17 GUILT

Unintentional actions with good intentions, projection (a type of psychological defense where internal experiences are mistakenly perceived as coming from outside); victim-perpetrator relationships, the balance between guilt and innocence.

Aries/Virgo

Mars/Mercury.

Warrior + Priestess.

This card contains much ambiguity, making it very difficult to understand and describe. Here, vastly different archetypes merge - the naked aggression of the Warrior with the purity and order of the Priestess/Virgin, who has transformed into a Unicorn.

This mythical creature appears in many traditions. In Ancient China, the unicorn was called qilin. There it was believed to appear to people only in exceptional circumstances. The unicorn is a messenger of happiness; its appearance symbolizes the rise to power of a good ruler or the birth of a true sage.

The appearance of the qilin marked both the birth and death of Confucius. In Babylon, it was depicted as winged. In Sumero-Semitic tradition, the unicorn is a lunar symbol, an attribute of virgin goddesses. In Persia, the unicorn embodies the fertilizing principle, strength, and the ability to purify.

In a 15th-century Persian manuscript it is written: 'As for its horn, it appears golden, and with its help all corruption and vileness will be destroyed and scattered.'

In the Greco-Roman tradition, the unicorn is an attribute of all virgin, lunar goddesses, such as Artemis (Diana).

In Christianity, the unicorn's horn is a symbol of divine unity, spiritual authority, and nobility, making the unicorn an image of Christ. The unicorn's small stature relates to Christ's humility at birth; its white color symbolizes the purity that must be acquired by following the paths of God's children.

As a possessor of purity, innocence, and virginity, the unicorn is an emblem of the Virgin Mary. In chivalric symbolism, the unicorn is associated with purity of feelings. The unicorn accompanied by a Virgin is the embodiment of chastity and purity.

It often represents the devoted love of a knight for his lady. The unicorn also represents the renunciation of physical love for love that is purer and stronger. This is a kind of enchantment with purity, the miraculous purification of bodily life and sexual energy, giving the knight strength and courage.

Thus, the Unicorn represents something elevated, pure, and bright. It symbolizes the lunar feminine principle, chastity, purity, virginity, perfect goodness, dignity, strength of mind and body, and incorruptibility.

It is impossible to catch this mystical animal; in case of danger, it would disappear. Legend says that only a virgin can tame a Unicorn. It obediently lies down on the ground, places its head on her lap, and becomes gentle and submissive.

It is impossible to deceive a Unicorn. The Unicorn is also the ruler of waters; its horn helps detect poison in water and neutralize it. The Warrior we see in the background is trying to hunt this divine being.

His actions are directed toward destroying the miracle. But it is impossible to catch or kill the Unicorn; one can only frighten it away with clumsy actions. As a result, the Warrior is left with nothing but feelings of guilt and regret about the missed opportunity and his wrong actions.

However, the Warrior acts impulsively, not always thoughtfully, but decisively, so he could not have acted otherwise (you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs). On the other hand, the relationship between guilt and innocence in some sense is the engine of life, since there is no movement in an equilibrium state.

In this sense, the card serves as the starting point for many processes. The hunt for the Unicorn is quite complex to read in spreads. It often speaks of a mismatch between methods and goals: high goals - crude methods and absence of the desired result.

According to this card, a person is ready to act actively, following their own criteria of 'what is good and what is bad,' and categorically does not accept others' opinions.

Unicorn and warrior - the union of aggression with purity. Hunting the unicorn - destruction of purity.

Interesting prospects.

Fear of making mistakes, actions driven by guilt, goals and methods do not correspond to each other.

Most likely, the querent awaits a series of confusions that threaten to end in the style of 'we wanted the best, but it turned out as always.'

There will be interesting prospects, there will be attempts, but nothing will work out.

Today you can reconsider your goals, determine their reality and achievability, analyze the methods by which they can most realistically be achieved.

It is useless to regret a missed opportunity; it is better to undertake something else.

Today you can learn to define goals, learn to see their reality of implementation.

You will have interesting prospects, you can take some actions, but you are unlikely to achieve results.

An attempt to achieve an internal result through external, very active actions. The main reason for actions is conscious or unconscious guilt. Sometimes aggression manifests, the need to act in order to live 'correctly.'

Everything must be conquered.

Pangs of conscience about one's actions. Xenophobia - fear of the other. Fear of making mistakes. Internal conflict, often unconscious.

One subpersonality (Unicorn) sets a very high bar, while another (Warrior) behaves rudely, aggressively, shamelessly.

There may be regret about missed opportunities and past mistakes. Sometimes it means unmotivated guilt that sometimes originates in the ancestral system. The card also hints at human fears and that activity is limited by the fear of spoiling something.

All your efforts are in vain because you have incorrectly chosen the goal or the way to achieve it.

More than complicated. Tense.

Clear incompatibility of temperaments: one is active, pushy, the other is passive. Partners' goals do not intersect. Actions on different planes. One partner is very active and pushy, the other wants peace. Possibly, a woman is pursuing a man who is not suitable for her.

Here the relationships are 'Hunter - prey.' There is no complement here, only discord of actions. For example, one needs sex, and the other wants to sleep. There are cases when one partner takes a vow of chastity while the other suffers greatly.

Often the card speaks of a woman who, wanting to create a family or stable partnership, acts as an aggressive hunter, while the man slips away as soon as he feels her pressure and desire to 'conquer' him.

Goal and method do not correspond to each other. Such methods will never lead to the expected result. You cannot catch a Unicorn as the Warrior is trying to do.

The chosen methods will never lead to the expected result. At the same time, you cannot hold yourself back from fear of making mistakes. Fear of error, fear of spoiling something, stops your actions.

You need to coordinate the goal and actions to achieve this goal. Reconsider either the goal or choose another method.

There is no result. The goal slips away at the very last moment.

Guilt remains.

- Destruction of something pure or fierce. - Guilt in the warrior. - Tension. - Meeting of the high and pure with aggression. - The idea of attack.

- The client acts as a warrior chasing a man. - The Unicorn cannot be caught. - Fear of error, fear of spoiling something, stops our actions. - Goals and methods do not correspond to each other.

- Complex relationships, difficult to combine relationships: hunter - prey. Humanity is doomed by fate. The theme of guilt is part of life: the state beyond guilt and innocence existed only in Paradise before the fall, before knowing good and evil.