Shining Tribe - Nine of Trees
Rachael Pollack
Publisher: Llewellyn

Starting from the bottom left of the card we see a triangle of green, above that is a wide line of blue which is a river. Inside the river stands a tree. Leading from the tree to an Aztec type pyramid in the distance and in the right top corner of the card, is a brown pebbled road. The ground is a pinkish orange. The green tree that is in the river has a snake wrapped around the base, head at the top, and the tail still in the water. A purple woman shape is inside the center of the tree, the woman has read hair. In the leafy branches of the tree at the top of the card is a yellow bird. Possibly a phoenix. In the distance before reaching the pyramid, is a mound that has a golden ax stuck in it. Sitting on her knees, next to the river and the tree is a woman with yellow hair. She wears an orange gown, that looks like it has bones or tinker toy type shapes connecting through out it.

This card is the story of Inanna (kneeling figure), Lilith (in the tree), and Gilgamesh (the ax). It's a complicated story, and as Ms. Pollack says "the Nine of Trees is a deep and complex card." This card makes me feel the helplessness of this woman. She holds her hand to her face, and you know she is in pain and sadness. This is not the fear or anxiety that we might feel at night. This is the pain, or sadness of something that is from inside us (bones). We may need outside help (Gilgamesh), to learn to accept all parts of ourselves (snake, Lilith, bird). Only then can we turn what we are and what we have into something that works for us. The tree must be cut down to create the throne and the bed that Inanna wants (needs).

The poem from the book:
"Tears of helplessness, tears of her sister.
The screech of the owl in the heart of the tree.
Far alone from the Great Above,
She wails in memory,
Her fire darkened in the Great Below."

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