posted March 13, 2003 02:03 AM         

I'll go first:

I love the High Priestess - she gives me a warm, safe feeling. Like nothing can harm me if I learn to listen to her. I guess I feel this connection because I've been working really hard to tune into my Higher Self.

I like the Hermit - everytime I see this card, the number 31 springs to mind.
Now I know that's not a particularly popular number, but I like it because it represents solitude and introspection.
And you can't do too much of one without the other, though most people I know don't like the 'lonely' aspect of the card. It's more 'alone' than 'lonely' actually.
The way I see it, it gives you the strength to work on yourself and make yourself whole ... and for that you've got only yourself to work with.
When you're complete, you'll be ready to give up the alone thingey and create full, rich relationships that have more to do with love and respect than with emotional dependancy.

I LOVE the 10 of Cups!!!! Lu-hu-huvvv that card. I'll always be an incurable romantic.

What are the cards the rest of you relate to? This might even get us to learn a little more about the cards while LTD's away.

Juniperb, have you been doing your homework like a good girl? Or have the mice been playing while the cat's away??

posted March 13, 2003 07:21 AM         

My favorite card is THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE. It is my constant reminder that when things seem really rotten, something good is just around the corner!!!

posted March 15, 2003 03:16 AM         

the aces...pioneering spirit...initiating movement...springlike newness and freshness.

the 3 virtues: temperance, strength, justice...they speak for themselves.

posted March 16, 2003 02:24 AM         

Hard to pick a favorite...

The Emperor and The Hermit represent God, or as the Qabalists would say The Ancient of Days... so I have an affinity for those.

I'd probably have to say either The Magician or the Fool...

The Magician because he shows us what we can really do when we focus our attention on something: Create magic and Miracles!

And the Fool, because he has an innocent "Faith in the rightness of things", as Nanny (a.k.a. Juliette Mills from Nanny and the Professor) used to say. ("Phoebe Figalilly is a silly name...") No matter how close he comes to the proverbial edge, he KNOWS with unshakable Faith, that the Hand of God will bring him safely to the right place!

And in a perverse sort of way I like the Devil card, because he shows us what happens when we bind ourselves to The Material Plane. And as one of my favorite teachers likes to say... "The Devil is God as He (or She) is misunderstood by the wicked".

But.. there is something to love in ALL the Tarot Cards... they show in pictures Man's Fall from Grace and the Path of Return.

posted March 16, 2003 06:10 PM         

My favorite has always been The Lovers though.I think its a beautiful card with alot of meaningful symbolism.

Also when I lexi'd my name, it was in my lexi-Zain
So was Nun- Death

Any feelings on that??

posted March 18, 2003 11:09 AM         

Mazz, reading's a lot of fun as well. Insightful too. Really.

SCM, what are Enlightment cards? Haven't heard of them before.

Aselzion, can you tell us a little more about The Emperor? I don't really get that symbolism. I know he's like an authority figure who provides stability, but other than that I can't really connect.

Oh yeah, Taj, I love the Sun as well! How did I forget that one?

Annie, you love being a mommy, don't you? What do you like about the Lovers, though?

Aphrodite, the Magician is about recognising the clues the Universe leaves you, using the opportunities that present themselves serendipitously and making the most of your potential.
The Queen of P, I'm not sure. She's a sensuous self assured kind of woman but I don't know much more about her.

Quinnie and D, the Fool's cool!

I'm so hung up on the Tarot right now, I can't stop talking about it!

posted March 18, 2003 11:35 AM         

Well, The Emperor card in the Higher Arcana is related to the astrological sign Aries, see all the Arian and Martial symbolism on the card?

The Emperor represents the Gift of Vision, a certain ability to clearly see the future of an issue, and the energy and drive to manifest that vision.

As I mentioned, it is one of the cards Qabalistically connected with the "Ancient of Days" or God. In most decks he is pictured in profile.. implying, I believe, that no matter what we THINK we see, we never have full insight into God. It's sort of like trying to look at the Dark Side of the Moon... or perhaps a multifaceted jewel. When you look closely at ONE ASPECT, you lose sight of the whole.

Make any sense? There is much food for thought here. What does your own spiraling on The Emperor tell you? Remember, he is also Aries... where is Aries in your chart? Mars?

Sometimes the images we CANNOT connect with, have the most to teach us... about ourSelves.

Peace and Magic...
A

posted March 18, 2003 01:46 PM         

Sorry it's taken me a while to reply... been working with little time off between shifts...

Zain, yes the Lovers.. Discrimination.. The Sword that cuts two ways.

Have you noticed that Sword Lexigrams into WORDS... Mercury, Ruler of Gemini!

Nun: The Fish! The dis-integration that leads to fertile soil. Remember using a dead fish to fertilize the garden? Life from Death.. and a key to the beginnings of understanding Immortality. What a wonderful letter, and card.

I think both of those are very apropos for a student of the Ageless Wisdom.

OK, maybe I'm getting a little esoteric here.. I'm only working on 2 hours of sleep, and I just dropped a friend off at Logan airport.

posted March 18, 2003 01:52 PM         

That post of yours has got me thinking.....

