Exploring Tarot

Day 8 - The Moon

Moving right along, the next card in the backlog is The Moon.  It’s a personal favorite of mine.

This is a dangerous-looking card!  The Moon itself looks extremely pissed off, but perhaps it’s just deep in thought.  There are two towers, a telescope set on the right tower, and a figure on the left that is identified as an astrologer in Art and Arcana.  A wolf howls at the Moon, set across from an Egyptian styled jackal, Anubis.  A humongous crustacean wallows in a shallow pool.  This particular card is associated with Cancer, after all.

This scene is straight out of dreams, or the subconscious.  Surreal, with full of symbols set jarringly against one another, I can certainly see why people think of lunacy.  But that’s much too narrow, I think; imagination itself is what’s important here.  A road travels down the middle of the card, off into the distance where it climbs a mountain.  It seems to end at the summit and, in an interesting interplay between the card art and background, a stylized sun.  It strikes me as a reassurance, that there’s nothing to fear from the Moon if I keep moving.

This is an incredibly deep card.  It’s one of my favorites just for that reason.  As I’ve said before, I don’t expect or want to master each card on the first draw.  I’ve been trying to get back into writing more lately, and I think this card is a sign that the creativity I need is available to me.

Day 7 - Page of Swords

Alright, catch-up time. Several long shifts at work, coupled with a lack of sleep had left me totally drained, hence a lack of updates. Let’s get this back on track.

The next card is the Page of Swords. Another court card, another page, but this one looks much different that that of Cups.

Is this page a messenger? Traditionally, I suppose so, but he hs no accoutrements that would suggest as much. In fact, confusion and uncertainty seem to reign in the Page of Swords. It’s ironic, considering the clarity and focus that are associated with the suit. The Page’s arms are very ambiguous in their pose; is it the left or right holding the sword? He seems to be covering one eye. The Page’s gender is even somewhat ambiguous. The symbolism here goes on and on. A cloud covers the crescent (read: almost hidden) moon, and Art and Arcana points out that the black cat’s tail forms a question mark.

The day that I drew this card, I had to train a new guy at work. I thought it was a pretty dead-on read. The guy absolutely would not shut up; he talked endlessly. I always feel a tendency to look at the Swords as words, whether my words or the words of others, and when I look at them that way, the meanings seem to fall into place very easily for me. The court cards often represent people in our lives, and the Pages typically represent someone young or immature, or in this case, new to the job. The uncertainty of the card applies as well… I’m not sure if this guy is going to make it. He talks a big game, but he hasn’t backed it up yet.

Okay! One card knocked out of the backlog. More coming soon. :)

Day 6 - Death

Today’s card is a return to Major Arcana, by way of Death.

The familiar skeletal figure, in Scapini’s Medieval Tarot, dances in a pose reminiscent of Shiva, the destroyer of worlds.  Disembodied heads lie at Death’s feet, including that of the artist, Luigi Scapini.  Death’s scythe, with a spine for a handle, sweeps down among them.  Hands reach up, out of something that seems to be water, though water is normally shown as green in this deck.  I have a hard time deciding what exactly it is Death is standing on.  Perhaps it’s just a cold, barren landscape.

Art and Arcana identifies the hands as making mudras, ritual gestures from Buddhist art.  This causes green plants to grow around them.  This reinforces the idea of Death not being a final end, but a transition.  The Raven swooping down behind the scythe continues the theme.  The Raven is a symbol of putrefaction in alchemy, a process analogous to fermentation.  While it may not be pleasant to think about, as Art and Arcana explains, “this is a stage that leads to the birth of something better.”  There is a transition ahead of me that, while it may not be comfortable, will lead to something better.

Day 5 - Page of Cups

Today’s card is the Page of Cups.  It’s my first court card.  I think i honestly have the most trouble interpreting these out of all the cards, for whatever reason.  Scapini’s Page of Cups is a pretty enough card, however.

