The Wise Woman's Tarot
A Multicultural, Matriarchal Deck and Book
VII. The Gorgon
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VII. The Gorgon - Image - Medusa
Instead of using the traditional Chariot image, I chose the Gorgon Medusa
to represent the 7th trump. She is the infinite mind, focused, clear, and as
potent as a laser beam. Like her serpent friends, she uses the incredible power
of mind control to harness her energy and transfix any aggressor.
Medusa was one of the Gorgons (the Grim Ones) who were a Libyan tribe of
Amazons, the last to be conquered by the patriarchy. The three famous Gorgons
were: Stheino - the Strong One, Euryela - the Wide-Roaming One, and Medusa - the
Cunning One (the 3 lunar phases, Maiden, Nymph and Crone respectively).
Medusa is a moon goddess in her guise as the transfixer. The Gorgons wore
masks as part of their ritual to scare off those who would profane their rites.
Perseus' alleged beheading of Medusa symbolized the Hellenic overthrow of the
Goddess' chief shrines and the stripping of her priestesses of their Gorgon masks
and sacred horses. The Gorgon's mask, which Medusa wears and which was worn
on Amazon tunics, was a symbol of chastity; it meant death to the person who removed
it without the wearer's permission.
The Gorgon is ruled by the dual mental sign Gemini. Geminis often seem to
be pulled in two directions by dissonant thought forms. The Gorgon's ability to
focus the mind is a positive solution to this problem: use the power of the mind,
do not be used by it.
Medusa is drawn in a chariot by a white and black horse (her sacred animal)
who appear to be moving in divergent directions. She maintains a subtle control
over these forces, the powerful struggle of emotions and fleeting thoughts, by
her strength of will.
Medusa contains the intense power of the horses without the aid of reins! Her
ability to focus energy, to transfix is truly how Medusa "turned men to stone."
She was definitely a woman of psychic potency and this was her protection.
She said, "No mortal has yet been able to lift that covers me": she was
Death, and to see her face was to die - that is to be turned to stone. "Another
meaning of her hidden dangerous face is the menstrual taboo. Primitive folk
often believe the look of a menstruating woman can turn a man to stone."
Medusa wears the traditional Gorgon mask, replete with snake hair, wild
eyes, fangs and protruding tongue. The snakes which appear in any image of
Medusa may have served a triple purpose.
1: Gorgons were Africans, so the snakes may have been a misrepresentation of their Afro-hair.
2: Snakes are symbolic of wisdom, regeneration, psychic power and the power
to transfix, and could have represented the Gorgon's aura.
3: Lastly, snakes enhance the overall shock value of the mask.
The full moon shines down on Medusa in her silver chariot, labyris in her
hand, as she charges through the sea foam. A Gorgon head is seen on the face of
the chariot.
The essence of this card is the ability to maintain focus and clarity even
amidst divergent energies and fluctuating emotions. The focus of the mind is the
psychic protection, the armor if you will, offered by the Gorgon.
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