Tarot Tales: R is for Rebirth (and Death)

Welcome to the 2021 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Tarot Tales. I am making a selection of folktales, legends, and other traditional stories that correspond to tarot cards. Storytelling and tarot go well together. Do other stories come to mind? Let me know in the comments!

The card: Death

Meanings: The Death card, while various TV shows like to use it for dramatic effect, is not as tragic as it sounds. Yes, it means something important is coming to and end, and things are changing forever, but it is not a bad thing. It is about transformation, transition, and new things growing out of something old. In a way, it is about rebirth. Look at the images above.

Selection process: Death is one of the basic motifs of the human experience, and figures into millions of folktales and legends. Some of them talk about death as an inevitability, or a curse, while others claim that even death can be cheated. I wanted to find a story that focuses on the transformational aspect of this card, where death is a natural part of moving on to another state of existence. 

The story: The origin of the coconut

Origin: Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia

Summary: The islands are suffering from a drought; people have no fresh water to drink. The gods want to help them. Storm and Typhoon offer to bring rain to the islands, but the divine council deems them too dangerous, and look for a more gentle solution. In the end, the god of the Coconut volunteers. He offers to be reborn from a mortal woman (because people will only appreciate a gift if they have a personal connection to it). The gods throw him a farewell party, since he will never be able to return to heaven.

Coconut descends into the womb of a mortal woman, and in nine months she gives birth to a coconut. The coconut instructs the - somewhat baffled - father to bury it in soil and wait. Soon, a tree sprouts from the ground, and it bears fruit. Ever since then, coconuts have been a good source of drinking water, food, and fiber for people all over the island world. 

(This story features not one, but two major transformations!)

Sources & notes: I found the story in this book.

Runner-ups: In a legend from the Maldives a sorcerer grows the first coconut trees from the graves of people who died in a famine - to save those who are still alive. In another story from Taiwan, a widowed father sends up the first sweet potato plants from the grave to feed and console his grieving son. I was also considering a legend from the Solomon Islands, where a girl is brought back to life by the roots of a tree after being buried, and then she travels to the surface along the underground streams.

If you had the chance to spend your next life as a plant, what plant would you want to be?

Tarot Tales: Q is for the Queens

Welcome to the 2021 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Tarot Tales. I am making a selection of folktales, legends, and other traditional stories that correspond to tarot cards. Storytelling and tarot go well together. Do other stories come to mind? Let me know in the comments!

Once again, I am doing Court Cards from the Minor Arcana, so there will be four stories instead of one.

Queen of Cups: The king who trusted his kingdom to his daughters (Jewish tale)

This Queen is about compassion, caring, and empathy. She is a mom friend, a naturally loving and nurturing person. She feels everything deeply, but she does not get lost in her emotions. For this card, I chose the tale with the very long title above; I blogged about it in detail in my Feminist Folktales series here. It features a princess who is very compassionate. She finds a way to turn her tears into diamonds, and uses the gems to help people in need. In the end, she becomes a beloved queen. 

Queen of Swords: Balqis, Queen of Sheba 

This Queen is smart, direct, outspoken, and just. She is independent and respected, an authority by her own right, and she likes clear things - be it communication, boundaries, or logical, unbiased solutions to problems. Since I had King Solomon as King of Swords, I thought it would be fitting to have his intellectual and political equal, the Queen of Sheba as Queen of Swords. 

There are many legends about her from many cultures; I especially like the Arabic stories. Balqis (or Bilquis) is the ruler of the Land of Sheba (associated with Yemen). When she hears about King Suleyman (Solomon), the two of them start up an exchange of messages with the help of a hoopoe. Balqis sends Suleyman some riddles to solve and tricky tasks to fulfill to test him; when he passes the tests, she goes to visit him herself. Upon arrival Suleyman managed to trick her too (out of all things, he wants her to lift her skirt to see if her legs are hairy... and they are). Balqis asks a series of riddles, which Suleyman manages to answer, and they ascertain that they are well matched in wisdom and intellect. In some legends they get married (or at least sleep together), but in most stories Balqis eventually returns to her own country to rule in her own right. (Read another version here.)

Queen of Wands: Brave Seventee Bai (India)

This Queen gets things done. She is brave, active, determined, and confident. She is a force to be reckoned with, and draws a lot of attention. She is a social butterfly with a lot of connections; she is just all-around very likable, friendly, and warm. 

For this card I chose an Indian folktale hero, Seventee Bai. She is the daughter of a wazir who becomes a prince's second wife. However, when the family is exiled into the wilderness, the prince bails on his wives. Seventee puts on his clothes and moves on, saving herself and her co-wife. They live in another kingdom for 12 years, and Seventee becomes the beloved and trusted advisor of the local raja. Eventually he sends Seventee out on various quests and errands, all of which she fulfills, rescuing/winning six other princesses in the process. Magic trees, giant snakes, horse races, nothing is impossible to Seventee Bai. Eventually her husband returns from the wilderness as a wretched beggar - and she hands over all seven princesses and the wealth she gained to him. Not gonna lie, I'm infinitely miffed about that ending. But it's a very cool story almost all the way.

