Cheerful card, huh?
As Isabel Radow Kliegman points out in Tarot and the Tree of Life, the quilt on the bed features red roses and zodiac signs. Meanwhile, the bed itself looks as narrow and hard as a coffin.
Really cheerful card, huh?
Perhaps the zodiac signs are there to remind us that everyone experiences despair at some point--it doesn't matter what sign you're born under. And the red roses? They're often associated with desire. I don't think, in this case, they represent only romantic desire. I think they represent an overwhelming desire for anything we can't have. The figure might be despairing because a friend is desperately ill--or because they're worried sick for a child. Or maybe the figure is facing his or her own mortality.
Once again, I'm not sure which character this card will end up representing for me. And, once again, it reminds me that I can't shelter my characters from pain. I'm not a big fan of angst--a little bit goes a long, long way. But if I try to avoid it altogether, my characters will be the poorer for it.
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