Queen of Swords in the Tarot

In 2017 and 2018 I am hosting Tarot workshops around the world, starting in Melbourne and ending in Dublin. This accompanies my new ebook,  Pamela’s Tarot – about the card deck created by Pamela Colman-Smith in 1909. We’ll be using 21st century techniques, based on the latest discoveries in the quantum world, to reshape our past, present and potential to get what we want from our lives. It’s new. And it works. You’ll see proof at the events but also by using this occasional online series to try your own Tarot experiments. First things first, though. You need Pamela’s deck!

 

THE $100 MILLION TAROT CARD DECK

Pamela’s cards, created with some instructions from Arthur Waite (both were in the secret magical society, The Golden Dawn) are the the most successful Tarot cards in history. Sales, according to U.S. Games Systems, have topped $100 million. There’s a very good reason for this. They work.

 

WHAT THE QUEEN OF SWORDS TELLS US ABOUT PAMELA’S TAROT

In this occasional series, I will look at a range of Tarot cards and show how they tell us more about Pamela and how she designed images which not only accurately reflect past, present or future – they can be stage-directed, scripted and rehearsed. Pamela came from the theatre world of early 20th century Britain and America. This is one reason why her cards lend themselves to this kind of active Tarot. The Queen of Swords is the Queen of Swords, fixed, rigid, in position – until you shift her around on the stage set of your life! In my recent Melbourne workshops I showed 100 people how to do just that, using The After Tarot. When is the Queen of Swords most open to new possibilities? When a butterfly lands and a bird flies past. When she changes her options and her outlook. You can see this first-hand below, in the ingenious After Tarot deck from Italy.

 

 

WHAT THE QUEEN OF SWORDS SHOWS US ABOUT QUANTUM

How do you interpret the Queen of Swords in the Tarot? The world’s best-loved deck, designed by Pamela Colman-Smith (the Smith-Waite deck) shows her as a strong woman equipped with an equally strong sword. She is beckoning us forward with one hand, but has the sword in the other, ready to cut, chop, axe, trim, prune, slice, pare, sever or pierce. She can hurt us. She can also help us, if she is cutting out the dead wood from our lives or destroying who/what harms us. Like all the Tarot cards, the Queen of Swords is there to be worked with. But how and why? How did Tarot go from being a ‘fixed fate’ outcome, much beloved by James Bond scriptwriters, to the exciting tool for transformation we have today?

 

THE MULTIVERSE, SCHRODINGER’S CAT AND W.B. YEATS

The answer rests with discoveries made about the Cold Spot, among other things, which prove to us that we probably live in a Multiverse, composed of parallel universes, which we actively select from.  Stephen Hawking is just one scientist who supports the Multiverse theory of reality. It’s all a very long way from Pamela (below) and her pots of ink, but it’s a tribute to her genius that so many of her Tarot cards uncannily show just that – a Multiverse waiting to be organised.

In Dublin in 1952, Erwin Schrödinger gave a lecture in which he warned that what he was about to say might “seem lunatic”. He said that, when his famous equations (which I saw chalked on a wall behind his Dublin office) seemed to describe several different histories, these were “not alternatives, but all really happen simultaneously”.

This is one fascinating way to work with the Tarot. Given that the card you choose has a history – it’s a scene from an act in your life, which has evolved through a previous selection of scenes and stories – play with the idea that there were several different (parallel) histories taking you to this point. And there will be just as many parallel potential outcomes in the next act, of your drama. Pamela (below) understood stagecraft, props, costumes and performance better than most, because of her paid day job.

 

 

 

Pamela Colman-Smith

 

NOTHING IS REAL

At the level of the very small, everything is in two states at once.  One of the most fascinating discoveries I made in Dublin in February 2017, where Pamela Colman-Smith  had so many connections, was that Erwin Schrodinger, creator of Wave Mechanics – and the father of the famous Schrodinger’s Cat thought experiment – worked a few doors down from W.B. Yeats, who inducted Pamela into the Golden Dawn and – some say – was the mysterious third person who helped create the famous Smith-Waite Tarot.

 

Erwin Schrodinger Plaque

 

SHOCKING BUT TRUE – DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR UNIVERSE WHEN YOU CHOOSE A TAROT CARD?

Quantum theory (so shocking that Einstein could not face it) was under development in 1909 when Pamela’s cards went on sale to Christmas shoppers in London. It’s been called a truth stranger than fiction. As John Lennon once noted, ‘Nothing is real.’

