Deirdre of the Sorrows - Six of Coins

shadowdancer

Yet another card that could tell so many stories. The two main characters are so in contrast to each other, yet for this special moment in time, they are sharing a link or bond. The link of giving and receiving.

The woman is obviously pregnant but is offering some money to the vagrant sitting on the pavement. He is sitting on a green blanket, his cap on the pavement in front of him empty. We see a hint of a bottle in a paper bag to one side of him. I think these two characters deserve to be looked at before mentioning any of the objects in the shop window behind them. Ironically the scene is set in front of a charity shop.

I had to really look at my own prejudices and beliefs when looking at this card and realised I had a lot to learn about what true charity means. I am sure many of us have walked past vagrants in the street before now, and pretended not to notice them. If they are a regular part of your environment, it is almost possible to become immune to their presence, as we just associate them as being the ‘norm.’ If you visit London regularly and use the underground system you will be aware of what I alluding to. Thousands of commuters will hustle past them without giving as much as a glance in their direction. If it is not something you are used to, it can be quite unsettling. Yet if you saw them every day twice a day, would you just class them as being a natural part of the scenery, forgetting they are people of flesh and blood? With regards our vagrant, it would also be easy to think he is an alcoholic or that he would spend any donated money on drink. This in itself can be a reason why people do not spare change. They feel it is money wasted as it would only be put towards purchasing yet more alcohol. In other words, we become very judgemental of what is right and what is wrong, but would not think anything of spending a lot of money at a weekend on alcohol ourselves. When we do this we run the risk of becoming hypocrites. In this case, this vagrant may use the alcohol as a way of numbing his mind to his difficult existence. It is not the right way to deal with this, but he may not feel he has any other way available to him. I believe we can associate the shop itself with ourselves. We have the means to be offer some charity, but often choose not to. His cap is empty, so can we assume the shop behind has turned its back on his plight, symbolising how we often react ourselves? Thankfully the woman is showing genuine charity here. She may have her own personal needs to consider in the form of providing for her unborn baby, yet she has chosen to offer some change to the vagrant. She is not judging him, or lecturing him on what it should be spent on. How many times can we say hand on heart we have offered support with no strings or ground rules attached?

If you associate with the vagrant, it may show that an offer of support may be forthcoming. Therefore the hardship you feel you are experiencing may be alleviated. The support may come from an unlikely source, but will be valued nevertheless.

If you associate with the woman, it could show that you need to give something of yourself with genuine intent. You may find you have to overcome any prejudices when doing so, and give from the heart. If looked at on a Karmic level, what you give you may well find you receive back in a different form. This woman may be passing this caring trait into her unborn baby, trait so that in turn he or she can grow up prepared to offer in the same way. She has one hand on her stomach as she offers the coins with her other hand. She is aware of how precious life is, and may be making a link between the vagrant and the life developing inside her.

ITEMS INSIDE THE SHOP WINDOW
In some respects I believe they show the history of the vagrant. Although he is aged now, he would have experienced childhood and youth, as shown by the painting set and school book. The heart and rose are interesting, and may show at one time he was in a relationship. Has that relationship been broken in some way? If so, how did it then lead to him being homeless etc? He had high aspirations at one time as depicted by the star. Yet his aspirations did not come to anything, or if they did they are now lost. On the other hand the star could show that he doing his best to stay positive, and does have hopes of finding his feet again.
The ball and chain could signify how he feels right now – that he is imprisoned in his plight. What would he need to do to break free from the ball and chain, whereby the star could actually be within his grasp? How does this relate to your situation? The gold medal shows he was a ‘winner’ at some stage. In other words, he had achieved something. What was it, and why is the medal in the shop window? Does it signify previous successes, or does it show he has had to exchange this medal for money or food?
The overturned medicine bottles are of interest. They could show that he needs to pay attention to his health and possibly seek medical advice or have a check up. If he has been homeless for some time, and has not been eating adequately, they could be there to show he needs to pay attention to any possible medical issues that are present. If you associate with these bottles, and have concerns you are advised to certainly to follow them up. If you associate with the woman, it could indicate you are ignoring your needs and putting others first. If this is the case, make sure that you don’t ignore anything your body is telling you. Yes it is good to be supportive of others, but it should not be at the expense of yourself.

Overall, this card can tell so many stories. Whatever the theme is, it does come back to the issue of being charitable, or receiving help from a 3rd party.

As a final note, if this were to appear with the Queen of Swords, I would be led to say something like “stop feeling sorry for yourself - there is always somebody a lot worse off than you!”.