Morgan-Greer - Six of Swords

Blue - all around the two people in the boat - blue water, blue-tinted swords in the prow, blue hills and trees on the horizon.

A small, narrow boat is being poled to a shoreline that we cannot see - it may not too far away. The man with the pole is warmly dressed. He looks in the direction that he is poling the boat. Seated before him is someone in sorrow, shrouded, one hand on her shoulder. I say 'her' because the drape of the shroud looks shawl-like, the posture seems feminine. She could be young, clutching a child; she could be old, clutching herself. We have no insight here. She is at the mercy of the boatman. He controls where the boat goes. There are six swords piercing the deck. They seem to be barring her way. Even if she wanted to get off the boat, she couldn't. The Ferry-man is directly behind her; the swords are directly in front of her.

Water on the right side of the boat looks choppy; on the left a bit calmer.

There is no sign of life other than these two people. No birds in the sky, no fish in the water, no dog at her feet.

I get a sense of surrender from the imagery. The woman may be a prisioner - by poor health; by poor material circumstances; by sadness. She is totally dependent on the ferry-man to get her to firm ground again...speed bonny boat, like a bird on the wing...what situation is she escaping from? Can she trust the ferry-man? We don't really see where they are going, the angle of the bow takes us off the edge of the card. We can only assume that the shoreline is consistent with the shoreline that we can see.

Charon

Warning. Here is one of the few relevant paragraphs in the MG LWB, most of which is generic divinatory meanings with no particular reference to the MG. I will approach the cards from the perspective that it is based on the research of A. E. Waite and P. F. Case, which puts it firmly in the Golden Dawn tradition. This is not my fault, so I won't apologize for it. I'm not a fortune teller, but as this is supposed to be an in depth study, I feel justified in adding my thoughts.


Here is a take on the card which I haven't seen elsewhere either with reference to the MG or the RWS.

The card is associated with the planet Mercury. In mythology, Mercury is, among other things, a psychopomp, he ushers the spirits of the dead to their destination in Hades. He leads them to the river Styx/Acheron. The ferryman, Charon, is paid a fee for ferrying them across the Styx to Hades. (The payment is a coin which had been placed in the mouth of the deceased.) Charon takes them across the Styx to Hades. Note the shadowy appearance of their destination on the horizon in the card image. This is the way Hades is often depicted.

Attached are three images of Charon crossing the Styx which I found on the internet.

LRichard said:

Warning. Here is one of the few relevant paragraphs in the MG LWB, most of which is generic divinatory meanings with no particular reference to the MG. I will approach the cards from the perspective that it is based on the research of A. E. Waite and P. F. Case, which puts it firmly in the Golden Dawn tradition. This is not my fault, so I won't apologize for it. I'm not a fortune teller, but as this is supposed to be an in depth study, I feel justified in adding my thoughts.

The Tarot's popularity . . . did not flourish until after the turn of this [20th] century with the emergence of the Rider-Waite deck and the interpretations of the ancient symbols by authorities such as Arthur Edward Waite and Paul Foster Case. The Morgan-Greer Tarot is the first modern deck based upon the combined research of these two leaders in the field.
—LWB​

Here is a take on the card which I haven't seen elsewhere either with reference to the MG or the RWS.

The card is associated with the planet Mercury. In mythology, Mercury is, among other things, a psychopomp, he ushers the spirits of the dead to their destination in Hades. He leads them to the river Styx/Acheron. The ferryman, Charon, is paid a fee for ferrying them across the Styx to Hades. (The payment is a coin which had been placed in the mouth of the deceased.) Charon takes them across the Styx to Hades. Note the shadowy appearance of their destination on the horizon in the card image. This is the way Hades is often depicted.

Attached are three images of Charon crossing the Styx which I found on the internet.

Click to expand...

Sorry been dealig with RL, I missed your post LRichard

What you posted is bang on. The ferryman, Charon is how I have for some strange reason seen the card. Journey into the undeworld, rescueing perspone (whats her name? Sorry I forgot) whats that greek god sons name? That had to take the ferry to kill Madussa?

Ye ths card shows a journey, but new? Only new in the mind, not a physical journey. New mind set. Journey into the depths of the subconcious.

