sixdegrees Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) Does anyone have any examples of unconventional suit meanings/associations that are still useful and illuminating? I'm thinking through a new method of reading with non-Marseille pip decks and would like some food for thought about how to understand the suits beyond the received wisdom (i.e. Wands = energy/spirit/ambitions, Cups = love/relationships/feelings, Swords = thoughts/communication, and Pentacles = job/health/money). Here are some examples of what I mean: - In my recent discussion about a new approach to the RWS based on reading the actual images, I noted my distaste for assigning the suit of Swords the typical meanings of "thoughts & communication." I proposed the notion that Swords might instead represent the "demands" placed on us in life--our responsibilities and the things that we have to do rather than want to do. - Gail Fairfield consistently forwards the notion across many of her works that the suit of Wands signifies identity, self-expression, and the presentation of self in daily life. - I've also recently happened upon the interesting website The Tarot Wheel, where the author proposes a very original approach to the suits based on increasingly broad spheres of relations. Pentacles represent the querent's relationship with himself, cups represent the querent's relationships with family and friends, swords represent the querent's relationships with colleagues and strangers, and wands represent the querent's relationship with the broader world (concretized as country, nationality, ethnicity). Any others that work well for you? Edited July 23, 2020 by sixdegrees
sixdegrees Posted July 24, 2020 Author Posted July 24, 2020 I had some difficulty posting in this forum yesterday, so I switched browsers...and in the process I neglected to post this message in the right subforum. Moderators, could you kindly move this thread to the Tarot Talk & Technique subforum? The topic is probably more appropriate for conversation there. Thanks!
Niobium Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 So one thing I've noticed in some of my decks is a tendency to move Wands away from a typical 'Fire' association, and instead, they're more of a 'wilderness' or 'wood' association (in the Chinese elemental sense). In such decks, Pentacles is often more of a 'metal' or wealth suit, less earth and nature focused--this makes it a little sharper edged and less nurturing than I've seen, and makes it almost more of suit of 'having' after a fashion. The Broken Mirror Tarot, at least the Fourth Edition, is a good example of this. It's not a complete swap between the two, but it almost is.
sixdegrees Posted July 25, 2020 Author Posted July 25, 2020 Ah, the Broken Mirror. A beautiful deck that I'd love to have, but it seems to difficult to get a hold of. It's very interesting that you mention interpreting the suits according to material; that's exactly the approach that I've been working on since my original post. I don't have much yet, but I've been experimenting with what it might mean to have the following associations: Wands = Wood Swords = Steel Coins = Gold Cups = Glass I've yet to research the Chinese elements, so perhaps that's where I'll turn next. Thank you for the suggestion!
AJ-ish/Sharyn Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 I've looked for the broken mirror tarot for a long time. I note now it is on aliexpress for $99.00 as '"Directly from China Suppliers:Full English Broken Mirror Tarot Cards Factory Made High Quality Tarot". I wonder if this is another bootleg like others noted recently here on the board or where the maker can market it. aliexpress is full of small suppliers, just like Amazon marketplace here in the states. I understand the temptation to buy...
Niobium Posted July 26, 2020 Posted July 26, 2020 (edited) It occurs to me I don't want to thread derail, so, I'm going to instead edit this post to link to the thread about how to get the Broken Mirror tarot, and put in a brief update there. That thread is here: Edited July 27, 2020 by Niobium
Guest Posted February 13, 2021 Posted February 13, 2021 I've also found the traditional elemental meanings to not be reflective of the themes if I'm being honest. For example I consistently get pentacles for relationship matters, relationships to other, to self and society. Cups for me represents emotional issues more than relationship issues, So representative of more mental health concerns than anything relationship related. Wands for me very often presents as superficiality in life, being obsessed with appearances, what other people think, social media, acquaintances and frenemies. While swords frequently depict matters of the mind, intellectualism, communication, learning, subconscious etc. These are just the themes I've picked up over 20yrs of readings.
Grandma Posted February 13, 2021 Posted February 13, 2021 To hop off topic again - @sixdegrees and @AJ-ish/Sharyn the Broken Mirror IV is now on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dakeduck/broken-mirror-tarot-iv?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=broken mirror And to hop back on - On 7/23/2020 at 5:28 PM, sixdegrees said: - I've also recently happened upon the interesting website The Tarot Wheel, where the author proposes a very original approach to the suits based on increasingly broad spheres of relations. Pentacles represent the querent's relationship with himself, cups represent the querent's relationships with family and friends, swords represent the querent's relationships with colleagues and strangers, and wands represent the querent's relationship with the broader world (concretized as country, nationality, ethnicity). This is fascinating. I've always seen the energy of the suits traditionally. I will think about this.
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