King of Coins

"Inheritance" oil on wood in broken out frame - original available for sale

Ah, the minutiae of the fiscal bits and bobs of a person's life. Being a power of attorney for an old lady who squirreled away her money like the chipmunk in the four of coins, is not particularly my idea of a good time. My mother was money savvy, but also rather tight pocketed. She pushed her acorns into the ground and tucked them away in holes. Like the spring blue jay she then couldn't find them after a season passed. And her mental health, and the progression of her dementia, has left her thinking she has no acorns left to harvest. So I've been digging them up, and with the help of my financial advisor, been investing them and relocating them, repairing her home with them, and paying for her caregivers. I see how she packed those nuts away and now lays dying in her ramshock castle, using her money for 24/7 care. Why didn't she remodel her kitchen, with its dim yellowed surfaces, its missing cupboard doors, its old grouchy appliances? Once again life is such a fucking balance! Plan for the future but don't forget to enjoy the moment! Ah yes, as my friends will tell you, I can be quite frugal, like my mom. This card was a reminder to get my mothers financial world sorted, both for now but also for my brother and I, and our children, after she dies. And this king of coins reminded me to enjoy life now, to have gratitude for the kingdom I have built, to be certain it can pass on to my children.

Spoiler, I get it on with my financial advisor, thus obtaining the best advice ever. I've also been married to my financial advisor for 27 years, so I can conveniently ask fiscal questions at 2 in the morning if I so desire (luckily for him I don't. Unlucky for him it's usually 8 am, right when he's begrudgingly gotten up). It also means I had the perfect model on hand for my king of coins painting, wearing his work attire but relaxed on his throne. This king is the seven of pentacles all grown up and established. So what was the grape farmer contemplating a few vines harvest is now the king, resting and looking over his vineyards and kingdom. The farmer's vine grew up around his hoe as he waited. now the vines have subtly become him. He (or she) has achieved abundance and prosperity. Perhaps this is money but maybe he just knows how to enjoy the little things in life. How to feel gratitude. How to appreciate what he has and the kingdom he has built.

 I envisioned this king as a stag, Cernunnos, the ancient Gaullish horned God of abundance and prosperity. In my vision I saw him hand forward one of his antlers. Later I found Cernunnos was sometimes depicted this way, wearing a single antler to symbolise the changing of the season. I don't depict him cross legged as he almost always was in the past, but I did tuck his toes in the earth, as he has one foot in the after life, alway shedding his antlers then growing them again as the seasons turn. He knows about the turning. He knows the soil is dark and rich and leads down to Hades where abundance was said to have come from, deep in our own pysche, from where our riches arise. He knows how to kick back in his vineyard with a nice glass of wine or thermos of hot chocolate with good friends and close family. And while this king isn't wearing a crown, he instead hangs a torc on his antler. Cernunnos almost always held a torc, a symbol of prestige, wealth and perhaps royalty. I visited this torc,  named the Broighter Collar, at the National History Museum in Dublin. How lovely to realize I had taken a perfect photo of it, the round gold circle for the king of discs.

As always in this process, after I pulled this king of coins I chose a card to tell me where in my life he needed a voice. I turned over the ten of coins, the card of inheritance. Since I am working on making sure every small detail of my moms material world is accounted for as she is in hospice care, and we need to be sure she has enough money to die at home, this warranted an obvious shrug. Much of the work is tedious, as Scwab lost my POA page 8 and had me notarize the wrong form...twice. My partner's company didn't like some phrases in her trust and I had to recontact moms lawyer. I had to be certain my nephew with special needs would be cared for and my step sister and step father would have what they need. I'm still working on paying the taxes my mom didn't pay for four years as well as this years property tax. Yada yada yada. Sorry to make you read all that, but you will now appreciate all the annoying grit that one has to deal with, as ones antlers are passed on to the next deer. Oh deer. Cernunnos is often portrayed with a bag of coins or wheat.  So I gave him those ten coins spilling out of his bag. And my moms house sitting on its california ridge, that my brother and I will inherit, is tucked in the castle on the hill.

So i will try to be less frugal. My pocket will loosen a bit. This King of Pentacles tells me to appreciate the little things so I will enjoy dining on acorns out more often, and I will share my stash with the humans I love and find ways to give back to my community around me. I watch with joy as the spring fruit tree blossoms and the bees dance. I make sure all the coins are accounted for and then I spend a few.

oil on wood in upcycled frame