Just so you know I dont at this moment, while typing this have the deck near me, I am in bed lol

LRichard said:

The card is associated with the planet Mercury. In mythology, Mercury is, among other things, a psychopomp, he ushers the spirits of the dead to their destination in Hades. He leads them to the river Styx/Acheron. The ferryman, Charon, is paid a fee for ferrying them across the Styx to Hades. (The payment is a coin which had been placed in the mouth of the deceased.) Charon takes them across the Styx to Hades. Note the shadowy appearance of their destination on the horizon in the card image. This is the way Hades is often depicted.

Click to expand...

The astrological attribution of Mercury in Aquarius would seem to be telling this story, as many of the attributions often do. Right on about Mercury; Aquarius is Ganymede the Water Bearer, whom Zeus kidnapped, raped, and bought as a slave. When the boy revolted, Zeus made him a constellation. How nice. Aquarius is a funny sign, it's Air, but it also feels like Water, and this, and I can't believe I'm saying this, seems to fit with his amorous relationship with Zeus. Don't quote me on that. However, incorporating the Mercury element you mentioned with this version of Aquarius, we would seem to have the somber air of this card. Maybe the boy is Ganymede who was made into a constellation, so the Golden Dawn title of Lord of Earned Success would fit, but he lost everything. This isn't a celebratory victory but one that was earned with a lot of sweat.

Anyway, there might be another, if convoluted, meaning there. Another version of the Aquarius myth identifies the Water Bearer as Deucalion who was a sort of Noah-figure. He built a ship to escape a flood and set sail with his wife. They sailed for nine days before reaching Mount Parnassus. This card does evoke an air of mercurially moving across water, and reaching a dry safe haven would certainly be earned success. And again this would be a sorry success, since they were the sole survivors in the world.

It's a stretch, but the astrology myths certainly give a lot to think about.

All this assumes the image is an actual mythological scene

Here is another take on Lord of Earned Success. The agility of Mercury is at odds with the ponderousness of Saturn (ruler of Aquarius). This increases the effort involved in activity of any sort, such as Mercury's responsibility to see that the souls of the dead make it to Hades. Thus the successful performance of this task is indeed an earned success. It applies both to Mercury and Charon. There may be similar considerations in the 5 of Pentacles, in which Mercury's influence is impeded by the sluggish Taurus.

LRichard said:

Here is another take on Lord of Earned Success. The agility of Mercury is at odds with the ponderousness of Saturn (ruler of Aquarius). This increases the effort involved in activity of any sort, such as Mercury's responsibility to see that the souls of the dead make it to Hades. Thus the successful performance of this task is indeed an earned success. It applies both to Mercury and Charon. There may be similar considerations in the 5 of Pentacles, in which Mercury's influence is impeded by the sluggish Taurus.

Click to expand...

You just had to mention the 5 of Pentacle, okay start a thread, lol

There is the similar or link with the 5 of Pentacle, it is also a journey card, also with the 2 of pentacles, the 2 coins, one for each eye, coins placed over the eyes of the dead.

This is just off the top of my head.

I'm in bed resting these past few days, today I had minor surgery, sorry I haven't been near the books or deck.

La Force said:

You just had to mention the 5 of Pentacle, okay start a thread, lol

There is the similar or link with the 5 of Pentacle, it is also a journey card, also with the 2 of pentacles, the 2 coins, one for each eye, coins placed over the eyes of the dead.

This is just off the top of my head.

I'm in bed resting these past few days, today I had minor surgery, sorry I haven't been near the books or deck.

Click to expand...

Have a quick recovery from the surgery!

I'm not sure I'm quite ready to take on the 5 of Pentacles. It represents a disruption of life as usual. Change can be unpleasant and painful, but change (whether it involves pain or pleasure) is also a part of life. The only things without apparent change are inanimate things like rocks, and even they undergo decomposition and eventually erode away and become dust.

Goodness it's late, and I've got a rehearsal this evening!

FWIW, there is a more literal depiction of Mercury in Aquarius in Trump 17. Mercury/Thoth is lurking in the background (on the left) as a scarlet ibis.