Queen of Pentacles: Queen Anait (Armenia)

This Queen is also a nurturing person, but in a more practical sense. She is a person who creates a safe home, a loving environment, provides food and financial security as her way of showing affection. She is practical, hands-on, supportive, and independent. She immediately reminded me of Queen Anait from Armenia, one of my favorite feminist folktales. The Anait in the story weaves beautiful carpets and teaches people to read and write. She is only willing to marry a man who has a practical profession, and when she becomes queen, this principle saves her husband's life and the entire kingdom. 

Do you have women like these in your life? Are you one of them? Do they remind you of anyone?

Tarot Tales: P is for the Priestess and the Pope (High Priestess, Hierophant)

Welcome to the 2021 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Tarot Tales. I am making a selection of folktales, legends, and other traditional stories that correspond to tarot cards. Storytelling and tarot go well together. Do other stories come to mind? Let me know in the comments!

Today I'm doing two cards, because I couldn't shove the Hierophant in anywhere else. But at least they go well together.

The card: High Priestess

Meanings: This card is about the "divine feminine." Wise women, spiritual teachers, keepers of mystic lore. It is about knowledge, intuition, the subconscious, and liminal spaces only the initiated can cross into. It is about learning things, asking questions, digging deep, and listening to that hidden voice that goes beyond reality.

Selection process: I knew exactly what story I wanted for this card.

The story: Elena the Wise

Origin: Russia

Summary: A soldier is recruited to guard the three daughters of an evil spirit. He soon finds out that the girls sneak out every night in the shape of pigeons. He secretly follows them, and arrives to a meadow filled with girls. Suddenly, a beautiful woman appears on a carriage drawn by six fiery dragons, sits down on a golden throne, and starts teaching the girls magic. This is Elena the Wise. 

The soldier falls in love with her, and keeps sneaking into the nighttime magic classes. Eventually he follows Elena home. She wants to kill him when she finds out, but he manages to convince her to make a challenge instead: if he can hide from her, she'll marry him. She finds him twice with the help of her magic book, but the third time he turns into a pin and hides inside the book itself. Elena admits she was defeated by the clever trick, and marries the soldier.

(Honestly, I don't care for the latter half of the story, but I love the whole secret magic girl school thing. And the dragon chariot.)

Sources & notes: Read the story here.

The card: Hierophant

Meanings: While the Priestess is about intuition and mystery, this guy is about structure, learning, and tradition. It is often said to symbolize organized religion. But even beyond that, the Hierophant stands for established rituals, sets of values, institutions of education, and rules. It is about learning acquired by hard work and study, about wisdom gained from gathering knowledge. 

Selection process: I wanted to keep this card's connection to religion in some form, but once again, I wanted to relate it to a story I like. And I wanted it to carry the learning, knowledge-seeking and mentorship aspect as well. 

The story: Journey to the West 

Origin: China

Summary: Alright, so the character I most readily associated this card with is Xuanzang (Tripitaka) from the Chinese epic Journey to the West. He is a real historical figure, and also one of the leading characters in the medieval, epic. He is the Buddhist monk and scholar best known for traveling to and around India, and bringing the holy scriptures of Buddhism to China (with the help of some supernatural helpers such as the Monkey King). I have blogged about Journey to the West in detail in another A to Z challenge here. It's one of my favorite books. 

Sources & notes: Journey to the West, Xuanzang's biography

Who are your favorite teachers, mentors, and role models?

A stroll around seven thousand islands (Following folktales around the world 198. - Philippines)

Today I continue the blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts here, or you can follow the series on Facebook!

Tales from the 7,000 Isles
Popular Philippine Folktales
A.R. Guillermo & Nimfa M. Rodeheaver
Read Me Books, 1996.

A lovely volume with many colorful illustrations (some better than others), containing 20 folktales on a mere 87 pages. It was interesting, but I did not fall in love with it. The authors claim some stories were "rewritten" to make them more dramatic, but don't specify what parts they changed. There was a short introduction about the flora and fauna of the islands; they also mentioned they selected from the larger ethnic groups of the Philippines, but did not specify them with the stories. Names came with notes and explanations (animal's names were often the word used for that animal). There was not much extra information included, but it was an entertaining read.

Highlights

Most of the memorable stories were placed among the myths in the beginning of the book. My favorite was the completely conflict-less story about how different plants went to the Great Spirit to be told where they will live. It was interesting to observe who became ambassadors to various plant groups: hardwood was represented by mahogany, grasses by bamboo, fruit trees by mango, food plants by rice, and tall trees by coconut, who was deemed the most important of all. Another interesting myth explained why sea is salt - it was about a hero who wanted to build a salt castle for his love, and while building a salt-bridge to another island the bridge collapsed under him. 

