"A Place Of Reunion With Each Other And With Yourself..."

Remember Edith Macefield from last year's Two of Wands? She was the 86 year-old woman who refused to accept any offer whatsoever for her lifelong home when developers came knocking -- eventually they had to build around her. I posted about it around the time of her death, when the fate of her now-famous house was still uncertain.

Well, it's not uncertain anymore. The property has been sold to a group determined to build under it -- the plan is to elevate the house to the height of the surrounding buildings, and then install a two-level space below that will be open to the public. The name of the project is Credo Square, and for as little as $250 you can have your personal credo etched on a tile within the sanctuary. The interior of the house itself will be converted to a private office.

What's funny is that as soon as I saw the publicity sketches for Credo Square, I immediately thought of Pamela Coleman-Smith's illustration for the Four of Wands -- the upward thrust of the structures, the leafy garlands and enthusiastic revelers the background, the bright colors. They are both welcoming sights, promising a period of rest and reflection. That's something you won't find often in the suit of Wands! It was only after I decided to make it the subject of this card that it struck me -- by graduating the Macefield estate from the Two to the Four, I too was elevating it two levels!

In the Two and Three of Wands, we saw people establishing their turf, eyeing new territory, and then setting off to explore (and hopefully conquer). The Four of Wands is the celebration and period of rest and replenishment that awaits them when they finally return home. This may be a good time to start crafting or revising your own credo, words that will guide you through whatever challenges come next.

On the Credo Square website, there's a list of descriptions meant to complete the sentence "Credo Square is..." I'll go ahead and quote them below verbatim, to be read in the context of this card.

The Four of Wands is...

• A place where the conversation is deep and meaningful
• A place to consider what is important and what others think is important
• A place where people consider and think on the great questions
• A place to laugh and cry
• A place to reflect on what went right and what went wrong
• A gathering place
• A place of reunion with each other and with yourself
• A place to start over and a place to re-affirm
• A place to "suck out all the marrow of life...to put to rout all that is not life" ( Henry David Thoreau)

Fits rather nicely, doesn't it? I'm sure that Macefield herself could never have imagined that one day her house would tower over passersby, but as far as tributes to her indomitable spirit go, this is about as good as it gets. [Via]

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Four of Wands