My tarot decks and interest has finally returned! Thanks to a woman at work who loves to ask me to bring in my deck every so often and pull cards for her. Her energy and response has reminded me why I find the tarot so fascinating and a great resource for guidance.
I came across a post on the Aeclectic Tarot forum and thought it would be super useful, or at least give some "food for thought" during tarot study. The page shared was mostly about symbols on the RWS cards; like the wolf and ship.. and even snails!
She also has pages for color..etc. that I haven't peeked in at yet.
Online symbol dictionary at Tarotteachings.com
Showing posts with label tarot-study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tarot-study. Show all posts
Monday, August 2, 2010
Friday, October 2, 2009
Going to court!
RWS - Page, Knight, Queen, King
Crowley - Princess, Prince, Queen, King
Look through your court cards, is there a balance of male/female? Some would rather see balance, others don't look that far into that aspect. Where do you fall? Look at and reflect on how they represent life. The below is common, but not the only way to "see" them, breath air into them, light their fire, unearth them or let them ebb and flow with the tide. Another method is based more on physical appearance and sign, we'll get to that one later. The following is a more intuitive approach.
Court cards typically symbolize people, all of us carry many aspects of each element, but this "person" would at the time have a trait more prevalent than others whether it be their consistent nature or simply a trait brought of by the phase of life they are in. But they may also be symbolic. The young page is trusted as a messenger, the Knight always swiftly moving and traveling.
I like thinking of them in stages or phases in life and related to the element of the suit. We'll cover physical characteristic that can come into play after. Let's talk about the Page. The page is young and can represent a child or a child-like adult, this can be taken a step further into possibly representing and apprentice. I usually picture a Page with a scroll or letter in hand.
Wands - Message from far away, message of a move (can be something as major as a trip or as minor as moving desks or a career move/change)
Cups - a love letter, message of the heart
Swords - message of resolution or something coming to a poor end, message in the way of an idea, sometimes illness, sometimes rumor or gossip.
Pentacles - message of money, good turn in health (body), luck
Now let's talk about who could be these young messengers
Wands - True to the fire element, think of the fire within or child full of energy and adventure, dynamic, can be aggressive
Cups - the romantic lured by the romance of life and heart. Daydreamer, good imagination, storyteller. Extreme happy and sad. Sensitive. With healing water pumping through their veins, they wish to heal and soothe.
Swords - Air spews from their lungs as they talk talk talk. Constantly chattering to the point of irritation or sounding like a know it all. Obviously not good with a secret.
Pentacles - Children play, pentacles is earth. Picture a child blissfully sitting in mud creating something. They love animals of the earth. They can also be very moved as entrepreneurs. Good hearted and generous, but sometimes serious.
Okay onto the mighty Knight rushing through the night, representing travel or swiftness. Still exploring life but not too old to forget youth and play. They are young brave fledglings, think of them as teens or young adults. The swiftness can also bring change of scenery and emotion. Their childhood not far behind, they still embody much of the elements.
Wands - Energetic trip, maybe to a hot place on a trusty quick vehicle.
Cups - Travel by water
Swords - Travel by air
Pentacles - Travel with nature: hiking, eco-friendly biking, walking
The young fledgling can embody the following personal characteristics:
Wands - Still charismatic, loves to give and receive energy, leader, great at competive sports, a bit of a bully. loyal but not always reliable.
Cups - Romeo. Emo, sensitive, music, poems, deep love.
Swords - Whoa, this kid's still talking a mean streak. Weilding his sword to argue or debate. Sharp tongue, can be gossipy.
Pentacles - Still an entrepreneur and lover of material things. Now he plays with only the best clay instead of mud. He likes having things and can be possessive of his stuff. Organized, can be solitary in his plight of perfect.
The King and Queen leave little for words, as their paths are born and breed into them. Their paths we know well as the figureheads seems to speak for themselves moreso than the Knight or the Page. They are refined and paternal. The nurturing mother Queen. The confidant who softens the strict king with kind reasoning behind the scenes. The Queen is about nurturing and creativity. She tells us and supports us to open your vision, heart and mind.
