the blog of author, illustrator and designer Kris Waldherr

02.12

The Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere: The Most Inspiring Love Story Ever?

To finish my “Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere” featuring the Love Tarot app, I am compelled to share with you what I consider to be possibly one of the most inspiring of love stories — the tale of Dante and Beatrice. On top of that, we’re giving away a copy of the Love Tarot app and one Amor and Beatrice print (autographed by me) to two lucky blog commentors. Details at the end of this post.

It’s not too late: You can still enter the giveaways from earlier in this week! Here’s what you can win:

Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland.
The Lover’s Path by Kris Waldherr.
The Queen of My Self by Donna Henes.
Goddess Tarot deck and MP3 of The Tarot School’s teleclass for The High Priestess from Ruth Ann Amberstone.

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“Why Dante and Beatrice?” you may wonder. After all Dante never got his girl. She didn’t love him in return. Heck, the poet hardly spoke to her, if we’re to believe what he wrote. Nor did he send her any notes or any other indications of his affection. The truth was that Beatrice Portinari never knew how much Dante Aligheri adored her when she died prematurely in her twenties. Dante’s infatuation with Beatrice was one which he nurtured with subtle stares during church services, cherished greetings during accidental meetings — and transcendental poems shared with everyone but the object of his affection.

Most people know that Dante lived in thirteenth century Florence and wrote The Divine Comedy, an epic poem describing his vision of a journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. The first part, the Inferno, is the liveliest part of the work. Once you read it, it’s hard to forget its intensely visceral imagery and the sense that the poet is settling some serious political scores. Though Beatrice appears within The Divine Comedy as his guiding angel, she was also the subject of his first book, La Vita Nuova (“The New Life”). It is in La Vita Nuova that Dante fully recounts his love for her, and of how she inspired his art.

In a lot of ways, it’s easy to just consider Dante’s love for Beatrice a courtly love contrivance for his art — but what art! Here’s an excerpt from a poem he wrote about her death:

Great anguish do my sighs give unto me,
Whene’er my thought unto my heavy mind
Doth bring her to me who hath cleft my heart.
And thinking oftentimes concerning death,
There comes to me so sweet desire therefor
That it transmutes the color in my face.
When this imagination holds me fixed,
Such pain assaileth me on every side,
That then I tremble with the woe I feel;
And such I do become
That from the people shame takes me away:
Then, alone, weeping, I lamenting call
On Beatrice, and say: “Art thou, then, dead?
And while I call her I am comforted.”

When I think of all the art, poetry, literature, and (yes!) lovers who have been inspired by Dante, it amazes me. Everyone from Dante Gabriel Rossetti (though one has to pity poor Elizabeth Siddal, whom he plucked out of obscurity to be his Victorian-era Beatrice/Kate Moss) to, well, moi. Dante’s work has been illustrated by Sandro Botticelli, William Blake, and Gustave Dore. On the music front, Rossini and Schumann set his words to music, and it inspired a symphonic poem by Liszt. As for modern poets, Dantesque imagery found its way into the works of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot, Gabriele D’Annunzio, and more writers than I can possibly list here.

All these influences and sources – and this is without even mentioning the films and novels and other art forms that owe Dante their due.

Why is the poet’s love story still so compelling, seven hundred years later? My theory is that Dante and Beatrice reminds us of the power of loving for love’s sake; of the beauty that pure devotion to another can inspire. And what can be more romantic than that?

So here’s the chain of events: Beatrice inspired Dante. Then Dante inspired everyone else. And that is why I consider Dante and Beatrice to be the most inspiring love story ever.

In closing, here’s my retelling of Dante’s devotion to Beatrice, adapted from The Lover’s Path Tarot; this account was based on his La Vita Nuova:

Beatrice was nine years old the first time Dante gazed upon her, he slightly older. Her presence made such an impression that he felt as though his spirit had been infused with light. From that moment, Dante adored Beatrice above all others. Through the years as they grew into adulthood, Dante sought to meet Beatrice, too overwhelmed with love to do nothing more than stare at her. He noticed that Beatrice was so full of grace that any who saw her experienced a happiness which could only be described through sighs. All this convinced Dante that Beatrice was truly an angel. Since he said nothing, Beatrice did not suspect Dante’s love; she thought him dumb with shyness. But her warm greeting never wavered no matter how awkwardly Dante acted.

