Wendywu
This is a gorgeous, huge card! Not that’s physically bigger than any of the others but it feels like there are such incredible depths to it 
.
One way I look at it is to see that her shell opens and she emerges triumphant. Until this moment it has been her whole universe (see those stars peeping out); now she finds there is so much more to learn about that she had ever realized. A whole new world is unfolding in front of her.
The card is called “the Spiral Furnace” because what is actually shown is a coiled furnace with a pomegranate chimney. This furnace is a representation of the one we all enter into and it is here that each of us undergoes our personal tests. The personal trials which we emerge from feeling as if something inside us has changed; we will never see the world in quite the same way again. Occasionally it feels the other way around; as if we are the same but the world has moved on without us. (I wonder if it feels like that to the newly released prisoner, coming out into the world from the furnace of his prison cell).
A furnace is a place where metal is melted, and impurities burned away. What is left is purer, more intensely itself, than what went into the furnace. For me this means that although the fire is so painful (at times to the point where it feels I can’t endure it any longer) it serves a valuable purpose in my life. Each time of personal trial is needed if I am to become the real me; the person who is buried under the dross of my life and habits. I asked myself why some people are purified by their trials whilst others are damaged. I don’t think for one moment that those who are damaged are somehow lesser in any way than those who are purified. I wonder if, instead, the fire is “stage 1” and the months or years they spend as damaged people actually comprise part of their time within the beehive furnace – as a sort of “stage 2”. The beehive furnace - the name makes me think of the Pink Floyd song where we live “lives of quiet desperation”. The pinpricks of daily martyrdom can be likened to little bee-stings, and I guess being continually stung could come to be seen as a very real trial even though each sting is little enough in itself. Thus I understand how some people whose lives seem to flow fairly constantly actually spend years in the furnace, being refined ever more thoroughly into their purer selves.
The Snake Goddess watches over the furnace. This seems very apt to me because she totally understands the sloughing of old skins to reveal the new person. Snakes are so symbolic of re-birth and renewal; this is a strong reminder as to the essential nature of the card (for me). Of course, there is always the question as to who judges. I go into the furnace and there I am tested. Who judges how deep that testing should be? Who says when I’ve had enough and am (so to speak) “done”. Is the Snake Goddess an aspect of the All-in-One? Or what/who? This question is one for settling down with and really coming to grips with one's core beliefs - it can take hours, weeks or years to work out a personal answer that is satisfactory.
I have watched creatures slough off an old skin, or molt out of an outgrown exo-skeleton. It is a huge thing to do. It can take hour after hour of very real effort. And whilst shedding (and for a while afterwards) the molting creature is so desperately vulnerable to attack. In the same way, when we are in the Furnace we are very vulnerable to attacks of many sorts. Think about it – if I was very ill, or bereaved, or frantic with worry and stress – how open I would be to mental or emotional abuse! Yes indeed, the time spent in the Furnace is dangerous in many ways. For me, the Snake Goddess oversees it all with fairness, and I must trust that I will not fail. I think this purely because I don’t think I’d have been permitted to enter the Furnace at all if the Goddess felt there was a serious possibility that I might not make it through this transformation. That’s not to say I know this, but I believe it. Having this belief that I can succeed helps me find the inner strength that the Snake Goddess knows is within me but which I might not have tapped into previously.
The RWS Judgement card always (to me) implies that one will be judged at the end of life (or at certain times within life). I prefer to think that at the end of my life my higher self will take a look at this life’s lessons and decide whether or not this current persona made a total hash of it. Then comes the decision as to which lesson will need to be repeated! Whilst this is a judgement, it feels different. The Spiral Furnace gives me another aspect to the card, and leaves me feeling that when I am in that Furnace I need to be aware of the eventual final judgement, and such awareness might inform my current behaviour. It also serves to remind me that the judgement of others is absolutely not my prerogative!
I was of a particular faith years ago and if asked to think about the things this card portrays I would have seen having the impurities burned away as being in Purgatory. I must say that I don’t often see Christian imagery in this deck and it caught me by surprise. I don’t think I can strictly liken Furnace to Purgatory because, as far as I can see, each of us enters and leaves the Furnace several times in our lives whereas Purgatory proper is intended for the period after physical death (if one subscribes to that particular faith).
