The King of Funny Fits

I showed my boyfriend the pic of Tony from yesterday and then passed him today's card, the King of Swords. I agreed with him that this guy looks like a Dave. There was something protective about yesterday's king, but like the holly I have arranged in the frame around the card, Dave can be a bit prickly. This is why I am often reminded of my dad when this court shows up. He doesn't like to be wrong and has equally high expectations of others. That sword is raised and is the consequence for those who do not match up to his ideals. He's very much the judge and the jury all rolled in to one.

Every year, I say that I will get my Christmas shopping done early, so that I don't have to overdose on the crowds and the repetitious playing of Slade and Chrissy Hind in the stores, but as usual, I ventured out today on the last Sunday before Christmas. My boyfriend needed to collect presents he had reserved for his nieces and nephews and I had some stuff to get for both him and my parents. I don't buy for anyone other than those three at Christmas, but it' still a chore. Most of the time, people cannot think of things they either want or need, so we end up buying stuff for the sake of it. Even though I got a few personal things for my mum and dad, the chunk of their present is 44 tiles for the floor in our new bathroom and toilet. The whole shopping experience was not as bad as I had envisioned. I suppose that sensible people get most of their stuff online these days and let the postman lug it to their door instead.

Now home, I am quite tired. My boyfriend has spent the last hour wrapping presents. He does them very nicely. His parcels are all clean and have nicely labeled tags and ribbon. Mine, in comparison, are a mess - they look scruffy as I am not much good at wrapping gifts. It's probably more to do with the fact that I get bored after I have done one and don't put much effort in. Half of my pressies are in gift bags, which gets around all of that. We laid in bed and watched two films last night - The Nightmare Before Christmas (which I loved) and The Omen. I had seen the latter when I was much younger but didn't remember the details. I quite enjoyed it. Am I the only person who thinks that films from 1970s look far creepier than the ones they make now? There's a general uncomfortable feel to the old movies.

The King of Swords can be a pain, and therefore, I sometimes relate him to the argumentative side of people. My dad had a few little strops today, as did my boyfriend, so the card meant a negotiation of their moods on my part. Neither my dad's or boyfriend's funny fits lasted longer than five minutes, so we managed a nice afternoon in town and evening in my room.


Illustration from The Mountain Dream Tarot by Bea Nettles