The Stone Angel

Today's card shows a woman desperately holding on to a stone statue. With red roses in her hair, as a symbol of love, she is dedicated to him and can think of nothing or nobody else. At first, I thought that this woman was the Knight of Flowers in the illustration, but now, I am not so sure.

In the Favole Tarot, the The Devil is called Abel. The fact that he has been used in both that and The Hierophant card does make it a little confusing, but possibly, this highlights two opposing aspects of the same vampire. The woman in today's card is his mother, Marquise. Abel has told of his birth into darkness in the hands of an incredibly beautiful Rumanian princess and her darling stone angel. He says "It has been years since the dark presence of my mother stopped singing her melodies, when she died forever at the hands of the villagers, purified by a redeeming stake". Since his mother's death, his father has watched over her remains while his cracked wings continue to project their protecting shadow over the tomb of his beloved princess. It would seem that Abel's father is as committed to Marquise as she was to him, so really, either could work as the title character in this card. It is a key of love and passion.

My weekend has been that bit easier than I thought it would be. Despite not looking forward to Friday's party, it was actually alright. There was probably only about twenty people there and the birthday girl was on best behaviour. Even though my boyfriend's sister said that she felt some distance between the two of them, I am thinking it will be something that will fade in time. My boyfriend and I showed our faces and left at a respectable hour. With another arrangement for yesterday, we didn't want to drink much and needed a good night's sleep.

We drove to Surrey yesterday afternoon to see two of my friends. My boyfriend and I always like to go to visit my old friend because there is never any expectations put on us and the atmosphere is always relaxed. My friend and her husband (who was away on a cycling weekend with his mates this time) are easy going people and very good hosts, who make sure you never go hungry and are continually topped up with tea. This time, another friend joined us, and we did the usual - sitting around the big wooden table in the dining room, talking about all kinds of things from late afternoon into the evening. We hardly ever drink when we are there. There is never a need to. I could do with more evenings like that.

While at my friends, I noticed her stylish little netbook sitting on the side of her desk. I remember another one of my friends having one and I've always liked their dinkiness and portability. It got me to thinking about getting one myself and we chatted about it in the garden this morning. I use my main computer for illustration and graphics, as well as the things I do here on my blog, but thought it might be nice to have a tiny laptop like that which I could slip into my satchel. When we were up North last week, there were times when nothing was really happening and it would have been nice to be able to jump on the back of our mate's WIFI and write my blog or comment on the blogs of my friends. The same goes for when I am over at my boyfriends. But one of the things which really appealed to me is the idea of being able to sit outside of a cafe and write while I drink a coffee in the summer sun. I have had a laptop before, which could be a bit cumbersome to travel about with, but with a screen of just 10" wide, the one my friend has is pretty light.

On the way back home, my boyfriend and I popped into a few stores and I took the plunge. I felt an initial pang of guilt as I punched in my card details and collected my new, sleek, black Samsung netbook, but in my defense, I don't often treat myself to luxuries or anything more expensive than the odd deck or book. We have decided to knock the big nights out on the head for a bit, so at least I will have more to show for the money I have earned than a couple of hangovers and a handful of days feeling tired. I haven't done much with the machine yet, but I think it will be fun to carry it about and use it from different places. I hope it's mobility will make an impression on my blog, now it is up and running.

For today, I randomly drew position '7' of the Celtic Cross. This is the position of the self, so with the Knight of Flowers in play, it would show me in love. I think that today's love is extended to further than just my new laptop. I was looking at my boyfriend earlier and thinking about how lucky I am to have him. Every so often in our relationship, we become playful all over again and laugh often together. We will have been together for two years at the end of this month and I still enjoy his company as much as I ever have. We have spent the evening in with my parents, discussing how to get a WIFI connection here; embarrassingly for us, my boyfriend discovered that we have already had one for the past four or so years. I always wondered what that little box did. My parents and I are not the most technologically with it people.

For today, the loving aspect of Marquise and the Knight of Flowers is shown in the time I spent with a best mate, who is as close to me as a sister. The knight and his lover highlight an evening enjoyed with my parents and boyfriend. At times like this, I want to hold on to them all as close as Marquise holds her stone lover to her and never let them go.


Illustration from The Favole Tarot and Frozen Light by Victoria Frances