Greenwood Tarot - 2 of stones

Surja76

I would like to reanimate one more old deck like Green Wood Tarot. It is very worm, non aggressive deck and its meanings have very deep psychological base help us to understand problems of our inner life and in our relationships with people, relatives and even with animals.
This deck is more suitable for psychological spreads that for Situational reading. I know psychologists who never clashed the tarot before start their tarot experience just with this deck, they even play it with children asking them to describe pictures.
Meanings of this deck expressed in pictures sometimes are quite different from the same of others decks, authors used some rare meanings we can find in different books mentioned in couple of words or sentences only.
If you have an interest in discussion about this deck and separate cards you can follow this thread.


2 of Stones (2 of coins)
Challenge

Picture

http://s59.radikal.ru/i164/0908/c1/9ec8be6bbe84.jpg

In the picture two fiery red rabbit fighting on a narrow beam, and from them sparks fly as from fire. In Shamanism rabbits symbolize "sacrificial fire" - purification. Life, which passes through death.
In the sacrificial fire we burn all of perishable and unnecessary material in order to spiritually reborn.
However, we are not always so wise, the problem of these two polar concepts (spirit and matter) ever gets in front of us in this life are weighed in the balance. They are in a continual struggle within us, outweighing that in one or the other side, throwing us into the extreme.
We sometimes do not know what is more important for us in life, what to choose, so feel some discomfort in our heart, when these 2 concepts are beginning feverish clash. At the same time we find it hard to relax and make dynamic of these 2 feelings. Only a harmonious balance of mind and body will allow us to find peace and harmony in the soul!

Good and evil, material and spiritual have the only source (water = our feelings which are good and bad), and equal opportunity, equal weight categories within us (2 of the same rabbit at a crossbar), the line between them is very thin and shaky (beam on stones), but at the same time they, in fact, are our vital spark (a spark from rabbits), if these forces balanced, they set in motion all around us (the circles on the water). It is the struggle of the spiritual and material principles, heaven and earth display this card.

It the meeting of man and woman who clashed the same path and try show their ambitions before each other. The card calls to temper their appetites and whims, to lower the bar of their needs, try to negotiate, to find something in common, in order to enter into the framework of the family, in order to create a normal family.

IN PRACTICAL READING

In Green Wood tarot meanings of pentacles try to keep us out of material world and turn to more important things in our life more spiritual and cordial is far from pettiness and vanity.

Meetings of both, they need to agree each other, it is love play between man and woman and story of their assertiveness in eyes of each other. They try to understand the role of each other in relationships before they marry or make a couple.
It is challenge the woman can throw to the man, or man to the woman.

It is card of family conflict, when couple has confrontation because of lack of money, they try to show their position to each other.

The main thing is try to adjust this conflict peacefully do not let it to overcome frames of the diplomatic level, and respection to each other, when small dispute can grow to the sharp battle with broken plates and can be led to divorce or separation.
 

Mi-Shell

Two of Stones: Challenge

Chesca potter's words:

Two mad march hares box each other on a bridge where the stone supports are buffeted by swirling currents. The confrontation on a bridge, before reaching the heart of the Greenwood occurs in the Robin Hood mythos, where Little John challenges Robin Hood with a quarter staff. Confrontation, manifested tensions, rivalry, arguments, that are often not well founded, but they need to be bridged before you can move forward.
 

Mi-Shell

When I first saw this card I did not like it. the colours were all wrong to me. Red instead of green. Mad March Hares should be green, for fertility and growth I thought.
I also thought, that ifffff ever I print my one Greenwood deck, I would change this card to nice brown Hares and blue water and green and yellow flarring sparks flying....
Hares to me always speak of Kaltjes - or Kaltes, out “Siberian Ostara”
(More about her in the Queen of Wands)
So now, for the better part of a week I have been sitting with this card.
To let it sink in - just the way it is.
And that worked. I recognize this as an image of the world of trance, when in stage 2 images are still somewhat monochromatic , back-lit by flirrrrring, swirling light and there is already movement in the images.....
And i recognize that the colours of the card are the spectral opposites of what I described before, of the “natural colours”.
So we are dealing with opposites here, problems of a different colour.
Or are we seeing the situation before us in a different - maybe even wrong light?
Do we HAVE to look at the situation in a different light?
Or in a different frame of mind?
Consider polar opposites....
By the way - my card will stay exactly the way it is - I GOT the message! :)
 

Mi-Shell

Mad March Hare:
This proverb is based on popular belief about hares' behavior at the beginning of the long breeding season, which lasts from February to September in Britain. Early in the season, unreceptive females often use their forelegs to repel overenthusiastic males. It used to be incorrectly believed that these bouts were between males fighting for breeding supremacy

Brown hares have been associated with farmland for thousands of years, as fields replicate their favourite natural environment. They do, however, need cover too. Buffer zones and naturalized field corners, created under the WildCare scheme provide shelter out of harms way and, once again, the Waitrose Dairy Farmers have demonstrated that with a little thought and consideration, a lot of good can be done for wildlife."
Boxing hares - 75% decline
The sight of brown hares ‘boxing' in the countryside could have become a thing of the past as the species suffered a 75 per cent decline over the past 50 years. Concern about declining numbers led to a government UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), which aims to raise the brown hare population to around two million by 2010 and, after several years of stable population, total numbers remain at about one and a quarter million.
 

