Revisiting Tarot Card Meanings

Alright I take it the author did mean correspond instead of govern in that case, which is a common practice in modern works I have found. But of course the traditional perspective is that rulership goes beyond correspondence, which is important when considering traditional texts.

The author may have mistaken Alchemical Mercury with the element Mercury here. Agrippa in Book I Chapter 7 of Three Books of Occult Philosophy says that Quicksilver (older term for the element Mercury) is watery.

Alchemical Mercury is different from Quicksilver, however. Alchemical Mercury is not simply Quicksilver, but it is the interactive principle in things. For example, plant sap is the “Mercury” of the plants. Alcohol, then, is the perfection of plant Mercury.
Alchemical Sulfur is the energetic, volatile principle in things, and Alchemical Salt is the stable solid principle in things. These concepts are important to understanding the Tarot as Crowley explains it.

So, Alchemical Mercury as the fluid and interactive principle in things has a link to Air.

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You are such a wizard. I have so much respect for your knowledge. Thank you for sharing it :dizzy:

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The Emperor

  • Aries, Mars
  • government
  • justified cause
  • King Phillip IV
  • King Midas
  • impoverished kingdom
  • scorched earth tactics
  • domination of mind over heart
  • March 21 - April 19

The Emperor Reversed

  • need to place mind over heart
  • dominate the domineering
  • strong prejudices leading to injustice

I usually think of the Emperor as a rigid and Saturnian figure; more Capricorn than Aries. It never struck me as a passionate or impulsive card.

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The Hierophant

  • Earth, Venus, Taurus
  • concealment (with good intentions)
  • distortion of truth (with good intentions)
  • Pope Clement V

The Hierophant Reversed

  • self-determination

Taurus surprises me. Taurus reminds of down-to-earth people and agriculture, not divine representatives. Venus surprises me. Venus reminds me of pleasure and sensuality, not the pressures and restrictions of religious institutions. I would have guessed Leo (self-importance), Virgo (rules and micromanagement), Capricorn (restriction and severity), or Pisces (dogma and religion). But I see that we’re “going in order” and Taurus follows Aries.

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The Lovers

  • Air, Mercury, Gemini
  • Ethics
  • Moral choices
  • Choosing between pleasuring the senses and spiritual ascension
  • Choosing between the mind and the heart
  • Love versus lust
  • Vice versus virtue
  • Indecision
  • Bliss can become tragedy

The Lovers Reversed

  • choosing your own morals and ethics
  • veering from your own morals and ethics

I did not realize that the woman stood in front of the Tree of Knowledge and the Man in front of the Tree of Life. I associate the Lovers with affinity and have never connected it with morality (unless it reversed; unfaithfulness). I read it more interpersonal and less existential. Perhaps this is why the Air association throws me.

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The Chariot

  • Water, Moon, Cancer
  • Urim and Thummin (divination)
  • Control over willpower
  • Jurisdiction
  • Willpower from the Divine
  • Acquisition
  • Mechanics, movement & motion of conquest
  • Tough exterior, sensitive interior
  • Subduing aggressively instead of confronting maturely
  • Appearing in control but evading problems
  • Lingam and Yoni (Shiva & Shakti)
  • Discipline & audacity
  • Templars returning from the East
  • Eight-pointed star of Ishtar
  • Divine knowledge
  • June 21- July 22

The Chariot Reversed

  • Stagnant energy

Again, my understanding of this card is more superficial. I associate it with victory, momentum, and enthusiasm (not so controlled; more reckless). I most certainly did not connect it with Water and Cancer, but can see it with movement and armor. I had no awareness of the lingam, yoni, or Ishtar symbolism.

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Strength

  • Security
  • Triumph of love over hate
  • Virtue is strength
  • Overcoming fear
  • Strength to master the self (*Chariot, strength to master the environment)
  • Divine knowledge of the self
  • Application of divine knowledge acquired by the Chariot
  • Kill them with kindness

Strength Reversed

  • harness the energies of Fire to overcome obstacles

A more spiritual interpretation than my own. But that makes sense; this is a key of the Major Arcana. My reading of this card has been a bit mundane and shallow.

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The Hermit

  • Yin, Earth, Mercury, Virgo
  • Accept the advice that has been offered
  • Peter the Hermit
  • St. Francis of Paola & the Hermits of St. Francis
  • Path of nonviolence & compassion

The Hermit Reversed

  • Needing to ask for guidance, but not asking
  • Learning the hard way
  • Thinking you know best
  • Disrespecting elders

Looking towards any neighboring cards that the Hermit’s lantern “shines” on for context and clarity is a fantastic tip that had not occurred to me.

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I really love the image of this card in the Thoth Deck

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Is this a manticore? Or chimera?
This seems to convey a very different message from Strength, lol!

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It’s 666 The Beast and the Whore of Babylon, holding the Holy Grail and taking the Blood of the Saints.

All of this had profound meaning and symbolism to Crowley and so in Thelema. You’ll have to read ‘Understand Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Deck’ by Lon Milo Duquette for more on that.

The card is also called in the Golden Dawn Tradition “The Daugher of the Flaming Sword” (See, 777 by Aleister Crowley), and has attributed to it the Hebrew letter Teth, and is the path between Chesed and Geburah, and is the Zodiacal Trump of Leo.

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Fascinating :exploding_head:
Do you have a preference between RWS and Thoth, when you yourself are reading?

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I use both Marseilles and RWS like tarot.

Am i the only one who associate wands with air and sword with fire? :joy:

Idk it feels more “logical” to me.

The wand can become and arrow.
It was forged with wind.
The wood becomes paper.

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I entirely use Crowley’s Thoth Deck. I like the RW deck and that was my first deck, but even when I used the RW deck I used Crowley’s system and attributions while using it (Both a development from the Golden Dawn, so mainly just different in a few cards). I haven’t used the RW deck in a rather long time now, but it is a nice one too.

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I don’t why but this is so unexpected, lol! Perhaps because it has a reputation for being a “darker” deck.

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I have never used Marseilles, and would love to know more about it. Please feel free to open up a thread about this deck. I do not think it has been mentioned on the forum.

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At the beginning it looks tougher to get than RDW but the more you learn about numerology, elemental and “patterns” symbolism… The more it opens to you and offer more interpretations

For instance the 3 of Swords in RDW is obvi a bad card with little “positive” to give.

The Marseilles 3 of Swords represents a limit that is cut… So the meaning can less extreme depending on the question even tho the heartbreak can also be an option here.

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Interesting! It doesn’t seem like I would like a “darker” deck?

But I don’t quite see the Thoth Deck as dark. But I really love the deck. It is said that Lady Freida Harris, who painted the deck under the instruction of Aleister Crowley, created the deck with some inspiration of her Holy Guardian Angel. I wouldn’t be too surprised.

I was surprised at the extent everything in each card fits its’ Qabalistic meaning and assignment. Even the colours in the cards follow the Qabalistic colour scale of the card or the colours under the astrological factors associated with the card.

Sorry, I just really liked that bit of information!

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You know, it doesn’t to me. I associate your tastes more with celestial spheres, geomancy, theurgy (or at least the philosophy of it), and plant cultivation. Perhaps I have overgeneralized! My sincerest apologies.

Now this is something, that I would absolutely imagine appealing to you.

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Wheel of Fortune

  • Yang, Fire, Jupiter
  • Alchemical mercury, sulfur, water, and salt
  • Past becomes future

Wheel of Fortune Reversed

  • Need to exert greater willpower

What does the Sphinx with sword symbolize? :thinking: