The Lair of the Emerald Serpent

The serpent’s favorite times of day are dawn and dusk - the wonderful in between times when it is not quite day but not quite night either. Spring and autumn seem to be the seasonal equivalent of dawn and dusk.
There is something so magical and delicate about the light at this time of year. Even when we get the occasional 40 degree day, with sunset now around 6.30pm there is sufficient time for things to cool down quickly

It is a perfect time for new beginnings. Especially in this bit of Oz where summer is the time of death and destruction in the garden and winter is the time of growing things.
But before pigging out on planting, certain rituals must be observed and these include the usual equinox sunset picnic at the beach.
Suspected that the extra day in February might muddle things up a bit and the usual 21-22 March time frame might be not quite correct. Turned out to be true. The official equinox was on Tuesday.

But after a day of goblin servitude and dramas and more of the same the next morning, just did not feel in the mood for slinking about on the beach. So lurked about the Lair instead and celebrated the sunset with a glass or two of bubbly while sitting next to the solar panel inverter.
So the grand plan was to do the beach thing on Wednesday. To return from work, wash away all traces of evil goblin contamination before packing up a picnic and a deck of cards or two for a creative sunny inspiring afternoon at Cottesloe beach.

But things turned out a bit differently. On Tuesday returned to the Lair to find a big fat bag of sweet potato plants and a bucket with a banana plant in it. Petunia had brought them over for the big autumn planting blitz. But she had also brought over her house keys and forgot to bring them back. So that was going to mean making a detour to Privet Drive after work on Wednesday to bring them back.

This did not stop any potential sunset rituals but it did mean there would be no time to return to the Lair to wash the work out of our hair. Would have to make do with just a change of clothes. Could not be caught dead on the street with the green tea towel of servitude and the appalling corporate logo emblazened all over it.
It also meant a change of location. Could still go to the beach but it would be the one normally reserved for the winter solstice. Preferences are based not on any sort of magical significance but access to public transport. The last few winter solstices have been on work days. Finishing at 1pm and needing to be at the beach for 5pm in winter kind of limits your choices when relying on the bus or train

So leaving their place just after 3pm after feasting on pumpkin soup and sweet potatoes from Petunia’s patch, it was ever so tempting to just return to the Lair for a snooze in the garden. Resorted to the old mind trick of “Will you wish you had chosen differently this time tomorrow?” and that kept the serpent on the straight and narrow
The bus driver was the sort who just loved slamming on the brakes to celebrate the beginning of a new minute. Who would ever think that just sitting down could be so exhausting. Lucky the bus was only half full because if anyone had been standing, they had several opportunities to be tossed forward or onto the floor. Not a good omen at all. Arrived alive but not so well. The serpent suspects that she was lacking the resilience present last week due to to not performing the necessary scrubbing of the scales ritual

Next stop was to the bottle shop. Fremantle is becoming a bit of a dead zone. It too is infested with goblins most of whom are real estate agents and property developers. They have put up rents so much that many small shops and even some of the big ones are all packing up and leaving town. They are now being replaced by pop up stores on short term leases. This particular one was one of the cheapie remainder book stores that seem to be all over such vacant premises. It was at the entrance to the same shopping centre where the bottles of red were located

No. No no. You do not need any more books. There’s the library and boxes and boxes of them in the Lair. You would need five lifetimes to read them all. Do not even dream of peeking

But of course that is just what the Izzie did. The place was full of the countless recipe and cook books that is the stock in trade of such stores. Craft books and colourful kid’s picture books are another big seller. But it was a big red box that caught the Izzie’s eye. A big red and black box with beautiful spooky script bearing the title “The Vampire Tarot”
Yes. It was the one by Robert Place that one of the new age crystals and unicorns shops just around the corner had on its shelf for a mere $50
And this one? Like everything in the store it was $5. Good little serpent Izzie remained restrained and got only two. After all, maybe they are seconds or maybe they are ugly although not too likely given the other stuff he has done

So that was a stroke of luck. So would now be celebrating the twilight zone of the twilight season unwrapping and peeking at a spooky new dark and shiny deck.
So after a toast to the setting sun and the descent of darkness, unwrapped the precious box and peeked at the treasures within. Plastic shrink wrap is so tight these days that a fingernail would not do. Had to resort to using the set of house keys to rip the infernal thing off. Not only the box but the cards too were inflicted with this misery. Amazing that the big fat red book wasn’t.

The cards were large and like a big fat solid brick. It was a real effort to separate them and was afraid the whole time of damaging these precious specimens. But they did eventually separate with no apparent damage. Assumed that this was the reason they were in the sale or that they had been stuck in some warehouse at 40 degrees celsius for months on end
Aside from this minor annoyance, the cards themselves were very impressive (aside from the ugly illustration on the back). So so true that the best artist is not the one who uses the most colours. They are simple and elegant and for some inexplicable reason remind this serpent of art deco. Just loved the big fat juicy garlic plant that was the ace of pentacles. Garlic flowers, daggers, stakes and holy water were just perfect icons for each suit. These are proper Bram Stoker vampires. No sparkly stuff here.

Jonathan Harker ascending the steps of a certain castle was a perfect scene for the fool but the creepy creature adorning the door was a bit of overkill. Renfield in his straightjacket surrounded by a menagerie of flies and spiders was the hanged man. He was not upside down and had an uncanny resemblance to the Fool in the Dark Grimoire deck. (After all these years it is still the serpent favourite)

The book too is full of fascinating snippets about the history of tarot and vampires and is a seriously juicy read. What a fantastic find and at such an unbelievable price. Will probably make the end of year quiz under the category of ‘What is the best thing you bought this year”
Went for a peek on Amazon where the same deck is selling for $25 and read a review over at Aeclectic Tarot. Apparently this thing of the cards being all stuck together and difficult to separate is not unique to this particular sample. Will be back to snaffle another batch tomorrow. Can think of at least 3 Izzie friends who would adore this deck but thanks to the goblins at the Australia Post owleries, even at five silver sickles, it would still be cheaper to send them as prezzies from Amazon at full price than to pay postage from Oz. But there will be boxes of the little critters lurking in the Lair in the event of unexpected visitors.

If there ever was a case of value being so much greater than cost, than this deck is a prime example.
Now if only some boxes of the Alchemical tarot fallen from the back of a truck could find their way into this store