Sophie-David
Card #19 of the Major Arcana, Awakening, shows the glorious moment when after many trials Cupid and Psyche meet as equals. This card, equivalent to The Sun in traditional decks, is also the key to the suit of Arrows (like Swords), which Kris Waldherr places in Air. Psyche is the Greek word for Soul. The arrows of Cupid or Eros are the vehicles of the love potion within this story, and the adventure of the Soul with Love itself has the potential to raise the lover's Soul to wisdom. I will use the Greek name Eros since Cupid has some rather banal associations for me.
At a psychological level, Psyche dreams of Eros, of Love. The Soul knows her lover only in the darkness of the night, and she is told that this is how it must be. She disobeys the instruction, with devasting consequences. But it is not foolish for her to want to know her lover by the light of her lantern, it is part of a necessary growth into maturity. This is the stage of withdrawal of the animus projection, by which she releases the image she has superimposed on her man, allowing her to come to terms with both him in his essential personality, and allowing her to discover the source of masculine energy within herself.
It is the Soul's awakening that brings her to fuller consciousness, to recognize Love in all its glory. Her animus has emerged, compelling her to begin the hero's journey by which she will bring her dreams into waking reality. She must complete several seemingly impossible tasks, including a journey into the underworld. The awakening continues as she engages in her journey, and culminates when she sees her lover again: in her completeness she encounters Love as the god he is.
The synopsis is again located at our favourite mythology site. The climax comes when Psyche must retrieve some of the beauty of Persephone, in other words she must find the essence of the dark feminine within. But Psyche is overcome by its power.
In the distance, dawn rises on a city that looks very much like Venice. It may well be an image of Venice since Kris Waldherr mentions how much she was inspired by the city on page 9 of The Lover's Path book. Venice is the porta orientalis - the "gateway to the East" or "door of the sunrise" - a beautiful reinforcement of the theme of Awakening.
At a psychological level, Psyche dreams of Eros, of Love. The Soul knows her lover only in the darkness of the night, and she is told that this is how it must be. She disobeys the instruction, with devasting consequences. But it is not foolish for her to want to know her lover by the light of her lantern, it is part of a necessary growth into maturity. This is the stage of withdrawal of the animus projection, by which she releases the image she has superimposed on her man, allowing her to come to terms with both him in his essential personality, and allowing her to discover the source of masculine energy within herself.
It is the Soul's awakening that brings her to fuller consciousness, to recognize Love in all its glory. Her animus has emerged, compelling her to begin the hero's journey by which she will bring her dreams into waking reality. She must complete several seemingly impossible tasks, including a journey into the underworld. The awakening continues as she engages in her journey, and culminates when she sees her lover again: in her completeness she encounters Love as the god he is.
The synopsis is again located at our favourite mythology site. The climax comes when Psyche must retrieve some of the beauty of Persephone, in other words she must find the essence of the dark feminine within. But Psyche is overcome by its power.
John Haule also has a short passage on Eros and Psyche:Now Psyche would have slept for ever, had not Eros, now recovered from his sickness, come to her and awakened her, which was bound to happen. For there is no place for Love to dwell except in the Soul, who animates all things, and there is no meaning for the Soul to live and be awake except for the sake of Love.
In the scene of the card, it appears that Psyche may have been dreaming of her lover. She is clothed in the gold of transformation, wrapped in a red cape of passion and resting on a red cushion with a design that somehow reminds me of a dragon or a lion. Psyche awakens and reaches out to her Eros who now appears in daylight to embrace her. His beauty matches hers, but he is a creature of fire. His passion burns in his tunic, his wings and his hair. But what is really fascinating is that interface where their bodies overlap in the painting. The lower part of her dress actually appears to be on fire, gold flames rise up and embrace and mingle in his orange! I didn't notice this at first in a conscious way, but now its unmistakable....in the myth of Eros and Psyche, the maiden Psyche loses her god-lover whom she has known only unconsciously and sexually. He visits her bed every night, and she is forbidden to look upon him or to ask for his name. When, out of self-doubt, she violates this rule and his visits cease, she has to suffer a quiet, helpless abandonment and loneliness for some time before she is finally given tasks and therewith the hope of winning him back. These tasks symbolize the inner work that must go on in our depression. Furthermore, they are beyond Psyche's powers to carry them out. Instead, she has to allow herself to be assisted by ants, a reed, and an eagle -- indication that the important work is being done by her unconscious and not by her ego. In her isolation and loneliness, her inner self seeks her.
In the distance, dawn rises on a city that looks very much like Venice. It may well be an image of Venice since Kris Waldherr mentions how much she was inspired by the city on page 9 of The Lover's Path book. Venice is the porta orientalis - the "gateway to the East" or "door of the sunrise" - a beautiful reinforcement of the theme of Awakening.