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Eyebright

Two of Stones

Card description- Two hares "box" each other whilst balancing on a wooden plank balanced to make a bridge on two stones (well it is the 2 of stones!). They stand up on their hind legs, their front paws raised up in front of them. It brings to mind the boxers stance in a fight.
Beneath the bridge water swirls and eddies, which is a reddish colour. The hares are a bright orange-red and surrounded by an aura of pale yellow light. The background is full of splashes of colour, an overall blue filled with splashes of reds and yellows.

Traditional Meanings of the Card- Taken from Thirteen's meaning on the main Aeclectic webiste.
Standing before the waves of an ocean, a fellow deftly juggles two pentacles. The meaning is pretty straightforward. This is the juggling finances, jobs, responsibilities card. We pay one bill, and don't pay the other (which is up in the air). When it comes down and we can't put it of any longer, we pay that and let the other one be up in the air.
The querent may be doing this because they want to or may need to do this. They may feel they've worked so hard on both that they haven't the heart to put either one aside. And so they switch off put "work" or money into one thing while neglecting the other, keeping both alive, but allowing neither to thrive.
Yet this juggling may be a good idea. Having two jobs or projects also allows there to be a fail-safe, something to fall back on if the other goes wrong.


Greenwood book Meanings of the Card/Chesca's Impressions-
Time: Spring Equinox, Archetypes: Archer/Justice

Mad March hares "box" for domination. After finding your grounded energy, a position may be challenged. Learning to deal with rivalry or adversity.

Two mad march hares box each other on a bridge where the stone supports are buffeted by swirling currents. The confrontation on a bridge, before reaching the heart of the Greenwood occurs in the Robin Hood mythos, where Little John challenges Robin Hood with a quarter staff. Confrontation, manifested tensions, rivalry, arguments, that are often not well founded, but they need to be bridged before you can move forward


Symbols and Images on the card to study-

Red colour of the hares- red is the colour of anger and passion, drive and force

Balancing on a narrow plank: two's can often be seen to be about balancing, and juggling the multiple options that you now have. The narrowness of the plank forces you to address and confront the problem or issue. There is no getting around it if you want to progress. It has to be dealt with. It also links in with what Chesca says about arguments and confrontations often not being well founded. The hares are balanced over water, for a stones card, there is not a lot of actual stone, or ground in the card. For an earth card it's very watery! No one is being very grounded or sensible in the card. Energies are running high (look at all the swirls of energy in the air around the hares), and no one is thinking straight or sensibly! There are acting on instinct, allowing themselves to be lead by their emotions.

The swirling spirals in the water: Chesca describes the water as swirling, it is not calm and still. Water usually relates to emotions, so a situation has stirred up your emotions. You may feel threatened or angry. You want to beat your rival, or overcome the obstacle/challenge that has been presented to you.

Why red colour for the water- could represent blood, there's the saying about "blood, sweat and tears" in order to progress, you have to work hard, and make sacrifices. The colour also ties in with the themes of confrontation, tensions, rivalry and anger. The red is a dark and sullen shade and really brings these emotions to mind for me.

Why boxing hares- The two's in the Greenwood relate to the Spring Equinox, and the sight of hares boxing at this time of year are common. Hares in mythology are closely tied to the Spring Equinox (especially the Celtic goddess Eostre and her Anglo-Saxon counterpart Ostara).
Male hares box with female hares, to show dominance and virility, and when the female hare leaps and runs away males will chase her, with the quickest who can catch her getting to mate with her. So there is an element to this card for me also, of puffing up your chest as it were and trying to impress others by displaying your strength and skills. Care needs to be taken to make sure that in doing so you don't offend, upset or antagonise those you were trying to impress! There's a fine line between demonstrating your talents, and just being boastful and conceited.
Considering this is also mating behaviour, a possible interpretation for this card could be that someone is flirting with you! We all remember at school, that quite often the person who had a crush on us, would demonstrate it by punching you in the arm or pulling your pigtails, and hey it works for hares!

Yellow aura- I know nothing about auras, but I assume different colours to mean different things, and I felt there must be a reason Chesca made the aura surrounding the hares that lovely lemony yellow colour. Interestingly this website gave this meaning for the yellow aura,
Bright lemon-yellow: Struggling to maintain power and control in a personal or business relationship; fear of losing control, prestige, respect, and/or power.
This fits really well with how I see this card, as there is definitely a struggle for dominance and possibly power in this card.



Hares in European and Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Mythology- there is so much mythology surrounding hares, not just in Europe, but around the world! The Hare is almost universally associated with the Moon. The Moon has associations with madness, as do hares, "mad as a March Hare", is a common phrase in the UK, because of the mating behaviour of hares. They are often also associated with virility, cunning and fertility.
See this website for more in depth information. This topic may even warrant a seperate post all to itself.

My Overall Impression and Personal Meanings:
Conflict, battle of wills, butting heads with someone, fighting for dominance, proving your worth/up to the challenge, finding a balance, impressing others with a demonstration of your skills. Today you may find yourself having to overcome a challenge in order to make progress. Coming up against a bullying or domineering person that you can't avoid. Flirting in an immature manner! Accepting a challenge in a fit of madness.

If more interpretations come up as I work with the deck then I will update my post :)

Phew that might be quite a long post... *gulp*