swimming in tarot
The Baba Prague avatar card...I'd better be careful! 
Here is a young woman posing in the street with a bicycle and a dog. The bicycle is a bone-shaker or penny-farthing, with a big front wheel and a small back wheel. The dog is a pug-dog presenting us with its rump (perhaps the more scenic end? ), and regarding the woman with quite the expression, sticking its tongue out at her in a way that I hadn't thought caninely possible. It has some kind of harness around its middle; red with a brass buckle or badge. The woman is bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked and smiling. She is wearing: a red Napoleon hat with bow and brooch; earrings, a hair ribbon, a blue bow-tie, a military-style jacket with epaulettes to go with the hat, and what looks for all the world to be armour on her arms in a style which is called "gothic plate", with lobster-tail style articulations, which definitely doesn't go with the hat or its era! Her elbows are not armoured with coudres/elbow cops, but have billows of blousing protruding in the landsknecht style. This is the only evidence of the blouse, as her jacket is open and her skin is bare down to...can't see because of her crossed arms, but all I see is skin! The fabric of her skirt matches her jacket, being yellow and green brocade in an overall pea-soup colour. It reaches to just below her knees. One wonders if she could ride the bike without it getting caught in the wheel, even if it is a split skirt. She wears rose hose, and has on what resemble cowboy boots in a light colour. She seems to have two legs, not one, as someone had feared in the Scariest Cards thread.
The street is cobbled and lined with modest buildings that have seen better days. The fronts are carefully plastered and painted, one in pink, but the sides of the buildings are lumpy plaster that is starting to crack. The upstairs windows are open, and possibly the doors, but I can't tell for sure. There is a flight of stairs following the roof line of one place, with a handrail set in the wall, but it stops abruptly at least eight feet above the street. There is something wacky about the pattern of the roof tiles on the last two roofs, and the last building doesn't seem sure whether it is facing us or facing the street. Perhaps this is a bit of photo-shopping that I'm not supposed to be noticing. A mist creeps along the road. Just beyond the woman's head is a sign that clearly says "Dr. Caligari's Cabinet of Curiosities".
This card is traditionally about balance and juggling the various facets of one's life. The bicycle is about balance, but there is implied "imbalance" in the different sizes of its wheels. The young woman looks physically healthy, and appears to enjoy the healthy pastime of cycling, but her get-up...ye gawds! "I am Napoleon!" Is she on her way to the lunatic asylum, or did she escape from one? A pug-dog would not be my breed of choice to have as a companion while cycling, with its stumpy legs and genetic inclination toward respiratory problems. No wonder it's giving her a grimace with its very strange teeth, and sticking its tongue out at her! That lumpy street must be a real joy to ride a bike on, particularly if the suspension is rudimentary or lacking.
The buildings present a good face to the public, but are cracked behind their facades, just as the woman seems to be. The upstairs windows being open...seems like there should be a phrase involving windows being open equivalent to "lights on but nobody home". Perhaps the Czechs have such a saying? The staircase...I'm glad that the builder was concerned enough about balance and safety to install a handrail, but that last step is a long one! The plane-shifting buildings kind of speak for themselves. All is not what it seems. Things are askew. Balance is in the mind of the beholder!
Someone else will have to refresh me on Dr. Caligari. I've heard the name, but don't know if it was a book or a movie or what. Any thoughts?
Here is a young woman posing in the street with a bicycle and a dog. The bicycle is a bone-shaker or penny-farthing, with a big front wheel and a small back wheel. The dog is a pug-dog presenting us with its rump (perhaps the more scenic end?
), and regarding the woman with quite the expression, sticking its tongue out at her in a way that I hadn't thought caninely possible. It has some kind of harness around its middle; red with a brass buckle or badge. The woman is bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked and smiling. She is wearing: a red Napoleon hat with bow and brooch; earrings, a hair ribbon, a blue bow-tie, a military-style jacket with epaulettes to go with the hat, and what looks for all the world to be armour on her arms in a style which is called "gothic plate", with lobster-tail style articulations, which definitely doesn't go with the hat or its era! Her elbows are not armoured with coudres/elbow cops, but have billows of blousing protruding in the landsknecht style. This is the only evidence of the blouse, as her jacket is open and her skin is bare down to...can't see because of her crossed arms, but all I see is skin! The fabric of her skirt matches her jacket, being yellow and green brocade in an overall pea-soup colour. It reaches to just below her knees. One wonders if she could ride the bike without it getting caught in the wheel, even if it is a split skirt. She wears rose hose, and has on what resemble cowboy boots in a light colour. She seems to have two legs, not one, as someone had feared in the Scariest Cards thread.The street is cobbled and lined with modest buildings that have seen better days. The fronts are carefully plastered and painted, one in pink, but the sides of the buildings are lumpy plaster that is starting to crack. The upstairs windows are open, and possibly the doors, but I can't tell for sure. There is a flight of stairs following the roof line of one place, with a handrail set in the wall, but it stops abruptly at least eight feet above the street. There is something wacky about the pattern of the roof tiles on the last two roofs, and the last building doesn't seem sure whether it is facing us or facing the street. Perhaps this is a bit of photo-shopping that I'm not supposed to be noticing. A mist creeps along the road. Just beyond the woman's head is a sign that clearly says "Dr. Caligari's Cabinet of Curiosities".
This card is traditionally about balance and juggling the various facets of one's life. The bicycle is about balance, but there is implied "imbalance" in the different sizes of its wheels. The young woman looks physically healthy, and appears to enjoy the healthy pastime of cycling, but her get-up...ye gawds! "I am Napoleon!" Is she on her way to the lunatic asylum, or did she escape from one? A pug-dog would not be my breed of choice to have as a companion while cycling, with its stumpy legs and genetic inclination toward respiratory problems. No wonder it's giving her a grimace with its very strange teeth, and sticking its tongue out at her! That lumpy street must be a real joy to ride a bike on, particularly if the suspension is rudimentary or lacking.
The buildings present a good face to the public, but are cracked behind their facades, just as the woman seems to be. The upstairs windows being open...seems like there should be a phrase involving windows being open equivalent to "lights on but nobody home". Perhaps the Czechs have such a saying? The staircase...I'm glad that the builder was concerned enough about balance and safety to install a handrail, but that last step is a long one! The plane-shifting buildings kind of speak for themselves. All is not what it seems. Things are askew. Balance is in the mind of the beholder!
Someone else will have to refresh me on Dr. Caligari. I've heard the name, but don't know if it was a book or a movie or what. Any thoughts?