When Beatrice turned fifteen, her parents arranged her marriage to a wealthy merchant. The first time Dante saw Beatrice after her wedding, she was accompanied by two of her bridesmaids as they walked along the Arno River in Florence. Overcome by the knowledge that she was now another’s wife, Dante turned his face from Beatrice to hide his tears. Beatrice’s bridesmaids misunderstood and thought the poet had insulted their mistress. They jeered at him as they led Beatrice away.

That night, Dante retreated to his chamber in anguished shame. While he slept, a vision appeared to him in his dreams as the stars reached the ninth hour of the night. From a cloud the hue of fire emerged a god-like figure. This being, who identified himself as Amor, the spirit of love, held a woman whom Dante recognized as Beatrice. Amor also held a heart, which he told Dante was the heart the poet had irrevocably given to Beatrice.

Dante awoke from his dream resolved. His love for Beatrice would be no earthly passion to expire when they died. Instead, he would immortalize Beatrice with poems that would last forever. As their lives unfolded, Beatrice was honored by Dante’s verses as no woman had ever been. The poet’s fame spread—and with it, the story of his love for Beatrice.

Over the years, the story of Dante and Beatrice has inspired many to give their hearts just as completely.”

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TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: I have one copy of the Full version Love Tarot app and an autographed Amor and Beatrice print, which reproduces the drawing for the card shown above. To enter, simply leave a comment for this post; please indicate whether you’d like to be entered for the app or the print. Or both. For a double entry, tell us your about your most intensely romantic experience.

It may not involve another person — for example, I was enraptured during my first trip to Venice like a Victorian heroine overcome by Stendhal Syndrome. Or it might. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that romance is all around us — Valentine’s Day should be a celebration of that, rather than a marker (and marketing ploy) for happily we’re partnered off.

The small print: You have until midnight EST on February 14 to leave your comment. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on this blog Monday, February 15, 2010. Sorry, but this giveaway is limited to U.S. only.

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Top art: Dante and Beatrice from the Love Tarot app by Kris Waldherr.

More about the Love Tarot app: Considered to be the most romantic app in the App Store, the Love Tarot app offers gorgeous tarot readings inspired by famous love stories, such as Tristan and Isolde and Cupid and Psyche. This five star-rated app was recently relaunched to include a tarot journal for users to save their readings and other inspirations.

Available in Lite and Full versions, learn more here. Or download the Full version on iTunes now.

Filed under giveaways and raffles, iPhone apps, lover's path, mythic living, tarot and oracles, the art world | 5 Responses

02.11

Mama Donna Henes guest post: Have a Love Affair with Yourself

Next up for my “Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere” featuring the Love Tarot app, is Mama Donna Henes, an urban shaman and folklorist supreme. Someone commented earlier wondering what an urban shaman does. In Mama Donna’s case, she works with individuals, groups of all kinds, companies, and municipalities to create meaningful, non-denominational rituals for every conceivable occasion. For example, she performs solstice and equinox rituals for New York City; she also presides over the opening of the Village Halloween Parade. She also regularly reads tarot at my gallery’s popular Tarot Salon.

Mama Donna is also the author of several books, including the wonderfully empowering and award-winning The Queen of My Self: Stepping Into Sovereignty in Midlife.* Her blog entry here is adapted from The Queen of My Self — I think it offers a necessary corrective to so much media out there which suggests that a person can’t be complete unless they’re in a romantic relationship. Mais non, ma cherie! After all, our most important relationship with with ourselves.

Today we’re giving away a copy of Mama Donna’s book The Queen of Myself to one blog commenter. Details at the end of this post.

Tomorrow’s post: I conclude the week with a post about what I think is the most inspiring love story. Ever.

