Greenwood - Deer (Queen of Arrows)

Cat*

This was my card for today, so I thought I might as well post something about it.

Whenever I pulled it so far, I always think "Queen of Cups" (my working copy of the Greenwood doesn't have any titles, so I'm thrown back on my perceptions of the images alone). It happened again today. Only after I had already jotted down some notes about gentleness, being loved by the Universe, and strawberries for sweetness (of the heart) did I see the arrow and realized that this is meant to be what is in other decks the Queen of Swords. :bugeyed: What a change!

So, what do I make of this? (I'm actually thinking as I write, so I hope this goes anywhere.)

The white Deer who feels very feminine and therefore "shouldn't" have antlers because she's not a Reindeer (and Reindeers are the only female Deers that HAVE antlers). So why does she have them? I'm almost tempted to throw in the idea of Two-Spirited-ness and read her as a mentor type of mature drag queen/transwoman who has been around the block a few times, has seen and felt more than her share of violence in many forms (which is where the point of the arrow or the edge of the traditional Sword Queen comes in), but who still manages to be very, very loving, kind, and generous towards her fellow beings. I can even see one of my favorite real-life authors/activists in that image. (Mind you, this is a language/metaphor that makes sense to ME - it might be entirely useless or even indecipherable to you. But this is my train of thoughts so I won't reword it. :))

The image itself just radiates love and peace. There's so much of it that no one needs to be afraid there isn't enough for them, too. It says you're safe here, you can rest for a while, let your guard down a bit, relax, and enjoy the beauty of a sunny day and the taste of a small wild strawberry on your tongue.

I also see this white Deer as a guide of sorts (I think there is some Celtic myth about a white deer? Or is that just something I read in the DruidCraft book? See also the white Deer on the Fool card!). She's like a Spirit who isn't entirely of this side of reality (it's the spirals that make her seem otherworldly...). She doesn't look like an actual real-life animal to me (and that's emphasized again by the antlers).

And all of this make sense to me when I tie them back to my earlier idea of a Two-Spirited woman who has transformed her pain into love and kindness.

Now I'm pretty sure this is NOTHING like what Chesca Potter wrote! But I'm curious, so I'll just pop over to her website and quote the bit about this card here...

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Chesca Potter says:

"Queen of Arrows: Deer

Time of year; midsummer solstice; Element; Air

I am very fortunate to live in Oxford near Magdalen College deer park where there are actual white hart and hinds (albino fallow deer) . Each time I visit them is a sacred occasion. The white deer, rare in reality, has a strong mythology; it is the inner heart guiding one into an inner place of stillness and mystery. (see also The ancestor). In this tarot card the deer sits still on a grassy mound, whilst the vibrant, healing, vitalised air of summer swirls in currents behind it. The arrows stand still in the ground.

Divination: A person with a gentle, tender and loving heart, whose quiet wisdom brings healing. They could have qualities of shyness and oversensitivity; difficult to get close to initially, they are loyal and deep. A person happy and healthy."​

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Well, the gentleness is there, but none of the (hidden) pain/hurt. Is this just my RWS-educated brain thinking Arrows = Air = Swords = pain/conflict and projecting pain into a card where there isn't any? But the arrow IS a weapon, too...

So what do the four elements actually mean in the Greenwood Tarot? (Yes, that would be a good question for a new thread, but I still want to write these first few thoughts down here so I don't forget them.)

Chesca Potter says "Air = Summer". I can see this in the colors. I can also associate the abundance of love, peace, and kindness in this card with summer.

Mark Ryan says "Arrows > Swords > conceptual / communicative / ambitions / cunning / intellect / being of the mind". Well, I don't see any of these in the Queen of Arrows here... Then again, I tend to distrust his writing about this deck anyway, so I suspect he might just have gone by RWS meanings here...

Other questions in relation to this card might be: How is Deer (Queen of Arrows) different from Reindeer (King of Cups)? How do these cards relate to the Ancestor (another Reindeer), Justice (a brown Deer/Stag), and the Ace of Cups (another white hart)? How do these cards relate to the humanoid antler-headed figures in cards like the 7 of Stones, 9 of Cups, or 9 of Stones?

I also remember from an earlier thread about animals in the Greenwood that Deer was the animal that appeared most in the deck (including antlers). It seems that Deer was Chesca Potter's Spirit Guide (Mi-Shell has explored this in much more depth here), so that would explain a lot...

And after all these random thoughts, I'm now very curious what others make of this card! :)
 

lark

Well I admire how deeply you have though about this card.
I think my understanding of her is very simplified, now I've read your post.

She is wise and older because of the size of her antlers...I imagine them as the kind that grow over a lifetime.
She has been hunted, but escaped many times the hunters arrow...as it is stuck in the ground beside her...
She can lay peacefully beside the arrow because she is wise enough to trust her instincts more than her fear.
And she hasn't let past hurts dull her love of living.
As the heart above her head testifies.
Like you said above she has been around the block.
She has that energy I sometimes feel in older people who have finally got it...
You know, that understanding of what is really important...they know that this moment is more important than any worry of the future.
There is a smell and warmth to this card...that smell of hot shimmery Spring sun on grass...
That warmth that goes right down into your bones that no blanket or coat or artificial heat can duplicate, that we seek so eagerly after winter.
She is rejoicing in the Spring and the first strawberries, a hint of the sweetness of summer bounty to come.
The spirals to me are the continuance of all things.
This is how I've come to see her.

I try with the Greenwood to put all other associations to any other deck or set of reading rules aside...and look only at the card.
And I want to glean a meaning from each card...the book is vague and almost useless for that.
So I do daily draws ...and over time the things I've written above have spoke to me or the deer has spoken to me...
I'll be eagerly looking forward to any other insights you have.
 

Cat*

lark said:
Well I admire how deeply you have though about this card.
I think my understanding of her is very simplified, now I've read your post.
It's not simplified at all! The way I see it, you found very similar things/feelings in that card but only expressed them differently than I did.

lark said:
She has that energy I sometimes feel in older people who have finally got it...
You know, that understanding of what is really important...they know that this moment is more important than any worry of the future.
This reminds me of someone I recently met who oftentimes just HAS to go out and be in the sun because most other important things can just as well wait for another hour or two. Thanks for adding that to my collection of ideas attached to this card!

lark said:
I try with the Greenwood to put all other associations to any other deck or set of reading rules aside...and look only at the card.
And I want to glean a meaning from each card...the book is vague and almost useless for that.
I sometimes refer back to the Wheel of the Year structure to put a Greenwood card in context. But I agree, that book by Mark Ryan is indeed almost useless. Chesca Potter's own notes are better, but still aren't very helpful to me when it comes to applying a card to a specific situation. So I do as you do: look at the card image and go from there. Sometimes a question arises (e.g. about an animal I don't know much about) and then I do a little research, but mostly I stick to the card itself.

I haven't had time to look into the comparison questions I came up with, but I hope to get back to them later on.