Trumps Thirteens Meanings Flashcards
The Fool
Fool Card Symbols
The fool in colorful motley clothes, pack tied to a staff, a small dog, a cliff.
Fool Tarot Story
With all his worldly possessions in one small pack, the Fool travels he knows not where. So filled with visions, questions, wonder and excitement is he, that he doesn’t see the cliff he is likely to fall over. At his heel a small dog harries him (or tries to warn him of a possible mis-step). Will the Fool learn to pay attention to where he’s going before it’s too late? Fool Tarot Card Meaning At #0 (or, in some decks, #22, the last card as much as the first of the Majors) the Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he needs to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. While it’s wonderful to be enthralled with all around you, excited by all life has to offer, you still need to watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.
Thirteen’s Observations on the Fool
As a card, the Fool ultimately stands for a new beginning often involving a literal move to a new home or job. The querent (meaning the sitter, or the one asking the cards for advice) might be starting to date again, or trying out some new activity. There’s more than just change here, there is renewal, movement, and the energy of a fresh start. In the Tarot, cards like The Magician or The Hermit can often stand for the querent or for someone in the querent’s life. The Fool, however, usually stands for the querent, himself. They are back at zero, whether that be in romantic affairs, or career, work or intellectual pursuits. Far from being sad or frustrated by having to start over, however, the querent feels remarkably *free*, light hearted and refreshed, as if being given a second chance. They feel young and energized, as excited as a child who has discovered a new toyshop. Who knows what they will find on the shelves? In addition, they likely have no idea where they’re going or what they’re going to do. But that doesn’t matter. For the Fool, the most important thing is to just go out and enjoy the world. To see what there is to see and delight in all of it. Unfortunately, this childlike state can make one overly optimistic or naive. A Fool can be a Fool. That business opportunity might not be so surefire or amazing as it seems, and that new lover might not be so flawless. Like the Fool, you might be so busy sightseeing and imagining the possibilities that you completely miss the fact that you’re about to go right off a cliff! The card advises that one listen to that watchful little dog, which might be a concerned friend, a wise tarot reader, someone harassing you from the sidelines, or just your instincts. However exciting new beginnings may be, you still have to watch your step.
The Fool Reversed
Generally speaking, the upright meaning of the Fool is that of birth, new beginnings, fresh starts, journeys and exploration. It can also mean not looking where you’re going, being naïve or foolish, or a potential disaster if you don’t stop staring at the stars and take a good look at what’s directly ahead of you. 1) Opposites: If we were to go for a simple, opposite meaning, the card might mean an ending and/or wisdom. 2) Blocked: More apt is the blocked interpretation. If the energy of the Fool is all about starting something new, going somewhere new, then blocking that energy means that the querent is having difficulty starting anew, moving, seeing the world with fresh eyes. There is also an implication of being stuck, uninspired. The Fool, if you will, is sitting at the side of the road with blisters on his feet and rocks in his shoes, unable to go on his way. 3) Upside-down: What if we turn the image upside-down? I’ll use classic Rider-Waite here–but in reversing the image, interpretation, of course, will depend on the deck. The cliff edge is hanging over the Fool and his feet have no real purchase. We might say that he’s falling, dropping off from under the rock to free fall through the yellow sky. Everything, the sack, the dog, tumbles with him. We might well interpret this as the Fool (in Rider represented by Air), getting completely lost in his head, in hopes and imagination, in talk of what he’s going to do, completely surrendering to the sky, with no way to actually walk toward anything, even disaster. This, we might say, is the Fool doomed to Foolishness that makes sense only to him. He is not in the real world and whatever he proposes cannot be made real.
The Magician
Magician Card Symbols
Red and white coloring, the lemniscate (infinity symbol), a small wand, a table displaying a chalice, a pentacle, a staff (wand) and a sword.
Magician Tarot Card MeaningAt #1, the Magician is the male power of creation by willpower and desire. The lemniscate (infinity symbol) over his head indicates the energy of thought. Thus, he draws divine power down from the heavens into his white wand, molds it with that energy of thought, and makes it manifest on Earth (his finger pointing to the ground). This is that most ancient magic to make real whatever he imagines in his head merely by saying it aloud. (“And God said ‘Let there be Light!’ and there was Light”).Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is often represented by Mercury. Mercury is the planet and god of smooth talkers and salesmen. Also clever with the sleight of hand (Mercury *was* the god of thieves!) and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil.The 4 suits before him remind us of the 4 aces, which in the Tarot symbolize the raw, undeveloped, undirected power of each suit. When the Magician appears, he reveals these to you. The tarot reader might well interpret this card as telling the querent that they will be given a vision, an idea, a magical, mental image of whatever it is they most want: the solution to a problem, an ambitious career, a love life, a job.Thirteen’s Observations on the MagicianIf any card in the Tarot is the Tarot, it is the Magician. He’s one of the most recognizable cards, always a favorite. He’s also the only card in the major arcana that refers to the minors with the “trumps” displayed upon his table. One way to look at them is as ideas that the Magician is offering you.Thus, the card is about getting an idea and finding a way to verbalize it. This is the first step toward making it a reality. Which is why the Magician can indicate a time when one is eloquent and charismatic, clever, witty, inventive and persuasive.Keep in mind, however, that the Magician could be a trickster. If this card represents some magnetic person in the querent’s life, they need to make sure that he’s or she is a genuine magician, not a con man.The card can also indicate an interest in certain careers or someone who is already in one of those careers: a scientist, inventor or medical professional. The card also relates to careers where speech and writing is of great importance: salesman, motivational speaker, storyteller, politician, commentator. This might be the querent himself, something the querent wants to be, or someone who was, is or will be in his life.Most importantly, the Magician card stands for the “reveal” - as in a magic trick. The handkerchief is draped over an empty box, the Magician waves his wand, *presto!*–now there is a dove in the box. The Magician card does the same for the querent–only what it reveals is not birds or rabbits but NEW ideas. Emphasis on NEW. When the Magician cardThus, the card is about getting an idea and finding a way to verbalize it. This is the first step toward making it a reality. Which is why the Magician can indicate a time when one is eloquent and charismatic, clever, witty, inventive and persuasive.Keep in mind, however, that the Magician could be a trickster. If this card represents some magnetic person in the querent’s life, they need to make sure that he’s or she is a genuine magician, not a con man.The card can also indicate an interest in certain careers or someone who is already in one of those careers: a scientist, inventor or medical professional. The card also relates to careers where speech and writing is of great importance: salesman, motivational speaker, storyteller, politician, commentator. This might be the querent himself, something the querent wants to be, or someone who was, is or will be in his life.Most importantly, the Magician card stands for the “reveal” - as in a magic trick. The handkerchief is draped over an empty box, the Magician waves his wand, *presto!*–now there is a dove in the box. The Magician card does the same for the querent–only what it reveals is not birds or rabbits but NEW ideas. Emphasis on NEW. When the Magician card appears, the querent is likely to say: “Now there’s an idea! Why didn’t I think of that before?” Truth is the querent probably had that idea in his head all along. The Magician merely revealed it to him, allowed him to verbalize it and crystallize that idea. But what will the Querent do with this idea? That’s a question for the next card appears, the querent is likely to say: “Now there’s an idea! Why didn’t I think of that before?” Truth is the querent probably had that idea in his head all along. The Magician merely revealed it to him, allowed him to verbalize it and crystallize that idea. But what will the Querent do with this idea? That’s a question for the next card….
The Magician Reversed
Upright, the Magician can stand for either a person or possibilities. As a person, he’s usually seen as someone with a great deal of charisma; a public speaker, maybe a doctor or healer. If not a person, the Magician is a card of possibilities. Of having the tools available (those spread out on his table) to make something that you want or need. The Magician speaks of magical possibilities–he creates the image for the querent, what could be, and presents the tools that can be used to make that image a reality. Putting it another way, the Magician card offers the querent the vision of a new home and the tools to make that home a reality…if they’re willing to put the work into it. So what does this card say reversed? 1) Opposites: There are negative aspects to the Magician card and a reader using reversals might simply save them for reversed cards. Negatives in this case are seeing the Magician as a “snake oil” man rather than a true doctor/healer, as a trickster rather than a shaman, as a con-artist rather than a charismatic speaker. Reversed, possibilities become jokes; empty promises rather than true visions of what could be. This is the “music man” running off with the money rather than really teaching boys how to use those instruments and create a band. 2) Blocked: Blockage undoubtedly seems evident here. The charismatic speaker finds he can’t move his audience, can’t find the right words. The doctor has trouble with a diagnosis. And there seem to be neither possibilities for the future, nor a way to achieve such possibilities. There seems to be no way to make or get what is needed. The lumber to build the house is there, but the blueprints and tools are missing. 3) Upside-down: If we imagine the Rider-Waite Magician reversed, we can see those tools falling off the table. Likewise, the Magician in that card points his wand to the sky and finger to the Earth - drawing inspiration down from the heavens, as it were to make it possible in the mundane world. Upside-down, (earth at Magician’s head, heaven at his feet) we have the opposite. What was possible become impossible; a dream only seen above not below. Likewise, the lemniscate (infinity sign) is now being crushed. It no longer floats and offers infinite possibilities. It is “underfoot” as it were. Thus, everything the magician had to be a Magician is lost to him.
The High Priestess
High Priestess Card Symbols
Blue, white and black colors, pomegranates, the moon crown of Isis, veil, solar cross, crescent moon. Black & white lotus, pillars (B stands for Boaz, signifying negation, J stands for Jachin, meaning beginning). Scroll with the word Tora on it (either the Jewish Torah or an anagram of “Tarot,” where the final letter is left unseen).
High Priestess Tarot Story Continuing his journey, the Fool comes upon a beautiful and mysterious veiled lady enthroned between two pillars and illuminated by the moon. She is the opposite of the Magician, quiet where he was loquacious, still where he was in motion, sitting while he stood, shrouded in the night where he was out in the bright of day. Sensing that she is a great seer, the Fool lays out his sword, chalice, staff and pentacle before her. “The Magician showed me these, but now I’m in a quandary. There are so many things I could do with them. I can’t decide.” The High Priestess doesn’t speak. Instead she hands him a pair of ancient scrolls. Seating himself at her feet, the Fool puts his decision-making on hold and reads by the light of her crescent moon. “I did not know any of this,” says the Fool. The scrolls, like a secret manual, have given him insight into his new tools. “This information helps me to narrow things down, but I’m still afraid of making a wrong decision.” The words come to him then, not from without but from within: “What do your instincts tell you?” The Fool reflects on that, and that’s when he knows what he should do. Decision made, he rises to leave even though he suspects that the High Priestess has more secrets she could reveal to him–like what lies behind the pomegranate curtain. Right now, however, he is focused and ready to be on his way. Thanking the High Priestess, he heads off. But as he leaves he hears that inner voice, rising like the waters which spring and flow from beneath her throne: “We’ll meet again…when you’re ready to travel the most secret path of all.” High Priestess Tarot Card Meaning Once you have an idea, you also have decisions to make. The High Priestess holds scrolls of arcane information in her arms. In addition, the moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see about a job possibility, an investment, love, career, family, etc. But you need some alone time, some quiet time to meditate and reflect. This is what the card is all about. Seated between two pillars as between two choices, the High Priestess is not about making a decision so much as holding decision-making at bay while you take time to listen to your inner voice. She wants you to gain knowledge before you act: instinctual knowledge, supernatural knowledge, secret knowledge, self-knowledge. The High Priestess, however, goes beyond even that for those who seek more. Behind her throne is the curtain that leads to the deepest, most esoteric knowledge; the pomegranates that decorate it remind us of Persephone, who was taken down into the land of the dead, ate its fruit and became the only goddess allowed to travel to and from that strange land. The High Priestess is our guide to all that is mysterious and mystical. Thirteen’s Observations on the High Priestess If there is a card that symbolizes the tarot reader it is the High Priestess. A woman (or man!) of psychic powers, intuition and secret knowledge. Where the Magician is about revealing, the High Priestess is about keeping things hidden behind the curtain. Where he urges the querent to verbalize what he’s thinking, the High Priestess urges him to silently reflect on his feelings. She is not only the complement to the Magician, however, but to two other majors. She is the counterpoint to the Hierophant, maintaining secret traditions and rites passed from seer to successor, rather than advocating community traditions. And she is the natural moonlight to the Hermit’s manmade lantern, equally solitary and of the night, but acting as restful librarian of information rather than restless seeker of it. If the reader feels the High Priestess stands for the querent then this is a time of solitary investigation for them or perhaps just a time to trust their instincts. Things kept secret will be revealed, either passed on to them by another or coming to them psychically by way of visions or powerful feelings. Insights may be found in crystal balls, tea leaves, dreams or conversations with spirits. Standing for someone other than the querent, the High Priestess is usually read as a spiritual woman or medium, a teacher of archaic knowledge, librarian or just a reclusive relative who knows many family secrets. She may come across as cold, unpredictable and scary, but her instincts and insights will be uncanny. The High Priestess if often seen as a perpetual maiden, the eternal virgin of an Athena, Diana or Vesta. But some view her as also representing a woman who might be pregnant. In such instances, the High Priestess is NOT viewed as an emblem of fertility, a “mother,” but rather as a still, quiet incubator where the “idea” (child) can remain stable and protected. “I’ve a new idea,” says the querent–thanks to the Magician. But now there are decisions to make. What direction should one take this idea? The High Priestess not only offers illumination, revealing secret paths and hidden dangers, but also a still, quiet place between the pillars of dark and light, existence and negation, wax and wane where one can pause, see, feel and reflect on what one really wants to do with this idea. Now that you know what you want to do, how do you make it real? The next card will discuss that…
The High Priestess Reversed
Upright, the High Priestess is a mysterious card, both frightening and wonderful. Where the Magician is the charismatic showman with an audience, the HPS is the solitary lady guarding an ancient library. Where the Magician is all about possibilities, she is about “impossibilities.” Secret knowledge, instincts, even magic. Hers is a card about personal and individual journeys across dark deserts to enlightenment. She is also about that moment when opposites both exist but don’t cancel each other out. When we stand between the pillars of light and dark, day and night…and need that secret knowledge or instincts or psychic power in order to know how to best develop what we have (Example: the Two of Wands - it isn’t a choice between a wand and a pentacle, it’s two wands. Rather like Harry Potter, the querent needs a wand to do the job, but which wand will best do the job? And how do you start using it?–another example might be a tarot reader deciding on that first deck…and first book to read!). 1) Opposite: Once again, there are negatives in the card that a reader might save for reversals. In this case, secrets are kept or not revealed, the answer is searched for but not found, instincts are wrong. In a more personal sense, there is a cold streak to the High Priestess. She refuses to open the door, withholds her secrets except when they’re hurtful. She’s that nasty maiden aunt who lives alone and knows the dirt on everyone and uses it just to watch them squirm. She can also be that unpredictable teacher or woman - brilliant but her mood changes are downright scary. You don’t know if she’s going to coldly answer your question - or bite your head off. 2) Blocked: The blocking here really focuses on the instinctual or psychic energy. There is just nothing coming through. Once of those days when you do a tarot reading and the cards are just cards. They don’t speak to you, you see nothing in them. Likewise, making a decision about anything seems impossible. The two wands look the same and you cannot tell the difference between them. 3) Upside-down: There would seem to be little difference if we turn the card upside-down, but like the subtle meaning of the High Priestess, the difference is similarly subtle. Taking the Rider-Waite image, she has the crescent moon at her foot and a well-spring of water begins there that runs through other cards. Turn her upside-down and the water falls and runs dry. The moon hangs above rather than at her command. The curtain of pomegranates, shrouding the mysteries falls open, and all that people should not see - that might be damaging to see - they see. The pillars are on their crowns not on the base and cannot support themselves. There is, in short, a loss of control. And the High Priestess, who holds opposites in delicate balance, needs that control. If all this is lost, then there is a kind of madness. Chaos, indecision, a loss of secrets and knowledge.
