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.

Queen of Cups: Virginal The Ice Queen stands in the Cave of the Heart. Her crystalline cup rests on an inaccessible mountaintop. In Virginal’s glacial realm the water element is frozen. Like her eastern counterpart, Durga the Inaccessible, she once represented the Mountain Mother nourishing her world-suckling and remaining entirely indifferent to the adult male. Beautiful but nonsexual, she contributed some of her character to the medieval Holy Virgin. She stands for cold purity, dedication to high ideals, and apparent heartlessness, but may bring great spiritual nourishment.

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.

Three of Wands: Fate Virgin, Mother, and Crone are linked together in their traditional colors, white, red, and black. India called the colors of the female Trinity gunas, “strands.” White was for the Virgin/Creatress, new moon, birth, springtime, flowers, the past. Red was for the Mother/Preserver, full moon, passion, summer, fruit, the present. Black was for the Crone/Destroyer, old moon, winter, seed, prophecy, and the future. The same three Fates were known elsewhere as Moerae, Fortunae, Norns, Morrigan, or Weird Sisters (from Wyrd, the Saxon Fate-goddess). Three wands represent creation, invention, fortune, commercial activity, reward or punishment, the power of…

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.

Two of Swords: Balance A blindfolded female Justice with two balanced swords is set against the sea and the moon. This traditional design indicates equilibrium between two opposing hostile forces, which cancel each other out. Woman is the trucekeeper or peacemaker, controlling the balance of weapons. The card means stalemate, karmic retribution, vengeful righting of a wrong with another wrong.