This week’s Fairy Tale Tarot comes from a Danish story called “The Nightingale”. This story was written by Hans Christian Andersen and was originally published in Copenhagen in 1843 and is said to be a story based on the author’s unrequited love for an opera singer of the time, Jenny Lind. The story has been adapted into films and plays including a stage version in 1982 in London featuring the amazing singer Sarah Brightman, and in 1983 is was a featured tale on Shelley Duvall’s show of the time, Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theater. The story tells the tale of an emperor who makes the mistake of being swayed by visual beauty rather than listening to what his heart truly desired.
There once was an emperor in China that lived in a beautiful palace with beautiful gardens. He was very proud of what he had until one day when he heard a poem that referenced a bird that sang the most beautiful song you’d ever hear, a bird that lived within his gardens. Not being aware of this bird her ordered his advisors to find out more and find this bird. After asking around a little girl was found who knew of the bird. She said it was a nightingale and that she could take them to it.
The little girl led the emperor and his men into the gardens where they found the bird. She asked the bird to kindly sing for the men and she did. The emperor was taken by the bird’s wonderful song and he took the bird back home with him. The bird was given a perch next to the emperor’s throne where she would sing, always bringing the emperor to tears. The emperor offered the nightingale a golden slipper as a gift but the bird refused saying the emperor’s tears were the greatest gift she could receive.
One day a box came from the emperor of Japan that had the words “The Nightingale” written on it. Inside was a beautifully made music box with a jeweled bird atop it. When wound it played a beautiful song and when the emperor asked the Nightingale to sing along she was unable to make the tone and pitch of the mechanical bird and instead hung her head in shame. Everyone was so awed by the mechanical bird that they failed to see the sadness on the face of the nightingale. They also failed to see the bird fly away out the window knowing it had been bested by a machine.
The emperor was sad at the loss of his companion but his advisors convinced him that the fake bird sounded better and could bring even more joy to him than the other bird, and that it’s golden and jeweled body was far more beautiful. The emperor was soon convinced but still pined for the nightingale to return. As the years passed, the mechanical bird was wound many, many times and played it’s tune over and over. Eventually the bird didn’t sound like it once did and it soon stopped playing. The clockmaker came to fix it and told the emperor that it was old, its gears worn, and that it should only be played once a year.
Soon the lack of music in his life caused the emperor to fall gravely ill. One day he lay in his bed, as sick as he’d ever been, and his advisors were sure he’d be dead soon. As the emperor lay there, a great weight came upon his chest. As he looked he saw it was Death, and around him were spirits of his past, some bringing good memories and some bringing regrets. The emperor noticed saw that Death was wearing his crown and carried his saber and flag so he knew his time had come.
Sensing something was ailing the emperor the nightingale flew to him and perched himself on a branch outside the window of the emperor’s chambers. The nightingale began to sing once again and the sound slowly brought life back to the emperor as her song moved Death to tears. Death stood up, dropping the emperor’s crown, saber and flag to the floor and flew out the window, taking the other spirits with him. With the weight of Death no longer pressing down on him, the emperor began to take deep breaths and began to be revived. Just as his men entered his room, coming to declare their ruler dead, they saw him rise to his feet, rosy cheeked and smiling.
From that day on the nighingale was free to come and go as she pleased, making the emperor promise to keep her stories and songs that she shared with him between only them. From that day on they remained great companions all the rest of the emperor’s days.
The Six of Cups is a card that traditionally talks about things like family nostalgia, receiving good will from those we are close to, and experiencing innocence, feeling taken care of and being almost blissfully unaware of things going on around you. We can see this in the story; the emperor is unaware of how the nightingale is being impacted by the introduction of the mechanical bird even though the nightingale provides a great deal of joy, peace and care for the emperor, something he isn’t even fully aware of until it’s gone. And once it’s gone, he finds himself in a position of longing for its return.
Symbolically, Lisa Hunt attributes the saber to justice, the green flag to vitality, and the gold dragon on the flag to male energy. The window represents a new dawn and the cherry blossom on which the nightingale sits represents hope with the nightingale itself being the bearer of renewed joy.
The message in the Six of Cups in the Fairy Tale Tarot is that of needing to take a break. We should set aside time to simplify things and revisit the memories and times in our past that brought us happiness and joy. This is a good time for renewing and revitalizing relationships with those from our past who we may have lost touch with or whom our connections to have become strained or weakened. Use this as a guide for you week ahead and take the time to reconnect to the people and places of the past that can help to relieve the stress of the present.
