Weekly thingy and the Six of Pentacles/The Malachite Casket
I talked about the Malachite Maid way back in the major arcana – she’s woven all through this story, though she never directly appears (except in disguise as the traveler). … Continue reading
Weekly thingy and the Five of Pentacles/The Little Match Girl
I feel like everyone knows this story? Poor little match girl huddled in the cold, begging passers-by to buy her matches and having no luck. One by one she lights … Continue reading
Weekly thingy and the Four of Pentacles/Diamonds and Toads
I’ve already done a couple of these reward and punishment stories so the basic outlines are pretty clear. Generous kind stepdaughter, mean jealous greedy stepmother, greedy lazy daughter. The good … Continue reading
Weekly thingy and the Three of Pentacles/East of the Sun etc.
Y’all have heard me talk East of the Sun, West of the Moon a bunch already, I LOVE a Nordic fairytale where the girl is the quester. Basically this needed … Continue reading
Fortnightly thingy and the Two of Pentacles/The Three Little Men
This story is a bit of an amalgam of Snow White and Diamonds and Toads – you’ve got an evil stepmother, the stepdaughter being sent out to do impossible tasks, … Continue reading
Weekly thingy and the Ace of Pentacles/The Tinder Box
Do people mostly know this one? It’s honestly a little icky, the ‘hero’ uses his access to magical dogs to steal a sleeping princess from her bedroom several times and … Continue reading
Weekly thingy and the King of Swords/Myrtha
I’m back to a ballet source, although the Wilis in Giselle are absolutely based in a variety of traditional folktales about vilis/vilas (and of course you may be familiar with … Continue reading
Weekly thingy and the Page of Swords/Katie Crackernuts
I LOVE Katie Crackernuts, it’s in that group of stories like East of the Sun, West of the Moon and The Snow Queen where the heroine is a girl on … Continue reading
Not so weekly thingy and the 10 of swords/Twa Sisters
If you don’t know this ballad/set of ballads, the basic story in the variation I know best is: Two sisters are in love with the same man; the older dark-haired … Continue reading
Weekly thingy and the Nine of Swords/Kay
Someone is going to have to beg me to stop doing Snow Queen cards – it won’t work, though. I was a little stumped on this till a friend suggested … Continue reading
Neurotic Owl 