The book also had a short version of one of the great epics of the Philippines, Ibong Adarna the magic bird. I read the original in translation, so this summarized version was not nearly as exciting, but I was still happy to see it here. And the rainbow colored magic bird somehow got translated as a nightingale...

Connections

There were many. Most oft he stories belonged to familiar types, such as animals running a race (here buffalo and tortoise), fairy bride with stolen wings (or rather, star bride), and even an Aladdin story that was so close to the 1001 Nights I wondered how it ended up on the Philippines. There was also a version of the story where sea animals want a monkey's liver, but he manages to convince them he's left his organs on dry land. I knew this one from Japan.

Where to next?
Indonesia!

Tarot Tales: O is for the Old Man (Hermit)

Welcome to the 2021 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Tarot Tales. I am making a selection of folktales, legends, and other traditional stories that correspond to tarot cards. Storytelling and tarot go well together. Do other stories come to mind? Let me know in the comments!

The card: The Hermit

Meanings: The Hermit is about being alone, but not really about loneliness. Rather, it's a card of introspection, soul-searching, self-reflection, inner guidance, and focusing on yourself. Obviously it can also symbolize taking a break from worldly things and concerns. 

Selection process: Hermits do appear often in world folklore and legends, usually as religious role models or spiritual guides. However, I wanted to find a story that dealt with self-reflection and seeking a truth - and also wanted it to be a good story.

The story: King Cormac's journey

Origin: Ireland

Summary: Cormac Mac Airt, High King of Ireland, is visited by a mysterious stranger who carries a golden branch with nine golden apples. Such beautiful music emanates from the ringing apples that even wounded warriors and women in labor fall into a peaceful sleep from it. King Cormac asks for the branch as a token of friendship. The guest agrees to give it up - in exchange for the king fulfilling three of his wishes. Cormac, not even considering the consequences, agrees.

After that, the stranger returns three time in three years with his three requests. First, he takes away Cormac's daughter, then his son, then his wife. Finally, Cormac is left alone, as as he waits the return of his family every day on the ramparts of Tara, he re-evaluates the worth of the magic branch that puts everyone easily to sleep. He realizes that making sorrow disappear with music is not helping anyone.

So, King Cormac sets out to find his family. He gets lost in the mists and wanders alone for a long time until he arrives to a magic land, where he sees many strange things. Eventually, he finds a castle, and he is greeted as a guest. His hosts put a pig over the fire to roast, but they announce that it will only be done when four true stories are told over it. Everyone takes turns telling stories, and Cormac realizes his host is none other than Manannan Mac Lir, the King of the Otherworld and god of the sea. Cormac finally tells his own story, admitting he had made a bad choice when he traded his family for the golden branch. Lesson learned, Manannan gives him his family back, and sends him home, to rule more wisely and honestly over Ireland.

Sources & notes: Read the story here or here, and find more info here.

Runner-ups: I read an entire book of tales about Taoist immortals which was quite fascinating. Lots of hermits in here.

What is your favorite place to be alone? Where do you go or what do you do when you need to think things over?

Tarot Tales: N is for Nine of...

Welcome to the 2021 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Tarot Tales. I am making a selection of folktales, legends, and other traditional stories that correspond to tarot cards. Storytelling and tarot go well together. Do other stories come to mind? Let me know in the comments!

This is once again an unconventional Minor Arcana post. I am picking four tales for the four Nine cards in the tarot deck. I have struggled with the Nines, because they are not easy for me to grasp in concrete terms, but I am trying my best.

Nine of Wands

Nine of Wands is exhausted but not broken. It is a card about still standing after going through a lot. It is about resilience, overcoming obstacles, standing your ground and not giving up. It is also about boundaries - the boundaries that protect you, that you have fought hard for. They keep others from bringing you down, even when it feels like everything is testing your resilience.

Trouble when one's young (Azores)

In this tale, a girl's Destiny appears to her in the shape of an eagle, and asks her if she wants to be fortunate when she is young, or when she is old. She chooses fortune for her old age - which means misfortune plagues her while she is young. The eagle follows her everywhere, and messes up whatever she tries to achieve. She goes through a lot, gets kicked out of all her jobs, until finally she manages to find a place as a servant in a king's palace. In her most desperate moment, her misfortune finally breaks, and she ends up marrying a prince.

This tale type has many other variants. You can read one here, or here, or here. It's tale type ATU 938A.

Nine of Swords

This is not a nice card. It is about anxiety, fears, worries, and all those other dark things that literally keep you up at night. It is despair, lack of self-confidence, and haunting thoughts. 