The Empress
Empress Tarot Symbols
A gown decorated with pomegranates, a crown of stars, a rod, a heart-shaped shield with the symbol for Venus, a field of ripe wheat.
Empress Tarot Story Having decided what he will create with his tools, the Fool strides forward, impatient to make his future a full-grown reality. This is when he comes upon the Empress. Her hair gold as wheat, wearing a crown of stars, and a white gown dotted with pomegranates. She rests back on her throne surrounded by an abundance of grain and a lush garden. It is possible that she is pregnant.* Kneeling, the Fool relates to her his story. And she, in turn, smiles a motherly smile and gently gives him this advice: “Like newly planted grain or a newborn babe, a new life, a new relationship, a new creation is fragile. It requires patience and nurturing. It needs love and attention. Only this will bring it to fruition.” Understanding at last that his creations will take time to develop, the Fool thanks the Empress and continues on his way. * Pregnant. Well, not in the Rider-Waite deck she isn’t. But many other decks go for pregnancy as part of the Empress’ iconography. Empress Tarot Card Meaning The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea time and space to decide on a form, the Empress is either the womb or nursery where it grows till it reaches a certain level of maturity. This is why the Empress’ symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things and gardens, as wells as sex and love. Venus is the goddess of artists, and helps them painstakingly develop their pieces from clay to statue, from first brushstroke to masterpiece. Even so, however, the Empress has more in common with Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus, as the wheat in the background and the pomegranates on her dress imply. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, the great, fertile mother goddess. Yet at the same time, she can, in anger, withhold as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her. Thirteen’s Observations on the Empress The Empress card is one of the easier trumps to read. She’s the Great Mother, so much so that she’s often viewed as one of those cards that can indicate a “positive” answer if a woman is wondering if she can get pregnant. This is the fertile womb where anything can grow and thrive (as compared to the protective “incubator” of the High Priestess). The Empress’ ability to mother goes beyond the womb, however. She is patient, loving, giving, generous, devoted. The ultimate nurturer. If defining her as the querent, you can say that they are currently feeling like a mother hen, worried about their children, new business, new creation, or new romance. Male or female, they want to dote and hover and fret over every little sneeze and problem. They likely also want to talk only about their baby, boasting of its growth and development, sending pictures of it to friends and relatives. Likewise, the advice a reader might give on getting this card could be similar to that offered to a mother with a young child: either that young things need time to grow, and so require patience and attention, or that while an infant needs a great deal of care, a toddler needs less, and a child even less. A good mother adjusts her care as the child matures and develops, giving them room to crawl and then run and play. If defining the Empress as someone related to the querent, it is likely the querent’s mother or a woman who is very motherly toward them. Of course, the Empress can also be about the not so nice aspects of a mom. She can smother, not know when to let go, be possessive and jealous of those who would take away her “baby.” It is important for the querent to realize that plants can die from over-watering as easily as they can from neglect. Like any good mother or good gardener, the querent must have patience and the ability to adjust and improvise as their “baby” sprouts and grows.
The Empress Reversed
The Empress is all about creation. It’s about planting the seed, nurturing it, growing it. It’s about patience and “motherhood” in all its facets, with the Empress as the ultimate mother - both the caring motherly kind, and the more distant, elegant kind, but in either case, the hen watching over her brood. Note that there is always a danger of the Empress over-watering the plants or having trouble (as moms do) in letting their children go when the time comes. 1) Opposite: Using negatives of the card reversed, we get neglect instead of attention. The woman who doesn’t water her plants - or doesn’t pay attention to her children. There is a danger in the upright Empress of smothering the child. In the reversed Empress, the danger is that she won’t nurture the child enough. No affection, no protection, no care to make sure the child grows right. Here is the woman who takes a child to a restaurant, and then ignores the kid as he goes racing up and down, playing under tables, interfering with the staff, getting into trouble. This can go for anything, not just children. Neglecting a business or project that OUGHT to be dear to one’s heart, ought to be one’s baby but you just don’t have the patience for it. 2) Blocked: This goes one step further, I think, then the opposite. In this case, the Empress’ nurturing, growing energy is blocked. It is almost as if the child were not merely neglected, but abandoned. There is no desire to help anything grow. The watering can is left to rust. All the instincts of the Empress - knowing when to transplant that tree to a new pot so it can spread its roots, knowing when to prune it, fertilize it, are blocked. In this instance, the querent doesn’t know how to help their business, children, or project grow and develop. They may be clueless, have no such instincts and need outside help - or they may need to find a way to re-discover their mothering instincts. 3) Upside-down: Turn the Rider-Waite image upside-down and we not only unseat the Empress, we uproot all her trees and scatter all her grain. Her crown of stars falls off her head, and the stream (the one that starts in the High Priestess card), drains away. Her feet are no long planted on the Earth. If we turn this card upside-down we go farther than just not being able to grow - we tear out what is already growing and living and kill it. We uproot everything, including the Empress. Viewing this card upside-down gives us perhaps the most terrible interpretation of it, the wanton destruction of all that is growing and thriving and beautiful. This is the card that might come up when discussing the cutting down of rainforests or desecration of natural landscapes or anything beautiful, the destruction of works or art, of someone’s business or home or family. The nurturing isn’t merely blocked-it is actively, wantonly destroyed. This is abuse or even violence. Growth isn’t merely neglected or stopped; it is actively, vindictively prevented.
The Emperor
Emperor Tarot Symbols
Throne, ram’s heads, orb and scepter. Sometimes an eagle.
Emperor Tarot Story The Fool was given options by the Magician, and decided on one with help from the High Priestess. He learned how to develop it thanks to the Empress. Now it has reached as stage where he must find a way to manage it. How to do this? He approaches a great Emperor seated on a stone throne. The Fool is amazed by the way the Emperor is instantly, eagerly obeyed in every particular, at how well his Empire is run and organized. Respectfully, he asks the Emperor how it is he does this. And the Emperor answers: “Strong will and a solid foundation of laws and order. It’s all very well,” he explains to the Fool, “to be imaginative, creative, instinctual, patient; but to control one must be alert, brave and aggressive.” Ready now to lead and direct rather than be led, the Fool heads out with new purpose. Emperor Tarot Card Meaning The Emperor, as Aries, the Ram, naturally follows the Empress. On the one hand, he is Mars (the planet that rules Aries) to her Venus, her lover and compliment, father to her mother, civilization to her nature, imposed order to her artful creativity. He is the “All Father” giving his children the structure they need in their lives to help them become responsible adults. Aries is also, however, the first sign of the Zodiac, metaphorically the “infant.” Like an infant he is filled with enthusiasm, energy, aggression. He is direct, guileless and all too often irresistible. Unfortunately, like a baby he can also be a tyrant: impatient, demanding, controlling. In the worst of circumstances, the Emperor is a despot, imposing his will capriciously on his subjects. In the best of circumstances, he signifies an intelligent, enthusiastic leader that everyone wants to follow, the great monarch of an orderly, lawful, thriving Empire. Thirteen’s Observations on the Emperor The Emperor card is the “Who’s the boss?” card. It is an important question. The meaning of the card includes being in control over your environment, your body, your temper, your instincts, your love life. This card gives the querent permission to be aggressive, brave, bold and in command. If the card doesn’t seem to indicate the querent, it could be emblematic of their father or a father figure who was, is or will be in their lives, a leader, employer, teacher or partner. This could be either type of father-figure, the demanding tyrant, hated and feared, or the charismatic leader, respected and admired. The Emperor can also be a warning to the querent to think about whether their Empire has become an unwelcome chore. If it has, are they now a bad leader, demanding, unreasonable, unhappy? It might be time to abdicate the throne. If, however, what the querent is building has merely gotten to a point where it’s outgrown the nursery, then the advice is to switch from loving mother to structured, organized father. To set down laws, discipline and rules, to plan out the future and lead the way.
The Emperor Reversed
The Emperor is a card about control, about authority, command, organization and foundations. He follows all those other cards where the querent decides what he wants, and nurtures it into fruition–now what the querent has must be managed, guided. Hence, the Emperor. But what about the Emperor reversed? 1) Opposite: If the Emperor is the father, the adult parent, then the opposite is the baby. The negatives or opposites of the Emperor card is that of childishness: the leader is tyrannical, the worst sort of Nero-like dictator; he uses his aggression, temper and his charm for his own selfish wants rather than to help his kingdom. In the opposite camp, this is a card about inconsistency and unpredictability. There is no control, only impulsive demands. 2) Blocked: In this case, something is stopping the energy that gives a person authority, or the energy that brings things under control. As the Emperor is a man of aggression, charisma and energy, a reversed card could indicate that these elements are being cut off. The person in authority finds themselves unable to motivate or control others - rather like a mother who finds she cannot control her children; they ignore and disrespect her rather than obeying her. As a consequence, the entire house (kingdom) is a mess. 3) Upside-down: The essence of the Emperor is his throne. He is solidly seated on that chair, in command. Turn him upside-down and several things happen. First, the crown falls off his head, the scepter and sphere from his hands. He himself falls out of the chair, and the chair also falls. This is a trio of damages. The ruler loses all emblems of command, and the kingdom loses not only the commander but the seat of power. All that is left are the bare rocks. Once again, the upside-down interpretation goes one step further. It predicts not merely a loss of authority and control on the part of the Emperor, but a loss of both ruler and foundation for the kingdom. In this instance, the manager running a certain branch of a company is let go or leaves, and his job vanishes with him. No one takes his place, his employees are left at loose ends, and the whole branch collapses. There is no chance for organization, no chance for further growth or development. No one is in charge and no one can be in charge. The throne and all trappings of rulership (crown, scepter, etc.) are gone.
The Hierophant
Hierophant Card Symbols
Twin pillars, staff, throne, crossed keys, hand raised in blessing, two acolytes.
Hierophant Tarot Story Having created a solid foundation on which to build his future, the Fool is struck with a sudden fear. What if everything he’s worked for is taken away? Is stolen, or lost, or destroyed or vanishes? Or what if what he’s created isn’t good enough? In a panic, he heads into a temple where he finds the Hierophant, a wise and holy man. Acolytes kneel before the man ready to hear and pass on his teachings. The Fool tells the Hierophant his fears, and asks how he can be free of them. “There are two ways,” says the Hierophant sagely, “Either give up that which you fear to lose so it no longer holds any power over you, or consider what you will still have if your fear comes to pass. After all,” the Hierophant continues, “if you did lose all you’d built, you would still keep the experience and knowledge that you’ve gained up to this point, wouldn’t you?” “That is true,” the Fool says. “But what about the community, society and friends I’ve discovered thanks to what I’ve created? More than knowledge or experience, I value them. If I lost all, I’d lose them too, wouldn’t I?” “Not necessarily,” the Hierophant answers with a warm glow in his compassionate eyes. “If your community has traditions that you all share, ethics and beliefs, then you will never lose that fellowship even if circumstances force you to part. You can even pass such onto your children giving them the same fellowship with each other and with past generations.” Hearing this, the Fool feels his heart ease, as if knots of fear have been loosened. A sense of peace blankets him, and he takes a moment to thank the good Hierophant most profoundly. Stepping out of the sanctuary he makes his way to a meeting with his friends. Tonight they will talk about how they can create lessons and traditions to preserve not only their experience and knowledge, but their community. Hierophant Tarot Card Meaning Taurus the Earthly bull may seem an odd sign for a holy man, but it makes sense if you understand that the Hierophant’s purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess connects to the esoteric with her secret, solitary rites, the Hierophant (or High Priest) leads his flock in shared, communal rituals. The Hierophant is well suited to be such a leader as, like all Taureans, he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of crisis. Such rituals, rites and traditions remind the community of their values, their shared identity and the religious structure that gives their lives order and meaning. No matter how chaotic and frightening the times, this can bring tranquility. The Hierophant’s only problem is that, like the Bull, he can be stubborn and hidebound. Also, as he is working for the harmony of the community, the Hierophant is not a card that favors individuality. Harmony cannot be achieved if everyone is marching to their own drummer. The Hierophant is about shared feelings, beliefs and ways. It even can be about blending in or surrendering to tradition and community rather than asserting your uniqueness. Thirteen’s Observations on the Hierophant The Hierophant card often features religious symbols that elicit strong feelings in both readers and querents. Some find it hard to disassociate the Hierophant from certain organized religions (or branches of a religion), which they view as domineering, irrational, even cruel. And so they tend to interpret the Hierophant only by his potential negatives: as hide-bound, literal and stodgy. I like to point out that there are decks where the Hierophant is the Oracle at Delphi, a yogi, a pagan high priest or a village elder. If it helps, the reader can try and think of the Hierophant as one of these less conventional spiritual leaders. It is certainly true, however, that the Hierophant can represent those in the querent’s life who preach by the book, or refuse to deviate one iota from old-fashioned ways of doing things. Try to keep in mind, however, that such irascible, orthodox types are usually acting out of fear. They’re terrified that any change will weaken the community and its faith. This is ironic as such traditions are meant to erase fear and create peace and harmony, not generate more fear. Likewise, the Hierophant might well be a warning to the querent, himself, against being too stubborn, too fearful of change, especially in matters of theology, ethics or traditions. The Hierophant could appear as a reminder that the aim of traditions is not to follow them by rote, but to use them to keep alive the spirit and faith of a people. This is an important message. When things are going very wrong in the world, it is the Hierophant who wades in, quiets the panic, and offers good, practical advice as well as spiritual assurances. He is the teacher, therapist, counselor, advisor, priest or rabbi. He answers questions people would ask of the divine, but also acts as the voice of the community, speaking for the people as well as to them. The Hierophant symbolizes the community’s traditions, ethics and faith, the spirituality that defines and unifies them, generation to generation. “Remember where you came from,” this card tells you, “the traditions of your forefathers, the lessons of your faith, and you will know how to survive this crisis.” In the most dire times of loss and fear, the Hierophant is there to remind you that you are never alone.