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donna henes urban shaman

When we carve out a niche in our busy lives to do the sorts of things that feed our soul, we are affirming our self worth, acknowledging that we crave and deserve our own undivided attention.

When we claim the psychic space and set aside the personal time to pursue the knowledge and mastery of our Self — when we assume the entitlement, the ability, and the authority to do so — we are able to access and transform our perceptions, our perspectives, our experience, our expectations, and, in the process, our entire reality.

By taking the time, by taking our time, we bless ourselves with true devotion. We consecrate our precious lives, and celebrate the continuously wondrous miracle of the unfolding of our Selves.

Having a love affair with our Self is a great way to pamper ourselves with the attention and affection that we all crave, that we lavish on others, but never think to give to ourselves.

The Queen Suggests:

Get to know your Self
- Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings, your fears and fantasies.
- Spend some quality time alone together — just you, yourself, and you.
- Turn off the computer, the phone, the fax, and the TV.
- Put on your favorite music, or simply savor the silence.
- Entertain a program of non-directed Self-discovery.
- Stare out the window or into a candle flame or a mirror.
- Clear your mind of inner chatter and let it wander where it will.

Take interest in your Self
- Engage in projects of Self-expression in order to reconnect with your higher nature and your inner best Self.
- Do an exercise tape.
- Go for a run, walk, swim, or bike ride.
- Read your tarot cards. Consult the I Ching. Do yoga.
- Meditate. Drum, chant, dance.
- Write in your journal.
- Transcribe your dreams.
- Create an altar.
- Paint a picture or your walls.
- Sing silly songs.
- Have a good cry.
- Pound on pillows and scream.
- Laugh out loud.

Please your Self
- Work at establishing a warm, rich atmosphere for your own physical comfort and aesthetic enjoyment.
- Indulge in a variety of sensory delights.
- Surround yourself — your body, your home, and to whatever degree possible, your office — with the colors, textures, sounds, and smells that you love and that express your personality.
- Light candles and incense.

Court your Self
- Get all dressed up purely for the fun of it.
- Take yourself on a dream date.
- Go somewhere you have been meaning to go.
- Do things that you love.
- Buy yourself special treats.
- Compliment yourself, applaud and appreciate your strength and your beauty.
- Whisper sweet somethings in your ear.
- Tickle your fancy.
- Pull down the shades, turn off the lights, and dance till you drop.
- Massage your body with sweet oils.
- Kiss yourself.
- Make hot love to your Self.
- Make yourself a marvelous breakfast in the morning.
- Send yourself flowers with a note saying, “I love you.”

These exercises in Self-appreciation and affection are not meant to seal ourselves off from others forever, or to replace any current or future relationships, but to make sure that we do not get involved for the wrong reasons — out of fear or desperation.

We emerge from these Self-love exercises with the secure knowledge that we are our own best lover. And when and if we choose, we are able to share that love with someone special who will understand how precious it is and return it in kind.

An affair with ourselves enables us to know, own, and honor ourselves as unique, individual entities. To admit our abilities and limitations, our talents and truculence on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes, and love ourselves with compassion and no judgment attached.

A practice of solitude and separation — be it occasional, frequent, or constant — teaches us that we do not need the approval or permission of any outside source to validate our personal experience or emotions. In knowing who we are, we are empowering ourselves to know what we know and feel what we feel.

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TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: We have a copy of The Queen of My Self! To enter, simply leave a comment for this post. For a double entry, tell us about a an experience where you treated yourself like royalty. (For myself, it was during my recent trip to Montreal. I stayed at a nice hotel, ate at a famed restaurant, and saw intensely beautiful art.

queen of my self

*If you enjoyed this entry, I hope you’ll become a fan of The Queen of My Self on Facebook. You can also follow The Queen of My Self on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thequeenbook.

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Top art: Isis and Osiris art from the Love Tarot app by Kris Waldherr.

Available in Lite and Full versions, learn more here. Or download the Full version on iTunes now.

