Bohemian Gothic--Three Wands

Thirteen

It appears there are many minors that never got discussed. So I thought I'd discuss this one.

A pretty pink dawn/dusk shadowed by clouds. A woman in a pale pink bodice, green chemise and lavender skirt stands near a ruined castle, a stick in hand (a wooden flute maybe?), gazes out across a lawn to sea, hand shading her eyes. Most notable about the ruins is the intact and closed gate behind her.

I like that this card seems to continue on from the 2/Wands which also featured ruins (perhaps the same ruins?). And I can see why this card didn't get discussed, as it seems fairly close to the usual RW image of gazing out to sea, waiting for a ship to come in. The woman's lavender skirt might well suggest that she at the end of a time of mourning (we discussed lavender as one of those colors worn by widows).

I'm not sure if that's a flute in her hand, but a pennywhistle would fit a sailor's widow--or just wife--waiting for her husband to return from the sea. Maybe he left it behind, or it was returned to her by the survivors. She plays it, a haunting tune, and something appears on the horizon. Did she summon a ghost ship? Likewise, the clouds at dawn/dusk remind me of the old rhyme "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight." Is it dawn or dusk? Do those clouds indicate a storm?

All of which adds up to the 3/Wands meaning of some result finally arriving after a period of investment and waiting. What was put out there may be coming back, significantly transformed--a last.
 

WolfyJames

I don't know, seems to me she looks a bit mad. Seems to me she's waiting for someone who will never come. Either he told her he'd come back but abandonned her instead and she's still waiting for him, or he died and she still waits for him to come home and she may know it and not accept it or she doesn't know and wait and wait...
 

Thirteen

WolfyJames said:
I don't know, seems to me she looks a bit mad. Seems to me she's waiting for someone who will never come. Either he told her he'd come back but abandonned her instead and she's still waiting for him, or he died and she still waits for him to come home and she may know it and not accept it or she doesn't know and wait and wait...
Possible, but this is the Bohemian Gothic. Even the madwomen have supernatural things returning to them. And it wouldn't fit the usual 3/Wands meaning if nothing came back, now would it ;)
 

WolfyJames

Thirteen said:
Possible, but this is the Bohemian Gothic. Even the madwomen have supernatural things returning to them. And it wouldn't fit the usual 3/Wands meaning if nothing came back, now would it ;)

A ghost ship?
 

ncefafn

My story about this card is that the woman is a sorceress who's cast a spell to bring her lover back from the sea, and that it's an actual wand she's holding.
 

Thirteen

WolfyJames said:
A ghost ship?
That's my thought. Or maybe it's like in Dracula--the ship returns to port, but all hands on it are dead, the captain's body tied to the wheel. :bugeyed:
 

Thirteen

ncefafn said:
My story about this card is that the woman is a sorceress who's cast a spell to bring her lover back from the sea, and that it's an actual wand she's holding.
I could certainly see a Circe quality to her, living on an island, luring sailors to it.
 

Alisa13

I LOVE this card! Thirteen, your comment about her having a sailor's whistle is very cool. I, too, thought she was waiting for someone to return from the sea but I couldn't put my finger on how the thought came into my head. She is dressed well but the ruins behind her indicate that she needs help. I think she is seeing the help in the distance - she sees something, which is why her hand is raised. Depending on the reading the card could be sunrise or sunset . . .
Alisa13
 

velvetina

the soundtrack to this song is 'Marianne' by the sisters of Mercy. My take on this card is similar except she has heard something that set the crows flying..she looks out to sea, she hears the voice of her lover calling to her from below the waves...something is returning for her, an old dream perhaps?

BUT I equally love all the other stories I've read here!
 

Pam O

I also see there is light shining on her, but not on the ruins of the castle...and her bodice is the color of the sky where the bit of light is.