The majestic King, he can be seen to represent self confidence, for they are the experts of their domain by experience, more controlled and domineering than the Knight.
references:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/
Llewellyn's Tarot Reader 2008
Crowley - Princess, Prince, Queen, King
Look through your court cards, is there a balance of male/female? Some would rather see balance, others don't look that far into that aspect. Where do you fall? Look at and reflect on how they represent life. The below is common, but not the only way to "see" them, breath air into them, light their fire, unearth them or let them ebb and flow with the tide. Another method is based more on physical appearance and sign, we'll get to that one later. The following is a more intuitive approach.
Court cards typically symbolize people, all of us carry many aspects of each element, but this "person" would at the time have a trait more prevalent than others whether it be their consistent nature or simply a trait brought of by the phase of life they are in. But they may also be symbolic. The young page is trusted as a messenger, the Knight always swiftly moving and traveling.
I like thinking of them in stages or phases in life and related to the element of the suit. We'll cover physical characteristic that can come into play after. Let's talk about the Page. The page is young and can represent a child or a child-like adult, this can be taken a step further into possibly representing and apprentice. I usually picture a Page with a scroll or letter in hand.
Wands - Message from far away, message of a move (can be something as major as a trip or as minor as moving desks or a career move/change)
Cups - a love letter, message of the heart
Swords - message of resolution or something coming to a poor end, message in the way of an idea, sometimes illness, sometimes rumor or gossip.
Pentacles - message of money, good turn in health (body), luck
Now let's talk about who could be these young messengers
Wands - True to the fire element, think of the fire within or child full of energy and adventure, dynamic, can be aggressive
Cups - the romantic lured by the romance of life and heart. Daydreamer, good imagination, storyteller. Extreme happy and sad. Sensitive. With healing water pumping through their veins, they wish to heal and soothe.
Swords - Air spews from their lungs as they talk talk talk. Constantly chattering to the point of irritation or sounding like a know it all. Obviously not good with a secret.
Pentacles - Children play, pentacles is earth. Picture a child blissfully sitting in mud creating something. They love animals of the earth. They can also be very moved as entrepreneurs. Good hearted and generous, but sometimes serious.
Okay onto the mighty Knight rushing through the night, representing travel or swiftness. Still exploring life but not too old to forget youth and play. They are young brave fledglings, think of them as teens or young adults. The swiftness can also bring change of scenery and emotion. Their childhood not far behind, they still embody much of the elements.
Wands - Energetic trip, maybe to a hot place on a trusty quick vehicle.
Cups - Travel by water
Swords - Travel by air
Pentacles - Travel with nature: hiking, eco-friendly biking, walking
The young fledgling can embody the following personal characteristics:
Wands - Still charismatic, loves to give and receive energy, leader, great at competive sports, a bit of a bully. loyal but not always reliable.
Cups - Romeo. Emo, sensitive, music, poems, deep love.
Swords - Whoa, this kid's still talking a mean streak. Weilding his sword to argue or debate. Sharp tongue, can be gossipy.
Pentacles - Still an entrepreneur and lover of material things. Now he plays with only the best clay instead of mud. He likes having things and can be possessive of his stuff. Organized, can be solitary in his plight of perfect.
The King and Queen leave little for words, as their paths are born and breed into them. Their paths we know well as the figureheads seems to speak for themselves moreso than the Knight or the Page. They are refined and paternal. The nurturing mother Queen. The confidant who softens the strict king with kind reasoning behind the scenes. The Queen is about nurturing and creativity. She tells us and supports us to open your vision, heart and mind.
The majestic King, he can be seen to represent self confidence, for they are the experts of their domain by experience, more controlled and domineering than the Knight.
references:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/
Llewellyn's Tarot Reader 2008
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Tarot Study - The Suits
I have seen and read (in books and online) about using the numbers on tarot cards for study by understanding common themes. Two references would be my MerryDay companion book and a book in Mary K. Greer's series. I've read it being called "Constellations". There are also references online for the art of reading with a 52 deck of cards, using suit and number, called cartomancy. The next few tarot blog entries will be about using suit and number to add finesse to your reading, the best place to start would be to understand the suits (and relate them back to a 52 regular playing deck). This may also help with the court cards.. we'll get to that after the numbers.
