The Astrology of Tarot

There are four suits in Tarot as in playing cards. They can each be equated with an astrological element.

Wands = Fire Signs i.e. Aries, Leo and Sagittarius

Pentacles = Earth Signs i.e Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn

Swords = Air Signs i.e. Gemini, Libra and Aquarius

Cups = Water Signs i.e. Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces

You can see the correlation. Wands deal with our talents and enthusiasms, the fires that burn within. Pentacles deal with possessions and earthly values. Swords describe our thoughts while Air Signs are thinkers. And both Cups and Water Signs are all about feelings: owning them, using them, being lost in them.

You might find that you relate more to the Everyday Tarot (Minor Arcana) cards that match your astrological sign or they might turn up more often in readings. I notice that so far I have written three blogs about sword cards and none about cups. Maybe that's because I'm an Air Sign.

Some people have matched the star signs to particular cards in Lifelessons Tarot (the Major Arcana). I've seen Libra equated with the Justice card and Gemini with The Lovers. You can see why. Libra and Justice are both pictured as scales, both value reason and The Lovers has a dual aspect like Gemini. But I have my doubts about the usefulness of this allocation. Every card in Lifelessons Tarot is important in the journey of us all.

However I'll keep my mind open for the moment. What about you?

Four of Swords: Let Me Sleep On That!

Three swords hang ominously over a man who is resting or asleep. The fourth lies beneath his bed, he is literally sleeping on it. It's all a bit Princess and the Pea. Remember how that pea kept her awake night after night tossing and turning, well I'm guessing the sword under this dude's mattress plays a similar role. The swords on the wall indicate that there is something hanging over this bloke's head, something he needs to think about, work out. And his hands are raised as if praying for guidance.

What this card is saying is that you need to step away, take some time out, rest awhile. Someplace peaceful, away from the madding crowd, like a church maybe or a tropical island (I'll vote for the latter). It could indicate a holiday or a hospital stay or that you just need to think about something on your own for awhile before making a decision. It might  be holing up at home to work on some creative project like writing a blog (yay!) or being locked away to serve a period in jail (gulp!). In some way you are stepping out of the rush and ebb of daily life. Hence the coffin.

I quite like getting this card. It's always good to be given permission to take a break. And let's face it, most of us who are busy juggling family/work responsibilities need to be given permission to escape, don't you reckon? Although putting down the iPhone and cutting off the laptop internet supply is a big big ask.

How good are you at taking time out when you feel the need?

The Mystery of Tarot History

No one knows who invented Tarot cards or why. That's part of what makes them so much fun. The mystery. They made their first official appearance in 14th century Italy around Bologna way. Interestingly, there is a Taro River not too far from there. It seems likely however that the cards were in use all over Europe for quite a while before that.

The popular belief is that Tarot came out of Egypt with the gypsies. E-gyp-t. Gyp-sies. Get it. Not that the cultural group we know as gypsies are in any way Egyptian. That's just our European ancestors being historically lazy. You can actually trace the linguistic roots of the Romanov people from Egypt back through the Middle East to Ancient India.

Civilisation flowered in the Indus Valley long before anyone had even heard of Sumer or Crete (bet you didn't know that, they don't teach it in school). And the same Aryan people who pushed aboriginal Europeans to the western fringes in BC invaded India pushing  older inhabitants off their home turf. These ancient Indians migrated in many directions. Some to the Middle East. And some to the East Indian coast where today you can find round picture cards that show striking similarities to Tarot cards. Believe it or not.

I find gypsies interesting in that they are basically a hunter-gatherer culture trying to exist in a post-modern world which attests to their ancient cultural roots. And at the same time they have this natural affinity for reading Tarot cards. I have this whole wildcat theory going on that Tarot cards are an artefact from the prehistoric era. Not that I have any hard core proof. But it makes sense that before we wrote books in words we would have written them in pictures. Kids start reading with picture books after all. And as they say, every picture tells a thousand words. Take Egyptian hieroglyphs as exhibit A (and I'll place down Tarot cards one by one in this blog as exhibit B.)

