For the last day of January, I wanted to do as I did yesterday, just to have a check-in on the Story So Far, this time from the Italian Vera Sibilla Grand Tableau 2023 I did in December 2022.
This one was, of course, VERY Royal-oriented and there was SO much in here that’s pertinent and quite easily recognisable. As a reminder, the spread is below and the two main readings were HERE and HERE. I also looked more closely around that Haughtiness (La Superbia) peacock (fourth row, near the middle), right at the end of a later post HERE.
The Overall Story So Far: Rows & Columns
I think generally, it’s these aspects of that reading that have already all been playing out all month. The below was mainly from reading the rows and columns of the spread and telling the story of them, but as I said back in those posts, there are also many additional things you can discover by looking at particular cards in detail and the cards surrounding them.
With regard to an unreliable young woman, a sense of service has brought thoughtlessness and destruction, as well as destructiveness from a female foe. Her private and personal life has involved a move or journey which is frivolous or superficial in some way, bringing the ‘entertainment’ of entrapment for the young lady concerned.
Meanwhile, a male lover has a male enemy behind him, celebrating, and our lover will have the consolations of romance ahead of him, although his sweetheart may not return his love or may break his heart. He is unprotected or there is a failure or protection in some way, there is “healing” that is not actually healing and is likely making things worse, and it results in an unhealthy or dysfunctional loyalty or attachment connected with the young lady.
The Malady/Sickness Card
Interestingly, if you look at the Malady or Sickness card, which is in the second position in the second row, in more detail, and read the eight cards surrounding it, it did keep reiterating the particular focus on this “healing that isn’t really healing” aspect. If you look at the diamond around that centre card, there’s a Prison and Faithfulness, so the sickness is involving being trapped in some way by perhaps a misguided sense of loyalty, and there is the Sighs card (Sospiri) which means longing, yearning, a kind of emptiness. The Prison also directly influences the Doctor card, reversed, which gives us the ‘fake’ healing or healer, and being trapped by it, again into this sense of yearning (Sighs). The picture it gave is of a really unhealthy kind of vicious circle, a keeping open of wounds that nonetheless the sick person thinks is doing some good but is instead, trapping them. I think we can safely say that this fits with the whole Harry spilling the beans book saga.
The cards also suggested that this ‘healing’ is not only entirely superficial (Frivolity fluttering above the reversed Doctor) but entirely money-oriented (Money below it too). It also involves loss and theft connected with the frivolous young woman (Young Woman, reversed) that there’s the unhealthy loyalty to(Faithfulness-Thief) or that his faith or loyalty has been ‘stolen’ in some way, perhaps through manipulation.
Just to also say here, the cards mirroring so influencing that Malady card in the wider spread are the Male Enemy, the much mourned Older Woman (next to the Widower card, showing loss and mourning), and the Messenger, the deliverer of news. The older woman (no, I don’t think it’s the one from the field behind the pub!) could be the Queen, but the way she shows up in the spread and the ‘madness’ over her mourning puts me in mind more of Diana. Not that she was at all old herself of course, I just mean “older” but the Old Woman is both mourned and right above the Wife card and ‘bonded’ via the Marriage card next to that. It always seemed significant, and indeed, from the book, we can see that Harry is clearly trying to bond somehow with his late mother via his wife.
The cards that knight the Malady card (so two cards away and one over in various directions, just like in chess), tell us that this sickness was specifically connected with “a writing child” and a journalist or scholar (Child and Man of Letters), as well as the Journey that had been waited for or looked forward to (the Expectation or Belvedere card).
To summarise, then:
A sickness or malady where the healing isn’t really healing, and instead involves someone being trapped and imprisoned by longing, dysfunctional loyalties, and a fake sense of healing. A vicious circle of unhealthiness that mends nothing, rather leaving an open wound. The superficial “therapy” has been primarily about money, bringing loss and ‘theft’ connected with an unscrupulous young woman, and the loyalty may have been “stolen” in some way. The “sickness” involves a male enemy, an older woman who is much mourned, and the act of sending a message through the writing of a child, and a journey that he’d been waiting for and had looked forward to.
More On The Story In The Rows
A thief is yearning for money, and is looking forward to a sense of despair or even madness regarding a house or family name that is a constant. There are benefits and treasures to be gained, but there will be talks and meetings from others about what’s on offer.