The Hierophant Reversed
The Hierophant is the moral and social conscience of the deck. He offers spiritual guidance, and when upright and positive, he can stand for that favored spiritual leader who guides us all through troubled times and ethical dilemmas. At his best, he is about humility and teaching, about getting people through deeply frightening and difficult situations. He also represents the wider rules of society, what we teach each other in order to get along and fit in, everything from common courtesy and social graces to laws and rules. When reversed, however….. 1) Opposite: if we assume that the negative or worst qualities of the card are it’s “opposite” qualities, then the reversed Hierophant is the hidebound prude. Here is the man pounding on the holy book, insisting that every commandment must be followed to the letter. He refuses to listen to alternate interpretations of what is written, refuses to bend or flex. He teaches by rote, and had no mercy for those who disagree. In a general sense, he represents the most unforgiving aspect of society; the one that stones and burns those who do not conform. It can be telling the querent that they are either in danger for trying to be different, speak up or blow the whistle–or it can tell them that they, themselves, are being far too inflexible in their point of view. Too harsh in their judgement of another’s failings, weaknesses or individuality. 2) Blocked: We can better understand the negative of this card by viewing the blocking of energies. The Hierophant gets spiritual inspiration from above and makes it real on Earth. In psychological terms, he is the superego communicating and guiding the ego. If this is blocked, then the ego is without guidance. It has only the rules it wrote down to follow, with no knowledge of WHY such rules should be followed. Hence, the community is unable to adjust its laws, erase those that no longer apply or create new ones which might be needed. They follow law by rote, without true spiritual guidance, ethics or morality behind such laws. It is very much a matter of a parents saying to a child, “Do this because I say so!” And so the child learns to do this–but never knows why. And so true conscience for why this ought to be done, or not done, is never developed. Fear of punishment keeps the child from disobeying. Not morality or a belief in the rightness of the law. 3) Upside-down: Upright, the Hierophant gives his words to his acolytes, with the “keys to the kingdom” at his feet. Turn him upside-down and it is the acolytes who are on top, as it were, the keys in their hands. The Hierophant’s head/voice (superego/conscience) is below instead of above. Symbolically, the Hierophant is grounded, and his words come from the earth, not from heaven. Meanwhile, his listeners are in power and control, using those keys with impunity to lock away secrets, rather than open them up. Upside-down, this card is very reminiscent of spiritual institutions who control information, maintain earthly power (where the leaders are rich and living in luxury, while their flock is poor and in need). They offer up rules for the purpose of being in control, like the acolytes above the Hierophant, rather than helping the community morally and spiritually. We see this likewise in folk who take the moral high-ground in order to get their agendas favored, while making opponents look immoral in order to undermine them. There is a strong pressure in this card to conform…or else.
The Lovers
Lovers Card Symbols
An angel or cupid, a man and a woman, two trees (in Waite, it is Adam & Eve with one tree having a serpent and apples) - in some decks one tree is flowering, but the other has fruit. Also in some decks there is a man standing between two women.
Lovers Tarot Story The Fool comes to a cross-road, filled with energy, confidence and purpose, knowing exactly where he wants to go and what he wants to do. But he comes to a dead stop. A flowering tree marks the path he wants to take, the one he’s been planning on taking. But standing before a fruit tree marking the other path is a woman. The Fool has met and had relationships with women before, some far more beautiful and alluring. But she is different. Seeing her, he feels as though he’s just been shot in the heart with cupid’s arrow. That’s how shocking, how painful is his “recognition” of her. As he speaks with her, the feeling intensifies; like finding a missing part of himself. It is clear that she feels the same about him. They finish each other’s sentences, think the same thoughts. It is as if an Angel above had introduced their souls to each other. Though it was his plan to follow the path of the flowering tree, and though it will cause some trouble for him to bring this woman with him, the Fool knows he dare not leave her behind. Like the fruit tree, she will fulfill him. No matter how divergent from his original intent, she is his future. He chooses her, and together they head down a whole new road. Lovers Tarot Meaning New readers often ask, “What is the Lovers’ card about? Is it about finding love?” Yes, and no. It is possible that the original name of this card was “Love.” The oldest decks call it “The amorous one,” The Lovers being a mistranslation. So really, it’s about one person being “in love” with someone or something. Many books, however, define the card not as “Love” but as a “choice.” And the images that have been used for this card make it even more confusing. The original trump featured a man and a woman with a cupid above them about to shoot his dart (into which? Cupid’s arrows only make the one they strike fall in love). Later decks had a man choosing between two women, or a man meeting his true love with the help of a matchmaker. Still later, with Waite, we have an Angel above Adam and Eve. The Angel stands for Raphael, who is emblematic of Mercury and Air, with Adam and Eve related to Gemini (sign of Mercury) in that Eve split from Adam and is, essentially, his twin. And the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge indicates Adam and Eve choosing to “know” each other in every sense of the word. This connection to Gemini means that the Lovers card is NOT about “romance” or passion. Romantic emotions are typically related to water. And blazing passion is associated with fire. Gemini, an air sign, is about messages and making contact. It’s about the psyche. In addition, at #6 the Lover’s card is about “harmony.” Thus, it is about something that speaks to you, that you “know” and recognize as your other or mirror self (twin), and which makes you feel harmonically balanced or complete. You may experience this psychic attraction to something small like a pair of shoes you have to have, or a rock band whose music says all you ever wanted to say. Or you might be drawn to something huge, a plot of land you want to own, or someone else’s boyfriend/girlfriend who, at first sight, makes you think: “That’s my husband/wife.” In interpretation, the card indicates that the querent has come across, or will come across a person, career, challenge or thing (a puppy, a car, a house) that they will fall in love with. They will know instinctively that it was meant for them, even if it means diverging from their chosen path (that is the “Love” part). On the other hand, their common sense must also make a decision on whether or not to go along with this psychic “choice.” There is often a measure of hardship or cost that comes with giving into this spiritual attraction. Thirteen’s Observations on the Lovers The Lovers’ card often confuses readers as its most common interpretation is about making a choice. If we examine it closer, we see this does go along with the name (or mis-name of the card). Two choices are involved with the card. First, your soul or psyche is making its choice. It recognizes this other person/thing as being your spiritual twin or as harmonizing with you; you become “amorous” for it. Now the rest of you, the demands of your life, your emotional heart, passionate soul, can agree or not. That’s the other choice. You will feel powerfully drawn to this career, challenge, person or thing so much so that, no matter how scary, how difficult, irrational or troublesome, you will be inclined to go for it. This is LOVE. But you will also know that it comes at a cost. Maybe the person you’re attracted to isn’t a romantic and your dreams of a wine-and-roses love affair can’t be. Maybe they don’t set you on fire and you can’t have the passion you want. Or maybe this thing/person is just inconvenient. Your friends and family may also weigh in. They may think you’re crazy, may argue with you not to get involved. You, yourself, might think its madness to change your life or break with your community in order to have this. Coming after the Emperor with his imperial rules, and after the Hierophant with his communal faith, The Lovers acknowledges a spiritual power that often defies earthly laws and religious traditions. Obeying this urge can be foolish, dangerous, selfish, thoughtless, earth-shattering. Yet you can say “no” to this attraction. You do have that choice. If, however, you don’t allow yourself to try and make this person, career, challenge or thing a part of your life, you may regret it, profoundly and forever.
The Lovers Reversed
In the upright position, the Lovers card is about finding that other half of ourselves. It might be a person, but it can also be anything that completes us, that speaks to us - a career, a cause, a religion. It usually involves us making a choice to go for that something and so feel whole, unified. Reversed…. 1) Opposite: The clearest opposite of coming together is being split apart. So one of the simplest and most obvious messages here is a break up. A couple breaks up, a family splits, a fight within a company causes it to be fragmented into two parts…neither of which is as strong as when it was unified and whole. One thinks of famous comedy teams, that chemistry between partners, where magic happens when they’re together…but apart, they’re just not the same. Also, the reversed Lovers could be a bad or wrong choice has been made. 2) Blocked: Reading the Lovers Reversed as blocked indicates that there is something preventing the two halves from being united. Likewise, there could be an inability to choose. The intuition needed to recognize the right decision, the one that will lead to unity and wholeness, is missing. The querent does not know what to do. 3) Upside-down: The Lovers card is very interesting when turned upside down. Right-side-up, the Angel dominates. This is important as the card (Rider-Waite style) is dominated by Gemini - which stands for not only partnerships, but communication and the mind. Hence, the card is symbolically talking about a spiritual or mental connection. Turn it upside-down, and the Angel is grounded. What ends up on top are the genitals of our naked man and woman–and the mountain between them. We get, in essence, a hint of the up-right Devil card, with baser, earthier desires behind the choice. I would read this as saying that the choice that is being made is being made for the wrong reasons–and therefore, is probably the wrong choice. The querent isn’t using their head or intuition; communication between the two halves is not happening except below the waist. Putting it another way, two things are coming together that may fit, but do not create that unity. In a relationship reading, this would probably indicate that the two were NOT soul mates - that they are together for earthly reasons (a woman wanting a husband or father of her children), not because they were really meant for each other. Likewise with other choices a person might make like choice of career, cause, or religion. They’re doing it for practical, earthly reasons, not because it makes them feel whole. That mountain is there between the two halves - they cannot be united as they should be. They will never form a whole.
The Chariot
Chariot Card Symbols
Triumphal “car” (chariot), armored warrior, sun/moon symbols, lingam and yoni symbol (the encircled rod on the winged shield), black and white sphinxes/lions/horses, sometimes at rest. A canopy of stars and sometimes a throne inside the car.
Chariot Tarot Story The Fool is close to completing what he set out to create long ago, back when the Magician revealed those tools to him. But enemies are now standing in his way, devious human enemies, bad circumstances, even confusion in his own mind. There’s no more forward momentum; he feels he is fighting just to stay where he is. Walking along the shore, watching the waves come in, he puzzles over how to defeat these enemies and get things moving forward once again. It is here that he comes across a charioteer, standing in his gold and silver chariot, his black and white steeds at rest. “You seem a victorious warrior,” the Fool remarks. “I feel beset by my enemies, unable to move forward. What should I do?” “First, you must armor yourself,” the Charioteer strikes the chariot and then his breastplate with a gauntleted fist, making both ring out. “Next, you must focus on your goal, where do you mean to go, what do you mean to do.” The warrior nods to his beasts. “Your steeds keep the wheels turning, but it is your control and direction of them that gets them to their destination. Dark and light, they must be made to draw in harmony, under your guidance.” The Fool nods. That makes sense. “What if an someone or something gets in your way?” The Charioteer coolly meets the Fool’s gaze. “You run them down. Your aim is victory, and to be victorious you must have unwavering confidence in your cause. Never question, never doubt what you’re trying to achieve. Never lose your focus or your motivation.” The Fool is impressed and inspired. He thinks he now knows how to get past all the distractions and setbacks that have been keeping him trapped in place, like a riptide in the ocean. He thanks the warrior, but before he leaves, the warrior stays the Fool. “One thing more you should keep in mind,” he says, “Victory is not the end, it is the beginning. Remember that before you decide to enter into any contest.” Chariot Tarot Meaning The chariot is one of the most complex cards to define. On its most basic level, it’s about getting what you want. It implies war, a struggle, and an eventual, hard-won victory over enemies, obstacles, nature, the uncertainties inside you. But there is a great deal more to it. The charioteer wears emblems of the sun, yet the sign behind this card is Cancer, the moon. The chariot is all about motion, and yet it is often shown as stationary. What does this all mean? It means a union of opposites, like the black and white steeds. They pull in different directions, but must be (and can be!) made to go together in one direction. That is perhaps the most important message of the Chariot. Separate the driver form the chariot, the chariot from the horses, the horses from each other and from the driver, and nothing gets done. They all do their own thing. Put them all together, with the same goal in mind, and there will be no stopping them. Confidence as well as unity of purpose and control is needed, and, most especially, motivation. The card can, in fact, indicate new motivation or inspiration, which gets a stagnant situation moving again. It can also imply, on a more pragmatic level, a trip (usually by car). Thirteen’s Observations on the Chariot The Chariot is a fascinating card, but also frustrating to interpret. Like Cancer, the crab, it is about being armored, self-reliant and in command of one’s own destiny. On the battlefield, a chariot is autonomous. It fights alone, not with other troops or cavalry. Yet the Chariot is also a symbol of unified parts. If any part is missing - chariot, horses, driver - it cannot go. The crab moves from one plane to the next (water to land and back again) and the Chariot is viewed as moving likewise, from conscious and unconscious, Earthly to spiritual. Also, like chariots, crabs come upon each other from the side rather than straight on. So there is a tricky element to The Chariot for all that it seems to travel in a straight line. The Chariot is a card of contradictions. It’s about sidewise battles, yet also about full-speed ahead. It’s about the hard exterior and the soft interior, the light and dark, the water and the shore, moon and sun. It is the Sphinx, which is also often a symbol of Cancer, the lion and the man united, a mystery. Yet the Chariot says all these can be united. The querent who gets this card is likely dealing with a lot of contradictions in their life. Maybe arguing people, or a variety of different feelings. The card says that they must become the driver of the chariot. They must decide on a goal, take control and get all the contradictions to ignore their wants and go where the querent wants. How can the querent do this? By being confident. The one who has unwavering faith in their convictions is the one who can make others put aside their differences and do as asked. Likewise, such a person can overcome their doubts and uncertainties and achieve victory. You must have faith that there is nothing that can stand in your way. Note, however, that this unity and the confidence that creates it will last only till victory is achieved. But then, the Chariot isn’t interested in unity for unity’s sake. Only in unity for victory’s sake. The Chariot is a marvelous card in that it can assure the querent success no matter the odds. But the card also warns that the drive toward this victory might lead to ruthless, diehard behavior, to a desire to win at any cost. The querent should be reminded that winning isn’t everything nor “the only thing.” It is, rather, the start of things.
The Chariot Reversed
Upright, the Chariot is all about moving forward. It’s not just about charging ahead, but rather seeing where you want to go, picking up the reins, taking control of inner and outer forces, and directing everything forward. Hence, it is a card of great determination and confidence, motivation and leadership. Without these, there’s no making the chariot go where you want it to go. So what about reversed? 1) Opposite: image-wise, there is some confusion with the chariot. It’s about movement, victory and going forward; but the image in Rider-Waite at least, is of the chariot at rest, either after its victory or before. This makes the opposite or inverse interpretation a bit difficult, as the most obvious one would be a chariot at rest: NOT moving as compared to moving. So let’s simplify this opposite; we’ll leave the movement interpretations for the other two and go for the “victory” interpretation on this one. Obviously, the opposite would be defeat. The chariot did not conquer either the inner or outer forces; it lost the battle to control the horses, lost the battle against whatever it was fighting. It might even suggest that the querent gave into cowardice. He didn’t try to show the horses who was boss, didn’t try to barrel though his enemies - he just hid in his chariot hoping not to get hurt, taking no chances. 2) Blocked: as the upright card often focuses on controlling the horses, on determination and direction, we can see that a blocking of these energies leaves the querent at loose ends. Ever driven with someone who has absolutely NO sense of direction? That’s what we have here. The querent may know where he wants to go…but he doesn’t have a clue how to get there. And he lacks the determination to find a way to get there. Somehow, the energy of determination and direction must be unblocked. Otherwise, he’s going to be driving about aimlessly and hopelessly. To the point where his attitude is “what’s the use?” Another interpretation for this blocked chariot is that it’s not moving; hence, we can predict car trouble. The querent wants to go somewhere, but the vehicle he would use to get there is out of commission, either literally (a car), or figuratively (a means to leave his job, his career, his relationship…etc). 3) Upside-down: Turn the chariot upside-down and no one is going anywhere. The wheels are in the air, the horses on their backs, the charioteer throw from the interior. I know what you’re thinking. And yes. Car accident is an apt if frightening prediction for this one. At its worst, the reversed Chariot is not merely about a loss of control and direction, but the complete loss of any means to get where you’re going. You won’t be leading anyone to victory, there’s no fighting the war, let alone winning it. Anything inside (motivations, determination, energy) or outside of you is not working, not moving. The horses can’t run and the wheels are spinning in the air. You are stuck.
