Have you been tackling a problem or a goal in the same way without success? Maybe today is the day to evaluate your methods. Happy Friday, everyone!
Five of Spears – Pursuit of Igraine
Meaning: Strong competition makes for a lengthy struggle. A breakdown of command under stress. Engaging a challenge offered by staunch opposition. Disorganized effort. Mass confusion. Unfulfilled desires fuel upheaval and conflict. Dedication to a cause. Learning from past mistakes. Reassessing methods and planning a new approach. A need to calmly focus and redirect scattered energies toward one goal.
This card could also indicate being taken in by the trickery of an imposter. Arriving at a dead end. Being misinformed and led astray. Allowing one’s self to be deterred by failure of a first attempt.
The Story: Driven by his desire for Igraine, the Duchess of Cornwall, Uther Pendragon led his army against the duke. The duke, in his wisdom, placed Igraine in the Castle of Tinagel, while he and his men awaited Uther in a nearby encampment.
Though they were greatly outnumbered, the duke’s men put up a valiant fight, but they were not the only obstacle to face the High King. The greater challenge came from Tintagel itself.
Situated on the rugged coast of Cornwall, Tintagel is surrounded by the sea on three sides. Only a narrow ridge connects its island to the mainland. An added deterrent are its formidable cliffs, which drop up to a hundred meters to the sea. With such defenses the castle only need be guarded by a small garrison of men. (Excavations of the site have reveled that it was inhabited in the fifth and sixth centuries, but the ruins seen today are of the twelfth century.)
A frustrated Uther was advised that it would not matter if the entire kingdom stood behind him, he still would not be able to take Tintagel. Uther realized that if he were to succeed he must abandon his old tactics and take a different approach. For this, the implacable Uther turned to Merlin (see the Magician card).
Legend: The Arthurian Tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson
Parting the Mists 
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