Okay, so after last time you should know what to do. This time your raw material comes via a brilliant BibliOdyssey post about satirical depictions of women's hairstyles circa the late 18th century. Plenty more to look at if you follow the link -- let me know which court card is the best match!
9.29.2009
The Queen of Coins - Her Hair Is Full of Secrets!
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I was first going to name her as the Queen of Pentacles, with all that nature in her hair (or "head" :)).. but then there's also her merging with the background, a sorta mirror-like quality, which speaks for the Q of Cups (+ the fact that her hair resembles a cup!). She also looks very determined and clear, which brings in the qualities of Fire & Air.. hum, think I'll go for the Q of Pents anyway, veggies win this :)
ReplyDeleteI got a definite Queen of Cups feel from this one, especially with the underlying impressions of attachment to emotions and the unconscious.
ReplyDeleteI was skewing toward Queen of Coins (Pents, whatevs) with this one, but I am enjoying the idea of her as the Queen of Cups.
ReplyDeleteIn no small part because of the line from Mean Girls where Damian says that Gretchen Wieners' hair is so big is because it's "full of secrets."
And partly because of the small poem under the skeleton portrait on the BibliOdyssey page that ends with: "Bells reflect Ye Mortals see,
As I now am so you will be." What a rather oracular and visionary statement!
But as I read this over a few times, I felt that there's a distinct physicality to this sentiment. It's not what she sees or projects that's important, it's what she embodies. And that material aspect is a common thread that runs through all of the pictures. You could even say that women's materialism and narcissism are the target of this satire, and those are qualities that I can imagine sitting at the crossroads of Water and Earth.
Not that those are the defining characteristics of the Queen of Coins -- In fact, the drawings show her from many angles. Whether she's laden with provisions or sheltering pigeons, or warning pretty young things of their own mortality, she takes herself and her world quite seriously and is definitely not in on any joke made at her expense.
So in this case I'm going to attribute the Cups-like elements that you guys mentioned to the watery aspects of her Queenly nature. Whaddya think?
Tom, that quote reminded me of something I just read in the Time Paradox, about the Church of Santa Maria della Concezione in Rome, where the whole inside of the church is decorated in mosaic with the bones of dead Capuchin monks. Inscribed on the floor inside is "What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be."
ReplyDeleteIt's possible the artist of that drawing with the writing "as I now am so you shall be" was referencing this crypt when he wrote that line.