Strength
Strength Card Symbols
A woman in white with a lemniscate hovering over her head, a lion.
Strength Tarot Story The Fool, victorious over his enemies, is feeling arrogant, powerful, even vengeful. There are hot passions in him, ones he finds himself unable and unwilling to control. It is in this state that he comes across a maiden struggling with a lion. Running to help, he arrives in time to see her gently but firmly shut the lion’s mouth! In fact, the beast, which seemed so wild and fierce, is now completely at her command. Amazed, the Fool asks her, “How did you do that?” One hand on the lion’s mane, she answers, “I asked the lion to do it, and it did it.” “But-but-“ the Fool stutters, confounded. “Why did it want to obey?” At that moment, the Maiden meets the Fool’s eyes; he sees in her warmth, gentleness, a heart so great that its generosity seems as infinite as its willingness to understand. And that is when the Fool understands exactly why the lion did her bidding. It wanted to connect to that higher energy. Yet there is still one thing that confuses the Fool. “But,” he says, much softer now, “Why would you, fair maiden, want to keep company with a beast?” “Because he, too, is filled with a wonderful energy,” the Maiden says. “It is wild and fierce, but it can be banked, like a fire in a hearth. I knew if he would take direction from me, we could both be warmed.” “So, too,” she adds, “are our passions. Let them run wild and they will do damage. But we can, with gentle fortitude, check and direct those passions. In doing so, we can get so much more out of them. And yet, still sate them.” His rage quieted, the enlightened Fool walks away knowing that it wasn’t only the lion that was tamed this day by a Maiden’s pure and innocent strength. Strength Tarot Card Meaning There are many stories that come to mind with this card: Daniel in the lion’s den. The Aesop’s fable of “The Sun and the Wind,” where the Sun’s warmth, as compared to the Wind’s coldness, persuades a man to take off his coat. Also tales of saintly maids who get brutish barbarians to kneel down in prayer. What we see in all these stories is the taming of the beast by way of inner strength and gentleness. The Maiden represents higher feelings and that we can experience if we bring our wild passions to heel. And so we willingly do so. This card, however, isn’t just about the Maiden’s power. Like its ruling sign Leo, this card is also about the hot, roaring energy and enthusiasm of the Lion including passions like “lust” (which is the name it was given by Crowley in his Thoth deck). The lion’s power may be frightening, but it is also desirable. Much can be achieved if such power is put to use. Some decks, in fact, label this card as “Power.” That energies can be brought under control and used is very close to the message of the Chariot, which might be why, in some decks, it is Justice that is card #8 instead of Strength. There is a difference, however, between Strength and the Chariot. The Chariot is a card about using your impulses to achieve a victory. Strength is about combining two strengths to overcome weakness. The Maiden is weak of form, but her mastery of herself is powerful. The Lion is strong of form, but weak when it comes to mastering himself. The Maiden’s commands overcome the Lion’s weakness, and his form overcomes the Maiden’s weakness. This is why the Maiden doesn’t try to harness the lion to a chariot, nor does she run from it or try to kill it. She meets its eyes, touches it, embraces it. This is a card about understanding our wild natures, accepting them, yet also gentling those passions so that they work for us rather than against us. Putting these two strengths together creates perseverance, personal honor, and courage. The card can also stand for a steadfast friend. Thirteen’s Observations on Strength The essence of civilization is being able to think beyond primal animal needs like food, survival and sex. The Maiden with her lemniscate (which, we remember from the Magician card, indicates the energy of thought), pure white robes and floral wreath is indicative of loftier aspirations: like honor, compassion and bravery. Thus, the Strength card reminds us that, unlike a beast, we have the fortitude to endure the pain, stay undaunted by fear, and resist our animal desires. We can do more and be greater. Such aspirations shine out of us, like “inviolate innocence” making even those with more physical strength bow to our will. Crowley, of course, has a different take. He sees the woman with the lion as embracing her power to create lust (and be lustful) and using that to civilize the world. Yet this is not so different from Waite who also argues that the Lion wants to obey the Maiden. Unlike the imperial fiat of the Emperor or the morality and traditions of the Hierophant, the Maiden (civilization) gains control over our animal natures by showing us all the wonderful energies we will gain if we obey her. This is very like wild youths choosing to join the military and obey its restrictions because doing so gives them lofty feelings of pride and glory. We should not forget, however, that the woman also sees something wonderful in the lion. She doesn’t want to erase the lion or make it other than a lion, but she can see that the lion’s energy is being wasted. She is moved to tame it so that they can both benefit. Wang in the Qabbalistic Tarot likens Strength to a Vestal Virgin tending a sacred flame. And this, I think, is one of the best interpretations. Fire is a fearful thing, hot, burning - all too easily able to spark out of control. But somewhere along the way, we lost our fear - but not our respect - for fire. With will and intelligence, we came to understand its nature and make it our tool. Similarly we can direct and make great good use of our passions, but only if we’re willing to see them as a natural part of us, sacred even, like the Vestal Virgin’s flame. I think it also worth noting that, as with fire or taming a lion, one might get burned or scratched a few times by that which you’re trying to understand, be it a situation, a person, or your own unworthy impulses. The important message of the strength card is to have fortitude. When your gentle strength brings this wild thing under control, you both will be free of weaknesses, and able to command of great power.
Strength Reversed
Courage, strength, inner will, optimism…reversing this card gives us some pretty evident messages: 1) Opposite: obviously, if we just go “opposite” on this card then we have cowardice, fear, timidity. A complete lack of backbone. The querent has been or is likely to back down from challenges. They’re weak-willed when it comes to controlling their own impulses or changing their life. They’re far too passive and scared. 2) Blocked: Blocked is a little bit different. The implication is that the strength and will are there, but something is preventing them from manifesting. I often think of someone constrained by courtesy or peer pressure from speaking up or doing the right thing. It is not that the person doesn’t want to take control, or can’t, but rather that something is keeping them from doing it (either something within or something without) and so the lion remains untamed. 3) Upside-down: right-side up, the maiden is controlling, and above, the lion. Reverse it and the lion is on top and in control. A scary situation. Unlike Reversed and Blocked, this interpretation suggests that the querent cannot manage to control the beast. They are not, as in #1, afraid, nor, as in #2, being prevented from trying to take control. Rather, in this interpretation, whatever it is they are trying to control is too much for them. Putting it another way: the lion is in control - and the maiden does not know how to gain control over the beast before it rends her to pieces. To clarify: in interpretation #1, I would likely scold the querent that they had to learn to be brave and face the beast…though I probably wouldn’t expect them to take my advice. #1 suggests someone who is too timid and unwilling to fight, more likely to keep hoping that if they just keep still the lion will go away. In interpretation #2, I would tell the querent that they needed to free their courage and inner strength, to stop listening to whatever was holding that back. And I imagine this advice would be listened to. In interpretation #3, however, I’d tell the querent that they cannot defeat the lion alone. This is the drug addict who needs rehab. Willpower alone isn’t going to work. The beast is in control and the maiden needs saving before she is entirely consumed. This last interpretation suggests a very desperate situation requiring some desperate action. Certainly a cry for help at the very least.
The Hermit
Hermit Card Symbols
A robed man or monk carrying a lantern, sometimes in hand, sometimes hanging off a staff. A barren landscape.
Hermit Tarot Story After a long and busy lifetime, building, creating, loving, hating, fighting, compromising, failing, succeeding, the Fool feels a profound need to retreat. In a small, rustic home deep in the woods, he hides, reading, cleaning, organizing, resting or just thinking. But every night at dusk he heads out, traveling across the bare, autumnal landscape. He carries only a staff and a lantern. It is during these restless walks from dusk till dawn, peering at and examining whatever takes his fancy, that he sees things he’s missed during his lifetime. His lantern illuminates animals and insects that only come out at night, flowers and plants that only bloom by moon or star light. As these secret corners of the world are illuminated and explored by him, he feels that he is also illuminating hidden areas of his mind. In a way, he has become the Fool again. As in the beginning, he goes wherever inspiration leads him. Back then, however, his staff rested on his shoulder, carrying unseen his pack. The Fool was like the pack: wrapped up, unknown. The Hermit’s staff leans out before him now, not behind. And it carries a lantern, not a pack. The Hermit is like the lantern, illuminated from within by all he is, capable of penetrating the darkness. Hermit Tarot Meaning Represented by Virgo, the Hermit is a card of introspection, analysis and, well, virginity. This is not a time for socializing; the card indicates, instead, a desire for peace and solitude. Nor is it a time for action, discussion or decisions. It is a time to think, organize, ruminate, and take stock. There may be feelings of frustration and discontent during this time of withdrawal. But such times lead to enlightenment, illumination, clarity. In regards to people, the Hermit can represents a wise, inspirational person, friend, teacher or therapist, someone the querent usually sees alone, someone the rest of the querent’s friends and family may not know about. This is a person who can shine a light on things that were previously mysterious and confusing. They will help the querent understand themselves or find what it is they are seeking. Thirteen’s Observations on the Hermit One of the important things about this card is that the Hermit is almost always shown on the move. He’s never hiding away in his cave. Rather, he’s out wandering, searching. This is apt for the restless mind of a Virgo, always gathering information, analyzing, making connections. Virgos are also known for being the skeptics of the zodiac. If anyone is going to stick a lantern into a dark place and take a good look at what’s going on, it’s a Virgo. Combined with a desire to just “be alone,” the Hermit indicates a feeling of impatience with people. The querent might be sensitive to having his/her peace disturbed, or express disdain for those who can’t see what they’re seeing (“Are you blind?” might be their refrain, or, more typically, “You just don’t get it, and I can’t explain it to you.”). They’re likely to be grumpy and anti-social. For the querent, however, this is a special time. Like an artist who hides away for days then emerges to paint a masterpiece, this quiet time allows all the pieces to fall into place. Their minds are alive, and they can see things they weren’t able to see before. So go ahead and encourage them to take late night drives, long walks, hide in their room or go on retreat for a month. When they come back, they’ll have a new understanding of the world, of their lives, and of themselves. It’ll be the best thing for them, and for everyone else.
The Hermit Reversed
Upright, the Hermit is about a time of solitude and introspection, of investigation, learning, enlightenment and sometime teaching. Reversed…. 1) Opposite: If we take “opposite” to mean the negatives of the card then we can view the reversed card as all the evil stereotypes of hermits. The mean old man, isolated, misanthropic, paranoid. In this instance, isolation does not bring insights and epiphanies, but rather turns the person sour and against the world. We might well get reversed Hermit for men like the Unabomber, using their isolation to formulate crimes and destruction. Other opposite of the Hermit is the Fool. Such as a teacher who uses his position to do foolish or childish things rather than to impart wisdom and insights. Either way, this is not a trustworthy teacher or sage. 2) Blocked: The power of the Hermit - his energy - is in his lantern. The Hermit has keen insight, and an ability to see what is hidden to others, to look beneath the surface. If this is blocked, then we might well say that the Hermit’s lantern has been shuttered. It offers no light and the Hermit is left in darkness. Thus, if reading this card as blocked, a reader might say to a querent that they are having trouble shedding light on a problem, or that they’re alone in the dark in this situation. To get out, they must find a way to rekindle their lantern. The lantern is emblematic of their keen mind, sharp eye, and analytical abilities. Though currently in darkness, the hermit has the means to shed light on things if he’ll just rekindle his lantern. 3) Upside-down: the most telling thing about the Hermit upside-down is that he loses his lantern. This is similar to the blocked interpretation, only worse. In the blocked interpretation the lantern can be re-illuminated. But upside-down, the lantern is gone. The Hermit is totally in the dark…and all alone. He has lost all ability to find his way and is going to have to stumble on home if he can. I would see this extreme example in the case of people having some mental problems - they can’t concentrate, they can’t think, they can’t remember or see things clearly anymore. An elder who is foolishly giving away his money, for example, might well be a Hermit reversed. A once wise and canny old fellow who seems to have completely lost his lantern, his ability to make intelligent decisions.
The Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune Card Symbols
A wheel turning clockwise with rising/falling figures or beasts on it. Waite also includes a good many Hebrew letters and alchemical symbols. Often there is a sphinx perched atop the wheel.
Wheel of Fortune Tarot Story From out of hiding comes the Fool, into the sunlight, as if being pulled up from some low, dark point on a wheel. It is time for a change. Staff in hand, he heads back out into the world, expecting nothing. But, strangely, things seem to happen to him as the hours go by, good things. Wandering by a water wheel a woman offers him a drink in a golden chalice, and then urges him to keep the cup; as he wanders by a windmill, he stops to watch a young man swinging a sword; when he expresses his admiration of the weapon, the young man presses it into his hand, insisting that he take it. And finally, when he comes upon a rich merchant sitting in a wagon, right over one of the wheels, the man hands him a bag of money. “I decided to give this to the tenth person who walked past me today,” explains the Merchant, “You’re the tenth.” The Fool hardly thought he could still be surprised, but he is. It is as if everything good that he ever did in his life is being paid back to him, three-fold. All luck this day is his. Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card Meaning With Jupiter as its ruling planet, the Wheel of Fortune is all about luck and change. The wheel symbolizes completeness as well as the rise and fall of fortunes and the message that what goes around comes around. Almost every definition of this card indicates abundance, happiness, elevation, or luck; a change that just happens, and brings with it great joy. Thirteen’s Observations of the Wheel of Fortune As much as the Tarot is about what a querent can do to change their life or self, there are cards that admit that sometimes you just get lucky. Sometimes things happen to you over which you have no control, and you rise of fall on that turn of the wheel. This is the card about how we sometimes find ourselves soaring up or down on life’s Ferris wheel. The Wheel can mean movement, change or evolution, and in that respect it can be about how we all change positions, some of us rising some of us falling, some dropping to a nadir, some reaching a zenith. Most of the time, however, this card suggests that such changes will bring with them good fortune. The person you’re reading for is going to get that money, that job, that promotion, that marriage proposal, that break they’ve been waiting for. Call it karmic payback for all the good things they’ve done in life - destiny or just luck - but whatever lotteries are out there, large or small, they’ve just won one.