John Gribbin, whose credits include working as a physics consultant for New Scientist, wrote this about the famous 1982 quantum experiments by Alain Aspect at the University of Paris-South – “The experiments prove that there is no underlying reality to the world. “Reality” in the everyday sense, is not a good way to think about the behaviour of the fundamental particles that make up the universe…”

Gribbin wrote these words in his classic book In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat (Black Swan) which honours the man who has a plaque in Dublin on Merrion Square, just a few doors away from the plaque remembering W.B. Yeats.

 

HOW THE SEVEN OF CUPS SHOWS US THE MULTIVERSE

We have no evidence surviving that Pamela even speculated on what would come to be known as Many Worlds or Multiverse theory – but her cards show it in quite uncanny ways. Look at the Seven of Cups. Nothing is real until  you choose. Use the Queen of Swords to help you pop a few bubbles and clouds. Banish quantum uncertainty in your life and select what/who you need to bring down to earth, to deal with it – perhaps to gain from it. Scientists talk a lot about ‘ghost’ cats when they consider Schrodinger’s Cat and its problems. Well, there’s a ghost right there, in Pamela’s Seven of Cups.

 

The Seven of Cups

HOW TO READ PAMELA’S MIND – THE INFLUENCE OF 1909

A useful way into the deck is to put ourselves in Pamela’s place, around a century ago, and imagine what influences or ideas might have been in her mind.  I will begin with the Queen of Swords, because as an archetype she is such a good example of Pamela’s world in 1909 when the Suffragette movement was taking over Britain and sweeping her along with it. The Queen of Swords is a strong woman. A powerful player. She is an archetype which comes to us from Suffragette City – London in 1909.

 

JOAN OF ARC AND THE QUEEN OF SWORDS

Pamela was a Bohemian, a Christian, a supporter of both the Red Cross and Suffragette cause (she designed posters for both the latter).  In 1909 when the cards commissioned by Waite went on sale, Joan of Arc was made a Roman Catholic saint. We have no proof that Pamela had the newly canonised Joan of Arc in mind when she created her Queen of Swords card, the imagery is uncanny. Joan of Arc is the French heroine who threw herself into the Hundred Years’ War between France and England, supporting the French King Charles VII. Joan of Arc was given a coat of arms with a sword pictured alongside a crown. Pamela became a Roman Catholic after creating her Tarot and so Joan of Arc must have been in her mind, at the turn of last century. Understanding her world helps us understand her cards.

 

 

USING THE QUEEN OF SWORDS IN MODERN LIFE

The Queen of Swords is the card that comes up when you have just been hired by a female boss with the power to fire, as well as hire. It is also the card which appears if a man is enquiring about a woman in the Army he has just fallen in love with. If you are asking about yourself, it is that aspect of you which is most Mars/Aries in nature. Mars is the God of War, and when Pamela was creating her deck, knives and swords were still very much in use in the military. Aries is ruled by Mars. So, in your own personality and horoscope, this card can turn up if you are on the warpath, or in a position to declare war on something or someone. Like all Pamela’s cards, it can be ‘stage-directed’ or moved, rather like a scene from Shakespeare.  If you dislike the potential aggression and danger in the card, perhaps you need to visualise the Queen putting her sword to one side.

Should the Queen of Swords appear with one of the reality-creating, bubble-bursting, cloud-popping quantum reality cards in the deck then perhaps you are being asked to eliminate potential universes in your life in favour of one that you do want!

 

THE LADY IN THE LAKE – KING ARTHUR – AND THE QUEEN OF SWORDS

Everyone knows the story of King Arthur, the Sword of Excalibur and The Lady in the Lake. When Pamela was creating her deck, Wyeth was illustrating his version of the legend of the Holy Grail. This is a beautiful illustration of his from 1908. It expands our understanding of the Tarot card, showing how powerful women can help men become powerful too.

 

King Arthur illustrated by Wyeth.