Filed under creativity, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, iPhone apps, lover's path, queens, studio and gallery, tarot and oracles | 10 Responses

02.10

Ruth Ann Amberstone guest post: A Date with the Devil

I’m thrilled to have the acclaimed tarot authority Ruth Ann Amberstone as my next guest for the “Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere”, featuring the Love Tarot app. Ruth Ann Amberstone and her husband, Wald Amberstone, are founders of The Tarot School as well as the authors of The Secret Language of Tarot and Tarot Tips: 78 Practical Techniques to Enhance Your Reading Skills. They are also the creators of The Readers Studio, an annual international conference for tarot enthusiasts.

In this post, Ruth Ann writes about The Devil, the sexiest and hottest card in the tarot. Yup, The Devil often gets a bad rap. But, as Ruth Ann points out here, he (or she, as the case may be) can be a lot of fun. On top of that, we’re giving away a MP3 of the Tarot School’s famed teleclass on The High Priestess and an autographed copy of The Goddess Tarot to one blog commenter. Details at the end of this post.

Tomorrow’s post: Mama Donna Henes offers sage advice on how to romance the most important person in your life — you!

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Ruth Ann Amberstone

If you were to name the tarot cards that are most associated with relationships, chances are The Devil would not be at the top of your list. But a closer look reveals that this “bad boy” can have a lot to say in a relationship reading.

The most common interpretation of The Devil, as it might relate to partnerships, is that of a dysfunctional or co-dependent relationship — often where one person has an addiction of some sort. The bondage that’s depicted in the image can refer to the addictive behavior, or perhaps to a taste for kinky sex.

But there are things about this card that are less obvious. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, take a good look at the two people and The Devil himself, and you’ll notice that none of them are looking at one another (unlike in The Lovers). This might indicate that there is a lack of communication in the relationship and/or that at least one partner is totally self-involved.

devil

It’s a common observation that the chains around the necks of the two people are loose. The standard approach to interpreting this symbol might suggest that one or both of them could easily leave the “relationship” with The Devil and/or each other by simply slipping out of the chains. A less familiar understanding of these chains, however, is that they are not bonds, but links — these links connect the three figures and hold them together. In this context, The Devil makes it possible for people to stay together and function together, even when they are each essentially in their own world.

The Devil is the perfect date! With his power over appearances, he can look whichever way you personally find most attractive and sexy. He knows how to dance, how to choose a fine wine, and he can dazzle you with his sparkling wit and intelligent conversation. The Devil is a real smooth operator! He’ll promise to fulfill your every wish, but it’s all a scam to get you into bed. And if you fall in love, he’ll drag you through hell as he charms the pants off partner after partner, caring nothing for your jealousy or suffering.

On a lighter note, one of the most useful things to know about The Devil is that the esoteric function of this card is laughter. The Devil laughs at just about everything. And while that may not seem funny on a cosmic level, using this esoteric function in a reading may indicate that what’s really needed is to lighten up! Watch a funny movie, go to a comedy club, or hang out with friends and simply have a good time.

When this card appears in a relationship reading, don’t let it be-devil you. One way or another, it has something valuable to say about the situation.

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TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: We have a MP3 of the Tarot School’s wonderfully in-depth High Priestess teleclass and an autographed copy of The Goddess Tarot! (Find out more here.) To enter, simply leave a comment for this post. For a double entry, tell us about your worst — or funniest — date ever. I’ll start: Mine involves a guy spending the whole night telling me about his ex-girlfriend and how great she was, that no one could measure up to her. At the end of the night he asked, “So, will I see you again?”

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Top art: Paolo and Francesca from the Love Tarot app by Kris Waldherr.

Available in Lite and Full versions, learn more here. Or download the Full version on iTunes now.

Filed under be-mused, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, iPhone apps, lover's path, tarot and oracles | 13 Responses

02.09

Holly Tucker guest post: The Facts of Life, 17th Century Style

Next up for my “Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere” featuring the Love Tarot app, is a guest post by historian and novelist Holly Tucker, Ph.D. History geeks probably know Holly from her delightful website Wonders and Marvels. Holly is an Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University. Her upcoming book Blood Work (under contract with W.W. Norton) is about the politics of early medical experimentation in seventeenth century France and England.

