The Lover's Path: Wisdom - Shahrazade and Shahriya

Sophie-David

Card II of The Lover's Path Major Arcana, Wisdom, the story of Shahrazade and Shahriyar is a fitting equivalent to The High Priestess of most decks. Shahrazade is the storyteller who entertains, enraptures and educates her husband each night for A Thousand and One Nights until she at last wins his heart and becomes his full queen. In the secret darkness of the night Shahrazade spins her husband stories of wisdom, excitement, allegory and satire. Like the inner beloved of a man's dreams, she gradually asserts the power of his feminine unconscious, gaining attention, respect, love and equality.

The complete text of The Thousand Nights and a Night, the definitive translation by Sir Richard Francis Burton, is available at Project Gutenberg. Select "Advanced Search" and enter "thousand nights" in the Title Word(s) box. The text runs into sixteen volumes or file downloads, but the last six books were an addenda that Burton offered after the initial publication proved so popular. The actual reconciliation of the couple occurs in Volume 10.

The whole text is also available in more readable HTML format at The Thousand Nights and a Night which is the title Burton gave to the collection.

Kris Waldherr has slightly simplified the story to make the meaning clearer. In the original Shahrazade actually starts by recounting the tales to her sister Dunyázád. Her husband Shahriyar overhears and becomes spell bound. The lady is initially a consort rather than a queen, and by the end of the thousand and one nights she has born the king three children. She appeals to the king on behalf of their children to remove her from the nightly death sentence. Shahriyar repents of his treatment of her and of the women of his country, arranges a full and lavish marriage to Shahrazade as his queen, treats Shahrazade and her sister with high honours, entertains his subjects both high and low with an extended open house feast to show his contrition, and gives his wife's father a kingdom of his own. Like the typical High Priestess, both ladies are associated in the final scenes with the beauty of the moon.

Although high-born Persian women of the time were cloistered in the harem, they did have some significant advantages over their European counterparts, including the right to own and inherit property, a full education, and a high degree of autonomy and control within the household. It would have been a bit much more likely that a Persian wife would have the depth of knowledge and artistic training that she could actually assume the role of a Shahrazade.

Part of my personal connection to the story of this card is Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite Scheherazade which I have enjoyed since childhood. A hauntingly beautiful theme for a seductive high violin over luxuriant harp arpeggios represents the voice of Shahrazade weaving her stories together.

In the card itself Shahrazade sits in a relaxed but upright posture, with the hint of a smile behind her veil of inner mystery. She is no longer looking at her book, but has perhaps stopped reading for the night, and the king looks anxiously towards her, appealing for her to continue. But her hour of peril is past and she is safe until the next night. The hero here holds a book in typical High Priestess symbology, but the Shaharazade of A Thousand and One Nights spoke from her creativity and memory. This queen of the night is also dressed in the typical blue of the High Priestess, and wears a gold crown with perhaps a sapphire centre - a symbol of truth, purity, wisdom and faithfulness. The intricate floral designs on the curtains speak of the lady's fertile and imaginative inspirations.

The king seated on cushions behind her is in contrasting earthy tones, with a conspicuous phallic sword resting next to him. Depending on the querent's point of view, the king can be thought of as the animus to the lady in blue, or the lady becomes the anima to the king. In Mary Greer's The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals, page 45, the author notes of the High Priestess that "perhaps you have a transformative, healing encounter through a sexual experience". Sexuality is important both in the story of the card - the couple made love, slept, and then Shahrazade told her story - and in the narratives of The Thousand and One Nights themselves. The healing power of intimate empathy can occur both with a human partner and with the internal counterpart or Inner Beloved. In either case, the practice of sacred sexuality can raise consciousness.

The courtyard in the background is planted with what appear to be cypress trees, symbols of both the unconscious and faithfulness.
 

Cerulean

I enjoyed your synopsis

I've read some different collections of the Persian tales, although some are said to be East Indian in origin as well...

http://www.artarena.force9.co.uk/thousand.htm

What I enjoy about the deck is it can easily be a 'cornerstone' to a library of literature and movies. I actually have a further fascination with these tales, so I am going to check out a future deck that will have somewhat ornate designs on this theme, as well...