 

 

PAMELA’S WORLD IN 1909 – SUFFRAGETTES AND SCHOOLGIRLS

Other influences on Colman-Smith from this period include the rise of the courageous Suffragettes in London, some of whom were prepared to die for their cause – votes for women – and some who actually did. This was a cause close to Pamela’s heart and she worked on freelance material for the battle. Was this also in her mind when she drew – or even channelled – her vision of the Queen of Swords for her deck? Mabel Capper (centre, holding Suffragette pamphlets) was  a contemporary of Pamela’s from around this time. In fact, as the Rider publishing company put the first decks on sale to the public, in August 1909, Mabel was in Birmingham Police Court charged with assaulting police and breaking windows. She was sent to prison. The Queen of Swords can be heroic. Brave and principled, prepared to ‘fight the good fight’ and shatter ideas about passive femininity. That sword can be used to cut the ties that bind. It can be used to secure freedom. All this was in the air in 1909, a year when people realised that the Suffragettes were prepared to break the law, even violently, to fight the patriarchy. It is interesting that Pamela’s Tarot was revived in the 1970’s for a new audience, when Women’s Liberation swept the world. Another useful image from around 1909 is the work of ‘jolly hockeysticks’ author Angela Brazil. Her stories for schoolgirls about dashing heroines and feisty school captains have been sent up mercilessly, but at the time they were considered dangerously subversive. Some headmistresses in British schools burned the books. The Queen of Swords, even at school as a young girl, can be threatening to some people. She commonly provokes a fight. As with Joan of Arc, the heroines of Brazil’s work could sometimes be fierce patriots. This last point brings me to an important note about Pamela’s deck – it was pre-war.

 

Angela Brazil’s books appeared at the same time as Pamela’s cards.

 

THE TAROT DECK BUILT FOR WAR

Pamela’s Tarot had a hard job to do. It had to get people through two world wars, and also the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, where her great friend W.B. Yeats was swept into the conflict – he wrote ‘A terrible beauty’ was born that year. As I say in my workshops, it’s not for everyone. The deck she created at the request of Arthur Waite shows crisis, death, resurrection and healing all in one reading.

When you are working with the Queen of Swords today, no matter if she represents a part of your personality, or a woman in your world, it can help to keep the sword sheathed, or make it plastic, or freeze the hand that holds it – and so on. Yet, there is no point in neutering Pamela’s cards. They were built to take on the 20th century, two world wars and escalating conflict in Ireland – and they did. They were built to take on the fight for equality between men and women – and they did.

Story Copyright Jessica Adams/Media Goddess Ltd 2017. Extracted from the forthcoming ebook Pamela’s Tarot.

19 thoughts on “Queen of Swords in the Tarot”

  1. Hello Jessica!
    I do hope this finds you well.

    I was tickled pink to see this blog post and talk about synchronicity…as I write this, the movie ‘Suffragettes’ is on with the glorious Meryl Streep!

    In my studies of the Tarot, according to Etiella, Mathers and The Golden Dawn, the Queen of Swords is always interpreted as “bad, malice, an ill mannered woman or a widow”.
    And I would suppose on some levels this might be true depending on context.
    If we look at women from the old patriarchal societal view, when a woman had no rights as a “person”, then perhaps yes, this would make a woman mean, evil and spiteful. Conversely, if a woman was married to wanker, she most likely only had two options…stick it out or wait until he kicked the bucket.
    But what about the woman married to a wanker who decided that he wanted to “trade her in” for a newer, shinier, better model”? If during Victorian times, then the woman would loose her position in society, her home, her safety and security and most likely access to her children. In case of the latter, then the woman would have no choice but to either go away quietly, accept her faith and just “get on with it” (like a widow). The other option would be the woman fighting as best she could and with everything she had to maintain all of the above.
    Of course, if she chose the latter…to fight…then this would most likely lead to her being imprisoned or even sent to the mental facility (out of sight, out of mind).

    In some circles of tarot, this latter scenario would fit with the more ‘modern’ interpretation of the Queen of Swords being the “Divorcee” or “Widow”. Personally, I do not like this interpretation because to me it brings up the negative imagery of a woman being bitter because of a divorce. Of course this could be true, but it is a rather one-side interpretation, in my opinion.

    During my work reading for clients, the Queen of Swords shows up in three ways:
    (1) a person
    (2) an occupation
    (3) an energy

    If I look to the Picatrix, she would represent the following decans:
    (a) third decan of Virgo
    (b) second decan of Libra
    (c) third decan of Libra.
    (I usually attribute the sign of Libra to the Queen of Swords).

    This would be energy of Air. But there is also a second and third energy to her as well…she would bring in the energy of Water (receptive/feminine) and the all important energy of Fire (Mars – desire, will, ambition).
    All Kings & Queens of the tarot have a “fiery” energy. Fire becomes a vital energy as it is what helps them to make their way up through the ranks of the Court, but also aids them in keeping that position.

