyone's thoughts real quick. I've had a lot going on the last couple weeks - backed up w/ work & now I've left my initial career behind & am starting a new job the end of the month. I'm still tying up loose ends w/ the old one, though. My dog had an allergic reaction to a shot from the Vet. UGH!
Tonight I'm going to do a write up for the Prince of Wands to post tomorrow. If someone's already done one & would like to start that thread, feel free. You're all welcome to start a new thread if you think the old one has slowed down. Heck, I still have a few small comments about the Princess of C & Princess of S I haven't had to time to post yet! Eek. I'll be catching up though!
 

WolfSpirit

Majecot said:
I wish I knew more about the symbols behind her, it seems like it might be a temple of sorts or perhaps someones tomb?

Is that a face I see in the three in this one also or is that my imagination?

I also see a face in the birch tree, but I must admit the tree also reminds me of the king of wands in rabble's Garden Path Tarot, it looks a lot like this one but has a more distinctive face.
(you can find it in the deck creation forum)

I think the stones are a tomb but I am not sure. The spirals on one of the stones remind me of the spirals on the Rebirth card, but that one has a lot more spirals (6 are visible but there are probably more), this one has only 2 spirals and I think that has significance too, but I wouldn't know what.
As pentacles stand for solidity, maybe it stands for being in touch with her ancestry. She is standing on the ground of her ancestors, building on what they gave to her.
 

Sulis

Majecot said:
In comparing the court cards, I notice the artist has taken great care in representing them as family members, taking the parents features and combining them to create what can be taken as off spring. This princess appears (to me) to have the features of the Queen, and the coloring of the King. Much like what you would find in many familys.

I did a reading last night and the Princess of Swords and the Queen of Swords both came up. The family resemblence got me thinking (I know, calm down ;))

When I think of court cards I usually think of them maturing in sequence:
Page / Princess
Knight / Prince
Queen
King

But with these court cards I'm thinking
Princess matures into Queen
Prince matures into King

I can look at a Princess, see her characteristics and see them again but older in the Queen.

This just makes the court cards easier to read (for me it does anyway)

Love

Sulis xx
 

Sulis

WolfSpirit said:
The spirals on one of the stones remind me of the spirals on the Rebirth card, but that one has a lot more spirals (6 are visible but there are probably more), this one has only 2 spirals and I think that has significance too, but I wouldn't know what.
As pentacles stand for solidity, maybe it stands for being in touch with her ancestry. She is standing on the ground of her ancestors, building on what they gave to her.

I like this notion of being in touch with her ancestors. Saw something about the spirals which are often found inside bronze age tombs and buriel mounds on TV yesterday. Apparently there was a belief that the spiral acted as a doorway to the other world (which lies on the other side of a viel represented by the stone the spiral is etched onto). The soul would pass through the spiral - the programme likened this to the tunnel which people often feel that they pass through during near death experiences. This would tie in with the Princess being in touch with her ancestors (literally).
Love

Sulis xx
 

CreativeFire

The double spiral on the stones behind the Princess had me curious, as Sulis mentioned above spirals are often found on ceremonial sites, tombs, monuments etc, so went digging through some of my links and found a couple on the spirals and also some of the other celtic designs which might be of interest.

http://crystalforest1.homestead.com/celticdesign.html

http://www.seeekers.net/Celtic/basic_celtic_symbols.htm

As mentioned in the last link above, the double spiral is sometimes used to represent equinoxes, when days and night are of equal length. So this got me thinking as Pentacles = Earth = Winter - could this be representing the winter solstice perhaps?

In regards to the Princess herself, I also noticed as others have mentioned above, that she seems to be the youngest of all the princesses and the most down to earth looking. Even her gown is of a much more practical and basic cut and design compared to the others. Also great observation Sulis in regards to the square pattern on her gown, it never occurred to me but makes absolute sense for her. :)

Also looking at the background sky in the image, is the yellow light on the horizon perhaps depicting the early morning glow of a sun rise, as the higher sky is quite dark like of night / early morning.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working through the Princesses in this deck and look forward to reading the threads on the Princes later.

CreativeFire
 

WalesWoman

With the wind blowing change, and her being so young, like she is on the threshold of becoming a "woman". Her looking so deeply at the pentacle, studying the nature of changes her body is going through, understanding those changes as bringing the end of her childhood. So I would think this is a prepubescent girl, just discoving the growing buds of her breasts, hair sprouting in places it never grew before, etc. That is probably why her cloak is red, to symbolize her first rites of womanhood, the symbolism sort of resemble the helix, and unbroken continuation of one generation to another. So the squares of her green tunic, could be the foundation of growth neccessary to reach this state.

I can't quite remember the meaning of the symbol, the double spiral, it's similar to the inner/outer world and sort of makes me think of the Magician. All things coming from the source and creating the source... can't quite find the words for this. Creation and re-creation in a way.

Even the sky is a delination, the end of the day, not simply fading into colors but a sharp distinctive change and the coming of the storm.
Puberty definately would fit into that catagory, a hormonal storm of confusion and changes.

So while I think that this is something she has studied and expects, she's not quite sure what she really thinks or feels about any of it... sort of an "oh my?" of wonderment.
 

wellspring

Sorry, don't know if everyone just adds to study threads as and when. Just joined a couple of weeks ago, and got Druidcraft a week ago. Drew the Princess reversed as daily card today, and have really enjoyed reading the thread, plus it really got me thinking more.

What's come through mainly to me is that a way through the confusions and changes she's experiencing would be to let the wind bring messages, from her ancestors or from her own more childlike qualities - to be spontaneous, practical and creative. Often by getting on with something practical and/or creative, inspirations can come through more easily. And maybe with the card being reversed in this instance, it's about her studying too much, or having been through a lot for someone her age (the tomb) and saying that it'll be a breath of fresh air if she relaxes and lets herself be her age and use the more childlike qualities as a way to relax and open up, rather than study overmuch. Although it could pay to maybe briefly check over any recent ideas she's had, but had forgotten about, and can now take steps to act on practically.

Feels an optimistic card too, as she's younger than the other princesses, so will bounce back fine, come up with something. Vibrant colours of her clothes and nature suggest a lot of energy and potential.

I was told once that important thresholds such as puberty can really hold the key to future activities ... that whatever you remember being really keen about or involved in at puberty can have a great bearing on things. E.g. my memory when asked about activities at puberty was about doing some artwork that I hadn't thought I had the ability to do at all, and remembering this as a very personal experience of hope and there being something more to life, some 'fairy dust' if you like ..... about 12 years later, having really carried that seed inside and yearned about it, art really did come through and took me on a whole new personal journey, as well as developing me spiritually and visually a lot, so that these qualities can carry on in a spiritual, if not always literally constant, sense. And whether e.g. a threshold activity always continues, or reappears later in life again and again, is something that will be spontaneous and natural, as the Princess of Pentacles is so aware of.

Cat
 

Sulis

Hi Cat,

Yes just dive right in. Have a look through the cards we've studied so far (you can find them by clicking the DruidCraft link in the Study Groups index thread at the top of the study group page) and post away :)

I really like your take on this Princess - especially the bit about the wind bringing messages from her ancestors - that is exactly what it looks like on this card.

I'll look forward to seeing you around the study group :)

Love

Sulis xx
 

wellspring

Hi Sulis :)

Many thanks for your message and encouragement. Learnt a lot from reading the thread, and really look forward to learning and posting more. Look forward to seeing you around the study group too!

Love, Cat xx
 

VoodooGyal

Hi did anyone noticed red droplets on the stone in front of the girl's feet? It looks like blood to me!