Born of Ash
Traditionally in novels we have come to expect one central character who is transformed by the end. Others might shift a bit from and to as well, but mostly in service to this main ugly duckling turned to a swan, if you know what I mean. This story is about four human girls born to act out the roles of the four tarot princesses and help the goddesses rebalance the world—all of them will be changed by the end, but as in the Thoth Tarot, no one takes as a big a LEAP as the Princess of Disks.
A LOT happens in Chapter two that I could get into (and I will do more of that in MAPS) but if there is just ONE THING that you might begin to hold in your mind as the scaffolding of this story it is this:
The Mythology of the Princess of Disks
Let’s see how simple I can make this . . . when we think princesses we (mostly) think fairy tales so here is one for you.
Imagine a mountain with a castle on top that is so far into the clouds that those who dwell there are still humans but have the perspective of the gods. They are totally dialed in to the divine insight hotline.
The center of this castle is the throne (the Ace of each suit in the tarot) where the Queen tends to perch and BE while the Knight (the King but out protecting, woo-ing, etc.) runs about and DOES. Lo they have a fine afternoon and reproduce themselves in a set of twins—the Prince and Princess.
Now these two are immediately kicked out of the nest and fall down the mountain. The Prince lands halfway down and halfway up, and there he is pretty happy because he gets to run around sowing his oats and inventing stuff, being all warrior and kicking ass while the Princess keeps falling, finally landing at the furthest possible point from the castle.
Now she is no damsel in distress to be rescued but she is so far from her birthplace that she pretty much forgot who she is and has to start piecing herself together from scratch. This part of the story is called the Descent. The princesses are a metaphor (its all a metaphor, right . . . ) for we humans when we are wandering around trying to figure this life out all on our own. There are four princesses but the Princess of Disks (Earth) is as low as princesses get. (Just trust me on this one for now, or you can go read this book and get the whole shebang explanation.)
In this card we see the Princess of Disks (Earth) having gotten as far in life as she can (without tapping in somehow to the divine hotline that is her birthright) but she still has the perspective that living in time and a material plane has saddled her with, namely perceiving everything as duality, an existential dread of being alone, and fearing her death.
She has a choice. She can continue to live this life, with a level of satisfaction perhaps but always longing for MORE and afraid she won’t become all that she could before its all over OR she can ask for guidance. When she starts to seek what else there might be inside of her to offer this life and ASKING FOR GUIDANCE she is calling up the mountain.
Now the Prince has cut a VERY good deal because he hasn’t fallen as far down as she and death and fulfillment really isn’t his concern. BUT the law of this universe is that when the Princess calls up the mountain he has got to show up (and he remembers that he indeed has been missing an essential part of himself). When he answers her call, the Princess can’t see the future at all. Only the light that the Prince offers—a deep knowing that reuniting and saying YES to the invitation to LEAP off the cliff into the abyss (metaphorically, please) is the path home.
To wrap up the fairy tale, the Prince shows up, they re-unite, each with the other part of themselves that they had lost during the fall (actually when they were born as one being in two bodies), and IMMEDIATELY rise to the castle (the Ascent) and become the Queen and Knight and the whole cycle begins again.
Now back to the structure of the Tarot, because the bigger thing that is happening lies in the fact that the Princess of Disks is the LAST CARD in the whole deck. And the deck is built on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life where the main rule of the ascent is that you go down to go up. And when you reach the lowest of low and STILL leap into the abyss you get a fast pass ALL THE WAY UP (past the castle). Instantly.
So now you know a bit more about why Athena is having her holy shit moment. She can’t quite grasp it, because SHE wasn’t born to read this tarot deck, but she knows her world mythology and her plans to occupy the High Priestess throne (which is empty for reasons I will let you readers contemplate) have just gone to hell in a hand basket.