    In my work with clients, when the QS (Queen of Swords) presents as a person, I am most likely looking at Gemini/Libra/Aquarius. When she presents as an energy, I could be looking at the personality traits of the individual (for positive or negative) and when she presents as an occupation…well…this brings in a myriad of things.
    Traditionally, she will be associated with any profession which requires clear, concise, rational thought/logic and one that is also associated with the use of sharp or “militarized” instruments.
    As an occupation she normally represents: doctor, surgeon, police officer, dentist, soldier.
    But in today’s society, she can now represent not only those listed above, but the following:
    a judge, lawyer, counselor, chef, writer, editor, singer, publisher, astrologer, astronaut, private detective, researcher, scientist, blogger, teacher etc. And I’m sure I’ve left out a few.

    The overall energy of this QS and she shows herself to me is one Truth. As you can see from her presentation on the card, she is holding the Sword in one hand and inviting the truth with the other. To me, the sword that she holds is related to the Ace of Swords…clear, rational, truthful, intelligent, wise. She also relates to the Justice Card, Judgment cards and have sometimes seen her show up in relation to The Tower (Mars/Uranus)…the aha moment, moment of truth, epiphany, clearing of the air…

    Yes, this Queen can be mean, rude, spiteful, hateful, bitter, a malicious gossip and just a general all around nasty individual, but I often think that this side of her manifests because the person has not learned how to be kind, loving, forgiving and compassionate to themselves….so they turn it outward.
    But when she embodies her highest qualities and attributes, she can be fair, compassionate, a good listener, give great advice, be non-judgemental…in other words she can turn into a Guru/teacher.

    Your idea of looking at this Queen and bringing in the Suffragettes is spot on!
    With the Suffragettes we are looking back through history at an Army of Soldiers. But not only were they soldiers they were also leaders and trial-blazers. For 50 years they tried to use logical to appeal to the compassionate side of the patriarchal society and for 50 years they were ignored, ridiculed and in some instances physically attacked until one day, a Queen named Emmaline Pankhurst decided to employ the double edge of the sword.
    Sometimes, one has to use the negative side of the Queen of Swords in order to gain the benefit of justice and equality. These women used the tactics of logic, cunning, communication, tactics and strategy in order to bring about social justice and change for the “fairer” sex. Why? Because sometimes a situation dictates that one has to “employee negativity” to “create positivity”. I’m sure those ladies really didn’t want to throw rocks into the windows of shop owners…but if that’s what it took to be recognized and taken seriously…

    Today is Veteran’s Day here in the US. I am a Veteran of the USAF and if it were not for the Suffragettes, I could not say that. And on this day, I always drink a beer to those ladies, for without them, many of us would not be able to call ourselves whatever it is we choose to call ourselves or identify ourselves as.

    We (women) still have a ways to go yet. Here in the US, women still receive less pay for the same job, same amount of work (and sometimes more). Our earning power is still not equal to our material contributions. We still have many “battles” to fight. With our current government “administration” (and I put that in quotes, because the term is highly suspect at the moment), many of us women are trying to use logic, tact and diplomacy to get our points across, but the time may come, when we may have to gird our loins, put on our battle gear, strap our swords to our backs (some of us with baby in other hand) and go out into the streets to reclaim our fair share of rights that have already been given to us, but look to be on the verge of extinction. Things like education, feminine health issues, medical rights, education for our children, etc….The Suffragettes fight lead to all these things and now, the Patriarchy wants them back.

    You know Jessica, sometimes when I feel the “Man” is getting me down, I think on the following:
    Katherine Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. The three Black women of NASA, who brought their swords and helped send a phallic symbol into space.
    Then I think about Sally Ride, Mae Jemison, Valentina Tereshkova…female astronauts who embodied the fearless qualities of the Queen of Swords and rode that same-said phallic symbol not only into space, but into history.
    The symbolic tool they used: The Sword. Which too, is a phallic symbol and represents masculine energy.
    When I find myself face-to-face with outdated patriarchal attitudes, I think of these women and laugh deeply inside.

    Sorry, I didn’t mean to hijack your blog, but I’m SO glad you posted this and hope that you will post more. And yea…if you’re looking at my chart..you just met my Queen of Swords energy…that Virgo Sun/Gemini Moon gives me a love of writing!