I like the full tale where the heroine is in a triple aspect someone who can serve to be a maiden, a mother and seems to signify a more heroic elder. She chooses to be a wife to save other young women in her kingdom from future harm; proves to be excellent in her performance of teaching tales and family aspect in a way to make a heroic difference; and as a reflection of her training and talents, one surmises her own father, sister and mother is of equal bravery and supportive strength of spirit.

I enjoyed reading discussion of all your points and believe the inner wisdom 'behind the veil' that unfolded to the king over time showed him where true wisdom springs from.

Lovely choices in this deck!

Cerulean
 

Sophie-David

Cerulean said:
I've read some different collections of the Persian tales, although some are said to be East Indian in origin as well...

http://www.artarena.force9.co.uk/thousand.htm
Thank you for this link to a concise synopsis.

Cerulean said:
What I enjoy about the deck is it can easily be a 'cornerstone' to a library of literature and movies. I actually have a further fascination with these tales, so I am going to check out a future deck that will have somewhat ornate designs on this theme, as well...
Yes, it really encourages one to go back - or begin - to learn Kris Waldherr's source materials. This is very enriching - I had never read anything but the odd smattering of The Thousand Nights and a Night and having downloaded some volumes and read the beginning and ending I will continue with all that lies between. Can you share more details on your tease, "a future deck" with "ornate designs on this theme"? :)

Cerulean said:
I like the full tale where the heroine is in a triple aspect someone who can serve to be a maiden, a mother and seems to signify a more heroic elder. She chooses to be a wife to save other young women in her kingdom from future harm; proves to be excellent in her performance of teaching tales and family aspect in a way to make a heroic difference; and as a reflection of her training and talents, one surmises her own father, sister and mother is of equal bravery and supportive strength of spirit.
I can see why Kris downplayed the mothering and crone aspect, as did I to a lesser extent. Otherwise there is a danger of the card losing focus and becoming an Empress and Star as well.

Cerulean said:
I enjoyed reading discussion of all your points and believe the inner wisdom 'behind the veil' that unfolded to the king over time showed him where true wisdom springs from.

Lovely choices in this deck!
Brava Kris!
 

Cerulean

Oh-oh-oh...another deck that does 1001 Nights

The link is actually to another publisher who is releasing a more ornate 1001 Nights deck

Felicity kindly scanned the page in the catalog- the deck is the third one down:

http://home.comcast.net/~felicityk/tarot/ls2005/

The catalogue is online as well, but you have to navigate to get to other pictures of this deck.

http://www.loscarabeo.com/catalogo2004/Catalogo_UK/catalogo.htm

Follow the links through tarot in the catalog and it is listed under classical.

I didn't want to derail your gorgeous musings on K.W.'s deck. I actually appreciate having a deck devoted to stories of Lovers and also bringing in the idea of union of opposites by using their storylike characterizations.

But this is a fascinating storyline in its own right, at least in appeal to me. Edmund Dulac style art for 1001 Nights has a passionate appeal and parallel...

Thanks again,

Cerulean
 

darwinia

Women who weave, the men they cleave

Ali Baba, Aladdin, and Sinbad, where would we be without them? I grew up on movies and books devoted to them, which was a rich part of my fantasy childhood.

They remind me very much of one of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Horse and his Boy, by C.S. Lewis. There's is a part in that when he echoes this Persian storytelling tradition as Aravis tells her story to Shasta. I always remembered this bit and the illustration by Pauline Baynes that went with it.

I will introduce the way C.S. Lewis describes this as it is the way I imagine Scheherazade sitting and telling her stories as well:

"Aravis immediately began, sitting quite still and using a rather different tone and style from her usual one. For in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you're taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay-writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays."

That's the key to the story and the love that developed between Scheherazade and her husband. "The grand Calormene manner" of story-telling as Lewis describes it, was an ancient art in many cultures and highly respected. I believe that to fall in love you must respect someone first. The fact that she drew out the stories over many, many nights gave him a chance to know her as a human rather than a concubine, and thus respect her and fall in love.