The Wheel of Fortune Reversed
The Wheel of Fortune is about Luck, about transitions and changes, sometimes about Karma. Generally speaking, it is about things that happen to us that change our lives…rather than, as with so many other cards, things we ourselves do to create a change. What does it mean reversed? 1) Opposite: Usually the Wheel is read positively as moving up. There is luck and good fortune in it, the implication that we are going to be moving up (deservingly) while someone else (deservingly) moves down. Thus, the opposite would be, quite simply, bad luck, misfortune. Instead of heading up to the top of the wheel, we’re going to be hitting the bottom. It’s the nadir instead of the zenith. Someone else will be getting the promotion or position we want, and we, alas, might well be getting laid off or transferred. As with good luck, there is nothing to be done about bad luck but accept it and make the best out of it. 2) Blocked: If we read the energy as blocked, then we have to assume that the wheel wants to move up, wants to turn, but isn’t being allowed to. Hence, in this reading, the wheel is stuck. It is moving neither up nor down. Rather like a when a Ferris Wheel comes to a stop, wherever you are, there you are and there is no change. I, personally, find this more distressing than if the wheel were moving down. An unmoving wheel means no changes - no going anywhere. The problem is, that the querent might not be able to alter this as the Wheel’s energy usually comes from without - so if the company that a person works for is freezing all jobs, no promotions or demotions, then that’s the way it is and there’s nothing the employee can do to change that. They can leave the job, but they can’t force the company to “unfreeze” and start promoting/demoting again. 3) Upside-down: There seems, on the surface, little difference if we turn this card upside-down - it’s a wheel, a circle, with no top, no bottom. And yet, using Rider-Waite, we can see a change. The Sphinx is at the bottom. The “Set” creature (chaotic/devilish creature) is at the top. The Serpent switches sides and is moving up instead of down. To understand, think of it this way. The Sphinx is at the top, hovering above the Ferris wheel. You ride up to talk to the Sphinx. Then you ride down and have to deal with Set. Then back up again. Reverse the card and the implication is that when you rise to the top, you meet Set instead of the Sphinx! What ought to be good luck is going to be bad. In this case, the promotion that should give you what you want, that ought to be good fortune, lands you in hell instead. This is a bit worse than just “bad luck.” The idea here is that the external forces creating that luck are unreliable; you can’t trust the luck you’re getting to be what it seems.
Justice
Justice Tarot Symbols
The Justice figure seated or standing between pillars, scales in one hand (usually left), upraised sword in the other hand. Sometimes blindfolded.
Justice Tarot Story The Fool is looking for a new path, a new aspiration and inspiration for his life. Sitting uncertain at a crossroads he notices a blind wise woman listening to two brothers argue over an inheritance. They have come to her for judgment. One brother has the whole inheritance, the other has nothing. “I ask that all of it be given to me,” the poor brother demands, “Not only because I have a better right to it, but because I will not be wasteful with it, as he is!” But the rich brother protests, “It is rightfully mine and that’s all that should matter, not what I do with it!” The woman listens, then awards half of the rich brother’s inheritance to the poor brother. The Fool thinks this only fair, but neither brother is happy. The rich one hates losing half his wealth, and the poor one feels he ought to have gotten all. “You were fair,” the Fool remarks to the woman after the brothers have left. “Yes, I was,” she answers plainly. “With only half the inheritance, the rich one will stop being so wasteful. And the poor one will have as much as he needs. Even though they cannot see it, this decision was good for both.” The Fool thinks on this and realizes that he has spent his life achieving worldly ambitions and physical goods while leaving his spiritual self to starve. He ought to have given half his time and energy to his spiritual self, but he didn’t. It’s no wonder that he feels unbalanced. Thanking the woman, he heads out to restore equilibrium to his inner scales. Justice Tarot Card Meaning With Libra as its ruling sign, Justice is about cold, objective balance through reason or natural force. This is the card that tells the querent that excesses have consequences. Indulging in drinking and drugs will affect their health, just as excessive exercise can damage muscles and joints and working too much can make one neglect family and friends. Justice urges the querent to make adjustments, do whatever is necessary to bring things back into balance: physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually. In a more mundane sense, this card may signal a court case, legal documents, adjustments in a marriage or partnership. The outcome of all of these may not be exactly what the querent wants, but it will be what they need. It will also be scrupulously fair. If the card is reversed, it can indicate bias, obstruction of the law, or legal complications. Thirteen’s Observations on Justice I think Justice is a good card (as compared to Strength) to stand as the first of the next ten cards of the Major Arcana. The reason I think it right is because with it we move from the physical world (first ten cards) into the metaphysical world (next ten). When I look at Justice, I always see the two worlds balanced on her scales. “You’ve spent all your time in one,” she seems to be saying, time to move into the other and balance things out.” One thing to remember about the Justice card is that it is not about punishment, good, bad, right or wrong. It is about adjustment. The sword suggests that sometimes this won’t be pleasant. Justice pares things down with that sword so that the scales end up equal. Swords represent the mind and suggest that Justice only listens to reason, logic and facts. She will not be tricked by appeals to emotions or passions, nor bribed for that matter. She will be rational and cool-headed. The message is to that you must be cool-headed as well, and do what’s necessary, no matter how hard, how disagreeable, in order to gain, or re-gain equilibrium. It is not a nice card, but it is a very wise card.
Justice Reversed
Upright, Justice is all about creating a balance, legalities, fairness. It involves the ability to split, cut back, share. Reversed…. 1) Opposite: Justice is quite clear in this instance. Reversed it is “injustice.” Unfairness, imbalance. No matter if it refers to a court case, a family situation or spirituality, the card is clear that things are not fair and balanced here. The querent is getting too much, or too little of what they need. This interpretation is quite consistent with the other interpretations as well: 2) Blocked: The only real difference here is that the energy of Justice is that it wants to make things balanced and fair. Something is keeping that energy from succeeding. Again, things are “unjust” - but only because there is something preventing that. It may be as simple as one person being selfish, or it could be that certain evidence/legal documents have not come to light. 3) Upside-down: Again, we have “unjust” but this goes a bit farther. Turn Justice upside down and she loses her scales and her sword, which could well suggest a corruption of justice. It is not merely an accident, or something blocking justice that might be removed, here the whole system is suspect. The scales of balance are gone. The sword to slice things right down the middle is gone. Fairness cannot be achieved because the tools of justice are missing. The Judge is biased, the lawyers and witnesses corrupt, the evidence tampered with.
The Hanged Man
Hanged Man Card Symbols
A man hanging by one foot from a bar or tree. His free leg is always bent to form an inverted “4,” his face is always peaceful, never suffering. Sometimes his hands are bound, sometimes they dangle. Sometimes coins fall out of his pockets or hands.
Hanged Man Tarot Story The Fool settles beneath a tree, intent on finding his spiritual self. There he stays for nine days, without eating, barely moving. People pass by him, animals, clouds, the wind, the rain, the stars, sun and moon. On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs the tree and dangles from a branch upside down like a child. For a moment, he surrenders all that he is, wants, knows or cares about. Coins fall from his pockets and as he gazes down on them - seeing them not as money but only as round bits of metal. It seems to him that his perspective of the world has completely changed, as if his inverted position has allowed him to dangle between the mundane world and the spiritual world, able to see both. It is a dazzling moment, dreamlike yet crystal clear. Timeless as this moment of clarity seems, he realizes that it will not last. Very soon, he must right himself, but when he does, things will be different. He will have to act on what he’s learned. For now, however, he just hangs, weightless as if underwater, observing, absorbing, seeing. Hanged Man Tarot Card Meaning With Neptune (or Water) as its planet, the Hanged Man is perhaps the most fascinating card in the deck. At #12, it is the opposite of the World card, #21. With the World card you go infinitely out. With the Hanged Man, you go infinitely in. Some readers believe the Hanged Man reflects the story of Odin who offered himself as a sacrifice in order to gain knowledge. Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear, given no bread or mead, he dangled for nine days. On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning, and, coming down, scooped them up for his own. All knowledge is to be found in these runes. Other readers like to point out that in older decks the card was known as “The Traitor,” referring to the fact that, historically, some countries hung traitors upsidedown by one foot. And still other readers like to point out that the Hanged Man is like that moment when a babe in the womb turns upside-down so that it may be born, hanging, as it were, from its umbilical cord. The Hanged Man is similar to all of these: like Odin, he allows himself to be hung so that he can gain wisdom for the world. Like traitors of old, be sacrifices himself for a cause, and sees things from an “inverted” perspective. What is right to him is wrong to others and vice versa. And like the babe in the womb, the Hanged Man hangs suspended between one world (the womb) and the next (outside the womb). What is important to remember is that this is a card about suspension, not life or death. The querent might well feel that one thing has ended, yet the next has not begun, and they are stuck in a kind of waiting room. Things will continue on in a moment, but for now, they float, timeless. Yet this isn’t just a position of rest as the querent is inverted. Which means so is his/her view of the world is very different from the rest of us who walk upright. Thus, this waiting becomes a time of trial or meditation, selflessness, sacrifice, prophecy. This new way of seeing things often leads to insights and enlightenment. Answers that eluded the querent become clear, solutions to problems are found. All of which the Hanged Man hoped to buy with his sacrifice. Thirteen’s Observations on the Hanged Man The first step into the esoteric, we might well say, is to shed the mundane world and be “reborn.” To do this, we must surrender all we thought we knew, all resistance to new ways of thinking. We must make ourselves venerable to visions and psychic energies. We must, if you like, return to “the womb,” a spiritual womb this time around. The one belonging to the High Priestess who, remember, sits at that still place between opposites. This the Hanged Man does when he willingly allows himself to be suspended and dangle inverted from one leg. Neptune is spirituality, dreams and psychic abilities, and the Hanged Man has allowed himself to be lowered into those deep waters, floating there, absorbing all they offer him. He is waiting for that moment when he will be born into a new consciousness. Thus, this card signifies a time when the querent is feeling sensitive, vulnerable, introverted, suspended even as they also experience insight so deep that for a moment, nothing but that insight exists. This is the card of vision quests but also, very simply, of those times when you put aside your prejudices and open yourself up to different ideas. Or just try something new and strange. Meaning that the Hanged Man could be as simple as going out with a type of person you never imagined dating, or trying some odd cuisine. It is a time when you change your perspective. Such moments don’t last, and they usually require some kind of sacrifice. Sacrifice of a belief or a wish, dream, hope, money, time or even selfhood. The sacrifice may be made to get into the inverted position, or it may be made to get out of the inverted position. Either way, in order to gain, you must give. Great or small, spiritual or mundane what you gain from making that sacrifice and allowing yourself to see things differently is insights and solutions. These can help you and everyone else you care about. Which is often why one goes through it all in the first place. One thing is certain, once you have been the Hanged Man you never see things quite as you did before.
The Hanged Man Reversed
The Hanged Man upright is about new perspectives, sacrifices, vulnerability and selflessness. It is about a time of suspension that, when over, brings with it new insights. Reversed…. 1) Opposite: as the Hanged Man card usually involves sacrifice and insight, the inverse would be a refusal to surrender what needs to be surrendered, or a refusal to see things from a new perspective. In this regard, the reversed card is the assertion of the ego; stubbornness or selfishness. The querent is clinging to whom and what they are - all that they have - refusing to give it up even though the exchange could transform them and help others. 2) Blocked: The energy of the Hanged Man is about gaining a new perspective while in suspension. Blocked, however, would suggest that the querent cannot escape the suspension or the separation. They are stuck feeling apart from the world, unable to bring what they’re learning and seeing from this perspective back into the world with them. 3) Upside-down: Ironically, the Hanged Man upside-down is right-side-up. He’s standing rather than suspended. There is no sacrifice, no new insight. This suggests that whatever the querent is hoping to see, achieve, or do, or perhaps needs to do, they cannot do. If we follow the mantra of “no pain, no gain” then the querent is not willing to suffer the pain–or not able to suffer the pain…and so there is no gain.
Death
Death Card Symbols
Skeletal Death, black robes or armor, sometimes with a scythe or a flag featuring a white rose on a black field. There is often a rising sun. Sometimes there are other figures, the most common being a child.
Death Tarot Story Having left the tree from where he hung, the Fool moves carefully through a fallow field, head still clearing from visions. The air is cold and wintry, the trees bare. He knows he has started on his spiritual journey in earnest, but feels strangely empty and profoundly sad, as if he has lost something. Before him he sees, rising with the sun, a skeleton in black armor mounted on a white horse. He recognizes it as Death. As it stops before him, he humbly asks, “Have I died?” And the Skeleton answers, “Yes, in a way. You sacrificed your old world, your old self. Both are gone, dead.” The Fool cannot keep from weeping. “Forgive me,” he says, embarrassed by his tears. “There is nothing to forgive,” Death replies. “Mourning is natural and you must deal with your loss before you can accept anything new. Keep in mind, however, that old leaves must wither and fly away from a tree’s branches, leaving them bare, before new green leaves can appear.” As Death rides away, the Fool sees the truth in those words. He, too, feels like a skeleton, all that he was stripped away. This, he understands, is how all great transformations start, by removing everything down to bare bone or soil so that something new has room to grow. Death Tarot Card Meaning Perhaps the most common question asked about Tarot Cards is, “Can the Death card mean a real death?” Yes, it can. The Death card is about endings, and that includes the ending of a life. What everyone seems to forget, however, is that the Death card is not exclusively about the end of a human life. In fact, it’s far more likely that the card is telling you that a goldfish or a houseplant will die. Death can mean the “end” of anything: The end of an era, the end of a trip, the closing of a restaurant, the breaking up of a band, the conclusion of a very rough week. Any and all of these as well as a million more possible interpretations can be applied to the Death card. So it is foolish to fear it for the fact that, once in a great while, it will let you know that some sick, elderly relative might not be long for this world. Even more important to remember: the Death card is less about something dying then about how a person deals with endings. We might be delighted that something is finally over and done with, like a terrible job we hated. Or we might be heartbroken, like over the loss of that poor goldfish. Either way, we require time to come to terms with the fact that something we were used to is no longer a part of our lives. With Scorpio as its sign, the Death card is as much about transformation as about loss. Scorpio has three forms: scorpion, serpent, eagle. The Death card indicates this transition from lower to higher to highest. In addition, Scorpio is also about sex. So even as something is taken from us, something new is created. That new thing will not be the same as what was lost, but it will step into that empty space and give us reason to carry on. Thirteen’s Observations on Death The connection of sex and death in Scorpio (the sign stands for both) is a strong indication of what this card is all about. We westerners see “Death” as a frightening card because we often see Death as an end, and we hate for things to come to an end. However, in other traditions, Death is just a natural and important, if sad part of an on-going cycle. In a karmic sense, you die so that you may be reborn. Winter comes so that there can be a spring, and we can only appreciate what we have when we know that there is loss. The Death card signals such things. This is a time of change. Before or even as this change occurs, however, the querent needs to mourn, cry, and grieve. Wang notes that Death “humbles” all. Which means that we are brought low, feel empty or stripped to the bone. Once we have gone through this low point, however, we will find that there is room for something new, fresh or different to come into our lives. Something that might exult or transform us. So while a Tarot Reader needs to tell their querent, quite honestly, that they will be going through a time of sorrow and mourning, we can also tell them that this, too, is not forever. Our sadness will end in a sunrise, in a newborn phoenix rising from the ashes of the old.