A friendly “person of letters”, possibly a journalist or writers, helps or supports a young person or child. Cupid’s arrow hitting has brought sorrow and negativity leading an influential or important person to show off and make great displays of arrogance, with a showy or preachy way of behaving or declaring right from wrong in support.
News is delivered regarding a lucky reunion or coming together, a small consolation regarding an ending or death. There’s been recklessness, poor judgement and even derangement regarding mourning for the loss of an older woman.
Again, just coming from the reading of the rows and columns in the spread, I think this is pretty accurate for what’s happened so far.
The Man Of Letters (Scholar)
Now, the Man/Person of Letters (Scholar), which is in the fourth row down, third card in, is another one you can look at more closely at in the context of Harry and his book. It often refers to academics and journalists, but could be the ghostwriter, or Harry himself in the persona of the writer. There’s a suggestion from the cards either side of it that there’s been a woman helping or assisting with the writing here (the Female Servant on the left, the Friend on the right), which is also a rumour doing the rounds about the writing of the book, which suggested the official ghostwriter did drop out at some point with Meghan taking over. In the diamond surrounding the Man of Letters, you can see that this involves money for helping with the writing (Money- Servant), money for this friend or assistant (Money-Friend), both bringing Good Fortune.
To the left of the Man of Letters, we can see too that the female Servant or “Maid” has been absolutely dying to deliver this message (Sighs-Servant-Messenger)! Money is a big feature, with the longing for and expectation of money sitting directly above and so the top of mind for the writer (Sighs, Money, Expectation), and ‘getting money’ for the book being the main aspect of success here (Money-Man of Letters-Good Fortune).
There does also seem to be a desire for reunion though, underpinning all this, a reunion with friends, allies and supporters, perhaps (Expectation-Friend-Reunion) and delivering a positive message about that (Messenger-Good Fortune-Reunion). The cards leading diagonally to our Man of Letters from the right begin in the top row with a female enemy (Foe, Reversed) then Sweetheart who’s also reversed so essentially, a female enemy who he loves but who’ll break his heart, and the Expectation or waiting card, before the Man of Letters, or writer, delivers his message (Messenger). Hmm. In the other direction, you have that faithful yearning (Fidelity, Sighs), and then the writer gets his Reunion or getting together which seems to be for business purposes (Merchant). So it’s all about trying to drum up business partners and support via the writing of the book, I think.
The cards that mirror the Man of Letters meanwhile, are the unhealing Doctor again, indicating that writing this book is A Very Bad Form Of Therapy indeed, the Lover card, which is how the writer wants to see himself and the Pleasure Seekers, reversed (Il Delirianti in Italian), suggesting a kind of drunken, or, well, drug induced madness, or being “drunk on love” but in a bad, obsessive way.
What else? Well, our Man of Letters was also being knighted and therefore strongly influenced by the Thief and the Letter card (there were those lost or stolen documents again!!), as well as the sick and ‘unprotected’ soldier (Malady-Soldier, reversed) above him. Beneath or underpinning the writer, we had another Main Man (William??), celebrating and partying (Joyfulness-Main Man), so perhaps it’s fuelled by the perception that this has been the case, or wanting this for himself, basically, William getting all the goodies, and there is a kind of desperation and despair also, in terms of gaining rewards or a nice surprise (Despair-Surprise). Worth noting in this context that the Italian version of the Despair card actually does call it Desperate With Jealousy (Desperato per Gelosia). Which again, appears to be apt.
In summary:
With regard to the writing of the book, a woman or friend appears to have helped or assisted, aiming for money and good fortune, and she’s been longing to deliver the message and spill the beans! A female enemy disguised as a sweetheart, who’s likely to break his heart, and she’s been waiting for the writer to deliver the book’s message. There’s a desire to regather or reunite with supporters and friends mainly for business purposes over this.
Writing it, however, is proving a Very Bad form of therapy, keeping wounds open, and Loverboy himself looking quite mad, deranged, or even influenced by drugs or drink. There’s been theft and loss involved, including of the physical text itself, and the writing itself is being influenced by someone unwell and unprotected (an unprotected soldier, in fact). Underpinning the writing of it was something about a Main Man celebrating, but also the book being a surprise or gift borne of despair, desperation or jealousy.
So quite a lot in there that’s proved very telling and spot on so far. Not bad! I love the fact that this Sibilla deck in particular is actually so —boom!—direct.
And tomorrow, we’ll be looking forward again by taking more of a look at the month ahead. See you then!