Interestingly Lorena Babcock-Moore says that the impurities burned off in the Furnace run off as molten glass which can then be used in different ways. I tried to use that analogy to describe a real life situation. I didn’t do so well but I did come up with the idea of person who does wrong, goes through a terrible time as a result of that wrongdoing, and then when that time is over they use the self knowledge gained to help others in some way. That’s about all I could come up with there. Except for the obvious idea that I shouldn’t spurn the person I used to be, but rather acknowledge that all I was helped to make me all I am, but that just because I can accept past bad behaviour doesn’t mean I want to repeat it. This feels inadequate and I need more time thinking about this aspect of the card.
The Snake Goddess fascinates me. I have an old python skin, some 11 feet long and this is pinned in my Spirit Room. When leaving the room I have to go through an archway formed by the skin over the doorway. It is so symbolic of re-birth and regeneration to me, and it is a joy to see this symbol on this card. It offers future hope and possibility, rather than the “Last Trump” that I see in so many cards. That very final judgement at the last trump somehow seems so final. A sort of “Time’s up – let’s tally the score” kind of card. This one feels much gentler and softer, despite the contradiction offered by the fact one is tried by fire and pain. It shows such promise!
I need to come back and think again about the pomegranate which forms the chimney of the furnace. In Judaism the pomegranate is a symbol of righteousness and fruitfulness. It is also thought by some scholars to have been the original Forbidden Fruit. This ties in well with a theme of judgment! In Christianity it is seen as a symbol of Christ’s suffering and resurrection, and in Islam it is one of the fruits of Allah that is produced in the gardens of Paradise for the Faithful. The pomegranate has so many uses and stories woven around it. On the Beehive Furnace it is a hugely potent symbol of so much!
This is such an interesting card; there is so much depth here. I shall come back to it again later in my study of Ironwing
I've suddenly started thinking about beehives, and bees ..... I have some more studying to do
.One way I look at it is to see that her shell opens and she emerges triumphant. Until this moment it has been her whole universe (see those stars peeping out); now she finds there is so much more to learn about that she had ever realized. A whole new world is unfolding in front of her.
The card is called “the Spiral Furnace” because what is actually shown is a coiled furnace with a pomegranate chimney. This furnace is a representation of the one we all enter into and it is here that each of us undergoes our personal tests. The personal trials which we emerge from feeling as if something inside us has changed; we will never see the world in quite the same way again. Occasionally it feels the other way around; as if we are the same but the world has moved on without us. (I wonder if it feels like that to the newly released prisoner, coming out into the world from the furnace of his prison cell).
A furnace is a place where metal is melted, and impurities burned away. What is left is purer, more intensely itself, than what went into the furnace. For me this means that although the fire is so painful (at times to the point where it feels I can’t endure it any longer) it serves a valuable purpose in my life. Each time of personal trial is needed if I am to become the real me; the person who is buried under the dross of my life and habits. I asked myself why some people are purified by their trials whilst others are damaged. I don’t think for one moment that those who are damaged are somehow lesser in any way than those who are purified. I wonder if, instead, the fire is “stage 1” and the months or years they spend as damaged people actually comprise part of their time within the beehive furnace – as a sort of “stage 2”. The beehive furnace - the name makes me think of the Pink Floyd song where we live “lives of quiet desperation”. The pinpricks of daily martyrdom can be likened to little bee-stings, and I guess being continually stung could come to be seen as a very real trial even though each sting is little enough in itself. Thus I understand how some people whose lives seem to flow fairly constantly actually spend years in the furnace, being refined ever more thoroughly into their purer selves.