    Thanks soo much for this Jessica.

    • Wow, you win the prize for the most fascinating comment/feedback of the week. I am fascinated by all that you say – I’m fairly sure you are a professional Tarot reader in America, yes? I will make some notes on this for a Tarot workshop in Melbourne – I love what you say about NASA and the phallic symbol of the sword, being sent into space by women. Pamela Colman-Smith was (as I am sure you know) either paid to illustrate Suffragette material, or volunteered her services. We may never know just what magical processes were involved in her work with Arthur Waite, but there was something about the Golden Dawn in 1908-1909 that was so powerful that everything that came out of it, was hugely successful or built to last. Pamela’s card has travelled with the times, rather like W.B. Yeats’ poetry. Thank you!

  2. Jessica!

    You humble me with your words.
    Yes, I am a professional tarot reader, located in Texas. Believe it or not, I only started reading cards in 2015. I have always had an affinity for the occult/metaphysical, but due to family beliefs, never picked it up, until I purchased an astrology report that showed me the power of the t-square relating to my 8th house.
    I have been dabbling around the edges of astrology since a teenager, but have now developed a voracious yearning to learn more. In my work as a tarot reader, astrology is a very important component as it adds another layer into the interpretations.

    I would be pleased and honored that you will share the information with your clients and will offer up any knowledge I have, should you decide to continue posting these Tarot Workshop articles.

    Lastly, I would like to offer up my sincerest thanks to you for all the astrological knowledge you share here. I am always in awe of the clean, simple way you read charts and give interpretations…you make it look sooo easy! LOL
    I can only endeavor to be half as good as you in this.
    If you ever doubt that you do good works and provide vital information/services, I cannot speak for others but do know, that I am learning much from you and for this, I am ever grateful :)

    Namaste.
    Tara

    • Thank you Tara. Funnily enough I found a White Tara postcard this week and propped it up on my shelf. Your kind words are so lovely to read. Tarot and astrology are entwined as you say, and I’ll be looking at that connection in Pamela’s cards further this year, and beyond. Namaste.

  3. Hi Jessica

    I offer a different interpretation to that given by ThePsychicVirgo.

    In many Eastern traditions the Queen of Swords is identified with Sophia, the Queen of the Heavens who cuts through the darkness of ignorance and delusion with the sword of Wisdom. [See for example the ‘Book of Wonders’ the 16th century arabic manuscript of David Jors.]

    The sword is the rod of lightning which both illuminates and protects. In the ancient Celtic Church it becomes excalibar, the sword of knowledge, which King Arthur was given by his mother, Ygerna del Acqs, High Queen of the Celtic Kingdom in the 6th century AD. [The surname ‘del Acqs’ originally meant ‘of the fountains’ but was mistranslated by Malory in ‘Morte d’Arthur’ as ‘du Lac’ – of the lake.] The fountain is of course the Gnostic fountain of living water or Gnostic knowledge which dates back to Mary Magdalene and the woman who drew the water from the well.

    So, armed with the sword of Gnostic knowledge or Wisdom……

    Hope this is useful.

    • I love this information about Excalibur – thank you. This was all around Pamela when she was commissioned to draw the cards and perhaps she also had Gnostic knowledge. It’s very useful.

      • Strange – I also meditate on White Tara, a female aspect of prajnaparamita.

        The teachings on prajnaparamita are first found in the ‘Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra’ usually known as the Vajra Sutra or the Diamond Sutra. The full title may be translated roughly in English as the “Vajra Cutter Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra”. The power of the vajra (diamond) to cut things is a metaphor for the type of wisdom that cuts and shatters illusions to get to ultimate reality. Tara is often portrayed holding a vajra and sometimes a sword – so I assume the two have the same symbolic meaning.

        Incidently, the ‘Hill of Tara’ in County Meath was the seat of the high kings of Celtic Ireland. It contains Ireland’s ‘Stonehenge’ as well as a megalithic mound dating back 4,500 to 5000 years which appears to have been used for the pagan burials of the high kings. The entrance to the mound was sealed by the ‘Stone of Destiny’ known as the Lia Fáil – perhaps the stone from which Sir Galahad metaphorically drew his sword (the equivalent of being knighted or initiated into some ancient order!).

        The Tarot cards really do throw up some fascinating stuff.