Death reversed
Ah, the Death Card. Signifies an end to something, a time of grieving with the hint that there will be something new to take the place of this lost thing in the future. Rebirth is at the other end of this tunnel, but a dark tunnel must be traversed. Reversed? 1) Opposite: The easiest reversal here is to say that something does not come to an end, or it does not die. But this may not be as good a thing as it sounds. Ever have a favorite TV show? You watch it over three seasons, it hits a pinnacle of being brilliant and wonderful…and then it starts to go down. And as it sinks and gets worse, and as it stretches out you begin to wish it had ended after that pinnacle.Sometimes, things need to come to a blessed end. Anyone who’s had someone in the hospital, alive but not alive, holding to life but not living, knows that “not death” isn’t a desired thing. Not death keeps people from grieving, and from starting over again when done. It just stretches out a “not-life.”2) Blocked: Unlike the Opposite, I would say that the Blocked interpretation does allow for the death or ending of something. The real energy of the card here is about that time of grief and nadir that leads to re-birth. If this is blocked, then the querent can’t grieve. They can’t face or relieve the pain of loss. They remain at one end of the tunnel, refusing or unable to transverse it.Re-birth is held at bay as well. 3) Upside-down: Turn the Rider card upside-down and the flag falls from Death’s hand. Death falls off the horse. The horse is on its back and the corpses are out of their graves.It’s a grim absurdity. We might say that reversed, this card becomes a mockery of death. This upside-down card hints at some very grisly things–desecration of graves, mocking someone’s death. Someone dies and their end is celebrated or laughed about rather than mourned. Or, worse, someone dies and no one offers compassion or sympathy to the widow and children.This situation, similar to the “Blocked” interpretation, makes it impossible to move on. Grief cannot be dealt with or overcome. I imagine I’d get this card for people who were Holocaust victims or who lost so many friends and lovers during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. It isn’t just the multitudes of deaths they witnessed, but that no one cared, or helped or offered sympathy. They are left in eternal grief over the way death was disrespected.
Temperance
Temperance Card Symbols
An angel (often female or genderless), a pool or river of water. Two cups or beakers, a fluid flowing between them.
Temperance Tarot Story Recovering from feelings of loss at last, the Fool begins to wonder if he will finally find the new spirituality he’s after. It occurs to him that so far, he’s been dealing with opposites: the two opposing sides of the scales (Justice), the material and spiritual (which he hung between as the Hanged man), death and birth (the one leading into the other in the Death card). Does one always have to be surrendered to get the other? he wonders. It is at this point that he comes upon a winged figure standing with one foot in a brook, the other on a rock. The radiant creature pours something from one flask into another. Drawing closer, the Fool sees that what is being poured from one flask is fire, while water flows from the other. The two are being blended together into a completely different substance! “How can you mix fire and water?” the Fool finally whispers. Never pausing the Angel answers, “You must have the right vessels and use the right proportions.” The Fool watches with wonder. “Can this be done with all opposites?” he asks. “Indeed,” the Angel replies, “Any oppositions, fire and water, man and woman, thesis and anti-thesis, can be made into a unified third. It is only a lack of will and a disbelief in the possibility that keeps opposites, opposite.” And that is when the Fool begins to understand that he is the one who is keeping his universe in twain, holding life/death, material world and spiritual world separate. In him the two could merge. All it takes, the Fool realizes, is the right proportions, the right vessel and enough faith that the two can be unified. Temperance Tarot Meaning It is hard, at first, to see where Sagittarius, the ruling sign of this card, fits in. Sagittarius is an expansive sign and we often identify Temperance with abstinence. Temperance, however, really means moderation. Thus, you don’t give up wine, but rather cut the wine with water. There is, however, another angle to the card, that of “tempering” or transforming-thus we continue on from Death, which prepared us for transformation. With tempering, iron is transformed into steel with heating and cooling, fire and water. Similarly, Sagittarius, the centaur, is another one of those creatures that merges beast and man into something unique. Yet not so unique as men and horses have often “merged” together, the one on the back of the other to form a unit. And then there is the bow and arrow, one moving, one stationary, working together to point the way. Temperance may be, at first glance, a warning to “temper” your behavior, but it may also be a reminder that seemingly irreconcilable opposites may not be irreconcilable. Sagittarius is a sign of optimism, philosophy, and taking risks. This card urges the querent to have faith that they can merge fiery red and watery blue into otherworldly violet. But they will need to experiment, have confidence, and try, try, again. Thirteen’s Observations on Temperance In many ways, this card is about the Sagittarian desire to find a unified field theory, a way of blending opposites, achieving synthesis. Crowley calls the card: “Alchemy” and that might well be the best definition for it. In fact, it sometimes works best for me to imagine the Angel wearing a lab coat and very carefully pouring measured amounts of colored liquids into beakers rather than cups. One thing to remember is that Temperance isn’t about surrendering either the water or the wine. It is about mixing things until you get exactly what you want, which is usually a perfect blend of the two. In a reading, this card often represents a situation where the querent can’t get opposites to “blend” together (choices, belief systems, families, friends) and may feel that they have to give up something. Temperance tells the querent that they don’t have to do that. It says that a synthesis can be achieved if the querent is willing to keep on trying, experimenting, and adjusting the amounts. The Querent might, for example, be trying to merge two full families when blending has to occur bit by bit with individuals. This is where the “moderation” message comes in. Try to make your ambition more realistic and you might well achieve it. The card is also a reminder that a bow and arrow are useless apart, but together a formidable weapon. This card tells the querent that they CAN and should put thesis and anti-thesis together to get the even more useful synthesis. But it will take time, care, patience and experimentation. And, yes, moderation.
Temperance Reversed
Upright, Temperance is all about synthesis, about creating a third, unique element out of two other, usually opposing, elements. This is not the balance of Justice which trims and re-distributes to even things out, but a merging of just enough of each to form something new. Reversed, however…. 1) Opposite: Temperance in the upright position is a scientist in his lab mixing chemicals until he finds the right formula, a cure for some disease/problem. The opposite of this, humorously enough, is right out of an old-time monster movie: the scientist is looking for a secret formula to save his loved one. He mixes up the chemicals in his lab, sure he’s got the right formula. But when his loved one drinks this strange, new brew, she transforms into a hideous monster! This isn’t just a formula that fails to work, it’s one that goes horribly wrong. Putting it another way, Temperance’s solution to the problem, trying to mix together these two liquids, makes things worse rather than better. This is that sort of situation where two people or two groups, if brought together, will bring out the worse in each other; rather than getting peace, you’ll get war. 2) Blocked: As the energy of Temperance is to temper, to mix and merge; blocking this energy creates “intemperance.” In this case, the elements refuse to mix. Like oil and water, the querent cannot get them to blend. This might be because the person trying to temper wine by mixing it with water doesn’t use enough of one or the other. Or it might well be because the impulse to blend the two is being blocked; there is a lack of effort or ability on the part of querent or someone else to get the mixture just right. Thus, an attempt to merge two families doesn’t work. An attempt to create a new company out of two smaller businesses fails. On a more personal level, the man trying to “temper” his aggressive tendencies doesn’t try hard enough or the person trying to negotiate hot-tempered folk doesn’t say or do the right thing to get them to agree and unify. For one reason or another, the energy of Temperance, knowing just how to mix those two opposing elements, is blocked. Unblock it, and how to do the merging, the creating of that third element from the other two, will come clear. 3) Upside-down: The Temperance card contains a lot of fascinating symbolism. The Angel has one foot in the water - emblematic of being in touch with intuition, emotions and the unconscious. Thus, the Angel is sympathetic and psychic, yet not overly so. The other foot is planted on the Earth, emblematic of being grounded in reality, of understanding the practical side of the problem. The wings of Temperance indicate the airy mind while the sun rising in the background emphasizes the element of fire (passion). Hence, the higher mind avoids the problem of being merely theoretical by being backed by the energy of fire, and by having that one foot in the water, the other on earth. This intelligence understands the reality and the feeling involved, and has the drive to achieve great things: it mixes the two ingredients, never giving up till it gets the proportions just right and achieves that magic synthesis. Reverse the card, however, and the angel’s feet leave both earth and water. The higher mind drifts in the air upside-down, while the rising sun sets. Trying to mix the ingredients under these circumstances is impossible. The querent might well be informed that what he’s attempting to do (or what someone else is attempting) is not going to work. The elements needed to pull off this synthesis aren’t there, and no one has the coordination or talent to mix the ingredients. All the angel can do is think about mixing the elements - even the drive/desire to do so is vanishing (like the setting sun). It’s a nice dream to synthesize these opposites into a unified and unique whole, but no one involved with that dream can, currently, make it a reality.
The Devil
Devil Card Symbols
A winged, horned devil, a black pedestal, a naked male and female figure, chains, inverted pentagram.
Devil Tarot Story The Fool comes to the foot of an enormous black mountain where reigns a creature half goat, half god. At his hooves naked people, linked to the god’s throne by chains, engage in every indulgence imaginable: sex, drugs, food, drink. The closer the Fool gets, the more he feels his own earthly desires rising in him. Carnal desires, hunger for food and power, greed and selfishness. “I have given up all such desires!” he roars at the Goat god, resisting the beast’s power with all his might. He is sure that this is a test of his new spirituality, one where he must prove that the temptations of the material world cannot sway him. The creature responds to his defiance with a curious look. “All I am doing is bringing out what is already in you,” it responds mildly. “Such feelings are nothing to fear, nothing to be ashamed of, or even to avoid. They are even useful to helping you in your quest for spirituality, though many try to pretend otherwise.” The Fool gestures angrily at the chained men and women, “You say that even though these are clearly enslaved to the material world?” The Goat-god mimics the Fool’s gesture. “Take another look.” The Fool does so, and realizes that the chained collars the men and women wear are wide enough for them to easily slip off over their heads. “They can be free if they wish to be,” the Goat-god says, “They remain here because they want to be controlled by their base, bestial desires. There are, however, others…” At this the Goat-god gestures upward, toward the peak of the mountain. “…Others who have used these same impulses to climb to the highest heights. If they had denied their desires they’d never have gotten there.” On hearing this, the Fool sees that he has mistaken the Goat-god. This is not a creature of evil as he thought, but of great power, the lowest and the highest, both of beast and god. Like all power, it is frightening, and dangerous…but it is also a key to freedom and transcendence. Devil Tarot Card Meaning Perhaps the most misunderstood card of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really “Satan” at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius (Bacchus). These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. Sometimes, this card says, it is good to dance with Bacchus, surrendering control, or be Bacchus and manipulate. Too much restraint can hold you back and keep you from achieving important things. In this regard, we might say that this card is about being honest with yourself. What do you desire? What gives you pleasure? What has power over you (and will enslave you if you let it), and what makes you feel powerful (and will help you reach your highest goals)? With Capricorn as its ruling sign, the Devil is also a card about ambitions, about commitment and resourcefulness. This is the mountain goat that aims to get to the top and does all its needs to do to get there. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man or woman of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad person, but certainly a powerful person who is hard to resist. The querent needs to watch themselves lest they end up needing this powerful person to give them identity. On the other hand, the querent might find themselves in “Devil” mode, egging others on, playing puppetmaster. This, too, can become their identity. Thus, the addict and pusher can create a co-dependent relationship that is not healthy for either. When not indicating a person, the Devil card is synonymous with temptation and addiction, anything that we find hard to resist be it chocolate, sex or heroin. Readers should ask querents if there’s anything they’ve been having trouble resisting of late. It is important to point out, as the card does, that, often (though not always), we don’t resist is because we don’t want to. This needs to be recognized and acknowledge as it means that the power to change the situation is with us, not with what tempts us. Thirteen’s Observations Most cards urge balance, unity, restraint, yin-yang. Not this card. The Devil, to the contrary, is a card that revels in extremity, excess and loss of control. There is a convincing argument that this is the most powerful and dangerous card in the deck. At its absolute worst, it is the card of the addict or the stalker, totally obsessed, enslaved, relentless. At its very best, it is a card about cutting lose, going for the gold, climbing every mountain. There are, I think, three essential points that a reader must make when this card appears. First, that we have to be honest about our weaknesses and addictions, denial only makes it easier for them to control us. Second, that it is natural to have self-interest, a desire for pleasure even and, occasionally, to indulge in excesses. Doing so might even be essential to achieving our aims. We didn’t fly to the Moon by being moderate, safe or cautious, by resisting temptation. However, and this is the last point, it is all too easy to become enslaved to the power of such pleasures and excesses. The most powerful person is the one who can consciously decide when to indulge, and when to walk away from indulging without hesitation or regret. This card is about temptation and control, addictions and manipulation. It asks us a most important question: who or what will we allow to enslave us? And who or what will be under our control? Only by understanding this part of ourselves can we gain power over it and use it to our benefit rather than letting it use us.
The Devil Reversed
Upright the Devil is all about addictions, about the temptations/obsessions that lure us, capture us, and which we, ourselves, refuse to escape even though we have the key to our chains. In a positive sense, it can also mean letting go of inhibitions and puritanical restrictions - sometimes we need to live on the wild side, be excessive and indulge. So what happens if we reverse this? 1) Opposite: It’s natural to think that the opposite of the Devil - entrapment - would be freedom, happiness, etc. But reversals are never so easy. At its best, this opposite might indicate a near escape from entrapment, a temptation resisted but only just barely. The querent chooses to keep to their stricter morals or gets a break from whoever/whatever is tempting them, so they do not indulge, and they escape being chained to the Devil.2) Blocked: The energy of the Devil is life on the wild side, indulging, releasing, giving in, going overboard. Reading this card as blocked could indicate that the querent is too restricted in their life or restricting themselves. That they are too afraid of giving into temptation, too afraid of addictions, to the point where they are taking no chances.This can include a fear of committing to others, of even falling in love. Keep in mind the connection image-wise (in the Rider-Waite at least) to the Lovers card. If the Devil card is the Lovers gone wrong, then the Devil reversed can be a fear of the relationship going wrong, to the point where the querent won’t take a chance.3) Upside-down: Turn the Devil upside-down and the chains fall off the necks off the man and woman, and the Devil himself is dethroned. The querent was in danger, being reeled in by someone dangerous. They held out, however, or changed their mind, eluding temptation and enslavement.
The Tower
Tower Card Symbols
A tower on a rocky outcrop, a powerful bolt of lightning, one or two figures falling from the tower, sometimes waves crashing below.