And make no mistake, Tarot is a book. You don't read it left to right or right to left but it is a book all the same.

Anyhoo, just riffing away here, please stop me if I you think I've gone OTT. Feel free to add your own suggestions below.

Details Smetails

It's the little details that are most telling in Tarot. That add nuances to the meanings of each card. Let's check some examples starting with the card we looked at yesterday, the Four Of Pentacles.

Four is a solid number. One you can rely on. Animals stand on four legs after all. The fact that this card is numbered four suggests a solid foundation be it financial or values or whatever. And note the city in the background. People work in cities. This suggests that the man has a job, earns a wage. Both these details point to the functional expression of this card: The Good Provider. Despite the black coat, this man can be someone you can rely on.

Another detail: The coin on the man's head, weighing him down. This points to the burden that possessions or cold hard cash can be for the owner. Points to how money can cloud someone's judgement. Points to other not-so-positive readings of the card.

Now for one of my favorites (I do go on about him alot only 'cause I feel he's so misunderstood).

A lot of people are afraid of The Devil. But there is a key detail in the picture that shows why we don't need to be: The loose chains around the man and woman's necks. Although the devil looms large in this card he is not the one in control. We are. At any stage we can throw off his chains and walk away. It's up to us.

Does this make you feel better about The Devil? Even just a teensy bit?

4 of Pentacles: The Cheapskate! The Scrooge! The Possessive!

This is the Four of Pentacles. The man in the card is surrounded by coins. That and the crown on his head puts me in mind of the rhyme: 'The king was in the counting house counting all his money'. This king is holding onto his coins for grim life. Talk about possessive. And see his black cloak? I think that's meant to represent the ugliness of his soul.

I get this card a lot. Yes it's true, I'm a cheapskate. That's the non-functional expression of this card. Of course you can cling onto other things besides money: possessions, friendships, boyfriends (yes, done that too) or a job you hate. If you get this card somewhere you're holding onto something out of fear. That's the black.

Or else, someone is clinging onto you. Yikes!

What about the functional expression of this card? Well in my case the benefit of being a cheapskate is that in times of need you have good reserves to draw on. My cheapskatedness has been a life-safer for my family over the years. I guess the functional expression of this card is being a good budgeter. That's true of me as well. It's a quality I'm proud of.

So I guess I can relate to both sides of the Four Of Pents. What about you? Can you relate to this card, or not?

Don't Look A (Tarot) Gift Horse In The Mouth!

You know, you can overdose on Tarot. Do so many readings that they all become meaningless. It's a bit addictive. Like having a hotline to The Source Of All Things that you can't stop pumping for information.

I am particularly susceptible to this danger after a relationship break-up and always know I have crossed the line when The Devil card keeps popping up. The Devil is for losers. For those who want someone (i.e. Tarot) to fix their problems rather than doing it themselves. For those who don't want to face reality. (Despite this, I'm quite fond of The Devil card, grateful even, but I'll leave the explanation as to why for another post.)

In my experience the best way to use Tarot is to do readings only when you feel a real need. You'll know when. And if you are doing readings everyday, which is good practice when you start out, just don't expect them to be deeply significant ones.

Have you ever looked a Tarot Gift Horse in the mouth like me?

Can Tarot cards be good and bad at the same time?

I've been thinking about what I said in another post about all Tarot cards having a positive and negative expression and wondering if that is really true. The cards can certainly be expressed in different ways but do they all have a good and a bad side? I thought we might explore this question a little using the Two of Swords which we looked at yesterday.

I subtitled this card: 'I don't want to think about it.' As I explained, it comes up when you're not ready to mentally explore some area of your life which is a bit of a can of worms. When you can't handle thinking about it. I would say that this is a negative expression of this card because in this situation you are being dysfunctional.

And the positive? Maybe it's when the card is trying to tell you that you don't need to deal with something right now. When it's giving you permission to withdraw from a situation because there is too much information for you to process. The problem in this case isn't with you, it's with some outside source. In this case you are the functional one.

Maybe rather than talking about positive and negative it would be better to talk about functional and non-functional expressions of each card.

What do you think?