The Meeting Point

Since I didn't need to get up for anything special this morning, I was wide awake at 7am and couldn't get back to sleep. Isn't that just typical, after having to drag myself up yesterday to go to work! I had woken from what seemed to be a long, long dream, where I had been viewing a massive house with Mary Portas. I am sure that this has something to do with my time in the charity shop yesterday, since she did a series on the BBC where she tried to revamp one in Orpington. Every time she returned, she was met with the same kind of problems that I have - other volunteers loading up the displays with clutter and rubbish. When I got home yesterday, I looked for my shop online. My jaw dropped when I found references to it; labelling it as the flagship store. It would seem that when the shop was opened, the windows and inside displays were it's strength. Maximising on vintage and designer clothes, they were fashion-conscious, fun, and didn't look like the kind of window you'd see on a charity shop. I can't understand how it has fallen from boutique to boot fair and the slip has annoyed me all the more. Someone worked very hard on it's initial image, and now that that particular chief has gone, the indians have run her work into the ground.

I always find myself returning to The Mystic Faerie Tarot. When I initially saw the scans online, I thought it would be insipid and bland, but in the hand, it always feels meaty, despite the refined lines and tones in Linda Ravencroft's paintings. It is cards like Death in today's draw which pull me back - I love the deep plum colouring of the faerie's wings and the way in which the artist has managed to successfully mix such striking subject matter with a large dose of sensitivity. Can you see how the faerie gently touches the scull with her right hand?

I look at this particular Ace of Wands as a meeting point. This is kind of how it is viewed in Barbara Moore's accompanying book - it is a place where faerie folk gather to discuss new adventures and the fiery stone at the tip of the wand commands their focus. When looked at in this way, we can see how the card can be a motivator for enthusiasm, passion, and excitement for the future. However, in this case, Death brings our excitement to a close in some way. Even if it does pain her to do so, her touch brings an end to our flame of passion and the adventure we wished to plan.

This brings my mind back to the charity shop. There was such a vibrant energy to the words I read and pictures I saw. I can imagine the woman in charge of opening it sitting at the meeting point and deciding how to take it forward and inject it with new life. But this life has slowly become weaker with the infestation of apathy and a lack of care. You could imagine it wilting under the fluttering of Death's beautiful plum wings.

So what do we do with these cards today? I would like to say that the single glowing wand is still important and that new plan and adventure could live again once more, but since I am not in the shop that often and revamping it seems to be a never-ending struggle, I think I have lost the will and focus to combat it all by myself. Under the present circumstances, it could very likely be me who rips down the meeting point and decides to not waste any more of my energy on going the extra mile for this particular project. There are other things I do which are appreciated and not destroyed. I only hope that the girl-about-town can forgive me.


Illustrations from The Mystic Faerie Tarot by Linda Ravenscroft