Tower Tarot Story As the Fool leaves the throne of the Goat God, he comes upon a Tower, fantastic, magnificent, and familiar. In fact, The Fool, himself, helped build this Tower back when the most important thing to him was making his mark on the world and proving himself better than other men. Inside the Tower, at the top, arrogant men still live, convinced of their rightness. Seeing the Tower again, the Fool feels as if lightning has just flashed across his mind; he thought he’d left that old self behind when he started on this spiritual journey. But he realizes now that he hasn’t. He’s been seeing himself, like the Tower, like the men inside, as alone and singular and superior, when in fact, he is no such thing. So captured is he by the shock of this insight, that he opens his mouth and releases a SHOUT! And to his astonishment and terror, a bolt of actual lightning slashes down from the heavens striking the Tower and sending its residents leaping out into the waters below. In a moment, it is over. The Tower is rubble, only rocks remaining. Stunned and shaken to the core, the Fool experiences profound fear and disbelief. But also, a strange clarity of vision, as if his inner eye has finally opened. He tore down his resistance to change and sacrifice (Hanged man), then came to terms with Death (Death); he learned about moderation and synthesis (Temperance) and about power (The Devil). But here and now, he has done what was hardest: he destroyed the lies of his life. What’s left are the foundations of truth. On this he can rebuild himself. Tower Tarot Card Meaning With Mars as its ruling planet, the Tower is a card about war, a war between the structures of lies and the lightning flash of truth. This is a card about anything we believe to be true, but later learn is false. This realization usually comes as a shock, hence, the violent image. It is, quite simply, that moment in any story where someone finds out a shocking truth, one that shatters their perceptions and makes them reassess their beliefs. When the Querent gets this card, they can expect to be shaken up, blinded by a revelation. It sometimes takes a very bright flash of light to reveal a truth that was so well hidden. And it sometimes takes an earthquake to bring down beliefs that were so cleverly constructed. What’s most important to remember is that the tearing down of this structure, however painful, allows us to find out what is true and reliable. What will stand rather than fall apart. Thirteen’s Observations on the Tower The Tower is one of the clearest cards when it comes to meaning. False structures, false institutions, false beliefs are going to come (or have already come) tumbling down, suddenly, violently and all at once. This sort of prediction can scare anyone, especially as the one you’re reading for likely does not know that something is false. Not yet. To the contrary, they probably believe that their lover is being faithful, that their religious beliefs are true and right, that there are no problems in their family structure, that everything is fine at work…oh, and that they’re fine. Just fine, really. Alas, they’re about to get a very rude awakening. Shaken up, torn down, blown asunder. And all a reader can really do to soften the blow is assure the querent that it is for the best. Nothing built on a lie, on falsehoods, can remain standing for long. Better for it to come down so that it can be rebuilt on truth-or not rebuilt at all, if that’s what seems best. This rude awakening is not going to be pleasant or painless or easy, but it will be for the best in the end.
The Tower Reversed
Ah. The Tower. It certainly signals a powerful shake-up that will bring down structures that the querent thought were stable…but really weren’t. And there in lies the trick of the Tower. With that flash of lightning - the insight that illuminates a dark landscape - the truth is revealed. What seemed to be stable is not, and comes crashing down. All that is left is the bare, harsh truth on which something more stable and real can now be built. But the devastation remains. However, what about Reversed? 1) Opposite: The easiest opposite is that there is no shake-up. No flash of lightning, no destruction. The Tower remains standing, the lies remain in place, the truth remains hidden. The querent may breathe out a sigh of relief -he’s gotten off easy. But that’s not necessarily a good thing. The message of the Tower is “The Emperor has no clothes!” but the reversed Tower, in this case, indicates that the querent doesn’t want to hear that, refuses to hear it, refuses to believe it. And lucky for him, no one is going to say it. So everyone maintains the lies, and the status quo goes on. 2) Blocked: The energy of the Tower is in that lightning flash, the energy of illumination and destruction. Very like in the opposite interpretation, the blocked interpretation suggests that things will remain in the dark and standing. The difference is that there is a desire for the truth to come out. However, someone or something is keeping the words (“The Emperor has no clothes!”) from being said. Someone or something is keeping the Tower of lies safe from revelation and destruction. Unblock that energy, and the truth will come out. 3) Upside-down: In the Rider-Waite deck, the Tower is one of the few major arcana cards which places the viewer in the middle of the action. It’s like a frame of film, a frozen moment in time as the tower is struck by that bolt and folk go flying. Reverse it and it’s almost as if the film is being shown backwards. The people seem to be falling back into their windows, the crown (emblematic of arrogance, of the tower proclaiming itself king and on par with heaven) is shooting a bolt into the heavens instead of vice-versa, and the foundation reigns supreme (as compared to the crown on top). This is very backwards indeed. Reversed, the Tower proclaims that its foundation is solid–almost like it’s “mooning” everyone. The crown mocks heaven, and the false builders who should be tossed out find their way back in. Not only are the lies not going to be revealed, but the liars are going to get away with worse. They will tell more lies - lies which will be believed over the truth (the crown throwing back the lightning bolt at heaven!). They are protected by the rocky foundation which now crowns them, and there is no throwing them out. The reversed Tower is the card a querent might get if they were trying to reveal the truth about a terrible scam or scandal, but the liars are too powerful and the lightning that should reveal all about them, that should bring them down, will be thrown at the querent instead. The truthful querent will be seen as the liar and, for the moment, they will suffer. They will not be believed and the Tower will remain standing.
The Star
Star Card Symbols
Seven or eight stars, a kneeling woman (usually nude), a pool of water, two urns.
Star Tarot Story On the bleak landscape where the Tower stood, the Fool sits, empty, despairing. He hoped to find direction on this spiritual journey, a path to his spiritual self, but having just learned that most of his life was a lie, he now feels lost. Sitting on the cold stones, he gazes up at the night sky wishing for some kind of guide. And that is when he notices, nearby, a beautiful girl with two water urns. As he watches, she kneels by a pool of water illuminated with reflected starlight. She empties the urns, one into the pool, one onto the thirsty ground. “What are you doing,” he asks her. She looks up at him, her eyes twinkling like stars. “I am refilling this pool, so that those who are thirsty may drink, and I am also watering the earth so that more fruit trees will grow to feed those who are hungry.” She nods back to a single fruit tree that stands nearby, a nightingale singing amid its branches. “Come,” she invites. “Sate your hunger and quench your thirst.” The Fool plucks some fruit from the tree, then kneels by her and drinks from the pool. The water tastes wonderful, like liquid starlight, and the fruit is equally delicious. Both help to heal his wounded heart. Having quenched his thirst and sated his hunger, the Fool lays back to gaze up at the stars. “They’re so beautiful,” he said, “but so distant.” “Like possible futures,” agrees the girl. “Cool and distant. Yet if you keep one in sight, it can guide you to your destination no matter how far away it is.” Even as she says this, she began to fade away, like dew, vanishing. All that remains is a gleam that was at the center of her forehead. This rises up and up, until it settles in the night sky as a shining star. “Follow your star,” the woman’s voice seems to sing from that light, “and have hope.” The Fool takes in a breath and rises. It is a dark night, a desolate land. But for the first time, he has a guiding light to show him the way. Distant as it is, it restores his faith. Star Tarot Card Meaning With Aquarius as its ruling sign, The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing, even unexpected help to offer us sustenance in bleak times. Thus, the card says that there is aid and assistance out there to help us though hard times, like organizations that offer food and shelter in the wake of a terrible flood or fire. This assistance might, to us, be a friend or counselor, an uplifting book or music, anything that appears in our life and heals our wounded spirit. More, the card tells us that we can achieve what we most want to achieve, like flood or fire victims wanting to rebuild. This future, however, won’t be growing to full size overnight like Jack’s Beanstalk. It will take time and we must not lose sight of it. This may seem like cold comfort. No one wants to hear that the person they’re interested is not interested in them, but will be in the future. Or that they will not succeed today, but will later on in their life. Still, it is there, a glimmer of light in the darkness. The question is, do we feel it’s worth waiting for or not? That is the question the Star makes us ask ourselves: What do we want bad enough that we will go the distance for it? The answer will tell us as much about what we are as what we could be. Thirteen’s Observations on the Star The Star is one of those cards that almost everyone loves. It is often the most beautiful card in the deck and its image suggests the peace and harmony of its meaning. While this card offers hope and possibilities, however, the reader must remember that these are in the distance. Only a time of healing and peace, like the oasis of water before the Star, are in the now. Like Aquarius, the card’s vision is for tomorrow. This means that if the querent is seeking love, a career, fame, wealth or even spiritual enlightenment, they can only be told that it is a possibility. It is not going to happen anytime soon. But if, like a ship navigating its way, they keep the star in their sights, they will eventually reach that other land they’re seeking. The Star offers no guarantees, of course, that the traveler won’t tire and give up or be lured in another direction. And there is no telling what obstacles they’ll encounter along the way. All the Star promises is that a particular future can exist. The Star offers peace and healing and a glimpse of the future. It is up to the querent to decide if they are willing to go after that future, no matter how long it may take them to get there.
The Star Reversed
The Star is a card of hope and healing. Coming after the Tower, it promises that there is a future, and offers a light to guide the person on their way to that future. It is a drink of cool water (knowledge) in the wasteland, a promise of tomorrow. Reversed…. 1) Opposite: Clearly, the opposite is that there is no future, no hope, no healing. Or, more to the point, that any hope or promise offered is going to be false hope. The star one is following is not fixed, and will lead the person astray. There is a feeling of being lost, with no way out. This interpretation does not speak well for one who is sick or emotionally or psychologically hurt - they’re not going to get well any time soon; they may even have taken a turn for the worst. 2) Blocked: We can think of this interpretation as there being clouds at night blocking out the star that one is following. Unlike the opposite, we know the star is there, but we can’t see it. The person is feeling hopeless, but that doesn’t mean there is no hope - they just can’t see it. I would read this as intense pessimism; the sort of cynical or depressed out-look that insists that the world is coming to an end, there is no future, the glass is half-empty, etc. The sick person feels that their illness will never end, that there is no cure. This, however, is not accurate. There is hope and healing. But something is standing in the way of our querent finding it - either their own refusal to see it, or some other dark cloud. 3) Upside-down: Reversed, the waters of knowledge and healing that the Star pours out fall into the sky, and both pond and urns and earth are left dry. The Star is no longer in the sky, and so can’t shed its light on the earth. Very like the blocked interpretation, this is a time of darkness. Only in this instance, there really is no hidden promise. Everything has run dry. No one is offering the querent a future or hope for a future. This is a person in a very desperate situation. At its absolute worse, they are dying or suicidal - and with good reason. They are getting no help; they are alone with no guiding light, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually bereft. It is a very bleak and black time for them.
The Moon
Moon Card Symbols
A full moon (with a crescent within), twin pillars, two dogs/wolves howling, a stream that runs to the ocean, a crayfish emerging out of the water.
Moon Tarot Story Following the star the Fool travels through the night. The full Moon rises, illuminating for him a watery path. And he begins to feel disoriented, as if walking in his sleep. He passes under the moon, between two pillars ancient and strange. Suddenly, he looks around to find himself in another land entirely. When he was in the presence of the High Priestess, he saw hints of this dark land through the sheer veil draped behind her throne. And later, when he hung from the tree, he felt himself between the physical world and this one. Now, he has at last passed behind the veil. Here are the mysteries he sought, the darkest mysteries, ones that have to do with the most primal and ancient powers. It is a land poets, artists, musicians and madmen know well, a terrifying, alluring place, with very different rules. Wolves run wild across this land, hunting along side maidens with bow and arrows. Creatures from childhood nightmares and fantasies peer from shadows, eyes glowing. The path the Fool was walking is now a river, and he stands hip-deep in the powerful pull of its salty waters. There is, on the nearby shore, a small boat, but it has no rudder, no oar. The Fool realizes he has only two choices. He can lose himself in this desolate, primal land of madness and illusion, howl with the wolves, be hunted down, or he can get into the boat and trust himself to the river. The moon will be in control either way, but in the boat his surrender to the powers of the unconscious will at least take him somewhere. Inspiration, visions and genius are the rewards of such surrender to the Moon’s Magic, as artists, poets and seers know. The Fool gets into the boat, and shoves off. As the waters sweep him away, moonbeams light his “path” and he feels the Mistress of this dark land gazing down at him with the High Priestess’s approving eyes. Moon Tarot Card Meaning With Pisces as its ruling sign, the Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. At its darkest this can be a very scary card warning the querent of hidden enemies, mental illness, alcoholic blackouts or a bad drug trip. At its very best, however, the Moon is a card of genius, of mental breakthroughs, astonishing creativity, powerful magic, and intuition. The querent who gets this card should be warned that they may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial, a time when they’ll do things that seem to make sense to them, yet when they come out of it they’ll wonder, “Why did I do that? It makes no sense!” Their mind will be playing tricks on them, and so this is not a good time for making decisions that require rational thought and a clear head. This card can, likewise, signal a crazy time for relationships. Whirlwind romances, powerful and dreamlike, but not trustworthy. For families and friends this is a time of emotional ups and downs. If the querent has any past mental problems, they must be vigilant in taking their medication and seeing their therapist. They should avoid recreational drugs or alcohol, they will have a bad reaction if they take either. At the same time, the Moon signals great creativity, enhanced psychic powers, visions. The querent’s judgment may not be trustworthy, but they will have intuitive flashes that are remarkably accurate. Thirteen’s Observations on the Moon This is the card of that scary, dreamy, secret otherworld where lies the most powerful and dark magic and artistic talents. Thus, it is the card for the most extreme types who seem to be straddling that line between artistic genius and psychopath. Here are the wild, mean, crazy drunks who produce groundbreaking works with pen or paintbrush. Here are the musicians with wicked mood swings, dark, dark, dark depressions and charming manic modes. These men and women have no inhibitions and don’t even try to control themselves in polite society. Their crazy behavior is sometimes inspired, sometimes horribly embarrassing, even unbelievable and often dangerous. But the art, poetry, music they produce….it’s magic. This is also where seers, mediums and holy men/women find themselves after weeks of fasting, prayers and meditation, when they finally have that holy vision. Here is the magical forest in fairy tales, the wasteland in myths where heroes meet with spirits, oracles, sphinxes and their own shadow selves. There is no predicting what will happen when we go to this land in dreams or while hallucinating on mushrooms. And there is no predicting how it will change us. The Moon is the wild card of the Major Arcana. When I get this card, I let the querent know they’re in for an emotional and mental rollercoaster ride. They’re going to be moody, sensitive, and a little irrational. They can do two things, either wander through this crazy, lunatic landscape howling at the moon (get drunk, wallow in depression, alienate friends and family with wild, antisocial behavior), or get in a boat and go through it purposefully. Meaning that they should probably take up painting, writing poetry or some other creative endeavor where they can transform all they’re seeing and feeling into something beautiful.