The Princess in the Shroud (Hungary)

A princess dies of a broken heart, and demands that someone should guard her crypt every night. However, each guard is found dead in the morning. Turns out the princess transformed into a monster who crawls out of her coffin at night to eat people. One brave man volunteers to spend three nights in the cathedral where she is buried. On the first two, he hides in various places, terrified she'd find him; on the third, he jumps into her coffin and locks himself in. She screams and scratches the lid all night, but he holds out. By morning, the curse is broken.

Yes, you know this one from The Witcher. I always thought this folktale is about anxiety. Folktale type ATU 307.

Nine of Cups

This one is also known as the wish card. It is about wishes coming true. It is about satisfaction, blessings, happiness, gratitude, living your best life, having it all. I wanted to find a story that has a water element (Cups), a wish, and a content happy ending.

Search for the Magic Lake (Ecuador)

A king is searching for someone who would bring water from a magic lake to cure his sick son. Two young men set out but they fail. Eventually, their little sister sets out on a journey too, and with the help of her pet llama and some grateful birds, she manages to find a lake. The birds make her a magic fan from their feathers, a fan that fulfills her every which. At the lake, she uses it to defeat a giant crab, an alligator, and a flying serpent. She takes the water to the king in a golden jar. In return, the king grats her three wishes. She receives a large farm for her family, and lives happily ever after. The ever-full golden jar keeps the royals healthy and safe.

(You can also read the story here or here, or find a lovely Spanish telling here.

Nine of Pentacles

If Cups is about wishes, this one is about wealth. It is about having financial security, the ability to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. It is a card for luxury and comfort. It also usually depicts a woman surrounded by nature, enjoying her life. It's the treat yourself card.

The magic brocade (Zhuang)

A poor widow supports herself and her three sons from her weaving. One day she sees a beautiful painting of a palace with gardens, and she decides to weave it into a brocade, escaping into the beautiful imaginary world while she works. When the brocade is finally finished, the winds picks it up and carries it away, and the widow, after so much work, falls ill from disappointment. Her sons set out to find the brocade, but only the youngest succeeds; he finds it in a palace of fairies, where they are busy copying it. He takes the brocade home - and when he unfolds it, it comes to life, providing a gorgeous garden and a palace for the widow (and a fairy wife for her son). They live happily ever after.

If you could have a wish, what would you wish for? If you had the resources, what would you treat yourself to? What keeps you going when times are hard?

Tarot Tales: M is for The Magician

Welcome to the 2021 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Tarot Tales. I am making a selection of folktales, legends, and other traditional stories that correspond to tarot cards. Storytelling and tarot go well together. Do other stories come to mind? Let me know in the comments!

The card: The Magician

Meanings: This card speaks for itself. It is about power, knowledge, energy, and action. This person has all the tools and resources to turn ideas into reality. He is a master of what he's doing. It is a card full of confidence. He's got this.

Selection process: World folklore is teeming with magicians of all kinds - this was another one of those too many to choose from situations. Once again it would have been easy to pick Merlin. I wanted to pick someone equally legendary and powerful, but from outside of Europe.

The story: Abe no Seimei

Origin: Japan

Abe no Seimei in a game 
called Onmyoji

Summary: Abe no Seimei is a very famous onmyoji (diviner and magician) in Japanese lore, who was originally a real historical figure from the 10th century. There are many legends about him, and he's even transferred into popular media. 

According to the stories, Abe no Seimei was only half human: his mother was a kitsune, a fox spirit, who fell in love with a mortal man. Their son had supernatural powers from an early age, he could see hidden things (like his mother's true nature), and command spirits. When he grew up, he became a powerful diviner and magician. He even understood the language of animals.

In one story, Abe no Seimei saves the emperor from a fox maiden named Tamamo no Mae, who lives in his court in the disguise of a concubine, and makes the emperor sick. In another legend, he helps the samurai Watanabe no Tsuna in defeating a terrible demon. 

One of the most famous legends, however, deal with the divination duel between Abe no Seimei and his rival Ashiya Douman. Over the course of this challenge, Abe no Seimei even summons a dragon, and with its help creates a flood that almost drowns his rival. Later, they both have to guess the contents of a box that was buried. Douman guesses correctly (fifteen oranges), but Abe no Seimei guesses fifteen rats... and then uses his powers to turn the oranges into rats. 

Sources & notes: See the links above. You can also read about Abe no Seimei in this fascinating book.

Runner-ups: I was also seriously considering Vergilius (who in medieval legends transformed from Roman poet into a powerful wizard), Taliesin the Welsh bard, Don Juan de Salamanca the Spanish wizard, a host of Icelandic wizard legends, the red princess' story from Nizami, Kampó the Hungarian wizard, and even Prince Ariel from Madame D'Aulnoy's fairy tales.

Who is your favorite wizard or magician from folklore, from history, or from modern popular culture?