        • This is remarkable for me to read. I am working on a new book called Pamela’s Tarot and I have written a chapter on the Hill of Tara. I discovered it in March, when the bus driver left me behind. I was en route to Newgrange to research the Sun/Moon alignments. The bus pulled away and I was left at the Hill all day, and bought several books on the place. What completes this story? Maud Gonne. She fought to save the Hill of Tara with her lover, W. B. Yeats. Of course Yeats introduced Pamela to the Golden Dawn and some say he helped her create the famous Tarot deck. I have my jaw on the floor with your message, thank you so much!

          • It does get stranger.

            I don’t know what the connection is between Tibetan Buddhism and the early Celtic Church but at least one of the Buddhist Masters now living in Scotland remembers a past life in the Celtic tradition. In fact the Holy Isle off Arran in Scotland, which contains the cave of St Molaise ( a contemporary and probable relative of King Arthur), is now owned by the Buddhists and contains an interfaith centre for world health and peace.

            Arran was once known as the Isle of Apples and the Holy Isle may well be the burial place of Arthur, who was killed in battle against the Anglo Saxons in the Scottish borders. The Tibetan high lamas can sense the ancient energies, which to them are quite wild and need careful handling.

            I would recommend a visit – and perhaps a chapter in your book.

  4. @Liz: This is awesome information!
    Funny because I just started working with Tarot of the Holy Light, which incorporates the Gnostic principles. It’s a complex deck with lots mystic symbolism, and I find the deck mesmerizing.

    White Tara?
    I employ Green Tara as I find her energies very soothing.

    Synchrocities abound, non?

    • I had chills as I read this. White Tara and Green Tara postcards have turned up twice for me in the last week or so. And I am still researching the Hill of Tara, and specifically the amazing Maud Gonne, who helped save it. I do wonder if Maud was not partly the model for Pamela Colman-Smith’s Queen of Swords illustration. I’ll report back – thanks, both!

  5. Wow!
    This is by far the most fascinating conversation I have read in a long time. I have been interested in astrology for sometime now. Thanks to Jessica’s insightful and we’ll explained articles, learned a lot.
    The synchronicity within this whole conversation is amazing!
    Thank you ladies!

    • Thank you – I am really looking forward to Tarot workshops around the world, from the end of 2017, and it would be wonderful if I end up in a town near any of you, so we can pursue more synchronicity…

  6. You probably need a Tarot reading if you are hoping for a promotion. I won’t be organising Tarot reading on this website until 2019, but I promise it will be worth it!

  7. Hi Jessica, I am beginning to lose faith that astrology can predict anything, following the hung Parliament in the UK elections! It is clear that Theresa May’s super supportive Jupiter transit served her no favours at all, neither did it help Le Pen and Corbyn actually did well, despite, or maybe because of, the pressures. It is also evident that Uranus’s transit over Ceres did not lead to a done and dusted Brexit. Also, the idea that the chart has to be accurate to the nth degree when astrologers use wide aspects all the time, would show that these are excuses for wrong predictions. UNLESS, of course, this is all meant to happen. The days of political parties and leaders with agendas we are expected to vote for are to come to an end. The world is changing and these results will keep happening until we change the system. Spiritualists tell us this is not far off now. Has anyone any thoughts? Thank you.

    • Er. Did you read my prediction about the UK election? I might push it to the front page – it was written in April. Thanks for reminding me to repost as I realise a lot of people are curious about this hung parliament – unfortunately PMTM started the ball rolling on Mercury Retrograde and she called the actual vote for a Full Moon. If ever anyone needed an astrologer, it’s her!

  8. Hi Jessica.
    Thanks for sharing your work on Pamela Colman Smith.
    She is just one of so many talented, influential women from that period.
    Good luck with the book.

    If you are in Ireland you might try to visit Devenish island on the lakes in County Fermanagh. A monastic site founded by the Arthurian myth connected St Molaise in the 6th century. Also considered a site of challenging place of wild earth power by the celtic revival British occultist Wellesley Tudor Pole. A man who was also instrumental in rediscovering Glastonbury as a modern centre of spiritual pilgrimage.
    For that particularly fascinating esoteric history the seminal work must-read, if you have not already discovered it, is Pat Benham’s book: The Avalonians.

    • Thank you very much. I have put your suggestion in my diary for later this year, when I am giving a talk on Pamela Colman Smith to a Dublin astrology group. Tudor Pole is high on my list and I’ll make sure I find The Avalonians. Waving!

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