Mmmm! Did I get your attention?
My two favourite subjects! And what would be more pleasurable that being able to combine the two of them in one blog posting?
My two favourite subjects! And what would be more pleasurable that being able to combine the two of them in one blog posting?
The Decameron is a 14th century Italian book of 100 stories, collected and published by Giovanni Boccaccio. While the main intent of the stories is to discredit the very corrupt Roman Catholic church, the collection contains a large number of baudy tales that makes the book a favourite source for modern eroticists and writers of all genres. The work is often cited as an excellent expose of life in Italy during the 14th century.
Using a writing device similar to that of the Arabian Nights, the 100 stories were told over a period of 14 days by ten young people who had fled from plague-ridden Florence to an empty villa in Fiesole. There, in order to pass the time, each person tells a tale on a specified subject, on ten days during the 2-week sojourn. Boccaccio also ties the work back to the Arthurian legend around the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere. Prince Galehaut - the alternative title that Boccaccio had for the book - was one of the evil opponents of King Arthur. He arranged the tryst between Lancelot and Guinevere that lead to their first kiss and subsequent affair.
Taking the book as a basis for her imagery, Giacinto Gaudenzi has produced a collection of voluptuous, erotic imagery, loosely tied - I have to say - to the the meanings and symbology of Tarot - to illustrate her cards. Her and Luciano Spadanuda, an erotica devotee, have developed their own interpretations of the cards to tie in with the imagery, and the result is a wonderful romp through scene after scene of characters indulging in the finer arts of passion and lust! While some conotations to Tarot symbology are kept, in the main the imagery represents the characters and plots in Boccaccio's stories, many in the most salubrious and compromising positions! It has to be said that a lot of the images are not very flattering to the human form, tending to show folk far from the perfect physique - but that makes them all the more human!
Two of the Aces - Swords and Wands - are very appealing to me in their imagery. The Ace of Wands shows a very curvacious beauty caressing a phenomenal Wand, formed from a long trunk of a phallus-shaped tree! This is a direct homage to Sexuality in its purest form, with the underlying message that size really does matter - the bigger the better! And she has such a beautiful posterior, too!
The Ace of Swords shows what appears to be the same voluptuous woman, this time lying on a bed a dn looking rather alarmed as the giant sword pierces the sheet between her legs. Her exposed vulva is red, as if from over-use. The symbology of this card ties very closely to that of the Fenestra 10 of Swords - my avatar and the background to this blog. The beauty of the woman is counterpoised by the threat inherent in the positioning of the sword, and the sword itself symbolizes a male dominance that may not always be welcome, but which speaks of both power and passion.
The Queen and King of Cups are also two very interesting cards. The former shows the two protagonists in classic 69 pose, the Queen holding onto the King's nicely-sized erection, while he strains his tongue upward, seeking her awaiting yoni. She is leering back toward the King's head, her tongue licking her lips, while a chalice of red wine balances precariously on her raised rump, sloshing its contents overboard. This is a card of frolicsome fun, and the couple seem to be enjoying themselves very much!
The card of the King of Cups is a continuation of the scene in the Queen card, but now the couple are in a more normal, almost "missionary" position, with the King standing as he impales the Queen. The Queen, however, does not seem to be enjoying herself as much as she could be, because that naughty King, in his passion, is squeezing her breasts quite fiercely - an action she is obviously not enjoying as much as he might have expected! He needs to learn women's breasts are not meant for that kind of treatment, if he intends to keep enjoying his conubial activities!
As usual, I always like to study the Star card in all of my Tarot decks. The one in the Decameron Tarot is a very mischievious version which tickles my imagination so sweetly. Here we see the woman who is the Star, with her Seven Sisters still in tow, perched in a tree, while the object of her naughtiness lies fatigued on the ground below. The root of the wicked grin on the face of the Star is derived from the fact she is urinating into the mug of the poor unfortunate lying prone beneath her. Who knows what his experience will be when he eventually sups from his adulterated drink - for all we know, her urine might be the Nectar of the Gods - but somehow the grin on her face tells me that, just perhaps, it isn't!
Other cards worth honourable mentions are Justice (my SO says that it's me posing again!), The Wheel of Fortune - a theme which is rampant throughout the Decameron itself - and the grotesque High Priestess, with her phallus necklace and painted nails, although there are many beautiful scenes in this prime example of Tarotica!
Tarot and Sex! So delicious on their own - and doubly so together!
Ashen
(Me posing as Justice! LOL!)
