The Barbara Walker Tarot

Prince of Cups: Galahad Kneeling at a secret, private altar presided over by an ancestral spirit, the young knight aspires to the Grail mystery. Galahad was the son-lover of Elaine, and a self-begotten deity. His father-aspect was Lancelot or Lanceor, the Golden Lance, a personification of lightning. Grail myths said Galahad reigned as a sacred king for a year and a day, and died at the altar as he saw the vision of the Grail. He was apotheosized, like the heroes shown on Elaine’s cauldron. He represents the best feminine qualities in man: gentleness, gallantry, sensitivity, courtesy, aspiration, capacity for self-sacrifice. He may be a messenger of new ideas.

18: The Moon Two dogs howl at a full moon ringed by nine blood drops. A path leads between two pylons into darkness. A crab perches in the middle of a dark pool. Called the dogs of Hecate in Greece, Anubis-jackals in Egypt, lunar wolves or Moon-dogs in the north, two canines traditionally guard the gates of death, which leads to the moon. It was once thought all souls went to the Moon-mother to be regenerated. Hence the blood drops: one for each “hidden” menstrual period, as moon-blood forms new life in the womb. The crab is a more universal death symbol. The ancient world everywhere believed doomsday would come when the planets lined up in the constellation of Cance…

12: The Hanged Man A man dressed like the Fool hangs from a beam between two trees by one leg, the other leg bent in the Hermetic figure-4 position. His hands are bound behind his back, but his facial expression is peaceful. Bunches of grapes hang with him, suggesting sacraments of Dionysus. Two towers appear in a landscape like that of the Moon card. Hanging by one leg was the medieval custom of “baffling,” a nonlethal punishment bringing disgrace, like a sojourn in the stocks. Like the ritual humiliation in many types of initiation, this may have been a symbolic death-and-rebirth, designed to make the novice hear his own heartbeat, which Asian mystics called “the s…

Princess of Swords: Skuld The Valkyrie rides her black horse over storm clouds, seeking the souls of warrior-heroes who died bravely. Skuld was the leader of Norse death angels, whose earthly embodiments were funerary priestesses, like Asian dakinis: the Slavic Wilis, Vilas, Valas, or Saxon Valkyries. Skuld’s magic was eventually condemned as “skulduggery” or witchcraft. Her card means a stringent test or formidable challenge, a vigilant, active, shrewd, sharp-witted person capable of probing hidden weakness, keen judgment, unconquerable spirit, stern expectations.

Ten of Cups: Salvation Guided by his fairy Anima, the seeker finds the Holy of Holies at the end of a golden road through the dark forest. Cups’ culminating pip cards shows a culminating experience: the apparently inaccessible Grail Castle, to which the divine maiden brings her charge after crossing the River of Blood. In Grail legends it was Montsalvatch, the Mount of Salvation; she was Repanse de Joie, the Dispenser of Joy. Ten cups mean salvation through love: a caring relationship, honor, concord, devotion, the achievement of the quest.

4: The Emperor With his right leg crossing his left like a figure 4, the Emperor sits on a cube, his eagle-decorated shield beside him, a scepter in his right hand, and an orb in his left. His curious, long-brimmed hat traditionally shows a fleur-de-lis crown. Scepter and orb are male-and-female symbols of the sacred marriage between a male ruler and the Goddess of his land, which made it possible for him to rule. Barren mountains and a flight of carrion crows suggest the ruler’s eventual death when his powers fail. The Emperor stands for male authority, law-giving power, fatherhood, guidance, stern judgment, perhaps oppression or tyranny.

7: The Chariot Under a starry canopy, a crowned man rides in a golden chariot bearing the glyph of Mercury. He has no reins to control his contrasting-colored horses, which seem to be wandering off in opposite directions. Following the card of marriage, he represents youthful complacency and pride in life’s early successes, but his lack of reins hints that he is not in control of his fate. The ancients used chariot images to remind each triumphant hero that his glory couldn’t last forever. “The road of the chariot” also means the road to death. The tarot’s black and white horses (sometimes sphinxes) stand for uncontrollable drives and the vicissitudes of life. The Ch…

17: The Star A naked woman pours water from two vessels simultaneously into a stream and onto the earth. Overhead a large star shines, attended by seven smaller stars. The two “feminine” elements of earth and water unite in an icon of the Goddess called Star (Astarte, Esther, Ostara, Astraea, Eostre, Stella Maris). Her personal priestesses were star-souls, the Seven Sisters (Pleiades), or Pillars of the Temple, or Seven Pillars of Wisdom, or (in India) the Seven Mothers of the Word. The Star means renewal of fertility, release of the waters of regeneration, blessings poured out on the world or within the soul.

