The King of Pentacles #TarotImageTuesday
Good morning!! it's #TarotImageTuesday
This week, it's the King of Pentacles, and I've selected the Mary-El Tarot.
With this image...where shall we start? Well, perhaps not *there*...let's build up to that!
I look at this image, and I'm not struck by the usual strength and stability of a Pentacles King...there's an earthy quality there, yes, but it's given over to the material, the physical...a grounding of the libido into the now. The words lascivious, licentious, libidinous, lustful...all spring to mind when I look at this satyr. He's a primal creature, very much one with the world around him, crowned with the confidence that's his by rights.
There's a corresponding nod to the sinful apple of temptation, and the King here treats it as something wholly within his possession and control, as he leans against his wooden 'throne' in repose...languid, unhurried and supine, and he seems to enjoy immensely the simple pleasure of the fruit he holds.
As a satyr, his goat-like lower body is a reinforcing connection to the earth (that stability and sure-footedness that is gifted to the cloven-hooved), and the connection with fertility is reinforced through his...*ahem* ithyphallic nature.
I see a beautiful juxtaposition in the Kings antlers and the roots of the tree...their gnarled curls reaching synchronously deep into the earth beneath him and also into the sky above him, cementing his position here and now between the two.
What do you see in the image? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, and we can share the similarities and differences between the images in the various decks!
The Mary-El Tarot is by the amazingly talented Marie White, the image is used courtesy of and is © to, Marie White and Schiffer Books, and the deck is available from their website, Amazon, or your local Tarot stockist.
