Though I’ve always thought this story was a bit of a cautionary tale about obsession, it also reminds us that with some things – like desires and creativity in whatever form you express it – must be pushed and chased in order to develop and grow.
What does the Questing Beast mean to you?
Blessed Beltaine!
Seven of Cups – Questing Beast
Meaning: A highly active imagination. Humor. Amusing daydreams. Strong and sometimes conflicting desires. A need to temper fantasy with practicality and sincere effort, if hopes and wishes are to become more than pipe dreams. Witnessing or bing caught up in bizarre events. Feeling disoriented. Can reflect the effect of drugs and alcohol.
On the flip side, this card can indicate accurate perception, height of creativity, the making of a positive and realistic commitment. Organization. A clear understanding of true desires. Harnessing all of on’e energy and channeling it into a worthwhile, imaginative cause.
The Questing Beast
The Questing Beast bays upon the morning air, encouraging the wild imaginings of its seekers.
The Questing Beast (or Beast Glatisant) is a fantastic and bizarre creature who haunted the forests of Britain. It was said to have the head of a serpent, the body of a leopard, and cloven hooves. From its belly came a deafening noise likened to that of thirty hounds. Some claimed the beast was the offspring of a mortal woman who had been torn apart by a pack of hounds.
Arthur encountered the creature in the early days of his reign. Having broken from a hunt, the king laid down beside a spring and drifted to sleep. He woke at the sound of what he thought were approaching hounds. The king looked on as the strangest of beasts emerged from the woods and began to drink from the well. Only when the beast drank did the dreadful bays cease. With its thirst quenched, the creature fled, and once again the forest was filled with the sound of its bays.
The bewildered Arthur then turned to see Pellinore stumble out of the woods, whence the beast had come. Pellinore hurriedly explained that he was in pursuit of the beast, and asked if he might have Arthur’s quest. At this, he turned to the king and told him how he had relentlessly pursued the beast for the past year, and would do so until he achieved it or met his death. Despite his dedication, Pellinore never did win the beast. After his death, Polomides took up the peculiar quest and endlessly followed the fantastic creature.
Legend: The Arthurian Tarot by Anne-Marie Ferguson
Parting the Mists 
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