I'm looking at the Emperor right now. He's dressed in red and a rich purple. The red's pretty straight forward - Action, and purple is connected to Intuition, isn't it? He has an eagle perched on his shoulder, something that looks like bolts of lightening in his right hand, and a crystal ball (I think) in his left......which depicts the same as the colours, I would think - action (the bolts of lightening), and insight (crystall ball). What strikes me about his expression is that he looks powerful - and completely at ease with the power he holds, like he is totally in touch with himself. I get the feeling he understands and accepts himself which somehow makes that power more potent because he will never misuse or abuse it since he knows and accepts exactly who he is.

So from what I observe and from the clues you've just given me, I'd say the Emperor signifies the need to KNOW yourself in order to channel the power and potential inherent in you, to recognise the divine in yourself and have faith in that power, and to balance action with instinct, to act on your intuition and go with your gut.
I don't know if that means GO with the impulsive action of Mars, because that's your gut reaction, or DON'T act hastily without considering what the power within you is saying.

I see mountains in the background, and the whole card has a very masculine feel about it. Could it be that this card depicts the MASCULINE half of the entire aspect of God, and is completed by another card in the Tarot, like the Empress?

Or maybe, the element of instinct and intuition lends the card its feminine aspect. Maybe it says that no matter how much power you have at your disposal, it will always have only one dimension till you reach deep inside yourself to activate the other dimension of that power and allow it its full potential. Perhaps, this macho image who is so in touch with his feminine side and allows his intuition to reign supreme is the perfect blend of positive and negative forces and embodies GOD in his/her entirity.

Not sure what the eagle signifies. Also power? Knowledge? The power that comes through knowledge? Just from looking at the Eagle, it seems to me to symbolise protection of some sort, and I get the feeling that protection comes from knowledge. Knowledge gives you power, the power to protect yourself and those around you.

I know it all sounds a bit convoluted, but thats the way my thoughts were flowing so I'll leave it that way and hope you can figure out what I'm trying to say, because I feel those words just flowed more with feeling than through a logical thought process.

My Mars is in the 8th and I've got Aries on the descendent. My knowledge of Astrology is limited, so I have only a basic idea of the significance of Mars in the 8th and none whatsoever of Aries on the descendent.

And, thank you, Aselzion. I am very, very interested in learning more about the Tarot and I appreciate your taking the time to explain all this.

posted March 18, 2003 02:08 PM         

See above.. working on not alot of sleep here, and I want to give your thoughts the attention they deserve.

Right away, one thing that comes to mind is that we all create our own realities anyway, with or without the cards. That is the assumption I work under, especially after having learned that we are all here to be Co-Creators with God/dess.

I will give this more thought tho, and get back to you. Thanks for your patience.

posted March 18, 2003 02:16 PM         

Yes, thank you.. I'm off to bed now!

What deck are you using? I'm not familiar with the imagery you mentioned in re your Emperor. I'm looking at The Morgan Greer deck, and the B.O.T.A. Higher Arcana keys.. which are a good representation of the Esoteric Tarot.

I very much agree with much of what you said, but again, I'm going to sleep on it for a while before I comment further!

posted March 19, 2003 12:39 PM         

Some more thoughts on Tarot.

1) It isn't just for telling the future anymore. Though there is that aspect to it, Tarot as I have said reveals the drama of Man's Fall from Grace, and the Path of Return, so it is remarkably well suited to meditation.

2) Divination, by any means... means to get in touch with the Divine in ourselves, as much as to try to guess or determine future outcomes. When we attempt to Divine the future, we are really opening the way for Higher Power to speak to us, to grant us knowledge or wisdom that we ALREADY may have, but due to circumstances, may have temporarily forgotten that we have access to.

3) A true reader will present possibilities and potentials as revealed by the predictive method of their choice. Sometimes when one cannot see their way clearly due to stress, emotions or sheer exhaustion, another may be needed to help us access the information. The "removal" or distance that the reader has will often allow a more clear view, which we can then choose to incorporate into our plan or not as we see fit. When you can be that reader, it can be fun, if not downright fulfilling to actually HELP another Soul to find their way when they are momentarily lost.

Do we make the predictions come true or not... well, the jury is out on that one. The Fate vs. Free Will debate has been raging for centuries, and I'm not likely to solve it in one short essay. My best guess is that the TRUTH is somewhere in between.

It's kind of like being on a road... the road may continue straight ahead, or it may branch off to the left and right. If we continue straight ahead we will arrive at a certain location. If we take the right we will end up in another, and so again with the left. One way may be fraught with potholes and detours, another may get us quickly where we wish to go. The choice as to which direction we take is FREE WILL... what we face when we have made that choice is to a degree FATE.

Tarot (or Astrology or Runes or what have you) acts as a sort of road map, giving us some clues as to what we may expect at each turn. What we CHOOSE to do once we reach that point is again Free Will.

Hope this makes some sense. Please feel free to enquire further.. occasionally I get lost in a tangent!