Five of Wands: Impasse In a mysterious night ceremony, five faceless, hooded figures surround a victim. After the sacred marriage, ancient kings often ruled only for a predetermined time, then served as ceremonial victims for the sake of fertility, or to absolve the sins of others. Shiva became the bridegroom first, then the Condemned One. A rite like his svayamara or love-death survived in the British Isles as a mummer’s dance called the Rose: five men with swords or rods danced around a symbolically slain “Fool.” Five wands imply powerlessness in the suit of power. Security fails. The impasse seems hopeless, though this may be an illusion.

3: The Empress Wearing a white gown and a star tiara, the Empress sits by a waterfall with her emblems: fruit, flowers, grass, grain, pearls, a cave, a dove, an eagle-decorated shield, and a banner with a white horse, recalling Demeter-Leukippe, the White Mare. She is pre-eminently the tarot’s lawgiving Earth Mother figure, symbolizing Demeter-like abundance, fecundity, richness, protection, creativity, and timeless wisdom.

8: Justice Under the All-Seeing Eye, a throned woman wearing feathers of Maat holds a balance and retributive sword. Maat was Egypt’s Mother of Truth, who weighed each deceased soul against her feather in the balance. If the soul was heavy with sins, it couldn’t enter paradise. Like Maat, the Goddess Libra or Justice demands payment of the proud charioteer’s karmic debt. Accounts can be balanced by voluntary renunciation of worldly glory, shown by the next card, the Hermit. Justice’s numeral 8 is the lemniscate symbol of perfect equilibrium. She stands for compensation, fairness, rationality, clear vision, payment of debts, punishment of the guilty.

Ace of Swords: Doom The Death-goddess displays her emblems: the destroying sword, the crowned skull, the magic mirror that entraps souls. Her purple gown and horns are ritual equipment. As Morgan le Fay, or Morgana, third of the Fate trinity, she is the quintessential Crone. As Death, she is said to be stronger than any man. Her suit stands for the air element, home of bodiless souls who are sometimes supposed to ride the wind. Through dire in many predictions, the ace stands for release, new freedom, lifting of earthly restraints, lightness, a kind of salvation.

19: The Sun A naked little girl and boy dance together by a garden wall, under a golden sun: they are the innocent Eve and Adam of a new creation, after the end of the present universe. They are like the female called Life and the male called Desirer-of-Life in Aryan/Scandinavian mythology. Their hortus conclusus (enclosed garden) is the new Eden under a new daughter of the old sun, Glory-of-Elves, who was eaten by the doomsday wolf. The Sun stands for a rejuvenated self, a word seen with fresh vision, another chance, joyous innocence, spiritual rebirth.

20: Judgment On the next-to-last trump card, an angel blows the Last Trump to summon the dead from their graves. He might be Michael, Gabriel, or the pagan doomsday god Rig-Heimdall with his Gjellarhorn, announcing the end of the world as Ragnarok (Götterdämmerung), when the Goddess would pronounce her death curse on the violent gods of this universe and reabsorb them into her dark shadow-self. Folks that she saved would be the seeds of the next life. Thus, this conventional Judgment scene could be pagan, Christian, or even Hindu—the origin of all. It means final decisions, choices, resurrected hopes, help from higher-ups.

Nine of Pentacles: Accomplishment In the garden of her magic fruit tree, the pregnant virgin mother contemplates an image of her consort, the divine white elephant. Buddha’s virgin mother, Maya-Shakti was fecundated by the “Lord of Hosts,” the elephant god Ganesha. Maya was another name for the unmated Creatress aspect of Kali. Nine pentacles signify the nine months of gestation, the flowering tree is a promise of future fruit. The card means careful cultivation, productivity, love of nature, development of beauty through learning, increase of material well-being.

13: Death The classic Grim Reaper, a skeleton with a scythe, mows a field of human heads. “Grim” used to mean a mask. The masked and costumed Death figure, also called Macabre, performed the danse macabre as a stock character in medieval mystery plays. His tarot card was often unlabeled, due to a superstitious belief that to speak or write Death’s name was to invoke him. His “unlucky” number 13 refers to the last lunar month, which leads to a new cycle of rebirth. His card means an end leading to another beginning, transformation, change, or destruction.

