Lots of dark/night cards. How to interpret?

[Yola]

How do you interpret a spread that contains mostly cards that are dark?
Just for example: in a recent reading about the prospects of acquiring something, in a spread with a total of 7 cards, 5 were nocturnal: tower (black background), star, moon, (both at night), priestess and hermit (RWS). This caught my attention.

Not in the context of this specific question, but in a general reading - what could it mean? Something inactive? at rest? hidden or obscure information? 

Have you ever come across something similar?

[Raggydoll]

What deck are you referring to? If it’s mainly just those cards that are nocturnal in that deck then yes, i would consider it significant. How I would interpret it then would depend  on the context of the reading and the specific imagery of the deck. 

[Yola]

Hello @Raggydoll! How are you? Thank you for your answer!
The deck used is RWS/Rider-Waite-Smith.
You're right, context is everything! In that case I would just like to know what many night cards could say, in the same way that we know that many cups in a relationship reading can mean a lot of feelings. 

However, in general, how would you interpret it? Could you exemplify? If you want, you can use the example mentioned above about the acquisition of material goods. But you can exemplify relating to a romantic reading... or professional. Take your time, anyway you can help me!

Or do you refer context to the specificity of each card's position within a spread method?

[DanielJUK]

This is a tricky one. The Moon card shines a little light in the darkness but it's scary where there is not light, there are wild dogs and wild crayfish🦞out there! The Star in the sky provides hope and something to follow, some guidance. They are all quite different in meaning.

 

If you see the night sky as something important, maybe it is. But what you associate with night time? Is it a time to relax and rest by sleeping? Is it a time of horror and your fears? It is a time for partying the night away?

[gregory]

One dog and one wolf and the crayfish just ARE. Let;s don't be afraid of the dark when we don't need to be - it just makes some things hard to distinguish... So maybe much of what you seek to know is hidden for now ? What it would be about - malarial* material goods ? love ? illness - whatever - it isn't the right time for you to be told.

 

*auto-correct outdid itself there

Edited August 25, 2022 by gregory

[Raggydoll]

10 hours ago, Yola said:

Hello @Raggydoll! How are you? Thank you for your answer!
The deck used is RWS/Rider-Waite-Smith.
You're right, context is everything! In that case I would just like to know what many night cards could say, in the same way that we know that many cups in a relationship reading can mean a lot of feelings. 

However, in general, how would you interpret it? Could you exemplify? If you want, you can use the example mentioned above about the acquisition of material goods. But you can exemplify relating to a romantic reading... or professional. Take your time, anyway you can help me!

Or do you refer context to the specificity of each card's position within a spread method?

Hi @Yola, I am fine - thanks for asking 🙂

Knowing that it is the RWS makes it much easier for me to give you a general answer. So the short answer is no, I would not clump all those particular cards together and class them as 'nocturnal cards'. 

 

The more in depth answer is this: I would consider multiple star symbols significant and I would consider multiple lunar symbols significant (again, this is only true if its a deck that has a smaller percentage of such cards. It wouldn't be significant to see lots of moons in the Bohemian gothic, for instance, but I am sure you understand that 😄). I would not just clump lunar cards and star cards together - they have very different energies, and I would rather consider them as a push and pull and look at the interactions, but that is something I always do in a spread. I am not much of a "we have a lot of cups, which means lots of feelings"- type of reader. I would also look at the phases of the moons and see if there is a progression or if there is repetition. Certain lunar phases in combo with stars might also carry extra significance, but in this case I don't know the order of the cards or the spread positions etc, so I am not going to go into specifics (also, this thread is in the wrong category for such specifics anyway, as I am sure you know 🙂). 

 

Also, was this a major-only reading? Otherwise I would consider having 5 majors in a reading of 7 cards as very very significant in itself!

 

[Chariot]

That's an interesting idea, @Yola.  I never thought of interpreting these as 'night' cards before.  As @DanielJUK suggested, the background colour is probably important to you, if you tend to see 'night' a certain way.  

Of course there ARE decks that seem to be all black/dark, and decks that use only light pastel colours for the same cards, so it's not a universal thing. But in the RWS deck, I believe that, in most cases, the colour of the background is meant to convey a certain mood, if nothing else.  In most cases, in the RWS deck, the 'dark' cards are uncomfortable, unpleasant cards.  And maybe Pixie saw nighttime as unpleasant, fear-filled, vaguely disturbing, etc.  Dunno.

