This deck, the Ancient Italian, came in the mail yesterday. I've had it on my list for months and finally decided to buy it. It was love at first sight upon opening the cards. The artwork is gorgeous, the expressions on the character's faces full of humanity, pathos and life and the palette is soft. So I sorted, shuffled and blessed the deck. I watched as the sigils of smoke unwrapped and untied all the silent pathways from unmanifest to manifest, the dance of tempered fire animating the sacred manuscript within and without. A moment to be held within, an alchemy to live.
And then onto introductions. What initial characteristics did the deck have to share with me...
King of Batons
Seven of Swords
Queen of Swords
Initial hit, an extremely capable and creative deck whose discretion is tempered by the need to cut to the quick. And now to elaborate and create a little story to tell heart...
First thing, my eye was drawn to the middle card, the shape made by the seven swords. I saw it as feeling and thinking working naturally together. The red cords joining the swords, the heart (red) joining the intellect (swords) with the one sword in the middle bringing it all into balance and pointing downwards, into the dark, the earth, the nigredo. I see that as an entrance of sorts, the cave, the womb, the place of no-beginning/no-end, a timeless place. In some ways the shape of the middle sword brings to my awareness that ancient and ongoing story of resurrection, of the cave and the light hidden within. There where secrets occurred, transmission occurred, initiation occurred. There where transformation at the deepest most esoteric level unfolded. So this card in the center feels like the axis around which the other two are revolving.
They are both looking at it, the King with what seems a mixture of respect and fear and the Queen with a look of awe and tenderness. Her left hand touches her heart as she contemplates the mysteries of this card and yet her right hand firmly clasps her sword--no swooning into ecstasies and flights of fancy for this Queen, with her feet firmly planted on the ground, her role fully embodied she is thus comfortable leaning into the Inner Mystery of transformation and touching her heart the way a dervish might do in a gesture of humility. If there is any melancholy in this Queen, as the LWB indicates, it is the melancholy that is found in the seeming dichotomy between psyche and soma, between breath and cell. Which is really just a meta-story for that of Separation, in its deepest sense, which the Seven of Swords implies.
Her mouth is soft as is her gaze. She is a beautiful ruler. The little cherub at her right acts as a softening or perhaps even leavening agent to her rule, bringing a gentle roundness to what could be sharp edges. The luxurious fur stole that sits easily across her lap, the rich red robes she wears so intimately tell me this a Queen who is very comfortable in her role. Her crown is neither too big nor too small. Her throne accommodates her perfectly. Her dress is slightly open at her neck allowing her breath to circulate and enliven all those she meets. Her hair is shortish and reddish and wavy indicating that when she needs she can be passionate and even somewhat iconoclastic. She is a very human Queen of Swords, very fair and understands intimately the merit of discipline.
Now to our King who opened the spread, who led the way with daring and confidence, with positivity and all the pizzaz of his lineage. He is seated on what looks like a dais covered in a teal coverlet edged in gold trim. We see the ornate feet of his dais peeking out but this is no throne, no elaborate seat. It is simple and dignified. He sits at the ready holding a huge Baton in his right hand, his left hand resting comfortably on the dais. His right eye is more visible than his left. So perhaps this King likes to proceed in a straightforward manner, he appreciates the manifest. On his head he wears both a crown and a hat. Immediately my mind saw in his hat the shape of the lemniscate found above the head of the Strength card and to a more oblique extent el Bagato. His hat combined with his crown makes me think of a 'man of the people' kind of King, an involved King, a King with heart.
He is full bearded and his hair is somewhat long, he allows a certain measure of his own passion to flow. But this is tempered by the white ruff at his neck spilling down his chest right over his heart center. I see water, a waterfall, washing over his heart, joining his voice and ability to command with his passion/feeling self. Indeed this is furthered in the red and green of his outfit, red from the heart down, green from the heart up. They meet in the middle these two sacred colors and he wears an eagle on his chest signifying majesty and power, an ability to traverse different realms. His costume is elaborate from the waist up and simple from the waist down. His legs are simply clad in hose with garters at the knee, his ability to 'bend the knee' perhaps being referenced? His feet are simply shod again in green and red.
So how does this translate to the deck...how do I make a little story up about this? This deck will lead with confidence and creativity, with an eye to the common person, with mastery and passion tempered by the cooling influence of water. At its core it holds the deepest mysteries of transformation, of the highest esoteric arts, of the alchemy of dying into life but it won't reveal those willingly or easily as they are contained in the innermost depths, the most chthonic places within each card, the invisible made visible only by Grace, by the discriminating Sword of feminine wisdom whose brilliance is tempered by an awareness of the great Heart that connects us all.