Prince of Swords: Tyr Backed by a yellow flag of pestilence, the war god in black armor poses arrogantly above a pile of corpses. Counterpart of the battle-maid of Norse myth was the war god Tyr, or Tiw, whom the Romans called Mars. His day of the week was Tiw’s Day (Tuesday). He personified the violent, vengeful aspect of the heavenly father (Wotan or Woden, of Wednesday). His card means a hateful, domineering personality, warlike spirit, disregard for others’ feelings, or harmful impersonal forces such as accident, sickness, natural disasters, oppressive circumstances.

2: The Papess The female spiritual authority sits between her temple pillars, Alpha and Omega, with an open book on her lap. The Keys of the Kingdom lie before her; a veil hangs behind. Early tarot decks showed her as Pope Joan, of the ninth century, who is said to have occupied the papal throne in male disguise until she was discovered and murdered. The Papess is also identified with Sophia/Sapientia, the Gnostic Great Mother, who embodies Wisdom and provides God with his “I-deas” (Goddess-spirits) and ability to act. Thus, she is like the Asian goddess Shakti. She is especially linked with the moon, which was once thought to give women their life-producing “wise bl…

0: The Fool A jester sets out on his journey of enlightenment, guided by a symbolic flower and a butterfly (Psyche, the soul), with a dog snapping at his heel and a precipice in his path. He resembles the Asian images of the Unenlightened Man. He stands for folly, ignorance, recklessness, childish frivolity, or a blessed madness having the potential for later insight.

King of Cups: Dewi Holding his cup, the Sea King sits on his rocky throne and gazes over the waters to the horizon, where all heavenly gods entered the Abyss. The Welsh sea god Dewi (“God”) had two Christianized forms. He was canonized as Saint David, and vulgarized as Davy Jones. He was called Waterman, Fisher King, and Bran the Blessed, keeper of the Cauldron of Regeneration. He represents ageless power and strength like that of the cold sea, irresistible forces underlying a calm surface, protection for those exposed to danger.

11: Strength Wearing the same lemniscate hat as the Magician, a woman forces open a lion’s mouth while a vulture looks on. The Goddess of Strength opens the second decade of trumps, the “feminine,” spiritual realm, as the Magician opens the first, “masculine,” secular grouping. The lion’s mouth is an ancient symbol of the underworld gate, attended by the vulture. Strength is needed for trials to come. She gives inner fortitude, the courage to endure, the determination to reach the goal.

Six of Cups: Childhood Naked and vulnerable, a child returns to the awesome Great Mother. To overcome an impasse such as the five suggests, the six invokes a usable psychological technique: the inner return to childhood. Hidden memories of childhood impelled the ancients to visualize their divine ancestors as giants, which is how every child sees adults. Therefore the primal Great Mother was a giantess, a mountain, or a pyramidal tomb-womb, in humanity’s legendary Golden Age (the period of dependency), when law was based on maternal blood bonds. Such a psychic return means deep memory, old fears, loves, and longings, living in the past or searching the past for help,…

Six of Swords: Passage Six ghostly swordsmen cross the black river Styx to enter the underworld gate, guarded by its silent Goddess, the giant Sphinx. Some said the Styx was a river of blood leading to the Goddess’s underground womb, where life was regenerated. It was also called Alpha, the river of birth; an expression of the small figure on the riverbank holding up a small light of hope. Interpretations include an anxious time, a journey over water, a passage toward a dark, unknowable future, difficulties to be faced before eventual success.

Ace of Wands: Power The Goddess raises the fire serpent, who bears the wand of power. The original consort of Eurynome/Eve was her fiery serpent, seraph, or dragon, variously called Leviathan, Nehushtan, Ophion, Vasuki, Sata, or the Gnostics’ Ouroboros. His wand stands for the masculine fire element with power to create or to burn: vigor, heat, aspiration, rivalry, competition, avidity; on the darker side, oppression or violence, needing the Goddess’s control.

Five of Cups: Regret A man and woman sit isolated from one another by strife or resentment. She gazes at her own element, the sea, while he sulks. As fives stand for low points in tarot cycles, the five of the love suit means lack of sympathy between those whose feelings should be shared. The hollow five-pointed star within a circle once symbolized the nadir of the underworld. There the Goddess abandoned her love god and stilled his heart. Thus the five means alienation, frustration, loss of pleasure, poverty of feeling, indifference, disturbance of relationships.