Forward Flight

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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I know this card as The Chariot. In readings, I tell clients it’s about ‘going places, in every sense’ – both travel and success. 

My deck – the one I use professionally – is Voyager. Its Chariot card has symbols of triumph and acclaim, hinting too at a certain ruthlessness. To achieve the triumph, one must feel and exercise ambition, perhaps so single-mindedly as to ride right over those in one’s path. 

Here, the card is transformed into The Faery Wind: a wind made by the flight of the Fae, the rush of their wings. Do not try to chase them, it warns, no matter how you yearn: ‘it will not turn out well. The faeries follow their own path, and you must follow yours.’ 

However, it adds that the Faery Wind is ‘a powerful sign of ultimate success’. While only a fortunate few see the Fae, even to feel the stir of their passing means ‘things will pick up speed … toward a positive outcome.’ You can go forward confidently. As with the traditional Chariot, both travel and triumph apply. 

My husband Andrew longed to see a fairy! He never did, but they spoke to him. He wrote a children’s story about them – a limited edition book much loved by readers, adults and children alike. He would sit under a tree and meditate, then come inside to his keyboard and the words would pour out as if channelled. We believed the fairies gave them to him. 

But those were ‘fairies’ in the sense of nature spirits rather than the legendary Fae of the Celts. Whereas Nature can be fearsome indeed, I experience these nature spirits as benign. The Fae are not always so. Like the Charioteer, they can be ruthless. 

The card promises you’ll go places. You’re allowed – indeed, encouraged – to enjoy it. But perhaps be a little careful how you travel. 

running downhill

head-first into the wind

she trips and falls