Thirteen
A young lady sits up in her bed, hands clasped in prayer, as she is haunted by visions (?) of a howling, restless spirit and a dark, pinnacled castle. This card is one of those that epitomizes "gothic" tales element of this deck. In those old ghost stories and movies, there is always the innocent young girl who is having terrible, haunting visions. The "Cassandra" of the story who warns others that something is not right.
"Go back to sleep," others in the story always tell her. "It's just a nightmare." But we reading the story know it's no such thing. Perhaps those who try to soothe her know the truth, or perhaps they're skeptics. Either way, she is the only one who knows that the shrieking, skeletal figure she sees flying out (or around? above?) isn't just a bad dream. The castle, as well, exists, and as the lights within show, no one there is getting any sleep either.
This is a nicely done homage, as well, to the RW image of the woman, rudely awaked, with 8/Swords above her. The card meaning usually warns that there is some reality to the dreams, something worth worrying about or fearing--though they may not be as dire as they seem. This girl, in her frilly nightgown, resting under a quilt embroidered with suns, hands clasped in prayer, may be very much the innocent, or perhaps she is being haunted because of some guilt or misdeed that she did, or some ancestor of hers did. Either way, she's been chosen to have these troubling visions/dreams. And, like the spirit and the castle, she's not going to be able to rest any time soon.
"Go back to sleep," others in the story always tell her. "It's just a nightmare." But we reading the story know it's no such thing. Perhaps those who try to soothe her know the truth, or perhaps they're skeptics. Either way, she is the only one who knows that the shrieking, skeletal figure she sees flying out (or around? above?) isn't just a bad dream. The castle, as well, exists, and as the lights within show, no one there is getting any sleep either.
This is a nicely done homage, as well, to the RW image of the woman, rudely awaked, with 8/Swords above her. The card meaning usually warns that there is some reality to the dreams, something worth worrying about or fearing--though they may not be as dire as they seem. This girl, in her frilly nightgown, resting under a quilt embroidered with suns, hands clasped in prayer, may be very much the innocent, or perhaps she is being haunted because of some guilt or misdeed that she did, or some ancestor of hers did. Either way, she's been chosen to have these troubling visions/dreams. And, like the spirit and the castle, she's not going to be able to rest any time soon.