MAPS
explore the stories behind the story of
The Ash Girl
facts, truths, images, links, treasures, and juicy bits by chapter
Reader Map
where in the world is The Ash Girl on its quest?
MAPS: Chapter 2
A word on the theme of occupation in The Ash Girl. We have already seen Frieda occupied by some unseen force that paints the tarot cards with her hands. Now Artemis and Orion occupy humans (folks who have never uttered their names) and through them have children. Both acts are metaphoric (have I beat that drum enough yet?) and fraught with questions of personal agency, the nature of humans and beasts to stake out and claim new territory in the name of survival and expansion, and of course the topics the likes of colonialism, war, and genocide.
MAPS: Chapter XI
Freya, The Fortuneteller, came into this story much as Charlotte and Alicia did—a thin wisp of character whose voice and story grew more insistent until I had to make the space they demanded.
MAPS: Chapter XII
You may recall the Greek myth Tree offered early in the book about the first generation of Greek Gods (Zeus et. al.) calling a council and murdering their parent’s, the Titans (Hestia abstained). This bit of treason started the world clock (the death of Chronos) and was accompanied by the act of creating humans to quell the boredom of a perfect peaceful planet.
MAPS: Chapter XIII
ATU XIII DEATH deserves to be Re-storied for our times. The Thoth deck took this on explicitly. Harris and Crowly laid the groundwork for contemporary readers, mystics, and makers of Tarot decks not to fear the Death card, or instill fear in their clients, but to take the metaphor into one’s bones and face the grief and the glory of re-making one’s self out of light and dark and ash and heart.