I've always liked that music too David, he manages to let you feel the thrill of the stories and Scheherazade eluding the danger of death, you can feel the plots building in the music, the swirling gift of mystery and imagination. As I listen to it, I see the different characters from the stories swirling above her head like a cloud of enchanting ideas, and the love building in his chest for this woman of such interesting ability and beauty. Not just anyone in the parade but Scheherazade, a unique human being.

Stories are irresistible.

I got some red tulips today for Valentine's Day, they've made me mushy!
 

Sophie-David

darwinia said:
They remind me very much of one of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Horse and his Boy, by C.S. Lewis. There's is a part in that when he echoes this Persian storytelling tradition as Aravis tells her story to Shasta. I always remembered this bit and the illustration by Pauline Baynes that went with it.

I will introduce the way C.S. Lewis describes this as it is the way I imagine Scheherazade sitting and telling her stories as well:

"Aravis immediately began, sitting quite still and using a rather different tone and style from her usual one. For in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you're taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay-writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays."
Ah yes, that sounds like Lewis's typical gentle humour. That is an interesting parallel. I have the Narnia collection at home but haven't read this one yet - <sigh> so many books, so little time! :)

darwinia said:
That's the key to the story and the love that developed between Scheherazade and her husband. "The grand Calormene manner" of story-telling as Lewis describes it, was an ancient art in many cultures and highly respected. I believe that to fall in love you must respect someone first. The fact that she drew out the stories over many, many nights gave him a chance to know her as a human rather than a concubine, and thus respect her and fall in love.
Yes, love has a habit of sneaking up on you if given half a chance. Unfortunately it was perhaps organized religion that did away with the respect given to the oral story teller in Western culture. But then secular story telling continued in the more formalized media of plays and written literature.

darwinia said:
I've always liked that music too David, he manages to let you feel the thrill of the stories and Scheherazade eluding the danger of death, you can feel the plots building in the music, the swirling gift of mystery and imagination. As I listen to it, I see the different characters from the stories swirling above her head like a cloud of enchanting ideas, and the love building in his chest for this woman of such interesting ability and beauty. Not just anyone in the parade but Scheherazade, a unique human being.
Very nicely put!
 

irisa

I was talking to an friend, originally from Iran, about the tales... who told me... that although the names of the chief characters are Iranian... Scheherazade's story is probably Indian.

The writer Abdus al-Jashyari began a collection of 1,000 popular Arabic, Iranian, Greek, and other tales but died when only 480 were written.

The expressions "A Thousand Tales" and "A Thousand and One. . ." were intended just to indicate a large number and only taken literally much later, when stories were added to make up the number.

He also pointed out most Iranians are not Arabs [in refence to the Western title Arabian Nights] :)

It's also interesting that Aladdin was not one of the original stories.

"Aladdin is the most famous of several "orphan stories," which have no Arabic sources that pre-date Galland's edition (the first western translation)."

http://knowledgenews.net/moxie/culture/1001-arabian-nights-2.shtml

Maybe that's why Aladdin was set in China but the characters given Arabic names :)


irisa
 

darwinia

irisa said:
I was talking to an friend, originally from Iran, about the tales... who told me... that although the names of the chief characters are Iranian... Scheherazade's story is probably Indian.

I learned via my Stamping Through Mathematics book that both Persia and India were much more advanced cultures than we think of them today. I'm not trying to be insulting, I'm pointing out that politics and religious dogma seems to have overridden or crushed the creative, imaginative, and scientific impetus inherent in these cultures.

The goddess Kuan Yin (Kwan Yin, Quan Yin) was originally a male Indian deity that kind of morphed over centuries into the goddess we know today. I think some Celtic deities might share their roots in India. We had a bit of a discussion on that on the Tarrochi Celtici list.
 

Sophie-David

irisa said:
I was talking to an friend, originally from Iran, about the tales... who told me... that although the names of the chief characters are Iranian... Scheherazade's story is probably Indian.
Cerulean mentioned this also. The first volume says that the story is set "in the Islands of India and China", so it makes sense that the story itself may have come from India.

irisa said:
It's also interesting that Aladdin was not one of the original stories.
I will be interesting to see if Burton's translation includes Aladdin. I have seen Sinbad there...