Here, Holly offers us the other side of seventeenth century love to Sandra Gulland’s uber-romantic entry about love letters yesterday. Instead, she writes about the baroque era’s favorite sex manual (complete with a randy illustration from it). On top of that, today we’re giving away a copy of my illustrated novel The Lover’s Path to one blog commenter. Details at the end of this post.

Tomorrow’s post: Ruth Ann Amberstone writes about the sexiest card in the tarot.

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holly tucker

Forget Cosmo. Forget Maxim. Anyone looking for sex advice in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries would head straight to Nicolas Venette’s The Mysteries of Conjugal Love Reveal’d.

Take a look at the two cupids uniting their hot torches to one another. That gives you a sense of the titillating tips that Venette’s books contained–all for the purpose of making babies, of course!

So where did babies come back then?

Until the late seventeenth century, humoralism was the primary way of understanding conception. Humoralism is associated with Galen, a second-century ACE Greek physician who lived in Rome. His work was substantially influenced by his predecessor Hippocrates.

Galen held that the body was governed by a system of fluids, of “humors”: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile. Each body had a “complexion” that was specific to the individual–and reflected a greater tendency toward one of the four humors. This complexion helped determine the overall health of the person, as well as their character. “Sanguine” folks were upbeat and energetic. “Phlegmatic” folks were lethargic and sad. Yellow bile led to “choleric” folks who flew easily off the handle. And depressed “melancolics” suffered from an over-abundance of black bile.

Men and women were very different from one another. Men were hot and dry; women cold and wet. (This helps to explain why men have private parts outside their bodies, more on that another time.)

For Galen, both men and women contributed “seed” in the sex act. The seeds mixed–and their overall quality of the mixture would determine whether a girl or a boy would be born. The birth of a boy was proof of the father’s virility (his seed won the battle). The birth of a girl called the father’s macho-ness into question.

In fact, the birth of a girl was frequently associated with marital sterility in the early-modern era.

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TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: We have a copy of my illustrated novel The Lover’s Path, which inspired the Love Tarot! Set in sixteenth century Venice, The Lover’s Path is based on a true story of two sisters — one of which just happened to be the most famous courtesan of her time. (Learn more about it here or watch the YouTube video.) To enter, simply leave a comment for this post. For a double entry, tell us about your favorite love story from history.

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Top art: Tristan and Isolde art from the Love Tarot app by Kris Waldherr.

Available in Lite and Full versions, learn more here. Or download the Full version on iTunes now.

Filed under be-mused, blogs we read, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, iPhone apps, lover's path, tarot and oracles | 20 Responses

02.07

The Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere begins….

As I mentioned last week, this upcoming week is going to be special for this blog. From February 8th through 12th, I’ll be having some very lofty guests here:

sandragulland
Best-selling author Sandra Gulland (Mistress of the Sun).

donnahenes
Urban shaman Donna Henes (Queen of My Self).

ruthannamberstone
Renowned tarot authority Ruth Ann Amberstone (The Secret Language of Tarot).

And, finally, acclaimed historian Holly Tucker (Wonders and Marvels, Blood Work).

These amazingly talented and inspiring women will be joining me for a week of love-themed posts and special giveaways. It’s all to celebrate Valentine’s Day — and the relaunch of the five star-rated Love Tarot iPhone app, which was recently updated with a tarot journal for saving readings and other inspirations.

The week will be kicked off tomorrow morning with a wonderfully romantic piece by Sandra about the writing of love letters. (Side note: I’m extremely flattered that she writes that her post was inspired by my illustrated novel The Lover’s Path.) On top of that, we’ll be giving away a copy of Sandra’s bestselling book, Mistress of the Sun. To enter the raffle, all you need to do is comment.

A huge bouquet of thanks to these illustrious ladies for participating in what I hope will be the most romantic week on the blogosphere. And I hope you’ll to “see” you here beginning tomorrow!

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PS: To learn more about the Love Tarot and my other iPhone and iPod Touch apps, please visit my new-and-official app website here.

lovetarot