He carries a quill and book, playing up his traditional role as messenger.  He carries a drum under his other arm, and holds his suit sign in his hand.  A rather erotic scene of two lovers plays out on the cup.  Is the Page here to tell me that I’m on the verge of a new relationship?  It’s definitely possible.  Or there could be a return to that newness and intensity in a current relationship.  Honestly, I’m thinking it’s both.  And no, I’m not going to be cheating on anyone; my fiancee and I have an open relationship.

The Page’s belt buckle is a heart, referencing the Cups’ associated suit in French cartomancy.  They really are all about feeling, love, and relationships.  His striped uniform, according to Art and Arcana by Ronald Decker, is that of the Vatican Swiss Guard.  These young men were known for their discipline and loyalty; very fitting for a card that represents the personification of earth within the earth suit, cups.  Maybe I will need to protect someone I love.

Day 4 - Five of Wands

Yesterday’s card, breaking the short streak of Major Arcana, was the Five of Wands.  This card doesn’t deviate very far from its Rider-Waite counterpart in theme.

Five men wielding Wands, all seemingly confused and struggling against each other.  Two of the men seem confused about which Wand is theirs, one of them dcan’t even pick his Wand up off the ground, another is more concerned with other Wands than with his own, and the last almost appears to be blinded by his Wand, unable to see around it.  Another man stands watching, waiting, most likely to gain some kind of advantage once everyone else is exhausted.

My feelings on the Five of Wands are pretty clear-cut.  Yesterday was certainly full of confusion and competition, people trying to benefit themselves at my and others’ expense.  I even let my temper get away from me a little, something I really haven’t done in a while.  But I did manage to get things under control and move forward, which is what I think the card was telling me.  I had really hoped when I drew it that it was warning me to avoid confusion and struggle, but there really wasn’t any way to avoid it.  

By itself, the Five of Wands was a depressing card.  But taken in context with the cards I’ve drawn up to now, it’s another warning about the ways in which I might lose my focus, which started with the Ace of Wands.  Then there was the Hermit, paused hesitantly at the shoreline.  The Devil came next, with idle and self-destructive desires.  And finally the Five of Wands.  I can’t allow anything to steal my momentum, whether it’s fear, temptation, or frustration.

I do identify somewhat with the man waiting in the sun-emblazoned coat, as well.  Work was (and often is) incredibly chaotic, but even when things get difficult, I always seem to come through looking good, no matter what happens.  I think, in a more general and long-term sense, whatever struggles my work place may go through, I stand to gain in the end.  Pretty reassuring in that sense.

I feel like I had a bit of a breakthrough with this card.  I had no trouble interpreting what it meant for me.  Hopefully that trend will continue in the near future.  Time to draw another.

-Howes

Day 3 - The Devil

Today’s card is The Devil.  Actually, this is yesterday’s card, but I was pretty well exhausted last night and decided to do the entry once I got up today.  So here it is.

This card strikes me with a couple of different themes right from the start.  Domination, and temptation.  Two demons, male and female, dance beneath the gaze of the Devil, collared and leashed to the well on which he stands.  Looking closer, the bit about the neck of the male demon seems to be a noose - easily removed, but it can choke him to death at any moment.  Temptation can blind us, can steal away our focus, and it definitely has that effect on me.

The Devil stands in a very dominant position in the card.  I can see a need for taking more opportunities to lead at work.  I also think it’s yet another reminder to keep up the forward momentum started in the Ace of Wands.  It seems to be a precarious sort of dominance, though; Art and Arcana says “Between the Devil’s unstable hooves is a cistern containing a swirl of green, the color of life.  He could easily topple and dissolve in the fluid.”  I need to step carefully, but if I can manage that, I have the means to take control of my situation.

That’s pretty much my feelings on this card for the day.  There’s a lot more going on as far as symbolism, though.  I like it; I think it’s probably going to end up being one of my favorites in the deck.

-Howes