描述
"The worship of serpent deities is present in several ancient cultures, where snakes were seen as entities of strength and renewal." J. Deane. This card tells the story of the white snake in ancient China. It's one of most well-known Chinese folk legends. The story begins with a boy called Xu Xian, who met a beautiful woman on a bridge. Unknown to him, the woman was actually a snake spirit with magical powers. Fallen in love and married, she taught him traditional Chinese medicine and he would later be seen as the mythological "father" of Chinese medicine. She also gave him good fortune. The ending of the story has evolved through the centuries... In some versions, upon discovering the true nature of his wife, Xu Xian leaves her and asks a Buddhist monk to banish her. In other versions, he stays with her, but she still ends up being captured and banished by a Buddhist monk who discovered her true nature. Now for the fascinating part of this story: According to the legend, the monk banished the snake woman to a cave and built a consecrated pagoda on top of it so she couldn’t escape. The pagoda still stands in West Lake in China (and can be visited). Its walls are full of Buddhist verses seen as "magical" to keep the snake spirit banished underneath. This story is similar to the one of Melusine and others, of a human (usually a man) meeting a land spirit who teaches him knowledge and brings him riches. But it's always a tricky and dangerous situation as the spirits are unpredictable. Card: Connecting with nature and deeper instinct.