The Moon Reversed
We have a bit of conundrum with the Moon. Its usual interpretation often has to do with hallucinations, insanity, wildness…but it also relates to dreams, fantasy, artistic talent, creativity, psychic ability, romance. This makes interpreting the reverse a bit troublesome. Is it positive or negative? Let’s see what we can work out. 1) Opposite: trying to figure out the opposite of the Moon is problematic. Logically, it should be “The Sun.” But we already have that card. So let us say, instead, that it is the “Dark of the Moon.” In this instance, I would interpret the Moon at its very worst, giving its milder interpretations to the upright. By the light of the Moon, we can still find our way - even if wild things do happen by that light. When the Moon is dark, however, dark things happen. We might well say that things are not merely wild, but primitive. Criminals lurk in the dark, shady folk with dark purposes and intents. Sexual predators instead of romance, artistic talent used to hurt and destroy. Evil fantasies and dreams. Here is the stalker, the person who wants to scare and harass. This interpretation would probably include a bad psychological time. If the querent suffers from any problem or has someone in their family suffering through such a problem (depression, bi-polar disease, substance abuse) they are going to be going through a dark time with it. It’s going to be a long dark night of the soul. 2) Blocked: The energy of the Moon is that of chaos. It can be insanity or artistic genius, but either way, it is restricted. Blocked suggests a writer’s block, perhaps a sexual block, even a block put on that insanity (medication that dulls the mind?). The block might be physical (bars on the window!), or just self-restraint. This is not order, so much as a lock on the door, keeping the chaos, freedom, and wildness outside. There may be calm with this blockage - but it is artificial. The chaos has not been removed or corrected, only prevented. Bars protect the person from the wild, but the wild still calls to them. So, in this case, crime is prevented, but not stopped. Depression, etc. are held off, but not cured. 3) Upside-down: Turn the card upside down and the creatures are not gazing up at the Moon - the Moon gazes up at them instead. This suggests that what rules and commands the wild is no longer in charge. Base as these instincts may be, they do have a gut feeling that they are following. It’s certainly topsy-turvy for the light to be looking up at them, for them to be in charge instead. It is out of primordial ooze, out of chaos, that order comes (the Sun will follow the Moon), but upside-down, it suggests that order is moving into chaos instead. That even the guiding light of the moon has been subjected, and only the primitive reigns - unchecked, directionless, with no purpose or hope of coming to an end. This is the sort of interpretation one might find for revolutions and riots, for countries melting down into political turmoil with no path to peace in sight. On a more personal level, you’re likely to get this interpretation for a complete mental breakdown or a merciless plummet into the worst depths of drug addiction. There is no civilization. Men and women are ruled entirely by their animal natures. Complete anarchy.
The Sun
Sun Card Symbols
The Sun, one or two naked children (a naked little boy, sometimes riding a white pony or a boy and a girl), sunflowers, often a wall, sometimes a red banner.
The Sun is ruled by…the Sun, of course and as the Moon was your inner darkness, the wild, untamed, unconscious part of you, the Sun is your inner light, civilized and rational, yang to yin, Apollo to Diana.The Sun promises the querent their day in the sun. Glory, triumph, simple pleasures and truths. As the moon symbolized inspiration from dreams, this card symbolizes discoveries made wide awake. This is science and math, beautifully constructed music, carefully reasoned philosophy. It is a card of intellect and youthful energy.Like the Sun, the querent will likely come across to others as warm and radiant, and they can be told that this is a good time to make decisions and take tests.
The Sun Reversed
The upright Sun is all about reason, light, order. It is a card of youthfulness, children and music, of clear thought and the feeling that all is right in the universe. Reversed…. 1) Opposite: The opposite would most logically be “night” or the “The Moon” but we have those cards already. With the Sun, reason and order should prevail, as with the Moon, emotion and superstition prevail…so what of the Sun reversed? Say that poor logic and bad reasoning prevail. Facts are presented, but taken out of context. Wrong conclusions are reached, arguments are twisted. This is not chaos so much as “disorder.” Things are in place, just not in the right place. Which, frankly, can be far more frustrating than if the Moon were ruling and all was just chaos and anarchy. 2) Blocked: The Sun’s energy is all about clarity, reason and light. Blocked gives us an eclipse. Things seem dark, muddled, unclear; illogical - but there is hope that once the eclipse is over, the light will shine again. Give the Sun’s connection to children, this could also indicate problems with pregnancy or getting along with young children. This would also be a bad card for musicians or mathematicians, ruled by the Sun, a reversed card would indicate discordant music for the musician, and problems wrongly solved for the mathematician. What should make sense and be harmonious is not. 3) Upside-down: Reverse the Rider-Waite Sun card and the sun sinks down instead of rising up. The innocence, wisdom and clarity of childhood loses his banner and his seat on the horse, the sunflowers wilt. The Sun provides life to flowers and to people; if it is reversed and going down, then its light and warmth is fading, and so is the life it supports. This is not, as with the blocked card, a suggestion that the light is temporarily gone. This is a fading Sun - it suggests that the querent is either unable to recapture youth and childhood - or that they are refusing to see the light. There is a suggestion here that they would rather be in shadow, than see what the light might show them. It is possible that the querent is rejecting reason and logic. Or that the querent cannot stop the light from fading. Ignorance is winning, as are the dim and short-sighted forces of cynical adulthood. No one is listening to youthful protests, or thinking of the children, of future generations. Energy fades, the light fades, music and wisdom fade. Something must be done before all the flowers have wilted away.
Judgement
Judgement Card Symbols
Angel, trumpets, graves with people rising from them, often water or an ocean.
Judgement Tarot Story As the Fool leaves the garden of the Sun, he feels that he is near the end of his journey, ready to take a final step. But something is keeping him from doing this, holding him back. He gazes up, hoping to find guidance from the Sun; instead he sees above him a fiery angel, beautiful and terrible. “You are right,” the Angelic figure confirms, “you have only one last step on your journey, one final step to completion. But you cannot take that step until you lay your past to rest.” The Fool is perturbed. “Lay it to rest? I thought I’d left it behind, all of it!” “There is no way to leave the past behind,” The Angel observes. “Each step wears down the shoe just a bit, and so shapes the next step you take, and the next and the next. Your past is always under your feet. You cannot hide from it, run from it, or rid yourself of it. But you can call it up, and come to terms with it. Are you willing to do that?” The Angel hands the Fool a small trumpet. The Fool is hesitant, but he knows that the Angel is right. There are certain memories he has a hard time looking back on as they make him feel guilty, ashamed, angry. He knows that he’s never come to terms with what happened and he must if he wants to make that final transition. He blows the trumpet and it cracks open the Earth. From under the Fool’s feet, the spirits of his past selves rise up, including those less than admirable past selves that he’s tried to forget. For the first time, he faces them. They are, he sees, nothing to fear. They were him once-upon-a-time, but not now. Even as he realizes this, he finds himself forgiving those past selves for the wrongs they did that left him feeling bad. He senses, in turn, that they forgive him for ignoring the lessons they had to teach him. As he reaches an understanding with them, they start to rise up and float away, vanishing into the sky. Though they remain as experiences and memories, they no longer have any power over him. He is free of ill-feelings, reborn, and living in the present. Judgement Tarot Meaning With Fire as its ruling element, Judgement is about rebirth and resurrection. The idea of Judgement Day is that the dead rise, their sins are forgiven, and they move onto heaven. The Judgement card is similar in that it asks us to resurrect the past, forgive it, and let it go. There are wounds from the past that we never let heal, sins we’ve committed that we refuse to forgive, bad habits we haven’t the courage to lose. Judgement advises us to finally face these, recognize that the past is past, and put them to rest, absolutely and irrevocably. The reader can tell the querent that they need to forgive or be forgiven, do something they’ve been putting off, or have the courage to finally end something that isn’t good for them. It is time to move on. This is also a card of healing, quite literally from an accident or illness. It can indicate a time in the hospital, or a time of significant change. Thirteen’s Observations on Judgement Judgement can be a hard card to read; it usually signals a change, one that involves leaving something old completely behind and stepping into something completely new. Like closing the door on an old job, and opening the door to a new and very different career. But it’s also about making a final decision, to take that plunge into the new career, to forgive your family, to leave an abusive spouse, to make a new life. To heal and renew. It’s a very hard card to read, in part because it deals with very hard and final decisions. And it means facing something that most querents don’t want to face. This is not about Death, something ending whether you want it to or not, this is about deciding to make a change, to stop doing something that isn’t working and do something that will work. Which means that it’s really a card about courage, and about recognizing that you’re holding onto something that needs to be let go. “You can’t hide any longer,” this card says, “All the coffins have opened, and all that you thought was buried is out in the open. Face what you have to face and lay it to rest so that you can move on. Make that decision. Change.”
Judgement Reversed
Right-side-up, Judgement is about letting go of (or freeing oneself from) something that you’ve been hanging onto, something that needs to be released in order for you to be reborn and move on. It could mean forgiving someone, or releasing your anger, it could be letting go of the past or of a bad relationship. Judgement is also about that “rebirth” or renewal of the self, about getting well after a long sickness, or finding a new career or spiritual path. You become a new person, unburdened by the baggage carried by your old self. Reversed…. 1) Opposite: The easiest opposite meaning here is that instead of becoming free of a burden, you take one on. Instead of being reborn, you dig yourself in deeper into that old life. Even more, this interpretation could suggest something the querent thought they’d dropped returning to haunt them. They thought something was over and done with, but it appears like a ghost, not banished at all. 2) Blocked: similar to opposite, this suggests an inability to let go, to free oneself from that baggage. The energy of the card is rebirth and here it is being blocked: the sick person stays sick. The person in the bad relationship can’t seem to leave it. There is no forgiving or letting go of old issues. Something is getting in the way of the querent’s renewal of self. 3) Upside-down: Turn the Rider card over and folk “fall” out of their coffins rather than rising up out of them. The angel is below rather than above, and coffins fill the sky. This is certainly ominous. It suggests not a release from the grave so much as the graves opening up and spitting out their dead. We’ve switched from Resurrection to Zombie Movie. Not pretty. This suggests that, as in a Zombie film, the querent is not only having trouble getting rid of their baggage - but is surrounded and overwhelmed by it. The more Zombies the querent kills, the more that seem to surround them. The sins of the past, of people from the past, keep turning up. There seems to be no escape; and the querent spends all their time trying to get out from under those coffins. They never get a chance to renew themselves. This could well suggest a recurring illness that keeps the querent from holding a job or having a life. An ex-spouse who keeps putting demands on them, so they can’t remarry or have a new love-life. Old debts and/or black marks on their record that keep cropping up, making it hard for them to get credit, a job, even a place to live. There seems to be no escape from the past and no hope for a new future.
The World
World Card Symbols
Woman or hermaphrodite dancing, a wreath in the shape of a Yoni (almond shaped circle), two wands, a cherub, an eagle, a lion, a bull.
World Tarot Story The Fool turns to take that final step along his final path, and finds, to his bemusement, that he is right back where he started, at the edge of that very same cliff he almost stepped over when he was young and too foolish to look where he was going. But now he sees his position very differently. He thought he could separate body and mind, learn all about one, then leave it to learn about the other. But in the end, it is all about the self: mind and body, past and future, the individual, and the world. All one, including the Fool and the Mystic who are both doorways to the secrets of the universe. With a knowing smile, the Fool takes that final step right off the cliff…and soars. Higher and higher, until the whole of the world is his to see. And there he dances, surrounded by a yoni of stars, at one with the universe. Ending, in a sense, where he began, beginning again at the end. The world turns, and the Fool’s journey is complete. World Tarot Meaning The World (or Universe) card pictures a dancer in a Yoni (sometimes made of laurel leaves). The Yoni symbolizes the great Mother, the cervix through which everything is born, and also the doorway to the next life after death. It is indicative of a complete circle. The Dancer has one leg crossed over the other, just like the Hanged man. She is, in a sense, his opposite, the Hanged Man right-side-up. As the Hanged Man saw infinitely inward, the Dancer sees infinitely outward. The Dancer is also the opposite of the Wheel. The Wheel goes up and down like a Ferris Wheel, which means those on it feel like they get moved to higher or lower positions, are lucky or unlucky. The World, by compare, goes round and round like a carousel. This means that whatever corner of the universe a person gets sent to, it seems equally wonderful and interesting, not like a promotion or demotion. With the World there are no Zeniths or Nadirs; each corner is different, but all are similarly important. Which brings us to the Lion, Bull, Cherub and Eagle standing for Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio, the fixed signs of the Zodiac (also sometimes found on The Wheel of Fortune card). These are symbolic of the four elements (four suits of the tarot), four compass points, four seasons, and the four corners of the universe. All within the Dancer’s sight and power. Thus, the World card is about, first, completion and competency. The querent may have come to the end of a long-term project or graduated from a field of study. There is the feeling that they have hit all the points of the circle. There will be well-earned praise, celebration and success. Saturn, the card’s ruling planet, reinforces this. Saturn is the “scholar” card, and indicates that the querent is now an expert in their subject. Thus, this is not, like Death, the end of something, but rather a change in frequency. From student to teacher, from apprentice to master. The querent has finished their first go-around and goes right into another spin as a professional. And, finally, on a more mundane level, the World card indicates travel, not short business trips, but long, fantastic trips. Maybe a lecture tour, book signing, or just a trip around the world. This can be a wonderful card of wholeness, satisfaction and independence. Thirteen’s Observations on the World There are three possible things I usually see in this card when it comes up, sometimes combined, sometimes not: (1) Everything finally coming together, successfully and at last. The querent will graduate, marry after a long engagement, finish that huge project, or get their ph.d. This is a card about completing things, and getting well earned cheers and pats on the back when you do. (2) The querent is or will become a teacher, a Sensei, a scholar or master of their profession. Meaning they’ve shifted from being seen as a common worker to being seen as an expert. They may stop working for others and start up their own business. Or it may be that someone will retire and they’ll take over. (3) They are either traveling now or will be traveling. Luckily for them, the World card indicates that they’ll feel comfortable and welcome no matter where they go, provided for by those who sent or invited them on this trip. The World card indicates a person who owns little. The whole world is their home and gives them what they need.
The World Reversed
Finishing up our Majors…the World or Universe is a card about achievement, mastery, completion, and a feeling of being welcome anywhere you go. It’s a card of travel, not travelling to learn but travelling to dispense knowledge. This is the Wise Scholar instead of the Fool, packed up and going wherever the road takes them. Reversed…. 1) Opposite: obviously, the opposite of the travelling card would be staying at home. A person who can’t venture from their comfort zone. Likewise, the person is far from finishing what they’ve been working on. It isn’t complete, it’s only just started. We might also say that the opposite here would be the Fool - but we already have that card. So what’s the difference? I would say that the Fool doesn’t pretend to know anything. But the reversed World indicates a person who thinks they are worldly, pretends to be worldly…but they are not. This card could very well suggest someone who is fooling themselves or others. Their knowledge is faulty or just plain wrong. Their information is false; they don’t know what they’re talking about. 2) Blocked: as the energy of the World card is completion or mastery, a blocked World card indicates that something is stopping a person from finishing the job. Ever seen the movie “Wonder Boys”? A writer keeps working on a novel, it gets longer and longer, but he can’t seem to finish it. The reversed world would very much suit this man. What he’s taken on he can’t compete or master - or, for some reason, doesn’t want to. This card might also come up for someone who is agoraphobic. A person who cannot leave their home, who is afraid of the outside world. 3) Upside-down: the upside-down image of the Rider-Waite world gives us an image very like the Hanged Man. The dancing figure can’t dance, the world, as it were, can’t turn. We end up with stillness rather than movement. As with the other interpretations, we get the feeling that no travel is possible. The person can’t turn and so can’t see all around them - they can’t complete what they’ve started.