 

Obviously it makes sense for the Moon and the Star to have a dark 'nighttime' background—in fact, I've seen a few decks where both the moon and the star are depicted against a light-coloured background, and I always think ...what?  If it's easy to see everything around the Moon, then what's the point of the card?  And if there is nothing except shape to differentiate between the Sun and the Star, again, what's the point?  I believe the meaning of both cards doesn't make sense if they're not depicted with a night sky as background.

 

However, the other cards aren't really 'night' cards, as such, are they?  Towers can explode during the day, a Hermit can go off to contemplate the world any time of day, the High Priestess probably uses intuition during the day, etc.   And concepts of the 'dark cards' in the minor arcana—with the exception of the 9 of Swords, where the person is in bed, unable to sleep—are not actually exclusive to night either.   I think Pixie used blue and grey backgrounds to indicate coldness (in terms of emotion) or sadness ...so maybe she did intend black to either indicate night itself, or negative things about night.  Things hidden, etc.

 

The important thing, I suppose, is whether YOU see a connection between these cards.  As @Raggydoll said, the fact that they are all major arcana cards is probably important as well.  If you have a reaction to the cards, it will probably be the correct one for you.  It doesn't really matter what other people's reaction would be, I reckon.   However, once seen, never unseen!  I may find myself thinking about 'night' when I see these cards from now on.

[Yola]

Hellooo friends! How are you? 😀
It's always exciting to read all the contributions and how relevant they can be! Thank you for being part of this process!
I've been provoking myself more and more to exercise this subtle look at the cards and how much these little details can add! For example: I usually notice if there is a predominance or repetition of a symbol... of a certain color or suit, odd or even numbers... how many major arcana appeared... and so on.

Crazy how much tarot can be analyzed, isn't it?

 

Hey @DanielJUK and @gregory! You're right, friends! It is important to keep in mind that night can take on many different facets and meanings! Maybe that's just the message, I hadn't thought of that! ambiguity! when it's dark, under the twilight, everything can be confusing. Even hidden. Sometimes it looks like one thing, sometimes another. As it is a purchase/acquisition reading, It might be relevant to ask to the consultant next time: "do you know the seller's reputation? Are you aware of the contract details? Is everything within the law?" 

 

Fantastic @Raggydoll! it is very enriching to know how other readers analyze their spreads! I also remembered the Dark Mansion Tarot, with beautiful very dark and shaded tones... Exactly! It really is very important to note the repetition and progression of these symbols. It's as if the unconscious is saying: "LOOK AT ME!" - that's how I felt when I saw this nocturnal tone in the cards. In these cards, there are indeed many celestial components, no? nice tip! the tower's radius, the stars, the moons... could it mean a favorable alignment? circumstances that contribute to the purchase, despite this being a financially and politically difficult time? curious!

[Yola]

These are very pertinent reflections my friend @Chariot! I love this detailed exploration of variables!

You are right about the care we need to take when choosing our deck, because I also believe that the image is decisive for the interpretation.
It's amazing how we add meaning to the cards over time! These days I read that the ace of wands was a thumbs up, like on facebook - and I never stopped seeing that! Fantastic! How did i never notice? 😅

Thank you so much for reminding me that despite the tower, for example, it is not necessarily connected to the sky like the moon and the star. It makes me think of many other things...

Speaking of the pixie... did you know that here in Brazil they are about to release two books about her? One is called "collected work" and the other "artist, feminist and mystic". I'M IN SUPER EXPECTATION! If you are interested, follow the link:
https://www.catarse.me/pamela

[Chariot]

@Yola - good to know there are new books coming out about Pixie.  I have the old one, Stewart Kaplan's Pamela Coleman Smith: The Untold Story.  I wonder if she guessed just how popular her designs would be, and how much they have influenced the art of Tarot ever since.  I hope she had an inkling!  It will be good to get more views on her from these two new books.

[gregory]

OOH - the Foley-O'Connor one is a reissue of one I wanted that was already out in English before: I hope that's being republished...

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pamela-Colman-Smith-Artist-Feminist/dp/1949979393