Tarot: Sometimes You Just Don't 'Get It'!

Not all of the Tarot cards speak to me. Some I got straight away, others I have built a relationship with over time and some I might never understand no matter how hard I try. Kinda like people really.

The same goes for Tarot card readings. Some I look at and straight up I get the message whilst on other occasions I can't make head nor tail of the darn thing. I find it helps to sit on it. To keep the cards in front of me and reflect on the meaning of the images. But sometimes it's like trying to read a foreign language and that's all there is to it.

The Six Of Cups has been one of those cards that hasn't sung for me. Which is a pity cause I get it often enough. Can't tell you the number of times it has come up in a reading and I've been like, 'Oh! I'm going to meet up with someone from my past' but then I don't. And I've been left wondering what the card was really trying to say.

However after forcing myself to write a blog about it yesterday I feel clearer. Like we might have connected a bit more. I've always interpreted this card as referring to the past but now I see that it can refer to living in a golden glow in general. And I do get carried away in love affairs. And I can look on the rosy side of life sometimes unrealistically so. (Have I mentioned my so-far thwarted ambition to be a novelist?) I am very glass half-full, maybe over-full at times. Fantasy is my friend.

How about you? Is your relationship with Tarot a work-in-progress like mine? Or do you get each and every card no problemo (and good luck to you I say)?

6 Cups: Living The Fairytale!

The scene portrayed in this card looks kind of unreal. Like a dream. There's all those golden colours for a start. And the lead characters are unusual. Can you see how small they look compared to the cups? And what is that funny hat the boy is wearing? They put me in mind of the Little People of myth and legend. Either that or they're children. The castle guard and thatched cottage in the background only adds to the whole fairytale feel. This card whisks you back to the past, back to childhood.

Now, cups are feelings and here you have a boy and a girl interacting in an intimate manner. Reminds me of first love. When everything has a golden glow. When you look deeply into one another's eyes. When he still gives the girl flowers, lol. Interestingly, The Lovers card is numbered six as well.

I find six a tricky number in Tarot. It seems a bit unsure what it wants to be. A classic case of middle child syndrome. Apparently it's meant to suggest harmony and balance. So you are either feeling balanced in the situation this card is referring to, or not.

Going back to first love, there's a fine line isn't there between being in love and being obsessed. Between wanting to be with your lover all the time and stalking. Between wanting to please your partner and changing who you are to please them. It's easy to tip over into unreality when you're in luuurve.

Remember, only fairytales end with everyone singing and dancing. The rest of us get married or wake up. Either way we move on. You don't want to stay in the Six of Cups forever. It'd be like eating sweets non-stop. In the end you'd feel sick. Very very sick.

If you get this card you are either:

(a) In Love (yes, please)

(b) Walking down memory lane (hmmm, it should be a happy experience, but then again fairytales can be tricky can't they? I'm thinking of high school reunions as a classic example of how this card can bring out both the good and the bad.)

(c) Living in a fantasy world (good luck to you I say)

Any other suggestions?

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?