Revisiting Tarot Card Meanings

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:

Justice

  • Yang, Air, Venus, Libra
  • Curtains in background symbolize separation in states of consciousness
  • Third law of motion: for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction
  • September 23 - October 23

Justice Reversed

  • Malfeasance

The Hanged Man

  • Yin, Water, Neptune
  • Red pants of fearlessness, blue shirt of intuition
  • “Hang in there”
  • Approval of the mob is not needed
  • Balance between dominion and slavery
  • Wounded healer
  • Gift of prophecy
  • Sacrifice for the greater good

The Hanged Man Reversed

  • Too self-righteous
  • False spirituality
  • Lack of wisdom and grace

Death

  • Yin, Water, Mars, Scorpio
  • Overthrow of an authoritarian regime
  • Natural cycle of revolution
  • 13 October 1307: sentencing of the Templars
  • Darker aspects of the WoF
  • White horse of death that the Knight of Cups rides
  • Resisting difficult and painful change
  • October 23 - November 21

Death Reversed

  • Need to be fluid like water

Temperance

  • Yang, Fire, Jupiter, Sagittarius
  • Reconciling existing skills with the task at hand
  • Tempering the conscious with the unconscious resolves anxiety & depression
  • Sun as superego, rough terrian as id, pool as unconscious, angel as conscious
  • Angel of time; past and present flow both ways

Temperance Reversed

  • Excess
  • Physical cravings
  • Need to devote greater attention to physical health
  • Mental / emotional / spiritual imbalances manifesting in the physical

I would have assumed this card was associated with Aquarius, and Yin. It feels much cooler than hot, to me. But I do note the red wings of the angel, the sun on their forehead, and the upwards triangle on their chest.

The Devil

  • Yin, Earth, Saturn, Capricorn
  • Female tail bears fruit, male tail bears flames (abandoning virtue to indulge in desire)
  • Worship of false idols
  • Being led astray
  • Black magick
  • Hatred & resentment
  • Mara
  • December 22 - January 19
  • Baphomet

The Devil Reversed

  • Divorce

A good tip from Wen; when reversed and surrounded by positive cards, it indicates victory in the final battle over negative forces. When reversed and surrounded by negative cards, it indicates feelings of defeat after defeat.

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The Tower

  • Yang, Fire, Mars
  • False sense of ego ; hubris
  • The aftermath is truth
  • Bankruptcy
  • Be conservative and cautious

The Tower Reversed

  • Cataclysm
  • Reliance on false impression made by others
  • Being falsely accused
  • Reduced damage

Surrounding cards can help identify what it will take to overcome the cataclysm.

I realized yesterday, I do in fact have a Marseilles deck. I didn’t even realize. Time to learn :slight_smile:

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The Star

  • Yang, Air, Saturn (?!?) & Uranus, Aquarius
  • Ibis of Thoth
  • Budding red rose bushes; birth and receipt of esoteric knowledge
  • Mastery of the balance between intelligence & love
  • The superego is the dominant level of awareness
  • Releasing energies from the superego to the ego
  • Giving more than you receive
  • Empathy (versus the psychic awareness of the High Priestess)
  • Relief from pain
  • Rekindling of personal motivation through intellectual awakening
  • January 20 . February 18

The Star Reversed

  • Pessimism (mental and intellectual versus emotional)
  • Illness
  • Need for inspiration & to be more confident about the future
  • Tendency towards depression
  • Deep pain

I was not aware of the connection between the eight-pointed star here and the star seen in the crown of the driver in the Chariot card, suggesting the Star as the source of divine empowerment. Success from action and control.

…where on earth is the Saturn correspondence coming from?? Wen lists but does not reference or explore it at all. @Dankquanicus , may I ask for your wizard brains insight here?

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The Moon

  • Yin, Water, Jupiter & Neptune, Pisces
  • One dog, one wolf
  • Leaves from the Tree of Life
  • Constant change, duality, dichotomy
  • Direct progression (personal metamorphosis) from Death to Moon
  • First light of the divine comes from reflection instead of the sun itself
  • Future: unforeseen perils ahead (look to neighboring cards)
  • Presence of invisible forces & deceptive people
  • The beginning of manifestation into consciousness of the High Priestess*s esoteric knowledge
  • Seeker’s soul purpose
  • Mysticism & mythos of civilization
  • February 19 - March 20

The Moon Reversed

  • Misunderstandings
  • Great fluctuations & high risk of harm
  • “Everything that rises must converge”
  • Surfacing of repressed latent

I also associate upright (nor just reversed) moon with illusions and confusion magick.

So…the Sun card is associated by the Sun, but the Moon card is associated with Pisces and Jupiter/Neptune? Not the Moon and Cancer? The High Priestess is associated with the Moon and the Chariot with Cancer and the Moon? Confusing. At least I understand the Jupiter association with Pisces after reading Geosophia by Jake Stratton-Kent (RIP).

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