Look at your deck and decide if it matches the common elemental associations. Please look carefully at Wands and Swords because sometimes the elements are reversed and Air is used to represent Wands while Fire is used to represent Swords. If your elements are reversed for these two suits, your general meaning will follow element not suit. Yes, yes, not all suits are named exactly, I've put the other names below as well to help. If you come across something different than below, I'd love to hear from you!
Fire = Wands/Staves/Staffs/Baton = Clubs
The red firey tip on some decks wands brings me back to learning color. Red and Fire represent the energy and passion or fire within. Your drive and motivation to journey, to excel at work, spirit or creativity. Something you put your own personal energy into.
Water = Cup/Chalice = (you guessed it) Hearts
Water soothes and heals, it's a conduit for electric energy and connects us to the divine. The tides ebb and flow as do our emotions. Cups represents love, I see it as loving others as well as loving ourselves and the earth we inhabit along with her creatures and creations.
Air = Swords = Spade
The air carries our words to others. Words can cut like a blade. Swords are about thoughts, ideas and communication.
Earth = Pentacle/Coins/Discs = Diamonds (mined from the Earth)
From the earth we are born, from the earth minerals are mined and refined. Pentacles is of body and tangible things of this world, including money. This extends to business matters as well, I see it as business bringing in cash wealth.. or not.
Cups as water, that's a pretty easy element association, a chalice holds water. A sword slices through the air. Coins or pentacles are mined from the earth. Wands sometimes have a red (fire) crystal at the tip. I have thoughts on remembering the element if your deck has Swords and Wands reversed, but I don't want to confuse them, so I'm going to leave them out.
I use visualization to remember the playing card associations. I couldn't resist putting my association for Pentacles and Cups above in brackets. That leaves Wands and Swords, for those I have images that dance in my mind. I see a club held over a caveman's head, as if in a dream he morphs into a wizard carrying a wand, both are tools and can be held above the head to "assert" their power. I see my mom digging in her garden using a spade, she's one tough woman that in days past I could see overcoming stereotypes and looks and jeers to become a knight carrying a sword! I tell ya, I never wanted to mess with her!
My personal decks in relation to the elements
MerryDay has the suits in the following order and element: Swords (Air, Spring), Wands (Fire, Summer), Cups (Water, Autumn) and Pentacles (Earth, Winter). The pictures in the Mystic Faerie do not show seasons, only one suit story (yes, each suit has an enchanting story, bringing the fae and the deck alive) tells of a season, the one element is also not very prevelant within the images. For the Mystic Faerie: Wands (Fire, Summer), Cups (Water), Swords (no apparent element by deduction Air will suffice) and Pentacles (Earth). By deduction I can assume the Swords are air, but honestly there's nothing on the pictures to classify it. The swords are represented by thorns.. not very airy to me. My Faery Wicca deck is named from cities, I'm leaving those out to avoid confusion. My other decks are newer and will require more study later, they are very quirky in their own right and I think two work for examples to give you something to work from and relate to your own deck.
*online references include IvyRose Holistic Resources and Thirteen's Tarot Card Meanings online at Aeclectic.net .
Look at your deck and decide if it matches the common elemental associations. Please look carefully at Wands and Swords because sometimes the elements are reversed and Air is used to represent Wands while Fire is used to represent Swords. If your elements are reversed for these two suits, your general meaning will follow element not suit. Yes, yes, not all suits are named exactly, I've put the other names below as well to help. If you come across something different than below, I'd love to hear from you!
Fire = Wands/Staves/Staffs/Baton = Clubs
The red firey tip on some decks wands brings me back to learning color. Red and Fire represent the energy and passion or fire within. Your drive and motivation to journey, to excel at work, spirit or creativity. Something you put your own personal energy into.
Water = Cup/Chalice = (you guessed it) Hearts
Water soothes and heals, it's a conduit for electric energy and connects us to the divine. The tides ebb and flow as do our emotions. Cups represents love, I see it as loving others as well as loving ourselves and the earth we inhabit along with her creatures and creations.
Air = Swords = Spade
The air carries our words to others. Words can cut like a blade. Swords are about thoughts, ideas and communication.
Earth = Pentacle/Coins/Discs = Diamonds (mined from the Earth)
From the earth we are born, from the earth minerals are mined and refined. Pentacles is of body and tangible things of this world, including money. This extends to business matters as well, I see it as business bringing in cash wealth.. or not.
Cups as water, that's a pretty easy element association, a chalice holds water. A sword slices through the air. Coins or pentacles are mined from the earth. Wands sometimes have a red (fire) crystal at the tip. I have thoughts on remembering the element if your deck has Swords and Wands reversed, but I don't want to confuse them, so I'm going to leave them out.
I use visualization to remember the playing card associations. I couldn't resist putting my association for Pentacles and Cups above in brackets. That leaves Wands and Swords, for those I have images that dance in my mind. I see a club held over a caveman's head, as if in a dream he morphs into a wizard carrying a wand, both are tools and can be held above the head to "assert" their power. I see my mom digging in her garden using a spade, she's one tough woman that in days past I could see overcoming stereotypes and looks and jeers to become a knight carrying a sword! I tell ya, I never wanted to mess with her!
My personal decks in relation to the elements
MerryDay has the suits in the following order and element: Swords (Air, Spring), Wands (Fire, Summer), Cups (Water, Autumn) and Pentacles (Earth, Winter). The pictures in the Mystic Faerie do not show seasons, only one suit story (yes, each suit has an enchanting story, bringing the fae and the deck alive) tells of a season, the one element is also not very prevelant within the images. For the Mystic Faerie: Wands (Fire, Summer), Cups (Water), Swords (no apparent element by deduction Air will suffice) and Pentacles (Earth). By deduction I can assume the Swords are air, but honestly there's nothing on the pictures to classify it. The swords are represented by thorns.. not very airy to me. My Faery Wicca deck is named from cities, I'm leaving those out to avoid confusion. My other decks are newer and will require more study later, they are very quirky in their own right and I think two work for examples to give you something to work from and relate to your own deck.
*online references include IvyRose Holistic Resources and Thirteen's Tarot Card Meanings online at Aeclectic.net .
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Moon
Like the phases of the moon, I shall return to gaze upon the her again. A quick look was all I could stand. I felt as if I intruded and dare not face her wraithI spoke with The Moon today, ominous as she was. The eerie shadows almost scared me off, but I stood with my feet grounded and saw a beautiful sight...
My instant reaction to this card was one of mistrust. I cannot decide if she is sad or feeling anger and seeking revenge. But the wolf trusts her...
The wolf, acting on instinct and intuition...
Her hair lively and beautiful, her intent consistent. I have found a few sources for meanings of this card that include the crayfish. Personally the symbolism doesn't spark with me, maybe another night it will be all I see. But for now she looks just past me, as if not seeing me as her vision narrows and she spins a creative picture in the trees I hide amongst.
(I believe my perception engulfs the nature behind the card. She's known to represent dangerous illusions (how I see her from my hiding spot) and letting intuition take you (the wolf).
Saturday, August 8, 2009
8: Strength
Today I call on Strength.
The sun settles and begins its departure. Magic buzzes for those celebrating the coming eve.
She quietly steps through the cracking leaves,
Fingers caress the trees, wisps of energy stream from fae and tree as she passes,
Some young and full of green life, some old and stoic, both are treasures,
Energy flows from tree to fae and fae to tree,
Both are living in the moment, she whispers "Just be".
Gracefully the trees part along the path and she glides out in open space to meet a kindred spirit,
Of it's dangers and wild spirit have always been writ,
A majestic dragon, one with the earth and knowledge of ages past
In the presence of her love and understanding it basks.
She breathes deeply and centers on the fire within, a spark flutters to life, tendrils of red and orange heat begin their dance. Her heart surrounds the flame, accepting it for all that it is and all that it was. All that it can be requires her tender care and a constant awareness for balance, she cannot allow the flame to consume her. She calls upon her inner calm and tranquility to surround the flame, leaving it room to breathe.
In this clearing I've come to learn,
This quiet control of the flame of life is what I yearn,
I caress each tree as I wander quietly away,
And value, with time and desire, I will survive to see the day.
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