Thirteen
As the 9/Pents is being discussed again in another section, I thought I'd investigate the BG's take on it. I have to say, I find this card very creepy. It seems to twist the Rider-Waite 9/Pents of a well dressed lady in a "garden" holding a little bird--a card suggesting wealth enough to be leisurely, to enjoy some of the finer things, like an exotic bird and a vineyard. And yet this card tends to carry with it the idea that the beautiful woman might be as kept, as much a pampered pet as the bird she holds.
The BG add more layers to this, and IMHO, seems less ambiguous about it. Our BG woman appears (to me) over dressed or playing at dress-up with her powdered wig (her face is too young for that to be her natural white hair), gaudy tiara and earrings. Her bird is a hooded falcon. There is a fine, but scary manor house in the distance which we assume is hers. And the woman has an odd expression on her face, as if triumphantly welcoming guests to her home. The theme of plenty and abundance is there, including the idea that the 9/Pents often carries of inheritance, or gaining enough money to be a step beyond comfortable. To be able to indulge in a few extravagances and luxuries.
Often people remark that this card suggests a kept woman. I usually don't feel that with the typical RW card, but with this one...hmmm. The woman's outfit, the outrageous wig and jewlery, give me the feeling that she's wearing hand-me-downs or things she believes aristocrats wear, but which she doesn't realize are out of date or don't suit her. I get the feeling that she is from the lower class, brought into that manor house by someone who was charmed with her beauty and/or personality. Now she has their wealth. How did she come into that money? Was she some man's mistress or some old lady's caretaker?
The way she looks at us suggest to me that she is gazing at people who might have looked down on her in the past. But now she invites these high brow folk to her home and they dare not refuse--she has too much money and power over them. They bow to her. And she, in turn, makes sure to remind them who is holding the jesses.
The Falcon is disturbing. On the one hand, it matches the typical 9/Pent with an bird that only the rich and upper class can own. Yet it is a bird of prey, and it is hooded. I get the feeling that, like the woman, it is a wild thing that's been domesticated--and yet not. There's no fully domesticating a falcon. It's interesting that the woman herself is in a fashion that requires a very restrictive corset and a narrow skirt (I don't know it it's an actual hobble skirt), not to mention that wig and jewelry weighing down her head. Likely she soared free before, when she was a poor girl, and was perhaps as dangerous as she was beautiful, but nevertheless a natural predator--now, however, wealth keeps her leashed, hooded and in her own "mew." And when she goes after prey, it is planned and premeditated. It is a luxurious and comfortable cage/existence, but still a cage.
Other thoughts on this card?
The BG add more layers to this, and IMHO, seems less ambiguous about it. Our BG woman appears (to me) over dressed or playing at dress-up with her powdered wig (her face is too young for that to be her natural white hair), gaudy tiara and earrings. Her bird is a hooded falcon. There is a fine, but scary manor house in the distance which we assume is hers. And the woman has an odd expression on her face, as if triumphantly welcoming guests to her home. The theme of plenty and abundance is there, including the idea that the 9/Pents often carries of inheritance, or gaining enough money to be a step beyond comfortable. To be able to indulge in a few extravagances and luxuries.
Often people remark that this card suggests a kept woman. I usually don't feel that with the typical RW card, but with this one...hmmm. The woman's outfit, the outrageous wig and jewlery, give me the feeling that she's wearing hand-me-downs or things she believes aristocrats wear, but which she doesn't realize are out of date or don't suit her. I get the feeling that she is from the lower class, brought into that manor house by someone who was charmed with her beauty and/or personality. Now she has their wealth. How did she come into that money? Was she some man's mistress or some old lady's caretaker?
The way she looks at us suggest to me that she is gazing at people who might have looked down on her in the past. But now she invites these high brow folk to her home and they dare not refuse--she has too much money and power over them. They bow to her. And she, in turn, makes sure to remind them who is holding the jesses.
The Falcon is disturbing. On the one hand, it matches the typical 9/Pent with an bird that only the rich and upper class can own. Yet it is a bird of prey, and it is hooded. I get the feeling that, like the woman, it is a wild thing that's been domesticated--and yet not. There's no fully domesticating a falcon. It's interesting that the woman herself is in a fashion that requires a very restrictive corset and a narrow skirt (I don't know it it's an actual hobble skirt), not to mention that wig and jewelry weighing down her head. Likely she soared free before, when she was a poor girl, and was perhaps as dangerous as she was beautiful, but nevertheless a natural predator--now, however, wealth keeps her leashed, hooded and in her own "mew." And when she goes after prey, it is planned and premeditated. It is a luxurious and comfortable cage/existence, but still a cage.
Other thoughts on this card?