The Snake Goddess watches over the furnace. This seems very apt to me because she totally understands the sloughing of old skins to reveal the new person. Snakes are so symbolic of re-birth and renewal; this is a strong reminder as to the essential nature of the card (for me). Of course, there is always the question as to who judges. I go into the furnace and there I am tested. Who judges how deep that testing should be? Who says when I’ve had enough and am (so to speak) “done”. Is the Snake Goddess an aspect of the All-in-One? Or what/who? This question is one for settling down with and really coming to grips with one's core beliefs - it can take hours, weeks or years to work out a personal answer that is satisfactory.
I have watched creatures slough off an old skin, or molt out of an outgrown exo-skeleton. It is a huge thing to do. It can take hour after hour of very real effort. And whilst shedding (and for a while afterwards) the molting creature is so desperately vulnerable to attack. In the same way, when we are in the Furnace we are very vulnerable to attacks of many sorts. Think about it – if I was very ill, or bereaved, or frantic with worry and stress – how open I would be to mental or emotional abuse! Yes indeed, the time spent in the Furnace is dangerous in many ways. For me, the Snake Goddess oversees it all with fairness, and I must trust that I will not fail. I think this purely because I don’t think I’d have been permitted to enter the Furnace at all if the Goddess felt there was a serious possibility that I might not make it through this transformation. That’s not to say I know this, but I believe it. Having this belief that I can succeed helps me find the inner strength that the Snake Goddess knows is within me but which I might not have tapped into previously.
The RWS Judgement card always (to me) implies that one will be judged at the end of life (or at certain times within life). I prefer to think that at the end of my life my higher self will take a look at this life’s lessons and decide whether or not this current persona made a total hash of it. Then comes the decision as to which lesson will need to be repeated! Whilst this is a judgement, it feels different. The Spiral Furnace gives me another aspect to the card, and leaves me feeling that when I am in that Furnace I need to be aware of the eventual final judgement, and such awareness might inform my current behaviour. It also serves to remind me that the judgement of others is absolutely not my prerogative!
I was of a particular faith years ago and if asked to think about the things this card portrays I would have seen having the impurities burned away as being in Purgatory. I must say that I don’t often see Christian imagery in this deck and it caught me by surprise. I don’t think I can strictly liken Furnace to Purgatory because, as far as I can see, each of us enters and leaves the Furnace several times in our lives whereas Purgatory proper is intended for the period after physical death (if one subscribes to that particular faith).
Interestingly Lorena Babcock-Moore says that the impurities burned off in the Furnace run off as molten glass which can then be used in different ways. I tried to use that analogy to describe a real life situation. I didn’t do so well but I did come up with the idea of person who does wrong, goes through a terrible time as a result of that wrongdoing, and then when that time is over they use the self knowledge gained to help others in some way. That’s about all I could come up with there. Except for the obvious idea that I shouldn’t spurn the person I used to be, but rather acknowledge that all I was helped to make me all I am, but that just because I can accept past bad behaviour doesn’t mean I want to repeat it. This feels inadequate and I need more time thinking about this aspect of the card.
The Snake Goddess fascinates me. I have an old python skin, some 11 feet long and this is pinned in my Spirit Room. When leaving the room I have to go through an archway formed by the skin over the doorway. It is so symbolic of re-birth and regeneration to me, and it is a joy to see this symbol on this card. It offers future hope and possibility, rather than the “Last Trump” that I see in so many cards. That very final judgement at the last trump somehow seems so final. A sort of “Time’s up – let’s tally the score” kind of card. This one feels much gentler and softer, despite the contradiction offered by the fact one is tried by fire and pain. It shows such promise!
I need to come back and think again about the pomegranate which forms the chimney of the furnace. In Judaism the pomegranate is a symbol of righteousness and fruitfulness. It is also thought by some scholars to have been the original Forbidden Fruit. This ties in well with a theme of judgment! In Christianity it is seen as a symbol of Christ’s suffering and resurrection, and in Islam it is one of the fruits of Allah that is produced in the gardens of Paradise for the Faithful. The pomegranate has so many uses and stories woven around it. On the Beehive Furnace it is a hugely potent symbol of so much!
This is such an interesting card; there is so much depth here. I shall come back to it again later in my study of Ironwing
I've suddenly started thinking about beehives, and bees ..... I have some more studying to do
